This and That Newsletter: A Weekly Publication

Vol 20 Issue 1020 Circulation 5,000 August 11, 2016

PO Box 11, Ardmore, Oklahoma 73402
email address: [email protected]　
 

From the oklahomahistory.net newsletter archives of August 3, 2002:

I received a phone call from Ames, Iowa. It was from a lady name Sybil Stone. This story really started in 1966 when Sybil Stone sent a letter to a Tulsa newspaper seeking information and help in finding a bell her great grandfather, John Rex of St Louis, gave to a church mission in Oklahoma in honor of his daughter, Sybil Rex. He presented the bell to a mission somewhere in Oklahoma but exactly where was not known. All they remembered was being told it was at the end of a railroad line at a church mission. The family in Ames, Iowa never did find where the bell was located after searching all these years. But the other day that changed!

A priest from McAlester, Oklahoma was doing some research in Tulsa and happened across that 1966 letter from Sybil Stone of Iowa. He contacted a friend who had internet access to do a search, and sure enough, Sybil Stone still lived in Ames, Iowa. The priest contacted Sybil Stone and gave her some information concerning the bell. Here are the first of two emails I received this week from Sybil Stone of Ames, Iowa:

"My great grandfather John E. Rex was born in Philadelphia 1820 died in St.Louis Jan 10, 1888 (my cousin says he died of pneumonia after attending the funeral of a friend). My grandmother Sybil Mary Rex was born in St Louis Mar 21, 1859. Married in St Louis Apr 3, 1895. Died in St Louis Nov 9, 1946. So.... I am assuming that John Rex gave the bell to Father Robot before 1887, as Fr. Robot died in 1887. All I knew was that the bell had the name Sybil on it. I had no idea of any other inscription until Fr. King called me from McAlester. I have a small note, possibly in my Aunt's handwriting (she is another Sybil) that says:

Vinita - Indian Territory first bell rung on a Catholic Church was rung in Vinita and had the name Sybil Rex inscribed on it. It was given by John Rex of St. Louis to Fr. Robot. ------End of Railroad line.

That is exactly what the note says. So, the bell had to have been given to Fr. Robot before 1887 when he died. More mysteries. (I dearly love mysteries)" - Sybil Stone

Sybil Stone's daughter also has a computer and internet, and she did a search the internet and found a bell from Krebs on my website. A Reader was in Krebs last Spring and took the photo. Sybil called me to see if I had additional info or a close-up photo of the bell at Krebs. I don't but hopefully I can get a better picture. It would be interesting to see the actual inscription on the old bell!   

And this is the second email from Sybil Stone of Ames, Iowa:

"My great grandfather, John E. Rex worked for a dry goods company in St. Louis. At one time it was Samuel C. Davis and another time it was Homer, Rex and Tracy. Anyhow, he traveled to the Indian Territory to deliver goods to a trading post . He became friends with a Catholic priest, a Father Robot, who had a mission church. Where? (I am not sure). And so, at some point, so the story goes, he had made, and donated a bell to a church somewhere in the territory. And, the bell had the name of his daughter on it. The daughter was Sybil Rex. (my grandmother). John Rex also became friends with many of the Indians in the area. I have a photograph of my grandmother dressed in full Indian costume It is titled, "Our Indian Princess".
I lived with my grandmother while growing up, and our attic trunks had all sorts of Indian moccasins, etc., that her father had gotten in the territory. There was also a friendship with Robert Owen, who later became a Senator. He escorted my grandmother to the Veiled Prophet's Ball. (Another story) Anyhow, all of this before my grandmother was married. She may even have gone to the Territory with her father. In 1966 I first became aware of the Bell Story from my mother. I tried to pursue it, and really got nowhere. I gave up. I was so surprised when I got a phone call just last Tuesday from Father Kenneth King, who somehow found one of my original letters of 1966. He said he thought he had found THE bell. He says he understands the inscription on the bell in St. Joseph's Church reads: "I am Sybil. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Rt. Rev. Abbot D. Isidore Robot, Prefect apostolic of the Indian Territory." So, that is my story to this point."