Tuesday, April 28, 1970    GUYMON DAILY HERALD
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Arrilla Silsbee Post Office - 1908

Remember when Arrilla Silsbee Post Office was located 12 miles south and east of Hardesty? The post office and mercantile store in connection was named for its owner - operator who was first postmaster and mother of Mrs. Harry Burgess of Guymon. The post office had one rural carrier, a woman, who delivered mail by horseback.

Note the eggs and other produce at the front of the store. A few years later the post office was transferred to Grand Valley and George Long (holding the team) became post master of that office. Mrs. Silsbee is pictured along with her husband, John Silsbee, and her daughter Viola, now Mrs. Harry Burgess, Guymon.

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Gruver Man Proud American

  By ECK SPAHIC

GRUVER, Tex, - Karl A. Nielsen, 90-year-old Dane who now considers himself a pioneer of this small Texas Panhandle town, was 22 when he saw American shores for the first time on Sept. 13, 1901.

"This is country for me," he said to himself as the immigrant ship entered New York harbor. In those days the journey across the Atlantic lasted 20 days.

"I had a feeling to go away from home," he recalled. "I wanted adventure, and wanted to see the world." He left his family in Odense, Denmark,

Living conditions in Denmark were difficult in those days and the pay was low and the prices were high, Neilsen said.

When he arrived in New York he had only enough money to buy a loaf of bread, a few slices of bologna and a train ticket to Audubon, Iowa. After arriving in Audubon he had to borrow money for postage so he could write his family in Denmark.

Nielsen didn't know a word of English, but he had aspiration. It was, as he said recently, "working." Employed by a millionaire farmer near Audubon, he earned $20 a month and worked to improve his English.

In the spring of 1903, he moved to Nebraska to work for another farmer and an opportunity opened for him. His employer gave him permission to plant some potatoes. Nielscn marketed them for $80.

Renting a place near Takamah, Neb., Nielsen began farming on his own. Four years later, in 1912, he moved to near Goodwell, Okla., bought a farm and operat. ed it until the outbreak of World War I.

Nielsen volunteered for the Army and was placed in the Tex. as Cactus Division, 19th Infantry F Company. He returned to Goodwell in March 1919.

In 1924, he moved to the Tex. as Panhandle, settling just south of the state line near the Oslo community.

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Nielsen worked. He never married. He prospered.

In August 1929 he bought a onesection farm 2 miles southwest of Gruver, and in October of that year he built his present home, surrounding it with about 100 evergreens and a number of Chinese elms. His homesite today is a wooded area.

Karl Nielsen, who was 90 on Dec. 3, 1969, operated the farm until 1957, when he rented half of the section to George P. Odom of Gruver, He farmed the other half until he was 85 in 1965 and then he rented it to Odom also.

His home is a reminder of his Thoreau-like love for simplicity. Nielsen prefers to be without television at the home.

Nielsen's activity did not cease with his retirement. He paid for building the Gruver library and dedicated it to the City on April 17, 1966.

This was not Nielsen's only philanthropy.

In 1958 he gave his extensive collection of antique furniture and weapons to the Amarillo, (Tex.) Police Department, where it is on display in a museum addition to the police station which Nielsen helped finance.
"Most American people just want to knock the police in the head," Nielsen said. "I want to give them something."

He was impressed on several occasions by the courtesy of the Amarillo police. He said they have treated him kindly over the years.

Four centuries of firearms history are represented in the Nielsen Museum of antique arms and furniture, dedicated in early 1959.

Among the firearms in the extensive collection, valued at more than $10,000, is a .66 caliber Spanish flintlock pistol with gold, silver and mother-of-pearl inlay. The gun was made in the 15th Century. Another gun from that period is a so-called "pirate pistol" with which Great Britain armed its sailors to battle sea marauders.

A saber and bayonet abandoned in Russia during the 1812 Retreat of Napoleon's army are also displayed in wall cases. The collection includes weapons from the nation's major wars and from the settling of the West.

"I told them when I go up to Heaven I can't take it with me," Nielsen said of the collection.

He commented on his bachelorhood: "I didn't marry, because I didn't want to hurt the other girls' feelings. They seemed nice."

Nielsen still drives his auto on routine trips to the city, is in good health and likes working around his home, repairing things and making furniture. He also has a sizable library at home and enjoys reading.

One of his neighbors said that in Nielsen's younger days "he would start working before daylight and continue until dark."

His 80-year-old sister, Karen, takes care of the home and helps her brother.
Nielsen takes pride in being an American citizen. Near his home he has a tall flagpole for the American flag, which lie flies regularly.

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Billowing Dust Storm

Texhoma Methodist Church, April 14, 1935
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Moving on the Plains

Lee Shook, now Mrs. C. E. Thomason of Texhoma, was only 12-years-old when this picture of her mother and father and family was taken in the spring on 1923. Also shown in the picture are her uncle Jim McNeill and family. The photo was snapped when the families were moving in four covered wagons drawn by mules near Elmwood where they pioneered.



Old Grocery Ticket
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Remember when prices were like these on this charge ticket issued by J. F. Lyle Grocery back in Texhoma in 1932: At first glance, it would be hard to imagine a whole sheet of grocery items for less than two dollars, but upon checking the prices against those of today, the difference is suprisingly not as great as would be suspected.

  • On the ticket, two pounds of bran was 25 cents. Stores don't carry bran today, except the kind for baking bran muffins, and it runs from 33 cents to 59 cents for various sized boxes.
  • Eggs in 1932 were 23 cents, supposedly for a dozen. Today they are 49 cents for grade A large.
  • Dried prunes were 25 cents. Today a large box of dried prunes is 59 cents.
  • Spuds were listed at 25 cents. Ten pounds of white potatoes today runs only 79 cents.
  • Northern beans cost 25 cents in 1932. Today a pound sack costs 21 cents.
  • Apples were 25 cents on the ticket. Today they are 25 cents a pound.
  • Two heads of cabbage were 12 cents. Today the price is 15 cents a pound.
  • Onions were 25 cents on the ticket. Today you can buy two pounds of onions for 35 cents.
  • Of course we don't know the quantity of several of the items on the ticket, made out to F. P. Beard, but from just looking at it, the difference in grocery store prices are not great.
  • The above ticket, issued to Beard on Jan. 8, 1932, was found by Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Thomason of Texhoma behind a door casing when they were remodeling their house in 1964. The store was originally owned and operated by Royce Norse, then sold to J. F. Lyles and his son Fred Lyles. Fred operates the same store, now called "Foodarama," since J. F. Lyles, 93, retired several years ago.
  • F. P. Beard ran a butcher shop which was located across the street from the Lyles Grocery. The butcher shop was known as Beard-Brown.

Harve Taylor Story

Tells of Experiences Near Texhoma

Editor's Note: Death claimed Harve Taylor on March 20, 1970. He had held the distinction of being the oldest living man in Texhoma for several years and has contributed many articles to the Historical Society, the Guymon Daily Herald Pioneer Editions, and to various newspapers and journals. The following story appeared in the Texhoma Times on April 13, 1967, and was submitted to the Daily Herald Pioneer Edition by Mr. and Mrs. C. E. Thomason of Texhoma, long-time friends of Mr. Taylor.

At the request of the Tex. homa Historical and Genealogical Society I submit the following account of some incidents of our pioneer experiences in and around Texhoma, Oklahoma.

In April of 1906 1 filed a homestead entry for the Southeast Quarter (SE ¼) of Section Twenty (20), In Township 2 North, Range 10 East, ECM which is roughly twenty miles northwest from Texhoma, Mrs. Taylor and I moved onto this quarter section and established our residence there in July of 1906.

We had good neighbors who shared with us all of the privations of the early day "Boomers" as new comers to the county were called.

In the summer of 1907 1 had succeeded in producing a very bountiful sod crop of maize (the old style crook neck), kafir corn, beans, sorghum, corn, Indian corn, and stored away some vegetables, etc. for winter. We could not find a cash market for any of it.

In the meantime we had worn out the clothes we had brought with us when we came to the country, especially our shoes. I had ripped up an old leather horse collar and got leather enough to patch my work shoes (they were in pretty good shape).

Mrs. Taylor had patched and pieced and otherwise worked over our other wearing apparel so that it kept us warm, But search as we could we could not find any material with which to repair her shoes. They being of a much lighter material. The result was the girl was just about barefoot in winter time,

About this time an old Civil War Veteran by the name of Pacard who had filed on the SE¼ of 22-2-10 had come in to establish residence as required by homestead law.

I volunteered to help him with the job, When it was finished and he moved in he asked me how much he owed me. I told him that it was the custom in such cases for the neighbors to help each other and that he did not owe me anything. The old soldier was very proud, so at my answer to his question he glanced up and told me that he was not an object of charity, that he paid his own way, etc. When he got through cutting me down I said, "In that case you pay me what you think my services were worth," He gave me $3.50. 1 thanked him and hurried home to tell Mrs, Taylor that now she should have a pair of new shoes. Of course that cheered her.

The weather had been pleasant for some time so I gave no thought to the weather. Shortly after midnight I went to the barn to feed and harness my team getting ready for the trip to town. It was very dark and still, and no stars were visible. It was warm and pleasant but there was a stillness and quietness such as I had never experienced or seen. I had not lived in the country long enough at that time to recognize the ominous signs of a coming storm.

Texhoma had built up considerable during the past years. There were several grocery stores, 3 wagon yards, 2 hardware stores, 2 dry goods and clothing stores, and several other small businesses, including 2 saloons, a pool hall, 2 newspapers, and 2 banks on the Oklahoma side. One of the dry goods and clothing stores was located on the block where the clinic is now and was owned and operated by J. P. Robertson and Mobley, The other one was located about where Ralph Bennett's barber shop is now and was known as I Thomason Brothers Dry Goods and Clothing." There were three brothers as owners, Tiff, "Slim", and Volney. I never knew Slim's real name. He was called "Slim" in satire because he was everything else but slim. That was roughly the lineup in town at the time.

I left home early and was about 8 miles from home. It was still dark and still until the quietness was broken by a rumbling noise from the north which increased to a "roar" and pretty soon the high wind came with a "Whoosh" with a few snowflakes. The wind was cold. Then I knew I was in for a severe storm. I debated on whether to turn around and go back home or whether to go on to town. Remembering Mrs. Taylors need for the shoes I decided to go on to town although it was getting colder fast.

At that time there was a well and windmill in the intersection of Walnut and Second Street (where the clinic is now located). The water from this well was piped underground to the intersection at Second and Main Street (by the First National Bank) where there was a large round stock water tank filled with water for the benefit of teamsters.

When I reached town I left the wagon in the lee of John Robertson's Hardware Store, (where the clinic is now located), unhitched the team led them to the water tank for a drink, led them back and tied them to the wagon in which there was plenty of feed. Then I hurried with my errands. Thomason Brothers had advertised a brand of shoes with which we were familiar. So there I went. Volney Thomason waited on me. When I told him what I wanted he fumbled for a few seconds on the shelves and opened a shoe box with exactly the kind of shoe, and size, I had asked for and priced at $1, 75. 1 told him to wrap them up, which he did. I paid for them and went across the street to the post office which was in a two-story wooden building where Crismon's drug store is now and gave Jim Robertson (the postmaster) 25 cents for a book of 2-cent stamps.

It had been several months since we had written to our relatives or friends because we had not been able to fiance a postage stamp. I then bought a few other articles, including a couple spools of thread, and rushed back to hitch up my team and start home, I had in My pocket 45 cents of my original $3,50. Hurrah.

That was most certainly a bitter trip. It had turned much colder, The wind was higher and the snow coming thicker. I hoverred down in the wagon and tried to keep warm as possible. After a few miles the team would not stay in the road. I would come out of my cover and jerk and abuse the team.

There was about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground when I reached home before dark, after making the full round trip of 40 miles. When I began to unhitch the team I found that snow had packed in around the blinds of the bridles and completely shut off their vision. They were blind. I felt badly about abusing them, I put them in the barn, fed them, gathered up my packages from the wagon and rushed into the house. After Mrs. Taylor got me thawed out we opened her shoe box, and found to our chagrin and consternation that both shoes were for the left foot.

This incident may, or may not teach a moral. If so, it is that people who try can live very comfortable and happily on very little money.

March 17, 1970 - Harve Taylor

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