From Whiskey Peddler to Sunday School Teacher
Humble Beginnings
In the old tongue she
was called Nu-tsi. Although her
birthdate has not been found, various listings indicate that Nancy Scraper was
born about 1849 in Goingsnake District of the Cherokee Nation. She was born in a log cabin to Archibald
Scraper and his first wife, Malinda “Nellie” McIntosh. Her paternal grandparents were
Dee-soo-gaw-skee (Scraper) and Tiana Smith. Her maternal grandparents were Martin McIntosh and Nancy Tail.
During her early
years in Scraper Hollow she was fortunate in that numerous family and friends
lived close by. Life was good. The rich soil brought forth plentiful crops
and orchards sagging with fruit. Fish
and game were in good supply and berries and nuts grew in abundance. Thick forests of mighty oaks and other trees
provided wood for their cabins, smoke houses, and various shelters. Water gushed from nearby springs supplying
ample water for the families and their livestock. Excess water filled the creek branches running through the hollow
and created swimming holes where children and adults alike braved the icy cold
water to bath or cool off during the summer months.
Family Gatherings
From time to time the various Scraper families and their neighbors
gathered and celebrated their lives and God’s gifts to them. Rows of tables groaned under the weight of
all the food prepared for the feast.
Marbles and other games were played and the menfolk proved their prowess
shooting arrows at cornstalks and firing their pistols at targets placed on the
fence. The elders passed on stories of
the old country and the infamous death march when Old Chickensnake (Andrew
Jackson) drove them like cattle from their old homeland east of the mighty
Mississippi River. Towards evening the
singing would begin and beautiful Cherokee songs and hymns could be heard
echoing through surrounding the trees and hills. Dancing carried the celebration well into the night and usually
into the wee hours of the following morning.
Despite the best efforts of the womenfolk, corn whiskey generally
managed to find its way into the affair and as a result occasional fist fights
and shootings were known to occur.
Photo
- Left to right:
Florence Foreman, Ellen Scott, Josie
Snip, Minty Justice, & Nancy Gritts
Old Green Community
School days
Nancy and her sister
Elizabeth were known to attend Whitmire School for awhile. They may have also attended schooling at
other places in the area. Hickory Ridge
School was known to exist on the ridge between Scraper Hollow and England
Hollow. It was used as both school and
church. A small hollow that led from
the ridge down into Scraper Hollow, coming out near the old Arch Scraper place,
was appropriately named Schoolhouse Hollow.
Scraper School, which was believed to have come about after Nancy’s
schooldays, was located on the main wagon road north of the old Walkingstick
home. It later became the Sanders
School.
The War
The Civil War was to
have enormous impact on the Scraper family as well as all other Cherokee. It was truly war on the home front. Throughout much of the nation homes and
crops were burned. Anything of value
including horses and livestock, food, and clothing, was taken by the troops,
leaving the already struggling families in dire straits. Nancy’s aunt Sallie (Scraper) and her
husband Watie Cummings as well as their children lived close by in the
hollow. Both Sallie and Watie passed
away during the trials of the war.
Nancy’s mother succumbed to the call of death shortly after the
war. Uncle George Scraper had married
Louisa McIntosh, a half-sister to Nancy’s mother. George and Louisa left Scraper Hollow at this time and they and their
children, Nancy’s double cousins, moved to the Pryor-Vinita region. Uncle Otter Scraper also left, though he
only moved a few miles to Wauhilla, across the road from Watt & Ned
Christie. Otter married Sallie
Kingfisher and their daughter, Jennie, married Ned Christie. Uncle Charley Scraper never married as far
as we know. He moved a few miles away
to Welling. Gradually, Nancy’s extended
family of aunts, uncles, and cousins had moved on, leaving her immediate family
of brothers and sisters, and her father and step-mothers to hold down the fort,
so to speak.
Marriage
By 1868 Nancy had
married Jesse Shell, son of John and Lucy Shell. Their daughter, Josephine 'Josie' Bertha Shell, was born October
6, 1868. Josie’s Miller roll
application mentions her having siblings, though little is known of them. Josie later taught school at Stilwell and
became well known as Josie Hendricks.
Whiskey Peddler
Nancy ran a business
of sorts in Tahlequah with her sister Louisa.
Liquor and other favors were dispensed.
More than once Nancy and Louisa were charged with selling intoxicating
liquors. It was at this establishment (the
Nancy Shell place) that Ned Christie had been drinking and
socializing. After leaving her
establishment, Ned headed for his sleeping quarters downtown. Before getting
far, the effects of the alcohol caught up with him and he passed out
nearby. As Ned lay sleeping beside
Spring Creek, an outlaw named Bub Trainer killed Deputy Marshall Dan
Maples. When Christie woke the next
morning he was surprised to learn that Maples had been killed. Soon life became much worse for him as he
was charged with the crime.
Sunday School Teacher
Later Nancy married
J. B. Gritts. Rev. John Gritts was a
Preacher at 'Big Shed' which was also known as Antioch Baptist Church, at
Peavine, Indian Territory. Others who
also preached at Big Shed included Johnson Spade, Wolf Coon, and Adam
Lacie. John’s first wife, Charlotte,
had passed away and Nancy became stepmother to the Gritts children. Perhaps Mr. Gritts influence helped nudge
Nancy into becoming the Sunday school teacher that she would become known for
throughout the region.
Nancy became very active in the community, teaching Sunday
school in Scraper Hollow, Whitmire, and Old Green Community. Ruby (Robbins) Culbertson, Josie (Thornton)
Cheney, Jasper Swake, and others have related that Aunt Nancy Gritts was very
strict. As children they considered her
mean and harsh, but as time passed they understood that school instructors
tended to be quite stern and demanding in Nancy's day. It certainly kept the boys and girls in
line, the three R's, "Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic, taught to the tune
of a hickory stick." It was
especially embarrassing for the student receiving discipline when he or she was
ordered to go out and cut the very switch to be used to administer the
punishment.
Jake Whitmire recalled that during convention time at Old
Green Church, old Aunt Nancy Gritts, a matriarch of the community, would
shepherd as many as 75 children during the week-long meeting, teaching them the
finer and more nobler things of life.
Nancy was not happy with her father when he kept marrying
young ladies after her mother had passed away.
She felt he should kick back and enjoy his old age and remain
single. The problem was that Arch
didn't consider himself old and enjoyed having a companion around. Possibly if he had married a woman his own
age, Nancy would have been content, but at least three of his last four wives
were teenagers when he married them.
They were all younger than Nancy and she couldn't seem to come to terms
with the situation. Nancy's brothers,
Arch's three sons from his first marriage, had died and it was important to him
to have more sons to preserve his legacy.
Despite much hardship, through determination and perseverance, he had
done well for himself and planned to leave his place and his name to a son or
sons. Nancy on the other hand felt that
he might as well leave the place to her.
She fought to drive his wives away and even used her connections in the
courts to try to take control of his property.
While her father wanted a wife to replace his lost sons, handle the
cooking and housework, and keep him company, Nancy apparently saw this as a
threat and wanted no part of it. After
Arch's death, the various heirs battled over his estate for over 40 years. Nancy was not successful in trying to obtain
her father's place. More and more heirs
showed up hoping to claim their fair share and she passed away long before the
matter was settled. The family squabble
which she helped start has long since been left behind as various family
members have mended and rebuilt the ties that bind them together as
family.
Whatever Nancy's weaknesses, we will celebrate her
strengths. However strict she may have
been, she spent her last years trying to help the children of the
community. In nurturing them and
teaching them right from wrong, perhaps she hoped to prevent them from falling
into the same trappings that she had fallen into. Though we can’t deny that she was indeed strict, today’s old
timers recall that as children, Aunt Nancy was always ready to provide guidance
and entertainment for them. She did her
best to keep them from harms way and out of trouble. At the church conventions (Revival Camps), after they
completed their studies, she would set up barrels where they would bob for
apples and engage in various other games. A favorite was when she set up a
fishing game where the children would swing a pole with a short string over a
blanket strung between two trees. When
the child reeled in the line, a small prize was found and the child laughed
with glee.
As a young child, Vera Opal Ward (Mrs. Merl Richard)
recalled gathering wild flowers from near the spring below the old Corntassel
Cemetery. Nancy Gritts stayed with the
Phillips family for a while not far from the Old Green Churchhouse where she
had watched over so many children. Vera
further recalled that Nancy was staying in a little old shack under a huge
beautiful shade tree in the front yard of the main house. Nancy was in her declining years, her
hearing and sight were fading but her love for children was stronger than
ever. When little Vera would appear
with handfuls of flowers as gifts, Nancy's joy was profound - a fitting
conclusion to an eventful life that was quietly winding down.
Nancy passed away on February 10th, 1929 in the
Christie Community, Adair County, Oklahoma.
She was laid to rest in the Whitmire Cemetery.
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