Indian Territory! ( Part 2 )

Henry and Sarah were now making the trek to I.T. (Indian Territory) December 1901. This time they didn't just have a boy with them, but a man; in that their oldest Marvin ( my G.G. Grandfather ) was accompanying them along with his expecting wife Amy. Naturally they ran in to a little trouble with an unexpected snow storm, but that didn't stop Henry. They simply rode it out in an abandoned shelter they found.

As Henry and family were in tow there were already things taking place in the direction they were headed unbeknownst to them all. Although with the removal of many Indian tribes into this one location called I.T.; others who had made their way into this region were now pushing to make economic progress, one of those ways being through the building of the Right-of-Way for the Fort Smith &Western Railroad that would run between Weleetka and Spokogee ( a Creek word believed to mean "exalted" or "near to God" ). Spokogee would later come to be known as Dustin.

It seemed as though it was all about to "fall into place" for everyone. Three men (George F. Clarke, O.W. Meacham, and Lake Moore ) had come together in hopes of having a part in all the new progress and making some money. They had left their jobs and now had secured themselves a part of  starting a new town due to the railroad township group.  Of course they ran into a snag along the way with no township laws. Charles Curtis ( a soon to be Vice President of the United States) got involved helping to secure the passage through Congress for the Frisco Right of Way Act, and thus allowing the forward movement of now establishing a town along with a name.

The town was on an allotment of a mixed blood Creek Indian, Hugh Henry. Mr. Henry Beard who was part of the Railway Township Group had a wife named Etta who also had a land allotment west of the area in question. He suggested the new town be named, "Henryetta" so that all three could be honored; the allotment owner, himself, and his wife. Thus Henryetta was born, just fifteen days after the Chancey's departure for Indian Territory.



With the new railway and towns beginning to pop up, Henry Chancey had an opportunity for some work now that they had arrived in Indian Territory. Upon arriving, just two short months later, another new town had opened up, Weleetka. Henry was going to now be a part of helping to build the Right-of-Way for the Fort Smith & Western railway

Ft. Smith and Western Railroad Depot
near Spokogee ( Dustin ) Courtesy Don Taylor

through this new township.

Henry went on to hire a large number of mule teams and drivers for the job while taking up camp for him and his family on the North Canadian River. There Sarah ran a commissary. Sarah would graciously serve her customers throughout all hours. 

The railroad work finished its course out in 1904, and with that another move awaited. Henry and Sarah moved their family back towards Henryetta to farm. After a year they moved west a ways to Bryant where they continued to ranch and farm. The Chanceys now had just taken up residence in the heart of the Creek Nation, Indian Territory.

Main Street Bryant, Oklahoma
Courtesy of Don Taylor

Henry was known to be friendly to everyone he met, what some called a fearless man. He never carried a gun, but mingled amongst everyone from the occasional outlaw to the cattlemen to the Indians. If you messed with his stuff, say a horse, he didn't have a problem tracking you down to retrieve his belongings.

His relationship had begun to grow with the Creek Indians as well, and they would come to trust Henry so much so that in 1907, during one of the armed Indian uprisings Henry would remain in close contact with those involved.....




( Sources )

Chancey, Grace H., Floy Bess. Chancey, and Aleene Chancey. Shubert. Joseph Chancey. Chauncey-Chancey. Jacksonville, AR: Order ... from A. Shubert, 1988. N. pag. Print.

History of Weleetka

Stories of Early Oklahoma

Cherokee Nation Female Seminary

Quote:
" The Cherokee National Female Seminary School was founded on May 7, 1851. A related text describes it thus, "One of the first boarding schools for Native Americans was not created by the federal government, but was founded in 1851 by the Cherokee National Council." "

John Ross was the leader of the Cherokee Nation, and one who also became influential in beginning institutions for young Cherokees. One of those would be the Female Seminary Hall for the young Cherokee women. An institution that would come to be considered one of the best of its kind, west of the Mississippi.

Cherokee Female Seminary
Courtesy Cherokee Heritage Center

The Cherokee Nation was one who embraced education. Within its grasps it now had the syllabary by Sequoyah, and by the 1890's the Cherokees were considered to have some of the highest literacy skills than other citizens.

Though the Cherokee people seemed to desire to educate its people, it was said that the Women's Seminary did not offer instruction in their own Cherokee language. The women did however maintain a rigorous work schedule learning anything from Latin to Philosophy to Religion.


On Easter Sunday 1887 the Female Seminary burned to the ground, and was rebuilt May 7, 1889 in Tahlequah, Indian Territory.



1889 Tahlequah after rebuilding of Female Seminary
Courtesy Northeastern State University

Tahlequah was, and today still is, the Capital of the Cherokee Nation. A Cherokee word Talikwa, or Tellico, of which was considered an old Cherokee town.


Indian Territory was to become known as Oklahoma November 16, 1907 when it received statehood. In two years, 1909, the state of Oklahoma bought the Female Seminary Hall as Oklahoma was now joining the ranks of the state college system. The Cherokee Nation graduated the last of its students under the name in the spring of 1910.

Today the building is simply called, "Seminary Hall" and is a major focal point on the campus of Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma; and houses numerous classrooms with students from every walk of life attending.


Seminary Hall on Northeastern State University Campus
Courtesy of Oklahoma Native America

                                                                  
                                                      Listen for more!

Sources:
Tahlequah, Oklahoma - Cherokee Seminaries

http://wsharing.com/WSphotosTahlequahCS.htm

Cherokee Heritage Center

http://www.cherokeeheritage.org/attractions/female-seminaries/

  Photos Courtesy of:
Cherokee Heritage Center
Northeastern State University
Oklahoma Travel Native America

Times and Bounds ( Part 1 )

Acts 17:26 - 27

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times and before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us..
 
Joseph Chancey was born around 1840 in Alabama to Amos and Mary Ann ( Callaway ) Chancey. He was a Pvt. in the Confederate army and had one child with his wife Samantha. He never came to know that son due to his birth being at the time of his departure. That son was Henry Lee, who later would be known as H.L. as well as come to be my third great grandfather.

Henry Lee was known as what some might call a "colorful" man, a man who loved adventures and life! He was born in Alabama in the year 1861, and at the young age of 15, Henry ran away from home coming through Tennessee to Arkansas heading toward Indian Territory. He saw much in his travels such as seeing his first steam locomotive, and the Big Mississippi River.

In 1878 at the age of seventeen Henry fell into some trouble with some gamblers from Spiro, Indian Territory ( present day Oklahoma ). He had bet his horse and saddle in which he lost both, due to losing the race at hand.

At 21 he met and married Sarah Mainard. Sarah came from a prolific family of Scotch-Irish and Cherokee ancestry. The two began farming in Cecil, Arkansas and bringing up their children.

Henry found himself wanting out of the farming business, so in 1889 he made a big crop, sold out, and moved his family to Huntington, Arkansas to put in a grocery store. His business failed. A coal miners strike had occurred at the same time which aided in the failure of this new business venture. Henry salvaged what he could, buying and slaughtering thirty hogs to haul back to Cecil, Arkansas to sale only to have the meat spoil on the trip. Henry was broke, but he wasn't one to quit. For fifty cents a day he went to work as a hired hand... and back to farming he went. Henry knew how to trade, work hard, and make money; within a year he was back on his feet again.

Henry, Sarah, and family in tow, began farming once again; this time in Arbuckle Island, Arkansas in the Arkansas River. There they continued to farm this area until the year 1898 when the island became flooded. Henry continued to stay trying to save all he could. With a new place, and a new adventure ahead, to Webb City, Arkansas they went. There Henry and Sarah continued to farm until the winter of 1901, where they had the last of their six children.

On December 1, 1901 in covered wagon, the Chancey family headed for Indian Territory. What new adventures would lay ahead....


(Source:) Chancey, Grace H., Floy Bess. Chancey, and Aleene Chancey. Shubert. Joseph Chancey. Chauncey-Chancey. Jacksonville, AR: Order ... from A. Shubert, 1988. N. pag. Print.                         

The Mill.... Coin That Is!

My Grandpa Bill was a collector of coins. I was reminded the other day of a particular one he had given me years ago….a Mill Coin. Do you know what  a “Mill Coin” is? Have you ever seen one?

Cardboard Oklahoma Mill Coin
 

The Mill Coin was issued in various states across the country, beginning in Oklahoma January 1, 1936 ending production September 30, 1961. They were also made out of anything from cardboard, tin, aluminum, plastic, or paper, and could come in an array of colors.

 

So What’s the Point?

 The Mill Coin was used as a means to help pay taxes for the merchants to the state.

 

Here is an example given by “Sales Tax Token Collector”, you can read the Full Article at: http://www.taxtoken.org/faq.htm

 

 

"Merchants had to pay sales tax to the state on the total amount of sales made by the merchant during each day's sales. You can imagine that if the sales tax rate is 3% and a child buys a 10c piece of candy there is no way to collect the three-tenths of one cent. If you rounded down that meant that the merchant could not collect anything for the tax. If you rounded up the state was gaining 7 tenths of a cent on every 10 cent sale. You can see that if the merchant sold 100 pieces of candy he was loosing 30 cents a day in tax revenues to the state, so the token was born. This allowed the merchant to take 11 cents for the first piece of candy and give  change back in mills. The next time you wanted to buy a 10c candy you could present the merchant with the 10c    and a token and complete the transaction. This allowed the merchant to collect the sales tax on each transaction.

 

A mill is 1/1000th of a dollar or a tenth of a cent. As you can imagine, people did not like having to carry a second set of coins, and to further complicate matters, different states issued different tax tokens. 1  and 5 mills are the most common denominations, but other denominations include: 1/5 cent, 1 1/2 mills, and "Tax on 10c or less."      

 

 

The Grace and Mercy of God

I was a school teacher for fourteen years and one who loved to teach reading and writing; and with that, I truly enjoyed teaching my students about the history of Oklahoma, and sharing the stories I heard growing up from family members.  One of those aspects we covered was the Great Depression. I had spent all my years growing up hearing about this time period from my great - grandmother and grandfather.

With the Stock Market crash on October 24, 1929 which became known as "Black Tuesday"; and within a few short years Oklahoma experiencing the Dust Bowl, the Great Depression seemed to be in full swing. People were out of work, food lines opening to feed those who were starving, people forsaking all they knew to head west hearing you could possibly find work in California. An extremely difficult time period through the 1930's that affected everyone across the United States, and certainly the farming families in the mid-west. Henry and Sibyl were barely in their twenties.

The year was 1931/1932 when my Great-Grandparents Henry and Sibyl decided to borrow money from the bank; the only time she said that they ever did; and it was 50.00! With a new baby coming, Henry went and pulled old boards off one of the old family home places to make a new floor for the new addition to the house. Henry had also bought a pig, and as soon as the pig had babies, he sold them, made the money back, and went straight to the bank to pay off the note!              

Henry and Sibyl

These days were hard, and some of Sibyl's own family decided to head west hoping it was better out in California! They asked Henry and Sibyl to travel with them and go to California, Henry said, "No, they were staying!"

They didn't do without and didn't buy things they couldn't pay for, or afford! Sibyl continued to live that way up until the end of her days in 2011 when she went to be with Jesus. 

What Henry and Sibyl helped to carry on, build, and establish, is close to 100 plus years old, and is still today in full operation with some 300 plus head of cattle, 20 plus head of horses, and a few thousand acres managed by my parents, grandparents, and other family members. God kept them, blessed them, in a time that devastated so many. 

That kind of fortitude was certainly passed down to their children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. My mom made a comment once that has stayed with me all these years, "No matter what it looked like, somehow we always made it."

Henry and Sibyl's Home Place 2013

It wasn't until all these years later when God began to intervene in my life, that I began to understand it was God! God we always made it... God we always had enough. He was with us then, with us all now. The mercy and grace of God.



Isaiah 55:6
Seek you the LORD while he may be found, call you upon him while he is near.