Clay and Ida V. Hart: A Life Rooted in Family, Faith, and Work

The story of Clay and Ida V. Hart was shaped by the rural communities of Cotton County, Oklahoma, by hard work, strong faith, and a devotion to family that endured through hardship and change.

Clay Hart’s family came to Oklahoma from Texas. His father, Benjamin Julian “Bennie” Hart, was born near Aubrey in Denton County, Texas, on September 10, 1883, to Charles Walter Hart and Etta Dewberry Hart. Bennie grew up near Aubrey and left home at about seventeen years of age in 1900, coming to the area near what is now Walters, Oklahoma. He worked for an uncle who was already established there and took whatever farm work was available, including mending fences and wrangling cattle.

Bennie later returned to Texas, where he married Mattie Elizabeth Owen on November 6, 1904. Mattie was born on October 4, 1884, to James David Owen and Vesta Virginia Boswell Owen. Bennie and Mattie’s first child, Edna Era Hart, was born on September 24, 1905. In 1906, Bennie moved his young family to Oklahoma in a covered wagon while leading a cow. They rented a farm near Walters, raised vegetables and chickens, and milked their cow for the family’s use. Their son Clay was born there on July 11, 1907.

Like many renting farmers of that time, the Hart family moved from place to place often. In 1910 they moved into the Elm Grove School district. Their son Henry Cleo Hart was born there on July 16, 1911, and Charley Leon Hart was born on April 20, 1914. The family worked in the fields as the children became old enough, and Clay and Edna walked about two miles to and from their first school most of the time.

One family story from the Elm Grove years concerned a young man traveling on foot who asked to stay the night. With no spare bedroom, Bennie made him a bed in the smokehouse, where the family had meat hanging to cure. By morning, both the man and the meat were gone. The Harts never saw either again.

The family became closely connected to Emerson Baptist Church. The church was organized in 1915, and Mattie became a charter member. The church building was constructed during 1916 and 1917. The family traveled there first by wagon and buggy and later by car. At that time, a store operated on the corner by the church, and Emerson had earlier been a small town with a cotton gin.

In the fall of 1918, Bennie and Mattie took Edna, Clay, Cleo, and Leon by covered wagon to the Bristow area in Creek County to pick cotton for extra money. They traveled with three other families, the Smiths, Barretts and Combs. Clay later remembered how the children walked and ran behind the wagons and how some families brought cows so they would have milk and butter. Near the end of December 1918, the Harts returned to the Walters area. In January 1919, they stayed briefly with an uncle while repairing an old house in which to live.

Their youngest son, Milton Eugene Hart, was born on June 12, 1920. As the boys grew older, Clay and later Cleo left school to help with the farming. Clay dropped out in 1924. Bennie served on the West Cache School Board during the 1926–1927 school year.

In 1927, Bennie bought a Woods Bro. by Moline threshing machine. With a crew that included Clay, Cleo and Leon, the family threshed wheat and oats for neighboring farmers. In 1931, Bennie purchased a second machine, a Red River Special, allowing Bennie and Clay to operate separate crews. The family continued threshing until sometime in the 1950s.

Ida Vica Anna Pearl Martin was born southeast of Chattanooga, Oklahoma, on April 12, 1917, to Walter Clement Martin and Nina Pearl Cole Martin. Her three middle names—Vica, Anna, and Pearl—were given in honor of three neighboring women. She was one of eight children. Two siblings, Addie and Jr., had died before she was born. Her oldest sister, Opal, died in 1920, and her brother William died of diphtheria fever in 1923. Another brother, Wesley, became so ill with the disease that he had to learn to walk again after recovering.

Ida V.’s childhood was marked by frequent moves. The family lived near Chattanooga, moved to Wilson in 1922, and returned to the Walters area in the spring of 1924. After returning west of Walters, they lived in tents for several months after traveling by covered wagon. They had two tents, one for cooking and one for sleeping. Ida V. began school at a rural school about three miles north and one and one-half miles east of Cookietown. She remembered attending only briefly because she cried and was afraid to be away from home.

In the fall of 1924, the Martin family moved into the Union Valley community. Ida V. wrote that she walked 4½ miles to school with her brother Jessie. Her youngest brother, Alford Clinton Martin, was born there on April 4, 1925, delivered by Dr. Dice of Randlett. Ida V. recalled that the children were sent to play in a grain crib and told not to return to the house until they were called. Though frightened at first, she soon became delighted with her new brother, and she and Jessie argued over whose turn it was to rock him to sleep.

In the fall of 1925, the family traveled west to pick cotton. Ida V. cared for the baby in a little red wagon while the others worked in the fields. They camped in old houses and tents and worked westward from the Frederick and Tipton areas, through the Hollis area and into Texas. Ida V. eventually grew tired of the fields and wanted to return home to see her grandparents. Her brother Wesley wanted the family to continue toward the Rocky Mountains. Their father settled the disagreement by tossing a silver dollar. Ida V. called heads, won, and the family turned homeward.

After visiting relatives near Cookietown, the Martins traveled to Portales, New Mexico, where Ida V.’s aunt lived. They lived in a tent in her aunt’s yard while visiting. Later, part of the family returned to Oklahoma for their furniture, and the trip back to New Mexico took eleven days by covered wagon and truck.

Clay Hart and Ida V. Martin were married in Walters, Oklahoma, on February 1, 1936. Clay worked as a day laborer for $1.25 a day and farmed with his father. Their first child, Bobby Glenn Hart, was born on January 22, 1937. Their second son, Clinton Eugene Hart, was born on March 29, 1938.

They farmed, milked cows, raised turkeys and chickens, and planted a garden for their own use. Clay also worked at a cotton gin in Walters. On May 30, 1940, their house burned to the ground, and nothing was saved. Their neighbors and Emerson Baptist Church responded with kindness and gave them what Ida V. described as a wonderful shower. The family lived in a cookshack until January 1941 and then rented a house near West Cache Creek.

In the summer of 1941, Clay and Ida V. bought a farm five miles south and three and one-quarter miles west of Walters. With help from Jim High and Ida V.’s brother Wesley Martin, they tore down an old house and built a new home. Their daughter, Idanelle Hart, was born on September 20, 1942. Their son Gary Clayton Hart was born on April 28, 1948, and their youngest son, Daryl Wayne Hart, was born on August 19, 1953. All five children attended Temple Public School and rode the bus.

Clay continued farming while also doing carpenter work. Over the years he worked with Jack Thurman, Doyle Goss, Bud Brinkley, Jim High, Garland Parrish and others. Farming and carpentry kept him busy throughout his life in Cotton County.

Ida V.’s work centered first on her home and family, though she also worked outside the home for a time. In 1965, she worked for nine months at the Haggar factory in Temple. Beginning in 1938, she served with the Election Board, first as a counter, later as a judge and, beginning in 1976, as an inspector. She sewed for neighbors and friends and was known for providing home health care to those who needed loving assistance. She described herself as a mother and housewife, a “jack of all trades and master of none,” and wrote that her large family was her pride and joy.

Faith remained central to the couple. Ida V. had been active in Emerson Baptist Church since the age of eleven. She taught Sunday School, served as treasurer and participated in the WMU. Clay was also a member of Emerson Baptist Church and acted as its treasurer for many years.

Clay and Ida V. watched their family grow through their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and eventually a great-great-grandson. Their children entered careers in education, military service, funeral service, farming, ranching, and other work.

Idanelle died on November 8, 1993. Clay died on September 14, 1995, at the age of eighty-eight. Ida V. died on July 7, 2007, in Temple, Oklahoma, at the age of ninety years, two months and twenty-five days. Both were laid to rest in Walters Cemetery.

Their story is more than a record of dates and places. It is a story of families traveling long distances by covered wagon, living in tents and cookshacks, rebuilding after fire, harvesting crops, raising children, serving a church and community, and finding joy in a large and growing family. Through Ida V.’s handwritten memories, Clay’s family history and the account of their life together, their descendants are left with a vivid record of people who met hardship with resilience and built a lasting legacy in Cotton County.