Mabel Edith (Ransom) Heinze

October 19, 1886 – October 9, 1958

Mrs. Mabel Heinze, 71, died at her home west of Ponca City Thursday morning. She had been a patient at the Ponca City Hospital but had returned to her home a few days ago.

Services will be Saturday at 2 p.m. in the chapel of Gill’s Funeral Home with the Rev. R. O. Martin officiating. Burial will be in the IOOF Cemetery in Ponca City, OK.

Mrs. Heinze, the former Mabel Ransom, was born in Ithica, N.Y., on Oct. 19, 1886, to Charles and Edith (Holt) Ransom. When a small child she moved to Oklahoma with her parents. Her father for a number of years was a prominent lawyer and rancher in the Perry vicinity.

She graduated from Perry high school in 1905 and attended the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

On June 1, 1922, she was married to Alfred Herman Heinze in Ponca City.

Surviving Mrs. Heinze are her husband of the home and one niece, Mrs. Margo Alexander of Oklahoma City.

Her parents; a brother, Walter Ransom; and a sister, Helen Ransom preceded her in death.

Lawrence, Kansas 9/30/1910
PERRY GIRL’S GRIT

Mabel Ransom rides horseback from Perry to Lawrence, Kansas, that she might enroll in the new department of home economics at the University of Kansas. Miss Mabel Edith Ransom of Perry, Okla., rode horse back 350 miles to Lawrence. Miss Ransom arrived here last Thursday after spending a week on the road. The young woman revealed the fact of her purpose and remarkable ride when she enrolled at the registrar’s office.

Miss Ransom was given the yard-long application blank to fill out and early encountered a difficult question to answer. She approached the registrar and inquired, What county is this, please! You see, I have been in Lawrence but a short while. I rode my saddle pony up from Oklahoma and and am not familiar with this part of the country.”

Miss Ransom does not regard her overland trip of several hundred miles on horseback as anything out of the ordinary.

“I was eager to take a scientific course in cooking, housekeeping and such subjects,” she said, “and as I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving my saddle pony at home just decided to bring him along with me.

“He is only two years old,” she continued, “and I was afraid he would he injured if he made the journey by rail. And then, you know, he’s such a pet, and I’ve ridden horses ever since I was old enough to sit in the saddle, so I simply couldn’t get along without one.

“It was hard to gain mama’s consent to let me make the trip by myself, though. I had to beg for two weeks before she would say ‘yes.’ I expected to ride only forty miles a day, but I averaged over 50, and once when I got into a Russian settlement I was forced to ride after dark to go to a town where I could sleep. I ate dinner at a restaurant once and slept at a hotel, but the remainder of the time I remained over night at farm houses along the road.

“No, I cant say that I had any thrilling adventures. I came by the way of Abilene, Kas., to visit a friend of mine who lives there, and just before I entered town I rode through a 350 acre pasture to avoid going out of the way. I was advised not to attempt it, but I felt sure I would be safe in going. I never saw so many cattle before, not even in Oklahoma. At Ft. Riley too, I met a troop of cavalry driving 2,000 mules and I rode right through them.”