Joseph Thompson Gist, Minnie Alice Lauver Gist, and their children in a family portrait thought to have been taken about 1908.  Minnie died in 1909 at a young age. Joseph and Minnie settled on the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma Territory in 1893 during the land rush.  They farmed for a period, Joseph worked as an attorney in Enid, operated the Gist Music Company, and they maintained a family business as J.T. Gist's Feed, Coal, and Grain.