Biographical Sketch of Rufus Hendricks

(See Hendricks)- Rufus, son of Thomas and Nellie Hendricks was born October 25, 1869, educated in the Cherokee National schools. Married at Tahlequah December 22, 1895 to Susie, daughter of Joseph and Almeda Stanley, born March 22, 1876 in Jasper County, Missouri. They are the parents of: Joseph born September 29, 1896; James, born November 12, 1897; Willdie, born January 6, 1899; Marcus A. born July 26, 1901; Harvey, born March 29, 1903; Edna, born Aug­ust 2, 1906; Herchell, born July 13, 1908; Herbert, born April 17, 1910; Ethel, born November 4, 1911; Iva, born May 16, 1913; Elva born … Read more

Biography of Stephen A. Miller

Since the death of Chief Journeycake, Stephen A. Miller, a well known farmer and oil man of Nowata county, has been acting chief of the Delawares. He is now residing on his farm, three-quarters of a mile south of Delaware. A native of Kansas, he was born in Wyandotte county, on the 27th of September, 1863, a son of Andrew and Sallie (Hill) Miller. His father was born in White River, Ohio, and was one of the first settlers in Kansas. He came to Indian Territory with the first Delawares, to which tribe he belonged, and locating at Coodys Bluff, … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mrs. Snowden Parlette

(See Oolootsa) James Columbus Morris married Ellen F. McElrath, and they were the parents of Mary Trimble Morris, born at Fort Gibson October 5, 1882, and was educated at Tahlequah and the Female Seminary. She married at Tahlequah May 15, 1898, Snowden, son of Franklin and Alice Parlette, born Jan. 29, 1880 in Wamego, Kansas. He was educated in Baker University and graduated from Harvard University. They are the parents of John, born April 17, 1911, and Snowden Parlette, born Jan 16, 1918. Mr. Parlette is in the wholesale book and stationery business in Oklahoma City. He is a thirty-second … Read more

Biography of John Daniel Bewley, M. D.

Coming to Miami in 1916, Dr. John Daniel Bewley has thoroughly demonstrated his ability as a physician and surgeon and his professional labors have been attended with a gratifying measure of success. He was born in Dover, Pope County, Arkansas, March 25, 1874, of the marriage of Benjamin V. and Triphenia (West) Bewley, the former a native of Tennessee and the latter of Arkansas. Her father was a major in the Mexican war and was stationed at old Fort Gibson, Indian Territory. Prior to the Civil war he retired from the United States army and made his home in Arkansas … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John E. Duncan

(See Grant, Downing, and Duncan)-John Ellis, son of Reverend Walter Adair and Martha (Wilson) Duncan, was born March 26, 1861; educated in the Cherokee Nation. Married January 1, 1890, Susan Elizabeth, daughter of and Catherine (Emory) Carselowry, born July 30, 1873. They are the parents Ellis Crowell, Robert Stewart, Kathleen Nana, Albert Carselowry, Walter Abercrombie, Johnnie May, and Charles D. Duncan. Mr. Duncan was elected Clerk of Tahlequah District in 1893 and was the last elected High Sheriff of the Cherokee Nation.

Biography of James G. Mehlin

James G. Mehlin, a pioneer farmer of Nowata county who is now residing one and one-half miles northeast of Alluwe, was born in Stuttgart, Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 21st of January, 1841. His parents were both born in that country and the father died there. Mrs. Mehlin came to America prior to her son James G. and located in New York, where her death occurred in 1870. James G. Merlin came to America in 1854 and, landing in New York, remained there a short time, but later removed to Maryland. Subsequently he went to Chicago, Illinois, where his brother Charles … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Watie Foreman

(See Grant, Foreman, Hildebrand, Seabolt and Duncan) Thomas Watie, son of Thomas Leroy and Susan M. (Wolf) Foreman was born of Tahlequah January 12, 1860. Educated at Tahlequah. Married at Tahlequah, March 28, 1886. Cherokee Duncan daughter of George Washington and Mary (McLaughlin) Hughes, born February 11, 1870. They are the parents of: William Evarts, born Dec. 18, 1886, was in officers training camp during World War and is practicing law at Tulsa; Watie Cornelius, born Feb. 3, 1891 was in railroad service during the war and is the auditor of an oil company in Rogers, Arkansas, and Thomas Hughie … Read more

Biography of M. B. Scott, M. D.

Since 1908 Dr. M. B. Scott has been practicing in Delaware and has won an enviable position among the medical men of Nowata County. A native of Muskogee County, Indian Territory, he was born on the 9th of August, 1879, a son of F. M. and Mary (McClain) Scott. The father was born in Tennessee and removed from his native state to Indian Territory in 1850. Locating in the Canadian district, he engaged in farming and stock raising, and achieved more than gratifying success in that connection. His demise occurred in 1896. His wife was a native of Oklahoma and … Read more

Biography of Jefferson D. Cox

Jefferson D. Cox is actively connected with a profession that has important bearing upon the progress and stable prosperity of every community, and one in which advancement depends upon individual merit and ability. Ability becomes in a measure prominence, and that Mr. Cox occupies a leading position in the ranks of the legal profession is an indication of his learning and skill in his chosen field. He is also a successful stock man and he owns a large ranch where fancy Duroc hogs and Durham cattle are raised. Jefferson D. Cox was born in Walhalla, South Carolina, on the 1st … Read more

Biographical Sketch of John Ross Buffington

Buffington, John Ross (See Grant, Downing and Daniel)—John Ross, son of John Ross and Nancy Jane (Bryan) Buffington, was born at Doaksville, Choctaw Nation June 2, 1864, educated in the Cherokee National Schools, Male Seminary, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Married at Pryor, July 6, 1891, Sadie, daughter of Robert and Susan Highland, born October 28, 1865, in Denver, Colorado. They are the parents of Nancy Jane, born April 15, 1892, educated at Female Seminary; Carrie Rebecca, born May 17, 1893, educated at Female Seminary; Charles Ross, born May 29, 1894; Hallie Hazel, born August 2, 1897; Joel Webster, born October 12, 1900, … Read more

Biography of Dutch White Turkey

Dutch White Turkey, long identified with the farming interests of Washington county and in more recent years connected with the oil development of this part of the state, was born on the 18th of June, 1857, in Kansas, seven miles east of Lawrence on the Delaware reservation. He was the eldest in a family of eight children, the others being: Sam; Robert; Albert; George; Katie, who became the wife of James Day of Bartlesville; Lilly, the wife of Dolph Fugate of Dewey; and Lucinda, deceased. Both of the parents were full-blooded Delawares and their name was really Simon. White Turkey … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Robert C. Dannenberg

Dannenberg, Robert C. (See Grant and Oolootsa)—Robert Carter, son of John Henry and Annie F. (Ferguson) Dannen­berg, was born in Missouri, April 12, 1877, educated in Flint District and Male Seminary. Married at Tahlequah June 1 6, 1902, Mary, daughter of John and Jennie (Lowrey) Hubbard, born in Tahlequah Dis­trict, November 28, 1878, and educated at Tahlequah and Muskogee. They are the parents of John Henry Dannenberg, born October 16, 1908, and Genie Dannenberg, born Mar. 5, 1915. Mr. Dannenberg is a farmer and stock raiser near Tahlequah. Henry, son of Anderson Pierce and Mary (Nave) Lowrey, married Mary Parris … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Ethel Ray Green Grimes

Ethel Ray Green, born near Vinita, November 25, 1892 was a daughter of Joseph and Margarette A. (Scrimsher) Green. She was educated at the Female Seminary at Tahlequah; Married at McAlester, Oklahoma Decemberr 23, 1917, Grady L. Grimes. They now members of the Methodist Church. Grimes is a Mason, and is an automobile mechanic.

Biography of William Pressley Thompson

William Pressley Thompson, a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Oklahoma, was for many years prominent in the affairs of the Cherokee Nation, and for over two decades he has been a member of the Vinita bar, being recognized as one of the most able attorneys in northeastern Oklahoma. He was born on a cotton plantation in Smith county, Texas, November 19, 1866, his parents being James Franklin and Caroline E. (McCord) Thompson, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of Mississippi, and both now deceased. The father accompanied the Cherokees on their removal to … Read more

Slave Narrative of Chaney Richardson

Person Interviewed: Chaney Richardson Location: Fort Gibson, Oklahoma Age: 90 I was born in the old Caney settlement southeast of Tahlequah on the banks of Caney Creek. Off to the north we could see the big old ridge of Sugar Mountain when the sun shine on him first thing in the morning when we all getting up. I didn’t know nothing else but some kind of war until I was a grown woman, because when I first can remember my old Master, Charley Rogers, was always on the lookout for somebody or other he was lined up against in the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Thomas Hendricks, Jr.

Hendricks, Thomas Jr. (See Hendricks)— Thomas Hendricks, Jr. born at Tahlequah Jan. 14, 1877. Educated at Tahlequah. Mar­ried at Tahlequah Jan. 11, 1899, Maud Stanley, born April 25, 1888. She died Mar. 6, 1910. They were the parents of: Robert E. born Dec. 9, 1899; Clara M. born May 2, 1900; Viola, born October 21, 1902; Thelma G. born October 16, 1904; Wirt, born April 4, 1906;and Maude Hendricks, born February 25, 1908. Mrs. Hendricks died March 6, 1910 and he married at Muskogee September 29, 1910, Bessie Bagley born Feb­ruary 19, 1895 in Missouri. They are the parents of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mrs. Rebecca M. Swain

(See Thompson and Riley)-Joseph Polstrom, born February 11, 1834, in Birmingham, Alabama; married November 16, 1863 in Bayou Menard, Susan Rebecca Wilson, who was born July 19, 1846, at Fort Gibson. They were the parents of Rebecca McNair Polstrom, born August 19, 1864 on Bayou Menard, and was educated in the Female Seminary at Tahlequah. She married December 27, 1879, John son of George and Nancy (Cramer) Swain, born October 5, 1833 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War in Company E, Fourth California Infantry. He died April 6, 1920. Mr. Swain was … Read more

Biography of Eldee Starr

(See Ghigau and Adair) George Harlan Starr married Nannie Bell and they were the parents of Ezekial Eugene Starr who married Margaret, the daughter of Caleb and Lucinda (Griffin) Starr. Ezekial E. and Margaret Starr were the parents of Charles Lucien, Eldee, Mary Bell, Joel Mayes, Caroline Lucinda, Trixie, and EzekialBlake Starr. Charles Lucien Starr married Amy Benge; Mary Bell Starr married Albert Moore Campbell; Joel Mayes Starr married Caroline Ferguson; and Caroline Lucinda Starr married James Robert Wyly. Eldee Starr was educated in the Female Seminary and the Forest Park University in St. Louis, Missouri, graduating from both institutions. … Read more

Slave Narrative of Eliza Whitmire

Person Interviewed: Eliza Whitmire Location: Vinita, Oklahoma Date of Birth: 1833 Age: 102 My name is Eliza Whitmire. I live on a farm, near Estella, where I settled shortly after the Civil War and where I have lived ever since. I was born in slavery in the state of Georgia, my parents having belonged to a Cherokee Indian of the name of George Sanders, who owned a large plantation in the old Cherokee Nation, in Georgia. He also owned a large number of slaves but I was too young to remember how many he owned. I do not know the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mrs. W. G. Henry

(See Downing, Daniel and Foreman)-Nannie Catherine Daniel, born January 12, 1835, married December 23, 1857 Anderson Springston Wilson born in 1830. They were the parents of DeWitt, born January 7, 1859, James Daniel, born February 2, 1861; and May Wilson, born May 1, 1862. Anderson Springston Wilson died December 26, 1865 and his widow married December 14, 1872 Henry Clay Barnes, August 29, 1845 at Dwight Mission, Cherokee Nation and they were the parents of Myrtle Barnes, born in Flint District July 25, 1874, educated at Tahlequah and Female Seminary. Married May 14, 1891 Wallace Gibbs Henry, born April 6, … Read more