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Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date of Interview: July 20, 1937
Name: Ellen Riley Weythman
Post Office: Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Residence Address: 200 North First St., Tonkawa, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: November 20, 1849
Place of Birth: Ireland
Father: John Riley
Place of Birth: Ireland
Mother: Ellen McLaughlin
Place of Birth: Ireland
Field Worker: Robert W. Small
Interview #:

Mrs. Ellen Riley Weythman was born in Ireland on November 20, 1849. Her parents, John and Ellen Riley were also born in Ireland.

Early in 1850, when Mrs. Weythman was four months of age, her parents came to America, settling in Maryland where they lived for four years, then moved to Doniphan County, Kansas, where they lived many years. At the age of eighteen years, she married Louis Weythman, in St. Joseph, Missouri, and they took up their residence in Kansas City, Missouri, and after living there one year they moved to Andrews County, Missouri, thence to other places where they lived for short periods of time, finally landing in Sumner County, Kansas, in 1871, and here on a farm bordering the Kansas-Oklahoma line they lived until the opening of the Cherokee Outlet to settlement, in 1893.

Mr. and Mrs. Weythman were both acquainted with David Payne, before their marriage; Mr. Weythman and Mr. Payne, becoming fast friends in Doniphan County, Kansas. Mr. Payne settled in the service of the United States Government to help subdue the Indians in their frequent uprisings and was in a regiment that was associated with General Custer at times.

After this regiment had disbanded, Mr. Payne returned to Kansas and Mrs. Weythman cooked dinner for him the first day after his return, at which time he displayed a gold watch which his company had presented to him while he was in the Government service. Mr. Payne held some sort of office in the war service.

After returning to Kansas from his war services Mr. Payne was elected to Congress from the district in which Doniphan County is situated. During his term in Congress Mr. Payne exerted every influence in his power to have Oklahoma opened for settlement, but the strong opposition of the powerful cattle interests was too much for his wits. After his service in Congress he came to the border country of Kansas and Oklahoma and still pursued his efforts in every way to have the country opened for settlement.

He established a sort of headquarters at Rock Falls on the Chikaskia River, about where now is located the Braman Dam. He was rebuffed in all his efforts to advance the cause for which he had labored so long and faithfully.

On one occasion at Rock Falls he was “hog tied” and beaten by negro soldiers and placed in a wagon and hauled out; all of such ill treatment was said to have been instigated by the Cattle Interests.

Mr. and Mrs. Weythman used to go to Rock Falls frequently to spend a day outing or picnicking.

Mr. Payne's last words were “I've lived for Oklahoma and I'll die for Oklahoma”; at which time he was sitting at his breakfast table with a glass of milk in his hand when he collapsed, dying instantly.
His death occurred at Wellington, Kansas.

When the Cherokee Outlet was opened to settlement on September 16, 1893, the Weythman family had been living on the border line for some time and often made trips down into the land of Oklahoma, and Mr. Weythman was very familiar with almost every section of that part of the country, and fearing that he would be accused of “Soonering” he deliberately arranged his plans for the race so he could disprove such accusations later should they be made. Mr. Weythman mad the run from Hunnewell, Kansas; staking a quarter section of land five miles west of the present site of Tonkawa, and three miles north of the Salt Fork River.

This land was improved in the usual way by digging a “dugout” and erecting sod walls with grass coverings for stock and poultry, by digging a well, etc.

The Weythmans moved onto the claim in October 1893, bringing with them four head of cows, five horses, five or six hogs and about sixty or seventy chickens; all the chickens except four died during the first winter from some unknown disease or malady.

In the Spring of 1894 the Weythmans broke out some land and planted it to corn, at which time Mrs. Weythman assisted in the planting and in one day they plowed up and killed twenty-seven snakes, all of which with one exception, were rattle snakes.

There was no timber on their homestead; not even a switch of any kind. They planted cotton wood timber on their claim , some of which in later years was sawed into lumber and used to build a barn on the farm. They also put out an orchard consisting of apples, peaches, plums, pears, cherries, and some blackberries and strawberries, all of which grew well and made them abundant fruit most every year after the orchard was old enough to produce or bear fruit.

Mr. Weythman, who died in 1923, had hauled freight in an early day from Arkansas City, Kansas, to Fort Reno, and other points in the country. Mr. Weythman was eighty years of age at the time of his death.

During the time that the Weythmans lived on the border line, occasionally some of the Indians would come around for something to eat and Mrs. Weythman usually fed them. One time an old Indian came, bringing a new shirt which the Government had issued to him. He wanted to trade this shirt for sorghum; but he could not talk well enough in English for her to understand him. Some children coming from school stopped and one of these children could talk the Indian language. He told Mrs. Weythman that the old Indian wanted to trade the new shirt for sorghum. The Indians were very fond of sorghum and would even buy the green cane from the farmers, cut it up and chew the sweet juice from the pith which they relished.

In about one year after the opening of the county a sod school house* was built in the community near the Weythmans in which church and Sunday School were held in addition to day school. Previous to the erection of a school house Sunday School was held in groves on the Salt Fork River, and occasionally preaching would also be held.

Many enjoyable occasions were spent among the groves on the Salt For River when neighbors would congregate by agreement and spread their dinner together on the grassy earth, or on Thanksgiving and at other times when they would all meet at the sod school house and enjoy their dinner together.

It was customary for the women to knit socks for the entire family, make the men's shirts and do all kinds of sewing for the family. Mrs. Weythman brought with her to the claim a Singer sewing machine, and often the neighbor women who had no machines would come to her house and make their garments on her machine.

The Weythmans sold butter, eggs, chickens and other products of the farm in an early day to help keep down cash expenditures. One year they sold an abundance of tomatoes at $1.00 per bushel. Their claim was especially adapted to growing vegetables when in other parts of the country vegetable garden were failures, principally on account of lack of moisture in the soil.

The Weythmans moved from the farm in 1921, locating in Tonkawa, where Mrs. Weythman now resides at 200 North First Street.

CONTRIBUTOR'S COMMENTS:

Ellen Riley Weythman was my great-grandmother and a great one she was. When her daughter Anne died young, Ellen helped to raise the children. She would arise before dawn, do her own chores, then walk over a mile to help Anne and William Tell Rollier's five children have breakfast and get ready for school. I am certain she made clothes for them and cooked for them at other times as well. One of the children was my father, Roy L. Rollier, who visited with Ellen many times in and near Tonkawa from his home in Lamont.

*The sod schoolhouse I believe refers to Pratt Center School. I contributed a long article (containing many local surnames) about this school to the Kay County website. Contact me if you want more details, Allene at treetopswest@att.net August 2003.