| Notes |
- DR. SAMUEL ELLIS ORCUTT
From the family record kept by Augustus C. and Mary Crull Orcutt, Samuel Ellis Orcutt was born May 4, 1855 at "daylight in the morning. The place was Vanceburg, Lewis County, Kentucky. Sam was a young boy when the family started their western movement that resulted in them finally settling in Marion County, Arkansas. He would have remembered living in Doniphan County, Kansas, in the days of the Civil War. Towards the end of the War the family located for a short time at or near Oakland, Coles County, Illinois, where Sam and brother Labe had their picture made in December of 1865.
After the end of the war, Sam's older brother, Dolph, was appointed Assessor for Stone County, Mo., near Marion Co, Ark. By 1870 the entire family was in Marion,, Ark. settling on river bottom land bought from Jacob Yocham, the father-in-law of Sam's older brother, Moat.
Much of Sam's history is recorded in various printed publications, some of which are being reproduced here.
In Luther B. Hills' HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA, written 1909, is found the following article;
Dr. Samuel E. Orcutt. The south half of the town of Broken Arrow was built on land the lease of which belonged to Dr. Samuel E. Orcutt. With the completion of the Tulsa branch of the M.K.&T. Railroad in 1904, the town was laid out, and has been growing ever since. Dr. Orcutt constructed the third business building in the new town and was proprietor of the third store. Later he organized and developed one of the largest mercantile enterprises in this area, the Farmers Trading Company.
Dr. Orcutt is one of the early White residents of the Creek Nation. He and his brother, Col. A.D. Orcutt, now of Coweta and a member of the state legislature, came here May 4, 1874, locating near the Arkansas River about ten miles south of the present Broken Arrow and five miles north of the Indian village of Wealaka. They engaged in trading and live-stock until Samuel E. entered the profession of medicine, which he abandoned finally for a business career. He has been a successful man, in the early days lived on pleasant terms with the Indian neighbors, knew them all and was influential among them, and with the changing conditions in the Territory has increased his business affairs accordingly. Since selling his mercantile interest in 1907, he has given all his time to the S.E. Orcutt Investment Company, which deals in farm lands, oil leases, business property and general investments.
Samuel E. Orcutt was born in Lewis County, Kentucky in 1855. His parents were among the ante-bellum settlers of Kansas. His father, A.C. Orcutt, was a practicing physician for a number of years, and a native of New York State. His mother, Mary (Crull) Orcutt was from Scioto County, Ohio. Moving to Doniphan County, Kansas in 1857, they lived there only a short time before they went back east to Coles County, Illinois, and thence, in the early seventies, moved to Oakland, Marion County, Arkansas. It was in these last two named localities where Dr. Orcutt spent his boyhood and received his education. His father was his first preceptor in medicine, and after attending lectures in a medical college he began practice in his home county, coming from Arkansas to Indian Territory in 1874.
The doctor is a member of Broken Arrow Lodge, No. 147, I.O.O.F. He was married in Missouri to Miss Sarah Jane Burgess, a native of Mt. Vernon, of that state. At her death on January 5, she left the following children; Alice, Alpha, Loney, Elmer, Essie, Effie, and Crull.
Sarah Jane Burgess, born May 2, 1859, at Mt. Vernon, Mo., was the daughter of Thomas and Evaline Burgess. Evaline Burgess died Jan 10, 1883 at Pontiac, Mo. Thomas Burgess died June 29, 1898 also at Pontiac, Mo. Sarah Jane died Jan 5, 1908, and is buried in the Park Grove Cemetery in Broken Arrow next to the grave of her and Sam's son, Thomas Augustus, whose grave marked "Little Guss", is the oldest grave in that cemetery.
An article from a Broken Arrow, Indian Territory newspaper ca 1904;
It is a matter of deep human interest to note and study the courage, the faith, and the sterling manhood which have made the Indian Territory a marvel in rapid growth and development. In every community, where the progress has been so notable, there are individuals who illustrate these qualities and virtues. In the thriving, attractive town of Broken Arrow one of the men who has exhibited these characteristics to an unusual degree is Dr. Sam E. Orcutt.
Of fine old Kentucky lineage, having been born in Lewis County in that state in 1855, Dr. Orcutt came to the southwest in his young manhood, accompanied by his equally widely known brother, Col A.D. Orcutt, who isone of the leading spirits in the nearby city of Coweta.
These young men found in that day, in the early seventies, only a few scattered whites among the Indians here. With the high spirits of youth and blessed with unusual geniality of nature, the two Orcutts soon found themselves on terms of excellent friendship and intercourse with the Creek People. Often they found themselves joining their red brothers in the chase, or digging in the heavy toe in the stomp dance-being the only whites that were present.
Ever since those early days, Dr. Orcutt has found it easy and pleasant to aquaint himself with the citizens, and it safe to say that there are exceedingly few men in this area of the Creek Nation who know as many people as he does, and there is none more highly esteemed by them. Knowing the original citizens, it was easy to keep track of the newcomers. These facts laid the foundation for a business career that was so inviting that Dr. Orcutt laid aside his doctor's saddlebags and turned his attention to commercial affairs. The Farmers Trading Company is the evolution-the natural outcome of his labor along business lines-something of the history and standing of this company is to be found elsewhere in these columns.
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Old Dead Relatives
1855 - 1917 (61 years)
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