The L. L. Arnold family came to Dickens County, along with Mrs. Arnold´s mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Jessie Edwards, from the State of Oklahoma, which was then still Indian Territory. They came in a covered wagon, and camped at Carlisle springs.
Mr. L. L. Arnold bought a quarter section of land at Jayton, in Kent County. The land adjoined land owned by Mr. Hagins.
Mrs. Arnold remembers going back to Oklahoma and spending two years, then returning to Kent county in 1908, when her son Jessie was a baby. "We had six children at that time," she says, "they were Arthur Jones, Ernest, Myrtle, Martha, Lonnie and Jessie."
"We traded our land at Jayton to Mr. Hagins for the land which Mrs. Arnold now owns and lives on." She says, "When we moved to Dickens County, there wasn´t the town of Spur. We got our mail at Dickens, whenever any one went after their mail, they brought the mail for all of their neighbors."
We went over to watch them lay the rails for the railroad when it came to Spur and Josie and Nellie McClellan went with us. We all went in the wagon, and Lawrence was driving two mares. One of the mares had a little colt, and the mules the men were using at the railroad camp tried to kill the colt. Lawrence jumped out of the wagon and took the harness off of the mare, and believe you me, she fought. The men put their mules back in the lot.
There was only one house between here and Jayton and it belonged to Mrs. Edwards, a widow woman. She is Mrs. Donie Beaver´s mother.
When we first moved to Dickens County, we lived in a tent. The rattlesnakes were terrible, and there were lots of prairie dogs and antelope. Later, we moved into a house that belonged to Joe Hagins, Carl and Dounas were living in it at the time. Carl was gone, so Doumas told us to move into the house, and he slept in the tent with the boys.
Old Grandpa Henry, Lots, Oscar, and Jim lived on this place, when we traded from Mr. Hagins.
My husband, Lawrence was sheriff at Orr, Oklahoma at the time we moved here.
Whenever one of the men went into Stamford for supplies they brought back a sack of flour for each one of the neighbors, and the family would watch for each one of their neighbors, coming over to pick up their sack of flour.
We stayed here one year, and then rented the place to Frank Bural and we went back to Oklahoma for two years. We then spent one year in Cass county, Texas, then we came back here.
When we came back, we bought lumber, and Lawrence built us a nice house. Later, we went back to Oklahoma, after our daughter, Myrtle and her husband, Joe Hamilton. While we were gone our house burned. Ernest and Arthur were here at the time.
There was a one room house at Duck Creek, used for a school house and a church. Wherever there was preaching, regardless of the denomination, everyone went. We took our dinner and spent the entire day, and we had lots of fun.
When we traded for this place, which I now own, one of the surveyors calls was Pile of Buffalo bones, to a cottonwood tree. Later it was resurveyed, but I do not remember the year.
Written by Mrs. L. L. ArnoldSource: History of Dickens County; Ranches and Rolling Plains, Fred Arrington, ©1971, page 208
Married Ida Francis EDWARDS
Children:
James Earnest, Jesse, Hester, Quincey, Martha [Rhea],
Pearlie [Sellers], Frances [Brown], Lonnie
Ida Edwards, wife of Lonnie Lawrence (LL) was married previously to a Richard Marion Jones and they had one son, Arthur Lee Jones born February 12, 1896.
Lawrence Lonnie Arnold, 47 year resident of Dickens County, died Jan. 15 at 9:45 p.m. at the age of 81.
Arnold was born in Raines County, Texas in 1874 and married Ida Edwards in 1900 in Greer County, Ks.
He was converted to the Christian religion and was a member of the Church of Christ.
Services were held Jan. 17 at the Church of Christ in Spur. H. E. Johnson assisted by C. V. Allen conducted the services.
Pallbearers were his grandsons.
Interment was in the Spur Cemetery. Chandler Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Surviving him are his wife, Mrs. Arnold, three daughters, Mrs. Martha Rhea of Stamford, Mrs. Pearlie Sellers of Dumas, Mrs. Frances Brown of El Paso, five sons, [James] Earnest of Hot Springs, Lonnie Of Muleshoe, Jesse of Spur, Hester of Gladiola, NM and Quincy of Muleshoe and a sister, Mrs. Lillie Gibson of Spur.
Also 34 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
©The Texas Spur, January 20, 1955
from the records of Lillian Grace Nay
© Dickens County Historical Commission 1997-2022
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