THE STEVENS FAMILY of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma

THE STEVENS FAMILY of OKLAHOMA

William Wallace Stevens and Mary Elizabeth Cason Hartley Stevens were living in Jefferson, Texas, Marion County, when James Cully Stevens was born on February 1, 1891. Jefferson is an historical little town in Texas 38 miles from Shreveport, Louisiana. In the 1800's it resembled Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri more than it did its Texas neighbors to the West. Instead of ranchers and cowboys, there were lumbermen, river boat captains and dockhands. It has been described as a geographic wonderland. There are bayous, swamps, alligators and eagles and it boasts of being home to two of Texas’ most beautiful lakes. Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in Texas and Lake O’ the Pines with it’s tall loblolly pines and hardwood trees which are especially loved by the eagles. The United State’s census of 1900, shows them to be living in Mansfield, Louisiana which is about 63 miles from Jefferson, Texas. Mary’s children from a previous marriage, Joe B., Willie, & Alene Hartley were living with them as were William’s children, Lawrence and Dannie Stevens, from a previous marriage. Mansfield, Louisiana, De Soto Parish, is an historical town about 31 miles from Shreveport. It was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the Civil War. The town is noted for it’s quiet southern charm and antebellum mansions.

James Cully Stevens obituary shows the family having moved north to the new state of Oklahoma in 1907. He was 16 years of age. Half-brothers, Joe B., and Willie Hartley came with them. Half-brother Lawrence Stevens, Half Sister Dannie Stevens, and Half-sister, Aline Hartley chose not to come. The family came by train and brought their cattle with them. They settled in McAlester, Oklahoma area which is about 232 miles from Mansfield, Louisiana. The three boys went to work in the coal mines. A mining accident claimed the life of Joe B. Hartley in 1916.

James Cully Stevens loved music. At the age of 9, he made a violin and taught himself to play. He returned to the Shreveport area on occasion and wrote postcards telling of attending band concerts. On November 4, 1915, he wrote the following card to his halfbrother, Willie. His picture is on the front of the card sitting in a car with his friends Palley and Frank Bickham. Frank was the husband of his half-sister, Aline.

“Well I will report this morning. I am still around here. I’m having some time. The fair is fine. How do you like my car? I had a ride in the (unknown word) lift last night. Believe me that was a stunt. Did you get my last report card? We had our dance last night. This is a fine town. I’m sure glad I came down.” CS
On the picture he wrote, “Do you hear the band playing? Listen.”

James Cully Stevens & Aran Lee Arndt Stevens
Cully, as he was known, was well liked by the Italian immigrants that had come to Krebs, Oklahoma to work in the mines. He used his musical talents calling and playing at squaredances. In those days, pie suppers and or box-suppers went along with square-dancing. They were excuses for neighbors to get together and visit. The women would bake pies or make dinners for the pie supper, and men would bid on the boxes, trying to buy the one that a certain lady made (this was especially fun for young men or women who might be courting each other or thinking about it). Then the man who bought the box had the privilege of sitting and eating with the woman who made it. It was at one such event that Cully met a beautiful little German-American Indian girl by the name of Aran Lee Arndt born April 21, 1898. He bid the highest on her supper and they ate together that night. She was the daughter of a prominent farming family that lived in the Blue Community approximately 6 miles west of McAlester. Her father, William M. Arndt and her mother, Mary Ellen Jones Arndt shared two acres of their land to build the Blue Community School House. It was used for all community affairs, church, fellowships, and of course school.

After that first meeting, Aran’s brothers, Fred, Bill, Joe, and Gordon walked her home and related the events of the evening to their father. He was not at all happy about Aran having dinner with such an older man. She was 17 and Cully was 24. The spark that was ignited that night between this handsome couple was not to be put out though, and on July, 2, 1916, Cully and Aran became man and wife. Cully built her a big white house. She described it as the biggest and best in that part of the country. There, they started their family. J. C., John, and Mary were their first children.

In 1921, they had a life changing experience. Rev. George W. Brown of Fort Smith, Arkansas came to the Blue Community School and held a revival. They gave their hearts and lives to The Lord and that was the beginning of a more fulfilled beautiful life for them. Cully was called into the ministry of Jesus Christ. He became good friends with Brother Scott, grandfather of U.S. Representative, Carl Albert. Brother Scott invited him to speak at his revivals. Cully began holding revivals all over that part of the country. He walked or went by horseback in those early days. Many of his revivals began churches. The Pentecostal Holiness Church of Cromwell, Oklahoma is one that is still in progress. Cully felt compelled to go into the ministry full time. He was ordained a Minister of the Gospel, January 30, 1923. J. C. And John, as little boys, helped run the farm in his absence. As the family grew, Mary, Leon, Monroe, Willie, Pearla, Woodrow, and Joe, worked and supported the family while their father laid up treasures in heaven. During The Great Depression, they always had plenty and were able to assist less fortunate people.
The rest of their life story is told in the following pages in pictures and articles.
I am so proud to be their granddaughter.
Charlotte Stevens Schneider

James Cully Stevens is interred in the Blue Cemetery, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma (approximately 7 miles west of McAlester, Pittsburg, Oklahoma

This is the Record of the Christian Life of Rev. James Cully Stevens and his Wife Aran Lee Arndt Stevens

In the year of 1921, we lived west of McAlester, Oklahoma in a little community called “Blue.” We had three lovely little children, J.C., John A., and Mary Lee. We had a nice home and everything we thought that would make us happy. The Lord sent a family into our community by the name of Spurrier and we became real friends. Sister Effie Spurrier was the first Pentecostal Holiness person that we had ever met. She would come to our home and visit with us and talk about the Lord. We had never been saved and I would wonder why she was so faithful to come and visit with us. My husband would play the violin and her son, Edgar, would play the guitar. They would just play worldy music but each time before they would leave to go home, Sister Spurrier would ask them to play “In the Sweet By and By” and “When the Roll is Called up Yonder” or some other Christian song and she would sing. A few months later, Sister Spurrier’s mother and father, Brother and Sister Luna moved to our community, too. He was a Pentecostal Holiness preacher. They held church services in the Blue School House and prayer meetings in Sister Spurrier’s home. We would go to the services. In February of 1921, a young Preacher, Rev. George W. Brown from Fort Smith, Arkansas, came by and held a Revival in the Blue School House. We were wonderfully saved. It was the greatest Experience that had ever taken place in our lives. In fact, it just seemed like we had just begun to live. Old things had passed away and all things had become like new. We lost all desire for the worldy things that we had once enjoyed. In July 1921, Husband was sanctified in a camp meeting in Oklahoma City and The Lord called him to preach The Gospel. He was baptized with the Holy Ghost one afternoon at home in January 1922 while we were praying for a message to preach in his first Revival. I was sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost in December 1921 in a little Pentecostal Holiness Mission in McAlester, Oklahoma. We had our home and about 600 acres of land with cattle and horses but we began to sell them and go out in revivals for the Lord. We saw many people saved and sanctified and filled with The Holy Ghost. Many sick people were healed. The Lord blessed us with a wonderful family. We had seven sons and two daughters. The Lord took one of our little sons home to Heaven. Little Willie Abraham Stevens when he was only sixteen months old. We were in a revival at the Cabiness School House when the Lord called him home. We couldn’t understand why we had to give him up but we knew that The Lord does all things well. We went right on working for The Lord and raised our children in service for The Lord. Eight of our children are still living, J.C., John A., Mary Lee, Leon,

Monroe, Pearla Mae, Woodrow, and Joe. They are all saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost and working for the Lord, helping to finish the work that their father started in 1921 when he was busy preaching and talking to everyone he met about The Lord and His saving power. Husband had his first heart attack in 1948. We had moved back to McAlester from California and he was sick the next five years. He was unable to preach revivals but he never failed to attend services and witness for The Lord. We moved back to California in 1953. Our children were all married then and some of them live in California and some lived in Oklahoma. The last Camp meeting he attended was in Madera, California. Rev. George Byus was the conference superintendent and Rev. Nash was the Camp meeting speaker. We attended the Richmond Pentecostal Holiness Church where Brother and Sister Slater were Pastors. They both were so nice to us. I will always love them. We went to prayer meeting on Thursday night and he was really sick when we got home. We began to pray and the power of The Lord was so great and the Holy Ghost began to speak. The scripture came to me where the leper came to Jesus and said, “Lord if Thou wilt, Thou can make me clean.” Jesus said, “I will be thou clean,” and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. I was so sure that The Lord had healed Cully. I said, “Honey, The Lord has given me a witness that he has healed you tonight.” He arose from his knees and said, “ I do feel a lot better,” so we went to bed and he slept all night. The next morning he felt sick again so in the afternoon I called the children. They came and called the doctor. The doctor thought we should take him to the hospital but he didn’t want to go then. That night he got really sick so we took him to the hospital. In the afternoon, August 8, 1953, The Lord took him Home to Heaven from the Richmond hospital. We were all so broken hearted. The children all came and we took his body back to McAlester, Oklahoma and laid him to rest in the Blue Cemetery until the day of the resurrection when Jesus returns for His Bride. I felt so alone and depressed. I couldn’t understand why I felt so sure that The Lord had healed him the night we prayed.
So one night as I prayed, The Lord just seem to speak to me and say, “Don’t worry anymore, I healed him for all eternity. I had his reward ready. Would you want someone else to get his reward? He has finished his work for Me and now he is at rest with Me in Heaven. Would you want to call him back into that world of trouble and sorrow?”
I waited a few minutes and said, “Oh, no Lord, Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to call him back into this old world if I could,” and from that night until now, I have never felt bad and sorry for myself.
Oh yes, I get lonesome at times and feel all alone but I just begin to pray and praise The Lord. He always blesses and encourages my heart to go right on and work for Him, until He has my reward ready. As the song I am listening to right now, “I want to stroll over Heaven with you,” will be real then. We were married on July 2, 1916 and he went home to be with Jesus on August 8, 1953. We had 37 wonderful years together but now I am looking forward to the life eternal where we will be together again with The Lord. My children are all such a blessing to me. They have all shared their homes with me. My six Daughters-in-law, Pauline, Joan, Cora Lee, Donna, Pat, and Georgia are just like my own daughters and my two Sons-in-law, Fred Griffith and Eugene Browne are just like my own sons. I have 35 grandchildren. The Lord took one to heaven. Little John Cully Stevens. He was born March 31, 1940 and went to be with Jesus on October 12, 1944. Our other grandchildren are all so precious to me, Charlotte, David, Paul, Michael, Samuel Jay, Danny, Brenda, Cully, Freddie, Frankie, Linda, James, Mary Lee, Leon Dee, John, Priscilla, Douglas, Carolyn Jo, Timothy, Joe David, Janice, Gary, Kathy. Karen, Freddie, Steven Jay, Kenneth, Patti, Peggy, Pamela, Padgett, Rita Jo, Connie and Mark. I have 13 great grandchildren, Shari Dee, Brent, Johnny, Aran Lee, Wayne, Kandy, Shauna, Frankie Leon, Kimberly, Lori, Michelle, Tricia, Heidi, Jeffery Todd and Jamie Beth. I have a full time job visiting and helping my children and grandchildren. Twelve of my grandchildren are married so I have twelve grandchildren-in-laws, Gary Schneider, Don King, Betty Griffith, Judy Griffith, Jolene Stevens, Sharon Stevens, Ted Froese, Courtney Light, Harley Tinnin, Gary Rhynes, Donna Stevens, and Lavonda Stevens. Each night as I pray, I call them all by name and ask The Lord to let the Guardian Angel protect, keep them, and work out every problem in their lives. They all have been taught about The Lord all of their lives so I have the wonderful promise in the Word of God that not one will be lost. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” St. John 15:7 says “If ye abide in Me and My Word abides in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you.” St. John 14:13 says, “And whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name, that will I do that The Father may be glorified in The Son.” St. John 14:14 says, “If ye shall ask anything in My Name, I will do it.” So what more could we ask for than the great promises in The Word of God? I am so happy for the wonderful life The Lord has blessed our family with. I can never thank and praise Him enough. I have been blessed with good health and the desire of my heart is to be in service for The Lord. I would love to be in church services every night to testify for The Lord and listen to singing and preaching of the Gospel and help pray for lost souls to be saved.

Aran Lee Stevens
Transcribed by: Charlotte Stevens Schneider, Granddaughter
Aran Arndt Stevens is interred in the Blue Cemetery, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, approximated 7 miles west of McAlester, Oklahoma

Monroe Franklin Stevens

Monroe Franklin Stevens was born August 15, 1924 in Krebs, Oklahoma, the fifth child to devoted Christian parents, James Cully and Aran Lee Stevens. They lived in the McAlester, Oklahoma area until 1936 at which time they moved west to California.

During World War II in 1944, Monroe was inducted into the United States Navy. He was first stationed in the state of Idaho and later was sent to Bremerton, Washington for training. It was a sad time for the close knit Stevens’ family when he had to leave. It was especially hard for his Mother so it was no surprise when he opened his luggage after arriving at camp to find that she had slipped The Gospel of St. John in his belongings. Each night before retiring he began reading it. It had such a profound effect on his life that he became convicted of the way he had been living and a change started taking place in his life.

On his first liberty, (naval military term for authorized leave), Monroe and a fellow sailor went to Seattle, Washington. As they were walking down the street early on a Sunday morning, they met a little lady handing out Gospel tracts and inviting servicemen to go to church. They promised her that they would go. As they were walking around in the heart of the city, they came upon a church with a sign on the front that read, “Jesus Saves”, so they went inside. It was there that Monroe found the peace that passes all understanding. In the following days, he hungered for a deeper experience with God. He was invited to a prayer meeting in a private home. As he was seeking God, he fell prostrate before the Lord and was sanctified and had a vision of lost souls. Six months later, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. From that time on, his greatest desire and ambition in life was to win the lost to Jesus.

He went overseas for two years. He was very faithful to hand out Gospel tracts and witness to everyone about God’s saving power. He conducted Bible studies, worked in army hospitals, and did whatever he could to share the Gospel. Many men were saved through his witnessing. He has a large book of testimonies from some of those who found the Lord thanking him for telling them of so great a salvation. In 1946, he was discharged from the navy.

In 1947, he met and married his lifelong mate, Donna Jean Whetstone of Riverbank, California. They are the parents of three children, Janice, Gary, and Kathy. Together, they evangelized for the first five years of their marriage. He then began pasturing churches; four years in Richmond, California, two years in Fresno, California, two years in Bakersfield, California, over fifteen years in Antioch, California, and eight years in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He also has served as Pentecostal Holiness board member, and assistant superintendent of both northern and southern California conferences. He has been the main speaker for camp meetings in several states, held revivals in Australia and Hawaii.

Monroe has always loved people from every walk of life and loved ministering to those who were considered undesirables. He preached on street corners and in rescue missions. He found great joy in supplying food and clothing for the needy, even to the extent of inviting them into his own home. He loves visiting rest homes and hospitals, praying and seeing God minister to them in body, soul, and spirit. He was never too busy to go wherever he was needed, day or night. I believe he has won as many or more people to the Lord outside the Church as he has in it. It was not uncommon for people to give their hearts to God in homes where he went to visit. Many miracles of healing have occurred through his Ministry.

I have been his wife for fifty-seven years and have never known a more dedicated person to God. I’m aware he is human but I believe it could be said of him as it was said of King David, “he is a man after God’s own heart.”

Donna Whetstone Stevens
Transcribed by: Charlotte Stevens Schneider, Niece of Rev. Monroe F. Stevens

Rev. Stevens passed away 21 February 2005. Interred at the Resurrection Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Joe B. Hartley
Rope Rider is killed in mine at Richville

Joe B. Hartley, American Miner, 30 years of age and rope rider at the Osage mine in Richville, was caught between the side of a moving trip and the wall of the mine and instantly killed late Saturday afternoon.

There were no eyewitnesses to the accident, the first intimation of anything wrong being when the engineer on top knew from the action of the engine that the trip coming up the slope had been derailed.

After considerable time had elapsed the rope rider did not appear, men went down and found his body crushed between the cars and the side of the mine slope. The supposition is that when the trip derailed the light on his cap went out, leaving him in darkness. Becoming confused, it is thought he got off on the wrong side of the trip, there being plenty of room on the other side where the bell wires were located. Another theory is that he might have lost his balance and fallen from the trip. The deceased was unmarried and is survived by his mother, who lives eight miles west of the city. He was a resident of the north side.

Joe Hartley was born at Mississippi, 18 August 1880, the son of Daniel H. Hartley and Mary Elizabeth Hartley Stevens. He died, 30 September 1916 at Richville, Oklahoma coal mine. He was the step-son of William Wallace Stevens

Joe Hartley is buried in Blue Cemetery (AKA) Arndt Cemetery, Pittsburg County, approximately 7 miles west of McAlester, Oklahoma.

Submitted by Charlotte Stevens Schneider: Half-Grandniece of Joe B. Hartley