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Parkey Family History
By: Millard Houston & Lilly Mae Parkey
For some time I have been trying to trace back the family tree of James Harvey Parkey who is my grandfather and my grandmother Matilda Randall, his wife. Ancestors - several Parkeys - uncle, cousins living in Oklahoma, but now have died. Back in my childhood I remember seeing part of them.
Well now my story changes. Last August 14, 1975 my wife Lillie Mae and I went to visit our youngest daughter. She is Vera Faye Parkey -Lynn Passed away Mar 10 1980 and she lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She had begged us for several months to come out and visit her and family. We had been putting off going as we were not financially able but we made our mind to go. I had wanted for so long to take my companion out to Oklahoma to let her see for herself what a beautiful country it is. I had told her about it, as of course I have stated above I had lived out there two different times 1909 to 1913-1915. We had our crops all under control.
Our five children Edward Lee, Clara Jean, Howard, Lowell and Vera Faye were begging us to take a vacation and go see Vera Faye as we had never visited her. The children said if we would go they would all help pay our way. I think by doing that we would go -they wanted us to get away from the farm and get some rest. Then they all began to beg us to go on the airplane. Well, that was something else. We had never experienced a plane trip before.
So on August 14, 1975 myself 73 years old and my wife 68 boarded the airplane, the big jet on The Delta Air Line at Lexington at 8:20 A. M. Well, the funny thing happened - we just got started, Lowell was taking us to Lexington. He ran out of gas at 6:30 A. M. He called on his C. B. radio for gas but before they got there we saw Carl Slavey pull up at his gas station and was just down the street. I went up there and got gas. We really were getting worried and were wondering if we would make it before our plane left. But we were still determined to go by plane. We would not let all of this get us upset.
Our maximum height was 28,000 feet, but going over Kansas we ran into a rain cloud. They told all passengers to keep our seats and not be alarmed, we would go up to 35,000 feet which is seven miles above the earth. Some people had told us not to look out but we did and we really enjoyed the ride. Out first stop was Chicago, Illinois. We were there about two hours then on to Oklahoma City where our daughter met us at the airport.
While there in Oklahoma City Vera took us to several places of importance. While there we took the phone directory and looked up all Parkey names that we right locate some of our relatives. We were lucky - first one we called was in Temple, Oklahoma, my second cousin Don Parkey. He told us his Uncle Fred Parkey lived in Iowa Park, Texas. Since then Don and Son passed away of which we are very sorry. We did enjoy our visit with them.
Fred Parkey invited us to visit them at the old home place. His parents, my Uncle Randall and Aunt Matilda Parkey, also this was the house my father Jesse Payton Parkey passed away the year of 1920, Uncle Randall is deceased. Aunt Matilda is in a rest home near Temple, Oklahoma. We were very sorry we did not see her. Vera Faye our daughter and children Michelle and Wendy took us over to Temple, Oklahoma, to visit our relatives and Fred and his wife Mildred Parkey met us at the farm or his home of Uncle Randall and Matilda Parkey.
No one lives there but the children have remodeled the dwelling house. It is a beautiful place and the family often meets there to visit. We really enjoyed our visit with them. There they told us of their family and asked about our family. Fred and Mildred brought food and we spent the night there. It was sad to me for in February 8, 1920 my father died in that house with influenza. This place was twenty-six miles from Grandfield, Oklahoma. I did want to go there too for I had lived there or close there sixty-five years ago. Vera said for me not to worry about it, she would get us there some way.
So I was talking to Fred about it after we ate supper and Fred and his wife Mildred said they would take us all over there to Grandfield. I was so glad to be in the city of Grandfield, Oklahoma again. Of course, as I have stated before, I had been there when just a little barefoot boy. I wanted to go on out to Fort Auger where we children Ollie, Ethel and I had gone to school - Hattie our youngest sister wasn't old enough to go. Fred took us out to Fort Auger. When we got there we, Fred, Vera, myself and wife visited the Old Fort Auger Schoolhouse. Someone had begun tearing it down. But it brought back many precious memories of when I went to school there.
When I went inside I could recall so many things and the building looked natural, but it was decaying as the school had been consolidated and no one lived around. It had probably not been used for thirty-five or forty years or maybe longer. Fred didn't seem to know. While inside I picked up two pieces of four inch board that had been used as ceiling and one brick from the flue. Vera got one just for a keepsake.
The house we lived in was a short distance, maybe one half mile from the schoolhouse. I was surprised to see that the dwelling house was still standing but it was gradually crumbling down. Now that it was getting late and the evening sun was just going down - my wife was standing in the yard said, "Millard the sun is going down. " Oh, it was so pretty and I was made glad that she got to see this for I had often told her that when the sun went down that the country was so level - looked like as the song says, the sun was sinking in the golden west, We were so glad to be blest of the grand opportunity to make this trip.
We know the Lord answers many prayers and we know that was one, we had prayed to make this trip. Now it was getting late in the afternoon, so we had to go back to Temple, At Fred's old home place, after spending the night there, next morning went with Fred and Mildred his wife to their home at Iowa Park, Texas. We ate dinner with them and bidding them goodbye we headed for Oklahoma City where Vera lived.
On Friday, my companion and I decided to come back home. So we had Vera take us to catch a bus. We headed for Somerset and arrived at 7:00 P. M. , leaving behind so far away our youngest daughter and family. May God bless her until we meet again.
Dear children, we as your father and mother love you all very much. We may never be permitted to take another trip by plane or by bus to visit you that are far away, but some day probably the near future, your Daddy and Mother will take a long trip to never return until Jesus comes again. Please children and grandchildren, will you try to meet us over there.
Your Dad and Mom,
Millard and Lillie Mae Parkey

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