Interviews:

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Louise West Parrish
Milton Wiseman
Ida Rene DeLoach
William G. DeLoach
Verdie Vinson Gann
The John Milam Family
Earl & Mary Finley
Joe Bailey Foster
Theophil Leonardt
Sudan Mascot Change

Milton Wiseman’s mother, Lecia, died when he was six years old. Their kerosene cook stove caught on fire. Lecia and a hired hand carried the stove out of the house. During the fire, Lecia was severely burned and died 4 or 5 days later. The family was living near Childress, Texas at that time.

Milton was 13 years old when his father, Thomas C. Wiseman, bought land in the Fairview Community, west of Sudan. Milton’s brother, Ottis, came to Sudan to build a shed for the family to live in while their half dugout was being constructed. After the crop was harvested at Vernon in the fall of 1924, their farm implements, livestock, and furniture were loaded on an immigrant car headed for Sudan. Brother Charles rode in the car to take care of the animals. Father Thomas and stepmother Elberta, sisters Vera and Lela, and brothers Claud and Milton left late in the day after the train was loaded. The family spent the first night in a schoolhouse about 25 miles from their starting point. Milton could not remember the second night’s stop other than that the family had to camp out.

Milton said, “Dad drove the truck, loaded with everything that didn’t get on the train. My step-mother drove the car with the children.” Going through rain soaked Paducah, both the truck and car got stuck in a muddy road in the middle of town. It took two full days to get to Sudan and on to their farm. After arriving on the farm, the family built a half dugout to live in. They used the shed to store feed for the livestock. Later, a frame house was built. The Calvin Wiseman Jr. family now lives in that house. The shed (the size of a double car garage) is now located on Milton Wiseman’s farm east of Sudan.

In that time, the easiest way to clear the land was to burn off the cat claw and mesquite trees. Burning fires could be seen all around them at night. They had a big earthen stock tank surrounded by poplar trees and one cottonwood tree. That tank was the site on many a baptisms following brush arbor meetings at Sudan.

The Wiseman family came to town every Saturday to sell their eggs and cream. The cream went by rail to Trinidad, Colorado. The family has a metal label from a cream can that has “T.C. Wiseman—Trinidad, Co.” printed on it. Milton said, “I liked to get a hamburger when I got to town.” When asked what the price of a hamburger was in 1924-25, Melton replied, “Maybe five cents or less.” He remembered the L.E. Slate Store, the Sudan Hotel and the depot at that time.

Thomas Milton Wiseman married Hazel Bernice Cobb December 21, 1930. They had one daughter Maxine, one grandson Sean, deceased, a granddaughter Cynthia and two great granddaughters Anna and Erin. Milton still lives on the farm east of Sudan. Hazel now resides in Harmonee House in Amherst.