Col. E. C. Wayland
Of the giants who made major contributions
to the growth of Piedmont, probably none is
remembered as well as Emmett Charles
Wayland (1885-1942), but it remains a
mystery why he claimed to be a native of New
York state upon his arrival in Piedmont about
the year 1876.
In fact, he was a native of Boonville, Missouri,
and a member of a prominent family there
headed by businessman Louis Weyland and
his wife, the former Catherine Weiland, both
natives of Germany and members of German
Evangelical Church there.
He was single and about 18 years old at the
time he stepped down from an Iron Mountain
passenger car to rest the weight of his body
on Piedmont soil. He described himself as a
blacksmith with the surname of Weyland, but
by the early 1900's he had adopted the
Wayland spelling. Nothing in the record
offers an explanation for the altered spelling,
but from that time forward, the spelling of his
surname differed from that of other family
members.
His father, said by one of the family
researchers to have been exiled from Hesse
after his participation in a failed revolution,
arrived in New York in 1846. By 1852 he had
moved from St. Louis to Boonville. Two years
later he was wed at that place and at work as
a carriage builder there. During the course of
his illustrious fifty years in business his
wagons became widely known for their
durability and style.
So perhaps it was to be expected that his
son began his career as an employee of a
carriage builder, Pinckey L. Powers. After
buying the shop a short time later he
commenced to build his own wagons, which
in Wayne County and southeast Missouri
became as highly prized as his father's were
in Cooper County and central Missouri.
Not content to limit himself to the
manufacture of wagons, E.C. Wayland later
acquired several sawmills and great tracts of
land in Wayne and adjoining counties to
engage in the timber business. He with
William and Charles Carter formed the firm
Carter and Wayland to expand even more. A
large forested acreage owned by President
William McKinley east of Piedmont was one
of their several acquisitions in 1889. He and
William Carter owned as many as 17
sawmills.
to the growth of Piedmont, probably none is
remembered as well as Emmett Charles
Wayland (1885-1942), but it remains a
mystery why he claimed to be a native of New
York state upon his arrival in Piedmont about
the year 1876.
In fact, he was a native of Boonville, Missouri,
and a member of a prominent family there
headed by businessman Louis Weyland and
his wife, the former Catherine Weiland, both
natives of Germany and members of German
Evangelical Church there.
He was single and about 18 years old at the
time he stepped down from an Iron Mountain
passenger car to rest the weight of his body
on Piedmont soil. He described himself as a
blacksmith with the surname of Weyland, but
by the early 1900's he had adopted the
Wayland spelling. Nothing in the record
offers an explanation for the altered spelling,
but from that time forward, the spelling of his
surname differed from that of other family
members.
His father, said by one of the family
researchers to have been exiled from Hesse
after his participation in a failed revolution,
arrived in New York in 1846. By 1852 he had
moved from St. Louis to Boonville. Two years
later he was wed at that place and at work as
a carriage builder there. During the course of
his illustrious fifty years in business his
wagons became widely known for their
durability and style.
So perhaps it was to be expected that his
son began his career as an employee of a
carriage builder, Pinckey L. Powers. After
buying the shop a short time later he
commenced to build his own wagons, which
in Wayne County and southeast Missouri
became as highly prized as his father's were
in Cooper County and central Missouri.
Not content to limit himself to the
manufacture of wagons, E.C. Wayland later
acquired several sawmills and great tracts of
land in Wayne and adjoining counties to
engage in the timber business. He with
William and Charles Carter formed the firm
Carter and Wayland to expand even more. A
large forested acreage owned by President
William McKinley east of Piedmont was one
of their several acquisitions in 1889. He and
William Carter owned as many as 17
sawmills.
The two of them in 1903 bought out a
struggling telephone company, then
organized Reynolds Telephone Company,
which became a prosperous firm. In addition
to these interests, Wayland for many years
owned a large general mercantile business
and at the same time was heavily interested
in and became a leader of the town's first
bank, Farmers and Merchants, and later
People's Bank, which merged with Exchange
Bank. It in turned merged with Bank of
Piedmont, in which he was associated until
his death.
A member of several fraternal and social
groups as well as the Christian Church, he
served on both the town and school boards,
had a hand in building the old high school
and gymnasium and was named an
honorary Colonel on the staff of Missouri Gov.
Sam A. Baker, an old friend who launched
his teaching and political career in Piedmont.
Wayland later was instrumental in putting
together the land package that resulted in
what now is Sam A. Baker State Park near
Patterson.
His wife, the former Alice Barnett, the mother
of his two children, James Lewis Wayland
and Mary Katherine Wayland, was a daughter
of a Piedmont Postmaster J.N. Barnett, who
owned Barnett Grove, site of many picnics
and celebrations. The Wayland son was the
first to own an automobile in Piedmont, in
1911.
The first of three classy homes the Wayland's
built, on West Fir Street, was sold to Dr. J.A.
Banks in 1913 after they moved to their new
home east of town on Highway 34. The West
Fir Street home was next owned by railroad
agent Edward H. Seitz and is now the
retirement of his son Ed Seitz. The Wayland
place on the highway, which continues to be
regarded as one of Wayne County's finest, for
many years was occupied by his daughter
and her husband, Dr. E.C. Berryman, and
later by their daughter and her husband, Bill
and Betty Berryman Harris. It now is the
home of the Berryman's grandchildren,
Wayland D. Harris and Judy Harris Mahal
and her husband, Keith Mahal. The third
home, built in 1915 on Eckles Street in north
Piedmont, is said to have been built by
Wayland and furnished by merchant J.S.
Berryman as a wedding gift for their children,
the Berrymans. After the death of Wayland's
wife in 1934, the Berryman's moved to his
home. Their vacated home was sold to
newspaper publisher George W. Stivers.
struggling telephone company, then
organized Reynolds Telephone Company,
which became a prosperous firm. In addition
to these interests, Wayland for many years
owned a large general mercantile business
and at the same time was heavily interested
in and became a leader of the town's first
bank, Farmers and Merchants, and later
People's Bank, which merged with Exchange
Bank. It in turned merged with Bank of
Piedmont, in which he was associated until
his death.
A member of several fraternal and social
groups as well as the Christian Church, he
served on both the town and school boards,
had a hand in building the old high school
and gymnasium and was named an
honorary Colonel on the staff of Missouri Gov.
Sam A. Baker, an old friend who launched
his teaching and political career in Piedmont.
Wayland later was instrumental in putting
together the land package that resulted in
what now is Sam A. Baker State Park near
Patterson.
His wife, the former Alice Barnett, the mother
of his two children, James Lewis Wayland
and Mary Katherine Wayland, was a daughter
of a Piedmont Postmaster J.N. Barnett, who
owned Barnett Grove, site of many picnics
and celebrations. The Wayland son was the
first to own an automobile in Piedmont, in
1911.
The first of three classy homes the Wayland's
built, on West Fir Street, was sold to Dr. J.A.
Banks in 1913 after they moved to their new
home east of town on Highway 34. The West
Fir Street home was next owned by railroad
agent Edward H. Seitz and is now the
retirement of his son Ed Seitz. The Wayland
place on the highway, which continues to be
regarded as one of Wayne County's finest, for
many years was occupied by his daughter
and her husband, Dr. E.C. Berryman, and
later by their daughter and her husband, Bill
and Betty Berryman Harris. It now is the
home of the Berryman's grandchildren,
Wayland D. Harris and Judy Harris Mahal
and her husband, Keith Mahal. The third
home, built in 1915 on Eckles Street in north
Piedmont, is said to have been built by
Wayland and furnished by merchant J.S.
Berryman as a wedding gift for their children,
the Berrymans. After the death of Wayland's
wife in 1934, the Berryman's moved to his
home. Their vacated home was sold to
newspaper publisher George W. Stivers.
In regard to the mystery, Wayland told the
census enumerator on June 5, 1900, his
father was born in England, his mother in
India, he in New York. In the earlier census
(the one from 1890 has been lost) in 1880,
he stated he was a native New Yorker and
did not know the places of birth of his
parents. That, together with the altered
spelling of the surname and no mention of
his background in published sketches, such
as the one that appears in "The Story of
Piedmont", gives one to believe there was a
division in the family. His father, a Boonville
alderman in the 1880's now enshrined in
Boonville's Hall of Fame, was described by a
Cooper County writer as "dour Louis
Weyland, wagon-maker. What a stern,
unsmiling visage had Mr. Weyland! But he
made wagons that endured." Which prompts
one to suggest the father may have been a
tough, demanding old codger.
The apparent schism seems even more
likely after one learns that E.C. Wayland, who
at one time was Chairman of the Wayne
County Republican central committee,
differed politically with his brother, George, if
not his father and other siblings. George
Weyland served on the board of public works
and the Boonville City Council while engaged
in the manufacture of agricultural
implements , wagons, carriages, and farm
machinery of every description, but he was
an influential Democrat.
The mysterious part of his story will remain
so. It's a part of his life E.C. Wayland kept to
himself, apparently.
census enumerator on June 5, 1900, his
father was born in England, his mother in
India, he in New York. In the earlier census
(the one from 1890 has been lost) in 1880,
he stated he was a native New Yorker and
did not know the places of birth of his
parents. That, together with the altered
spelling of the surname and no mention of
his background in published sketches, such
as the one that appears in "The Story of
Piedmont", gives one to believe there was a
division in the family. His father, a Boonville
alderman in the 1880's now enshrined in
Boonville's Hall of Fame, was described by a
Cooper County writer as "dour Louis
Weyland, wagon-maker. What a stern,
unsmiling visage had Mr. Weyland! But he
made wagons that endured." Which prompts
one to suggest the father may have been a
tough, demanding old codger.
The apparent schism seems even more
likely after one learns that E.C. Wayland, who
at one time was Chairman of the Wayne
County Republican central committee,
differed politically with his brother, George, if
not his father and other siblings. George
Weyland served on the board of public works
and the Boonville City Council while engaged
in the manufacture of agricultural
implements , wagons, carriages, and farm
machinery of every description, but he was
an influential Democrat.
The mysterious part of his story will remain
so. It's a part of his life E.C. Wayland kept to
himself, apparently.
| In 2005, the city of Piedmont, MO celebrated the 150th anniversary of it's founding. The local newspaper ran a series of articles on men and women who had shaped the history of Piedmont. One of the individuals profiled was Emmett C. Weyland, who had, at an early age, left his past behind and changed his name to E.C. Wayland We have transcribed the article below for easier reading. |
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| Col. E. C. Wayland 1858-1942 |
| Alice M. Wayland 1860-1934 |
The Weyland Family would like to thank the Wayne County Journal-Banner for giving their permission to post this article.