Necrology section from Volume 29, Number 1, Spring 1951. It includes documents honoring the lives of pioneer teacher Lena Ellen Peyton and outdoorsman Gideon Graham

Cole, Redmond S.

Wright, Muriel H. (Muriel Hazel), 1889-1975

Gateway to Oklahoma History

NecrologiesNECROLOGIESLENA ELLEN PEYTON1885-1950The life of this daughter of a pioneer family, both as a pupil and asa teacher, has a real part in the story of the State's public schools fromtheir beginnings. Her family interest goes back to even earlier historyof education in Oklahoma for her mother's cousin, Joseph Hervey Nourseof Washington, D.C., came to the Indian Territory in 1854, to serve as ateacher in the well known Spencer Academy for boys in the Choctaw Nation.Lena Ellen Peyton, born at Fredonia, Kansas, on February 8, 1885, wasthe youngest child of Richard Leander Peyton and his wife, Sarah HelenNourse Peyton. They were the parents of eight children who reachedmaturity. Richard Leander Peyton, a native of Kentucky, came fromKansas to Oklahoma at the opening of the Potawatomi-Shawnee reserva-tion lands on September 22, 1891. He secured a homestead claim underGovernment rules for U. S. Army veterans, and soon brought his familyfrom Kansas to his location near Tecumseh, in present PottawatomieCounty. He had served throughout the Civil War in the Union Army:commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 25th Regular Kentucky Volunteer Militia,October 22, 1861; 2nd Lieutenant, 8th Cavalry Regiment, Kentucky; andLieut. Colonel, 47th Regular Kentucky Militia, October 31, 1863.1 ColonelPeyton died in 1892, and was the first white man buried in the Old Friends'Mission Cemetery near Tecumseh.The mother, Sarah Helen Nourse Peyton, born December 14, 1842,was a native of Butler County, Kentucky, the daughter of James Herveyand Sarah (ned Neel) Nourse. James Hervey Nourse was the grandson ofJames and Sarah (ned Fouace) Nourse, who came from England andestablished their home and family in Virginia, in 1770. The children andgrandchildren as well as later descendants of this remarkable Americanfamily served as officers in the Colonial and U. S. armies, as officials inWashington, and as preachers and teachers.2 Joseph Nourse, the oldestson of James Nourse, was military secretary to General Charles Lee, Com-mander-in-Chief of the Southern Department, U. S. Army, and was electedfirst register of the U. S. Treasury in President Washington's administra-tion, serving in this same office until the election of Andrew Jackson asPresident in 1829. Sarah Nourse Peyton was reared as the daughter ofa prosperous slave-holding, planter family of Kentucky. She was amember of the Old School Presbyterian Church, her life typifying thelife of the pioneer mother in Oklahoma. After the death of her husband,she remained on the homestead farm for some years until she moved toShawnee to be near schools for her youngest children.Days on the farm were happy ones for Lena, affectionately called"Dutchie" by her brothers. Always a lover of outdoor life, birds and1 Colonel Peyton's original commissions bearing the signatures of two Governorsof Kentucky, Beriah McGoffin and Thomas E. Bramlette, are on exhibit as part ofthe historical collections in the Union Army Room of the Oklahoma Historical So-ciety.2 Maria Catherine Nourse Lyle, James Nourse and His Descendants, (Lexing-ton, 1897).117Chronicles of Oklahomaflowers, her cabin and acreage near Shawnee was a source of great pleasurein summer during her last years. She had first attended a country schooltaught by a Quaker lady, and later, the public schools of Shawnee. Anexcellent student, she qualified as a teacher immediately after her gradua-tion from high school, and began her life's work in the public schools ofShawnee. Small in stature with a faultless complexion and red gold hair,she was one of the prettiest and best loved teachers in the primary grades.A year away from teaching and many summer vacations, besides attendanceat night school, were spent in study at leading universities. She received adegree from Oklahoma City University and from Chicago University.In 1918, soon after the death of her mother, Miss Peyton came to Cul-bertson School in Oklahoma City. Counted among the successful teachersin the City, she was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Board ofEducation when she retired from teaching, at the close of the school termin May, 1950. She was also awarded Honorary Life Membership by theOklahoma City Chamber of Commerce for her loyalty and interest as acitizen of the City. Miss Peyton was a member of the Oklahoma HistoricalSociety. She attended the First Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.Her death came suddenly from a heart ailment on the evening of June 18,1950, at her apartment home, 716 N. E. 14th Street. Funeral services wereheld in Oklahoma City, and interment was in the family plot in TecumsehCemetery. Her immediate, surviving relatives, besides several grand-nephews and grand-nieces, are a sister, Mrs. M. Grace Knowles, a niece,Mrs. Melvin Race (ned Helen Knowles), and a brother, R. I. Peyton, allthree of Shawnee; and a brother, Frank Peyton, of Salem, Oregon.The fact that Lena Ellen Peyton taught successfully for thirty-twoyears in the same second grade room in Culbertson School in OklahomaCity was an outstanding record, an achievement that is worthy of amemorial among classroom teachers in this State. She will long be re-membered. with warm affection by her many friends and the hundreds ofher pupils who loved and admired her through the years both in Shawneeand in Oklahoma City.By Muriel H. WrightOklahoma City, OklahomaGIDEON GRAHAM1867-1950In the death of Gideon Graham, on February 10, 1950, at his home inCollinsville, Oklahoma, this State lost one of its "grand old men of theout-of-doors." His career was a most unusual one. Much of his life wasspent on farms and ranches. He always enjoyed the hunt, but he alwaysfought valiantly to protect the "hunt-ed" from needless slaughter. In hisbusy life he found time to serve as a clerk in a store, to act as a book-keeper, a mine foreman, a rancher and a banker. His first political honorscame at statehood when he was elected a member of the Board of CountyCommissioners of Rogers County. He twice represented his district in theState Senate. For two years he -was Superintendent of the State home atPryor, and for a period was on the Fish and Game Commission. In allhis political ventures he proved a worthy servant of the people.Senator Graham was born in Coryell County, Texas, January 21, 1867,and was named for his paternal grandfather Gideon Graham (1818-1912).The grandmother was Elizabeth Minnix (1823-1899). His father was JohnVesley Graham (1844-1903), his mother Missouri Ann Dawson, (1846-1912).118\* it. ~ ~ 4rn'1$(Photo taken about, time of graduation from Shawnee High School)LENA ELLEN PEYTON4u.- IlEi44C4044TIi"His mother was the daughter of James Dawson (1816-1891) and Temp-perence Butler (1826-1893). James Dawson was the son of Samuel Dawson,born in Ireland in 1773, came to Texas at an early date, locating at SanSaba. He died in 1874. Samuel Dawson's wife was Polly Ann Rogers(1792-1857) granddaughter of Captain John Rogers, Chief of the WesternCherokees. Gid Graham was married in 1886 in Texas to Elizabeth,daughter of a respected German, Julius Edward Sydow. Mrs. Grahamdied suddenly in Tulsa in 1925, while making plans for a trip toDenver, Colorado. They were the parents of nine children: John, of Cali-fornia; Julius Edward, of Tulsa; Wm. Francis, former water Commissionerfor the City of Tulsa; Captain Jesse Ellis, a graduate of West Point andan army officer; Grace (Mrs. Edgar R. Nagle) of Springfield, Missouri;Florence (Mrs. Robert B. Sale) of Ponca City; Sallie M. (Mrs. Milton B.Yarbo) of Ada; Alexander Travis of Tulsa; and Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. LouisBrannin) of Ramona, Oklahoma. One of Mr. Graham's accomplishments wasthe preparation and publication of The Dawson-Graham and Allied Families,a history of his people, into which he wove much of his philosophy of life.It concluded with these words: "It is neither birth, nor rank nor state,BUT-the get-up-and-Git that makes men great."At the age of sixty, Gid Graham married secondly the widow EdithMisamore, a long time friend of the family. The ceremony was performedat the Connie Gibson Ranch in Osage County by Judge John R. Charlton,of Bartlesville, before an audience of members of the Wolf and Fox HuntersAssociation. The second Mrs. Graham proved a most worthy helpmate,doing much of his reading and typing when his eyesight began to fail.He prepared and published a book Animal Outlaws, which went thrutwo editions. It was a most worthy contribution to the literature on wildlife and brought him national fame. His short stories of "The Eagle-theEmperor of the Air," "Bob White-the Optimist," and "Old Dutch-theOutlaw Horse," are classics. In many pamphlets he cried out incessantlyagainst the wanton destruction of birds and wild life, pointing out thatsuch wanton waste was robbing the youth of today and tomorrow of oneof their richest heritages.His crusade took various forms. In one of his numerous brochures hepointed out that the use of thousands of trees for Christmas decorationswas a crime against nature. He fought needless expenditure of publicmonies and on many occasions railed out against the practice of dammingup streams, pointing out that it was an interference with God's plan. Inthe thirty minutes preceding his death, he sat at his desk preparing a pleaagainst what he termed useless strikes and concluded an appeal to Congressto pass needed legislation to fortify America, for the conflict he foresaw,for "armed power makes Dictators tremble." He died as he lived-battlingfor the country he so passionately loved, and for the "hunt-ed." His master-piece was "My Last Appeal," a powerful plea for the wild life. It isworth a place in all huntsmen's libraries."Gid" as he always called himself, had a favorite poem, which he waswont to repeat over and over again:"I want to go way out yonderWhere nature is supremeWhere the clouds kiss the hill-topsAnd the deer drink in the stream.Out beyond the smoky cityMiles and miles from anywhere.Where the blue peaks guard the valleysLet my last Trail lead me there."Necrologies 119120 Chronicles of OklahomaAs he approached the "end of the Trail," he acquired a tract of landsome twelve miles north of Claremore, where he blasted out of the rock ona high mound the last resting place for himself and his helpmate. Heleft implicit directions for his funeral as follows:"RED SIGNALS mark life's highway, and I decree that the followingprocedure be carried out-with brevity.FUNERAL PROGRAM FOR GID GRAHAMPlace: H. S. Auditorium, Collinsville. Time 10:30 A.M.Coffin to be decorated with quails, Prairie Chickens, standing in Flowers:Judge N. B. Johnson of Claremore to Preside.Buck Fields to play: Swedish Anthem: "OVER THE WAVES"Choir to sing: "Home on the Range."Address by Judge Johnson, he to read, "MY LAST APPEAL."Choir to sing: Abide with Me, and farmer Edwin Schroeder,-pray briefly.Then to be taken to the Gid Graham Wild Life Monument for the Long Sleep.His wishes were carried out and Gid Graham was laid to rest on hismound in the wide open spaces, out "where the cattle range, the birds singand the coyotes play" and a place where he could attain the Indians' Dreamof Heaven, which he voiced in these words:"The ancient Jew and Egyptian prized Gold and Glory. Their Poetsand Prophets, Savants and Sovereigns longed for an Eternal City withstreets of Gold, where they could disport themselves in Pearly Gates andwear a Golden crown."I cannot vision a Heavenly City of Golden Streets that would soothetired feet and to wear a Crown of Gold and play on a Golden Harp-is not inspiring to me."Where the Planet of Heaven is, I know not? I have dreamed of itsFlowered hills, radiating Eternal Beauty; Its Lofty Peaks clad in evergreenfoliage and Deep Canyons of Rugged and Wild Grandeur. Where statelyforests grace the margins of Clear Streams and broad prairies teem withAnimals and Birds, living in everlasting Peace."There-In Elysian Fields where Flowers bloom Eternally and theSong of Birds is a Benediction of the Great Spirit-where every soul whosuffers here may find Peace and Solace there, I hope to greet my lovedones, Cherished Friends, and realize the Vision and Dream of Heaven."By Redmond S. Cole.Tulsa, Oklahomay4 aF 44GID GRAHAMs J"sftf.. C. r

Chronicles of Oklahoma

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Chronicles of Oklahoma

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