Zilla Zenora Warren

     Zilla Zenora Warren was born on 18 January 1876 at Kentucky. She was the daughter of Joseph Warren and Sarah Hocott. Zilla Zenora Warren married James Albert VanBibber, son of Ezekial VanBibber and Rebecca Jane Clowers. Zilla Zenora Warren died on 21 January 1936 at Norman, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, at age 60 years and 3 days. She was buried in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery, located in Cleveland County, Oklahoma.
     She From Gary R. Hawpe, ed. and Marc Herron, comp., 'Exerpts From Letters Written by Zilla Zenora Van Bibber to Her Children,' Van Bibber Pioneers E-Newsletter, Vol. 4 No. 9 (July 2001), pp. 14 - 15.

EXCERPTS FROM LETTERS WRITTEN BY ZILLA ZENORA VAN BIBBER TO HER CHILDREN

9-20-1925 Bokoma, Ok. Dear children picking and hoeing are the children's and my sideline. The present price of cotten is about 135 on bale seed, and it looks like we will get about 9 bales. I have not been in the fields in a week. I had rater pick cotten then to do a big washing.

9-15-1927 Bokoma, Ok. Dearest children, well sweet girl, I am so sorry we can't be closer together but I have not lost hope that we will live closer together someday. I have throat trouble and the doctor says it will take about a year to cure it. When I went to the oven some mornings I could not cook for an hour account of hard breathing. I can hardly stand to be so far away from you. I am missing so many happy hours, but we all have a mission here on earth and if this is mine, I pray God will help me do it well.

2-6-1930 Sweetwater, TX. Dear daughter, well you are about to have another birthday and I am too poor to send you a present, but I think of you and pray for you. I have pieced 3 string quilts and am piecing another and I think I will have have enough strings for 3 more.

4-8-1930 Sweetwater, TX. Dear children, I feel well most of the time, but oh so weak I can't step down or up the steps. I fell once but it didn't hurt me much. I still hope to be strong and able to work again. Since I haven't been able to work, I let my imagination build us all a little love nest up in Ark, where we used to live when we had plenty of everything, good schools and churches, we did not know how happy we were then but poppa lost his horses so we had to sell everything and come back to Texas and we had a hard time. Today is our anniversary we have been married 34 years and we were happy young people then. But today we are sad. There is only 9 people still living out of the 50 or 75 that were at our wedding. I am sending you a box of butter beans to plant. I don't want to loose one seed of them. Maybe I will get to plant a garden next year if is God's will for me to live.

4-16-1931 Crockett, TX. Dear children, I washed clothes this morning, got dinner, cleaned up, churned butter, cleaned up the milok things, then I washed my feet and doctored my corns, they hurt so bad. It will soon be night and I will have to sprinkle the clothes and get supper and milk. I have made only $5.25 since last Oct. cleaning houses and sewing. It seems hard that I have to work after I am old and worked down. And people don't consider the work a woman does at home to worth anything. I wish I could send you some money to help out but I can't. I sell 1 qt of sweet milk a day for 10 cents but use it for stamps and I give 5 cents to Sunday school once in a while. Honey when others do you wrong only think of them with a prayer so you won't sin.

1-21-1936 Norman, Ok. Last rites for Mrs. Zilla Zenora Van Bibber of Norman, Ok., were conducted at Trinity Baptist Church by Rev. Anson Justice. She was born into this world Jan .18, 1876 and left it on another cold Jan. day in 1936, 60 years later. She died after a brief illness with heart disease and was buried in I.O.O.F. cemetery. She From Gary R. Hawpe, ed. and Marc Herron, comp., 'Excerpts Taken From the 1924 Diary of Zillah Zenora VanBibber,' Van Bibber Pioneers E-Newsletter, Vol. 4 No. 8 (June 2001), pp. 11 - 12.

EXCERPTS TAKEN FROM THE 1924 DIARY OF ZILLAH ZENORA VAN BIBBER

Jan. 7 - I went to Idabel today and bought 3 dress patterns $1.15, 2 pair shoes $3.45 and nuts $ .10. The train fare was $1.16.
Jan. 20 - It sure is cold and I am most sick. I read the Bible all evening and prayed.

Feb. 11- I corded bats and put in a quilt today. I quilted with Mother.

Mar. 5 - Washed 228 pieces today.
Mar. 13 - The ground is white with snow - 7 inches deep.

April 30 - We went to Arkansas to pick strawberries.

May 19 - We cleaned peanuts and worked on rag rugs.

June 2 - We chopped cotton and worked in garden.
June 20 - I ironed, hoed cane and canned berries and plumbs.
June 28 - The children picked berries, I mended and canned cucumbers.

July 16 - I made jelly, canned cucumbers and starched clothes.
July 18 - I made soap in the morning and tacked a mattress in evening.
July 21 - My hand is awful sore today. I read as I couldn't do anything but hold my hand.

Aug. 1 - We went to graveyard and cleaned our people's grave.
Aug. 13 - I washed clothes-cooked apple preserves and went to a church revival.
Aug. 20 - Went to a Baptizing this morning, the preacher taken dinner with us.

Sept. 30 - Picked cotton, peas and peanuts.

Oct. 30 - I put the floor in the stable and hauled corn home.

Nov. 4 - I quilted in the morning and voted in the evening.
Nov. 26 - I taken subscription for the Curtis Publishing Co.

Dec. 5 - Started a new addition to the hen house, then washed clothes.
Dec. 9 - We killed our hog.
Dec. 11 - I rendered lard and made sausage.
Dec. 18 - I went to America and Moon Oklahoma and bought Christmas things.
Dec 24 - We cooked, cleaned house, decorated and went to Christmas Tree, scrubbed kitchen and had dinner. I went to see a friend whose husband died Dec. 21.
Dec. 26 - We built our cowshed.

Income for year.

Washing - $11.25
Cotton - $50.00
Picking cotton - $31.70
Work in office - $4.00
Greens sold - $.35
Eggs - $10.80

Total was $128.10, which I spent on Christmas Gifts.