Rachel Whitney, Curator, Sapulpa Historical Museum
“Glen was born east of Kiefer on July 1, 1898, and had spent most of his boyhood in Sapulpa and at his parents’ ranch near Claremore. After his marriage, he lived for a time at Osceola, Missouri,” with his wife Etta Weaver.
Glen Berryhill was one of a handful of children at Theodore Berryhill and Rilla Berryhill’s home; Etta’s parents were Bert and Rena Weaver. “The Weavers and the Berryhill’s were pioneer families in the Oklahoma Territory.”
From Theo’s obituary, it states: “Mr. Berryhill is reported to be one of the wealthy men of the state. He was an outstanding character in the Creek tribe. He gained his start through fortunate allotments years ago when the Creek tribe was given their allotments. Oil was found and since that time the wealth of the Berryhill family has increased with the passage of time, Earle, is one of the wealthiest young men in the state, reputed to be a millionaire. Mr. Berryhill came to Claremore a number of years ago from Sapulpa. He busied himself with cattle raising and in this he was a success. And at the time of his death, he was the pastor of the Holiness Church here.”
In the words of Rena Weaver: “Rena’s memories here included the first store, H.C. Hall and Company, built north of the tracks on the east side of Main, facing north. Bert worked in a blacksmith shop here and at one time ran commissary at Depew for the tie hackers when railroad was being built on to Oklahoma City. The Bruners, Joe and Maggie, had land in the Pumpkin Center area on Rock creek. After about five years [of commissary], Bert wanted to farm, and went to see Joe about trading land. The trade was made and the Weavers moved into the oil boom area of Pumpkin Center.”
Rena also recalled the times she cooked for Cook Gang. “She cooked for the cowboys who drove the cattle up from Okmulgee once a week, but cooking for a gang, a robber gang, was something else. Cherokee Bill would eat with his gun across his lap. Folks generally liked Bill, he was gentle, and Rena, whom Bill called ‘Babe’ felt safer with him than with the cowboys that roamed the streets on the weekend.”
Many of you may not of heard of the Weaver family until Etta, who was “an early Activist in Women’s Rights, she ran for State Representative in 1932*.” She was a volunteer at the hospital, involved with Order of the Eastern Star, Methodist Church, and rode in the Women’s Polo Team. “Etta counted among her friends, Will Rogers, Norman Vicent Peale, Jack Dempsey, and Al Jolson, who nicknamed her ‘Little Etta.’”
*Note: She was defeated by only 26 votes. She remained active in politics all her life.
And some of you, when we hear the name Berryhill in Sapulpa, we often think of Theo and Earle Berryhill. Earle’s “business interests here include the Standard Chevrolet Motor Company, real estate holdings, and oil properties. The latter includes the original allotment in the famous Glenn pool near here. He was the owner of several business buildings in Sapulpa, the largest being the Berryhill building, one of the city’s major office buildings. It was built for him during his minority by his late father as an investment.”
Or some of you may even know another child of Theo and Rilla’s, Lona Berryhill. Lona was married to H.L. Wilson, or as he is better known as Jimmie Wilson, from the Jimmie Wilson’s Catfish String Band. And their home where he broadcast his music at 217 S Poplar, on the corner of S Poplar and W Lincoln.
However, this week in Sapulpa history, in 1919, Glen Berryhill made the headline in the Sapulpa paper.
“Glen Berryhill and his Curtis Machine Give Sapulpa an Air ‘Circus’” as the headline stated.
“It is now the proper thing to live on your farm in Missouri and operate your business in Sapulpa by the simple expedient of sailing over in your plane. This morning Glen Berryhill flew over Sapulpa in a Curtis Airplane to the delegation of many Sapulpans.”
Glen was able to purchase the plane from a Tulsa airplane firm. A company pilot “drove” over Sapulpa as he made his way to Texas “with the machine, and then came back to see the place where his fortune was made.”
Glen used his plane to take trips back and forth over Sapulpa.
“Berryhill made the trip from Oklmulgee to Tulsa in fifteen minutes.”
This week in Sapulpa history, Berryhill landed in Sapulpa before taking off for Kansas City, and then made the trip back to his 2,000 acre ranch in Osceola. “More than a hundred motorists drove out on the Ozark Trail where Berryhill landed about ten o’clock this morning.” He entertained the crowd with a new airplane.
The following year, both he and his brother-in-law, Jimmie Wilson, entertained a crowd in Kellyville with their pair of aeroplanes. “Kellyville had quite an exciting time last Saturday when Jimmie Wilson’s aeroplane was forced to light on account of magneto trouble on the high school campus. He worked on the machine until Glen Berryhill arrived in his plane, too. All of Kellyville turned out to supervise the work.”
Many folks had never seen an airplane before, especially up close when Berryhill and Wilson flew over and landed in the area. Not even eleven years later, in 1930, would people be able to recognize an airplane, or aeroplane, or even an autogyro that Amelia Earhart flew in over Sapulpa, people were still amazed by the machine that could fly in the air.
(Sapulpa Herald, August 25, 1919, March 24, 1921, September 28, 1920, May 4, 1950, September 18, 1960; Creek County Republican, April 16, 1920; Claremore Progress, September 25, 1924; Democrat News, September 22, 1960)
