No. 46.
Frank H. Love Et Al., One-Half Choctaw Blood.
Commission No. M. C. R., 6323.
Willis Love, father of these children, accompanied by his son Frank H. Love, saw the members of the select committee of the House of Representatives when that committee was at Sulphur, in August 1910, and presented the case of his children. The members of that committee will doubtless remember Frank H. Love, who strongly resembled a full blood. Judge Pollock, for the department, took evidence in this case December 15, 1910, a record of which is attached.
Record
October 1. 1892. Application was made to the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, at Muskogee, for the enrollment of Frank H. Love, Fannie Love, Sarah Love, and Ruth Love, minors; and Hattie Brown, Leo Brown.
Willis Love, father of the above named, testified that he married their mother, Lorene Frazier, a full blood Choctaw woman, in Texas; that Lorenza Frazier was the daughter of John Frazier; that she was born in Blue County, Choctaw Nation, but that when she was quite young a man by the name of Houston “took her to raise”; that after they were married they returned to the Choctaw Nation, and located in the town of Durant; that his wife had a brother Simon Frazier and a sister Sallie Frazier; that Sallie Frazier was dead and that he did not know anything about the brother; that his wife died in Ottoway, Ill., January 3, 1897.
He further states that after living six years in Durant, he moved his family to Indiana, and then to Illinois, and that he had just returned to Durant. That when he left Illinois to return to Durant he knew nothing of the division of the tribal property, or the existence of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, but was returning because for the past 10 years his children, who were growing up, “were not appreciated” by the whites, and he thought they would be better off here. He also states that he had continued to own property in the Choctaw Nation during his absence in Illinois.
Affidavits of J. G. Wright. Mrs. Elizabeth Wright, Francis Dier, E. E. Robinson, and Jesse Gardner were offered and received by the commission.
These affidavits do not now appear in the record, but the record does show that said affidavits were forwarded the department.
From the decision in the case it is clear that by some of said affidavits it was attempted to be shown that the mother of Lorena Frazier was Betsy (or Ishtiliahona).
There was also filed a certified copy of the marriage license of W. Love and Lorena Frazier.
At the conclusion of the hearing the commission entered the following of record:
The children of the applicant have the physical appearance and characteristics of mixed ancestry, composed of white and Indian blood, which their father, who makes this application says is Choctaw blood which they derive from his wife, Lorena Love. Their general appearance, hair, color of their eyes and complexion would indicate the quantity of Choctaw blood which he claims they possess. The hair of all the children is black and straight, and coarse; eyes black, complexion very much darker than the complexion of a full-blood white; in fact the complexion Indicates an equal proportion of white and Indian blood.
March 4, 1904. Decision of the commission refusing to enroll applicants either as citizens by blood or as Mississippi Choctaws. In the opinion of the commission it is stated-
It appears from the evidence that the ancestors from whom applicants claim were enrolled upon the tribal rolls of the Choctaw Nation and received the annuity as such citizens prior to their death. In 1868 and 1870. respectively: but no such rolls are in the possession of the commission and no record evidence is submitted by the applicants in verification of the claim of enrollment so specified.
Tribal Enrollment Of Uncle
On the 1874 census roll now in the office of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes, Blue County, appears the name of Simon Frazier opposite No. 176 and on the 1885 Choctaw census roll of Jacksfork County appears the name of Simon Frazier opposite No. 344 and 37 years of age.
On the 1896 Choctaw census roll of Jacksfork County appears the name of Simon Frazier opposite No. as 47 years of age.
On the final rolls of the Choctaw Nation appears the name of Simon Frazier. The commission field card record of this person shows that he is on the 1896 tribal roll for Jacksfork County and that he is the son of John Frazier and Emishtona, both full blood.
August 10, 1904. Action of commission approved by the department.
Statement By Counsel
Counsel for claimants submit that the birth of these children in the Choctaw Nation of a full-blood Choctaw mother and the record evidence of the enrollment of their mother’s brother makes their claim to enrollment so strong as to preclude opposition from either tribal or national’ authorities.
Those entitled to enrollment are: Frank H. Love, Fannie Love, Sarah Love, Ruth Love, Hattie Brown, Leo Brown (six in all).
Respectfully submitted,
Ballinger & Lee
Department Ok The Interior
Muskogee, Okla., December 15, 1910
In the matter of the application for the enrollment of Frank H. Love et al. as Choctaws by blood. (See M. C. R. 6323.)
Proceedings had at Durant, Okla., November 14, 1910, before W. C. Pollock, Assistant Attorney, Interior Department.
Appearances: Ballinger & Lee, by Albert J. Lee, attorneys for claimants. Rodgers & Clapp, by George D. Rodgers, attorneys for the Chickasaw Nation.
Willis Love, being duly sworn and examined as a witness, testified as follows: By Mr. Lee:
Q. State your full name, please.-
A. Willis Love.
Q. What is your post-office address?-
A. Durant, Okla.
Q. Are you the father of Frank H., Fannie, Sarah. Ruth Love, and Hattie Brown?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you appear for these children before the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes at Muskogee?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. At the time you so appeared did you file with the commission any record evidence of your marriage with your wife?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you file?-
A. Well, I didn’t file it at that time, but I did afterwards; about a month afterwards I filed an affidavit from the minister that married us, and sent the certificate of marriage to Muskogee.
Q. Did you mall that to Tams Bixby?-
A. No, sir; delivered to him in person at Muskogee.
Q. Who delivered it?-
A. J. O. Pool.
Q. Was he your attorney?-
A. He was at that time; yes, sir.
Q. Did you accompany him at that time?-
A. No; I think not.
Q. How do you know, then, that he filed it?-
A. Well, I am satisfied that he did, because he was here and took this other evidence, and It all went there together. I had lived at Durant and we came here to get the evidence from these people that knew me. Mr. Gardner here and Mrs. Duer and some fourteen or fifteen here that knew me and my wife.
Q. The record in the office of the commission shows that application was made for Frank H. Love, Fannie Love, Sarah Love, Ruth Love, Hattie Brown, and a son of Hattie Brown, Leo Brown. Now are there any other children of Hattie Brown?-
A. Application put in afterwards for a Carl Brown.
Q. Is he a son of Hattie Brown?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And he’s your grandson?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you remember the date that application was sent to the commission?-
A. That was in-in the fall-October or November of 1902.
Q. Your answer is that it was in the fall of 1902?-
A. Yes, sir; just before Christmas in 1902.
Q. Are there any other children or grandchildren of yours that should be In this record that are not?-
A. No; I think the other grandchildren are too young. There are two other grandchildren, but they are too young.
Q. Any of them living March 4, 1900, four years ago?-
A. I don’t know what her age is; no. I don’t think so.
Q. Mr. Love, do you know anything about who raised your wife?-
A. Frank Houston and his wife.
Q. Where do they live?-
A. They lived at Terrell, Tex., and lived at Yarnaby.
Q. Who was guardian for your wife when she was a child?-
A. Simeon Gardner, brother to Jesse.
Q. Where did he live?-
A. Here in Blue County; sheriff in Blue County.
Q. Is Jesse Gardner living now?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is Simeon Gardner living now?-
A. No, sir; he’s dead.
Q. Do you know of any relatives that your wife had in the Territory that are now living?-
A. No; none living now that I know of, except Mrs. Jefferson. She has an aunt here in Blue.
Q. Aunt by blood?-
A. By blood.
Q. Are there any other relatives living here? Dead or alive?-
A. Mrs. Jefferson has two sons living that would be cousins.
Q. Any relatives dead now?-
A. A brother that’s dead and a sister that’s dead.
Q. What are their names?-
A. Simeon Frazier and Sallie Frazier.
Q. Where did Simeon Frazier live?-
A. At Owl. He lived at Durant when we knew him.
Q. Where did Sallie live?-
A. At Yarnaby; and this man, Dr. Wright, raised her, and they moved from Yarnaby to Terrell, Tex., and then she came back and married a man at Stringtown.
Q. This man. Dr. Wright, you refer to the gentleman sitting here, do you?- A. Yes, sir.
Q. Mr. Love, where were your children born?-
A. Frank H. Love was born here in Durant; Hattie Brown was born in Remington, Ind.; and Fannie, Ruth, and Sarah were born in Ottawa, Ill.
By Mr. Rodgers:
Q. Your wife’s name was Lorena Frazier?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did you many her?-
A. Married her In 1881.
Q. Here in this county?-
A. I first married her at Terrell, Kauffman County, Tex. That’s where she was raised; that is, she lived there when I was married.
Q. Is that where Frank Houston lived?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And he raised her from a child?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you married her down there?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And did yon marry her again?-
A. Yes, sir; after we came to Durant; I was married on the 24th day of May; we came here about the 1st of June, and along the following fall all white men that were intermarried here were notified to get out, and I went to Armstrong Academy and was remarried under the Choctaw laws.
Q. The same year?-
A. Yes sir.
Q. That was 1883?-
A. 1881.
Q. How long did you live here with your wife after that second marriage?- A. Until 1884 or 1885; I was here about three years after.
Q. Then where did you go?-
A. Remington, Ind.
Q. Frank was living with you then?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Took him with you?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How long did you live at Remington?-
A. A year and a half.
Q. Then where did you go?-
A. Ottawa, Ill.
Q. How long did you live there?-
A. About 12 years.
Q. Where did you go from Ottawa, Ill.?-
A. Durant.
Q. Do you know what the date was that you left Ottawa, Ill.?-
A. We got to Muskogee on the 25th day of September 1902, and had left about three days before that. .
Q. Then you lived in Remington, Ind., and Ottawa, Ill., during all this intervening time?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And got back here September 25?-
A. September 25, 1902.
Q. Was your wife still living at that time?-
A. She died in Ottawa, Ill., in 1898.
Q. Was your wife’s name ever placed on any of the tribal rolls?-
A. I think she was.
Q. Do you know what rolls?-
A. She was schooled by the nation at Bloomfield Academy in the Chickasaw Nation.
Q. When she was just a child?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know the date of her birth?-
A. No; but there is witnesses here I guess can tell the exact date.
Q. But you don’t know of her name being put on any roll from the time she left here to go to Texas?-
A. No, sir.
Q. Don’t know of the names of any of your children being placed on any tribal rolls, do you?-
A. No, sir.
Q. Did they ever draw any annuities or money as Indians?-
A. No, sir; all that annuity was drawn after we left here.
Q. What time wus it you got back to Muskogee?-
A. Twenty-fifth day of September, 1902.
Q. Did you go before the commission on that day?-
A. The same day.
Q. That is the day you made the application?-
A. Yes. sir.
Q. How much Indian blood do you claim your wife had?-
A. Full blood; her mother was a Choctaw or her father one. One was Choctaw and one was Chickasaw; but I don’t know which was which.
Witness excused.
Jesse J. Gardner, being duly sworn and examined as a witness, testified as follows:
By Mr. Lee:
Q. State your name, please.-
A. Jesse J. Gardner.
Q. Where do you live, Mr. Gardner?-
A. Here at Durant.
Q. This is your post office?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How old are you, Mr. Gardner?-
A. I will be 60 years old the 20th of this month.
Q. Are you a citizen of the Choctaw Nation?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. By blood?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What degree of blood are you?-
A. About three-quarters Indian.
Q. How long have you lived in the vicinity of Durant?-
A. About fifty-eight years.
Q. Did you know Simeon Frazier?-
A. No, sir.
Q. You didn’t know him?-
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you know Sallie Frazier?-
A. I knew a John Frazier.
Q. Did you know a Sallie Frazier?-
A. Sallie Frazier was John Frazier’s wife.
Q. Well do you know Mr. Love here?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you know his wife?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who was she?-
A. Frazier.
Q. Well now did she have any brothers and sisters?-
A. Frazier?
Q. This man’s wife. Did she have any brothers or sisters?-
A. No, sir; not that I know of.
Q. Do you know who her mother and father was?-
A. John Frazier, called Flish, Choctaw name.
Q. Well now did this man’s wife have any brothers or sisters?-
A. Not as I know of; I think that one died.
Q. What was her name?-
A. I can’t think of it now.
Q. Do you know when the mother and father of Mr. Love’s wife died?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. About what year?-
A. Died during the war, but I have forgot the date; I think about the close of the war she died.
Q. About how old was Lorena at the time her parents died?-
A. Very small.
Q. What became of her at that time do you know?-A. No, sir; I don’t.
Q. Yon don’t know who took her?-
A. I heard some one took her but I never learned who it was. My brother was guardian of her at that time, taking care of the estate.
Q. He was administrator wasn’t be?-
A. No, guardian for her and her sister.
Q. Guardian for Lorena?-
A. Yes sir. The court records show that.
Q. What court records?-
A. Choctaw court records.
Q. What county?-
A. Blue Comity.*
Q. Did you name her sister a minute ago?-
A. I forgot the name.
Q. You have forgotten the name of Lorena’s sister?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You say you don’t know of any uncles or aunts that Lorena had?-
A. No sir; I don’t know anything about that John Frazier he came from the lower district and moved up here before the war and of course I don’t know much about that.
Q. What relation was he to them?-
A. These girls’ father.
Q. Lorena’s father?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know anything about some man taking Lorena to raise?-
A. I understood that.
Q. You don’t know anything about that of your own knowledge?-
A. No, sir.
Q. When did you last see Lorena?-
A. Little while before she left Durant.
Q. That was after she married Mr. Love and Frank had been born?-
Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know anything about Lorena going to Bloomfield school?-
A. I heard she did.
Q. When did you hear that?-
A. My brother told me that. He was her guardian.
Q. Did you know anything about a Betsy Frazier?-
A. No, sir; I don’t know that.
Q. You wouldn’t be able to state now whether Sallie had a sister named Betsy?-
A. No, sir.
Q. You say you knew the name of one and didn’t know the name of the other?-
A. No, that’s all I know.
Witness excused.
Larkin G. Wright, being duly sworn and examined as a witness, testified as follows:
By Mr. Lee:
Q. Kindly state your full name. Doctor.-
A. Lnrkln G. Wright
Q. Where do you reside, Mr. Wright?-
A. Well, I am living just outside the corporation, about half a mile north of here.
Q. Durant is your post office?-
A. Yes. sir.
Q. How old are you?-
A. I will be 70 years old if I live to see the 12th of next December.
Q. Are you a practicing physician?-
A. No, sir; not now. I haven’t practiced for many years.
Q. Did you know Lorena Love?-
A. Yes. sir.
Q. Where did you know her?-
A. Well, I knew her from the time that she was taken away from Simeon Gardner until she was a married woman. Now, I will tell you. Simeon Gardner was, at the time that these children were living, was sheriff of this county, and they were placed in his hands by the county with the little property that they had left, and there were three children, Simeon Frazier and Sallie and Lorena. Lorena at that time was about 9 years of age and the other was 11, and Dixon Durant that lived here at that time-I was boarding his children at the Bloomfield Academy at the time-and my wife had been after me to find her a Choctaw girl. Simeon Gardner lived on the place that his brother now lives on east of town and I came to see Simeon Gardner and got permission to take the oldest one of these girls to raise; she was then about 11 years old.
Q. Which was that?-
A. Sallie, I raised her; and the other one was about 9 years of age; and my wife’s sister, Mrs. Houston, after we took Sallie, concluded to take the other, and I got permission from Simeon Gardner to take the other one down-they were at that time I believe, her husband and her, were at my house at the time I got her and I brought her there and they kept her in the country here some years after that-two or three-and then moved to Kauffman County, Tex., and took this child with them and she was raised down there.
Q. Do you know anything about her marriage to her-to Mr. Love?-
A. Mr. Love was living with me at the time he married, when he was 21 years old.
Q. Do you know what became of Simeon Frazier?-
A. No sir; I do not. The boy had no home and I don’t think these boys in this country raised up here-they were sorta wild and went wherever they pleased, sand he came down and stayed a while after I got these children-came down and stopped there at Hock Springs with a merchant and then left there and I don’t know what became of him afterwards.
Q. What became of Lorena’s sister Sallie?-
A. She married while she was yet living with me; married a white man by the name of Horine, and he moved back into this country and she was thrown from a horse and died from the effects of it after they bad been married a year or so.
Q. What year was that?-
A. About ’78.
Q. Do you know the name of the mother of these three children?-
A. No, sir. And I want to tell you right now these Indian people nearly all have two names that they went by. She had an Indian name that she went by among the Indians and then an American name.
Q. Do you know either of those names?-
A. No sir; but I ought to have remembered. I went to see the old preacher just a short time before he died in regard to these children and made inquiry along these lines and he was the one that told me particularly about the two names. He was the pastor of the church to which she belonged and was probably converted under his ministry. His name was Calvin Robinson and I went to see him and talked to him about these children, but I have forgotten her name.
Q. Now, do you know the name of the father of the three children that you have told about?-
A. No, sir; they were both dead before I knew anything about them.
Q. When you first knew them (the children) they were in the hands of the county?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What county was that?-
A. Blue County.
Q. Blue County?-
A. Yes, sir.
Witness excused.
Jesse J. Gardner recalled, testified as follows:
By Mr. Lee:
Q. Mr. Gardner, do you desire to correct any statement you made in your examination a moment ago?-
A. Yes. sir.
Q. What is it?-
A. The name Betsy: I called it Sallie; I made a mistake. I remembered afterwards that her name on the church roll was Betsy Frazier, John Frazier’s wife, and mother of Lorena.
Q. Where did you find that?-
A. On the church book.
Q. Do you remember any Indian name that she had?-
A. No.
Q. What would be the Indian name for Betsy?-
A. I forgot it now.
Q. You don’t know what the Indians would call Betsy?-
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know the Indian name of the father of these children?-
A. Flish.
Witness excused.
Nancy Elizabeth Wright, being duly sworn and examined as a witness, testified as follows:
By Mr. Lee:
Q. State your name.-
A. Nancy Elizabeth Wright.
Q. Where do you reside?-
A. Durant.
Q. Who is your husband, Mrs. Wright?-
A. This man here-Larkin G. Wright.
Q. The gentleman that was just on the witness stand a moment ago?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know Mr. Love?-
A. Yes. sir.
Q. Did you know his wife?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know anything about the history of Mrs. Love, how she was brought up and where she was raised and her parentage?-
A. Yes; a good deal, in an incidental way.
Q. Kindly state what you know about Mrs. Love, when you first knew her.- A. That Sallie, her sister Sallie, came to our house I reckon nearly a year before she died: me and my husband raised Sallie. In the meantime my sister, Mrs. Houston, wanted a little girl and Dr. Wright came over to Gardner’s and got her and carried her to our house, and I saw her at my sister’s about every week for years.
Q. Do you know whether or not she attended the Bloomfield school?-
A. I don’t think that I know about that. I don’t believe the school was where Choctaws and Chickasaws both attended.
Q. Did you have any connection with that school?-
A. I taught there once, but that was before she was there; I taught there along two or three years before that.
Q. You say that Mrs. Houston, a sister of yours, took Lorena to raise?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where was Mrs. Houston living at that time?-
A. At the time she took her she was living down near Rock Springs, where we had lived, and her husband was a stock man and they afterwards moved to Kauffman County, Tex.
Q. Did you ever see Lorena after that?-
A. We went to that country, too, but we went there several years after they did, and I saw her often.
Q. Were you living In the neighborhood when she was married?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were you present when she married Mr. Love?-
A. Yes, sir; he was living at our house and had been about a year.
Q. Can you now name the minister who performed that ceremony?-
A. I know it was the man that baptized me, but I can’t recall the name.
Q. The same minister that baptized you?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. But you can’t recall his name right now?-
A. Maybe I will think of It after a while.
Q. Do you know where Mr. Love and his wife lived after they were married at Terrell. Tex.?-
A. They came up here to the Choctaw Nation, to Durant
Q. When did you come back to the Choctaw Nation?-
A. We came back 10 or 12 years ago.
Q. You never saw Lorena here in the nation?-
A. No, sir.
Q. After you came back?-
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know anything about what became of a brother and sister of Lorena?-
A. I don’t know anything about the brother. The sister lived and married at my house, and afterwards-we lived then near Rock Springs-and she came here to live and died here. I don’t know much about her after she married.
Q. Do you know the name of the brother?-
A. Simeon seems familiar, but I couldn’t say that was it.
Q. Do you know anything about the parentage of these three children?-
A. No. sir.
Q. Were these children full-blood Indians?-
A. Yes, sir; I presume so.
Q. Never heard of them having white blood?-
A. No, sir. That minister’s name was Spencer that married Willis and also baptized me.
Witness excused.
Frances Duer, being duly sworn and examined as a witness, testified as follows:
By Mr. Lee:
Q. Kindly state your name.-
A. Frances Duer.
Q. How do you spell that last name?-
A. D-u-e-r.
Q. Where do you live?-
A. About 2 miles west of town.
Q. How long have you lived there?-
A. I have lived here all my life, close to Durant, for 30 years.
Q. About how old are you Mrs. Duer?-
A. I am about 58.
Q. Did I understand you to say that you had lived in this country about all your life?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know Willis Love, here?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you know his wife?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What was her name?-
A. Lorena Frazier.
Q. When did you first know Lorena Frazier?-
A. As long as I can remember I knew her.
Q. Well, do you mean by that ever since she was born?-
A. Ever since she was a small child.
Q. Do you know anything about who her people were?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, who did you say they were?-
A. John Frazier, and I don’t know his wife’s name, never did bear it. His Indian name was Flish, and we used to call her Mrs. Flish. That’s all the way I knew her.
Q. Do you know about what time John Frazier and his wife died?-
A. I was small and didn’t pay much attention. He died a smart while before she died.
Q. Where did they live?-
A. Off a little ways from here.
Q. In the Choctaw Nation?-
A. Yes, sir; in the Choctaw Nation.
Q. In Blue County?-
A. Yes, sir; Blue County.
Q. Do you know what brothers and sisters, if any, Lorena had?-
A. A brother and sister, Sallie, and his name Simeon.
Q. Do you know what became of Simeon Frazier?-
A. I heard he died; died right around here.
Q. You don’t know where he died?-
A. Right close around here, but I don’t know where.
Q. Do you know what became of Sallie?-
A. She died.
Q. She died?-
A. Yes. sir; I never seen her no more after they went off to Texas. I didn’t see them any more and never seen Sallie any more, but I seen Rena after she came to Durant.
Q. What do you know about them going to Texas?-
A. I knew they went, but I don’t know much about that; nothing until they came back.
Q. Did you ever see Lorena after she went to Texas?-
A. Not until after she married.
Q. Saw her after she married?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you see her?-
A. In Durant.
Q. About when was that?-
A. Well, that’s been twenty-six or seven years ago, I guess; I don’t know just exactly. I didn’t take no notice of it at the time, you know.
Q. Do you know a Mrs. Jefferson?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know a Mollie Jefferson?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where does she live?-
A. I don’t know; I haven’t seen her for a long time.
Q. Was she related in any way to Lorena Love?-
A. Yes, sir; aunt.
Q. Aunt?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is she an Indian.-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know whether she is enrolled and has her land or not?-
A. I don’t know.
Witness excused.
Durant, Okla., November 19, 1910. No appearance for Nations.
Mollie Jefferson, being duly sworn and examined as a witness, testified as follows, through Frank Anderson, sworn interpreter:
By Mr. Lee:
Q. What Is your name?-
A. Mollie Jefferson.
Q. Where do you live?-
A. About 7 miles from here.
Q. How old are you?-
A. Fifty-seven.
Q. Who was your father?-
A. Bob Holmes, in English.
Q. Who was your mother?-
A. Betsey Honey.
Q. Did you know Lorena Frazier?-
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who was she?-
A. She’s the daughter of Flish-John Frazier.
Q. What relation was Lorena Frazier to you?-
A. Niece to my husband.
Q. When did you last see Lorena Frazier?-
. Been a good while; I don’t know.
Q. What is the name of your husband?-
A. Wesley Anderson.
Q. Who was Lorena’s father and mother?-
A. John Frazier.
Q. That was her father. Who was her mother?-
A. They used to call her Betsy, is all I know, and in the Choctaw name they called it Eshtona.
Q. What were the parents of Lorena; Indians, white, or what?-
A. Full blood.
Q. Full-blood Choctaws?-
A. Yes.
Q. Did Lorena have any brothers and sisters that you know of ?-
A. She had a brother named Simeon Frazier; he’s dead.
Q. Where did Simeon Frazier live?-
A. He didn’t have no permanent home- Just around-died In the neighborhood where I lived.
Q. When did he die?-
A. Just about 40 years.
Q. Has he been dead 40 years? –
A. Long time: about 40 years he has been dead. He died before they had this M. K. & T. through here.
By Mr. Pollock :
Q. That is John Frazier that you are talking about?-
A. Yes.
By Mr. Lee:
Q. I was talking about Simeon, when he died? –
A. He died before this Katy had a line through here.
Q. Simeon did?-
A. Yes.
Q. Did Lorena have any sisters? –
A. Had a sister older, than she; was named Sallie.
Q. Did you know when Sallie died? –
A. She died after her brother died.
Q. Do you know of any relatives that Lorena now has living? –
A. No relation: I don’t think of any kind except John Anderson.
Q. What relation is he? –
A. John Anderson was Rena’s uncle’s son.
Q. Did you know Simeon Frazier that lived at Owl? –
A. I never did go up that way and I don’t know.
Q. Did you know any other Simeon Frazier except that one that died several years ago? –
A. There’s lots of different Fraziers, but no other one named Simeon Frazier: only that one.
Q. Are you certain that the Simeon, who was a brother of Lorena, died a long time ago, about 40 years ago? –
A. Yes, sir; I know it.
Q. Do you know who Lorena Frazier married? –
A. Willis Love; that’s what I heard.
Q. Do you know that of your own knowledge? –
A. Yes; I heard about it and I know it: I have seen it myself.
Q. Do you know if Lorena had any children by Willis Love? –
A. Yes, sir; Hattie, Frank, Fannie, Sarah, Ruth.
Q. Do you know whether Ruth is married or not? –
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know whether Sarah is married? –
Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know whether Fannie is married or not? –
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is Frank married? –
A. Yes.
Q. Did you mention Hattie Brown as being a daughter of Lorena Love or not?-
A. Yes.
Q. Is Hattie married?-
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know whether she has any children? –
A. I think she has two of them, but I haven’t seen them for a while.
Q. Do you know whether Lorena is now living? –
A. I said she’s dead.
Q. Do you know this gentleman sitting here by me? –
A. Yes.
Q. Who is he?-
A. Willis Love.
Q. Is he the husband of Lorena? –
A. Yes; used to be.
Q. When did the mother and father of Lorena and Sallie and Simeon die? – A. They have been a long time dead; I don’t know exactly.
Q. Do you know what became of the three children when their father and mother died? –
A. The father died and then the mother died the year after that. We taken charge of the children, and Lucinda Durant came and got the children and sent them to school.
Q. Do you know Dr. Wright? –
A. Yes; he had the children, too.
Q. Do you know a man named Gardner? –
A. Yes; I knowed him; he’s dead.
Q. Do you know whether he had anything to do with the children or not? – A. No. We had them, and Dixon sent them to school.
Q. What connection did Dr. Wright have with them? –
A. Just keeping them. I suppose.
Q. Do you know what became of Lorena? –
A. Dead.
Q. I mean what became of Lorena Wright after Dr. Wright had her? –
A. After Dr. Wright had her this fellow married her.
Witness excused.
Albert G. McMillan, being duly sworn, states that he reported the proceedings had in the above-entitled cause, and that the foregoing is a true and correct translation of his stenographic notes.
Albert G. McMillan
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 16th day of December 1910.
[SEAL.] Harry Montague,
Notary Public.