McCurtain County Oklahoma Biographies

McCurtain County Oklahoma Biographies

BUCHANAN, ROBERT J.
Robert J. Buchanan was born in 1847, died in 1919. He was a solider in the Confederate army but unfortunately, none of his children have any record of his enlistment, service or discharge. He came to Indian Territory in 1899, and settled south of Millerton, this county, where he lived until his death. Mr. Buchanan raised a large family-four girls and four boys-most of whom are residents of McCurtain at present. "Uncle Bob," as he was called by all who knew him, was a splendid citizen, a good neighbor and served his district one term as commissioner. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 150 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

CARTER, COLONEL
Colonel Carter, Negro, born a Choctaw slave in Indian Territory. The Colonel doesn't know his age, niether does anyone else, but he is well over 80. When served recently with summons in a suit on account, he remarked to the constable, "Well, all dey can do is to git jedgment agin me, and I got lots o' dem." He is an inveterate smoker. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 151 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

COLEMAN, WILLIAM
William A. Coleman was born in Red River County, Texas, in 1862, raised on a farm and had only the advantages of the common schools. In 1880, when he was 18 years of age, he came to the Indian Territory and settled at what is now Pleasant Hill, in this county, and for many years pursued his occupation of farming. Later, he married Lou Anna Morris, who was of Indian blood, and became a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. To his farming operations he very soon added the mercantile business and was considered successful in both lines of business. Mr. Coleman was the father of a large family of children, kind and indulgent, clever in business, loyal to his friends, and a progressive citizen. Prior to his death, in December, 1915, he had accumulated considerable property, and was one of the most prominent men in McCurtain County's financial world. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 149-150 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

CRANE, JOHN REV.
Rev. John Crane is a native of Texas, having been born near Paris in 1856. His education was limited to the common schcols of Texas and one year of theological training in an eastern college, with a short time at Waco. He is a missionary Baptist, and has probably organized more churches of that denomination in southeast Oklahoma than any other Baptist preacher. He carries his 66 years well, and is still active in his chosen work. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 154 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

DAVIS, W. SAM
W. Sam Davis, born at Atkins, Arkansas, October 8th, 1882. Had the common schools and two years in high school, supplemented by a business course, came to Indian Territory in 1895 and worked a year at Eagletown. In 1895, went back to Sevier County, and in 1906 moved to Valliant and with Duncan Nash started the Valliant News, then again moved to Eagletown where he taught school for several years. In 1912, he was elected to the State Legislature on the Democratic ticket, and served for two years, and in 1914 was the county's delegate to the State Democratic convention. Mr. Davis has been in public service in some capacity nearly ever since statehood, and his services have always been satisfactory. At present, and for the past several years, he has been engaged in the mercantile business at Eagletown, and is well liked and respected by all who know him. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 151-152 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

FOWLER, DAVID A.
David A. Fowler was born in Montgomery County, Ala., in 1867, came to Indian Territory with his father's family in 1879 and settled near Wheelock, where he has lived ever since, and in what was then known as Towson County. He later married into the Choctaw tribe and became a citizen of that nation, filling several public positions up until statehood. Shortly after the county organization he was elected justice of the peace of his township on the Democratic ticket and served in that capacity for ten consecutive years, until his health began to fail, when he moved west, but soon returned to his old home, where he says he intends to spend the remainder of his life. Mr. Fowler has given 20 years of his life to the public service, and is held in high esteem as a citizen and public officer. He is a member of the Baptist Church and in his later days is giving religious matters much of his time. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 149-150 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

GARDNER, EDMOND J.
Edmond J. Gardner was born at the old Gardner home near Wheelock, in 1877, and is a descendent of a family of five brothers who came over from Mississippi in 1832 and settled in different parts of the county. He is a half-blood Choctaw. His boyhood was surrounded by conditions and circumstances that were not conducive to morality and good citizenship, for when he was 13 his family moved from the old home to a farm on Red River, and just across the river was lots of bad whisky and no lack of characters to peddle it along the border. His schooling consisted of a few months in the common schools of that period, in which he reached the third grade. After coming to manhood he realized that an education was essential to his success in life, and he adopted as his slogan, "Knowledge, and not money, shall be my aim and on this precept he has shaped his life. No opportunity to improve his mind has ever been neglected. He mastered the principles of arithmetic and English grammar alone, and by a persistent course of reading good books, magazines and newspapers became versed in current knowledge and events. His first appointment to public office was that of postmaster at Clear Creek, which was followed by his appointment as clerk and treasurer of Towson County under Choctaw government. In 1901, he moved to the town of Valliant where he began business as a photographer, and while his business was scarcely sufficient to support a growing family, he clung to his slogan and put away 10 per cent of his earnings for books and magazines, which he called his "Instruction Fund." In 1906, he was elected mayor of the town, but prior to his election a.s mayor had served as town clerk and had also been reappointed as county clerk of Towson County. During this period he began the study of law and soon opened an office under the firm name of Gardner & Cochran, the last named being Judge E. E. Cochran of Idabel. In a short while he abandoned the practice of law, giving as his reason therefor, that it would not harmonize with his conscience. In 1910, he was appointed assistant postmaster at Valliant and served for four years. During his leisure hours while serving as assistant postmaster he worked out a new system of shorthand, a complete phonetic alphabet consisting of 67 characters, with a name for each, and invented a writing machine operated with 5 keys used for the phonetic alphabet. In 1915 he opened a watchmaker's and jeweler's shop in his home town, and is probably the only Choctaw who ever learned that trade.

Mr. Gardner is the present postmaster of Valliant, having been appointed by President Harding upon the recommendation of both Democrats and Republicans. In politics he is a Republican, a member of the Methodist Church, and of the Masonic and Odd Fellow orders. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 150 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

HLEOHTAMBBI
Hleohtambbi, aged Choctaw, born in Mississippi and came over with his tribe in 1837. Said to have been about 18 years old at that time. Hleohtambbi (pronounced as Leahtombee) lives about three miles northwest of Broken Bow and walks to town when he feels like it. While he, nor anyone else knows his correct age, he is well past the century mark, as his appearance indicates. His skin resembles parchment, his voice quavers, has lost his surplus flesh peculiar to Choctaws after passing middle age, and his hair is very white, which never occurs with Indians until well advanced in age. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 150 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

KANITOBE, ELLEN
Ellen Kanitobe, Choctaw, born in Mississippi 98 years ago. Lives three miles east of Tdabel, and walks into town without the aid of a stick and picks up flying sarmoles of cotton on the streets. Stooped and small, but very active for one of her age. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 151 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

KNIGHT, JAMES R.
A farmer, real estate dealer and citizen of McCurtain County, who lives on his farm near the mountain village of Ida, is a man the details of whose life experiences, especially the latter part, would alone, present a fair picture of the historical development of Southeast Oklahoma. Clerk, cowboy, merchant, stockman, editor and office holder, are a few of his various occupations during his residence in Oklahoma and the Indian Territory. In the early days of statehood, Southeast Oklahoma, particularly the mountainous regions, was a rendezvous for all kinds of lawless characters, and it is largely due to the efforts of such men as Jim Knight, Tom Graham, Cliff McDonald and other pioneer citizens of that region, that they were driven from the country.
After the county was cleared of these objectionable characters the northern and western parts began a rapid improvement and settlement. The towns of Smithville, Sherwood, Bethel and Ida, while they were old settlements, put on new life and growth. Mr. Knight established himself on a farm near Ida, that had been the home of his wife's family for generations, and it was here that he received his commission as deputy sheriff. During his service as deputy he was repeatedly threatened with death by thieves and robbers, and more than once narrowly escaped the assassin's bullet.

Mr. Knight likes to relate in detail the encounters between the officers of the law and the outlaws of the early days of the county's history. Of one period he says, "Conditions became unbearable. Posses were organized by the sheriffs of four counties consisting of fifty men, hurried into the mountains and mobilized. They searched the recesses of the mountains and the country surrounding the principal ranches and towns. It was an arduous, exciting and dangerous campaign. Every day a few suspects were arrested until about thirty were held. One pitched battle occurred in which a robber was killed, and another battle was fought in a storm on the mountain in which a posse man was killed by mistake. Two posses, blinded by the storm, mistook each other for outlaws. At another time the officers came upon the robbers in a rock fort in a canyon and the robbers shot and killed four horses belonging to the officers. They were entrenched in an impregnable position, but the officers captured six horses in the encounter. The expedition lasted four weeks, bringing to a summary end the robbing of stores and post offices, the stealing of horses and cattle and other features of outlawry. There was not sufficient evidence to convict any of the suspects under arrest, but their arrest and detention served a good purpose. After this, while lawlessness was not entirely suppressed, it was no longer conducted on an organized basis. The cattlemen became members of the Texas Cattle Raisers Association which furnished the Kiamichi region a line of detectives whose activities brought about many arrests and several convictions."
From the foregoing as an incident in the career of J. R. Knight, and the further fact of his excellent citizenship, public career, qualifications as a writer and loyalty to the principles of democracy, it may be seen, as stated at the beginning of this article, that he is closely linked up with the history of his county and State.

J. R. Knight was born at Rienzi, Miss., in 1868, a son of R. K. and Violet (Aughey) Knight. His father was a teacher for forty-seven years, the last few years of which was spent in the schools of Caddo, Indian Territory. Among his pupils at this place were boys who are now among the foremost men of the State. R. K. Knight died at Caddo in 1895, and his wife in 1915. Up until his 16th year, J. R. Knight attended the common schools of Mississippi and the male Classical Institute of Corinth, of that State, then with his father's family, moved to Indian Territory, and began his career as a clerk in a general store in Attoka. This store at that time was one of only three brick buildings in the Indian Territory. Associated with him as clerk, was J. D. Lankford, who for several years has been Bank Commissioner of Oklahoma, and at that time the M. K., & T. Railroad was the only railroad through the whole country. Eighteen years ago he located at Valliant and a little later bought the Beacon-Times, a newspaper published at Idabel, one of the first papers of the county.

Soon after statehood he was elected a member of the State Legislature, where his knowledge of the conditions in his county and the mountainous regions of the State secured for him the appointment as chairman of the House Committee on Protection of Birds, Fish and Game. As chairman of this committee he sought the enactment of laws placing the enforcement of the game laws in the hands of the sheriffs, thus abolishing the long-range feature of government in the appointment of deputy game wardens from different parts of the State. In this he failed, but subsequent conditions proved the correctness of his position.

In 1905, at Wheelock Academy, Mr. Knight married Miss Agnes Beatrice Battiste, an Indian girl of French descent, whose father was for a number of years judge of Neshoba County in the Choctaw Nation. Mrs. Knight died January 5th, 1911, leaving one child, Violetta, who is at present in Randolph-Macon College, Lynchburg, Va.

Two of his sisters, Miss K. K. Knight and Miss Elizabeth, have been identified with the educational interests of the State since girlhood.

Mr. Knight is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., the M. W. A. and other fraternal orders. He is always active and alive in the development of his country, and through his great love for his wife and daughter, is a true friend of the Indians, and an advocate of the brotherhood of man and the milk of human kindness. It is his greatest desire that the old mountain farm in the bend of west Glover near Ida, will be the most picturesque, remunerative and independent place in the world, for it is the home of four generations of his wife's family. The place is an ideal quarter-section with some hill land, but mostly creek bottom, threaded by the silvery Glover Creek, skirted by high pine-fringed bluffs on one side and fringed by oak, holly, cedar and walnut on the other, with many springs and natural parks surrounding it. Aside from the residence, there are the necessary barns and other buildings, fruit trees from three to forty years old, English and Japanese walnut trees, and a spacious garden fringed with mint, sage, asparagus and rhubarb, all of which give the place an air of beauty and comfort almost beyond comparison.

It is the wish of Mr. Knight that his only daughter, Mary Violetta, shall keep and continue to improve this place and hand it down from generation to generation, holding it as an oasis in the desert of human trials and troubles, so that the wayfaring man may find cheer and comfort on his way, and depart again, with a greater faith in all that is good.

But while J. R. Knight came to the Indian Territory in the early days, he also made adventures into other lands. These adventures include working through a "Sugar Rolling," cutting out roads in the swamps of Louisiana, making a winter garden on the Texas coast and serving as acting vice-consul under Wm. C. Burchard for the Islands of Ruatan, Bonaca and Artila, off the coast of Spanish Honduras, and holding down a pre-emption claim in Colorado. But the work of which he seems proudest is that of aiding in securing the best class of citizenship for his locality, and in this work, the efficiency, morale and loyalty of the citizens of northwest McCurtain attest the success of his efforts. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 143-148 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

LOVE, ROBERT
Robert Love, an early and much respected citizen of the Choctaw Nation, was born at Philadelphia, Penn., in 1860. He was a descendant of the Choctaw tribe, and soon after the Civil War came to his people and settled in what is now McCurtain County. As one of the heirs of Col. Jones, a very wealthy Indian, he inherited what is known as the Shawneetown farm on Red River, in this county, and proved himself a successful planter and merchant. He later married Miss Kate D. Devor, from which marriage there are several children now residents of the county. He died at Clarksville, Texas, in 1904, leaving a vacancy in the business field of McCurtain County that was seriously felt and only filled by the subsequent rush of settlement and development of the country. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 151-152 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

MCDONALD, H. C. (CLIFF)
(By J. R. Knight.)
Cliff McDonald discovered America in Alabama on the top side of a half century ago. After attaining his majority, he roamed around over the central west, digging coal, running cattle, mauling rails and working in the harvests. Later, he re-joined his father's family in Polk County, Arkansas, and settled down to farming. In 1905, he came to LeFlore County, Choctaw Nation, and in 1907 was appointed deputy sheriff, under Sheriff Noble of that county and assisted in running down the robbers and thieves that infested LeFlore, Pushmataha and McCurtain Counties just after statehood. In 1908, he came to McCurtain County and was at once appointed deputy sheriff by Sheriff Graham, and has held the office under Burk, Holman, Felker and Jones, successfully. MT. McDonald has made a fearless but kind and considerate officer, often settling cases between neighbors out of court by fiendly arbitration. He is a member of the Baptist Church, of the Odd Fellows Order, of the anti-horsethief association, a live wire in the Democratic party, and was a member of the legal advisory board during the late war. He is also the father of a large family and husband of one of the best women in McCurtain County, a fine neighbor and a good citizen. Men like McDonald should have a few flowers handed to them while alive as a mark of appreciation of their value as a citizen. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 155-156 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

VICTOR, GEORGE T.
George T. Victor, the subect of this sketch, was born in Choctaw Nation in 1880. Attended the local schools of his tribe and later had three years at Armstrong Acedemy. After leaving school, he served as deputy clerk under W. J. Fisher, who was then County Clerk of Bokhoma County. When about 21 he married Louisa Lawataya (La-wa-ta-ya), by whom was born Frank J. After the death of his first wife, he married Nancy Forbes, by whom he had three children, Georgie, Deb. Jones and Wilma. Since the organization of the county he has served as court interpreter a great deal of the time. His first notary commission is signed by Gov. Haskell, and he has been commissioned by every succeeding governor since statehood. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Pages 154-155 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

WHITE, JOHN R.
John R. White, late of this county, was born in Red River County, Texas, in November, 1858. He was raised on a farm just across the river from his adopted county and State, attended the neighborhood schools until he was large enough to ride to Clarksville, a distance of ten miles to school, which he did all the time he could be spared from the farm. After reaching his majority, he married Miss Lena Simpson, a native of the Indian Territory, and moved to Idabel in 1903, where he entered the mercantile business and proved himself one of the successful merchants of the new country. In 1911 and 1912, his health began to fail and he went west with the hope of regaining it, but soon lost hope and returned to his home in Idabel, where he died in August, 1914. The same vim and determination to succeed that made Mr. White, when a boy, ride ten miles to school every day, characterized his after life and brought success to his efforts as a successful business man. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 154 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

WHITEMAN, W. J.
W. J. Whiteman of Goodwater, this county, was born at Clarksville, Texas, in November, 1869, where he was educated and lived until 1893, when he came to the Indian Territory and settled at Goodwater, where he has lived ever since. Mr. Whiteman was one of the many young men who cast their lot with the fortunes of the new country with nothing to fight the battle of life but energy, integrity and determination, but he has signally succeeded. It is very rarely that a genial, hospitable and liberal man, such as Mr. Whiteman, succeeds financially, but he has proven an exception to the rule. Three years after coming to Indian Territory, he married Miss Mattie J. Harris, from which union there are eight children.

Mr. Whiteman is a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, member of the Goodwater Lodge A. F. & A. M., No. 148, Royal Arch, Idabel Indian Consistory No. 2, McAlester, Bedouin Templar, Shriner. Besides his well-equipped farm, he does a splendid merchandise business at Goodwater, and is a stockholder in most of the banks of the county. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 150 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)

WILLIAMS, REV. A. S.
Rev. A. S. Williams, born near Bethel, this county, in December, 1868, educated at Spencer Academy, with one term at Roanoke College, Virginia. He was licensed to preach in 1888, and he began active service as a Methodist minister in 1894. Was appointed Presiding Elder of the Choctaw M. E. Church in 1921 and re-appointed in 1922. His district comprises practically all of the Choctaw and Chickasaw countries. In connection with his ministerial duties, he acts as agent for the American Bible Society. (McCurtain County & Southeast Oklahoma, Idabel, Okla. author unknown, 1923, Page 154 - Submitted by Peggy Thompson)