Cordelia and JohnIt is not known how or when they met, but Cordelia Thomas Pasley, born December 10, 1866, in Holton, Jackson County, Kansas, and John Norton Steen, born June 2, 1859, in Hannibal, Marion County, Missouri, and were married on December 24, 1884, in Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas. Cordelia’s family moved to Topeka in 1875, when she was 10 years old. John's family was already established in the area, so it is likely Cordelia and John met through family or friends. John was an engineer for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway. Soon after they married, the young couple moved to Engle, Sierra County, New Mexico, an unincorporated community that was a stop on the railway.
1886Cordelia and John's only child, Charles "Charley" John Steen, was born January 12, 1886, in Engle, New Mexico. In December of that year, as the railway's Superintendent of Water Service Construction, John was transferred to Mile Marker 103 in the Unassigned Lands of Indian Territory, to build, open, and operate a new watering station.
1887In March, the railway named the station “Edmond," after railway agent Edmond Burdick. In November, Cordelia and nearly two-year-old Charley joined John at their new home, the station’s two-room pump house. Built by John Steen and the railway’s crews, the pump house was the first residence in Edmond. One room of the pump house contained the boiler and pump for loading the water onto the trains. The other room was the Steen's family home. The pump house was adorned with homemade furniture and wall bunks for sleeping. The boiler and pump were located in the corner of the front room. In the winter, the boiler kept the Steen's home warm, and in the summer, they moved their beds outside.
Cordelia was proud to be a pioneer of our city. The Steens were the only permanent residents until the Land Run of April 22, 1889, which formally established the town of Edmond. The station and pump house were built where the overpass on 2nd Street now stands. Remnants of the station’s well (30 feet across and 128 feet deep) can be seen in a depression in the ground less than a block south of the 2nd Street overpass, between the west side of the railroad tracks and the old Rodkey Flour Mill. 1888The Steen family had the very first Christmas tree in Edmond, made from a blackjack oak branch, wrapped in cotton and decorated with paper cutouts. The festive tree was placed on the front porch of the pump house, and a photo of the Steen family with the tree is an iconic picture of early Edmond (see photo #3, below).
1889The Steen family was a part of the historic Oklahoma 1889 Land Run by providing food and coffee to those who participated in that unprecedented event. Charley Steen wrote of the Run: "On this day long to be remembered by the ’89ers, a train load of people came in at noon. The coaches were filled to overflowing; men rode on the engine, steps, and the top of the train coaches. My mother and father had brought and prepared one dozen large hams, plenty of bread and coffee, as these home seekers and train crews were hungry and anxiously waiting the hour of noon to come so they could run for a home in this beautiful new country." (The Edmond Sun, January 22, 1931, p. 2.)
1900sOn December 23, 1908, in Canadian County, Oklahoma, Charley married Minnie Shoptaugh. Minnie, born November 12, 1888, in Rockport, Spencer County, Indiana, moved to Yukon, Canadian County, Oklahoma in 1900, and to Edmond in 1909. Charley and Minnie had one child, Adeline, born April 1,1910, in Edmond.
Cordelia died on August 6, 1928. Referencing the number of passengers who stopped at Edmond Station over the years, as well as her charitable work, Cordelia's obituary from the August 8, 1928 edition of The Edmond Sun reads: "Mrs. Steen fed many hungry men, women, and children and befriended anyone in need, enduring the hardships and sacrifices incident to pioneer life. She was an ardent worker in the formation and building of all the first churches and schools in Edmond. The city of Edmond, churches, lodges, neighbors, and every good cause is bereaved in the passing of this good woman." John moved to Topeka after Cordelia's death, and died there on November 3, 1933. Charley passed in 1934, and Minnie in 1968. Cordelia, John, Charley, and Minnie are buried at historic Gracelawn Cemetery in Edmond. References: Edmond Historical Society & Museum (edmondhistory.org) Legendary Locals of Edmond, Oklahoma by David Fisk (2014) Historic Edmond by James Crowder (2000) Oklahoma Historical Society (okhistory.org) Mile Marker 103 by Bob Burke and Eric Dabney (2013) |
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With thanks to the Edmond Historical Society & Museum (EHS&M) and the University of Central Oklahoma Archives & Special Collections (UCO Archives) for the use of these historical pictures from their collections. With special thanks to the descendants of John and Cordelia Steen for sharing their ancestors’ stories and pictures, and for their enduring appreciation of Cordelia and John's place in the history of Edmond. |
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