We had six visitors this week. Two ladies from New York City, New York, staying at the Lucky Star Casino that were here visiting family. They walked from the Casino to the museum for a tour. They are to be admired for doing so. Then a couple from Minco, Oklahoma, that were out and about celebrating their 62nd. wedding anniversary and they decided to come see the museum. A couple staying at Roman Nose looked online for something to do and found the Ferguson Home. They really seemed to like the house and were impressed with the organs.
There is a Singer sewing machine on the third floor. I did research on the serial number and it was manufactured in 1866 making it 156 years old. The manual is still with it and the name on the inside front page says Augusta Loosen, Omega, Oklahoma. Isaac Singer manufactured the first one in the year 1850 in Boston and incurring a debt of $40, they were sold for $100. They quickly became popular because of their unbreakable needle, being able to sew for a long time without breaking the thread, and its mechanism for grabbing the fabric. There were other sewing machines made before Singer. With this feature being mentioned it makes me wonder if they didn’t have the mechanism for grabbing the fabric. One of the selling points was that it took about fourteen hours to sew a man’s shirt by hand but it only took an hour and sixteen minutes with a Singer machine. This is from one of the advertisements for the Singer Sewing Machine, “But the most celebrated of all ‘Singers’ is the SINGER SEWING MACHINE. It sings in every language; its cheering and thrifty tones are heard in the modest cottages of every land and climate, no less than in the abodes where luxury and wealth abound. This ‘Singer’ is the friend of all women, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. Great vocalists have sung to thousands; but this great ‘Singer’ is now singing to millions. No one is too rich to be above needing one, and no one is too poor to own one of these untiring helpmeets, which sings sweetly (but not loudly) while it works. The Singer Manufacturing Co.” The little bit of history also stated Isaac Singer had 22 children with five different women.
Mrs. Ferguson writes in her book ``They Carried the Torch,” the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes went on the war path because one of their number was put in a white man’s jail. They came silently nearer and nearer surrounding the little unprotected frontier town. The council fires were burning and tom toms were beating as the sun sank below the horizon. An Indian raid and possible massacre had to be faced by the citizens. After dark the women and children were gathered and placed in the big wooden courthouse and surrounded by armed citizens as guards. Under cover of darkness an armed messenger mounted on a pony was dispatched to Fort Reno, more than forty miles away for a detachment of soldiers to come to the rescue. Those of us who watched and waited in the court house will never forget that night. All the stories heard about Indian massacres passed through our minds making the situation tense and full of anticipation, not knowing what minutes they might choose to strike. Along towards morning, the soldiers galloped into sight and what joy we experienced. Many of the old warriors in the tribes had on other occasions come into contact with Uncle Sam’s soldiers and knew how straight they could shoot. These Indians advised the members of their tribes to return peaceably to the allotments. This was the last occasion that the town had any cause to fear the Indians. Howling Wolf was taken to another county and placed in jail. He later escaped during a jailbreak.”
Don’t forget the upcoming Trades Day from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on June 11 and July 9, 2022. Bring your surplus garden vegetables, flowers, yard tools, crafts, knitting, crochet quilts, baked goods, jellies and jams. Any animal must be on a leash or in a cage. Any one that wants to become a member of Friends of Ferguson Home is welcome. You don’t have to be a member to volunteer. If you can only help with one program or project we welcome you.