Nellie (Riley) Woodward
Nellie (Riley) Woodward
(01/08/1875 - 09/23/1952)
Muscogee (Creek) Nation
By Kiara [Cecilia] Gutierrez, (TU, BA class of 2024)
Early History
Nellie Riley was born on January 8th, 1875, near Eufaula, Indian Territory, to Dave Riley from Hickory Ground and Tulsa Riley from Tulsa Canadian. Nellie’s parents were both citizens of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and were known to have died before ca. 1902.[1]
School
Nellie began attending the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls (PSIG) in 1882, at the age of seven, brought to the school by her uncle.[2] She was among the first students to enroll in the new school. A biographical sketch of Nellie, written in 1952, presumably authored by Nellie’s oldest child, Helen Woodward[3], reports that while she was left in an unfamiliar environment full of strangers, the school leaders at the time, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Sanson, were able to make her feel welcome. The beginning of her time at PSIG was challenging because English was not Nellie’s first language. The memoir kept by Nellie’s family reports that an older student at PSIG, Millie Mundy, was kind to Nellie and helped her develop her English language skills. Within a year, she began to feel more comfortable at the school, becoming more proficient in the English language and establishing friendships with other students.[4]
This family memoir relates that Nellie’s daily life at PSIG consisted of waking up at 5 a.m., eating breakfast at 7 a.m., attending classes at 9 a.m., and finishing the day with a strict bedtime of 9 p.m. In her classes, Nellie was first taught reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. At the age of thirteen, she began to take on the typical responsibilities of the older girls at the school: caring for the younger girls by dressing them and combing their hair every day, as well as taking care of “two well know[n] Tulsa women,” including Mrs. Strouvelle, presumably Susan (Barnett) Strouvelle, adopted daughter of Alice Mary Robertson. Nellie was also taught practical skills like sewing, kitchen work, and bedmaking. Music was an important part of her time at PSIG. She studied voice and piano, which she often showcased in recitals. The students regularly attended the Presbyterian Church three times a week. During the summer months, Nellie typically stayed at the school but sometimes spent time with her uncle. She also had the support of a Church woman sponsor who lived in the eastern United States, sent her clothes, and tracked her progress in school.[5]
It was around this time that Alice Robertson came to take over the role of mission leader of the school. Like many other students, Nellie expressed fondness for Alice. A hand-written note by Nellie on the closing program below from 1887, when she would have been approximately twelve years old, provides one example.
Handwritten Note by Nellie Riley
This note appears amongst others written to Alice in a small autograph booklet and reads, “Dear Alice R. I am verry sorry that you is going away to night. You must think of me I hope you will have nice time. Nellie Riley”. Nellie was approximately twelve years old when she wrote this note to Alice Roberson, who was about to travel to fundraise for the school.[6]
Image Credit: Alice Robertson Papers, TU Department of Special Collections and University Archives
ID: 1931-001-5-1-001
Adult Life
After completing school at PSIG ca.1893, around the age of eighteen, Nellie travelled from Muskogee to Eufaula to take the first examinations to become a teacher.[7] She was eventually appointed to work as a schoolteacher at the Locv Pokv Settlement. Her memoir reports that the school consisted of one room and was heated by a wood stove. It was located by three springs, where Nellie often used to wash her clothes. Twenty-four Mvskoke children, ranging from ages ten to seventeen, attended the school, where she instructed them in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Many of the children did not speak English. Nellie’s practice was to teach in English, and then the children who were fluent in English would translate the lessons to the other children in Mvskoke. The children often gifted Nellie with apples and peaches. While she was teaching, she lived with a Native family of two children attending the school.[8]
While teaching, Nellie met her future husband, Herbert Woodward, who was originally from Brockton, Massachusetts. Herbert carried mail from Tulsa to Cleveland, Oklahoma and while delivering Nellie’s mail would stop by the school to water his mules in the spring nearby. They became friends, and their friendship blossomed into a marriage: Nellie and Herbert were wed on July 7th, 1895.[9] After Nellie became Mrs. Herbert E. Woodward, she no longer taught at the school.[10] Herbert also changed his occupation, becoming a farmer. Nellie and Herbert had five children together: Helen (a.k.a. A. H.) was born in 1896, Hazel in 1899, Grace in 1900, James in 1906, and Edith in 1905.[11]
Letters written by Nellie to Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson, mother of Alice Mary Robertson, reveal that, as a grown woman, she tended to a garden and raised “about 200 little chickens.”[12] Nellie’s interaction with music as a young girl at PSIG carried with her into her adult years. In a letter to Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson dated September 18th, 1903, Nellie stated that she practices “on the Organ every day and [tries] not to forget what I have learned.” Within their correspondence, Nellie typically referred to Alice as a “Friend” and “Mother” while consistently signing off with the endearing phrase, “I remain yours ever.” In one letter of 1903, Nellie requested that Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson write down and send the words to the song she sang to her so much in school, referred to as “I want to be an angel.”[13]
Nellie’s hobbies also included needlecraft. She often crafted embroidery pieces for her friends and relatives as well as quilts for her children and later grandchildren.[14] She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Indian Women’s Club, and the Tulsa Pioneer Association.[15] Within the Indian Women’s Club, Nellie was a committee member and assisted in organizing monthly luncheons.[16] She spoke at a luncheon in 1951 over the topic of “Early day school teaching.” This event may have occasioned the memoir of the same title which has been kept by her descendants. Nellie’s daughters, Edith Miller and A. H. Slemp, were also active members of the Indian Women’s Club, with A. H. Slemp later serving as President of the organization.[17]
In 1937, Herbert Woodward died “at his ranch near Spavinaw” after forty-two years of marriage. Herbert was sixty-four years old at the time and is said to have struggled with an illness for ten years. Upon his passing, his surviving family members included “four daughters, Mrs. Helen Slemp, Mrs. Hazel Taylor, Mrs. Grace Conkright and Mrs. Edith Miller, one son, James H. Woodward and seven grandchildren” and his widowed wife Nellie.[18] In his will, Herbert left the house and all the goods within it to Nellie. The will also stated that his widow would be paid five hundred dollars a month until his income was exhausted.[19] The loss of Herbert meant that Nellie had to assume the responsibilities as head of the household.[20]
Death and Legacy
Census documentation reveals that Nellie’s children and their spouses interchangeably lived with her throughout the remaining years of her life.[21] It wasn’t until 1946 that the last 40 acres of Nellie’s land allotment were sold to Eugene A. Adkins, a Tulsa oil man, for $95,600. The sale included a voluntary life occupancy agreement that allowed Nellie to live on the land until her passing.[22] Afflicted with diabetes, on March 23rd, 1952, Nellie passed away at her home from a heart attack at the age of 77. Nellie was survived by her daughters, Mrs. Edith Miller, Mrs. A. H. Slemp, Mrs. Grace Conkwright, Mrs. Hazel DeSouza, and son James H. Woodward, seven grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.[23] Nellie is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[24]
Land
In 1899, Nellie was allotted a 200-acre plot of land that extended from Utica Avenue east to Lewis Avenue, where the Woodward family built a house and lived.[25]
In 1909, Herbert Woodward sold 33 acres allotted to daughter Helen to the city for $3,523.21, and this land would later become the site of Woodward Park.[26] Notably, in 1927, Helen contested the sale in a lawsuit on the grounds that she was a minor at the time of the sale and could not consent to the sale; Helen ultimately lost the suit, but it was advanced through “district courts of Tulsa, state supreme court, United States supreme court [then] back to the state supreme court” before the decision was settled.[27]
In 1925, most of the remaining land owned by Nellie was sold to “Farmer and Duran”[28] for $500,000, totalling roughly $2,500 per acre. This deal was the largest unimproved real estate purchase in the history of Tulsa to date.[29] The land was later developed to include a subdivision and the Utica Square shopping center.
Photograph of Woodward Park from the Tulsa Garden Center. Woodward Park is still an iconic Tulsa landmark that welcomes many visitors each year. Image credit: Laura M. Stevens
Photograph of Utica Square. The Utica Square shopping center has since been a staple of the Tulsa community as a source of economic success and community building. Image credit: Laura M. Stevens
Tribal Enrollment Information:
Creek Nation (Dawes Roll) Enrollment Card
Enrollment Number: 2213
Card Number: 674
Enrollment Date: March 13th, 1902
Acknowledgment
Living descendants include Andra (Andy) Lupardus by way of Nellie’s daughter, Mrs. Helen (Woodward) Slemp. Helen is the mother of Mrs. Annelle (Slemp) Lanford, the mother of Andra (Andy) Lupardus. We express our deep gratitude for Andy’s help with the PSIG Project. Andy has devoted her time to our research team on multiple occasions and has provided invaluable insights into the history of PSIG and Nellie Riley’s life. Her willingness to be interviewed and share a written memoir of Nellie’s experiences provided great insight into her life. We would also like to recognize Andy for her forty-seven years of work in the McFarlin Library.[30] Below are two personal photographs from Andy Lupardus: the first is a picture of Nellie Riley Woodward and her husband and children, and the second is a studio portrait of Nellie and 3 generations of her descendants, including Andy as a baby.[31]
This photo, ca. 1930s, features the Woodward family. Left to right back row: Grace, Hazel, James, Helen, and Edith. Left to right front row: Nellie and Herbert.
This photo, ca. 1949, Nellie Riley (Middle), Annelle Lanford (Left), Helen Slemp (Right), and Andra (Andy) Lupardus (Child).
Endnotes
[1]“Pioneer Tulsa Figure Dies,” Tulsa World (Tulsa, Oklahoma), September 24, 1952, https://www.newspapers.com/image/900312596/; Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914. Washington, D.C.: National Archives. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/21175:60543 (accessed October 4, 2023).
[2] Helen (Woodward) Slemp, Early Day School Teaching, From Andy Lupardus, Personal Collection, Oct 12, 1952. On file with PSIG Project Group.
[3] Andra (Andy) Lupardus, e-mail message to author, December 4, 2023. On file with PSIG Project Group.
[4] Slemp, Early Day School Teaching.
[5] Slemp, Early Day School Teaching.
[6] Alice Robertson’s Autograph book, Jan 4, 1887. 1931.001.5.1.5. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester Families, 1815-1932, Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK.
[7] Slemp, Early Day School Teaching.
[8] Slemp,. Early Day School Teaching.
[9] Slemp, Early Day School Teaching; Certificate of Marriage, Nellie E. Riley to H.E. Woodard, 7 July 1895, Muskogee, Indian Territory. Oklahoma Marriage Records. Oklahoma, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1890-1995. Film number 001312335 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/963554014:61379 (accessed October 4, 2023).
[10] Slemp, Early Day School Teaching.
[11] Herbert E. Woodward, U.S. Census Bureau; 1910 United States Federal Census, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Roll T624_1274, Page 17A, Enumeration District 0220, 1910 United States Federal Census. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/186389851:7884 (accessed October 24, 2023).
[12] Nellie E. Woodward to Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson [1125], 7 May 1903, 1931.001.2.16.1. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester Families.
[13] Nellie E. Woodward to Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson [1142], 18 September 1903, 1931.001.2.16.1. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester Families.
[14] “Pioneer Tulsa Figure Dies,” Tulsa World, September 24, 1952. https://www.newspapers.com/image/900312596/ (accessed October 24, 2023).
[15] “Pioneer Tulsa Figure”
[16] “Club News,” The Tulsa Tribune (Tulsa, Oklahoma). March 10, 1947, https://www.newspapers.com/image/900194534/?match=1 (accessed October 24, 2023).
[17] “Indian Women’s Club Plans Meeting Friday,” The Tulsa Tribune October 07, 1951, https://www.newspapers.com/image/885717338/?match=1(accessed October 20, 2023).
[18] “Woodward Rites Set for Tuesday,” The Tulsa Tribune September 27, 1937, https://www.newspapers.com/image/901365217/?match=1(accessed October 24, 2023).
[19] District and Probate Courts, Probate Records, 1907-1950, County Clerk, Tulsa County (Oklahoma): https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3992856:9077 (accessed October 4, 2023).
[20] Nellie E. Woodward, U.S. Census Bureau; 1940 United States Federal Census, Roll m-t0627-03349, p. 4A, Enumeration District 79-39C. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/89087632:2442 (accessed October 24, 2023).
[21] Nellie E. Woodward, U.S. Census Bureau; 1940 United States Federal Census, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Roll 2693, p. 3, Enumeration District 79-206. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/57255586:62308 (accessed October 4, 2023).
[22] “Indian Land Sold On Bid of $95,600,” Tulsa World April 19, 1946, https://www.newspapers.com/image/886045836/ (accessed October 4, 2023).
[23] “Pioneer Tulsa Figure Dies,” Tulsa World, September 24, 1952, https://www.newspapers.com/image/900312596/(accessed October 4, 2023).
[24] Shane, Findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192060759/nellie-e-woodward (accessed October 4, 2023).
[25] “$500,000 Land Deal Is Made,” Tulsa World June 05, 1925, https://www.newspapers.com/image/901306908/. (accessed October 4, 2023).
[26] “Pioneer Tulsa Figure Dies,” Tulsa World September 24, 1952, https://www.newspapers.com/image/886045836/.
[27] “City Wins Long Fight Over Park,” Tulsa World September 24, 1930 https://www.newspapers.com/article/tulsa-world-hellen-slemp-allotment-case/139851637/ (accessed October 4, 2023).
[28] “$500,000 Land Deal Is Made,” Tulsa World June 05, 1925, https://www.newspapers.com/image/901306908/(accessed October 4, 2023).
[29] “$500,000 Land Deal Is Made.” Tulsa World June 05, 1925, https://www.newspapers.com/image/901306908/ (accessed October 4, 2023).
[30] Andra (Andy) Lupardus, interview by Cecilia Gutierrez, November 13, 2023, Presbyterian School for Indian Girls Project, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
[31] Family Portrait of Nellie Riley Woodward: Nellie (Riley) Woodward, Mrs. Helen Slemp, Mrs. Annelle Lanford, Andy Lupardus, photograph.
Bibliography
“$500,000 Land Deal Is Made.” Tulsa World June 05, 1925. Newspapers.com.
Alice Robertson’s Autograph book Jan 4, 1887. From Special Collections, University of Tulsa Libraries. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester families, 1815-1932, 1931.001.5.1.5.
Butler, Joe. “Attend Woodward Funeral.” The Pryor Jeffersonian. September 30, 1937. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/905241179/
Butler, Joe. “Woodward Rites Held Tuesday.” The Pryor Jeffersonian. September 30, 1937. From Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/image/905241179/
“Club News.” The Tulsa Tribune, March 10, 1947. Newspaper.com.
“Indian Land Sold On Bid of $95,600.” Tulsa World April 19, 1946. Newspapers.com.
“Indian Women’s Club Plans Meeting Friday.” The Tulsa Tribune October 07, 1951. Newspapers.com.
“Indian Women’s Club To Meet Friday Noon.” Tulsa World March 7, 1948. Newspapers.com.
“Indian Women’s Meeting Friday” Tulsa World Sept. 03, 1950. Newspaper.com.
Lupardus, Andra (Andy). Interview by Kiara Cecilia Gutierrez. November 13, 2023, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Transcript. Presbyterian School for Indian Girls Project, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Lupardus, Andra (Andy). e-mail message to author, December 4, 2023.
Marriage Records. Oklahoma Marriage Records. Oklahoma, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1890-1995. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/963554014:61379
“Nellie Woodward, 77, Pioneer Tulsa Property Owner, Dies.” The Tulsa Tribune September 23, 1952. Newspapers.com.
Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, Record Group 75. From The National Archives at Fort Worth, Enrollment Cards 1898-1914. Ancestry.com.
“Pioneer Tulsa Figure Dies.” Tulsa World September 24, 1952. From Newspaper.com.
Shane, “Nellie E. Riley Woodward (1875-1952).” Findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192060759/nellie-e-woodward
Slemp (Woodward), Helen. Early Day School Teaching, From Andy Lupardus, Personal Collection, Oct 12, 1952.
Tulsa County (Oklahoma). Court Clerk. “Probate Records, 1907-1950.” District and Probate Courts. Oklahoma County: Oklahoma, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1801-2008. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/3992856:9077.
[Unknown Photographer.] “Nellie (Riley) Woodward, Mrs. Helen Slemp, Mrs. Annelle Lanford, Andy Lupardus.” Photograph. From Andy Lupardus, Personal Collection.
U.S. Census Bureau; Ancestry, 1910 United States Federal Census, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Roll T624_1274, Page 17A, Enumeration District 0220.
U.S. Census Bureau; Ancestry, 1940 United States Federal Census, Roll m-t0627-03349, p. 4A, Enumeration District 79-39C.
U.S. Census Bureau; Ancestry, 1940 United States Federal Census, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Roll 2693, p. 3, Enumeration District 79-206.
Woodward, Nellie, E. Woodward, Nellie E. To Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson, May 7, 1903. Letter. From Special Collections, University of Tulsa Libraries. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester families, 1815-1932, 1931.001.2.16.1. [1125]. (accessed November 13, 2023).
Woodward, Nellie, E. Woodward, Nellie E. To Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson. September 18, 1903. From Special Collections, University of Tulsa Libraries. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester families, 1815-1932, 1931.001.2.16.1. [1142]. (accessed November 13, 2023).
“Woodward Rites Set for Tuesday.” The Tulsa Tribune September 27, 1937. From Newspaper.com.