Indian Territory!
NOTE: At this point in our family's genealogy, we are moving into the early Twentieth Century. Many of the lives of the family members discussed in this post overlapped the lives of family members who are still living. My research is focused on details that are available in the public record. However, many of you will have clear memories of the family members discussed here and will have details that fill in the blanks in the public record. I'd love to hear from anyone who has any information that supports, contradicts or supplements the information I have found. Please feel free to comment to this (or any other post) or drop me an email at jhg@longgilliam.com. I'll share your information in the blog only if you provide me your permission to do so. Thanks!
In the previous post, we explored Hardy and Jane Gilliam's 1877 move from Arkansas to Hill County, Texas with their surviving adult children. Their sons Thomas Jefferson Gilliam (Note: I will refer to him as TJ for the rest of this post) and Lemuel Gilliam were both married and had started their families before their moves to Texas. Son John Tillman Gilliam had married and been widowed before he arrived in Texas, but soon remarried and started his second family there. Hardy and Jane's daughters Alvira Parolee Gilliam and Sarah Frances Gilliam both married soon after their arrival in Texas. All remained in Texas for the rest of their lives except TJ. The exact date TJ moved his family to Oklahoma is unclear, but the public record supports the deduction that TJ, wife Martha and their family arrived in what is now Oklahoma before 1890.
One piece of evidence helping us narrow the time of their Oklahoma arrival was discussed in the previous post -- the biographical sketch of the family contained in A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and Hill Counties Texas. The book describes TJ as a resident of "Indian Territory" at the time of publication (1892). Accounting for a delay between writing and publication supports a move at least a year or two prior to 1892.
The additional clues helping us identify their Oklahoma arrival are derived from census records. Before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the area was first designated "Indian Territory" in 1834 and then organized into the Oklahoma Territory in May, 1890. We know from the 1880 federal census record that TJ and family were in Hill County Texas at that time. Their children all have Arkansas birthplaces, except for four-month-old Dora, who is listed as born in Texas. We have no 1890 census reports to refer to as those records were destroyed in a 1921 fire. In the 1900 census, TJ's sons Charles (March 1882) and Douglas (August 1886) are both listed with Texas birthplaces. However, the baby, Cara Josephine, is listed with a March 1890 birth date in "Indian Territory". Based on those clues, I am going to place the time frame of TJ and Martha's move to Oklahoma as after Douglas' birth in August 1886 and before Josie was born in 1890. That time frame makes TJ and his family some of the earliest white settlers in Oklahoma, well before the "Boomer Sooner" land runs of 1891 and 1893.
The 1900 census entry discussed earlier indicates TJ and Martha are living in Noble Township, Cleveland County, Oklahoma. He is farming. The household contains all of the children that made the move to Oklahoma, including daughter Dora and her her husband Marion Spencer (sons Marion Franklin ("Frank"), 29, John Calhoun, 26, and Samuel, 23, are still single). We can locate that area on Google Maps here, a few miles east of Norman OK:
According to government records, TJ's son Frank was awarded a grant of 160 acres in Caddo County, Oklahoma on August 3, 1904. The Bureau of Land Management grant can be seen here:
Google maps places the location of his farm here, in Waconda Township in extreme north Caddo County, just northwest of the town of Hinton:
The farm location looks like this in a current satellite picture:
A year later,on March 16, 1905, TJ was awarded a grant of 160 acres in Caddo County, Oklahoma. The Bureau of Land Management grant can be seen here:
Google maps places the location of his farm here, in Tonkawa Township, just off the county road from Cyril to Anadarko:
This map shows the proximity of Frank's land grant to that received by TJ:
Here is a satellite picture of the land as it looks today:
It is unclear from the public record that TJ ever lived on or operated the farm in Tonkawa Township. By the next census (1910), TJ and Martha are not on the land there. Instead, they are farming on rented ground in South Cement Township in Caddo County. Cyril is located in South Cement Township and is further located south and east of the 160 acres TJ was granted in 1905. In addition to wife Martha and daughter Josie, their 1910 household includes "farm laborer" Lester Hildreth, the youngest brother of TJ and Martha's daughters-in-law Annie Hildreth Gilliam and Maggie Hildreth Gilliam.
Interestingly, the 1910 census indicates TJ's son Frank Gilliam (married to Maggie Taff in 1905), is not farming on the Waconda Township property, but is farming in Tonkawa Township on a farm he owns. Perhaps Frank purchased the farm from TJ and operated the farmland TJ had received directly from the government? Frank died about 1919 and in the 1920 census second son John Calhoun Gilliam is farming in Tonkawa Township. Perhaps he took over the farm after Frank's death. If so, he was not there long as by 1930, John is farming in Doyle Township in Caddo County, just west of Cyril. If anyone knows the full story on what happened to the original farm ground TJ was granted in Tonkawa Township, I'd love to hear from you.
TJ and Martha lived out the rest of their days in Cyril and Caddo County, Oklahoma. Martha died on April 17, 1926 and is buried in Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko. TJ died two months later on June 24 and is buried with Martha.
Based on my research, I am fairly confident that Thomas Jefferson Gilliam was the first of the descendants of Hinchea Gilliam (1775-1858) to put down roots in Oklahoma. Some of TJ's cousins did make the move from Tennessee and Arkansas to Oklahoma, but at least ten years after TJ arrived there. I found no evidence that any of the Gilliam cousins settled near Caddo County.
The public record is also fairly clear that TJ and Martha's oldest daughter, Sarah Jane Gilliam Brady, was the only member of their family that did not make the move from Texas to Oklahoma. She married Jesse Brady in Hill County in 1885 and lived in Hill and Johnson Counties Texas for the remainder of her life, dying there in 1930. However, TJ and Martha's children that made the move remained in Oklahoma for most of their productive years.
As discussed above, their eldest son Frank farmed in Tonkawa Township. Frank died about 1919.
On December 20, 1900, John Calhoun Gilliam married Annie Lily Hildreth in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. According to their sons' WWII draft cards, son Lemuel Hardy Gilliam and Joseph Douglas Gilliam were born in Caddo County in 1903 and 1905, respectively. By 1910, they are farming in Crosby Township, Comanche County Oklahoma. Crosby Township is located south of Lawton, near the town of Geronimo, Oklahoma. As discussed above, John and his family moved to farms in Tonkawa Township by the 1920 census and Doyle Township by the 1930 census. John died while living in Cyril in 1943. Annie remained in Cyril until her death in 1975. They are buried in Cement Cemetery, Cement, Oklahoma.
Third son Samuel Gilliam married Martha "Maggie" Hildreth (Annie's twin sister) in 1902. They farmed in Doyle Township for the rest of their lives. Sam died in 1948 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Apache, Oklahoma. Maggie died in 1971 and is buried with Sam.
Eldest daughter Dora Bell Gilliam married Marion Spencer in 1898. They farmed in Mangan Township, Comanche County, Oklahoma most of their lives together. Dora died in 1971, 36 years after her husband's death.
Fourth son Charles Monroe Gilliam married Alta Tindal in approximately 1905. They farmed in McClain, Caddo and Stephens Counties, Oklahoma over the course of their lives. Charles died in 1947.
Their fifth son, Douglas, died in 1903 at age sixteen.
Their youngest daughter Cara Josephine married William Nichols in 1913. They lived in Cyril through at least 1920. Josie died in California in 1980.
Before we follow the migration of the next generation of Gilliams to California, in the next posts, I will go back and discuss the families that married into the Gilliam family farther back in the family tree.
In the previous post, we explored Hardy and Jane Gilliam's 1877 move from Arkansas to Hill County, Texas with their surviving adult children. Their sons Thomas Jefferson Gilliam (Note: I will refer to him as TJ for the rest of this post) and Lemuel Gilliam were both married and had started their families before their moves to Texas. Son John Tillman Gilliam had married and been widowed before he arrived in Texas, but soon remarried and started his second family there. Hardy and Jane's daughters Alvira Parolee Gilliam and Sarah Frances Gilliam both married soon after their arrival in Texas. All remained in Texas for the rest of their lives except TJ. The exact date TJ moved his family to Oklahoma is unclear, but the public record supports the deduction that TJ, wife Martha and their family arrived in what is now Oklahoma before 1890.
One piece of evidence helping us narrow the time of their Oklahoma arrival was discussed in the previous post -- the biographical sketch of the family contained in A Memorial and Biographical History of Johnson and Hill Counties Texas. The book describes TJ as a resident of "Indian Territory" at the time of publication (1892). Accounting for a delay between writing and publication supports a move at least a year or two prior to 1892.
The additional clues helping us identify their Oklahoma arrival are derived from census records. Before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the area was first designated "Indian Territory" in 1834 and then organized into the Oklahoma Territory in May, 1890. We know from the 1880 federal census record that TJ and family were in Hill County Texas at that time. Their children all have Arkansas birthplaces, except for four-month-old Dora, who is listed as born in Texas. We have no 1890 census reports to refer to as those records were destroyed in a 1921 fire. In the 1900 census, TJ's sons Charles (March 1882) and Douglas (August 1886) are both listed with Texas birthplaces. However, the baby, Cara Josephine, is listed with a March 1890 birth date in "Indian Territory". Based on those clues, I am going to place the time frame of TJ and Martha's move to Oklahoma as after Douglas' birth in August 1886 and before Josie was born in 1890. That time frame makes TJ and his family some of the earliest white settlers in Oklahoma, well before the "Boomer Sooner" land runs of 1891 and 1893.
The 1900 census entry discussed earlier indicates TJ and Martha are living in Noble Township, Cleveland County, Oklahoma. He is farming. The household contains all of the children that made the move to Oklahoma, including daughter Dora and her her husband Marion Spencer (sons Marion Franklin ("Frank"), 29, John Calhoun, 26, and Samuel, 23, are still single). We can locate that area on Google Maps here, a few miles east of Norman OK:
According to government records, TJ's son Frank was awarded a grant of 160 acres in Caddo County, Oklahoma on August 3, 1904. The Bureau of Land Management grant can be seen here:
Google maps places the location of his farm here, in Waconda Township in extreme north Caddo County, just northwest of the town of Hinton:
The farm location looks like this in a current satellite picture:
A year later,on March 16, 1905, TJ was awarded a grant of 160 acres in Caddo County, Oklahoma. The Bureau of Land Management grant can be seen here:
Google maps places the location of his farm here, in Tonkawa Township, just off the county road from Cyril to Anadarko:
This map shows the proximity of Frank's land grant to that received by TJ:
Here is a satellite picture of the land as it looks today:
It is unclear from the public record that TJ ever lived on or operated the farm in Tonkawa Township. By the next census (1910), TJ and Martha are not on the land there. Instead, they are farming on rented ground in South Cement Township in Caddo County. Cyril is located in South Cement Township and is further located south and east of the 160 acres TJ was granted in 1905. In addition to wife Martha and daughter Josie, their 1910 household includes "farm laborer" Lester Hildreth, the youngest brother of TJ and Martha's daughters-in-law Annie Hildreth Gilliam and Maggie Hildreth Gilliam.
Interestingly, the 1910 census indicates TJ's son Frank Gilliam (married to Maggie Taff in 1905), is not farming on the Waconda Township property, but is farming in Tonkawa Township on a farm he owns. Perhaps Frank purchased the farm from TJ and operated the farmland TJ had received directly from the government? Frank died about 1919 and in the 1920 census second son John Calhoun Gilliam is farming in Tonkawa Township. Perhaps he took over the farm after Frank's death. If so, he was not there long as by 1930, John is farming in Doyle Township in Caddo County, just west of Cyril. If anyone knows the full story on what happened to the original farm ground TJ was granted in Tonkawa Township, I'd love to hear from you.
TJ and Martha lived out the rest of their days in Cyril and Caddo County, Oklahoma. Martha died on April 17, 1926 and is buried in Memory Lane Cemetery in Anadarko. TJ died two months later on June 24 and is buried with Martha.
Based on my research, I am fairly confident that Thomas Jefferson Gilliam was the first of the descendants of Hinchea Gilliam (1775-1858) to put down roots in Oklahoma. Some of TJ's cousins did make the move from Tennessee and Arkansas to Oklahoma, but at least ten years after TJ arrived there. I found no evidence that any of the Gilliam cousins settled near Caddo County.
The public record is also fairly clear that TJ and Martha's oldest daughter, Sarah Jane Gilliam Brady, was the only member of their family that did not make the move from Texas to Oklahoma. She married Jesse Brady in Hill County in 1885 and lived in Hill and Johnson Counties Texas for the remainder of her life, dying there in 1930. However, TJ and Martha's children that made the move remained in Oklahoma for most of their productive years.
As discussed above, their eldest son Frank farmed in Tonkawa Township. Frank died about 1919.
On December 20, 1900, John Calhoun Gilliam married Annie Lily Hildreth in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. According to their sons' WWII draft cards, son Lemuel Hardy Gilliam and Joseph Douglas Gilliam were born in Caddo County in 1903 and 1905, respectively. By 1910, they are farming in Crosby Township, Comanche County Oklahoma. Crosby Township is located south of Lawton, near the town of Geronimo, Oklahoma. As discussed above, John and his family moved to farms in Tonkawa Township by the 1920 census and Doyle Township by the 1930 census. John died while living in Cyril in 1943. Annie remained in Cyril until her death in 1975. They are buried in Cement Cemetery, Cement, Oklahoma.
Third son Samuel Gilliam married Martha "Maggie" Hildreth (Annie's twin sister) in 1902. They farmed in Doyle Township for the rest of their lives. Sam died in 1948 and is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Apache, Oklahoma. Maggie died in 1971 and is buried with Sam.
Eldest daughter Dora Bell Gilliam married Marion Spencer in 1898. They farmed in Mangan Township, Comanche County, Oklahoma most of their lives together. Dora died in 1971, 36 years after her husband's death.
Fourth son Charles Monroe Gilliam married Alta Tindal in approximately 1905. They farmed in McClain, Caddo and Stephens Counties, Oklahoma over the course of their lives. Charles died in 1947.
Their fifth son, Douglas, died in 1903 at age sixteen.
Their youngest daughter Cara Josephine married William Nichols in 1913. They lived in Cyril through at least 1920. Josie died in California in 1980.
Before we follow the migration of the next generation of Gilliams to California, in the next posts, I will go back and discuss the families that married into the Gilliam family farther back in the family tree.
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