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At the age of 22, William married Martha
"Sue" Evelyn Marrs on December 27, 1877 in Washington County, Arkansas (Photo
below with Martha and son, Steve). Martha was born June 13, 1860 in Arkansas, the
daughter of Alexander Samuel Marrs and Sauna William moved his family from Arkansas to near Ingalls, Payne County, Oklahoma in 1897. In July 1901 he registered for the land drawing in the Comanche-Kiowa-Apache Reservation and drew number 3086 out of 6500. In September 1901, he moved his family to the land located in Comanche County, Oklahoma. That farm is located three miles east and two miles south of Elgin, Oklahoma. They planted 15 acres of cotton, some kaffir corn, wheat and corn and raised a good crop. His son Wiley, who was in Payne County, Oklahoma, sent him $ 20.00 which he used to help pay for lumber to build his first house, which cost a total of $ 40.00.
The Comanche County homestead land is still in the
Sanders' family. It is owned and operated by a relative. Over 20 pages pertaining to the
homestead can be ordered from There are many Sanders in the town of Elgin, Oklahoma, today. It has been said that all of the Sanders in Elgin are related. The original house that William built was still standing in 1960 but had to be torn down for lack of care. A Sanders reunion is held in Elgin every year on the third weekend of July. Comanche County My father, William H. Sanders came to El Reno, Oklahoma Territory, and registered for the land drawing in the Comanche-Kiowa Reservation in July, 1901. He was fortunate and drew a fairly low number and filed on the northwest quarter of section 10, T 2 N, R 10 W, I.M., as his homestead. He proved up on this land and I, many years later, inherited this homestead and it is now my home. It is located 3 miles east and 2 miles south from Elgin, Oklahoma. Our family consisted of my father, my mother, my brothers, Ed, Wiley, and Floyd; my sisters, Carrie, Bell, and Donie, who died before we came to southwest Oklahoma. We moved from Ingalls in Payne County to our Comanche County homestead in September, 1901. We made the trip in two covered wagons and brought a cow and a calf in addition to the two teams my father owned. The first night we were in this area we camped on the creek just south of Ft. Sill. The Indians were having a dance while we were making camp and eating our supper. We both shucked corn and fed the horses. We boys shucked corn and fed the horses, throwing the corn shucks on the ground. Presently, a large group of nearly naked Indian men rode up on horses and sat there looking at us. My mother was badly frightened as she felt the Indians would certainly give us trouble of some sort. My father, however, was not alarmed and spoke to one of the Indian men in a friendly fashion. The Indian responded, "Huh! Indian like smoke." My father said, "Good." The Indian man continued, "Indian like corn shuck for smoke." "Oh," my father replied, "you want the corn shucks? You may have them." The Indians dismounted, gathered up the corn shucks, and rode off in a cloud of dust. My mother was so frightened that we moved our camp up near the stone buildings at Ft. Sill where she felt we would be safe.
The next spring, 1902, we broke sod with a sod plow, planted 15 acres of cotton, some caffer corn, wheat and corn, and raised a good crop. We ginned our cotton in the fall of 1902, at Apache and also sold our wheat at the same place. I can't remember when the Beaver Valley School building was erected. I had gone to school but just a little, while we were at Ingalls Oklahoma Territory, but I do recall the first school building was built across the road from our place and named "Beaver Valley." When I was fifteen years old, I attended this school for a short time under Mrs. Hopkins. I was out of school for a year or two, and then finished the 8th grade while Mr. Slaughter was teacher. My Early Childhood Memories I was born September 11, 1918 in Trinidad, Colorado, and would you believe, the house still stands on Prospect Street. Viola (Wilkerson) Boozer and I were born within a week apart. Uncle Tom Wilkerson had rented the apartment a month before for Belle (Sanders) Davis and her sister Carr Wilkerson. Our homes were miles and miles from this city. I doubt if we ever saw it again after going home until we were grown and returned to visit. Yes, my early childhood was a happy safe one despite living in three different states before I was seven. We attended Sunday School in an old school house while in Colorado. Riding in a buggy was rather cold during the winter, but everyone loved these Sunday meetings, and the older children always went home with a neighbor. My two sisters, Lola and Carrie, and brother Alva, could relate to these happy days.
When I was five, Papa decided we would move to Arkansas. Prairie Grove was the birthplace of Bob and Martha Sanders’ children. I believe they left there when Mama was about 16. We have all returned to this area and visited the Civil War battlefield and the Cane Hill school where the Sanders children went to grade school. I entered the first grade at this school. One year later Papa, because of Sissie’s health, decided to move to West Texas where Uncle Tom and Aunt Carrie lived on a farm seven miles from Quitaque. After several months, the men decided to trade farms. Here I started to "Grey Mule" School, also known as "Goodnight" School and later became Elgin, Texas. It was here at age 11, I was converted and baptized in a gravel pit, as the railroad was being built at this time. Because of the Caprock, it was necessary for the railroad to build a tunnel. This tunnel is the only tunnel in Texas today. I entered High School in Quitaque and remained through my Junior year. The year is 1934, Papa and Mama decided our last move should be near the Sanders Clan. We moved to Fletcher, Oklahoma. Papa had a "Filling Station" on the corner which is owned by cousin Glen Sanders presently. Once again, I was privileged to be near Grandma Sanders as well as many lovely cousins, aunts and uncles. Grandma died in 1939 and Mama and I were with her that night, as my parents had moved with her this last year. She is buried in Elgin Cemetery as is my mother and papa. Papa died in December of 1944 and Mama in March of 1967. About this stage of my life, I married Lowell Anderson in 1939 and began 37 years of teaching school. All except 4 years were spent in Fletcher. We had our son, Lowell Jr., here. Lowell died May 17, 1985 after teaching 36 years in Fletcher. Yes, I wish each of you could have known Grandma "Sue" Sanders as we did! To know her was to love her. One of the gifts left us was love for each other and you, the younger generation, are examples of this heritage. This wonderful family reunions wouldn't be a continued success without your excellent leadership. Read Proverbs 22:1. Mama wrote this in my Memory Book: "A good name is rather to be
chosen
Memories I grew up in Colorado and went to school in a one room school where the teacher taught grades one through eight. my sister, Carrie, and I had to walk two-and-a-half miles to this school and, in the winter, that often meant through snow 18" to 2 feet deep. Once my sister froze her feet and all her toe nails came off. Since we were fifty miles from a doctor, Mama had to use home remedies. The school finally built a barn. We were able to ride our horses to school instead of walking. When Carrie finished the eight grade, we went to Sterling, Oklahoma, in September and stayed until school was out. We bought this large two-room house and when we went back to Colorado, we would just lock the doors. We did this for two years. After this, we moved to Prairie Grove, Arkansas, where we had a fruit farm consisting of strawberries, grapes, peaches, apples, blackberries and tomatoes. When my sister, Carrie, got ill, she, Mama and Marie went to Quitaque, Texas, to Mama’s sister Carrie Wilkerson. My family ended up staying in Quitaque after we traded our place in Arkansas for the farm known as the "Rock Kitchen". I went to Business College in Plainview, Texas. I then worked at the Lackney Utility Company. Next I worked as a cashier and bookkeeper for West Texas Utility in Quitaque. There I met my future husband, Bill Middleton, who was the engineer, and we married January 27, 1929.
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1999-2000
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Sam Sanders. All Rights Reserved |
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William "Bob" Harrison Sanders was the
first child from the union of 
Caroline Goddard. The Marrs surname was also a prominent name in Washington
County and many are buried at Prairie Grove Cemetery. From their marriage, William and
Martha had four sons and three daughters: Samuel, Belle, Wiley, William, Carrie, Doannie,
and Floyd.
In 1916, he moved to Trinidad,
Colorado where he spent his remaining life. William died on May 5, 1919 and is buried in
Trinidad, Colorado. After his death, his children brought their mother, Martha, back to
Oklahoma where she spent her remaining life. Martha died August 17, 1939 and is buried in
Elgin, Oklahoma.
Next day, we drove across the Ft.
Sill Military Reservation near Sterling, where my father found a man who helped him locate
the quarter he had selected on which to file. When we came to this land I remember that my
mother got down on her knees and prayed, giving thanks that at last the family had land of
their own which they could call home. For a short time we 1ived in the two covered wagons
until a storm came up and tore the wagon sheets to ribbons, and then Father and we boys
dug a hole in the ground, cut some logs, and laid them over the top, covered it with sod
and that was our new home. My brother Wiley went back to the old Oklahoma area and went to
work, earning $20.00 which he sent to father to buy lumber for a tiny house. Father came
to Lawton, and from a lumberman, he bought $40.00 worth of lumber, paying $20 down and
getting the rest on credit. With lumber we built a small house which is still standing in
this year of 1966.
Another highlight, before the age of 5 years, I was
visiting Grandma Sanders who lived in the Canyon area several miles from us. Grandpa had
died before I was born. Grandma and Uncle Ed Sanders milked many cows. Grandma was so
happy to have us visit and always prepared our favorite food. one of mine was cottage
cheese. No, it didn't come in a carton from the grocery store. I really can't recall any
item we ate that was not grown on the farm. Of course, at Christmas we received an orange,
apple, nuts and candy corn in our sock which was hung on the back of a chair. Papa always
managed to talk with Santa about this treat.