Delaware County, Oklahoma


The Mathias Splitlog Family

Mathias Splitlog

DESCRIPTION: THE MATHIAS SPLITLOG CHURCH IS AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF ROMANESQUE REVIVAL RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE IN OKLAHOMA. BEYOND ITS REMARKABLE ARCHITECTURE, THIS BUILDING IS A LIVING REMINDER OF THE LIFE OF MATHIAS SPLITLOG, A CAYUGA INDIAN WHO HELPED TO FOUND AND DEVELOP THE CAYUGA COMMUNITY. LISTED IN NATIONAL REGISTER 10/26/72.

Eliza Barnett Splitlog Her headstone reads "Mrs. Eliza Splitlog passed away at 5:10a.m. Sunday, September 28, 1894, at her home Cayuga Springs, aged 65 years.  She was the daughter of John and Hanna Barnett, Born in Sandusky, Ohio, And died in the Catholic faith."

Publication: The Oklahoman Date: Feb. 20, 1972 Page 138 by Kent Ruth Church Recalls Great Indian Splitlog Church- some nine miles northeast of Grove in Delaware County is a handsome, still impressive monument to a remarkabley able, public-spirited man.  Mathias Splitlog was born in New York in 1812, half Cayugan, half French by ancestry.  An important figure on four frontiers, he died in 1897.  With his wife Eliza, a Wyandot, he lies buried in the pleasant oak-shaded burying ground of the church he helped dedicate just six weeks before he died.  The Church itself may well be the only structure of its kind in the country today, built by an Indian with his own funds.  Splitlog "possessed the quality known as vision," according to one historian.  "His ideas were ahead of his time," another noted.  "He was always planning and building."  Pressured from homes in Ohio, Kansa and Missouri, the Wyandots finally found a sanctuary, in 1874, among the Senecas here in Indian Territory.  Once again Splitlog set to work building a new life for his people.  He settled near a spring he name Cayuga.  The town that sprang up around it became Cayuga Springs.  He built a sawmill (see picture above) and a grist mill, established a blacksmith shop, operated a ferry--and erected an impressive 4-story factory (see picture above) for manufacturing watons and buggies.  Most ambitious of his projects, however (if largely unsuccessful) was the Splitlog Line, now part of the Kansas City Southern Lines.  Work began on it in 1887.  By 1889 the tracks had reached Splitlog City, in nearby Missouri.  "I go on," he promised in a dedicatory speech, "I make Cuyuga and Splitlog biggest towns in the Ozarks."  Alas, Splitlog Church is about all that's left today of the Cayuga Springs settlement.  But is is no crude fronties affair.  Matchings its buttressed walls and high roof, topped by towers front and back, were ornately carved altar, confessionsal and choir loft, stained glass windows, and a bell cast in Belgium.  The organ had not been delivered when Splitlog died.  But the rock ruin behind the church once housed a steam heating plant.  "The special Catholic furnishings were removed when the church was sold to the Methodists in 1930.  Though privately owned today, Splitlog Church is well preserved, an altogether fitting tribute to a great man.

Publication: The Oklahoman Date: Nov. 29, 1981 Page 9 by Don Hayden Church Lone Reminder of Grove Pioneer Grove- Mathias Splitlog was never a man to let grass grow under his feet, but 84 years after his death, grass is about all that remains of a town he founded in northeastern Oklahoma.  An impressive gray stone church with a white wooden steeple still stands as a reminder of Splitlog's era.  Completed in 1897 only six weeks before Splitlog died, the church was used for Catholic services until 1930, when it was sold to Methodists.  Today, the church is used in the summertime for interdenominational services and an occasional reunion of area residents.  Listed in the National Register of Historical Places, the church is located about nine miles northeast of Grove.  Splitlog, of French and Cayuga Indian ancestry, was born in New York in 1912.  He moved westward in the early 1880s and settled near a river he named Cayuga.  He went on to develop a town near the site, chich he called Cayuga Springs.  Area historians say he always had some project going, noting the man built a sawmill, a grist mill, operated a ferry, opened a blacksmith shop and built a four-story factory where wagons and buggies were made.  In 1887, he gan working on a railroad which he called the "Splitlog Line" which later became part of the Kansas City Southern Line.  He claimed he would make Cayuga Springs the "biggest town in the Ozarks."  Although that never happened, it didn't stop Splitlog, who continued planning and building.  The church, built with Splitlogis own funds, is no crude affair with its buttressed walls and high peaked roof.  A tower in the rear of the building matches the steeple.  Inside the church is a hand-carved alter transported from England, stained glass windows and a bell make in Belgium.  The congregation was warmed with steam heat, but all that remains of the plant is a rocky ruin behind the church.

Excerpt from Publication: The Oklahoman Date: Jun. 26, 1988 Page 84 on Ghost Towns Cayuga is our No. 2 ghost.  It dozes on the south bank of Grand Lake's Cowkin area- that's five-plus miles east of Grove (on Oklahoma 25), then three miles north.  It comes within little more that one extant structure falling to No. 1 status.  But Splitlog Church is no ordinary structure.  Nor was Mathias Splitlog your ordinary church builder.  Unable to read or write, he's said to have spoken seven languages.  And, along with the useful ability to make money, he possessed what one observer has called "the quality known as vision."  What with "a mechanical and inventive turn of mind," he seems almost predestined to be an overachiever on the raw frontier.  His church was obviously no fly-by-night operation.  Built of native sandstone, approximately 20 X 50 feet in size with a high sharply pitched roof, it boasted a tall bell tower and steeple.  Yet it was not only the last of a series of notable structures that thrust him into the front ranks of Indian entrepreners who helped develop Indian Territory.  Mathias Splitlog was born in New York in 1812 - by ancestry half Cayugan and half French.  As a young man in Ohio, he married Eliza Barnett, thus becoming a member of the Wyandot tribe.  As ever increasing white pressure pushed the Indians westward he followed them, first in Kansas and then to northeast Oklahoma.  A final move in 1874 put the now 62 year old leader on the Cowskin near its mouth in the Neosho (Grand) River.  There he put to work with that quality known as vision, the $170,000 he had reportedly received for his holdings in Kansas.  (Wyandot land there was in present Kansas City and before the move Splitlog had built a solid reputation as flour miller, builder, and real estate dealer.)  His vision was for a self-contained community that could presumably support inself and thus be able to resist more forced moves.  He named it Cayuga for his own tribe.  He built a sawmill and gristmill-established a store, blacksmith shop, and ferry service on the Cowskin-erected an impressive three-story and basement factory to produce wagons and buggies.  He also started a subscription school.  By 1887, he was ready for his more ambitious project: the "Splitlog Line", his own railroad to tie the production of his factory to the markets of the world.  Forerunner of a section of the present Kansas City Southern Lines, the Splitlog reached Splitlog City (in hearby Missouri) in 1889.  "I go on," Splitlog promised in a celebration speech, "I make Cayuga and Splitlog biggest towns in the Ozarks."  Alas his dream was never fulfilled.  Today, mills and factory are gone and Cayuga is but a public access point on the Grand Lake recreation map.  Only Splitlog Church remains.  The interesting old oak-shaded burying ground is just to the south.  It is not known just when Splitlog fir became interested in building a church.  Although a baptized Roman Catholic, he had never shown and particular interest in religion until Father William Ketcham came to Indian Territory in 18892.  The following year, Splitlog was confirmed-and began work on his church.  Eliza Splitlog, a devout Quaker upt o that time, converted to Catholicism.  She died in 1894 and was buried from the still-uncompleted structure.  Not until later 1896 was the church finally finished.  Atr the dedicatory service the bell, specially cast in Belgium, was blessed and first tolled in her memory.  An interesting feature of the church, the front doorway arch contains 15 stones carved with Indian symbols.  Rarely used today the curch and its well-tended, still open cemetery now doze quietly amid large protective oaks.  New tombstones are scattered among the weathered ones--some ornate marble ones--lie those of Eliza and Mathias Splitlog--others worn fieldstones on which nothing can now be read.

Excerpt from Publication: The Oklahoman Date: Sep. 9, 2000 By Sheila Stogsdll Church near Grand Lake built for all For wealthy Indian couple, project was labor of love Grove--Nestled near Elk River and Grand Lake, amid acres of lush folliage, tourists to the area are often surprised to find a century-old stone church among the lake cabins and boats.  The gray limestone church is set on top of a hill, overlooking the coves with a stepple tall enought it can be seen almost a mile away.  The old stone church and its picturesque cemetery is called Cayuga Splitlog Mission Church.  Visitors walking among the cemetery's mid-1880 grave markers may see a doe and her fawn grazing nearby or a mischievous raccoon stealing a flower off a grave.  Cayuga Splitlog Mission Church was built by Mathias and Eliza Splitlog.  It is considered to be the only church in Oklahoma, and perhaps in the United States, that was built solely by an Indian from his own funds for the religious use of all people.  Mathias Splitlog, also known as the "Millionaire Indian," built the church out of love for his wife.  But the church became a symbol of love between Mathias and his Creator as well.  Little is know of Splitlog's early life.  Accourding to federal land allotment papers he was born in 1812 in Canada.  Other reports place his birthplace as New York state or list Splitlog as a French Canadiand and Cayuga Indian descendant; other claims say Splitlog was part Wyandotte and part Cayuga Indian.  Another report states he was stolen by the Indians as a baby and reared by the Wyandotte Tribe in Ohio.  Variations of the story add that at age 15, he was scout, or that when he married Eliza Barnett, great-niece of Jacques of the Wyandotte Tribe, he became a member.  What is known is that Splitlog never received any formal schooling, nor did he learn to read or write.  The lack of schooling did not prevent him for excelling.  Gifted with a bright mind, Splitlog would often watch and study the steam engine and soon mastered its principles.  By studying the machinery, he could soon built a replica that powered a boat he and his brother built as they engaged in trade in the Great Lakes area.  By 1843, Splitlog and his wife, along with 800 members of the Ohio Wyandotte Tribe, migrated to Kansas.  The tribe had been assigned a tract of nearly 150,000 acres on the Neosho River.  The land proved to be unsuitable, so the tribe bought 30 sections of land from the Delaware Indians.  The new holding, in the fork of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, is now the site of Kansas City, Kansas.  Always the entrepreneur, Splitlog built a sawmill, gristmill and another steamboat that journeyed on the Missouri River, eventually making Splitlog a wealthy man.  By 1874, political pressure forced the Splitlogs to move to Indian Territory, where they were welcomed by the Seneca-Cayugas.  The Splitlogs built a sawmill, a buggy factory and a general store.  Not known as a religious man, Splitlog would often allow his general store to serve as a church Sunday mornings.  Father Ketchum, a Roman Catholic priest, converted the Splitlogs to Catholicism and in 1886 Splitlog began plans for a church to be built south of the buggy factory.  Ketchum helped design the church and used limestone that was plentiful in the area.  The church was decorated inside with hand-carved, imported wood.  At the front of the church is an elaborate carved piano, which sits silent due to years of abandonment.  Outside, the name "Splitlog" is spelled out, on letter over each arched, stained glass window.  The arch forming the doorway to the church is formed with fifteen stones, each carved with an Indian symbol.  Eliza Splitlog died in 1894, and her funeral was held in the unfinished church, with her final resting place on the grounds near the church.  Work continued on the church with several interruptions as Splitlog traveled to Washington, D. C., on Indian business.  The church was completed and dedicated October 25, 1896.  Included in the dedication ceremony was a tribute to Eliza Splitlog that included the ringing of a bronze bell.  On Dec. 22, 1896, Splitlog began what would be his final journey to Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Seneca Tribe.  While en route, he fell ill, and soon after his arrival in Washington, he developed pheumonia and died.  His body was returned to Cayuga, where Mass was celebrated Jan 14, 1897 in the same stone church that he and Eliza had built.  He was buried in the cemetery that adjoings the church.  For many years, the church was unused.  Later, the church served as a school, then was abandoned and fell prey to vandalism.  The bronze bell that had been cast in Belgium and once summoned its congregation to the old stone church was transferred to St. Catherine's parish in Nowata but later returned to Cayuga Splitlog Mission Church.  The old tarnished bell now is in the front yard of the church's groundskeeper.  The Catholic diocese sold the building to the Methodist Church in the early 1930's.  It was later sold to R.A. Sellers Sr., whose family owns a lake home near the church.  The Sellers family has repaired the church throughout the years and has made provisions for care of the church and adjoining cemetery.  For many years, bells rang out over Grand Lake, as a group forming the Grand Lake Ministries began to hold services from May until September for tourists.  In 1998, the group disbanded; however, several residents from the area met with the Sellers family, and with the family's blessing, Cayuga Mission church was opened year round.  In 1998, a 6-foot mural was discovered in a room behind the alter.  The mural depicts what Delaware County would have been like at the turn of the 20th century.  Much is unknown about the hisotry of the painting.  Victoria L. Morell, most likely the name of the artist, and the date 1946 is painted on the far right side of the mural.

Mathias Splitlog Leaves His Mark on the Oklahoma Landscape November 27, 2002 The Oklahoma Audio Almanac The Mathias Splitlog Church in Delaware County sits today on the shores of Grand Lake and has faithfully served the surrounding communities for more than 145 years. Mathias Splitlog moved from northern Kansas to Missouri and then into the Seneca Nation in what is now Oklahoma. Splitlog, a member of the Cayuga Tribe was born in either 1810 or 1812 on the Canadian border. He married Eliza Carloe, a Wyandot, and moved with that tribe to northeast Kansas. The land held by Eliza and Mathias eventually became what is now down town Kansas City, and it was through the sale of the much sought after real estate in 1865 that Mathias became known at the time as "The Millionaire Indian." Following the sale of the Kansas land, the family moved south into the northeastern corner of present day Oklahoma. There Mathias and his wife financed the construction of several mills, a railroad, various businesses and what eventually became the town of Cayuga Springs. In 1886 Mathias began the project for which he is most remembered, the construction of the Splitlog Church. Mathias intended the church as a present for his wife. Constructed out of hewn limestone the church sits tall and narrow with a magnificent steeple. The interior of the building features imported hand carved wood, and the fifteen stone arch at the entrance displays Native American art work around the edge. A bronze bell cast in Belgium finished off the church ringing for the first time during the funeral service of Eliza Splitlog, who died during the construction of her church. It was in this week of 1896, ten years after beginning, that Mathias Splitlog oversaw the completion and dedication of his church. The bronze bell still rings, and the Cayuga Mission Church, with the Splitlog graves beside it, still holds services today, more than one hundred and forty years after its official opening.

Excerpt from Publication: The Oklahoman Date:Apr. 15, 2007 Page 55 by Allison Roberts Sites Reflect forgotten History Markers Identify ghost towns started by settlers within state. Some of Oklahoma's ghost towns stand as a testament to the determination of the people that founded them.  Cayuga, a settlement in the northeastern corner of Delaware County, was planted by American Indian Mathias Splitlog.  Upon settling Cayuga in the early 1890's, Splitlog built a wagon factory, a genearal store and a blacksmith shop to promote town commerce.  Splitlog was also responsible for the construction of a Gothic-style Catholic church in 1896.  Atop the belfry was a 1,600 pound bell that reportedly could be heard 12 miles away.  Despite Splitlog's dedication to Cayuga, the town faltered following a fire that consumed much of the community.  The church, however, was spared from damage and remains a reminder of one individual's effect on Oklahoma's history.  In 1972, the Cayuga Splitlog Church was added to the Nations Register of Historical Places.

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