Grove Beginnings...Part 10

By Rose Stauber
A Grove Snapshot

In June 1900 the federal census came to Indian Territory for the first
time. Well, in 1860, a census taker had wandered in and taken a census
of whites only. And he included the slave schedule so that if you want
to know who owned slaves on the eve of the Civil War, that record is
available.
The only names are of the owners. Each slave is listed by sex, age,
and color. Just to make sure who the census taker was enumerating, after
the name John Ross, he added, "Chief of the Cherokees".

Now it is 40 years later and everyone is to be counted on the census.
Of course, this was indicative of the plan for Indian Territory to become
part of the United States. For those who don't remember, the federal census
is taken every ten years in years ending in zero. They are numbered
beginning with the first census in 1790. The 1900 census is the twelfth census.
For anyone who doesn't know why the census is taken, it is required by the
Constitution in order to determine each state's representation in
Congress.
But since the government is taking a census, it is used to provide
information on various things. The 1900 census is very informative,
asking month and year of birth, number of years married, and how many children
a woman had given birth to and how many were living at the time of the
census.
Always important, it asked the place of birth of the person and of
the person's mother and father. Three questions about immigration were
asked.

The 1900 census and the 1910 census had two schedules, one for the
general population and one for Indians. The Indian schedule added a number of
questions such as tribe, degree of white blood, whether living in a
fixed or movable dwelling and whether living in polygamy. Keep in mind that the
Dawes Commission was enrolling the Cherokee Nation at the time the 1900
census was being taken.

The census date was June 1, meaning each family was to be recorded as
to their status on that date. Children born later did not go on the
census and persons alive on June 1 were to be on the census even though they might
have died before the census taker arrived. That is why the census is a
snapshot.

The date was June 28 when Grove pharmacist Oliver F. Mason began recording
the town, those living in the 200 acres of the original plat. The
township is listed as Township 24 N R 24 East. The town is listed as
"Incorporated Town of Grove". The page number is 110A, Microfilm T-623-1843. It is
available at the Grove Public Library, online, and in major libraries
and archives.

The big question – how many people lived in Grove in 1900? I count
234 on the white schedule and 80 on the Indian Schedule for a total of 314.
Not all 80 on the Indian schedule were Indians. Of the 18 households,
eleven were mixed marriages. W.P. Mayes' boarding house, which Lula Dale
Duckworth Jones praised, had eight boarders, all white. Three other boarders,
including two with Letha Tabler, were white.

One might conclude that the town had a disproportionate number of
whites. Actually, for Indian Territory as a whole, the census found that whites
outnumbered Indians five to one.

Occupations covered what would be expected in a town: at least ten
merchants of various kinds. They included Tredwell Remsen and John
H. Gibson, and about as many salesmen.

Jasper Cal Holland, Henry Thompson, and Cephus J. Wells were listed
as physicians. Andrew H. Emery was a lawyer, Robert Pickens was listed as
dental surgeon. Two druggists and a chemist were listed including the
census taker.

Two were listed as restaurant keepers; two, including Mayes, as
keeping hotel/boarding houses. There was a barber, a freighter, a money
loaner, and two pool hall keepers, Allie Whitley and Haywood Thomason. Skills
found in town were carpenters, a brick and tile worker, printer, watch repairer,
two blacksmiths, stone masons, manager of a threshing machine, harness
maker, and an engineer stationary. Strangely, three heads of household listed
their occupation as lead miners. The manager of the mill was Walter
Doherty, a Cherokee.

The postmaster, as we learned earlier, was George P. Dibble. The one
banker listed was David Fink. John L. Brown was the one minister
listed.

The whites had come to Indian Territory primarily from adjoining
Missouri and Arkansas, but also from Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa,
and, believe it or not, New Mexico as well as other places. The new town
was being settled by strangers who would have to work together.

What of the children? Ten children on the Indian Schedule were shown
as having attended school. Four of these were children of William P. and
Annie Mays. Annie Mays was very interested in education. John H. Gibson's
four children of school age are not shown as attending school, but are
recorded as being able to read and write. The only Indian teacher found was
Mary Smith, 17–year-old daughter of Thomas and Polly Smith who lived just
outside the town limits.

Eighteen white children had attended school, probably a low percentage
of those eligible. No white teacher was identified. The supposition is
that some kind of school was being held for white children, and that it was
the forerunner of the school we know existed just a few years later.
Claude Hanna discusses the first school for non-Indian children as being as
being a one-room log house. See page 71, Claude Hanna Retraces Memory's Road.

This is our snapshot of Grove in June 1900, seven years before
Oklahoma statehood.

Copyright © 2007 Rose Stauber