Lurena was born in Mercer County, Illinois, where her parents had bought 40 and later an additional 80 acres of land from the government to farm.
In 1866, her parents sold their land and she removed with her parents to Humboldt, KS. It was a good life in Humboldt. Lurena was thrilled to see her sister Mary Jane marry soon after they arrived a handsome and well liked farmer and Union soldier by the name of Capt. Grasson DeWitt. Lurena was also proud of her older sister Esther Ellen whose husband served in Union army and had been wounded at Chickamauga.
So it was no surprise that Lurena fell for John Anderson and married him in Iola, Allen County, KS, 1871. John Anderson was a dashing and handsome civil war veteran and farmer whom she met probably through her brother in law Grasson.
John and Lurena had four children together, two of whom were born on their farm in Cottage Grove, a community of farms just south of Humboldt, close to her parent's farm, and one born most likely on the Lockhart farm shortly after John sold his farm in Nov of 1874.
Their first years were spent as stock farmers in Humboldt, KS, raising cattle, a trade John picked up in Texas shortly after his service in the Civil War.
As the influx of longhorn cattle from Texas diminished John's income, he wisely figured that if he couldn't beat them he would join them. So, he sold his herd of cattle, his farm, and removed his young family down to Texas joined also by Lurena's two brothers, James and Joseph Lockhart.
For six years the three men worked on large ranches in various parts of the northern Texas region where John and his brothers in law were needed in working cattle, including some of their own. For a good deal of that time, Lurena raised their children in Red River Station, TX, where there was school. John very much valued education and would see to it that all his daughters completed their schooling.
As the government was readying the Oklahoma Indian Territory to open up, John took Lurena and their young growing family to Arkansas City, KS, to await the great opening of the Indian Territory. John became a notorious member of the Oklahoma Sooner movement.
John also knew that his service in the war would allow him to take three years off of a homestead and would also grant him twice the acreage allotted when he was given a homestead.
Lurena gave birth to their fourth and last child in Arkansas City. John and Lurena gave her the name Oklahoma in keeping with many in that town who named their children after the future state.
Sadly, before John and Lurena could realize their dream of settling in the Oklahoma Territory, Lurena passed away. Family legend said that Lurena choked on a chicken bone and died. The newspaper reported that she died of a heart condition. Either way, it left the family devastated.
Soon after her death, a heart broken John saw that the dream of moving to Oklahoma was not in the cards and the family removed themselves on Dec. 11th, 1887, to Gila Bend, AZ, arriving by Dec. 16th, 1887, to start a successful cattle business.
Because of the move, the knowledge of where Lurena was buried was lost to the family and only found thanks to the hard work of Findagrave.com contributors like Judy Mayfield, who started this memorial by documenting graves in her local cemeteries. The family thanks Judy for helping us tell a chapter of our family history and remembering an American pioneer.
Also, the family would like to thank another Findagrave volunteer, Swede, for cleaning the headstone and updating the inscriptions and photos.
In 1866, her parents sold their land and she removed with her parents to Humboldt, KS. It was a good life in Humboldt. Lurena was thrilled to see her sister Mary Jane marry soon after they arrived a handsome and well liked farmer and Union soldier by the name of Capt. Grasson DeWitt. Lurena was also proud of her older sister Esther Ellen whose husband served in Union army and had been wounded at Chickamauga.
So it was no surprise that Lurena fell for John Anderson and married him in Iola, Allen County, KS, 1871. John Anderson was a dashing and handsome civil war veteran and farmer whom she met probably through her brother in law Grasson.
John and Lurena had four children together, two of whom were born on their farm in Cottage Grove, a community of farms just south of Humboldt, close to her parent's farm, and one born most likely on the Lockhart farm shortly after John sold his farm in Nov of 1874.
Their first years were spent as stock farmers in Humboldt, KS, raising cattle, a trade John picked up in Texas shortly after his service in the Civil War.
As the influx of longhorn cattle from Texas diminished John's income, he wisely figured that if he couldn't beat them he would join them. So, he sold his herd of cattle, his farm, and removed his young family down to Texas joined also by Lurena's two brothers, James and Joseph Lockhart.
For six years the three men worked on large ranches in various parts of the northern Texas region where John and his brothers in law were needed in working cattle, including some of their own. For a good deal of that time, Lurena raised their children in Red River Station, TX, where there was school. John very much valued education and would see to it that all his daughters completed their schooling.
As the government was readying the Oklahoma Indian Territory to open up, John took Lurena and their young growing family to Arkansas City, KS, to await the great opening of the Indian Territory. John became a notorious member of the Oklahoma Sooner movement.
John also knew that his service in the war would allow him to take three years off of a homestead and would also grant him twice the acreage allotted when he was given a homestead.
Lurena gave birth to their fourth and last child in Arkansas City. John and Lurena gave her the name Oklahoma in keeping with many in that town who named their children after the future state.
Sadly, before John and Lurena could realize their dream of settling in the Oklahoma Territory, Lurena passed away. Family legend said that Lurena choked on a chicken bone and died. The newspaper reported that she died of a heart condition. Either way, it left the family devastated.
Soon after her death, a heart broken John saw that the dream of moving to Oklahoma was not in the cards and the family removed themselves on Dec. 11th, 1887, to Gila Bend, AZ, arriving by Dec. 16th, 1887, to start a successful cattle business.
Because of the move, the knowledge of where Lurena was buried was lost to the family and only found thanks to the hard work of Findagrave.com contributors like Judy Mayfield, who started this memorial by documenting graves in her local cemeteries. The family thanks Judy for helping us tell a chapter of our family history and remembering an American pioneer.
Also, the family would like to thank another Findagrave volunteer, Swede, for cleaning the headstone and updating the inscriptions and photos.
Lurena was born in Mercer County, Illinois, where her parents had bought 40 and later an additional 80 acres of land from the government to farm.
In 1866, her parents sold their land and she removed with her parents to Humboldt, KS. It was a good life in Humboldt. Lurena was thrilled to see her sister Mary Jane marry soon after they arrived a handsome and well liked farmer and Union soldier by the name of Capt. Grasson DeWitt. Lurena was also proud of her older sister Esther Ellen whose husband served in Union army and had been wounded at Chickamauga.
So it was no surprise that Lurena fell for John Anderson and married him in Iola, Allen County, KS, 1871. John Anderson was a dashing and handsome civil war veteran and farmer whom she met probably through her brother in law Grasson.
John and Lurena had four children together, two of whom were born on their farm in Cottage Grove, a community of farms just south of Humboldt, close to her parent's farm, and one born most likely on the Lockhart farm shortly after John sold his farm in Nov of 1874.
Their first years were spent as stock farmers in Humboldt, KS, raising cattle, a trade John picked up in Texas shortly after his service in the Civil War.
As the influx of longhorn cattle from Texas diminished John's income, he wisely figured that if he couldn't beat them he would join them. So, he sold his herd of cattle, his farm, and removed his young family down to Texas joined also by Lurena's two brothers, James and Joseph Lockhart.
For six years the three men worked on large ranches in various parts of the northern Texas region where John and his brothers in law were needed in working cattle, including some of their own. For a good deal of that time, Lurena raised their children in Red River Station, TX, where there was school. John very much valued education and would see to it that all his daughters completed their schooling.
As the government was readying the Oklahoma Indian Territory to open up, John took Lurena and their young growing family to Arkansas City, KS, to await the great opening of the Indian Territory. John became a notorious member of the Oklahoma Sooner movement.
John also knew that his service in the war would allow him to take three years off of a homestead and would also grant him twice the acreage allotted when he was given a homestead.
Lurena gave birth to their fourth and last child in Arkansas City. John and Lurena gave her the name Oklahoma in keeping with many in that town who named their children after the future state.
Sadly, before John and Lurena could realize their dream of settling in the Oklahoma Territory, Lurena passed away. Family legend said that Lurena choked on a chicken bone and died. The newspaper reported that she died of a heart condition. Either way, it left the family devastated.
Soon after her death, a heart broken John saw that the dream of moving to Oklahoma was not in the cards and the family removed themselves on Dec. 11th, 1887, to Gila Bend, AZ, arriving by Dec. 16th, 1887, to start a successful cattle business.
Because of the move, the knowledge of where Lurena was buried was lost to the family and only found thanks to the hard work of Findagrave.com contributors like Judy Mayfield, who started this memorial by documenting graves in her local cemeteries. The family thanks Judy for helping us tell a chapter of our family history and remembering an American pioneer.
Also, the family would like to thank another Findagrave volunteer, Swede, for cleaning the headstone and updating the inscriptions and photos.
In 1866, her parents sold their land and she removed with her parents to Humboldt, KS. It was a good life in Humboldt. Lurena was thrilled to see her sister Mary Jane marry soon after they arrived a handsome and well liked farmer and Union soldier by the name of Capt. Grasson DeWitt. Lurena was also proud of her older sister Esther Ellen whose husband served in Union army and had been wounded at Chickamauga.
So it was no surprise that Lurena fell for John Anderson and married him in Iola, Allen County, KS, 1871. John Anderson was a dashing and handsome civil war veteran and farmer whom she met probably through her brother in law Grasson.
John and Lurena had four children together, two of whom were born on their farm in Cottage Grove, a community of farms just south of Humboldt, close to her parent's farm, and one born most likely on the Lockhart farm shortly after John sold his farm in Nov of 1874.
Their first years were spent as stock farmers in Humboldt, KS, raising cattle, a trade John picked up in Texas shortly after his service in the Civil War.
As the influx of longhorn cattle from Texas diminished John's income, he wisely figured that if he couldn't beat them he would join them. So, he sold his herd of cattle, his farm, and removed his young family down to Texas joined also by Lurena's two brothers, James and Joseph Lockhart.
For six years the three men worked on large ranches in various parts of the northern Texas region where John and his brothers in law were needed in working cattle, including some of their own. For a good deal of that time, Lurena raised their children in Red River Station, TX, where there was school. John very much valued education and would see to it that all his daughters completed their schooling.
As the government was readying the Oklahoma Indian Territory to open up, John took Lurena and their young growing family to Arkansas City, KS, to await the great opening of the Indian Territory. John became a notorious member of the Oklahoma Sooner movement.
John also knew that his service in the war would allow him to take three years off of a homestead and would also grant him twice the acreage allotted when he was given a homestead.
Lurena gave birth to their fourth and last child in Arkansas City. John and Lurena gave her the name Oklahoma in keeping with many in that town who named their children after the future state.
Sadly, before John and Lurena could realize their dream of settling in the Oklahoma Territory, Lurena passed away. Family legend said that Lurena choked on a chicken bone and died. The newspaper reported that she died of a heart condition. Either way, it left the family devastated.
Soon after her death, a heart broken John saw that the dream of moving to Oklahoma was not in the cards and the family removed themselves on Dec. 11th, 1887, to Gila Bend, AZ, arriving by Dec. 16th, 1887, to start a successful cattle business.
Because of the move, the knowledge of where Lurena was buried was lost to the family and only found thanks to the hard work of Findagrave.com contributors like Judy Mayfield, who started this memorial by documenting graves in her local cemeteries. The family thanks Judy for helping us tell a chapter of our family history and remembering an American pioneer.
Also, the family would like to thank another Findagrave volunteer, Swede, for cleaning the headstone and updating the inscriptions and photos.
Inscription
Lurany L.
Wife of John S
Anderson
died
Sept. 28, 1887
37 Years 5 Months 20 Days
He's come to welcome home his bride
To everlasting rest.
Adorned with glory by his side,
She's passed the solemn test.
ANDERSON
