Elvira married Simpson B. Brinsfield about Feb 1865. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Martha Jane was an early Oklahoma pioneer, participated in the Land Rush, built and operated one of the first hotle/boarding houses in Seminole, Oklahoma, was a major funder of the Seminole Pentecostal Church and in her youth was known as a Pentecostal "Leaper", one who would leap from aisle to aisle, playing a tambourine. People remember her sometimes running out of the old Commercial Hotel to separate her adult male children in street fights. She was less than 5 feet tall and thin. They were all large men. A Pioneer Woman, Martha Jane Brinsfield "Grandma Floyd" Martha Jane Brinsfield was born January 8, 1866, in Izzard County, Arkansas, the daughter of Simpson Franklin Brinsfield and Martha Susan (Elvira) Redding. Martha Jane may have been a quarter Choctaw or Creek from her mother, Elvira, who was said to be half Indian. Martha Jane was also a quarter Cherokee from her grandmother on the Brinsfield side, Charity Skipper, who was a full-blood Cherokee. In 1818, Charity was married to a Methodist minister, the Reverend George Washington Brinsfield; six children were born of this marriage in Tennessee. Simpson Franklin Brinsfield was one of these children who came with his father from Tennessee to Izzard County, Arkansas. Martha Jane married Andrew (or John) Reynolds, a farmer, in 1884 at Mountain Home, Izzard County, Arkansas. In early 1887, the family joined a wagon train headed for Oklahoma Indian Territory. They settled in the Econtuchka Bottoms (north of Shawnee), made dugout homes, cleared the land and planted crops. They were share-cropping, and when the crops were laid by, they moved back to Mountain Home Arkansas. In 1889 the Brinsfields and the Reynolds share-cropped on the Arkansas River Bottoms near Fort Smith. In the fall they traveled by wagon back to Oklahoma Indian Territory. This time they settled in Wewoka, the Seminole Indian Capital. In 1889, on April 22, Martha Jane and her father, Simpson, were in Guthrie for the "Land Rush." They drove their open wagon to Guthrie. The land they received was too dry to farm, and after many hardships they returned to Wewoka. Later, they went back to Arkansas, this time to Van Buren. In 1893, when her last son was only three weeks old, they loaded their wagon to return to Oklahoma Indian territory. Martha Jane's husband, Andrew, died on the trip. One version of his death is that after working through a hot day, he ate a watermelon that had been kept cold in a well, and fell dead. A different version is that he died of a local "fever". He was buried on the bank of the Arkansas River, near Fort Smith. Martha Jane, her father, and her four small children continued their journey, and with her father's help she was able to survive the trip west. They arrived back in Wewoka, made a dugout, and Martha Jane set up a tent for a boarding house. White people were moving to a predominately Indian Wewoka (the capital of the Seminole Indian Nation), and soon there was enough demand for more comfortable shelter that she was able to build a tin and wood boarding house and hotel. Martha Jane married Henry Brannan in 1897, and a son, Simpson, (Uncle Simp), was born to them in 1899. They moved to Tidmore where she again established a boarding house. Henry died and she later married a widower, Andrew Jackson Floyd (Uncle Drew). In 1907, the town of Tidmore moved to the new original townsite of Seminole. Martha Jane bought the land at Main and Oak and on it built the Seminole Hotel. It, too, was a tin and wood structure. Her husband and sons hauled the materials from Ada by dray wagons. A grandson, Andrew Jackson Reynolds, later became an Air Force Colonel, was born in the hotel on August 17, 1917. The original hotel burned in 1925. Immediately, Martha Jane began work to replace it, this time with a two-story red brick building from Main Street to the alley on Oak. Seminole became a "boom town" at about this time, and the buiness was very successful. Martha Jane named the building "The Commercial Hotel". Martha Jane's home was at 400 Highland. She was a charter member of the Pentecostal Holiness Church at the corner of what is now Walnut and Milt Phillips Avenue. Her children were Nancy Ellen, Hugh, John, and Dan Reynolds and Simpson Brannon. Nancy Ellen's husband, Ben Rich, was the first U.S. Marshall in Seminole and is pictured on the mural behind the First National Bank Building. All of Martha Jane's children preceded her in death. Seventeen grandchildren survived her.

Buried:
Maple Grove cemetery

Martha married Henry Brannan in 1897 in Wewoka, Oklahoma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Andrew Jackson Floyd. Andrew was born on 13 Feb 1878; died on 6 Jan 1946. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Martha married Andrew Reynolds about 1884 in Mountain Home, Baxter, Arkansas, USA. Andrew (son of Andrew Hugh Reynolds and Nancy Ellen Stone) was born about 1860 in Mountain Home, Baxter, Arkansas, USA; died about 1893 in Arkansas, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Martha married in 1897 in Wewoka, Oklahoma. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Dan was a farmer, oil field worker, and bootlegger. Rosa said he was a very strong man, once stealing a good size calf from a man who refused to pay a debt and running with the calf over his sholder most of the way from Wewoka.

Trix tells a story of Dan at a local dance, the sort that neighbors rotated among their homes. Dan was playing fiddle and was ready to leave at some point that was too early for one of the other partygoers. They went outside to fight. The other man grabbed an ax and chopped Dan in the back. The ax stuck, Dan pulled it out and then chopped the man's legs off.

Dan and Rosa's first house at Letha was a 12x24 ft. red wooden house. Their previous place was just off the road to Wewoka Lake.

Dan was wealthy during the bootleg years. Prince remembers as a small boy playing in a tunk full of money. Prince remembers that Dan had more than 20 stills in the Kiamishi Mountains and at least that number of drivers.

A partner of Dan was Red McBride.

Dan built a large wooden house that burned. He built a new stone home in the same location and also put up a stone barn.

After Dan's health went, the family was broke. His wife, Rosa kept up the liquor sales for a time, but couldn't manage it for long. She remarried Bill Clifton, who had managed the business for Dan after Dan was sick. Bill couldn't manage it either and also drank quite a lot, so they were divorced.

Dan was drinking "Jake" whiskey with a man named Rice, another named R.T. Harbor, Woody Woodward, and Sheriff Sims. Rice, Harbor, and Sims got what was called Jake Leg from a poison in the whiskey, Sims was called Jake Sims thereafter.

Dan built a large brick mansion next to the stone house just before his health broke. A local teacher, Ethyl Miller, rented a room in the house during that time. School board did not object to a teacher renting from a bootlegger because board supt. was one of Dan's whiskey customers. Ethyl now lives on her family's place near Antlers, OK near a small town named Finley. She had no furniture so Dan bought her $10,000 worth of furniture, including a piano which Ethyl's sister Mabel used to teach Edna.

Edna says Dan died of pellagra, (from eating too much corn?). Rosa said consumption.

The last 3 or 4 years of his life he had stomach ulcers and was only able to eat raw oysters. These were imported from New Orleans. It was due to his health that Dan surrrendered to the law and was sent to Leavenworth. It is said that he believed he would get better health care there than in Seminole.

Many important politicians, including the Governor, were frequent guests and drinking buddies with Dan, so it is entirely possible that Dan did have, as the family story has it, the option of going to jail or not.

It is said that Dan and John pulled a few jobs with Pretty Boy Floyd. They were going to rob one of the big county dances and the old man at the door told Dan that he knew who he was and he had better go home. Sos they left empty handed that night.

It is also said that Al Capone, sent a man down to take over Dan's bootlegging business. The man made friends with Dan's right had man to whom he told his plans. So Dan's friend went and told him what this fellow planned to do. So Dan had them come and eat breakfast and said to this fellow, "You have been here long enough now. I will show you where all of my stills are." which is what the man had been waiting for. They say a big smile came upon this man's face at this time. As they left the house that morning, Dan took Rosa aside and said one one of us will be back! About a week later Rosa was going to wash Dan's overcoat, and found a bullet hole in the pocket. The man from Chicago was never seen again.
Dan was a farmer, oil field worker, and bootlegger. Rosa said he was a very strong man, once stealing a good size calf from a man who refused to pay a debt and running with the calf over his sholder most of the way from Wewoka.

Trix tells a story of Dan at a local dance, the sort that neighbors rotated among their homes. Dan was playing fiddle and was ready to leave at some point that was too early for one of the other partygoers. They went outside to fight. The other man grabbed an ax and chopped Dan in the back. The ax stuck, Dan pulled it out and then chopped the man's legs off.

Dan and Rosa's first house at Letha was a 12x24 ft. red wooden house. Their previous place was just off the road to Wewoka Lake.

Dan was wealthy during the bootleg years. Prince remembers as a small boy playing in a tunk full of money. Prince remembers that Dan had more than 20 stills in the Kiamishi Mountains and at least that number of drivers.

A partner of Dan was Red McBride.

Dan built a large wooden house that burned. He built a new stone home in the same location and also put up a stone barn.

After Dan's health went, the family was broke. His wife, Rosa kept up the liquor sales for a time, but couldn't manage it for long. She remarried Bill Clifton, who had managed the business for Dan after Dan was sick. Bill couldn't manage it either and also drank quite a lot, so they were divorced.

Dan was drinking "Jake" whiskey with a man named Rice, another named R.T. Harbor, Woody Woodward, and Sheriff Sims. Rice, Harbor, and Sims got what was called Jake Leg from a poison in the whiskey, Sims was called Jake Sims thereafter.

Dan built a large brick mansion next to the stone house just before his health broke. A local teacher, Ethyl Miller, rented a room in the house during that time. School board did not object to a teacher renting from a bootlegger because board supt. was one of Dan's whiskey customers. Ethyl now lives on her family's place near Antlers, OK near a small town named Finley. She had no furniture so Dan bought her $10,000 worth of furniture, including a piano which Ethyl's sister Mabel used to teach Edna.

Edna says Dan died of pellagra, (from eating too much corn?). Rosa said consumption.

The last 3 or 4 years of his life he had stomach ulcers and was only able to eat raw oysters. These were imported from New Orleans. It was due to his health that Dan surrrendered to the law and was sent to Leavenworth. It is said that he believed he would get better health care there than in Seminole.

Many important politicians, including the Governor, were frequent guests and drinking buddies with Dan, so it is entirely possible that Dan did have, as the family story has it, the option of going to jail or not.

It is said that Dan and John pulled a few jobs with Pretty Boy Floyd. They were going to rob one of the big county dances and the old man at the door told Dan that he knew who he was and he had better go home. Sos they left empty handed that night.

It is also said that Al Capone, sent a man down to take over Dan's bootlegging business. The man made friends with Dan's right had man to whom he told his plans. So Dan's friend went and told him what this fellow planned to do. So Dan had them come and eat breakfast and said to this fellow, "You have been here long enough now. I will show you where all of my stills are." which is what the man had been waiting for. They say a big smile came upon this man's face at this time. As they left the house that morning, Dan took Rosa aside and said one one of us will be back! About a week later Rosa was going to wash Dan's overcoat, and found a bullet hole in the pocket. The man from Chicago was never seen again.

Dan married Rosa Bell Chatagnier on 25 Jan 1916 in Houston, Harris, Texas. Rosa was born on 12 Mar 1901 in Abbyville, Louisiana; died on 13 Oct 1961 in Seminole, Oklahoma, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Was the town marshal (or maybe the county sheriff). He was killed by a drunk driver while making an arrest at a bar near Highway 9. A friend of Hugh killed by bootleggers, was Cris Whitson.

Family/Spouse: Berta Norma Phelps. Berta died about 1970. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John owned Seminole's ice making plant. He also drove a team of mules or horses pulling a "drey" wagon (like a moving van). Once he dragged a man out of the Corner Bar with ice tongs under the man's armpits. The man had evidently called John's brother Dan an insulting name, so John dragged him the length of main street with the tongs. Another version of this is thaat it occurred in the Commercial Hotel.

Family/Spouse: Hattie Tyler. Hattie was born on 11 Jul 1888; died on 17 Feb 1922 in Seminole, Oklahoma, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Blinded at the age of 17 by a charlatan doctor treating her for an eye infection. Owned half a block of rent houses across the street from Seminole Florist (near the old Elementary School)

Family/Spouse: Ben Andrew Rich. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Andrew helped his father with driving bootleg whiskey as a child. Chemistry major at the University of Oklahoma. He was an Air Force Colonel, WW II Ace, Pacific Theater. Commander of Dew Line. In later life enjoyed remodeling houses in which he lived. See story in Reader's Digest December 1942, page 3-9 "The Fighters at Humpty Doo" by Lucien Hubbard, copyright 1942, Air Facts, 30 Rockeffer Plaze NYC. Airfacts the Magazine for Pilots, November 42. Biography in "These Men Shall Never Die" by Lowell Thomas

Andrew married Grayce Mary Kanne on 30 Nov 1939. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Andrew married Joyce Robinson on 1 Mar 1975 in Wichita Falls, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Decker. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Rogers. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: L. C. Gourley. L. was born on 2 May 1919; died on 25 Jan 1976. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Cpl. in Marines at Mohave in WW II, met Sgt. Mary Plowman in service and married her. Occupation: General Contractor, housebuilder, highly skilled woodworker and house designer.

Family/Spouse: Living Plowman. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Dorothy M. Stanistreet. Dorothy was born in in Dublin, Irland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Scoggins. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died in infancy

Family/Spouse: Living Niles. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died in infancy

Family/Spouse: Living Reagan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Brown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Perry. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Suffered mild brain damage as a child from a head injury. A handyman, helped his mother keep up several rent houses on 6th street in Seminole. Eugene and his mother, Bertha, supported themselves hanging wallpaper. Later Eugene operated tropical fish store. Enjoyed fishing. Was a natural musician, played several instruments.

Family/Spouse: Living Williams. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Watson. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living Pike. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died of diabetes Made a living washing and ironing. Had a couple of rent houses

Family/Spouse: Clarence Chatagnier. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Worked at the NK cafe (next to State Theatre) in Seminole when young. Later moved to Enid.

Family/Spouse: Johnson. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]