Isaac S. Wyant

There is one couple among the 8 couples of my “great-greats” generation that is hard to document and a little mysterious. First, let’s start with my grandmother’s paternal grandfather.

The death certificate for my grandmother’s father, Charles B. Wyant, says clearly that his father was Izaac Wyant and his mother was Mary Hiewit.

There are two Isaac S. Wyant’s that were initially suspects for this honor. Both spell their names Isaac, rather than Izaac. Both seem to have connections with Hamilton County, Indiana. Both were civil war veterans who served in Indiana units. Both have sons named Charles. Both later lived in Kansas. I was finally able to rule out one because he stayed in one place and farmed, in Kansas, becoming fairly wealthy and well-known. He was about a hundred miles from where our Isaac Wyant needed to end up to be our Charles Wyant’s father. He was married to a Margaret, not a Mary.

Our Isaac S. Wyant was born in Indiana, probably near Marshall, Indiana in Parke County along the western border of the state. He died in 1908 in Newkirk, Oklahoma (where my grandmother’s oldest siblings were born). His parents appear to be Joshua Wyant, born in Kentucky and Julia Lowe, also born in Kentucky.

In the 1850 census, Isaac is 12 years old and living in My Division, of Marshall, Indiana in Parke County. The adults in the home are:

Joshua Wyant 46, a farmer, born in Kentucky
Tabitha Wyant 41, who was Joshua’s second wife and Isaac’s step-mom

Tabitha’s maiden name was James and her given name has many variations, including Telitha. There is a legal document wherein Telitha and her father appear to be wanting to split the family’s land up between the heirs of Joshua after he had passed. She may not have inherited it all since she was a second wife and his will probably split it between her and all of his children. Isaac is named in the petition for partition.

Isaac is the 2nd youngest of 8 children, with 6 boys and 2 girls in the family.

On June 14, 1861, Isaac enlisted and joined Company K of the 15th Regiment, Indiana Infantry. He was a private.

His oldest son, Vanta Rousch Wyant, was born in 1867 and his daughter Cora H. Wyant was born on October 10, 1870. Both appear in the 1870 census.

In 1870 census for Lebanon, Missouri we see:

Isaac Wyant, age 32, a photographer
Mary J. Wyant
Vanta R., age 2
Cora H., an infant

Charles B. Wyant, Isaac and Mary’s son and the youngest child, was born in 1872.

In the 1880 census, also in Lebanon, Missouri, we see:

Isaac, age 42, a gunsmith
Mary
Rousch (Vanta Rousch)
Cora
Charley

Isaac is listed in a Kansas document entitled “1899 Enrollment of Civil War Veterans” which is done with excellent handwriting. He is listed as a Private in Co. K, 15th Reg., Indiana Infantry. He was in the Volunteer category ( as opposed to the regular army, for example). He is shown as having been wounded 3 times in the war, including injuries to the left leg below the knee, the left wrist and the left breast. He was receiving a $4 per month invalid pension and was in Arkansas City, Kansas.

It’s important to know that Arkansas City is just north of the Kansas/Oklahoma border and it was the gathering point for folks participating the the Cherokee Strip land rush. Newkirk, Oklahoma is just across the border.

Isaac dies in 1908 and is buried in Newkirk Cemetery. Mary J. Wyant later applies successfully for a civil war widow’s pension. Except there’s a problem. And I think a solution.

See, there are two Mary J. Wyants.

And Isaac S. Wyant had two sets of kids.

The key finding pulled together two sets of information that I had reviewed earlier and couldn’t make sense of, so I ruled one set of information out entirely. But shouldn’t have. You see, the second Mary J. Wyant was way to young to be the mother of Isaac S. Wyant’s kids. (At least Charley and his two older siblings!) And who marries two women with the same first name and second initial, anyway?

When trying to retrieve the picture of Isaac Wyant’s grave marker in Newkirk, Oklahoma, I found a book in that google search. It made sense of the headstone and the whole two Mary J. Wyant thing.

The Long. Blue Line: Civil War Union Soldiers and Sailors Buried in Oklahoma was a collection of short bios and stories pulled together by N. Dale Tarkington in 1999. One of the contributions came from a Clyde Wyant, who provided facts about Isaac Wyant, his grandfather. Believe it or not, Clyde Wyant was my grandmother’s cousin! Or half-cousin? At least, they shared a grandfather. Clyde lived in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when he made the contribution to the book, and his address is listed in the book. I checked, and he had passed since then. But the picture on his short obituary makes him a Wyant for sure! Clyde’s father John was one of three children that Isaac Wyant had with his second wife. The other two died in infancy. Isaac is buried with his second wife and her three kids in adjoining spaces in the Newkirk Cemetery in Newkirk, OK. I found the Block, Lot and Space numbers on PGSOK.org, the site of Pioneer Genealogical Society of Oklahoma. FindaGrave.com has the picture of the grave marker. Clyde also lists Isaac’s first set of kids, the ones I described above who were born in Lebanon, Missouri... Vanta Rousch, Cora, and Charley, who is my grandmother’s dad.

Clyde noted at the bottom of his submission that Isaac Wyant’s first wife was Mary Hiatt. (Remember that Charles B. Wyant’s obituary in Anderson gave his mother’s name as Mary “Hiewit”.

Since the second Mary J. Wyant lived with her son John and his family prior to her death, Clyde was in the same household as his grandmother (and his father) who would know the details. In fact, the 1940 census list Clyde in the household of his father John along with a mess of other kids and their grandma Mary.

So, Mary Hiatt (Hiewit) was the mom of Vanta, Cora and Charley. Mary J. Hiatt Wyant was born in 1844. Charles, the youngest of her three kids, was born in 1872. Mary J. Good Wyant, born in 1868 was the mother of Willie, John and Leonard. Willie and Leonard died in infancy. John was born in 1898 and lived to old age. It’s Mary J. Good Wyant who applies for the widow’s pension.

The Civil War record of Issac that Clyde recounts is similar to what I had from other sources. He even had a birth place, Boone County in Indiana. All I knew was that Isaac was in Marshall, Indiana (Parke County) in 1850 as an 11 year old.

Clyde also says that Isaac was the son of Joshua and Tabitha Wyant. This is confirmation of the name Tabitha and also that she was the wife, not Julia Lowe, who bore Isaac.

I also found a source in Indiana, the Civil War Index, and also a Wikipedia article on the unit Isaac served in. Page 302 of the Index says that Isaac enrolled on June 14, 1861 and was discharged on April 25, 1864 due to wounds received at “Mission Ridge”. This was actually “Missionary Ridge”, the famous battle where the union routed the confederacy at Chattanooga. A member of his regiment received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the battle. The battle took place on November 25, 1863.

Oddly enough, one of my Dixon ancestors may have died in the battle for Atlanta in August 1864.

Neither family ever spoke of their civil war soldier ancestors.