Ong, A.A. and Family

A. A. ONG FAMILY

by Mrs. Charles V. Lee Sr.

Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Ong and son, Leonard, came to the Lance Creek area in 1917 from Burlington, Iowa, looking for homestead land. Mrs. Ong was the sister of J. J. Lamb.

They took over a relinquishment from a Mr. Beasley, who had filed on the place, built a foundation for his house and later decided against keeping the land. The Ongs took over the land from Mr. Beasley and went back to Burlington to prepare for the move to their new home in Wyoming. Mr. Ong was an engineer on the Burlington railroad and had a few more years before retirement. The Ongs shipped their household furniture by rail and Mrs. Ong, Lily, her son, Leonard, and her mother, grandmother Lamb came out in a big 1912 Allis-Chalmers car. They built a log house with a big stone fireplace on Little Lightning Creek, hauling the logs and the stone from the hills west of the homeplace. They liked homestead life and proved up on their land in the allotted time, Mr. Ong spending all his summer vaca­tions in Wyoming.

On May 4, 1937 Ong oil well #2 was started. It was brought in on Sept. 27, 1938.  It was the largest Minnelusa well in the field. It flowed 110 barrels an hour.  In 1938, Ong well #3 came in flowing 65 barrels an hour.

Leonard was married to Miss Valucia Lee in 1924. Valucia died in 1939.

Grandma Lamb was a much beloved grand­ mother to children and adults alike during her years as a Lance Creek homesteader. Her homestead was located in the hills west and south of the Ongs. Grandma Lamb died in 1928 at the age of 91 while on a visit to Burlington, Ia.       She was buried in the old 
Lamb Cemetery at Grand River, Ia.

A. A. Ong retired from the railroad in 1935. He died in 1939 following a short illness. Mrs. Ong and Leonard continued to live at the homestead until Mrs. Ong's death in 1947.

Leonard lived at the old home and ranched in partnership with J. J. Lamb until his death in 1956. The same year Leonard married Mrs. Myrtle Colvin and they continued in the ranching business.

Leonard died in 1961 and his wife, Myrtle, passed away in 1962.

J. J. Lamb came to the Lance Creek area in 1916 from a farm in Murray, Ia. where he and his mother lived for many years. He homesteaded south of Little Lightning and lived in a modern-type dugout. He had all the comforts of home--all underground.

In February 1918 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Donner. She had homesteaded over east between Lance Creek and Little Lightning Creek. Miss Donner had been a nurse in Wisconsin and had come to Wyoming for health reasons.

Mr. Lamb built up a nice little ranch on his homestead land and built a nice house for his bride. In 1919-20, oil was discovered on his wife's homestead and later on his own. Wyoming was good to J. J. Lamb as he amassed a fortune in oil from his and his wife's land.

They moved into a lovely home in Boulder, Colo. in 1937. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1951 at Boulder. J. J. died in 1956. They had no children.

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