CHAPTER 18
SAVANNA,
CHOCTAW NATION
1887-1888
After the Conference in October
of 1887, the Shapard family moved from Eufaula to Savanna, Indian Territory, in
the Choctaw Nation. Savanna was a mining camp that had shown growth as a small
town since the discovery of coal in 1870. It was located along the MK&T
Railroad tracks that linked the other coal mining towns together for export. It
had its own post office which was established in 1876, yet was not operational
until 1880.The miners, who often had large families, settled where there was
work and generally lived in unpainted rent houses located close to the mines. The
coal was providing industry which allowed for businesses and population growth
in Savanna; but earlier that year, six months before the Shapard family arrived,
on the night of April 4, 1887, there was an enormous explosion in one of the
main mines which shot flames 100 feet from the shaft entrance, turned the
nearby two-story engine house into splinters and killed 6 miners
instantly. The tragedy was amplified
when twelve rescuers suffocated to death on poisonous air while attempting to
reach the miners, On account of this incident, the mines were temporarily closed
which caused an exodus of the miners and their families as well as the
abandonment of most of the town. Rev. Shapard remarked that “I could occupy
half a dozen houses and not discommode any person.” By the time the Shapard’s
arrived, there were only three businesses remaining, those operated by Dr.
Hailey, Mrs. Simpson and Mr. Coleman. Dr. Hailey had donated a building to be
used a schoolhouse during the week and a church on the weekends. Mrs. Calbertson
was the school teacher of the town and presided over approximately 20 pupils. 12
year-old Sumner and 7 year-old Edwin, Jr., attended this school after their
move and would have tried to make new friends. Sumner greatly missed Eufaula
and returned there as often as he could to visit his old friends. Despite the
poor state of the town, it was strategically a good location for the Shapard
family to reside, as it was near the center of Rev. Shapard’s work as he traveled
up and down the “Katy” Railroad to his various appointments on the Railroad
Circuit. Overall the Shapard family was lonesome in Savanna as the town died
around them and the population decreased. The Railroad Circuit, on the other
hand, was a very active circuit. It serviced the towns located in the belt of
the coal fields extending across the Choctaw Nation, which were linked by the
railway. Rev. Shapard would ride the train to his appointments instead of a
horse. There were approximately 3000 people within the circuit who were drawn
to work the coal. Rev. Shapard expressed the importance of his work there, as
“Every year there will be an increase in laborers in the mines and we will need
to have houses of worship for them.”
On the first Sunday after
Conference, Rev. Shapard commenced upon his work, preaching along the Railroad
Circuit. Although he was in very feeble health at the time, and his physician
had ordered him to rest, he met his appointments, and had not been forced to
miss a single one. However, at several appointments he used a substitute
speaker, under his guidance, to preach to the congregations.
Their first home in Savanna was
better than the small house they had in Eufaula, however, it was not suitable
for winter. In November of 1887, Mrs. Shapard wrote to her daughter, Lizzie,
about the move to Savanna; “I packed some Monday, and Sunday we ironed,
Wednesday we packed all of our things and Thursday we took up the carpets and
put all the mission things in one room. Thursday about four o’clock we bid our
little home good bye, and went over to Mrs. Cutless (sp?) and stayed until the
next morning. When we came down here, we were met at the train by Mr. Calbertson
and escorted to his house where we stayed until the next morning. And then we
moved into our mansion. And since then I have been just as busy as I could be,
I find it right hard work to do any work with the baby. We left Sumner in
Eufaula to stay until Saturday morning. He was the bluest thing you ever saw
when he came. His Papa sent him back up there yesterday to attend to some
business, and he was the happiest boy you ever saw. Bro. Rogers bought your
Papa’s horse, and if he will let him have it back, Sumner is to aid it back
tomorrow.
Well,
of course you would like a description of our new home. We have three rooms, in
one we have a stove, a box for a wash stand, and a box for a table, and three
trunks, in one corner there is a closet without any door. I have put my white
curtains up to that. And in the other room we have a bedstead, (as nice a one
as you had in your room at Eufaula). Sumner’s and Edwin’s bed is on the floor,
and the washing machine. The other is the kitchen, of course you know what is
in that. We bought new dishes since we came. I wish you could just take a peep
in on us tonight, your Papa has gone to preach tonight for the first time here,
and Edwin and I are alone. David is asleep. This is a beautiful country,
although the town is deserted…I never thought, though, that I could like the
prairie. Especially in cold weather. Stella LeFlores house is next to ours, but
she has not lived there for some time. It is vacant, like a good many others
here…Your Papa has been real blue for a day or two. He is not well, and being
worried over a place to live is too much for him.”
The Shapard family moved again in
late November of 1887, to a different house in Savanna that was suitable to
keep out the winter weather. The new house had five rooms. There was no
parsonage in this part of the country and Rev. Shapard had to rent a house
wherever he could get it, and then furnish it from his own credit and trust the
circuit to repay him. Items that Rev. E.R. Shapard purchased to help furnish
their home was; 1 bedstead, 2 heating stoves, 2 carpets, 1 wash stand, 1
mattress, 1 extensions table, books for Sumner, 2 curtains, millet and corn.
Rev Shapard had been a constant
user of tobacco, both chewing and smoking, for 33 years. He had tried to quit
for years and had been able to cease for only 6 months one time, but returned
to the habit. He recalled that “I was the abject slave of the filthy practice,
unable to quit…” In November of 1887, he asked God to help take away the appetite
for tobacco, and since that time he no longer felt the desire to smoke or chew.
The Shapard family spent the Christmas
of 1887 together in Savanna. There was a ceremony at the church were a
Christmas tree was decorated with candles and lit. Afterwards, Santa Claus made
an appearance to pass out presents to all the attendees. For some humor, baby
dolls were in abundance and passed out to some of the men. One man
tried to get out of the door to keep from getting his baby doll and old Santa
Claus said, “Hold him
in there, hold him in there.” The man was restrained by the party-goers until
Santa was able to give the doll to the man. In the process, old
Santa Claus knocked the stove pipe down,
and some of the ladies knocked over the stove.
For Christmas, the Shapard family received gifts from each other and from
friends; Rev. and Mrs. Shapard received a turkey, cake, mince pie, two
cans of tomatoes, a
can of strawberry jelly, two cans of corn, two packages of coffee, some sugar and cheese, and a dressed ham,
as well as, a box of mixed nuts; Sumner received a ball of popcorn; Edwin Jr. received
a set of set of
tools, two sacks of candy, a ball of popcorn and a horn which subsequently broke the
following day; David, the baby, received a sack of candy. The day after Christmas, the Shapards invited the
school teacher, Mrs, Calbertson, and her husband over for supper, and cooked
the Christmas turkey the Calbertsons had
given to them.
Over
the following year, Rev. Shapard would preach at Kiowa, McAlester, Savanna,
McAlester Mines, South Canadian, Jenifer’s Ranch, Bryce’s Valley, Bethel, Atoka,
Stringtown, Buffalo Creek, White Bead Hill, Camp Meeting, Muskogee and
Vinita. In July of 1888, Rev.
E.R. Shapard and J.L. Keener were appointed by Bishop Charles B. Galloway to
travel to the town of Stonewall, in the Chickasaw Nation, to contract with the
Chickasaw authorities regarding the Collins Institute. This was a Chickasaw
Indian school operated from approximately 1885 to 1905, and was located about
three miles southwest of Stonewall in what is now Frisco, Oklahoma. While in
the Chickasaw Nation, Rev. Shapard preached twice in the town of Stonewall, on
July 10th and July 11th.
Rev. Shapard wrote of his
experience around the mining towns; “We have in Choctaw country an amount of
coal and two or three considerable towns have sprung up in these mining
districts. Krebs and Lehigh are the principle towns, each has a population of
3000 whites and the numbers are increasing daily. At Lehigh our church has not
been represented until the last month or two. At Krebs we had a weak
organization, but have increased very slowly. In fact our zeal has been
directed towards the natives, while infidels, Catholics, and such have
increased much faster than the converted Indians have increased. The result of
this is damage to our Indian work by the increase of ungodly examples among
whites. [Few Choctaw Indians were interested in working in the mines. To obtain
employees, the Mining Companies brought in miners from Europe (Italy, Poland,
Russia, Germany, Belgium, France and especially Wales). Foreign workers settled
together in towns, such as Krebs.] The miners are composed of mostly foreign
birth, a large proportion of them from catholic countries. They came directly
to these mines where there are no municipal laws in fact, very little law of
any kind that applies to the non-citizen. They bring many wicked habits with
them, as swearing, Sabbath breaking, etc. Almost the first English word that a
foreigner learns is an oath. On Sabbath around mining camps we see shooting,
ball-playing and such (poor copy for the Indians), would it do well for our
Conference to be considered not only an Indian Mission but a Mission Conference
for all classes. Let our attention be directed to the infidelity that is
creeping into our midsts.”
For the
summer and fall of 1888, Sumner Shapard, at thirteen years of age, was allowed
to return to his beloved Eufaula
where he worked behind the counter at Mr. Moore’s Drug Store. Charles Gates
Moore was born on February 7, 1863, in Missouri, and was the son of a merchant.
At 15 years old, he clerked in Fulton, Missouri, and eventually acquired an
extensive knowledge of administering and mixing pharmaceutical drugs. He moved
to Eufaula, Creek Nation, Indian Territory in June of 1887, at the age of 24,
and became one of the first licensed pharmacists in the territory. His store
was located on Main Street in Eufaula. He was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, and was a Mason. On January 20, 1904, he married
Harriett Morris Simpson. Mr. Moore died at the age of 83 years old on July 11,
1946 and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Eufaula, Oklahoma. During the time
that Sumner worked for him in 1888, his store sold pharmaceutical drugs,
chemicals, patient medicine, toilet goods, brushes, paints, oils, books, etc.
Sumner and Mr. Moore had a long term friendship and business relationship, and
they would partner up again, from 1895-1897, in the grocery business in South
McAlester, Indian Territory.
In the fall of 1888, Lizzie
Shapard began attending school at the North Texas Female College in Sherman
Texas. She would remain there until her graduation on June 10, 1890. Lizzie
would eventually marry Mr. William B. Jaynes, a young attorney, in 1891. They
moved to Washington, D.C. around 1900 and were unable to have children.
Tragically, Lizzie would be murdered in 1931, during a robbery.
As the Conference year came to a
close, Rev. Shapard remarked of his experience on the Railroad Circuit; “The
work of this year on the Railroad Circuit will long be remembered by me. The
first two months I was in very bad health. I was almost ready to give up. Then
I found the church almost in rebellion in some places. The congregations were
small and the opportunity of reaching the people through the pulpit was but
limited. I was physically unable to visit from house to house and also unable to
study because of sickness. I rented a house in the center of my work locating
my family in it and proceeded to adjust myself as best as I could to the
demands of the work. Six months passes away almost without a single foundation
for hope of success…I tried to preach the plain truth, deterring sin and urging
godliness. I was under no personal obligation to anyone and I demanded of them
that they should favor me only for Christ’s sake. The mists began to clear
away, the people and the preacher understood each other better – all went to
God in prayer. The regular monthly
appointments became sessions of religious enjoyment. Members of the church who
were guilty of sin repented; God forgave and almost every one adjusted himself
to the harness that fit him…Today there is no rebellion in the church, the
members one and all are ready to work. If they had been in this condition six
months ago, much could have been accomplished…Several things are to be done by
the next preacher, which I have failed to do. A church house is to be built a
parsonage is to be paid for, the members are to be visited. My great defect has
been my inability to visit from house to house…The experience of this year has
been a lesson to them and to me…”
The 43rd Annual Indian
Mission Conference was held at White Bead Hill, in the Chickasaw Nation, on
October 10-15, 1888. E.R. Shapard was in attendance and was elected Conference
Recording Secretary but declined the office due to health reasons. The Conference
then elected Rev. M.L. Butler to serve as Conference Recording Secretary.
Rev. Marcus Lafayette Butler was
born in 1860, and died in 1938. He joined the Indian Mission Conference in
1880, after transferring from the Arkansas Conference. As a young minister he
was visited by Rev. E.R. Shapard who took an interest in him and mentored him.
Rev. Butler remarked, “I will never forget the first visit he [Rev. Shapard] made
to my humble home. I was young and inexperienced. After looking through my
small stack of books he suggested I get certain books and give them a close
study. I followed his advice, have had reason ever since to thank God E.R Shapard
made that visit to my home. During the three years he was my Presiding Elder he
spent much of that time with us. My work being in the center of his district
his visits were always hailed with delight. We had our differences of opinion
and never hesitated to express them, but as the years passed we were drawn
closer and yet closer together. Brother Shapard always had the courage of his
convictions. He always told a Brother what he thought of his course and if he
did not approve of it he had no hesitancy in telling him so, but always in a
kind manner.” Rev. Butler stated that Rev. Shapard was the best friend he had
in the Indian Mission Conference, one that understood him better than all
others.
During the Conference, on October 14, 1888, the Committee of Memoirs, consisting of E.R.
Shapard, J. Thompson and T.F. Brewer, composed a biography of the life of Young
Ewing who had died during the year, which was presented to the brethren in an
eloquent speech by Rev. E.R. Shapard. On October 15, 1888, Bishop Joseph S. Key
appointed E.R. Shapard, T.F. Brewer and M.A. Clark as a commission to confer
with Creek authorities in regards to the possibility of reestablishing Asbury
Manuel Labor School. The Bishop also appointed E.R. Shapard and J.O. Shanks as
the Visiting Committee to the Harrell Institute. Later that day, the Bishop ordained
to Deacon’s Orders; A. Pickens, A.N. Averyt, C.B. Carlton, W. Pipkin, W.
Hawkins, J.F. Wagnon and J.A. Bates. They were presented to the Bishop by M.L.
Butler. J.M. Binkly read the Epistle and E.R. Shapard read the Gospel. At the end of the 43rd
Annual Indian Mission Conference, Rev. E.R. Shapard was appointed to the
Canadian District; Eufaula Circuit.
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