Stokes Surname – Page 2 of 2

Governor Houston at His Trading Post on the Verdigris

In February, 1828, the vanguard of Creek immigrants arrived at the Creek Agency on the Verdigris, in charge of Colonel Brearley, and they and the following members of the McIntosh party were located on a section of land that the Government promised in the treaty of 1826 to purchase for them. By the treaty of May 6, 1828, the Government assigned the Cherokee a great tract of land, to which they at once began to remove from their homes in Arkansas. The movement had been under way for some months when there appeared among the Indians the remarkable figure of Samuel Houston. The biographers of Houston have told the world next to nothing of his sojourn of three or four years in the Indian country, an interesting period when he was changing the entire course of his life and preparing for the part he was to play in the drama of Texas.

Pinkney B. Stokes

Sergt., Ambulance Co., 321st Co., 306th San. Tr., 81st Div. Born in Guilford County; son of C. H. and Florence Stokes. Entered service June 25, 1917, at Greensboro, N.C. Sent to Ft. Oglethorpe, Ga. Transferred to Camp Jackson, S. C., and from there to Camp Sevier, S. C. Sailed for France from Camp Mills, August 8, 1918. Promoted to Sergt. July, 1918. Fought at Vosges Mt., Meuse and Argonne. Returned to the USA June 16, 1919, and mustered out of the service at Camp Lee, Va., June 26, 1919.

The Wilson Family, Somerset and Barter Hill Branch

In the preparation of “The Wilson family, Somerset and Barter Hill branch” I have discovered two lists of the names of the sons and daughters of Col. Ben and Ann Seay Wilson of “Somerset” in Cumberland County, Virginia, in addition to the list found in my father’s notes. None of these was arranged in the same chronological order. It was my good fortune in 1915 to find the Bible, claimed to be the Bible of Col. Ben and Ann Seay Wilson of “Somerset” in Cumberland County, Virginia. At that time this was in the hands of Miss Clementine Reid Wilson, Col. Ben’s great-granddaughter, and it was my privilege to copy, with the aid of a reading glass, for the ink was badly faded, the names of their children from that Bible in the same chronological order in which they were recorded. This chronological order, and military records found, support each other. I therefore believe that this sketch contains the most accurate chronological list of Col. Ben’s and Ann Seay Wilson’s children to be found outside of his Bible.

Governor Stokes’s Uncompleted Plans

Governor Montfort Stokes, appointed Cherokee sub-agent in 1836, faced significant challenges at Fort Gibson, including inadequate office space and limited authority. Despite his complaints, he worked to protect Native American land rights, particularly for the Osage mixed-blood descendants of Auguste P. Chouteau. During his tenure, he mediated Cherokee factional disputes and safeguarded vital legal documents. Replaced in 1841, he later served as sub-agent for the Seneca, Shawnee, and Quapaw. Stokes died in 1842 at Fort Gibson, honored with a military funeral. A Revolutionary War veteran and former North Carolina governor, his dedication to public service spanned decades.