HIstorical Tidbits- Wellons Connection

This article about the opening of “The Cherokee Strip” caught my attention. I had never heard of that area when I began some basic research into my Wellons (Mary Alice Wellons Dixon, my mom) ancestors. Google it.

Unlike my grandpa George’s brothers and sisters, most of my maternal grandparents siblings lived in Anderson as I grew up. We would see them occasionally. There was even a “double marriage” as my grandfather Ralph Wellons’ sister married by grandmother Bess Wyant Wellons’ brother. Uncle Paul had a shoe repair and hat cleaning shop in downtown Anderson. My mom worked there to help out her favorite uncle when she was a girl.

The 1940 census in Anderson had one really unusual item. My grandmother’s oldest brother reported to the census taker that his place of birth was “Indian Reservation”. That reservation actually was no longer a reservation when he was born, as the Indians had finally given up and sold out to the federal government. Then the U.S. government opened it up to a land rush. History shows that the federal government was very unfair to the Indians prior to the sale, putting many regulations on their ability to use the land profitably.

My grandmother and most of her siblings were listed as being born in Springfield, Missouri. Not too far away. So maybe that dark complexion and easy to tan skin is due to some Indian genes? Definitely not from Dixon genes.