Reprinted from text received by Michele White Crowder; Originally written by Beatrice Aker Roden.
God's Little Aker's
Rufus Jefferson Aker and his family arrived in Shawnee by train in September 1901. The trip took three days from Cocke County, Tennessee, with a change of trains in Fort Worth, Texas. Rufus was born in Newport, Cocke County, Tennessee June 7 1876, the first child of Thomas Jefferson Aker and his second wife Rachel Loy. Rachel was the mother of six children, with only Rufus and Jackson Arthur living to adulthood. Thomas Jefferson was a blacksmith and logger. In 1893, Rufus, age 17, married Margaret Rosetta "Maggie" Denton, age 22, first born child of William Denton and Margaret Elizabeth McCarthy. Rufus worked at a lumber mill in Tennessee to support his family. In September 1897, both of Maggie's parents died and, ironically, on the same day her mother died, Rufus and Maggie's son Johnnie, age 14 months, died after a fall from a sled. Rufus and Maggie raised Maggie's younger brothers and sisters. Rufus' father, Thomas Jefferson Aker was killed in 1899 when a tree fell on him. Rufus' mother, Rachel, and brother, Arthur, joined the household of Rufus and Maggie. It is believed that Maggie's nine Denton brothers and sisters also came to Oklahoma about 1901 as all of them eventually came, some to settle, others eventually to move further west. Her sisters married Will Owens, Henry Smith, D. F. Allen, Will Waldon and Newt Lawson. One wonders at the stamina and courage it must have taken Rufus and Maggie to pack up the family and move to Pott. County. The entourage would have included Rufus, Maggie, Rufus' mother Rachel, 63, his brother Arthur, 18, and his and Maggie's four living children: Charlie, 7, Ira, 3, Mary, 18 mos., and Horace, age 5 weeks. Rufus and Maggie settled on a farm near Tecumseh and Maggie Gave birth to Rachel, Bill, and Leona. In 1908 they farmed eighty acres on the old Charlie Camp Place in Trousdale where Ellen, Juanita, and Zella were born. For a short time after 1912, the family moved to Benington, but obviously preferred Pott. County and returned to farm the Coulter Place, south east of Wanette. In 1914 they moved to the LaRue Place east of Wanette where their twelfth child, R. J., was born in 1917. In the fall of 1921 the family moved to the Gus Trousdale Place in Trousdale. Rufus' health was failing in 1924 as they moved to the old William Shannon Place. His condition continued to worsen, and early in 1927 the family moved to Oklahoma City to be near his sons Charlie and Ira, and his doctor, Dr. Fritz. On July 7, 1927, at the age of 51, he died of consumption (Tuberculosis, as it is known today). He was buried at the Bethany Cemetery, Bethany, Oklahoma. Rufus' mother Rachel had married James McCoy about 1904 after the move to Pott. County. In 1910 he was 87 and Rachel 71, and living in Tecumseh, but apparently he did not live much longer as Rachel was almost always a member of Rufus and Maggie's household. Rachel died in 1928 after a fall which caused her death three months later. She is buried beside Rufus at the Bethany Cemetery. After the deaths of her husband and mother-in-law, Maggie moved her two youngest children, Zella "Babe" and R. J., to California with her daughter Ellen, her husband and two children. They lived for a while with Maggie's daughter Leona and family, later moving to Sunnyvale, California, where Maggie's Brother-in-law Arthur lived. Here Maggie met and married Elijah Waltrip. Maggie later moved back to Wanette with Elijah where he died in 1941 and was buried at the Wanette Cemetery. Maggie then lived with her many children for a few months at a time. While in California she died of a brain hemorrhage. She was returned to Pott. County, to be buried beside her second husband, Elijah Waltrip, at the Wanette Cemetery. Many of Rufus and Maggie's descendants still live in or near Pott. County. All Maggie's grandchildren remember, nostalgically, the cookies she baked. They were very large and thick and sprinkled with sugar. After her death her recipe was lost for almost forty years. It was recently found and we share it here for our Grandma's 67 grandchildren and the acres of Akers to come. Grandma's Cookies
2 cups sugar 1 cup pure lard (or substitute with Crisco) 2/3 cup of sweet milk 3 tspns of cream of tartar (in milk) 2 tspns baking soda (in milk) 1 tspn salt 1 tspn vanilla 2 eggs (whole) flour (about 1 large sifter full)
Cream sugar in lard, add cream of tartar and soda to milk. Mix liquid ingredients with vanilla and eggs and add to sugar mixture. Add salt to flour and sift. Add enough to liquid mixture to make a dough that can be rolled out. Roll out on floured cloth or board and cut with large biscuit cutter. (I think Grandma used a frying pan to cut them out! EW) Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown around edges. Store in tightly closed container. Makes about 90 cookies.
More About Rufus Jefferson Aker: Burial: July 10, 1927, Bethany, Oklahoma.
More About Rufus Jefferson Aker and Margaret Rosetta Denton: Marriage: 1893, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee.
Children of Rufus Jefferson Aker and Margaret Rosetta Denton are:
William Charles Aker, b. October 28, 1894, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee, d. November 09, 1953, Madill, Oklahoma.
Johnnie Bryan Aker, b. May 18, 1896, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee, d. September 12, 1897, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee.
Ira Thomas Aker, b. June 22, 1898, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee, d. December 14, 1976, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Mary Elizabeth Aker, b. January 23, 1900, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee, d. January 1984, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.
Horace Clifford Aker, b. August 02, 1901, Newport, Cocke Co., Tennessee, d. July 14, 1982, Roxton, Texas.
+Rachel Harriet Aker, b. March 28, 1903, Tecumseh, Oklahoma, d. April 11, 1984, Hemet, Riverside Co., California.
Cloud Thasher Aker, b. February 12, 1905, Tecumseh, Oklahoma, d. date unknown.
Leone Gertrude Aker, b. March 20, 1907, Tecumseh, Oklahoma, d. date unknown.
Rufus Jefferson Aker (b. June 07, 1876, d. July 07, 1927)
Notes for Rufus Jefferson Aker: