An autobiography of Mertie's early years, as written to Robert and Rose Cox Brown and edited by Darrell Brown.
"[I was] born the 9th day of March, 1877, in Mt. Ayr, Ringgold Co, Iowa, [to] William Jasper Brown and Eunice Emily Comer.
My 1st school was in Mt. Ayr, Ia. 2nd school [was] 1 mile north of Rago, [Kingman County,] Kansas, called Raymond School. My father, W. J. Brown built this school house. My 3rd was near Johnson [City, Stanton County], Kansas. W. J. Brown built this school house and organized the district. [Then] 2 months high school in Johnson, Kansas.
This is [my] grandfather's and grandmother's names on [my] father's side:
William Brown, born Jan 10, 1794. He died Dec 1852. Our father was 3 years old and he was born Mar 30, 1850.
Suzanne Waggoner Brown, May 31, 1807, died Nov 1874.
[They had] 9 children; W. J. Brown was the youngest.
[Grandparents] on [my] mother's side is
Riley Wilbur Comer, died about 1891.
Lydia Margret Durth, [uncertain of dates]
They had 10 children, 2 sets of twins; 4 lived …
[I was] baptized in the Salt Fork [tributary] of the Chikaskia [river] at Salt Fork town [on state hwy 74 in Grant county, OK], by Brother Hall, a Chosen Minister by Bible Students. Married at home to Mitchell Madison Bufford on 18 December [18]92 by a Methodist minister. I divorced him for desertion in July 1906, at Tecumseh, Oklahoma – took the chance while he was on one of his long absences.
[Our] children:
Tennessee John Bufford, 18 Oct 1893, married to Marjorie Foote at Perry, Noble Co, OK, Aug 1922.
Nora Lee Bufford, 7 June 1900, married to Earl Keyes at Newkirk, Kay co, OK, June 30th, 1919.
Roland Phillip Bufford, 16 Nov 1901,
married 1st to Lola E. Miller, [had] a girl Wilma Ruth, [who was] married to W. Colvin, [and had] a boy Kenneth Edgar;
married 2nd Ellen Westervelt-Walker, [had] 1 boy Roland [Phillip Bufford] Jr., 1 girl Shirley Ann b. Aug 14, 1944 at Blackwell [… illegible]
Chester Jasper Bufford, 25 July 1904, a bachelor.
I traveled by wagon through Sulfur Springs, Oklahoma, in Spring of [18]99. Crossed the Red River on the ice with loaded wagon Feb 12th, 1899. Stayed through the Spring at Long View, Texas, in lumber camp, where Bro. Frank T. Bufford had the mumps. Was helping to build a new camp 4 miles past the old one. Had quite a few exciting experiences. Traveled on down to Beaumont [Texas]. Was quite a town even then. No oil wells then. 1 mile south of town as all plains as far as one could see. Then to Port Arthur, just being built, a new white marble depot was just finished. All usable water was cistern. Horses would not drink it. We started back next morning. Camped in the same place as going down. Cattle roamed the country.
Went over to Orange, Texas, on the Gulf. Stayed there a week or so then went up the Mississippi to Donaldsonville [LA]. Crossed on a ferry. Crossed the country between there and Baton Rouge. Had a big blow and waves destroyed lots of Galveston. Bro. Frank left us there at Donaldsonville and went to Galveston just with his saw and hammer. But he did not stay there long. Too many men had come in to rebuild the town. So Bro. Frank hit the fastest way he could find back to Indian Territory [as] Oklahoma was then.
We went to Baton Rouge, La, stayed a month, then went to Lafayette La, where we spent the summer. Made a garden, got acquainted with the family of old General [Alfred] Mouton (of the Confederate Army at New Orleans) [FAG 8566395]. First acquaintance was Jacques Mouton's family. We lived a month in a little house in his yard. His family consisted of wife, 2 daughters Marie 16 (Mary) and Lucile 9 and 2 sons Rousseau (Ruso) and Daniel (Danyell). Nice family. Then moved closer to town and became acquainted with the old General's daughter and family (who lived in the old Mouton Mansion house 1 mile south of Lafayette), a Mrs. Dr. Guidry, 2 daughters young ladies and a son Morris and nephew (John Mouton's boy). Morris was not a very uplifting character. Two of the old general's sons had married colored wives just after the civil war and had mulatto families. (Charlie's wife had been their own slave. They had a bunch of girls. Their associates were high class of their own color. Another son's (John's) mulatto boys ran a grocery store. One would hardly know they were not white. They were not featured like the Negro race. We left there for Crowley where we harvested rice. [Husband] Bufford hand fed the thresher. I helped to cook. Negros were fed on the porch. The food was piled on the table just so much and no more when the call to come and get it came. The ones that got there fastest was the ones that got the mostest.
Then we headed for Bay St. Louis [Mississippi] where we lived till the following May. Our friends there were the Pledgers, 2 boys and 2 girls. Sydney oldest boy was very interesting to Bufford, and the smaller boy was very interesting to John. His second attempt to go to school. Estelle oldest girl was interesting also. Mrs. Pleger and I had many pleasant visits together. We sold the team there and took the train for Notasulga Ala, where his family lived. We stayed with them 3 or 4 months where my baby girl was born June 7th, 1900. From there on it was nip and tuck to live. We first went to a cotton mill town, Tuscaloosa Ala. We could not get a toe hold there so we came back through Notasulga, east to Phenix [AL] and Girard, suburbs of Columbus, GA, and lived there 3 years where R.P. was born. Then came to Oklahoma in March 1904 where C. J. B. was born. Since he was 2 weeks old I have made it alone."
From recollections of Mertie's grandson Lee Earl Keyes, written to Rosemary Brown Harris in February, 2000.
This is what my mother [Nora Lee Bufford Keyes] told me [about the life of her mother Mertie Brown Bufford].
She always used the name Mertie but it was actually Myrtle.
During the [Spanish-American] war, Mertie had a son, John, by a man named Gibbs* … She then met my grandfather, Mitchell Marion Bufford and married him. I never learned where they met, but when they arrived in Alabama they were already married. [They moved to Tonkawa, OK, where their daughter Noralee] went to school in a one room schoolhouse with one teacher about 1-3/4 miles from her home.
My grandmother had it hard raising 4 children alone. In the process, she acquired a farm and she raised crops, had cows, hogs, chickens, a small orchard, bees, had a hand operated machine to separate the cream from the milk, made and sold butter plus eggs to the local store, etc. If a person was not working from about 5 am to about 7 or 8 pm 7 days a week that person was lazy. Yes, she was a worker.
When my grandmother got too old to care for herself my cousin Dick Bufford sent her to live with my mother Noralee in Albuquerque, NM, where she died.
*Note from Darrell Brown: At that time the only man named Gibbs in that county was their neighbor, William Wallace Gibbs.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 10, 1963
BUFFORD — Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford, 85, resident of Albuquerque 2½ years, passed away Thursday morning [the 10th] at her home, following a long illness. She resided at 317 Dallas, SE, and is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Nora Lee Keyes, with whom she made her home; one son, Chester J. Bufford, Rock Springs, Wyo.; 10 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren; two brothers, Arthur Brown, San Lorenzo, Calif., and Nathan Brown, Apache, Okla. Mrs. Bufford was a member of the First Christian Church, in Tonkawa, Okla., where the body will be taken Saturday for funeral services and interment; the Strong-Thorne Mortuary in charge.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 11, 1963
BUFFORD — The remains of Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford will be taken Saturday to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, accompanied by her daughter, Nora Lee Keyes, for funeral services and interment.
"[I was] born the 9th day of March, 1877, in Mt. Ayr, Ringgold Co, Iowa, [to] William Jasper Brown and Eunice Emily Comer.
My 1st school was in Mt. Ayr, Ia. 2nd school [was] 1 mile north of Rago, [Kingman County,] Kansas, called Raymond School. My father, W. J. Brown built this school house. My 3rd was near Johnson [City, Stanton County], Kansas. W. J. Brown built this school house and organized the district. [Then] 2 months high school in Johnson, Kansas.
This is [my] grandfather's and grandmother's names on [my] father's side:
William Brown, born Jan 10, 1794. He died Dec 1852. Our father was 3 years old and he was born Mar 30, 1850.
Suzanne Waggoner Brown, May 31, 1807, died Nov 1874.
[They had] 9 children; W. J. Brown was the youngest.
[Grandparents] on [my] mother's side is
Riley Wilbur Comer, died about 1891.
Lydia Margret Durth, [uncertain of dates]
They had 10 children, 2 sets of twins; 4 lived …
[I was] baptized in the Salt Fork [tributary] of the Chikaskia [river] at Salt Fork town [on state hwy 74 in Grant county, OK], by Brother Hall, a Chosen Minister by Bible Students. Married at home to Mitchell Madison Bufford on 18 December [18]92 by a Methodist minister. I divorced him for desertion in July 1906, at Tecumseh, Oklahoma – took the chance while he was on one of his long absences.
[Our] children:
Tennessee John Bufford, 18 Oct 1893, married to Marjorie Foote at Perry, Noble Co, OK, Aug 1922.
Nora Lee Bufford, 7 June 1900, married to Earl Keyes at Newkirk, Kay co, OK, June 30th, 1919.
Roland Phillip Bufford, 16 Nov 1901,
married 1st to Lola E. Miller, [had] a girl Wilma Ruth, [who was] married to W. Colvin, [and had] a boy Kenneth Edgar;
married 2nd Ellen Westervelt-Walker, [had] 1 boy Roland [Phillip Bufford] Jr., 1 girl Shirley Ann b. Aug 14, 1944 at Blackwell [… illegible]
Chester Jasper Bufford, 25 July 1904, a bachelor.
I traveled by wagon through Sulfur Springs, Oklahoma, in Spring of [18]99. Crossed the Red River on the ice with loaded wagon Feb 12th, 1899. Stayed through the Spring at Long View, Texas, in lumber camp, where Bro. Frank T. Bufford had the mumps. Was helping to build a new camp 4 miles past the old one. Had quite a few exciting experiences. Traveled on down to Beaumont [Texas]. Was quite a town even then. No oil wells then. 1 mile south of town as all plains as far as one could see. Then to Port Arthur, just being built, a new white marble depot was just finished. All usable water was cistern. Horses would not drink it. We started back next morning. Camped in the same place as going down. Cattle roamed the country.
Went over to Orange, Texas, on the Gulf. Stayed there a week or so then went up the Mississippi to Donaldsonville [LA]. Crossed on a ferry. Crossed the country between there and Baton Rouge. Had a big blow and waves destroyed lots of Galveston. Bro. Frank left us there at Donaldsonville and went to Galveston just with his saw and hammer. But he did not stay there long. Too many men had come in to rebuild the town. So Bro. Frank hit the fastest way he could find back to Indian Territory [as] Oklahoma was then.
We went to Baton Rouge, La, stayed a month, then went to Lafayette La, where we spent the summer. Made a garden, got acquainted with the family of old General [Alfred] Mouton (of the Confederate Army at New Orleans) [FAG 8566395]. First acquaintance was Jacques Mouton's family. We lived a month in a little house in his yard. His family consisted of wife, 2 daughters Marie 16 (Mary) and Lucile 9 and 2 sons Rousseau (Ruso) and Daniel (Danyell). Nice family. Then moved closer to town and became acquainted with the old General's daughter and family (who lived in the old Mouton Mansion house 1 mile south of Lafayette), a Mrs. Dr. Guidry, 2 daughters young ladies and a son Morris and nephew (John Mouton's boy). Morris was not a very uplifting character. Two of the old general's sons had married colored wives just after the civil war and had mulatto families. (Charlie's wife had been their own slave. They had a bunch of girls. Their associates were high class of their own color. Another son's (John's) mulatto boys ran a grocery store. One would hardly know they were not white. They were not featured like the Negro race. We left there for Crowley where we harvested rice. [Husband] Bufford hand fed the thresher. I helped to cook. Negros were fed on the porch. The food was piled on the table just so much and no more when the call to come and get it came. The ones that got there fastest was the ones that got the mostest.
Then we headed for Bay St. Louis [Mississippi] where we lived till the following May. Our friends there were the Pledgers, 2 boys and 2 girls. Sydney oldest boy was very interesting to Bufford, and the smaller boy was very interesting to John. His second attempt to go to school. Estelle oldest girl was interesting also. Mrs. Pleger and I had many pleasant visits together. We sold the team there and took the train for Notasulga Ala, where his family lived. We stayed with them 3 or 4 months where my baby girl was born June 7th, 1900. From there on it was nip and tuck to live. We first went to a cotton mill town, Tuscaloosa Ala. We could not get a toe hold there so we came back through Notasulga, east to Phenix [AL] and Girard, suburbs of Columbus, GA, and lived there 3 years where R.P. was born. Then came to Oklahoma in March 1904 where C. J. B. was born. Since he was 2 weeks old I have made it alone."
From recollections of Mertie's grandson Lee Earl Keyes, written to Rosemary Brown Harris in February, 2000.
This is what my mother [Nora Lee Bufford Keyes] told me [about the life of her mother Mertie Brown Bufford].
She always used the name Mertie but it was actually Myrtle.
During the [Spanish-American] war, Mertie had a son, John, by a man named Gibbs* … She then met my grandfather, Mitchell Marion Bufford and married him. I never learned where they met, but when they arrived in Alabama they were already married. [They moved to Tonkawa, OK, where their daughter Noralee] went to school in a one room schoolhouse with one teacher about 1-3/4 miles from her home.
My grandmother had it hard raising 4 children alone. In the process, she acquired a farm and she raised crops, had cows, hogs, chickens, a small orchard, bees, had a hand operated machine to separate the cream from the milk, made and sold butter plus eggs to the local store, etc. If a person was not working from about 5 am to about 7 or 8 pm 7 days a week that person was lazy. Yes, she was a worker.
When my grandmother got too old to care for herself my cousin Dick Bufford sent her to live with my mother Noralee in Albuquerque, NM, where she died.
*Note from Darrell Brown: At that time the only man named Gibbs in that county was their neighbor, William Wallace Gibbs.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 10, 1963
BUFFORD — Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford, 85, resident of Albuquerque 2½ years, passed away Thursday morning [the 10th] at her home, following a long illness. She resided at 317 Dallas, SE, and is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Nora Lee Keyes, with whom she made her home; one son, Chester J. Bufford, Rock Springs, Wyo.; 10 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren; two brothers, Arthur Brown, San Lorenzo, Calif., and Nathan Brown, Apache, Okla. Mrs. Bufford was a member of the First Christian Church, in Tonkawa, Okla., where the body will be taken Saturday for funeral services and interment; the Strong-Thorne Mortuary in charge.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 11, 1963
BUFFORD — The remains of Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford will be taken Saturday to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, accompanied by her daughter, Nora Lee Keyes, for funeral services and interment.
An autobiography of Mertie's early years, as written to Robert and Rose Cox Brown and edited by Darrell Brown.
"[I was] born the 9th day of March, 1877, in Mt. Ayr, Ringgold Co, Iowa, [to] William Jasper Brown and Eunice Emily Comer.
My 1st school was in Mt. Ayr, Ia. 2nd school [was] 1 mile north of Rago, [Kingman County,] Kansas, called Raymond School. My father, W. J. Brown built this school house. My 3rd was near Johnson [City, Stanton County], Kansas. W. J. Brown built this school house and organized the district. [Then] 2 months high school in Johnson, Kansas.
This is [my] grandfather's and grandmother's names on [my] father's side:
William Brown, born Jan 10, 1794. He died Dec 1852. Our father was 3 years old and he was born Mar 30, 1850.
Suzanne Waggoner Brown, May 31, 1807, died Nov 1874.
[They had] 9 children; W. J. Brown was the youngest.
[Grandparents] on [my] mother's side is
Riley Wilbur Comer, died about 1891.
Lydia Margret Durth, [uncertain of dates]
They had 10 children, 2 sets of twins; 4 lived …
[I was] baptized in the Salt Fork [tributary] of the Chikaskia [river] at Salt Fork town [on state hwy 74 in Grant county, OK], by Brother Hall, a Chosen Minister by Bible Students. Married at home to Mitchell Madison Bufford on 18 December [18]92 by a Methodist minister. I divorced him for desertion in July 1906, at Tecumseh, Oklahoma – took the chance while he was on one of his long absences.
[Our] children:
Tennessee John Bufford, 18 Oct 1893, married to Marjorie Foote at Perry, Noble Co, OK, Aug 1922.
Nora Lee Bufford, 7 June 1900, married to Earl Keyes at Newkirk, Kay co, OK, June 30th, 1919.
Roland Phillip Bufford, 16 Nov 1901,
married 1st to Lola E. Miller, [had] a girl Wilma Ruth, [who was] married to W. Colvin, [and had] a boy Kenneth Edgar;
married 2nd Ellen Westervelt-Walker, [had] 1 boy Roland [Phillip Bufford] Jr., 1 girl Shirley Ann b. Aug 14, 1944 at Blackwell [… illegible]
Chester Jasper Bufford, 25 July 1904, a bachelor.
I traveled by wagon through Sulfur Springs, Oklahoma, in Spring of [18]99. Crossed the Red River on the ice with loaded wagon Feb 12th, 1899. Stayed through the Spring at Long View, Texas, in lumber camp, where Bro. Frank T. Bufford had the mumps. Was helping to build a new camp 4 miles past the old one. Had quite a few exciting experiences. Traveled on down to Beaumont [Texas]. Was quite a town even then. No oil wells then. 1 mile south of town as all plains as far as one could see. Then to Port Arthur, just being built, a new white marble depot was just finished. All usable water was cistern. Horses would not drink it. We started back next morning. Camped in the same place as going down. Cattle roamed the country.
Went over to Orange, Texas, on the Gulf. Stayed there a week or so then went up the Mississippi to Donaldsonville [LA]. Crossed on a ferry. Crossed the country between there and Baton Rouge. Had a big blow and waves destroyed lots of Galveston. Bro. Frank left us there at Donaldsonville and went to Galveston just with his saw and hammer. But he did not stay there long. Too many men had come in to rebuild the town. So Bro. Frank hit the fastest way he could find back to Indian Territory [as] Oklahoma was then.
We went to Baton Rouge, La, stayed a month, then went to Lafayette La, where we spent the summer. Made a garden, got acquainted with the family of old General [Alfred] Mouton (of the Confederate Army at New Orleans) [FAG 8566395]. First acquaintance was Jacques Mouton's family. We lived a month in a little house in his yard. His family consisted of wife, 2 daughters Marie 16 (Mary) and Lucile 9 and 2 sons Rousseau (Ruso) and Daniel (Danyell). Nice family. Then moved closer to town and became acquainted with the old General's daughter and family (who lived in the old Mouton Mansion house 1 mile south of Lafayette), a Mrs. Dr. Guidry, 2 daughters young ladies and a son Morris and nephew (John Mouton's boy). Morris was not a very uplifting character. Two of the old general's sons had married colored wives just after the civil war and had mulatto families. (Charlie's wife had been their own slave. They had a bunch of girls. Their associates were high class of their own color. Another son's (John's) mulatto boys ran a grocery store. One would hardly know they were not white. They were not featured like the Negro race. We left there for Crowley where we harvested rice. [Husband] Bufford hand fed the thresher. I helped to cook. Negros were fed on the porch. The food was piled on the table just so much and no more when the call to come and get it came. The ones that got there fastest was the ones that got the mostest.
Then we headed for Bay St. Louis [Mississippi] where we lived till the following May. Our friends there were the Pledgers, 2 boys and 2 girls. Sydney oldest boy was very interesting to Bufford, and the smaller boy was very interesting to John. His second attempt to go to school. Estelle oldest girl was interesting also. Mrs. Pleger and I had many pleasant visits together. We sold the team there and took the train for Notasulga Ala, where his family lived. We stayed with them 3 or 4 months where my baby girl was born June 7th, 1900. From there on it was nip and tuck to live. We first went to a cotton mill town, Tuscaloosa Ala. We could not get a toe hold there so we came back through Notasulga, east to Phenix [AL] and Girard, suburbs of Columbus, GA, and lived there 3 years where R.P. was born. Then came to Oklahoma in March 1904 where C. J. B. was born. Since he was 2 weeks old I have made it alone."
From recollections of Mertie's grandson Lee Earl Keyes, written to Rosemary Brown Harris in February, 2000.
This is what my mother [Nora Lee Bufford Keyes] told me [about the life of her mother Mertie Brown Bufford].
She always used the name Mertie but it was actually Myrtle.
During the [Spanish-American] war, Mertie had a son, John, by a man named Gibbs* … She then met my grandfather, Mitchell Marion Bufford and married him. I never learned where they met, but when they arrived in Alabama they were already married. [They moved to Tonkawa, OK, where their daughter Noralee] went to school in a one room schoolhouse with one teacher about 1-3/4 miles from her home.
My grandmother had it hard raising 4 children alone. In the process, she acquired a farm and she raised crops, had cows, hogs, chickens, a small orchard, bees, had a hand operated machine to separate the cream from the milk, made and sold butter plus eggs to the local store, etc. If a person was not working from about 5 am to about 7 or 8 pm 7 days a week that person was lazy. Yes, she was a worker.
When my grandmother got too old to care for herself my cousin Dick Bufford sent her to live with my mother Noralee in Albuquerque, NM, where she died.
*Note from Darrell Brown: At that time the only man named Gibbs in that county was their neighbor, William Wallace Gibbs.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 10, 1963
BUFFORD — Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford, 85, resident of Albuquerque 2½ years, passed away Thursday morning [the 10th] at her home, following a long illness. She resided at 317 Dallas, SE, and is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Nora Lee Keyes, with whom she made her home; one son, Chester J. Bufford, Rock Springs, Wyo.; 10 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren; two brothers, Arthur Brown, San Lorenzo, Calif., and Nathan Brown, Apache, Okla. Mrs. Bufford was a member of the First Christian Church, in Tonkawa, Okla., where the body will be taken Saturday for funeral services and interment; the Strong-Thorne Mortuary in charge.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 11, 1963
BUFFORD — The remains of Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford will be taken Saturday to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, accompanied by her daughter, Nora Lee Keyes, for funeral services and interment.
"[I was] born the 9th day of March, 1877, in Mt. Ayr, Ringgold Co, Iowa, [to] William Jasper Brown and Eunice Emily Comer.
My 1st school was in Mt. Ayr, Ia. 2nd school [was] 1 mile north of Rago, [Kingman County,] Kansas, called Raymond School. My father, W. J. Brown built this school house. My 3rd was near Johnson [City, Stanton County], Kansas. W. J. Brown built this school house and organized the district. [Then] 2 months high school in Johnson, Kansas.
This is [my] grandfather's and grandmother's names on [my] father's side:
William Brown, born Jan 10, 1794. He died Dec 1852. Our father was 3 years old and he was born Mar 30, 1850.
Suzanne Waggoner Brown, May 31, 1807, died Nov 1874.
[They had] 9 children; W. J. Brown was the youngest.
[Grandparents] on [my] mother's side is
Riley Wilbur Comer, died about 1891.
Lydia Margret Durth, [uncertain of dates]
They had 10 children, 2 sets of twins; 4 lived …
[I was] baptized in the Salt Fork [tributary] of the Chikaskia [river] at Salt Fork town [on state hwy 74 in Grant county, OK], by Brother Hall, a Chosen Minister by Bible Students. Married at home to Mitchell Madison Bufford on 18 December [18]92 by a Methodist minister. I divorced him for desertion in July 1906, at Tecumseh, Oklahoma – took the chance while he was on one of his long absences.
[Our] children:
Tennessee John Bufford, 18 Oct 1893, married to Marjorie Foote at Perry, Noble Co, OK, Aug 1922.
Nora Lee Bufford, 7 June 1900, married to Earl Keyes at Newkirk, Kay co, OK, June 30th, 1919.
Roland Phillip Bufford, 16 Nov 1901,
married 1st to Lola E. Miller, [had] a girl Wilma Ruth, [who was] married to W. Colvin, [and had] a boy Kenneth Edgar;
married 2nd Ellen Westervelt-Walker, [had] 1 boy Roland [Phillip Bufford] Jr., 1 girl Shirley Ann b. Aug 14, 1944 at Blackwell [… illegible]
Chester Jasper Bufford, 25 July 1904, a bachelor.
I traveled by wagon through Sulfur Springs, Oklahoma, in Spring of [18]99. Crossed the Red River on the ice with loaded wagon Feb 12th, 1899. Stayed through the Spring at Long View, Texas, in lumber camp, where Bro. Frank T. Bufford had the mumps. Was helping to build a new camp 4 miles past the old one. Had quite a few exciting experiences. Traveled on down to Beaumont [Texas]. Was quite a town even then. No oil wells then. 1 mile south of town as all plains as far as one could see. Then to Port Arthur, just being built, a new white marble depot was just finished. All usable water was cistern. Horses would not drink it. We started back next morning. Camped in the same place as going down. Cattle roamed the country.
Went over to Orange, Texas, on the Gulf. Stayed there a week or so then went up the Mississippi to Donaldsonville [LA]. Crossed on a ferry. Crossed the country between there and Baton Rouge. Had a big blow and waves destroyed lots of Galveston. Bro. Frank left us there at Donaldsonville and went to Galveston just with his saw and hammer. But he did not stay there long. Too many men had come in to rebuild the town. So Bro. Frank hit the fastest way he could find back to Indian Territory [as] Oklahoma was then.
We went to Baton Rouge, La, stayed a month, then went to Lafayette La, where we spent the summer. Made a garden, got acquainted with the family of old General [Alfred] Mouton (of the Confederate Army at New Orleans) [FAG 8566395]. First acquaintance was Jacques Mouton's family. We lived a month in a little house in his yard. His family consisted of wife, 2 daughters Marie 16 (Mary) and Lucile 9 and 2 sons Rousseau (Ruso) and Daniel (Danyell). Nice family. Then moved closer to town and became acquainted with the old General's daughter and family (who lived in the old Mouton Mansion house 1 mile south of Lafayette), a Mrs. Dr. Guidry, 2 daughters young ladies and a son Morris and nephew (John Mouton's boy). Morris was not a very uplifting character. Two of the old general's sons had married colored wives just after the civil war and had mulatto families. (Charlie's wife had been their own slave. They had a bunch of girls. Their associates were high class of their own color. Another son's (John's) mulatto boys ran a grocery store. One would hardly know they were not white. They were not featured like the Negro race. We left there for Crowley where we harvested rice. [Husband] Bufford hand fed the thresher. I helped to cook. Negros were fed on the porch. The food was piled on the table just so much and no more when the call to come and get it came. The ones that got there fastest was the ones that got the mostest.
Then we headed for Bay St. Louis [Mississippi] where we lived till the following May. Our friends there were the Pledgers, 2 boys and 2 girls. Sydney oldest boy was very interesting to Bufford, and the smaller boy was very interesting to John. His second attempt to go to school. Estelle oldest girl was interesting also. Mrs. Pleger and I had many pleasant visits together. We sold the team there and took the train for Notasulga Ala, where his family lived. We stayed with them 3 or 4 months where my baby girl was born June 7th, 1900. From there on it was nip and tuck to live. We first went to a cotton mill town, Tuscaloosa Ala. We could not get a toe hold there so we came back through Notasulga, east to Phenix [AL] and Girard, suburbs of Columbus, GA, and lived there 3 years where R.P. was born. Then came to Oklahoma in March 1904 where C. J. B. was born. Since he was 2 weeks old I have made it alone."
From recollections of Mertie's grandson Lee Earl Keyes, written to Rosemary Brown Harris in February, 2000.
This is what my mother [Nora Lee Bufford Keyes] told me [about the life of her mother Mertie Brown Bufford].
She always used the name Mertie but it was actually Myrtle.
During the [Spanish-American] war, Mertie had a son, John, by a man named Gibbs* … She then met my grandfather, Mitchell Marion Bufford and married him. I never learned where they met, but when they arrived in Alabama they were already married. [They moved to Tonkawa, OK, where their daughter Noralee] went to school in a one room schoolhouse with one teacher about 1-3/4 miles from her home.
My grandmother had it hard raising 4 children alone. In the process, she acquired a farm and she raised crops, had cows, hogs, chickens, a small orchard, bees, had a hand operated machine to separate the cream from the milk, made and sold butter plus eggs to the local store, etc. If a person was not working from about 5 am to about 7 or 8 pm 7 days a week that person was lazy. Yes, she was a worker.
When my grandmother got too old to care for herself my cousin Dick Bufford sent her to live with my mother Noralee in Albuquerque, NM, where she died.
*Note from Darrell Brown: At that time the only man named Gibbs in that county was their neighbor, William Wallace Gibbs.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 10, 1963
BUFFORD — Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford, 85, resident of Albuquerque 2½ years, passed away Thursday morning [the 10th] at her home, following a long illness. She resided at 317 Dallas, SE, and is survived by one daughter, Mrs. Nora Lee Keyes, with whom she made her home; one son, Chester J. Bufford, Rock Springs, Wyo.; 10 grandchildren; 28 great grandchildren; two brothers, Arthur Brown, San Lorenzo, Calif., and Nathan Brown, Apache, Okla. Mrs. Bufford was a member of the First Christian Church, in Tonkawa, Okla., where the body will be taken Saturday for funeral services and interment; the Strong-Thorne Mortuary in charge.
From the Albuquerque Tribune, January 11, 1963
BUFFORD — The remains of Mrs. Myrtle B. Bufford will be taken Saturday to Tonkawa, Oklahoma, accompanied by her daughter, Nora Lee Keyes, for funeral services and interment.
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