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The first home (1904) of William and Martha (Cordes) Kirmse as shown below in 1910 was a sod house.

• WHAT: Sod House – First home of William and Martha Kirmse
• WHEN: 1904 – as per the photograph note
• WHERE: Goodwin, Ellis County, Oklahoma Territory – The William and Martha Kirmse homestead was about 1 mile east of Goodwin, Oklahoma Territory and about 6 miles southwest of Shattuck, Oklahoma Territory.
• SOURCE: KIRMSE, WILHELM (WILLIAM) family biography, from “Pioneer Footprints Across Woods County 1893-1975” by the Cherokee Strip Volunteer League, 1976. p.138.

This 12ft x 18ft sod house was the only improvement on the relinquished homestead near Goodwin, Oklahoma, Territory that William and Martha purchased after their wedding. Life was not easy. Amenities were an absolute minimal. There was no indoor plumbing – water for domestic use was hauled from a nearby spring in a 50 gallon barrel on a sled which was pulled by horses. There was no shed for animals and no outhouse. And, critters lived in the sod walls.