Wheelock Church: A Brief History

This month, Iti Fabvssa is sharing the story of the Wheelock Church, the oldest standing church in Oklahoma. Established in 1846 in what is now Garvin, Oklahoma, Wheelock Church was commissioned by Presbyterian missionary, Reverend Alfred Wright, and built by a Choctaw congregation. It is adjacent to Wheelock Academy, the girls’ boarding school. This summer, Choctaw Nation will gain ownership of the church.

Construction on the Wheelock Church building was completed in 1846, after two years of work. It was home to a Wheelock congregation originally established in 1836 under the guidance of Reverend Alfred Wright. Wright served a community of Choctaws that came over on the Trail of Tears from the Okla Falaya District, also known as the Western District, under Chief Thomas LeFlore. Chief Leflore, with 600 Choctaws mustered near Goshen, Mississippi where they began their journey in early August of 1832. The group had a few wagons either provided by the United States to haul food or brought along by wealthy Choctaw families. The majority of Choctaw people had to walk and did not have the ability to bring much with them. What items could be brought from home were carried by Choctaw women in traditional pack baskets (Gilcrease Museum 2023:3) The travelers did not have adequate clothing, nor were they provisioned with enough supplies and shelter for the cold weather. The group relied on a herd of cattle and wild game to help feed them along the journey; once that ran out, they lived off small rations of corn. As the weather turned cold, rain, snow and sleet began to fall, causing the roads to muddy and streams to overflow. There were delays from wagons getting stuck and families burying their loved ones who had died on the Trail. “…There was much suffering at best” (Gilcrease Museum 2023:2). Babies born had to endure while those who passed on had to be buried on the roadside. Chief LeFlore’s company was called the Christian Company because it held morning and evening services and did not travel on Sundays. After arrival in Indian Territory in March of 1833, the group traveled until they found open land and a spring where they could begin re-building their community. Anxiously awaiting Wright’s arrival, the community had selected and cleared an area where they built benches. Soon after, Wright, delayed by sickness, arrived. On December 9th, 1832, Wright held the first Presbyterian service in Indian Territory “under a towering oak with some split-log benches and an ordinary wooden box serving as pulpit.” (Kent 1972:3). During the service, Choctaw people sang hymns that they had learned in the homelands and Reverend Wright preached the sermon. Alfred Wright is credited with writing Choctaw Hymn 48; however, it may have not been sung at this service since it is not in the 1829 Chahta Aba Isht Taloa Choctaw Hymnal. He later organized mostly Choctaw laborers to build a log building to serve as the congregation’s church and school. That building became the first Presbyterian church in Indian Territory and Choctaw Nation.

Interior view of Wheelock Church, Oklahoma's oldest stone church, built in 1846.

Reverend Alfred Wright was a missionary who was part of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). The Presbyterian organization was chartered by the Massachusetts legislature in 1810 to fulfill a mission of promoting Christianity among Native people. Missionaries from this organization were some of the ones that established the first missions in original Choctaw homelands in 1818. During Choctaw removal, individuals like Wright and Cyrus Kingsbury and Cyrus Byington accompanied Choctaw people to Indian Territory and continued their work there. Wright worked with his congregation until his death in 1853. Wright was buried in the nearby Wheelock Cemetery.

On land near the Wheelock Church, the building that would later become Wheelock Academy was also built. The school was also part of Wright’s missionary efforts, the school operated in part under his direction. In 1833, a log building was erected as a day school but after Choctaw General Council passed a law in 1842, it became the well-known female seminary Wheelock Academy. Wright’s wife also served as superintendent of the school. From 1844 –1846, the log building gave way to a newer and sturdier building, and the school also expanded into multiple buildings – some of which still stand today. After Choctaw Nation closed its schools in response to allotment and Oklahoma statehood, Wheelock Academy later became a federal boarding school for Native girls. To learn more about Wheelock Academy, you can read about it online or visit the Wheelock Historic Site and Museum.

The Wheelock Church is a one-story masonry building constructed in a simplified Greek Revival style. Made from local stone that was hand-carved, the church’s walls are 20 inches thick. The building is rectangular, with a gable-end front entrance facing west and a wooden steeple clad in vinyl siding and a metal roof. Inside, the church is one large room with wide cedar plank flooring. The decorative wooden pulpit is centrally located on the east wall and sits on a wide two-tier wood platform. Two rows of eight long wooden pews face the pulpit. Structural wood posts, rafters, and beams are partially visible and adorn the lower portions of the sloped ceiling. Painted bead board covers the ceiling peak of the rafters and between the wooden beams. The wall surfaces are plastered and painted. Small candle shelves were installed on each post to help light the interior. The central candelabra chandelier is not hooked to electricity. Other interior furniture includes a shorter pew, wooden chairs, two pianos near the pulpit, and a large portrait of Jesus hanging centrally on the east wall. After a fire occurred in 1866, the roof, steeple, and interior finishes were replaced in 1882, however the balcony was not reinstalled. Other than the metal roofing, the building appears much the same for 177 years and offers a unique look into Choctaw Nation’s past.

In 1866, the fire that destroyed the church roof also wiped out the buildings in the area, including Reverend Wright’s old house, a single log building and the stone church. This left it abandoned until restoration efforts in 1882 by Reverend Johnathan Edwards. From then to 1900, the church was used for religious services. From 1900-1946, the church was primarily used for weddings and funerals.

During Choctaw allotment in the early 1900s, the land that Wheelock Church was on was allotted to Anna Reva Tyler. The old church was supposed to be exempted but that oversight was due in part to the limited use of the church. In 1957, Ms. Tyler agreed to sell the church and cemetery back to the Presbyterian church. After fundraising to purchase the church, the local Presbyterian church regained title. The church was then later acquired by the Wheelock Cemetery Association in 1995.

Recently, Wheelock Cemetery Association, realizing the church’s importance to Choctaw Nation, offered to donate Wheelock Church to the Nation in April 2022. Chairwoman Maureen Haynie and Linda Endsley shared that the board worried that if the Nation did not take ownership, there would be no one else in line to do so and the cultural connections could be lost. Numerous inspection reports were generated and, each time, the Church passed with flying colors. The maintenance by the Wheelock Cemetery Association and all those preceding them is a testament to their dedication and excellent stewardship of the Church. The Choctaw community and Nation is joyful in accepting the very generous donation.

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References Cited:

Ruth, Kent

1972 Wheelock Church. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City.

Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art

2023 Typescript of “Granny LeFlore,” an account of the 1832 removal of Choctaws from Mississippi to Indian territory. 4027.4566. Edmond J. Gardner Manuscript Collection. mid-20th century. Tulsa: Gilcrease Museum (12/13/2018).