Nannita Daisey
Encyclopedia
Nannita Daisey, also known as Kentucky Daisey, gained fame during the late nineteenth century in Oklahoma’s land runs, fame that extended after her death in a legend about how she claimed her first Homestead tract.
Nannita Regina H. Daisey was born in Pennsylvania
in 1855. After the deaths of her parents she lived and was educated at the Sisters of the Good Shepherd Convent in St. Louis, Missouri
. Moving east to work as a teacher, she lived in Kentucky
where she also began a career in journalism, fighting the gender discrimination
common at that time against women who sought professional careers. Moving to Oklahoma
, she participated in four land runs, where predominantly white settlers were allowed by the US government to claim lands that had previously been allotted in perpetuity to Native Americans. In addition to teaching and journalism, Daisey was active in the Guthrie, Oklahoma
community where she made her home, helping other women to claim homesteads, and helping initiate schools in the new towns. By 1890 she had married Scandinavian immigrant and US Army soldier Andreas E. J. Ueland Svegeborg; the couple had no children. Daisey died in 1903.
Daisey is, and was, most known for exaggerated accounts of her activities. Dramatically, in the first (1889) land run, she jumped from the front of one of the first trains into the Territory, staked her land claim, and reboarded the train before it passed her by. That feat gained her local notoriety, and the tale was reported in local, regional, and national newspapers. After her death, an obituary reported she’d leapt from the train’s cowcatcher, a claim not supported by any contemporary accounts of her actions, nor by her own accounts in published interviews.
Nevertheless, that version of the tale has been passed on in printed histories of Oklahoma, the Land Run of 1889
, and the town of Edmond
(where Daisey’s homestead site lies). On Independence Day
(4 July) 2007 the town of Edmond unveiled a statue of Daisey, leaping from the cowcatcher at the front of a train. The statue is named "Leaping into History" and was sculpted by local artist Mary Lou Gresham. Estimated cost for the project was $160,000 by funded by the Edmond Parks Foundation, Inc. as well as private donations. Thus, Daisey, along with even more famous westerners such as Calamity Jane
, has become most known for a mythologized version of her life and its events.
Nannita Regina H. Daisey was born in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in 1855. After the deaths of her parents she lived and was educated at the Sisters of the Good Shepherd Convent in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Moving east to work as a teacher, she lived in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
where she also began a career in journalism, fighting the gender discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
common at that time against women who sought professional careers. Moving to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, she participated in four land runs, where predominantly white settlers were allowed by the US government to claim lands that had previously been allotted in perpetuity to Native Americans. In addition to teaching and journalism, Daisey was active in the Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...
community where she made her home, helping other women to claim homesteads, and helping initiate schools in the new towns. By 1890 she had married Scandinavian immigrant and US Army soldier Andreas E. J. Ueland Svegeborg; the couple had no children. Daisey died in 1903.
Daisey is, and was, most known for exaggerated accounts of her activities. Dramatically, in the first (1889) land run, she jumped from the front of one of the first trains into the Territory, staked her land claim, and reboarded the train before it passed her by. That feat gained her local notoriety, and the tale was reported in local, regional, and national newspapers. After her death, an obituary reported she’d leapt from the train’s cowcatcher, a claim not supported by any contemporary accounts of her actions, nor by her own accounts in published interviews.
Nevertheless, that version of the tale has been passed on in printed histories of Oklahoma, the Land Run of 1889
Land Run of 1889
The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands and included all or part of the 2005 modern day Canadian, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Logan, Oklahoma, and Payne counties of the U.S. state of Oklahoma...
, and the town of Edmond
Edmond, Oklahoma
Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the population was 81,405, making it the sixth largest city in the state of Oklahoma....
(where Daisey’s homestead site lies). On Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
(4 July) 2007 the town of Edmond unveiled a statue of Daisey, leaping from the cowcatcher at the front of a train. The statue is named "Leaping into History" and was sculpted by local artist Mary Lou Gresham. Estimated cost for the project was $160,000 by funded by the Edmond Parks Foundation, Inc. as well as private donations. Thus, Daisey, along with even more famous westerners such as Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane
Martha Jane Cannary Burke , better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans...
, has become most known for a mythologized version of her life and its events.
Sources
- ‘Half has not been told’, Dallas Morning News (25 April 1889).
- ‘Happy in Adventure’, Chicago Herald (2 May 1892), p. 10.
- ‘Women as land boomers’, New York Times (7 Sept. 1893), p. 8.
- J.B. Thoburn, A standard history of OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period (New York: The American Historical Society, 1916) 5 vols. - S. Hoig, The Oklahoma land rush of 1889 (Oklahoma CityOklahoma cityOklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
: The Oklahoma Historical Society, 1984). - S. Hoig, Edmond, The first century (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987).
- Debbie Kindt Michalke, ‘Fortunate enough and plucky enough” the unattached women of the Cherokee Outlet’, Chronicles of Oklahoma 75 (1997-8), p. 52-69.
- L.W. Reese, Women of Oklahoma, 1890-1920 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997).
- J.L. Crowder, Jr. Historic Edmond, an illustrated history (San Antonio, Texas: Historical Publishing Network for the Edmond Historical Society, 2000).