In a message dated 3/21/01 6:20:17 AM Mountain Standard Time, clilleyjohnson@webtv.net writes: << If I am not mistaken Herbert Friend was the president of the Historical Society here in Holdenville for many years. He was instrumental in getting the museum running as well as the Historical Society. There should be lots of info on him at the library here. >> and Vickie Neill Taylor added: <<For what it's worth...Mrs. FRIEND told me that they were all in the Hughes County area. Let me know if I can help further.>> This is turning into a fascinating timeline -- an excellent example of how different branches of the family lose touch as the generations pass, especially when there were many children born over a long period of time. Will gladly supply more details to anyone who is interested, but -- while I'm off chasing new clues -- here's the condensed version that focuses on the story rather than the individuals: Thomas Chelton FRIEND [1833 - 1920] and Malinda Lowry FILBERT [1837-1897] had 9 children. The oldest and youngest died before they left Missouri. One daughter [#6 in birth order] remains unaccounted for, but the other six moved to O.T. between 1889 and 1891. Siblings #2 through #5 were already married when the extended family moved to O.T., while #7 & #8 [the youngest daughters] were still living at home when the family moved and married neighboring homesteaders. All six stayed in the Arcadia/Luther area long enough to prove their claims and receive their patents, but the land there was poor and 160 acres really couldn't support a family so they soon started to scatter. From the burials in the family cemetery, I suspect Malinda's death was the final blow -- but I've used patent dates to determine the last time one of them was known to be in the area. #1 died in Gentry Co., MO in 1871. #2 died in Oklahoma Co., OK in 1912 [this is my line]. #3 left the Arcadia/Luther area between 1895 and 1900, after his wife died, and was in SD by 1920. #4 left the Arcadia/Luther area between 1894 and 1900, and was in ID by 1920. #5 was William Lincoln FRIEND, father of the above-mentioned Herbert. He left the Arcadia/Luther area between 1895 and 1900, was in Osage Co. for a while, but was listed in his father's 1920 obituary only as living "over in the Creek Country". #6 is the one who apparently married or died before the rest of the family came to O.T. #7 married a homesteader and stayed in the area until her death in 1957. #8 married a homesteader and stayed in the area until after 1930, died in CA in 1953. #9 died in infancy, in MO. The children who survived to adulthood, married, and had children of their own were born from 1856 through 1875 and some of the next generation also had spread-out families. By the late 1940s [my earliest memories], only the descendants of #2, #7, & #8 remained in the Arcadia/Luther area. My grandmother's address book from the mid-50s shows no entries for anyone in those branches of the family that had moved away before she was married. Even my mother thought that William Lincoln FRIEND had left the state. But Hughes Co.???? So near, and yet so far.... Sharon McAllister