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FERRELL, MAMIE (WILSON)

Transcribed by Bessie Meredith

BORN: JULY 24, 1908 DIED: JANUARY 31, 2001

Mamie Wilson Ferrell, 92, passed away January 31, 2001. She was born in Fort Towson, Oklahoma on July 24, 1908 to Edward H. and Emma (Everidge) Wilson. Both of her parents are on the Dawes Roll.

She was educated in the public schools in Fort Towson and attended Southeastern Teachers and Oklahoma Presbyterian Colleges in Durant, Oklahoma. She next attended Oklahoma A&M College where she earned her bachelors and masters degrees in mathematics. This was during the Depression and teaching jobs were hard to get. Teachers were often paid with warrants or IOU's. Her grandparents, as well as her parents were among believers in Choctaws getting a good education. Her maternal grandfather, Joseph W. Everidge, was the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Choctaw Nation. Mamie's father, Edward Wilson, was one of the four Wilson brothers who served on the Choctaw National Commission for Education in the early 1890's. The other brothers were Raphael, John and Willie. Edward was the Superintendent of Wheelock Academy in McCurtain County from 1894-1898. He was the last elected Secretary of the Choctaw Nation before Oklahoma's Statehood, at which time the Tribal government was abolished. Mamie's career followed those of her ancestors in helping to educate the youths of the Choctaw Nation. She taught in the school at Goodland. This institution was founded by the Presbyterian Church as the Goodland Indian Orphanage in Choctaw County. Among her students were children from several related families, which included Everidges, Ervins and Oakes. Here she was among friends.

Things were so different in those days. Marriage during the school year was grounds for dismissal for female teachers, but not for men. Classes were not held during the harvest season, as many school children were needed in the fields to pick cotton. Mamie took an exam with the Civil Service and, was able to land a job with the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, making money, literal1y.

She worked for eight years in Washington, D.C. It was there that she met her future husband, Karl E. Ferrell. To this couple was born two sons, John Karl Ferrell, who preceded her in death in 1980, and Edward Wilson Ferrell. She was a devout Christian and a member of the Okolona Baptist Church. After retirement, Mamie and Karl settled in Oceanside, California near her sister, Alma, and her husband, Paul Tiberg. Later, after the deaths of Karl, Alma and Paul, Mamie moved to Louisville, Kentucky to be near her son, Edward "Mike" and his family.

Survivors include her son, Mike, and his wife, Louise Eilertson; grandson, Brian, and great-grandson, Benjamin, all of Kentucky; and brother, Wilbor Wilson, of Davis, California.