Tour of Sac City
with Bert Wayt
by Gregory J Winters
June 2009
 Although
our families originated in the West VIrginia Panhandle area (upon arrival to
America from Europe), there were a number of folks who decided that they
didn't want to farm on rocky hillsides at 45-degree angle, or later, work in
the dreaded mines, so they headed for points west and south. One
branch ended up in Arkansas, another in Indiana, yet another moved to
Illinois, another to Kansas and the Oklanhoma Territory, and still another
to Minnesota.
There was another branch of Wayts who didn't bother stopping off 'early' in
the Midwest and instead migrated all the way out to Iowa and eventually to
Montana, Oregon, and California. William Chalfant and Elizabeth
McCallister Wayt bore almost their entire family in Western Pennsylvania,
but many of the offspring did not survive beyond childhood. Those that
remained were toted off in the ol' family sedan, er...wagon and
headed for points West.
After a number of important stops along the way (including Brookville,
Indiana where son Benjamin Franklin was born), the family eventually ended
up in Iowa - slowly working their way across the state until one of of them
- Wooster Beach Wayt - ended up in Sac City, Iowa.
I was fortunate to catch up with W.B. Wayt's last surviving grandson, Mr.
Wooster Bertram 'Bert' Wayt (photo below), in his home town of Sac City, and
he graciously and expertly performed the role of historian and tourguide for
the day. Bert was born right in Sac County and worked at the monument
company that his grandfather established in Sac City in 1890.
Below is a link to a nice Gallery of photos with information about Bert's
life and town accompanying them. We hope you enjoy this priceless
piece of Wayt family heritage and join me in thanking Bert, his wife Helen,
and their good friends Jim and Mary Kincade in making this all possible.
Special thanks to Ms. Wilma Fort of the Sac City Museum who kindly came down
to open the building on off-hours especially for Bert and myself to tour.
She was a wonderful and informative host!
Gallery
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