
Chronicles of Oklahoma
Volume 12, No. 4
December, 1934
THE CHEROKEE GOSPEL TIDINGS OF DWIGHT MISSION
CAROLYN THOMAS FOREMAN
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Dwight Mission, located on Sallisaw Creek in 1830, is the oldest school in the State of Oklahoma, although Union Mission was
established at an earlier date. Named in honor of the Rev. Timothy Dwight of Yale University, the mission has added luster
to the name by the great educational work accomplished among the Cherokee Indians.
Much modern history of Dwight Mission is contained in the pages of a small magazine called Cherokee Gospel Tidings, which was first printed on the Presbyterian Mission Press at Siloam Springs, Arkansas. The paper bore "Goingsnake, Indian
Territory" on the date line in January, 1898; and in August, 1900 it was issued from the mission near Marble, Indian Territory,
which was to be its future home.
The Rev. Frederick L. Schaub and his wife arrived at Dwight Mission in 1900, and the following eleven years of their lives
were devoted to the upbuilding of the school. Mr. Schaub was superintendent; he served as editor of the magazine, while his
devoted wife gave her time to the welfare of the Indian children.1
1Frederick L. Schaub was born in Iowa City, Iowa, September 25, 1866 and with his parents removed to Kansas City when he was
a small child. They later made their home in Independence and Parsons, Kansas, where the boy gained his education in the public
schools. He was the eldest child of the family and he was soon obliged to go to work to help with the expenses. As a youth
Mr. Schaub became the devil in a printing office, and there he learned to set type, which was an aid when he took charge of
Dwight Mission, As he made great use of the press in his work.
Mr. Schaub was ambitious to become a missionary in the foreign field, but was obliged to forego that career. He attended night
school and studied pharmacy which also proved very useful in the Indian country, as doctors were few and far between, and
he frequently prescribed for pupils in the school and among the Cherokees in the neighborhood. The time finally came when
he could no longer resist the call to become a missionary, and after an intensive course in the work he was licensed to become
a worker among the Cherokee Indians. He was stationed at Siloam Springs, Arkansas, three years, and at Welling before he took
charge of Dwight Mission.
Mr. Schaub was married to Miss Della E. Mansfield of Parsons, Kansas, September 11, 1893, and two sons were born to them—Clifford
at Siloam Springs and Dwight at Dwight Mission. On September 1, 1924, Mr. Schaub was killed by lightning at Noel, Missouri.
Page 455
Cherokee Gospel Tidings, printed in English and Cherokee, contained selections from the Bible, news items about the teachers and pupils at the school,
and many interesting illustrations which, while crude, have preserved scenes that otherwise would have been lost. Frequent
accounts are given of the other Presbyterian missions, the churches and Sunday schools of the Indian Territory. A fairly complete
file of the magazine is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C.; Mrs. Schaub of Muskogee, Oklahoma, has many numbers,
and the Author has had access to both files. Gospel Tidings was issued monthly by the Sabbath School and Publication Committee of Sequoyah Presbytery, for an annual subscription price
of twenty cents a year.
Accounts of the Elm Spring Mission appeared in the pages of Gospel Tidings, and in January, 1900 it was announced that the
post office of the mission was changed from Tahlequah to Welling, Indian Territory. The next issue reported that Miss C. H.
Montgomery2 of the mission had been critically ill, but the physicians gave hope of her speedy recovery. Two members, George Pritchett
and Mrs. Sallie Jumper Ratt, of the Elm Spring church, died and passed to their reward.
On the first Sunday of 1900 Rev. F. L. Schaub and Elder Thomas Still of the Sequoyah Presbytery organized a new church about
four miles west of Westville, to be known as Sequoyah Presbyterian Church. Judge Ned Foreman and Mr. Levi Willis were elected
as ruling elders, and Mr. J. B. Jones a deacon. The magazine for March, 1900 contains an article in the Creek language contributed
by Mrs. A. E. W. Robertson who devoted the best part of her life to translating the New Testament into the
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Creek language. In April the publication reported that Dwight Mission school had been closed for several weeks on account
of the measles, a disease which had been a scourge to the Indians since an early day when missionaries wrote of whole tribes
or neighborhoods being laid low by it. Miss Carrie M. Elliott3 had been given entire charge of the Elm Spring school, and Miss Montgomery had recovered so far that she planned to leave
for home the first week in April. The marriage of Miss Annie R. Miller, principal teacher at Dwight Mission, to Mr. W. R.
Orr of Durango, Colorado, was celebrated Thursday, March 15, but Mrs. Orr planned to continue her work in the school.
Frequent mention is made of A. F. Romig, the Sabbath school missionary of the Presbytery, who since his arrival the previous
August had "placed" fourteen Sabbath schools and visited in the neighborhood of 500 families.4
In May, 1900 Gospel Tidings gave a list of the churches in Sequoyah Presbytery, with the number of members; Achena, 25; Broken Arrow, 25; Claremore Mounds,
12; Eureka, 24; Elm Spring, 30; Fort Gibson, 56; Muskogee, 171; Nowata, 22; Nuyaka, 51; Oowala, 10; Park Hill, 31; Pleasant
Valley, 18; Sallisaw, 18; Tahlequah, 89; Tulsa, 111; Vinita, 69; Wewoka, 67. Churches at Wagoner, Vian, Smallwood and Davis
contributed to Home Missions. The Smallwood church had formerly been known as Barron Fork Church.
Children's Day was observed at Elm Spring on April 29, by the Sabbath School, and a large congregation enjoyed the exercises.
Three of the girls, Anna Turner, Addie Keys and Bertha Lyman, were awarded Bibles for committing to memory the Shorter Catechism.
Rev. Evans P. Robertson, the faithful English-speaking Cherokee preacher, was assigned work among the fullbloods. He was to
be associated with Rev. F. L. Schaub who had had charge of the fullblood work for the past four years. John Greece of the
Elm Spring church was the interpreter for them, assisted by others as they were needed. With this in-
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crease of workers, the churches that had services only a few times a year received preaching once a month.5
In the July, 1900 number it was stated that Dwight Mission was to be opened as a boys' boarding school. "In response to an
appeal to the Women's Board of Home Missions, they have decided to re-furnish, their valuable plant at Dwight and open it
October first to a limited number of boys who will supply their own table board. The plan of a self-supporting boarding department
has been in successful operation in Elm Spring school for a number of years, and what the Elm Spring school is to the girls,
Dwight will be to the boys. Under this, plan there is not a man in the Cherokee Nation too poor to place his boy under the
influence of a Christian boarding school. For the coming year the school will be under the supervision of Rev. F. L. Schaub,
with Miss MaBelle True, M. D., as matron, and Miss Florence Bingham, class '00 Park College, as teacher. There will be a day
school for the children of the neighborhood in connection with the boarding school."6
This issue contains also a report of the exercises held at Elm Spring on the last day of school when a number of pupils received
gold medals for perfectly reciting the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes and the Books
of the Bible. The fortunate young people were Tiny Ratt, Annie MeLemore, Nannie Starr, Elsie Ratt, Jennie Ratt, Bertha Lyman,
Annie Ballentine, Maude Mankiller, Anna Turner, Addie Keys, Callie Fivekiller, Lou Keys, Henry Keys and James Kendrieks. Addie
Keys and Annie McLemore also received silver medals for neat and correct written work.
6Parents who were able, paid fifty cents a week for board for each child. That charge did not include coffee for which an additional
sum was asked. Mr. Schaub cultivated a large garden at the mission, where he grew potatoes, cabbage, turnips and sweet potatoes.
Large quantities of the vegetables were stored for winter use, so as to give the children a better diet than pork and meal,
and they served to keep the pupils in good health.
Mr. Schaub made frequent trips to Fort Smith, where he bought flour, meal, coffee and sugar by the barrel at wholesale prices.
He also purchased fresh meat there. Later, a representative of Armour's supplied the school with fresh meat at eight or nine
cents a pound. While the meat was from cheap cuts, it was always of an excellent quality, according to Mrs. Schaub. Every
effort was made to keep down the expenses of the mission, as they were supplied with so little money. When the costs ran above
the allowance, Mr. Schaub had to pay the extra amount from his meager salary.
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From the May, 1900 issue of Twin Territories, published at Muskogee, Gospel Tidings copied an account of Dwight Mission written by Isaac B. Hitchcock: "The American Board of Boston sent out the first missionaries
to these Western Cherokees in 1820. My father was of that first company. They established the first school and preaching station
on the Illinois Bayou in what was afterwards Pope county, and about three miles from where Russellville [Arkansas] now is.
This was called Dwight. With the Cherokees they moved up into the present Indian Territory, and re-established the boarding
school at Dwight Mission on Sallisaw, about twelve miles above its mouth. For a number of years this was the only school among
the Cherokee people. Before the Cherokees moved into this Territory there were a few whites living scattered about through
the country. One so-called 'Town' was on the Sallisaw, half way between Forts Smith and Gibson, with a postoffice called 'Lovely's
Court House.' This was the only postoffice in all this country outside of the Military Posts. I was born in February 1825
at the old Dwight Mission, and was four years old when we moved in '29 . . . ."
The August and September numbers were combined, and the paper tells of the repairing of Shepherd Home7 at Dwight, and that the building would be in first-class condition for the opening of school October first. The other Presbyterian
schools were opened at Elm Spring, Welling, on September 3; Tahlequah Institute, September 10; Park Hill, September 17, and
Henry Kendall College, Muskogee, September 26. The October issue had a picture of "The New Home of The Cherokee Gospel Tidings,"
which was described as follows: ". . .To use commercial language, we now occupy over 1400 feet of floor space while at Siloam
Springs we had only 120 feet. The building is a four-room, story and a half log house, sealed inside and outside and well
arranged for our work. The rooms are occupied as, study and office, composition and press, stock room and bindery.8
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"It is quite fitting that the mission press should occupy" this historic old building which has been the home of so many missionaries.
It is one of the oldest in the Territory but its usefulness continues as it becomes the home of the Mission press of the Sequoyah
Presbytery. By the help of the Board of Home Missions and other friends of the Cherokees we have been enabled to add to our
equipment a 10x15 0. S. Gordon job press, a 22 inch Paragon paper cutter, 100 lbs of body type, several fonts of job type
and other necessary material, thus making the plant equal to most 'country' offices . . . ." In the re-furnishing of Dwight
and the moving of the office the editor extended thanks for substantial favors from the Kansas City Southern Railway, the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas and the Missouri Pacific railroads.
"Dwight Mission was formally opened October 1st, with a lecture by the Rev. E. M. Landis, of Sallisaw. Nearly forty have been
enrolled but the attendance has been very light on account of the cotton picking. The average attendance for October will
hardly reach twelve but November promises a much better record. The, boarding department is also quite small, due to cotton
picking and sickness."9
The issue for December contained a long article on the National Problem of Cherokee Affairs while No. I of Vol. 4 reported:
"After one week's vacation the Dwight school opened December 31, with a marked increase in attendance. Sixty-nine of the brightest
children in the Cherokee Nation are now enrolled. All the grades are doing good work. The average grades made in the term
examination would be a credit to any school. George Choate, Gussie Sanders, Callie Choate, Hooley Sanders, Virgie Hotchkill,
Jesse Thornton, Guy Arrington, Sherman Mullen, Jane Choate, Sallie Chucolate, Charlie Fields, May Fields, Georgia Leathers,
Carrie Ayles and Lonnie Ussery distinguished themselves and were given grades from 91 to 98."
The April edition of the magazine was all in the Sequoyah characters except the advertisements which were in English. In May
the paper announced: "We have on hand a good supply of Cherokee Testaments and can supply them at 25 cents each.
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. . . Mr. David Smallwood and family, of Saline District, have moved to Dwight Mission and Mr. Smallwood will be connected
with the Mission as interpreter, translator and Printer.10
"The wide-awake people of the 'Pilgrim's Rest' neighborhood, near Stilwell, have established a day school similar to the Presbyterian
mission schools and have installed Miss Nellie Matthews of Hanover, Indiana, as teacher . . . ." A flourishing Sabbath school
had been organized and a committee of the Presbytery visited the neighborhood with the view of organizing a Presbyterian church.
Dwight Mission closed its first year as a boys' industrial school May 31, and the teachers were proud of the successful work
accomplished and of the high grades maintained by the pupils. Jesse Thornton, Henry Hinton and Georgia Leathers made the highest
grades, an average of 96, in the final examinations. Both Elm Spring and Dwight schools were hampered during the year by illness
in the neighborhoods and in the vicinity of Elm Spring every family but one suffered from smallpox. The teachers of the two
schools departed for their homes or to attend a summer course at the Kansas State Normal, while Mr. Schaub went to Kansas
City to purchase a supply of paper for the Cherokee songbook which was to go to press about the middle of July. A first edition
of 3000 copies of 100 pages each was to be issued.11
The summer of 1901 was unusually hot and dry and seriously affected the corn. on the Mission farm where only half a crop was
made. Every effort was made to provide winter and spring
10David Smallwood was a son of the Rev. Joseph Smallwood, a fullblood Cherokee minister who had preached for years throughout
the Cherokee hills. After his death he was sadly missed, as there was not one authorized to hold service, to marry people
and to read the service for the dead. Mr. Schaub took up this work, and sometimes he preached in a community where his congregation
had not heard a sermon for ten or fifteen years. When Mr. Schaub went on a trip into the country, he always took a bundle
of tracts with him and gave them out to the people. He took all of the newspapers about the mission also, and gave them to
people far from towns. These papers frequently were used as wall paper in the small homes, but they performed a greater service
as they were the only text books of many children who were taught to read by a parent or brother or sister who had attended
school at a mission. The children devoured the pages of the papers, and frequently, when Mr. Schaub returned to a home, some
child would lead him to the wall, point out some words that he did not understand, and ask the meaning.
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feed on the farm and several acres of rye, some Kaffir corn, an acre or more of cane and half an acre of stock peas were planted.
Reports concerning the unfavorable location and health conditions of Dwight were circulated so persistently that the editor
gave a statement of facts in the magazine in October, in which he reported that during the school year from October 1, 1900
to June 1, 1901, thirteen persons were quartered in Shepherd Home. It was the first year in the country for five of the number
but. not one had an attack of malaria. There were only two cases of malaria and one of the patients was a boy who was "subject
to ague and chilled at Dwight as he had at one of the other schools." The other case was that of the superintendent, who suffered
an attack following heat prostration. Three or four cases of grippe constituted all of the illness during the year.
Miss Emma McBride of Park College opened a school at Pilgrim's Rest, near Stilwell on September 23, while Sabbath School Missionary
Romig and Rev. E. M. Landis conducted evangelistic meetings at Bunch. Several towns along the extension of the Frisco railroad
south of Sapulpa were making a rapid growth and Mr. Romig organized a Sunday school in Beggs, a town which had only two houses
in the early summer, but in October had more than fifty business houses and dwellings, and was still growing.
Mr. Romig held his Sunday morning service in a nearby grove, and bales of hay furnished his pulpit and seats for his congregation.
In the afternoon the Sabbath school was organized in an incompleted store building, where planks were placed across bundles
of shingles for benches and a barrel of lime served as a desk. Business men of Beggs encouraged the work by securing $22.00
for the use of the school.
The Elm Spring School opened the first Monday in September with a good attendance. Miss C. H. Montgomery had been called east
to represent the Woman's Board before the societies in New York and Pennsylvania, and Miss A. M. Stringfield, well known in
the Cherokee Nation as a mission teacher, replaced her on the teaching force.12
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A very useful gift was presented to Dwight Mission in the autumn of 1901. This was a bell to call the children to classes
and worshippers to service., The two-year-old niece of the superintendent, Ruth Blake of Parsons, Kansas, was the donor. On
Thanksgiving day that bell rang out a summons which brought the people to services, where Rev. E. M. Landis preached the sermon
on "Be ye thankful." "The chapel was appropriately decorated with baled hay, corn, turnips, sweet potatoes and two live 'possums."
School opened at Dwight Mission October 16, and thirty-three pupils were enrolled the first day and within a few weeks the
number reached 52, two more than could be accommodated. More came for admittance but it was necessary to refuse them. Fortunately
at that time a field representative of the Board visited the school, and upon her return to New York arrangements were made
to add another worker to the force for the 'winter term, so that all the pupils could be admitted who desired to attend the
school. Miss Nellie Miller of Topeka, Kansas was secured as a teacher and began her work on December 9.
The holidays were saddened for the Elm Spring community by a number of cases of pneumonia and the deaths of Aleck Clay, Nicholas
Whittington and Stephen Nofire in less than three weeks.
The February number of Gospel Tidings announced that the Ozark, Cherokee and Western Railroad was assured. The line was to run from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Tahlequah,
Indian Territory, and several large grading outfits were at work west of Westville. Elm Spring Mission was on the line of
the road, and the magazine said that the school would soon be "out of the woods."
Gospel Things reported the winter of 1902 as the most severe the section had experienced for years. The cold weather continued for ten
weeks and caused great hardships to the people and much loss of stock. Provisions were so high in price that many were almost
denied the necessities of life; while in instances man and beast suffered for the want of food. During this trying time Mr.
Schaub and Missionary Romig were both ser-
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iously ill, while Elder John Ratt of Elm Spring Church died on March 6 and was buried the next day. John Ratt was a fullblood
Cherokee and a man of fine influence among his people.
The April issue of the magazine contained a list of the Permanent Committees of Sequoyah Presbytery.
Foreign Missions.
Rev. Charles W. Kerr of Tulsa, Rev. E. M. Landis, D. M. Marrs.
Home Missions.
Rev. A. G. Evans, Rev. D. M. Allen, Rev. W. F. C. Lippert, Z. T. Walrond, D. M. Marrs.
Education.
Rev. David N. Allen, Rev. Leonidas Dobson, Robert Meigs.
Publication.
Rev. F. L. Schaub, Rev. E. P. Robertson, A. Quesenbury.
Church Erection.
Rev. E. X Landis, Rev. C. W. Kerr, Z. T. Walrond.
Ministerial Relief.
Rev. H. C. Williams, Rev. E. M. Landis, G. M. Hagood.
Freedmen.
Rev. E. B. Evans, Rev. T. W. Perryman, D. M. Hodge.
Aid for Colleges.
Rev. T. W. Perryman, Rev. E. B. Evans, W. B. Robe.
Temperance.
Rev. E. B. Evans, Rev. Dorsey Fife, G. A. Brown.
Young People's Societies.
Rev. H. C. Williams, Rev. F. L. Schaub, A. F. Romig.
Systematic Beneficence.
Rev. W. F. C. Lippert, Rev. C. W. Kerr, J. M. Robe.
The May edition published a list of the churches of Sequoyah Presbytery: Achena, Broken Arrow, Claremore, Davis, Dwight, Elm
Spring, Eureka, Fort Gibson, Muskogee, Nowata, Nuyaka, Park Hill, Pleasant Valley, Sallisaw, Tahlequah, Tullahassee, Tulsa,
Vian, Vinita, Wagoner. Vacant and non-contributing churches were given as Claremore, Mounds, Girty Springs, Muldrow, Oowala,
Pheasant Hill, Checotah, Sapulpa, Sequoyah, Wewoka, Red Fork, Smallwood, Wetumka, Okmulgee.13
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In the June number the magazine copied an article from the Siloam Springs Herald: "Some of the leading papers over the country have been saying that the Cherokee Advocate, which is to be suspended soon, is the only paper in the United States, or elsewhere, for that matter, which is part printed
in the Cherokee language. They are mistaken. The Cherokee Gospel Tidings, a religious monthly . . . partly printed in the
Cherokee language. It will be quite a distinction to the Tidings to be the only paper of the kind in the world."
The Dwight Mission report to the Indian Office in Washington showed an enrollment of eighty-two pupils for the year ending
June 30. There were twenty-three Cherokee boys, fourteen Cherokee girls, twenty-four white boys and twenty-one white girls.
The closing exercises at Dwight passed off most pleasantly. The pupils were all at their best, and all present enjoyed their
songs and "Pieces." Nearly all of their parents were present with well-filled baskets, and after the exercises a big dinner
was spread under the beautiful oak trees.
The prodigious amount of printing executed on the small press at Dwight Mission is almost beyond belief when the lack of facilities
is known. In July it was stated that the first form of the Cherokee Hymn Book was on the press and that a supply would soon
be ready to fill the demand. The August number of the magazine reported that the Mission Press turned out 12,000 pages of
English and Cherokee tracts, and over 60,000 pages of the new Cherokee song book in July. Added to this the Tidings was printed and made about 8,000 more pages. The output was limited by the supply of Cherokee type, as a few pages exhausted
the case and they had to go to press, print the number of pages needed for immediate use, and distribute again for the next
pages. Cherokee type was not on the market and could not be bought as needed.
Miss Bingham, the principal teacher at Dwight, left for a vacation, afterwards taking up her work in Utah. Dr. True had been
in Chicago attending lectures at the Moody Bible Institute, and returned to Dwight in July. Miss Nellie Miller of Topeka,
Kansas, was added to the force of Dwight as primary teacher and assistant in the superintendent's office. Miss Rada Mathes,
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an experienced mission teacher from Tennessee, was appointed to replace Miss Bingham.
One of the most interesting enterprises of Dwight Mission was the trips made by the Presbyterian Gospel Wagon. The first itinerary
started Tuesday morning, August 5. "Camp Ebenezer" consisted of Miss C. H. Montgomery organist, Miss Nell Holderman soloist,
D. E. Smallwood interpreter, W. T. Morrison and A. F. Romig, Sunday school missionaries, with Rev. F. T. Schaub Evangelist
in charge. The caravan was led by a pioneer bicycle with Missionary Morrison in the saddle, followed by the loaded covered
wagon containing the outfit for the party, tent, organ, cots, bedding, stereopticon, grips and, Messrs. Romig Smallwood and
Schaub. The ladies of the party followed in a buggy.
Tuesday night the tent was pitched at Marble and a service was held illustrated with the magic lantern. Though a storm threatened,
a good audience was present. Wednesday evening a service was held in the church house at Bunch, and the party was well cared
for by Dr. and Mrs. R. B. Choate and Dr. and Mrs. Hotchkiss. Thursday they gave an evening service in the McLemore neighborhood
where the people were deeply moved by both exposition and the illustration on the sheet. Friday found the evangelists at Flint,
while Saturday evening and Sunday were spent at Pilgrim's Rest, where the party was shown every courtesy by Colonel Johnson.
Several services were conducted there and the Sunday school attended.
The tent was next pitched at Baron, where it remained two evenings; three services were held, two of them illustrated with
the stereopticon. A Sunday school was organized there and the party was entertained by Mr. and Mrs. F. Howard, Jr., Mrs. Frank
Howard, Sr., and Miss Kline. Wednesday service was conducted at the Smallwood chapel, and the following evening they camped
and held a service at Peacheater Springs. At Chance on Friday, one hundred and fifty gathered to listen to the Gospel, and
Saturday and Sunday were passed at Oil Springs where three services were conducted. The party met its first difficulties on
Monday when they were misdirected and took a log chute for a road, where the wagon had to be unloaded and the contents packed
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back up the hill in order that the wagon could be hauled back. They camped that night after a hard day's drive of five and
one-half miles from the starting place in the morning. A late service was held by some of the party at Elm Spring the next
night, while the other members had become lost and were trying to decide which was the Tahlequah and which the Welling road.
The company was disbanded the next morning after a service at Park Hill.
This tour was considered such a success that the Sabbath School Committee of the Presbytery decided to make it into an annual
affair. There was much hard work involved, and the members were weary at the end, as the wagon had to be loaded and unloaded,
the tent taken down and set up, six people were fed, four horses were cared for, and the people of the different communities
had to be invited, and then a two-hour or longer service held. The party covered nearly 175 miles, the average attendance
was 65 and the estimated number of conversions over 20.14
Dwight began its third year as a school for boys October 14, 1902, with eighteen boarders and twenty-six day pupils. The November
magazine reported the meeting of the Sequoyah Presbytery at Wewoka as one of the best in its history. The members of the Wewoka
church were fullblood Seminoles, and they came from far and near, camping about the church, and attended all of the meetings.
Dinners were served in the camp to all of the members of the Presbytery. The Second Presbyterian Church of Wewoka was organized,
and Mr. McNabb, one of the newly elected elders, was ordained.15
Dwight suffered the hardship of a change in the corps of teachers during the school term, as Miss Miller was called home on
account of illness in her family. After much difficulty the place was filled by Miss Luella W. Luthy of Parkville, Missouri.
By an act of the Cherokee National Council of 1886, Dwight received thirty acres of land which was reserved and surveyed by
the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes. This necessitated
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the changing and building of fences and clearing of land during the winter of 1903.
The second chapter of "The Road to Heaven" by Miss Helen Clark had been translated into Cherokee, and it was printed in the
March issue of the paper. The Tidings office was the proud possessor of a stereotyping outfit which had long been needed and
which greatly increased the capacity of the press to furnish matter in the Indian tongue. The outfit was the gift of friends,
and Mr. W. T. Morrison of Philadelphia was instrumental in raising two-thirds of the money. He had spent the summer in the
country as a missionary, and realized the need of the printed page among the people.16
The Presbytery of Sequoyah met in Okmulgee April 16, and nearly all of the ministers were present and almost all of the churches
were represented by an elder. The Rev. James K. Thompson, pastor of the Muskogee church, was moderator, and Mr. John M. Robe,
superintendent of Nuyaka Mission, temporary clerk. The Presbytery had lost two of its ministers— the Rev. Harry C. Williams17 and the Rev. Thomas W. Perryman, a native of the Creek Nation18, whose loss was greatly felt.
The July magazine contained an account of the commencement exercises at Dwight which were of unusual interest that year because
of the graduation of Richard Baxter Sanders, known to all of his friends as Hooley, who was the first graduate of the school.
The Western Union Telegraph Company had established an office at Marble, and a telephone had been installed in the Mission
giving direct connection with Sallisaw, Marble, Bunch, Stilwell and Westville. The Frisco railroad took control of the Ozark
and Cherokee Central Company on July 1, 1903, and the Gospel Wagon was scheduled to make a second trip.
Page 468
The work at Dwight had developed to such an extent that the Board added a new matron, and Miss Nellie Long of Parsons joined
the faculty as primary teacher and office assistant. Miss Carrie M. Elliott, after a year of special study along industrial
lines for girls, returned to the Elm Spring, where she had previously taught six years.
The Gospel Wagon party of 1903 was composed of the Rev. F. L. Schaub, the Rev. W. C. F. Lippert, pastor at Claremore, Mr.
A. F. Romig, missionary, Mrs. M. C. Wade of Henry Kendall College, Miss Edna Hotchkiss and Perry Templeton, Dwight students.
The tour started on the first day of August, and leaving the wooded hills of the Cherokee country the course was westward.
Each evening as the camping place was approached the party extended invitations along the way to the meeting, and sent word
to every house within reach. The meetings were held in the open and often under the trees near a schoolhouse. A screen was
stretched between two trees and a magic lantern was used to help with the program. Usually fifty or more made up the attentive
audience.
Early every morning, except Sunday, camp was broken, and much of the day was spent on the road. The contents of tin cans furnished
the food for the party with the exception of potatoes and apples and one feast of fried chicken. Where the trail crossed the
railroad there was usually a small town where the attendance at the meetings was larger and compensated for the discomfort
of having to pitch their tents in the dusty weeds beside the road. The second Saturday a community was reached where there
was neither church nor school. An arbor had been built to shelter the Sabbath school Which Mr. Romig had started some time
before, and, there the meetings were held. Four services were held, and Sunday evening during a heavy rain thirty or more
brave souls gathered under the dripping arbor to listen to the sermon. After ten days Nuyaka Mission was reached, and it seemed
a haven of rest to the weary travelers who enjoyed the kind hospitality of their friends. After two days the party turned
their faces east on the journey home.
The third Saturday the camp was on the banks of the Arkansas at the hospitable home of Judge and Mrs. N. B. Moore
Page 469
near Haskell, where the Evangelists enjoyed unstinted hospitality and where two evening meetings were held in their dooryard
with the congregation sitting on the grass in the shade of the fine old trees. Two more meetings were held before the travelers
reached the beach of the Illinois River where it empties into the Arkansas. There, tired and happy, they enjoyed their first
campfire and talked over the events of the trip. More than two hundred pounds of tracts and papery had been distributed to
people along the journey, which had covered about two hundred miles. Good-byes were said, and the wagons arrived at Dwight
just three weeks from the time of departure.19
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