Marie Ella Johnson was actually born Mary Johnson near Terlton, Oklahoma. Her family had recently moved to Oklahoma a few years before she was born. They had lived many years in Yates Center, Kansas prior to her birth. Immediately after her birth they had the opportunity to obtain a hotel in the boom town of Okemah, Oklahoma so they packed up and moved there that same year, 1904. The two-story brick building contained a fully-equipped furniture woodshop on the first floor and a hotel on the 2nd floor. When one of Mary Johnson's older sisters announced that she was legally changing her name, Mary protested to have her simple name changed also. Mary's mother agreed and Mary Johnson became Marie Ella Johnson.
In March 1907, her father was bitten by a copperhead snake behind the hotel and he died from complications of that. That left the family in a dire situation. They were able to sell the hotel and to buy a large house in West Tulsa near the current corner of Maybelle St and S 23rd West Avenue. At that time 23rd West Ave was called Clinton Avenue. Marie's mom would operate that house as a boarding house until her death in 1932. That was the source of family income.
A few blocks away lived a young man named Cecil Rainer who worked in Sand Springs. Cecil's brother was Sidney Rainer. Both Sidney and Cecil had been 5 of the original orphans of The Sand Springs Home. And both brothers stayed at the Home as employees after growing up. The Home was one of the ventures of entrepreneur Charles Page who also owned most of the land around Sand Springs and most of the businesses including the Sand Springs Railway and the Sand Springs Lake Park where Sidney Rainer worked as a lifeguard in his teenage years. Somehow Marie and Sidney met and they rode together often on the SS Streetcar back and forth between West Tulsa and the SS Lake Park and they eventually fell in love and got married in West Tulsa in 1921 with Cecil Rainer as their witness.
Marie and Sid first lived in West Tulsa before moving to 809 N Roosevelt in Sand Springs where they had 3 children, Carol, June, and Sid Jr. In the fall of 1932, Sid bought a 40 acre parcel of land with a ramshackle wooden house and a large henhouse 5 miles north of Sand Springs beyond McKinley Hill. Marie was appalled at the condition of the house but she followed her husband there and they began their Rainer Ranch where they would raise their children during the Great Depression and raise palominos and black angus cattle on an additional 640 acres. The 640 acres was land leased from the SS Home in perpetuity for $50 a year. They always referred to that 640 acres as the Mancravee Pasture supposedly named after the Osage Indian who sold the land to the SS Home
In March 1907, her father was bitten by a copperhead snake behind the hotel and he died from complications of that. That left the family in a dire situation. They were able to sell the hotel and to buy a large house in West Tulsa near the current corner of Maybelle St and S 23rd West Avenue. At that time 23rd West Ave was called Clinton Avenue. Marie's mom would operate that house as a boarding house until her death in 1932. That was the source of family income.
A few blocks away lived a young man named Cecil Rainer who worked in Sand Springs. Cecil's brother was Sidney Rainer. Both Sidney and Cecil had been 5 of the original orphans of The Sand Springs Home. And both brothers stayed at the Home as employees after growing up. The Home was one of the ventures of entrepreneur Charles Page who also owned most of the land around Sand Springs and most of the businesses including the Sand Springs Railway and the Sand Springs Lake Park where Sidney Rainer worked as a lifeguard in his teenage years. Somehow Marie and Sidney met and they rode together often on the SS Streetcar back and forth between West Tulsa and the SS Lake Park and they eventually fell in love and got married in West Tulsa in 1921 with Cecil Rainer as their witness.
Marie and Sid first lived in West Tulsa before moving to 809 N Roosevelt in Sand Springs where they had 3 children, Carol, June, and Sid Jr. In the fall of 1932, Sid bought a 40 acre parcel of land with a ramshackle wooden house and a large henhouse 5 miles north of Sand Springs beyond McKinley Hill. Marie was appalled at the condition of the house but she followed her husband there and they began their Rainer Ranch where they would raise their children during the Great Depression and raise palominos and black angus cattle on an additional 640 acres. The 640 acres was land leased from the SS Home in perpetuity for $50 a year. They always referred to that 640 acres as the Mancravee Pasture supposedly named after the Osage Indian who sold the land to the SS Home
Marie Ella Johnson was actually born Mary Johnson near Terlton, Oklahoma. Her family had recently moved to Oklahoma a few years before she was born. They had lived many years in Yates Center, Kansas prior to her birth. Immediately after her birth they had the opportunity to obtain a hotel in the boom town of Okemah, Oklahoma so they packed up and moved there that same year, 1904. The two-story brick building contained a fully-equipped furniture woodshop on the first floor and a hotel on the 2nd floor. When one of Mary Johnson's older sisters announced that she was legally changing her name, Mary protested to have her simple name changed also. Mary's mother agreed and Mary Johnson became Marie Ella Johnson.
In March 1907, her father was bitten by a copperhead snake behind the hotel and he died from complications of that. That left the family in a dire situation. They were able to sell the hotel and to buy a large house in West Tulsa near the current corner of Maybelle St and S 23rd West Avenue. At that time 23rd West Ave was called Clinton Avenue. Marie's mom would operate that house as a boarding house until her death in 1932. That was the source of family income.
A few blocks away lived a young man named Cecil Rainer who worked in Sand Springs. Cecil's brother was Sidney Rainer. Both Sidney and Cecil had been 5 of the original orphans of The Sand Springs Home. And both brothers stayed at the Home as employees after growing up. The Home was one of the ventures of entrepreneur Charles Page who also owned most of the land around Sand Springs and most of the businesses including the Sand Springs Railway and the Sand Springs Lake Park where Sidney Rainer worked as a lifeguard in his teenage years. Somehow Marie and Sidney met and they rode together often on the SS Streetcar back and forth between West Tulsa and the SS Lake Park and they eventually fell in love and got married in West Tulsa in 1921 with Cecil Rainer as their witness.
Marie and Sid first lived in West Tulsa before moving to 809 N Roosevelt in Sand Springs where they had 3 children, Carol, June, and Sid Jr. In the fall of 1932, Sid bought a 40 acre parcel of land with a ramshackle wooden house and a large henhouse 5 miles north of Sand Springs beyond McKinley Hill. Marie was appalled at the condition of the house but she followed her husband there and they began their Rainer Ranch where they would raise their children during the Great Depression and raise palominos and black angus cattle on an additional 640 acres. The 640 acres was land leased from the SS Home in perpetuity for $50 a year. They always referred to that 640 acres as the Mancravee Pasture supposedly named after the Osage Indian who sold the land to the SS Home
In March 1907, her father was bitten by a copperhead snake behind the hotel and he died from complications of that. That left the family in a dire situation. They were able to sell the hotel and to buy a large house in West Tulsa near the current corner of Maybelle St and S 23rd West Avenue. At that time 23rd West Ave was called Clinton Avenue. Marie's mom would operate that house as a boarding house until her death in 1932. That was the source of family income.
A few blocks away lived a young man named Cecil Rainer who worked in Sand Springs. Cecil's brother was Sidney Rainer. Both Sidney and Cecil had been 5 of the original orphans of The Sand Springs Home. And both brothers stayed at the Home as employees after growing up. The Home was one of the ventures of entrepreneur Charles Page who also owned most of the land around Sand Springs and most of the businesses including the Sand Springs Railway and the Sand Springs Lake Park where Sidney Rainer worked as a lifeguard in his teenage years. Somehow Marie and Sidney met and they rode together often on the SS Streetcar back and forth between West Tulsa and the SS Lake Park and they eventually fell in love and got married in West Tulsa in 1921 with Cecil Rainer as their witness.
Marie and Sid first lived in West Tulsa before moving to 809 N Roosevelt in Sand Springs where they had 3 children, Carol, June, and Sid Jr. In the fall of 1932, Sid bought a 40 acre parcel of land with a ramshackle wooden house and a large henhouse 5 miles north of Sand Springs beyond McKinley Hill. Marie was appalled at the condition of the house but she followed her husband there and they began their Rainer Ranch where they would raise their children during the Great Depression and raise palominos and black angus cattle on an additional 640 acres. The 640 acres was land leased from the SS Home in perpetuity for $50 a year. They always referred to that 640 acres as the Mancravee Pasture supposedly named after the Osage Indian who sold the land to the SS Home
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