Uncle Frank Wyant

My mom’s uncle, Frank Wyant, was the oldest of my grandmother Bess Wyant Wellons siblings. He was born in 1898, and was about 10 years older than my grandmother. There was no middle name on the death certificate or any other record.

Starting with the 1940 census in Anderson, my curiousity was immediately aroused when I saw that he listed his place of birth as “Cherokee Indian Reservation” I knew that someday I had to investigate the Wyant side of my family tree. And a couple of years later, here we are.

I know that I met mom’s Uncle Frank a few times, but really don’t remember him. I’ll not include much before the 1940 census for many of my grandmother’s siblings to avoid overlap with her childhood factual history. At least until someday when I get a call from one of his grandkids or great grandkids who can share some stories.

In 1940, we have:

Frank, age 42, a “milk distributor”, who was self-employed and earned $1,000 per year
Louise H., 38, a waitress reporting earnings of $126 for the year (don’t report tips, right?)
Mary L. 2 months of age.

They lived in Ward 1 in Anderson, Indiana.

On February 16, 1942, his draft registration lists “New York Central” as his employer. New York Central did serve Anderson at the time.

So for anyone wanting to investigate the land rush in the “Cherokee Strip”, use Wikipedia and also look up Newkirk, Oklahoma and Arkansas City, Kansas. For a more casual feel for the times, read Edna Ferber’s novel, Cimmarron or watch the movie on TMC.

I was hoping to find that I was part Native American, but it looks like Frank and Bessie’s parents moved from Indiana to the Kansas-Oklahoma border area to take part in the land rush. I’m not ready to do a DNA test, but if anyone else in the Wyant line has and wants to share their results to confirm my finding, let me know!

Uncle Frank died of congestive heart failure on June 28, 1973 in Anderson.