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Elizabeth Maude Osborne,7 (Mary A. (Wolf),6 Jesse H.,5 Jacob,4 Michael,3 Jacob,2 Michael1) was born December 22, 1886 in Baxter, Co., Arkansas, near Norfork as the fourth child of Mary Arkansas (Wolf) and Ezekiel Newton Osborne. She died some 89 years later on January 15, 1975 in Vernon, Texas, and she is buried along side her husband in the Frederick Cemetery at Frederick, Oklahoma. She married Clefford Floyd Vickrey who was born July 21, 1890 and who died September 16, 1973 also in Vernon, Texas. They were married November 21, 1925 in Oklahoma City, Ok., and spent their entire married life in the state of Oklahoma and for the most part in the town of Frederick. They adopted the two youngest children of her brother Oder E. Osborne when his wife died. The Vickreys were in their fifties when they took Noreen, who was four months old and Dorothy, who was two years old. Clefford Vickrey, born at Arkana, AR as the son of William Hunter and Nancy Virginia (Goforth) Vickrey of Baxter Co., Ark. His grandfather Thomas Beaty Goforth, a prominent citizen of Baxter Co., is buried in the Hart Cemetery and his Vickrey grandparents, Jasper and Catherine (Karns) Vickrey are buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery. He attended school and also later taught at the Arkana School House. One of his pupils was his sister, Pink Vickrey, and another was Victor Wickersham who later became an Oklahoma Congressman for the 6th Congressional District. Clefford Vickrey was an ardent storyteller and a stickler for details. He related many times over stories of his childhood in the Arkansas hills. One was about the planting of a walnut tree in his front yard when he was a young boy. Fifty years passed after he left Baxter Co. for Oklahoma before he returned to *show his daughters and grandchildren the home place he had told about so much. He, his wife, his daughters, son-in-laws, and grandchildren tried to follow the directions from his memory down the road to his home place, but to no avail. Of course it was not really a road, but more of a wagon trail. Yet the disappointment he suffered in not being able to find his home place and show us, that of which he spoke so fondly, was evident on his face and in his conversation until his dying day. Then ten years later his daughter Noreen was at the Arkana Cemetery when a man stopped by to inquire about her Texas license plate, so she asked if he remembered the Vickreys, and he in fact did. He took her right to the Vickrey home place which was where Clefford had said it was, but about a quarter mile further down the road(trail). There was just the chimney stack standing of the house, but a giant walnut tree was lifting its branches skyward just where C.F. had told us it might be. He often wondered out loud if it had grown to maturity since it had just been a sprig when he had planted it, well-it had. The Vickreys moved to Oklahoma at the turn of the century and some twenty years later he became re-acquainted with Elizabeth Maude Osborne who was then teaching in Oklahoma. They married and moved to Frederick in 1930. They became outstanding citizens, well known in the area and throughout the state; he, as Manager of the Dascumb-Daniels Lumber Company, Postmaster, Tillman County Treasurer, and she, as teacher and church worker. Clefford was very active in the Democratic Party, Odd Fellow Lodge, and Masonic Lodge. He served on the School Board and Board of Trustees of the First Methodist Church. He served with the 131'st Machine Gun Battalion in France during World War I as Company Clerk, ranking as Corporal under General George McLain. His lasting memory is that he served his fellow man. When he took over the lumber yard, his foremost task was the collection of outstanding debt. His employers said that he collected as if it was money being owed to him personally. They always respected the integrity he displayed while in their employment. While serving as Postmaster, he is best remembered for delivery of chickens in his personal automobile, if they arrived too late to be sent out on the route. In so doing he saved the lives of many a tiny chick for their new owners. Then of course, he was proud of the fact that he collected 99% of those taxes owed to Tillman County in each of the years he was in office as Treasurer. His family remembers him for the stories he told them of his boyhood and the first world war. You could count on him and his word. Elizabeth's early years were spent in Baxter Co., Ark., where she inherited her father's love for books and knowledge. She had already moved to Oklahoma before her father died in 1911 so her mother and younger brother followed her, and her sisters, Mary and Jessie, there about 1912. She and her sister Mary had received their teaching certificates by taking the teacher's test as you could in those days. They both had taught at the Shady Grove School there is Baxter Co. before coming to Oklahoma where their older sister Jessie, who also taught, and her husband Dr. Thomas Blount lived. For several years Elizabeth taught a semester, then went to school a semester; then taught a semester and let her brother Edmond go to school a semester; then taught a semester and let her sister Mary go to school a semester, until they all three received Bachelor of Arts Degrees from East Central College at Ada in 1925. Following her marriage to Clefford, she served as bookkeeper for the Lumber Yard and reared her adopted daughters. She gave of her time and efforts to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, also. In honor of her service as state president of the organization, she received a Life Time Membership on behalf of the church. She belonged to the Eastern Star, Twentieth Century Club, and Garden Club. Her family best remembers her "Sunday Dinners". At her table, her adopted daughters and her nieces and nephews learned the necessary social graces, the difference between right and wrong, and the art of good conversation - all of which have served us well throughout our lives and made us what we are. The story of this family was truly a love story. She who considered herself an old maid school teacher and he a bachelor beyond quest became the head of many families so to speak. He was a bachelor because he was working to pay off depression farming debts of his parents and knew he could not take on the financial burden that marriage meant. She was a spinster because she was working to support her brothers and sisters and a widowed mother, so she could not contribute financially to a marriage either. They revealed these facts in love letters that they wrote daily to each other during the three years of their courtship. These letters not only delved into their lives but they recorded the lives and happenings of the Osborne and Vickrey families at that time in history. Their influence on family members was profound. Clefford Vickrey passed away on the 16th of September 1973 after having suffered a stroke in late August, and his wife Elizabeth followed in much the same manner on the 15th of January 1975. Clefford and Elizabeth Vickrey were loved and respected by their adopted daughters and especially their grandchildren, Steve, Cole, and Kym. The following is reprinted from the Diamond Jubilee History of Tillman County 1901 -1976 and submitted by Noreen Vickrey). Clefford Floyd and Elizabeth Maude (Osborne) Vickrey came to Tillman county in 1931 where Mr. Vickrey became the manager of the Dascomb-Daniels Lumber Company on North Eight Street in Frederick. The Vickreys purchased a home at 823 North Eleventh where they lived until 1944 when they moved to 315 North Twelfth which became their place of residence until their deaths. In the mid-thirties, the Vickreys adopted two nieces. Noreen and Dorothy, who became their beloved daughters. Mr. Vickrey will probably best be remembered for the many years of service he rendered the citizens of Tillman County. during the years that he was with Dascomb-Daniels, he helped supply the building industry; but he particularly serviced the small builder and the farmers. Under his managership Dascomb-Daniels Frederick yard became a thriving business. At the time the Frederick Air Base was constructed, Mr. Vickrey spent many extra hours and weekends at the lumber yard so that construction would continue on a 24-hour basis. Around 1943, Mr. Vickrey became the Postmaster of the Frederick Post Office. He continued to serve Tillman County by personally delivering letters to families of service men if they arrived after regular delivery time or on weekends or holidays. After resigning the position as Postmaster, Mr. Vickrey was elected to the office of County Treasurer which eh held for fourteen years. Under his leadership, the Tillman County tax rolls reached a 99% collection level. It was not uncommon for Mr. Vickrey to open the office in order for someone to pay taxes before a deadline. This was just another way he served the citizens above and beyond the call of duty. At the age of 84, Mr. Vickrey announced that he would not seek re-election. He served out his term as Treasurer and then retired to his home where he devoted his time to his yard and his beloved wife and life-long companion, Elizabeth. Mr. Vickrey died September 16, 1973, in Vernon, Texas after a brief illness. Elizabeth Maude Vickrey will be remembered by her friends in Tillman County for her missionary spirit and her love and knowledge of Bible history. She devoted many years of loyal service to the First Methodist Church of Frederick where she served as a Sunday School teacher for children, youth, and adults. She held many offices in the WSCS-Women's Society of Christian Service. Until only a few months before her death, she was still actively participating on programs for her church women's group. Mrs. Vickrey will also be remembered by the members of the Black community for the support she gave their Methodist Church prior to the days of integration. During the 1950's Mrs. Vickrey became a teacher once again for the first time in 30 years when she taught at Victory Consolidated School. Prior to moving to Frederick, she had taught for many years, beginning in a one-room school in Arkansas at the age of seventeen. The Vickreys were both very active in Tillman County civic organizations. Mr. Vickrey was at one time a state officer in the Odd Fellows. He later became a Mason and member of Eastern Star. He was also a past Post Commander of the American Legion and was a member of Rotary Club. Mr. Vickrey would want to be remembered as a loyal Democrat who attended many political rallies during the forties and fifties. Mrs. vickrey was a member of the Twentieth Century Club, Rose Unit Garden Club, Eastern Star (Past Matron), AAUW, and American Legion Auxiliary. Both Mr. and Mrs. Vickrey were devoted parents to their two adopted daughters. They provided them with the best cultural education that Tillman county offered and followed their progress through the Frederick Public Schools, into college and on to adulthood. See RN296 & 296. Children: |