Grove Beginnings...Part Six
The Founder, Tredwell Remsen, Part 3
Tredwell Remsen, New York farm boy and Civil War veteran, is well-settled into life in the Cherokee Nation. He is the Grove postmaster and a merchant. He has set in motion actions which would result in a town by 1900. Remsen served as postmaster until April 2, 1895, when he was succeeded by J.C. Starr, a Cherokee and son of Hickory Starr and Emma J. Rider. The 1890s were a prelude to major change in Indian Territory. The United States had forced the Cherokee Nation to sell "The Strip", the land that ran along the top of the territory and was leased to cattlemen. The long-awaited Strip payment, or the Starr Roll, came in 1894.
Human nature, then like now, had caused many Cherokees to spend the money before they got it. The crowds attending the payment included merchants and others waiting to get their payment for goods already purchased. Julia Remsen and two daughters, Josephine R. and Alvia, are listed on the Starr Roll. Julia signed for $797.10. About the same time, the Remsen's oldest daughter, Rebecca, but always known as Bessie, and J.B. Broaddus, a young man who had a dray business in town, decided to get married. Bessie was 14 years old, and her parents reacted as could be expected. No way. The couple ran off.
Remsen brought them back, then put Bessie in a school in Kansas. When Remsen discovered that Broaddus knew where Bessie was, she was brought back to the Remsen home and kept under close control. J.B. kept track of the situation and waited for an opportunity. One day Bessie was going down the hill to the spring for water. J.B. drove up; Bessie hopped in, and the couple were off. They eventually returned home and set up housekeeping.
This story was recorded by Lula D. Jones, published in Heritage of the Hills, and used with permission of the Delaware County Historical Society. The Remsens had five girls, only two of them lived to be adults. Remsen recorded the children on a form for the Bureau of Pensions. He listed: Catherine Remsen born in November 1875. Dead Rebecca J. Remsen born June 12, 1880. Living. This is Bessie. Alvie M. Remsen born June 24, 1884. Living Effie May Remsen born August 27, 1889. Dead Grace E. Remsen born November 11, 1895.
The Dawes Commission was already working in Indian Territory, charged by Congress with allotting the land to individual Indians and closing down the tribal governments.The Commission began recording Cherokee families in 1900. The commission traveled with typewriters and clerks and interviewed applicants. Tredwell appeared to enroll himself, Julia, and Alvie. He was questioned about his eligibility, claimed through his marriage to Julia. Which whites, adopted Cherokee citizens by marriage to Cherokees under Cherokee law, would be placed on the Dawes Roll and receive land allotments became a matter for the federal courts.
In 1906, the court ruled that in accordance with Cherokee law, the marriage had to have occurred before Nov. 1, 1875. Persons whose cases were approved by this decision were called back before the Dawes Commission to confirm that they were qualified. Tredwell had his date with a commissioner. He answered that he and Julia were married "the 6th of February 1875." But Tredwell didn't have the license. "The license was lost or burned 7 or 8 years ago."
Tredwell presents a family Bible showing the marriage was performed by T.J. McGhee, judge of the Delaware District. Witnesses are T.J. McGhee and Rebecca Monroe. Remsen was told he had to have evidence of the marriage license. He was then asked, "Have you and your wife lived together continuously as husband and wife, in the Cherokee Nation, from the time of your marriage in 1875 up to and including the present time?" Remsen answered, "Yes, sir." "Are you still living together? A. No, sir. "When did you separate? A. October 5, 1905."
Further questions reveal that Julia has divorced Tredwell without telling him, and that they are both still living in the home with their daughter and her family. Tredwell says this: "She was about 17 years old, and I took her on east and showed her all my folks out in New York, after we were married, a few years afterward." The commissioner told Tredwell to present more evidence of the marriage. So Remsen got affidavits or testimony from everyone he could round up. James E. Harlin says he issued the license and received and recorded it. His wife, Nancy, testifies to the license and that when the couple came back from being married by T.J. McGhee, she gave them their wedding dinner.
Remsen was put on the Dawes Roll. This license which couldn't be found in 1907 is now on file in the Grove Public Library. Tredwell Remsen's health was declining. He had worked to found a community, for schools, for churches, but he no longer could carry on. The pension that had begun as $2 in 1865 and gone up slowly over the years was $50 a month when he died. Bessie took care of both her parents' in their final days. Remsen died Jan. 16, 1922. The headline on his obituary was "Capt. T.S. Remsen Founder of Grove Dies." The obituary said services were held at Buzzard Cemetery, presumably the Buzzard Springs Cemetery now under water. Julia Remsen died Feb. 6, 1922. The headline was "A Good Woman Called." The article stated, "She is now resting beside her late husband. . ."
The gravestone in Olympus Cemetery has the names of both and the words "Father" and "Mother". Bessie had yet another shock when B.J. died suddenly March 26. She was left a widow with three surviving children. An article accompanying B.J.'s obituary noted that he had bought the bell in the Methodist Church where it had tolled for B.J.'s services. Bessie died March 13, 1937, survived by daughters Mrs. Tom Nichols and Mrs. Percy Wood, and son Grady.
Alva Vandergriff returned to Grove before Feb. 5, 1931, when she married G.W. Rutherford. She died March 2, 1943. She was survived by a son, Tokio Vandergriff. Both Bessie and Alva are buried in Olympus. Claude Hanna, in one of his columns, said he remembered Cap Remsen. Claude described a 4th of July when Remsen and George M. Ward were parading down the street, arms around each other and a big U.S. flag draped over their shoulders. "They were both veterans of the Union Army," Hanna wrote. He got it wrong. George M. Ward served in General Stand Watie's Confederate Brigade. Just two old soldiers.
Copyright © Rose Stauber 2007
Tredwell Remsen, New York farm boy and Civil War veteran, is well-settled into life in the Cherokee Nation. He is the Grove postmaster and a merchant. He has set in motion actions which would result in a town by 1900. Remsen served as postmaster until April 2, 1895, when he was succeeded by J.C. Starr, a Cherokee and son of Hickory Starr and Emma J. Rider. The 1890s were a prelude to major change in Indian Territory. The United States had forced the Cherokee Nation to sell "The Strip", the land that ran along the top of the territory and was leased to cattlemen. The long-awaited Strip payment, or the Starr Roll, came in 1894.
Human nature, then like now, had caused many Cherokees to spend the money before they got it. The crowds attending the payment included merchants and others waiting to get their payment for goods already purchased. Julia Remsen and two daughters, Josephine R. and Alvia, are listed on the Starr Roll. Julia signed for $797.10. About the same time, the Remsen's oldest daughter, Rebecca, but always known as Bessie, and J.B. Broaddus, a young man who had a dray business in town, decided to get married. Bessie was 14 years old, and her parents reacted as could be expected. No way. The couple ran off.
Remsen brought them back, then put Bessie in a school in Kansas. When Remsen discovered that Broaddus knew where Bessie was, she was brought back to the Remsen home and kept under close control. J.B. kept track of the situation and waited for an opportunity. One day Bessie was going down the hill to the spring for water. J.B. drove up; Bessie hopped in, and the couple were off. They eventually returned home and set up housekeeping.
This story was recorded by Lula D. Jones, published in Heritage of the Hills, and used with permission of the Delaware County Historical Society. The Remsens had five girls, only two of them lived to be adults. Remsen recorded the children on a form for the Bureau of Pensions. He listed: Catherine Remsen born in November 1875. Dead Rebecca J. Remsen born June 12, 1880. Living. This is Bessie. Alvie M. Remsen born June 24, 1884. Living Effie May Remsen born August 27, 1889. Dead Grace E. Remsen born November 11, 1895.
The Dawes Commission was already working in Indian Territory, charged by Congress with allotting the land to individual Indians and closing down the tribal governments.The Commission began recording Cherokee families in 1900. The commission traveled with typewriters and clerks and interviewed applicants. Tredwell appeared to enroll himself, Julia, and Alvie. He was questioned about his eligibility, claimed through his marriage to Julia. Which whites, adopted Cherokee citizens by marriage to Cherokees under Cherokee law, would be placed on the Dawes Roll and receive land allotments became a matter for the federal courts.
In 1906, the court ruled that in accordance with Cherokee law, the marriage had to have occurred before Nov. 1, 1875. Persons whose cases were approved by this decision were called back before the Dawes Commission to confirm that they were qualified. Tredwell had his date with a commissioner. He answered that he and Julia were married "the 6th of February 1875." But Tredwell didn't have the license. "The license was lost or burned 7 or 8 years ago."
Tredwell presents a family Bible showing the marriage was performed by T.J. McGhee, judge of the Delaware District. Witnesses are T.J. McGhee and Rebecca Monroe. Remsen was told he had to have evidence of the marriage license. He was then asked, "Have you and your wife lived together continuously as husband and wife, in the Cherokee Nation, from the time of your marriage in 1875 up to and including the present time?" Remsen answered, "Yes, sir." "Are you still living together? A. No, sir. "When did you separate? A. October 5, 1905."
Further questions reveal that Julia has divorced Tredwell without telling him, and that they are both still living in the home with their daughter and her family. Tredwell says this: "She was about 17 years old, and I took her on east and showed her all my folks out in New York, after we were married, a few years afterward." The commissioner told Tredwell to present more evidence of the marriage. So Remsen got affidavits or testimony from everyone he could round up. James E. Harlin says he issued the license and received and recorded it. His wife, Nancy, testifies to the license and that when the couple came back from being married by T.J. McGhee, she gave them their wedding dinner.
Remsen was put on the Dawes Roll. This license which couldn't be found in 1907 is now on file in the Grove Public Library. Tredwell Remsen's health was declining. He had worked to found a community, for schools, for churches, but he no longer could carry on. The pension that had begun as $2 in 1865 and gone up slowly over the years was $50 a month when he died. Bessie took care of both her parents' in their final days. Remsen died Jan. 16, 1922. The headline on his obituary was "Capt. T.S. Remsen Founder of Grove Dies." The obituary said services were held at Buzzard Cemetery, presumably the Buzzard Springs Cemetery now under water. Julia Remsen died Feb. 6, 1922. The headline was "A Good Woman Called." The article stated, "She is now resting beside her late husband. . ."
The gravestone in Olympus Cemetery has the names of both and the words "Father" and "Mother". Bessie had yet another shock when B.J. died suddenly March 26. She was left a widow with three surviving children. An article accompanying B.J.'s obituary noted that he had bought the bell in the Methodist Church where it had tolled for B.J.'s services. Bessie died March 13, 1937, survived by daughters Mrs. Tom Nichols and Mrs. Percy Wood, and son Grady.
Alva Vandergriff returned to Grove before Feb. 5, 1931, when she married G.W. Rutherford. She died March 2, 1943. She was survived by a son, Tokio Vandergriff. Both Bessie and Alva are buried in Olympus. Claude Hanna, in one of his columns, said he remembered Cap Remsen. Claude described a 4th of July when Remsen and George M. Ward were parading down the street, arms around each other and a big U.S. flag draped over their shoulders. "They were both veterans of the Union Army," Hanna wrote. He got it wrong. George M. Ward served in General Stand Watie's Confederate Brigade. Just two old soldiers.
Copyright © Rose Stauber 2007
Labels: Grove History
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