Grace Lenora Showalter and Francis Simmons Irvine
FRANCIS SIMMONS IRVINE, son of MARY R. GOFF and GEORGE A. IRVINE, was born August 19, 1868 in Clinton County, Missouri,10476 and died September 9, 1940 in Lincoln County, Oklahoma.10476 He is buried in Prague Cemetery, Lincoln County, Oklahoma.456
He married GRACE LENORA SHOWALTER on October 12, 1902.10476 She was born August 1, 1871 in Centerville, Appanoose, Iowa,10642 and died September 11, 1960 in Prague, Lincoln, Oklahoma.10642 She is buried in Prague Cemetery, Lincoln County, Oklahoma.456
Children of GRACE LENORA SHOWALTER and FRANCIS SIMMONS IRVINE:
- RUTH IMOGENE IRVINE, b. September 12, 1903, Prague, Lincoln, Oklahoma;456, 10648 m. MILTON MALCOLM MERSHON on June 13, 1925 in Masonic Temple, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Oklahoma6738; d. January 3, 1994.456
- ESTHER LEE IRVINE, b. June 26, 1905;456 m. JOSEPH MICHAEL OBSIVAC on December 25, 1929 in Oklahoma7377; d. March 31, 1990.456
- GEORGE SAMUEL IRVINE, b. February 2, 1907;250 m. KATHRYN ADELAIDE JOBE on July 1, 1934 in St. Augustine Church, Oakland, Alameda, California10644; d. December 24, 1976, Alameda County, California.250
George
Newspaper Articles
Prague News-Record, August 15, 195610648
Mrs. Grace Irvine Recall Early Life In Prague
I was born Grace L. Showalter in 1871 near Centerville, Iowa, the county seat of Appanoose county. My father and mother both were school teachers.
When I was about four years old my parents sold our farm and moved to Lennox, Taylor county, and father clerked in a store owned by mother's cousin. Father's wages were $40.00 a month and mother saved $20.00 of that.
I and my brother George, who was just older than me, were inseparable companions and when he started to school I tagged along with him although I was only four years old. Mother went to talk to the teacher about my attending school and the teacher said the school was not crowded and to let me stay.
Tired of clerking my father decided to sell our home and to go back to Appanoose county where we lived with my mother's folks while father went to Kansas in search of farmland. He bought a half section about 18 miles southeast of Wichita and came back for the family. Deciding to make the trip overland father bought a team of mules and a new wagon. While he was in Kansas for land he lived across the road from a school where my mother taught her first school. A Mr. Hicks was the teacher and again my brother and I started to school. Mother taught the spring term so I had three different teachers before I was five years old.
I was five the first of August and on the seventh we started our trek to Kansas. My mother's parents, equipped with team and wagon and a Mr. Wade and wife and child accompanied us. Mr. Wake took along an extra wagon to haul household goods so there were four wagons enroute.
Arriving in Kansas the 27th of August we stayed with the nearest neighboring family until father could haul lumber from Wichita and build a house. The house was a one-room affair with space above for storing trunks and other articles. It was built with the idea of using it for a barn later, but we lived in it for eight years.
Father was instrumental in building a school house in the center of the district and grandfather taught two winter terms with mother's sister teaching the spring term. Later I taught three years in the same school house where I had gone while my grandfather and aunt were teaching. My sister, Edith, taught two years there also.
In 1889 I started to school at All Hollows Academy, now Mt. Carmel, in Wichita. In May of that year I joined the Catholic church.
When the Cherokee Strip was opened for settlement my brother decided to make the run. He asked me to accompany him and I jumped at the chance. We entered at Honeywell, Kansas, and slept on the ground that night with a tarpaulin for bed and cover. We made the run in a spring wagon with a team of fast horses but were not fortunate in locating a claim although we did have an exciting adventure.
I decided to be a school teacher so after spending 25 months at All Hollows Academy I started to school at Kansas State Teacher's College in Emporia, Kansas. I taught and went to school, graduating in June, 1902. The following October I was married to Frank Irvine, my childhood sweetheart. We first met when I was 16 and he 18 and remained sweethearts 15 years before marrying.
Frank had bought residence and business lots in Prague. We came to Oklahoma City by train, then to Shawnee and from there drove to Prague, with a horse and buggy our means of transportation. We watched the Fort Smith and Western train pull into Prague on its maiden trip.
Frank established a furniture and undertaking business. In 1904 he sold to P. S. Vawter, rented out our house and went back to Kansas to take over father's farm. Father's health had failed and he would not rent to strangers. My parents built a nice home in Wichita but father did not live long to enjoy it.
Our daughter Ruth was born before we left Prague and while we were in Kansas our son, George, and daughter, Esther were born. When Ruth was about six we returned to Prague so the children could attend school here. We bought back our furniture and undertaking business from Mr. Vawter.
We operated the business for several years, selling to W. G. Phillips. After running a dairy farm for a while my husband bought lots and established the Chevrolet garage where the Hensley building now stands. He used rock from our farm in part of the building. The Chevrolet was later sold to Charles Klazzuba.
My husband died in 1940 and I now live on Broadway with Mrs. Lillie Fentness as a companion. Daughter Ruth Mershon lives in Tulsa, son George, head surgeon of a hospital in San Leandro, California, lives on a ranch near there and daughter, Esther Obsivac lives near Prague. I also have six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Prague is my home and I love it here.
Obituaries
Prague News-Record, September 11, 194010476
Heart Attack Fatal to Pioneer Business Man
Francis Simmons Irvine, aged 72 years and 21 days, died from a heart attack Monday morning, while about his tasks at his barn in the east part of town. Mr. Irvine was being assisted by Robert Mcgill, who rushed for help as soon as Mr. Irvine was stricken but it was too late to do anything for him.
F. S. Irvine was born August 19, 1868, near Stewartsville, Clinton county, Mo., and passed away September 9, 1940. With his parents he moved to Kansas at the age of nine and lived there until the opening of the Sac and Fox reservations for settlement, when he homesteaded near Chandler.
When the town of Prague was opened in 1902, he bought lots and established a furniture and undertaking business. On October 12, 1902, he was married to Miss Grace Showalter, of Wichita, Kan., and they made their home in Prague until the following spring.
Mr. and Mrs. Irvine moved to Kansas and remained until 1909, when they came back to Prague and repurchased the business he had established in 1902. He remained here the rest of his life. In 1921 Mr. Irvine sold his business to Phillips and Delly and in 1927 built a large garage building on North Broadway and opened up a Chevrolet agency which he operated for several years, selling to Charles Klabzuba. Since that sale he has interested himself in his home, keeping a fe nice cattle and raising flowers.
He is survived by his widow, Mrs. F. S. Irvine, and three children: Mrs. Milton M. Mershom, Mrs. Joe Obsivac, and Dr. George S. Irvine, one sister, Mrs. Eva Meyer, one nephew, Mr. Hugh Irvine and six grandchildren.
Funeral services were conducted from the home Tuesday afternoon, September 10th, at 4 o'clock, by the Rev. Father Beevers. Mrs. Joe Eret furnished the music, assisted by Mrs. Mary Grimes and Miss Sophia Brezny. They sand, "Whispering Hope," and the "Vacant Chair." For the recessional Mrs. Eret played "Going Home." Pall bearers were Dee Tedford, Paul Wilson, Calvin Dickinson, Paul Kuban, Glenn Hinson and John Sutton. Interment was made in the Prague cemetery with Parks funeral home in charge.
Shawnee News-Star, September 13, 196010642
Grace Irvine dies; funeral is today
Funeral services for Mrs. Grace Lenora Irvine, 89, Prague, who died Sunday morning in a Prague hospital, will be at 11 a.m. today in the Prague Catholic church. Father Beavers, of Stillwater, will officiate.
Burial will be in the Prague cemetery.
Mrs. Ervine was born Aug. 1, 1871, in Centerville, Iowa. She had been in ill health for five years. She had been a Lincoln county resident for 58 years.
She is survived by one son, Dr. George S. Irvine, Hayward, Calif.; two daughters, Mrs. Ruth Mershon, Tulsa, and Mrs. Esther Obsivac, Prague.
Pallbearers will be Homer Gray, W. E. Dickerson, Charles Berzney, J. P. Criswell, L. P. Wilson jr., and John Bartos.
Parks Brothers Funeral Home, Prague, is in charge of arrangements.
Census Records
| Date | Location | Enumerated Names |
|---|---|---|
| July 15, 187010430 | Platte, Clinton, Missouri |
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| June, 188010477 | Rockford, Sedgwick, Kansas | |
| April 23, 191010645 | Gypsum, Sedgwick, Kansas |
|
| January 9, 192010113 | South Creek, Lincoln, Oklahoma |
|
| April 3, 193010078 | Prague, Lincoln, Oklahoma |
|
| April 14, 194010646 | Prague, Lincoln, Oklahoma |
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