William H. Hager and Ida Miller were married near Bluff City, Kansas, 
  April 27, 1892. To this union were born six boys and two girls: Chester
  1895, Iro 1898, August 1900, George 1902, Nina 1905, William 1908, John
  1911, and Elva 1914.
     My father made the run in the Cherokee Strip in 1889 and proved up
  the claim. Later he managed the Waldron Ranch near Waldron, Kansas. In
  1905, they bought land eight iles south of Cherokee, Oklahoma.
     In 1913 they bought 560 acres twelve miles northwest of Hardtner,
  Kansas, from Mr. Princehouse, and leased the Decker Ranch adjoining the
  Hager land.
     The three oldest sons, Chester, Iro, and August, raised cattle and
  farmed this ranch from 1913 to 1921. Then the family moved from south of
  Cherokee to Barber County by loading farm machinery, furniture, chickens,
  and all the things a family accumulates in twenty nine years on hayracks,
  heaer barges, and grain wagons for the move to Barber County. My Mother
  and two sisters packed the fragile household items in the 1917 Hupmobile
  for the trip over the rutty roads and trails.
     The first day we got to Driftwood, Oklahoma on Halloween night. The
  next morning, one set of harness was missing. We went up Main Street
  looking for it. We found the harness on the top of a flag pole at a street
  intersection. The second night we stayed at the livery stable in Hardtner.
     The three oldest sons had married. Chester moved to the Hager land. Iro
  rented a farm. And August managed the Moffet Brothers Ranch, south of Cold-
  water. Our new home was the Decker Ranch house. Nina went to high school in
  Anthony and college in Alva.
     The three youngest children attended the Eldred Grade School, three and 
  one half miles away. It was a rule at the Hager's:"The day you started to 
  school you were assigned a cow to milk, and were required to carry in wood
  and coal for cooking and heating stoves." After milking eight to twenty one
  Jersey cows and usual chores, we had a choice: hook up a buggy, ride horses,
  or walk to school. We did all three, depending on the weather.
     George married and moved to the east end of the Decker Ranch.
     In 1926 father bought a house in Hardtner so we could attend school. He
  and August sold Rumely tractors and combines. Father served as mayor of
  Hardtner and worked to sign up families to establish the Achenbach Memorial
  Hospital.
     On April 27, 1942, my parents celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniver-
  sary. All of their sons and daughters were present. They later moved to 
  Alva. My father passed away in 1947 and mother in 1963. Chester, John, August, 
  Nina Morris, and Elva Cox are still living.
  
  
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 211 
     Submitted by: John L. Hager