Mary was born in 1890 in the house, that her father built, and where she grew up and was married. Her parents, Frank and Julia Arnold, were disciplined, kind and gentle people. Mary was the oldest of six children (who grew to adulthood) including four sisters; Bertha, Pearl, Lelia, and Ida; and one boy Walton. During the time the children were growing up, Julia gradually lost her ability to see but she continued firm in her faith and in the teaching of her children. She also continued to care for her children. She made their clothes, quilted quilts and the girls lined up each morning for her to tie their sashes and braid their hair. Each member of the family attended Bluff Springs Methodist Church. Mary attended Bluff Springs School and finished the eighth grade. As her mother gradually grew blind, Mary assumed many of the responsibilities associated with caring for the younger children. She also stayed with an aunt and attended school in Mineral Springs for a season. She then taught school at Bluff Springs as a substitute teacher until she was eighteen when her father was stricken with Typhoid Fever. Mary then stayed home to help in the house and take care of her father who succumbed with the dreaded disease and then Mary was stricken with it. She was extremely ill for a very long time and was fortunate to survive due to the severity of the illness and primitive health care on the frontier. She did survive and went on to become a truly outstanding Christian woman, wife and mother. William & Mary married in 1910. Eleven children, including three (Gracie, Clara & Wilson died as infants or toddlers, were born in AR.& buried in Bluff Springs Cemetery in Howard County, AR). John Franklin, Betty Lou, Lewis Pink, Florence Oline, Mary Julia & Alvin Holcomb Came to OK with the parents in 1928. William Richard, Jr. and Bertha Mae were born in OK. the family moved to Brinkman to stay in 1934. Five of the children graduated from Brinkman High School. William died in 1938 after a long bout with illness. Mary was left with six children and no visible means of support. She sold cows to pay last expenses for William and used his life insurance money to buy a house in the village.
The following comments are intended to depict:
I. The difficult times in the lives of The Roberts Family in Western Oklahoma during the era of the awful depression and terrible dust bowl years. These desperate years commenced in 1930 and lasted through 1938.
A. Mary Roberts in 1934 had a new baby and six other children at home. Her husband, the head of the family, became sick unto death and she had no visible means of support.
B. She was the wonderful mother who was forced to become the key figure in family survival. She had never made major decisions and her choices were extremely difficult. She moved her family off the farm to a three room house near Brinkman, OK (a small farm village) with no electricity, natural gas or city water. The rented facility included garden space, pasture land for the cows and some land for raising feed for the cattle. Living in Western OK during those years was very hard for everyone and family circumstances caused extreme hardships for Mary who was unprepared for her new role as "Head of The Roberts' Family". Her first difficult decision involved a mandate for school and church attendance. Attending church involved walking about one and one-half miles. School attendance involved riding a bus. Her most difficult action involved obtaining sufficient family income. The family financial situation was so desperate that adoptions and orphanages were discussed by villagers but not by Mary. In addition to keeping house, caring for the new baby and her sick husband, Mary sewed, quilted, tended a garden and canned produce from the garden.
C. The main factor in keeping the family intact involved the children using their earnings (for family income) as farm hands, janitors, care givers, librarians, etc.
D. Through character and work ethic the older kids developed a reputation of reliable, hard working farm hands. This was the main factor in competing for the limited jobs in farm work.
D. They earned the respect and appreciation of local farmers and were sought out to perform farm chores and serve as field hands after school and during vacation periods.
E. Younger kids assisted in tending the garden, housework and in caring for the cows and chickens.
F. Regular church attendance became a mandate after moving to Brinkman (walking to church was not possible after moving from AR) so the kids were startled to hear: "From now on we will walk to church and be there every Sunday".
G. Developing character and work ethic was the major factor in competing for the meager amount of available work. The depression was at its peak and the dust storms were ravaging the plains. Crops were terrible, harvest was meager and there was little demand or money for animals or crops. A recurring topic of the spit and whittle groups was that "The Roberts Family" earned as much from the farms as farm owners. Most of the farmers had children but few of their children worked more hours than Mary's Kids. During this time she preached that "We are not poor but only temporarily broke". She also admonished the kids to get a good job with a pension.

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