OKGenWeb
Indian Pioneer Papers Collection
Garvin County Indian Pioneer Papers
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Mrs. J. H. Mays
Interview: #9314
Field Worker: Maurice R. Anderson
Date: November 23, 1937
Name: Mrs. J. H. Mays
Residence: Maysville, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: December 29, 1866
Place of Birth: Texas
Father: William Burney
Mother: Mary Miller
I was born in 1866 in Texas. I came to the Indian Territory in
1892 and settled at Lexington in old Oklahoma. I was a music teacher. I
taught music in and around Lexington for two years.
Then, Lexington was a very small place with two or three stores and that
many saloons. Lexington in those days was considered a very tough town
but during the two years I stayed there I never saw but a very few drink
men on the street, not as many as I have seen on the streets at
Maysville where there were no saloons.
I would go from house to house and give music lessons. I was paid 50
cents a lesson and some weeks I would be able to give from twelve to
fifteen lessons.
The country surrounding Lexington was thinly settled at that time and
sometimes I would have to ride seven or eight miles to get to give only
two or three lessons.
In 1894 I moved to Erin Springs in the Chickasaw Nation. I gave music
lessons at Erin Springs and through the surrounding country. There were
more people living at Erin Springs and in the surrounding neighborhood
than were at Lexington. I had more classes as there were more older
folks taking lessons at Erin Springs.
There was quite a lot of farming going on around Erin Springs and the
prairies were covered with cattle. Most of the farms were along the
creeks and in the Washita River bottom. They raised lots of corn. There
was very little cotton raised then.
Pauls Valley was the nearest railroad station then and everything that
was shipped was hauled to Pauls Valley. Pauls Valley at that time was
the leading trading place for this part of the country.
I taught music at Erin Springs and Beef Creek, now Maysville, until I
was married to J.H. Mays in 1898. Mr. Mays had come to the Indian
Territory in 1872. He had settled where Maysville is now with his two
brothers and had started the Mays Brother's Ranch. At one time they
owned the largest ranch in this part of the country and had cattle
ranging from the south bank of the Washita River to Wild Horse Creek
along the foot of the Arbuckle Mountains.
My husband hauled lumber from Sherman, Texas, with ox teams to build his
first house in the early days. He also owned the Beef Creek Store and
was postmaster at Beef Creek.
In 1902 when Maysville started to building he built the second store and
was postmaster. The post office was located in his store. The town of
Maysville was named for the three Mays brothers who settled at this
place in 1872.
I have heard my husband say that in the early days he drove cattle and
horses from Fort Sill to Texas. There were seven of the Mays boys. One
died just before the Civil War. The six brothers served through the War
together and after the War they started a ranch in Texas. All worked on
this ranch until 1872.
At this time, three of the brothers came to the Indian Territory and
started a ranch. The three brothers who came to the Indian Territory
were John, David and Bill Mays.
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