Embedded Files
By Anna Doris Shanks
Young and ready for adventure, Irvin Whelan and Frances Roberts thought his going west on a job hunt was a good plan. When he felt secure, he would come for her, and they would be married. Irvin heard about jobs in Kansas oil fields, and in 1935, he and a cousin, Ed Talbot, set off from Meade County, KY to seek their fortunes.
Western Kansas was an abrupt change that he didn't see any reason to describe to Frances. Summers were blistering hot and dry. By 1935, poor farming methods and draught had turned Kansas into the dust bowl. Winters brought arctic winds that froze breath to the men's faces. Irvin got a job as a roughneck for Skelly Oil Company, a good starting point, he thought. He lived in cheap boarding houses and saved every penny he could. He did buy a car in preparation for family life.
Scuttlebutt had it that Shell Oil Company was hiring. Irvin paid attention to that information because he had heard the Shell was a good company. Job security reigned uppermost in Irvin's mind. First chance, he checked on the rumor and started working for Shell right away. When 1936 rolled around he was feeling pretty good. His take-home pay had reached the sum of $17.50 every two weeks, and he had not once been laid off. He soon wrote Frances that she should start planning a trip to Kansas since he did not want to jeopardize that job security by asking for time off to come get her. She worked for a department store in Cloverport, KY and was anxiously anticipating the big life-change about to happen.
In July, 1936, Frances said goodbye to her family, boarded a train in Cloverport, KY with her fully loaded black metal trunk and began her journey into the unknown called Kansas. About 700 miles, the trip takes just over 10 hours by car today. Frances survived three days on the train. The temperature steadily rose and the hot wind, with it's accompanying dirt, blew steadily through the open windows. "I looked real nice when I started out," Frances laughed. "But I was a sight to behold when I got there."
Irvin had rented a room in one of the nicer boarding houses, and he had the wedding ring in his pocket. He dared not take extra days away from the job, so they had his one-day-off for both the wedding and the honeymoon. He was waiting anxiously at the Halstead, KS train station and he drove Frances, with her trunk, to the rooming house so she could freshen up for the wedding. "I had thought we would have a real wedding. I thought his cousin and his wife would stand up with us. I had a real pretty blue dress," Frances recalled her sad disappointment.
The cousin was not able to leave his job either. Frances was not yet Catholic and Irvin was. On July 9, 1936, they were married in the rectory of Sacred Heart Catholic Church with two parish employees as witnesses. There were no flowers. If Irvin had thought of having them he would not have been able to find any that he could afford. Indeed, hot weather and lack of rain made anything green a rare treasure in Kansas.
The afternoon was slipping away. "We went to a little restaurant and had something to eat before going to the room. Irvin seemed out of sorts and I didn't know what was wrong. Finally he admitted he had spent his reserve cash on the ring and room rent. He didn't have quite enough for his car payment, and he was worried. When I told him I had $62 he got in a good mood real quick." She smiled at the memory of his delight with her contribution.
The wedding w
as over, and the marriage feast had been eaten. Off to the room they went. Frances had never been far from Meade County, Ky in her life. She was used to green hills and running streams. She missed the large extended family, so much a part of her life in Kentucky. Kansas, with its barren plains and unceasing hot wind, was a traumatic jolt. After the long train ride she was very tired, and it didn't take her long to fall soundly asleep.
Irvin's coworkers had other ideas. Just after midnight they gathered beneath the newlyweds' window. Armed with pots, pans, bells and whistles the men created an awful racket. They had come to shivaree the young couple. Frances had never heard of such a thing when Irvin whispered what was going on. She certainly never expected them to burst into the room, grab her up in her nightgown, carry her outside and unceremoniously dump her into a wheelbarrow. To the accompaniment of the pots and pans they started singing raucous songs at the top of their lungs. The neighbors all knew exactly what was going on, and they came out to join the fun. The men pushed the wheelbarrow, fully loaded with a frantic Frances, up and down the road. It was pandemonium.
To shy, vulnerable Frances this was an appalling outrage. She wanted to cry, and probably did, if truth be told. Irvin, however, accepted the bottle of spirits being passed around, and he was obviously having a great time. At that moment she hated him and would have liked nothing better than boarding the next train back to Kentucky. She had tolerated that sad excuse of a wedding and now had to endure this nightmare. She truly believed she had found the land of the devil. She was in HELL!
Later Irvin would explain that shivarees were meant to honor newlyweds (sort of). , In the days before honeymoons became the norm, these noisy, mock serenades were common occurrences, especially in the west and midwest. He hadn't heard anything about plans for a shivaree in their case, and he claimed he had no idea the men had planned any such thing. But, men and women jumped at any chance to make their own entertainment on the desolate plains of Kansas, so he may have had an inkling. Frances thought she could never accept those people as friends. She couldn't imagine that she would ever show her face in public.
Once the shock passed in a few days, she met people residing in the boarding house. A pair of nurses shared one room. The darling landlady, Miss Mary, invited Frances to share the kitchen. Little by little, as she realized the people really had meant to honor their wedding with a celebration, and Frances overcame her reticence. She met wives of the other Shell employees and even joined the wives' club. Irvin and Frances increased their family with two little girls, and they had conceived a third child before they left Kansas six years later. Irvin also brought away a great story. Frances, however, never forgot her feelings of revulsion when she thought about the indignities she suffered during their shivaree.
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