Volume 10 , Issue 8

Pioneer of I.T. - Jacob Emery Layton

"I am sending you a story given to me by Hazel Letterman of Madill, Oklahoma. The following information concerning Jacob Emery Layton, I.T. homesteader, was given to me by Ms. Letterman. He is her Great Grandfather on her Mother's side. I thought it was quite an interesting story as to why he made "the land rush" of 1893 and then gave his staked claim back to the indians." -- Ken Updike

The story: Jacob Emery Layton Biography
"Jacob Emery Layton was born January 20, 1859 in Somerset Co., Pennsylvania, and died March 02, 1940 in Mayes Co., Murphy, Oklahoma. He married Elizabeth Wright Foss May 13, 1881 in Wyandotte Co., Kansas City, Kansas, daughter of Newman Foss and Sarah Wright.

Our Layton ancestors migrated Westward from Pennsylvania to Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and finally settling in the Indian Territory of present day Oklahoma.

My grandfather, Jacob Emery Layton, participated in the Oklahoma Great Land Rush of 1893. He staked a land claim near the present day town of Guthrie. When the sun rose the following morning, he walked his land giving it a close look-over. He wasn't pleased with what he saw. The land had no year round creek for a reliable water supply. He considered it worthless for homesteading. He pulled up his stakes and returned to his family near Tulsa.

The land he decided that he didn't want, reverted to the local Indian tribe. Great Grandfather should have kept the land that he considered worthless in the early 1900's, as later large oil deposits were found on the land. He lost the land and its oil riches to the Indians.

After the marriage of Jacob and Elizabeth, they settled near Bushong, Lyon Co., Kansas. Moved to Oklahoma City, Okahoma in 1891. Made the Cherokee Strip run in 1893. Staked out a claim near what is now Red Rock, Oklahoma and abandoned claim the next morning after looking it over and deciding it was not worth homesteading.

He then moved to the Indian Territory (Cherokee Nation) in 1893. Settled near the present site of Locust Grove, Mayes Co., Oklahoma and lived there until his death in 1940.

He was one of the early day white settlers and was widely known and highly respected citizen, and was given much credit for the help and influence he gave to annex the Eastern part of Oklahoma which now consists of the whole of the State of Oklahoma." -- by Floyd Pearson (2nd or 3rd cousin to Hazel Letterman)
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