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Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date:
Name: Mrs. Martha Briggs
Post Office: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Father: __?__ JACK
Place of Birth: Virginia
Information on father:
Mother:
Place of birth: Indiana
Information on mother: died 1881/1882  Montgomery County, KS, near Caney
Other: Mrs. Martha Perryman, nee Jack; Mrs. (Dr.) J.C. Reynolds
Field Worker:

JOSIAH C. PERRYMAN

 Mrs. Martha Perryman, nee Jack, who is now Mrs. Briggs, age 65, living at 2011 S. Phoenix, West Tulsa, Oklahoma, tells the following facts concerning incidents in her life and that of her first husband, J. C.  Perryman, as they relate to early Oklahoma history.  Her father was a Virginian, and her mother was born in Indiana.

 The earliest recollections of Mrs. Briggs were of a farm near Springfield, Missouri, where they lived.  From there they moved, in a wagon drawn by two oxen name "Roch and Rollie", to a farm in Montgomery County, Kansas, near the town of Caney, where they lived until the spring of 1881 or 1882, when her mother died and they then moved to "Tulsey" and rented a farm from George B. Perryman.

 Mrs. Mary Orcutt, the sister of Mrs. Briggs, lived with her husband, Dolph Orcutt, in a house made of hewed logs, on a farm which they rented from Josiah Perryman, a cattleman.  This house stood on land located between what is now 45th and 51st streets on Utica Ave., south of Tulsa.  When Mary Orcutt died, her sister Martha stayed in the Orcutt home to take care of the children, and when the Orcutts left, Tom Kinney and his wife moved in so that Tom could look after Joe's cattle.  Martha Jack stayed with the Kinneys but was offered a job as cook for Josiah in his own home where all of her brothers were working.  About the year 1885, Martha became the wife of J.C. Perryman, and the son, Hamer C. later filed on this home place which is the land south of Bethel Union school house, at 51st and Lewis Ave., S. of Tulsa.  Josiah Perryman had a ranch on Joe's creek (named for Josiah), S.E. of Tulsa, where W. L. North now lives, and previous to 1885 Josiah was postmaster at the post office which was located at his brother Geo. Perryman's home.  Later the P.O. was moved to "Tulsey Town".  Josiah Perryman died Mar. 3, 1889, and was buried in the Perryman cemetery, south of Tulsa.  David M. Hodge preached his funeral.

 Mrs. Martha Perryman stayed on at the farm for several years, and then when she married Dr. J.C. Reynolds, she bought a lot in Tulsa a house on it, at about the place where the Alexander Hotel now stands, on S. Boston between 2nd and 3rd streets.

 At one time, when she was still a girl, she worked for John Yargee, who lived on Duck creek, south of Bixby, Oklahoma.  One day when the Yargee family had gone to visit the Sanger family at the Sanger, or Spike S. ranch, on account of Mrs. Sanger's illness, Martha was left alone, and while there by herself, a lot of Indians came riding into the yard.  They carried guns, and around their arms they wore corn shucks as some mark of identification.  These men demanded something to eat, and ordered Martha to prepare a meal for them.  She told them she had no wood, and one man spoke up and said they would get her some wood if she would cook dinner for them.  So although she was trembling with fright, she cooked dinner for the bunch, and 'twas with feelings of great relief that she saw them ride away.  They told her that they were Is parhe che (this should be spelled Es pahec che, as the first letter has a short I sound, and there is no short I in the Creek language) men.

 Josiah Perryman had a buckskin coat and vest that had belonged to his grandfather.  The vest was embroidered with beads, and the coat had buckskin lace around the collar and hem.  This coat and vest were stolen from J.C. Perryman.

Submitted to OKGenWeb by Joan Case <lcase@manti.com> 02-1999.