Muskogee Clubs for Women

Muskogee once had many clubs for women. A few of the early clubs still survive. Last week's blog talked about a 97-year old cook book. It was the product of an umbrella organization misnamed the "Muskogee City Federation of Woman's Clubs" (instead of Women's Clubs).

Muskogee women organized the city chapter of the Federation of Women's Clubs on April 15th, 1910. They intended to advance "the growth and general improvement" of Muskogee. The federation also planned to assist in entertaining the conventioneers when the state chapter held its annual meeting in Muskogee later in the year. Last week's cookbook was a fundraising effort marketed to the conventioneers.

In September, 1890, a club in Guthrie was the first club to join the national federation. Over the following decade additional clubs joined as well. The first annual territorial meeting of federated clubs occurred in mid-May, 1899 in Norman. In December, 1903, clubs in the eastern part of the state broke away to establish an Indian Territory federation. Both territorial federations merged together just a month before statehood.

Clubs that joined Muskogee's chapter very early included the Longan Parliamentary Club, the New Century Club, the Ladies' Saturday Music Club, the Fortnightly Club, the Shakespearean Club and the Woman's History Club.

The fate of the Longan Parliamentary Club is unknown. In 1912 the Muskogee Parliamentary Law Club organized in the home of Mrs. F. M. Early. This second association may be a splinter group of the former. Or, the second may just be a renaming of the Longan Parliamentary Club. The Muskogee Parliamentary Law Club survived for decades as a study group.

The New Century Club was the subject of an earlier blog entry. Members formed this literary society on September 10th, 1902. The Ladies' Saturday Music Club, likewise reported in an earlier blog, was responsible for bringing Madam Nordica to Muskogee in 1906.

The state federation's history, written in 1939, makes no mention of the Fortnightly Club. It may have folded during the Great Depression, if not before.

The Shakespearean Club studied the poetry that flowed from Will's pen. Members met at the Muskogee Public Library until 2005.

The Woman's History Club had a great impact on Muskogee. The women forming this club met at Mrs. John L. Templeton's home in early 1908. They wanted to generally support Muskogee civic work. Their specific goal was to establish and maintain a public library. Residents enjoy their success to this day, though the club no longer survives.

Two clubs formed to promote Indian welfare. Little is known about the Mahaiya Indian Club. The Da-Co-Tah Indian Club organized in April, 1930. It gave out food, clothing and school supplies to Indian children during the Great Depression.

Decades later, the Da-Co-Tah Club began promotion for the creation of an Indian museum. Efforts began in 1951 to gain title to the old Indian Agency building on top of Agency Hill. In 1963 they incorporated the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. It opened on April 16th, 1966.

Today women have many outlets for socializing. According to Barbara Downs, women found a lot of social contact by working outside of their homes after World War II. For this and other reasons, many of these old Muskogee clubs no longer exist.

The General Federation of Women's Clubs still survives. It is the largest volunteer service organization for women in the United States. There is more information online at http://www.gfwc.org/.

Cook Book of Muskogee City Federation of Woman's Clubs

Muskogee's oldest surviving cookbook was published in August, 1910. "Cook Book of Muskogee City Federation of Woman's Clubs" illustrates the continuing development of the old practice of sharing recipes.

Since the beginning of time, cooks orally passed recipes down to their children. Many men and women cherish recollections of being in the kitchen at a young age. However, showing and telling family members how to cook is not the only way to transfer recipes to the next generation.

As the use of writing developed, cooks used written recipes to help sons and daughters master the intricacies of cooking. The first recorded recipe was written on wet clay with a wooden stylus. Then came writing in ink on vellum rolled up in scrolls. Very few of these found their way into the average home.

Working class families began having written recipes in their homes only after Gutenberg developed the printing press. Over the centuries, many cookbooks were printed. Until Fannie Farmer standardized them, however, recipe measurements were imprecise. "A finger of butter" was a common early measurement that varied by the size of the cook's hand.

Ms. Farmer's cookbook, "The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook," expressed her views on standardized measurements in 1896. The 1918 edition of this work is online at http://www.bartlesby.com/87/

By the time the Muskogee cookbook was published, Fannie was famous for her "level" measurements. As simple as it seems today, cooks of a hundred years ago measured a cup of flour as both less than a cup and as a "heaping" cup.

In addition to variances in quantities of ingredients, cooks faced problems with the cooking process. Ovens of Fannie Farmer's day used more wood, or less wood, to control the amount of heat.

Here is the recipe from Muskogee's cookbook for an "Old-Fashioned Pound Cake."

One pound of butter;
one pound sugar;
one pound flour;
ten eggs;
one-third nutmeg.
Mix thoroly; [sic]
beat four hours. [This should read "beat four minutes."]
Bake three-fourths hour in slow oven, in round pan.

Fannie Farmer's 1918 recipe for Pound Cake calls for

one pound of butter,
one pound of sugar and
one pound of flour. Fannie also used
ten egg whites and
ten egg yolks. For flavoring she added a
half teaspoon of mace and
two tablespoons of brandy.

Here is how she mixed the batter and baked her cake.

Cream the butter, add sugar gradually, and continue beating; then add yolks of eggs beaten until thick and lemon-colored, whites of eggs beaten until stiff and dry, flour, mace, and brandy. Beat vigorously five minutes. Bake in a deep pan one and one-fourth hours in a slow oven; or if to be used for fancy ornamented cakes, bake thirty to thirty-five minutes in a dripping-pan.

If you have an old recipe you want to share, be sure to tell who passed it down to you.

American Homer Bell, German POW

A twisted fate befell American born Homer Bell. This is the story of an American boy who bore arms against the United States during World War II. This is also the strange story of how he became imprisoned in a community where he grew up.

Homer Bell was born in 1927 as the second child of Lee Bell. Lee Bell was stationed in Andernach, Germany in 1920 as part of the American Army of Occupation. He was in the Supply Company, 5th Infantry Regiment. He served as a cook in this post-World War I era.

Andernach is located outside of Koblenz in the Rhine Valley. It is nestled in a bend of the Rhine River. Koblenz has served as a military garrison town ever since Roman occupation thousands of years ago.

In the Koblenz area, Lee Bell met and married a German girl with "snapping eyes." When the American occupation ended in 1923, Lee brought his bride to the United States.

Lee migrated into the country's heartland following his discharge from service. The Roaring Twenties were prosperous years for most American. Yet Lee seems unsettled. His past includes residences in several states in a few short years.

About 1930 Lee brought his family to Muskogee County. In 1935 he lived in Brewer Township near Braggs. Though he registers his children for school in Braggs from 1935 to 1937, he never registered to vote himself. This was despite his world travels and the growing debate about the resurgent rise of German military power. Perhaps Lee was a pacifist as many Americans were during this period.

One topic in the news that he probably followed keenly was the push by veterans of World War I to receive payment for certificates of service. The US government sent the certificates to veterans in 1924. These certificates were really bonds that matured in 1945. In 1932, more than 30,000 veterans marched on Washington to demand an immediate payment.

In response to the Bonus March, Congress passed the Adjusted Compensation Payment Act of 1936. This law authorized the payment of $1.5 billion to four million veterans. Soldiers received an average of $375 apiece.

Lee Bell used his bonus money to purchase a tavern and meat shop. But Lee was not a good manager. Before long, the money was gone and additional debts forced him to sell the tavern and shop.

Lee approached Shorty Matthews about a job for his German wife. Shorty operated a restaurant at 303 South Main Street. Lee convinced Shorty to hire Mrs. Bell as a waitress.

Mrs. Bell was a hard working waitress. She was so trusted that Shorty often left her in charge when he ran errands. She worked in the restaurant about a year and a half.

During this period, Shorty helped the Bell children enroll at Sacred Heart Catholic School. This may indicate that their mother was raised Catholic herself.

About the time Mrs. Bell started working at the restaurant, Lee Bell drove his pickup to the business, got out and gave the keys to his wife. This was Lee's late night "Goodbye" to her. He took a job working on the railroad and was never seen again.

Shorty and his wife Rosie helped Mrs. Bell by buying clothing for the Bell children. Eleanor, about ten years old, received a new dress. Shorty later described Eleanor as a natural homemaker.

Homer Bell, not quite two years younger, received a pair of cowboy boots. He was proud of his new boots and frequently called attention to them.

Mrs. Bell received news about 1938 that her parents were dead. The news also told her that she was placed in charge of settling her parents' estate. Fearing that she might lose her inheritance if she did not accept the responsibility, she returned to Germany.

No further record for mother and daughter has been found. Their fate is unknown. Homer's fate, however, took an unusual twist.

The Germany the Bell family returned to was a different country from the country the mother left behind almost fifteen years earlier. It was now a totalitarian state with Adolph Hitler as Fuhrer.

Hitler controlled of every aspect of German life. In education, children were taught to be loyal to the Fuhrer and to believe in the superiority of the Aryan race.

At age fourteen Homer joined the Hitler Youth. Starting in March, 1939, all German children were conscripted into it as Homer was. In the Hitler Youth organization, he received training in camping, sports and how to be a soldier. At eighteen, he would have entered the Labor Service or the military.

By 1944, however, the German Army was short of soldiers on the eastern front and in the west following the Allied invasion of Normandy. At age sixteen, Homer was conscripted into the German Wehrmacht (Army).

With just weeks of additional training he went to the Western Front to fight the Allied invasion. By the time he was sixteen and a half years old, Homer was captured and was interred in a prisoner of war camp.

He went to his first POW camp behind the front lines in France. There he was interrogated for any military intelligence he might possess. He went to a more permanent POW camp in England. Many POWs in England were shipped to countries because of overcrowding. Allied battlefield successes resulted in many prisoners being shipped to countries outside of the war zone.

Homer's final destination was the POW camp at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. In other words, the US Army was sending him home. One can't help but wonder if this destination was based upon a desire on Homer's part.

Camp Gruber was located outside of the Town of Braggs. This was the same town where Homer spent two years in school less than seven years earlier.

Many of the German prisoners at Camp Gruber were assigned to work on different farms in Muskogee and Cherokee Counties. Long-time residents in Braggs recognized Homer. Their recognition was confirmed during brief conversations they were able to snatch from the teenager.



Karalee Cason told the story about her parents meeting Homer one afternoon. "Chief" and Lorene Smith, her parents pictured above about three years later, were standing at an intersection in downtown Muskogee. While waiting for the light to change, they were hailed by someone in a bus. Homer was calling out to them. The bus was returning to Camp Gruber with POW laborers.

By the end of August, 1944, everyone in Muskogee County was talking about Homer's return. What happened to him after the end of World War II is unknown. Efforts to locate references to him and his family failed to turn up any leads.

In all probability, Homer Bell returned to Germany along with the other prisoners of war.
Karalee Casey deserves credit for bringing this story to my attention. The staff at the Muskogee County Clerk's office assisted in the research.

Muskogee's New Century Club

In a month, one of Muskogee's organizations will celebrate its 105th anniversary. The New Century Club first met on September 10th, 1902, in the home of Mrs. D. H. Middleton. That Wednesday afternoon tea proved memorable.

The eleven members that afternoon included Mrs. R. H. Holloway, Mrs. John Downing Benedict, Mrs. A. P. Rachal, Mrs. Alex Todd, Mrs. Theodore W. Gulick, Mrs. C. L. Steele, Mrs. L. C. Bennett, Mrs. J. B. Campbell, Mrs. S. A. Cobb and Mrs. Rachal's daughter.

In this picture, fifteen members from an early date stand proudly for their photograph.


Membership was limited initially to twenty-five women. Over the years, the organization kept close to that size. Today there are twenty-seven active members and three honorary members. Membership continues to be by invitation only.

Mrs. Rachal was the wife of a large cattle rancher from Texas. Mrs. Benedict's husband was in charge of all of the tribal schools in Indian Territory. Along with Mrs. Cobb, these three chose the club's name.

Another task the organizers undertook was choosing the society's flowers and colors. Members chose the colors of pink and green. To accentuate these colors, they chose a pink carnation.

From the beginning, club activities focused on presenting and hearing book reviews. It meets twice a month from October to May on the first and third Thursdays, except in December. Eloise Cable says "It's a nice old club, really."

Margaret Ann Lehman, who has been a member since 1957, summed up the organization's purpose. She said "It's a great club because it tries to instill an appreciation of contemporary literature." This heritage began with the first meeting.

On October first, 1903, Mrs. R. G. Holloway started the club's second year with a review of a book that was published the previous year by a new writer. "The Spenders: A Tale of the Third Generation" was written by Harry Leon Wilson. Wilson became a popular American writer whose writing appeared in print for the next quarter of a century. His work is still studied today.

It is great that an organization is still going strong in Muskogee after such an early beginning. Beginning with the second year, the society published an annual for each member. These annuals document the club's activity during the year.

The club's motto, below, is appropriate.

"Attempt the end and never stand to doubt!
Nothing so hard but search will find it out."

Traveling to Bacone College, 1918

This is a story about a young woman's train trip from Vinita to Bacone College in Muskogee. In 1919 she wrote about her adventure in a Bacone publication, "The Bacone Chief."

Wynifred D. Cornatzer was born in the Cherokee Nation about 1902. She was one-sixteenth Cherokee. In 1910 she resided in Vinita, Oklahoma, where her father worked as a house carpenter. It may well have been her Canadian born mother who encouraged Winnie to go to college.

When the day for her departure finally arrived in early September, 1918, Winnie arose early and dressed carefully. The rest of her wardrobe was tightly packed in her luggage. Her father drove both her and her grandfather to the train depot in town.

They arrived at the station and unloaded their luggage. When they purchased their tickets, the agent told them the train was running an hour late. Over an hour later Winnie's grandfather inquired about the train. The ticket agent told the pair that the train was going to be delayed yet another hour.

At noon, Winnie went downtown to eat. By chance she met a girl friend and the two ate together. The two walked back to the station talking about Winnie's adventure. As they passed an idle railroad engine, it belched coal dust when the engine whistle blew. Coal dust immediately covered the two girls from head to toe.

A train wreck a few miles north of the train station caused Winnie's delay until seven o'clock that evening. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway ran between Vinita and Muskogee in almost a straight line. The country was almost flat. Only the Arkansas River provided any geographical barrier. Yet a wreck occurred somehow in the level countryside north of Vinita. News accounts from the early 20th century report regular problems with railroad travel.

It was, as a consequence, after sunset when Winnie arrived in Muskogee. Neither she nor her grandfather had ever traveled to Muskogee before. After retrieving their luggage they asked directions to Bacone College. A man told them to take the trolley to Hyde Park. The trolley, nicknamed the "Leaping Lena," ran past the college he said.

Winnie and her grandfather arrived at the school about ten o'clock. When she exited the trolley car some boys nearby agreed to show her the way to the president's home. When they found the president out of town, the boys took Winnie to the girls' dormitory.

The girls' matron met the new student. The matron then showed Winnie to a room. Tired and still covered by coal dust, Winnie said goodbye to her grandfather. She was glad she could finally lie down. It had been a long day.

The rising bell the next morning awoke her. Feeling awkward because she was a new arrival, Winnie introduced herself to girls in the hall. By the time she reached the dining room she had new friends to eat breakfast with.

That afternoon Winnie went with her new friends to the Hyde Park amusement park and had a great time. Her new life in Muskogee had begun. Winnie would attend Bacone College only that one year.