William F. McIntosh was born near the line of Alabama and Georgia, November 12, 1824, the second son of Chilly McIntosh, of great reputation, and grandson of old General McIntosh. His mother was Miss Porter, whose parents emigrated at an early day from Pennsylvania to Alabama. William F. attended a neighborhood school when twelve years of age, and in 1837 went to Coweta Mission, where he remained one season, after which he commenced assisting his father in agriculture, until he married Miss Eliza Ilands, January 8, 1848, by whom he had six children, two of whom are living. Sarah and Samuel. His wife dying in 1862, he afterward married Miss Bettie Bertholf, who was part white and Cherokee, by whom he had three children, one of whom is living, named Thomas. His wife dying in 1875, he married, in 1881, Mrs. Grayson, widow of the late Tom Grayson. By her he had one child, named Lena. On returning from a missionary or preaching tour in the nation, he was appointed by the Government as commander of a company organized by the Creeks to protect the border against Kansas Jayhawkers and other illegal trespassers. He continued commander until the company joined the regular army at the breaking out of the war, when, after one year’s service, they were mustered out. Mr. McIntosh then devoted himself assiduously to the preaching of the gospel, reorganizing all the churches in his district, which were in a very poor condition. When the new constitution was adopted, Mr. McIntosh was appointed District Judge of the North Fork District, now known as Eufaula. This office he held for a length of time, but was suspended one month before the lapse of his term, in consequence of some false reports being made to the first chief, Samuel Checotah. The friends of Mr. McIntosh then called together the district members for investigation, and, finding the imputations entirely false, the chief reinstated Judge McIntosh, but he refused to again accept the office. In 1881 he was elected prosecuting attorney, but owing to his religious scruples he would not accept the office. In 1887 he was elected a member of the House of Warriors, which office he held until 1891. Mr. McIntosh has been forty-two years (or more) a preacher in the Baptist Church, which religious body he has largely advanced throughout the country. He is highly thought of among his people a pure, devout Christian, setting all other considerations aside to aid in the Christianizing of his people. He is about five feet nine inches high and weighs 140 pounds; of gentlemanly bearing, handsome of feature, and would be taken for a white man in any country. As a hunter he had some strange experiences, and it may be said that few, if any, Western men have killed more deer than he has. He has been all over the Indian Territory on hunting trips, and is, to the present day, recognized as the father of the chase among his people.
