Around the year 1885 my grandparents, Samuel and his wife, the former
     Lucretia Jane Bailey, came to Barber County, Kansas. They left their
     home and birthplace near Shawnee-town, Illinois. They came by way of
     Missouri. They settled near Coats, Kansas.
       They brought with them their six children, four boys and two girls.
     My father, William Roy, was their oldest boy, and he continued his
     elementary education at Coats. Later, he attended college at Emporia
     State Teachers College. He taught school for ten years in Barber County
     and Oklahoma. While teaching school at Sharon, Kansas, he met the girl
     who was to become his wife and my mother. She was Dora Rogers, daughter
     of James A. Rogers and his wife, the former Ellen Tatum, another pioneer
     family who had migrated from near Rome, Georgia, around 1885.
       My parents were married in 1901, and later moved across the Kansas line
     into Oklahoma Territory. This was called the Cherokee Strip and in 1907,
     became the state of Oklahoma.
       I was born there in 1906, a year before it became a state. When I was
     eight years of age, in 1914, our family moved to Kiowa. I had three
     brothers and two sisters. We all attended high school at Kiowa and graduated
     there. I attended Kansas State Teachers College at Emporia and taught school
     for several years.
       In 1927 I married Dwight Buckles from Hazelton, Kansas. He was the son
     of Warren Buckles and Clara (Parker) Buckles and grandson of Eli and
     Elizabeth Gibson Buckles. They had migrated from Russell County, Virginia,
     around 1880. Dwight continued to farm along with other occupations. He also
     worked at the Port of Entry at Kiowa and Boeing Aircraft at Wichita.
       I feel privileged to have lived during his part of the progress in the
     making of our country. I remember when the only transportation was by
     horseback and horse and buggy. It took a complete day to go 20 miles. When
     cars first came out, they had curtains to put on the sides instead of
     windows to roll up and down. There were no paved roads or even gravel. We
     might have a wooden cross walk in a city.
       When radios first came out, we used earphones with them. We did not have
     refrigerators, washing machines, irons, or other electric appliances. Our
     ice was delivered to our house by the iceman to be put into our icebox. I
     cannot remember when we did not have electric lights and a telephone. I 
     started driving the car when I was fourteen years old as we did not need
     a license then, at any age.
       We have three children: Curtis, with Cessna Aircraft in Wichita; Merrill,
     who is in Law Enforcement at Amarillo, Texas. He married Caroly Sue Alley
     of Kiowa, Kansas, and they have three boys and two girls. Mauricia, whose
     husband, Roy Reeves, is with Boeing Aircraft at Wichita, Kansas. They have
     two boys and two girls. We have give great-grandchildren and expect another
     soon.
       We have all lived a great part of our lives in Barber County, Kansas. We
     return there for reunions, picnics, and every occasion that we can get back
     for. We have fond memories of the school gatherings, family reunions, and
     hope to retire there some day.
                 
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 224 
     Submitted by: Gladys (Hendricks) Buckles