Goodwin/Shattuck, Oklahoma
6
The first home (1904) of William and Martha (Cordes) Kirmse was a sod house as is shown in the following 1910 photo[1].
This 12ft x 18ft sod house was on the relinquished homestead that William and Martha purchased after their wedding. Amenities were an absolute minimal. There was no indoor plumbing – water for domestic use was hauled from a nearby spring in a 50 gallon barrel on a sled which was pulled by horses. There was no shed for animals and no outhouse. And, critters lived in the sod walls.
Where
Goodwin, Ellis County, Oklahoma Territory – The William and Martha Kirmse homestead was about 1 mile east of Goodwin and about 6 miles southeast of Shattuck.
Notes
- KIRMSE, WILHELM (WILLIAM) family biography, from “Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County 1893-1975” by the Cherokee Strip Volunteer League, 1976. p.138.