Indian School

Biography of Mary A. Flickinger

Mrs. Flickinger is gratefully remembered for five years of untiring service as assistant superintendent of Oak Hill Industrial Academy. The sphere of her observation and suggestion included all the women’s work in the buildings, occupied by the students, and the special care of the garden and Boy’s Hall. In connection with this daily oversight, there was always manifested a feeling of personal responsibility, to carry to completion at the end of the day, any unfinished work, that would otherwise prevent some of the larger girls from enjoying the privileges of the school, during the evening study hour. Trained in her … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Jo Lu Wolcott

Miss Jo Lu Wolcott, matron, February to June, 1912, was a daughter of the late Dr. Wolcott of Chandler, Oklahoma. She has had considerable experience as a teacher in the public schools of Kansas and Oklahoma, and in the government school for the Indians at Navajo Falls, Colorado. She is now serving as a teacher in an Indian school in South Dakota.

Biography of Solomon H. Buchanan

Solomon H. Buchanan is a native of Glen Rose, Somervell County, Texas. At the age of eight he was bereft of both of his parents, and those, into whose care he drifted, were not willing he should learn a letter. By some means he attracted the favorable notice of Miss Mary A. Pearson, a missionary of our Home Mission Board. Furnishing him the funds for the trip, she sent him at the age of 18 in 1903, to Oak Hill Academy with request to become an earnest Christian teacher. At the Academy Mrs. Mary R. Scott of Pittsburgh became his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Mary A Donaldson

When Carrie E. Crowe was called away in January 1906, the place was rather reluctantly assumed but very acceptably filled by Mrs. Sarah L. Wallace of Fairhope, Alabama. After two months she also was called away. The place was then filled by Mary A. Donaldson of Paris, Texas. She had been an attendant at the first Oak Hill Normal, in 1905, and then became a missionary teacher at Grant. Attendance at the Normal led to her recognition, both at Grant and Oak Hill. After teaching several years she pursued another course of training at New Orleans and has become a … Read more

Biography of Simon Folsom

Simon Folsom, one of the first elders of the Forest Presbyterian Church is now one of the oldest living representatives of the slavery period. Nancy Brashears, his third and present wife, enjoys the distinction of having been the most influential of the early leaders in effecting the organization of that Church. He became an elder in 1887. After twenty-six years of faithful service under very unfavorable circumstances, he is still trying “to hold up for the faith.” In 1901 he enjoyed the privilege of being one of the commissioners of the Presbytery of Kiamichi, and attended the meeting of the … Read more

Biography of Henry Crittenden

Henry Crittenden and Teena Crittenden his wife, John Ross Shoals, his son-in-law and Hattie C. Shoals, his wife, all of whom were buried in the Crittenden Burying Ground near the old Crittenden pioneer home east of Valliant, were four of the six original members of the Oak Hill Church in 1869.

Biographical Sketch of Elijah Butler

Elijah Butler, Lukfata, was an uncle of Rev. William Butler. He was one of the early leaders in Christian work in what is now the northeast part of McCurtain County. In 1878, when St. Paul Church was organized at Eagletown, he was ordained as one of its first elders, and became an active Christian worker. A few years later he moved to Lukfata, and when the Mount Gilead Presbyterian Church of that locality was organized, July 26, 1885, he and his son, Elisha Butler, were chosen as two of the first elders of that Church. Elijah Butler, like Apollos of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Rev. Plant Senior Meadows

Plant Senior Meadows, (Born Feb. 15, 1841) Shawneetown, is a native of Lewis County, Missouri. At 17 in 1859, he was sold by the administrator of the Cecil Home, and a sugar planter at St. Mary’s Parish, Louisiana, became his master. Here he was employed at various kinds of mechanical work, until he was accorded his freedom, at 26 in 1865. Mrs. Cecil taught him to read, and during this early period, he made the best possible use of his spare moments, by reading all the good books that were available. As soon as he was free, he became a … Read more

Biography of Rev. William J. Starks

William J. Starks (born March 14, 1876), Garvin, is a native of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. After completing the grammar course in the public school of that place, he prepared for college under special teachers.

Biography of Rev. Thompson K. Bridges

Rev. Thompson K. Bridges, (B. Dec. 6, 1856), Lukfata, is a native of Ellisville, Jones County, Mississippi. He grew to manhood and received his early education at Claiborne, Jasper County. Later he attended the city school at Meridian, and then took a course in theology at Biddle University. He began to teach public school at the age of 21 in 1877, and taught fourteen years in Mississippi. In 1891, he located in Indian Territory, and has now taught sixteen years in Oklahoma. In 1899 he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Catawba and in April 1902 was ordained … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Rev. Samuel Gladman

Rev. Samuel Gladman, who died Jan. 11, 1913, at Eufaula, Oklahoma, was a native of Westchester, Chester County, Pennsylvania. During the early seventies he went to western Texas and engaged in teaching. Sometime afterwards he was licensed and ordained to the work of the gospel ministry. In 1896, when the Presbytery of Kiamichi was organized, he was enrolled as one of its charter members. He was then living at Atoka. During the next year he served New Hope and Sandy Branch Churches, but continued to reside in Atoka until 1900, when he located at Lukfata. Three years later he took … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Rev. Richard D. Colbert

Rev. Richard D. Colbert of Grant, is one of the young men, enlisted in the work of the Church, by Parson Stewart. He attended Biddle University from October 1884 to June 1887, three years, when he returned home, on account of impaired health. Regaining his health after a few months, he became a teacher and taught school eleven years during the territorial period. In the spring of 1897, he became a licentiate of the Presbytery of Kiamichi, and two years later was assigned the pastoral oversight of New Hope and Sandy Branch Churches. He was ordained in 1903. Most of … Read more

Biography of Rev. William Butler

Rev. William Butler (B. 1859), pastor of St. Paul Presbyterian Church at Eagletown, and of Forest Church near Red River south of Millerton, is a native of the community in which he still lives. His parents, Abraham and Nellie Butler, were the slaves of Pitchlyn and Howell, Choctaws; and William was about seven, when freedom was accorded the family in 1866. His home and work as a minister until recently have been in localities remote from the railway and good schools. The short period of one and a half months was all the time he ever went to school. He … Read more

The First Chautauqua

In 1907, the last year under territorial government, arrangements were made for a patriotic celebration, in the form of a Chautauqua at the Academy. The following account of it is from the columns of the Garvin Graphic: The Fourth of July meeting by the Freedmen at Oak Hill Academy, near Valliant, was a real patriotic Chautauqua, the first meeting of the kind ever held in this part of the Territory, and well worthy of more than a mere passing note. The preparations for the occasion, which included a comfortable seat for everyone, were fully completed before hand. The speakers’ stand … Read more

History of Spencer Academy

This page provides a brief history of Spencer Academy and New Spencer Academy of Choctaw County, Oklahoma.

Doaksville and Fort Towson

Doaksville, though no longer entitled to a place on the map, is the name of an important pioneer Indian village. Here the proud and powerful Choctaws established themselves during the later twenties, and were regarded as happy and prosperous before the Civil War.

History of Wheelock Academy

Wheelock Academy for nearly four-score years was the most attractive social, educational and religious center in the southeast part of the Choctaw nation.

The Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial Academy

Oak Hill Industrial Academy

The aim of the Author in preparing this volume has been to put in a form, convenient for preservation and future reference, a brief historical sketch of the work and workers connected with the founding and development of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, established for the benefit of the Freedmen of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, by the Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., in 1886, when Miss Eliza Hartford became the first white teacher, to the erection of Elliott Hall in 1910, and its dedication in 1912; when the name of the institution was changed to “The Alice Lee Elliott Memorial.”

Tributes to the Workers

These tributes to worthy workers seem incomplete, without some reference to the faithful co-operation of some of the young people, who, making rapid progress in their studies and industrial training, during the later years of this period, and serving efficiently as workers, foremen and occasional teachers, made possible the large amount of improvement work necessary to overcome the losses sustained. The memory recalls the names of the following students, whose responsible and efficient co-operation was thus worthy of grateful mention. Occasional Teachers and Leaders: Paul Thornton, Vina Jones, Delia Clark1, Isabella Monroe, Ruby Moore1, Virginia Wofford, Sarah Milton, Celestine Seats, … Read more