Before I Forget

My paternal third great-grand uncle, John Ackley, is my hero du jour.  Meet Dr. Daddy Hague:

--FROM THE ATHENS MESSENGER AND HERALD newspaper, Athens, Ohio,  8 AUG 1895, p. 5.

TRANSCRIPTION READS: 

      JOHN ACKLEY DEAD

     Everybody was startled and surprised when it was announced Saturday morning that John Ackley died Friday of apoplexy at his home a short distance south of Mechanicsburg. He had been apparently in his usual health until within a few hours of his death. Mr. Ackley was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania May 31, 1825. His mother died when he was but 11 years old and he lived with his father until he was twenty years old, working on a farm and attending common school in the winter. In 1846 he entered the Ohio University and took an irregular course, studying and teaching till 1849 when he was elected Surveyor of Athens County and continued in office six years.

     However, on account of his superior knowledge of the plat of the county, he has been engaged in surveying in this county ever since quitting the Surveyor's office. In his later years he amused himself by sending contributions to his party paper, calling attention to the eccentricities of the Republican leaders and displaying no mean ability as a humorous writer. These letters always appeared over the signature of Daddy Hague, MD. Mr. Ackley was a good citizen, and a public servant whose advice and knowledge of the surveys of the county will be greatly missed.

     He was a member of the State Board of Equalization for the ninth senatorial district, composed of Athens, Hocking And Fairfield Counties for the last decennial period.

     The funeral services occurred Monday afternoon and the remains were interred in the Haning Cemetery. 

_____________

FYI to my relatives: John Ackley was an older brother to Samuel Ackley-- both sons of Jehu Ackley (b.1798 New Jersey) and Elizabeth (Ator) Ackley (born in the Netherlands). Yes, that's right. My father's third great-grandmother was allegedly born in Holland, according to our cousin, Adolphus W. Ackley, Jr. 

Those of us who descend from Eva (Baker) and Sam Childers might recall John Ackley's little brother, Sam Ackley (1827-1908). THAT same Sam homesteaded in Oklahoma Territory after the 1893 Cherokee Strip land run, made his final home in Keystone, Oklahoma, and was the grandfather to Sam Childers (1881-1962).

BTW, I'm STILL looking for old letters to the editor signed by Daddy Hague. Will update should I find some in newspaper archives. What a guy!

Little is known of one of my ancestors, and so I search for articles about "Childers" who once lived in Indian Territory. Before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, the northeastern part of that state was land given to various tribes after being forced out of their homes in the South. There were many newspapers in the Territory and later, published in the new state of Oklahoma--several of which have been made available online. I find mention of Childers in articles about schools, marriages, city government, plenty who were cattle dealers, and those who ran ads looking for lost mules or horses. 

Some of the more interesting news items:

      First, Nola Childers' 1909 land dispute:

      And another article on Nola Childers that displays the strong racism of 100 years ago:

      Cissy Childers' Tulsa County land allotment had oil:



      A nasty piece of journalism about Ellis Childers speaks to the racial sentiment of the time. This same Mr. Childers was the grandson of William Childers--a white clerk to prominent Cherokee leader Major Ridge, and his Cherokee wife, Maria Boots--granddaughter of Chief Chulio Shoe Boots. I have long studied this family in Indian Territory. Tiya Miles, Ph.D, has an outstanding book on the lineage and history of this Childers family, some of which is online. Go ahead: Type in "childers" in the box labeled "search inside": https://books.google.ca/books?id=xpusu6xQq6QC  Better yet, buy her book!

      After the Civil War, Ellis and his family requested and were accepted as members into the Creek Nation. In 1887 he became a lawyer and worked at his Childers & Mingo law firm. He served two terms as Speaker of the House of Warriors (Creek Nation). With his third wife, Tennie, he raised Ernest, their son who later won the Congressional Medal of Honor for extraordinary bravery while serving in Italy during World War II.

     Today Oklahoma is proud to call Ernest Childers one of its own. 

      Dick Childers appears in a Tulsa, Oklahoma paper on September 5, 1922. NOTE TO COUSINS: Our Dick Childers died in 1891, leaving one son: our Uncle Sam's dad. 

In my hunt for an elusive ancestor, I scour archives using his surname in keyword searches. Interesting "hits" pop up. This Childers' story is from the front page of the Muskogee Phoenix, December 7, 1893:

Early Tulsa pioneer J.M. Hall provided a location for this shootout. It occurred near where I work in downtown Tulsa. 

Hall wrote:  "Sam caught "Yockey' one day while the latter was sitting on his horse in the middle of Main street between First and Second Street and shot him off. He lived for a short time but would not reveal his true name nor his home town."

http://www.tulsaokhistory.com/hall/pg055.html 

A similar version was in the Tahlequah Courier newspaper, December 3, 1893: 
http://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc99419/m1/1/?q=childers

Nice seeing you here! Please return for my next post.

In September 2007 I hitched a ride to Bartlesville with my husband who was scheduled to be in that northeast Oklahoma town on business. There is a wonderful genealogy room within Bartlesville's library where I had hoped to find records of my dad's family. His Uncle Sam's parents had lived in Bartlesville 115+ years ago, and it was there Sam's sister (my grandmother) was born in 1909.

Newspapers from that era tell of people immigrating into the "Twin Territories" by the thousands. Oklahoma had just become a state and OIL had been discovered. Jobs were plentiful in that county named "Washington." And Bartlesville's library has a fine collection of Indian Territory records. On a prior visit I had struck gold and found mention of Sam's grandfather Dick Childers on an 1890 list of white "intruders" living by permit in Cherokee Nation. That was the oldest reference I had found of Richard's existence. I've since found him on an 1880 Cherokee Nation census that recorded white families living on Cherokee land by permission. I'm told even earlier proof exists. Sam's wife Lois, our family's consummate researcher, once told me she had a copy of Dick's 1879 marriage record to Lucy Ackley in Creek Nation, Indian Territory.

But my luck wasn't good at the library that day in 2007.  No new family records were found. Upon leaving Bartlesville, we stopped at a convenience store. While waiting in line to pay for gas and coffee, I looked at the headlines of the local paper and was surprised to see a familiar face. My Uncle Sam on the front page! His photo was next to a headline urging readers to read his story on Page 7. Here's the article--cropped and re-sized into 23 pages within this gallery:

I hope you clicked on all 23 pages to read Uncle Sam's story. See why I was so excited that September day? What a treasure for generations to read years from now. Thank you, Sam! And thank you, Joe Todd, historian, for this marvelous interview of Sam. 

I have little proof that my ancestor, Richard "Dick" Childers, once existed. No birth or death records are known. The cemetery where he was buried has been repeatedly vandalized, and his tombstone long gone. There is no one alive today who knows his parents' history. When I was five years old I saw his son, the only person I've met who actually knew Dick Childers. But his son, Henry Sam, was orphaned at age nine when his father died in February 1891. I am told Henry Sam was asked many times about his parents over the years. He remembered little. No known letter about Dick's family tree exists by anyone who talked with him. There are a few recorded memories from family who talked with those who once knew him. 

My Great Aunt Lois, our Childers' family historian, once showed me a copy of a marriage record for Lucy Ackley and Richard Childers. A marriage performed by Robert McGill Loughridge on June 18, 1879 in Creek Nation, Indian Territory at the Tallahassee Mission, several miles from what is now Muskogee, Oklahoma. Sometimes called "Tullahassee," this mission served as a Creek Nation boarding school. Dr. Loughridge was both school superintendent and a popular ordained minister who performed many marriages.

The mission building later burned. Here is a photograph:

Lucy and Richard do not appear in the Federal Census for 1880 because they were not living in the USA, but instead living in what was then called Indian Territory. Neither do their names appear on any of the 30+ tribal censuses or rolls.

Their first-known child, Henry Samuel Childers, was born May 19, 1881 near Fort Gibson, Creek Nation--now in Muskogee County, Oklahoma.

Daughter Sara Anna was born July 2, 1883 near Fort Gibson, Sara lived but two years, dying in nearby Catoosa, Cherokee Nation, on July 19th. Her mother died nearly five years later in Catoosa, in February 1888. I've spent many hours reading archived newspapers for a mention of their passing. Death notices were not a paper's regular feature as is found today. Nor do I know in whose home they were living shortly before their deaths. One might assume it was Lucy and Richard's home. However, I was told by my Great-Aunt Lois Childers that the young couple had separated a short time before Lucy became ill. Perhaps she was living with a brother's family?

I next find a "Dick Childers" in an 1890 census for Cherokee Nation residents. He is not listed with tribal members, but is shown with other white people who are "living under permit" in the Cooweescoowee District. His home is near his wife's brother's family, Henry Wilson Ackley, in what I believe to be present-day Mayes County, specifically the Hogan Township.

Assuming this is my ancestor, the second person in Childers' household would have been his young son, Henry Sam. The 1890 Cherokee Nation shows cousin Henry and his brother-in-law Dick as:

1.  H.W. ACKLEY, age 31, five (5) in household, arrived in I.T. in 1878, --census page 119

2.  Dick CHILDERS, age 33, two (2) in household, arrived in I.T. in 1874, --census page 120

One of the brick walls in my research has been with my Childers ancestry. My family knows very little of our oldest-known Childers ancestor.

Richard died in early 1891 outside of Pryor Creek, Oklahoma. We know nothing of his parents or siblings. My long hunt over the years has taught me quite a bit about the other Childers families in Indian Territory. (See posts elsewhere on this blog). 

It would be easy to merge MY ancestor into one of these other families, as the name Richard is common. Ancestry daily waves its green leafy hints urging me to click and add. 

But it would be incorrect, as I've no proof. No sources to substantiate such a claim.

My ancestor's name appears on two Indian Territory censuses--both listed on pages for whites living in Cherokee Nation "by permission" of the tribe. He was a neighbor to his wife's family, the Ackleys, who also appear on the same censuses. The term used for non-natives then was "intruders." Intruders were outsiders who had moved into a sovereign nation. Indian Territory had several tribal nations. Those nations exist today--in Oklahoma. 

The 1890 Indian Territory Census specifically asked whites what year they had first moved into Indian Territory. "Dick Childers" answered and it is recorded as: 1874. 

Recently widowed and with a small child, Dick became ill with typhoid. He died within days of his brother-in-law Henry. My Great-Aunt Lois Childers told me this, as she had questioned her father-in-law, Sam, who was the only son of Dick and his wife, Lucy Ackley Childers. 

We know Henry Ackley died in early February 1891. Both men were buried at the Alberty Cemetery in what is today Mayes County., Oklahoma. At that time Mayes County was a part of the Cooweescoowee District of Cherokee Nation. I believe Henry and Sam lived in the Hogan Township of Cooweescoowee. 

Among the many Childers living in Indian Territory 130 years ago is a family whose home was just over the border from Fort Smith, Arkansas, then known as the gateway to the wild frontier. In what is now Sequoyah County. You've seen both of the True Grit movies, right? 

These Childers had a son named Richard. I've been asked many times if my family descends from that Richard Childers from the Sequoyah District, Cherokee Nation. After much research into his family, I do not find similar names or event dates. No connection. That Richard Childers died in 1893--two years after my ancestor--Dick Childers. The two men had wives and children with different names. Again, I find no connection. 

As proof, please see the attached pages from a 1905 application for the Dawes allotment regarding this Richard, plus a page from the 1880 Cherokee Census. Click the images within this gallery:


Free links to Cherokee rolls:

https://accessgenealogy.com/native/cherokee-indian-research.htm

and 

https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/rolls/wallace.html

and 

https://www.allthingscherokee.com/articles/

and

http://www.okgenweb.net/~itgenweb/


Ancestry has digitized the applications for the Dawes rolls, both with names of those who were accepted and denied. I enjoy reading these applications as I now live in Creek Nation (Tulsa) and see familiar surnames. The questions and answers in these applications are often wonderfully detailed. 

There are others named Richard Childers living in both western Arkansas and Indian Territory in the late 19th century. I've not found any who lived in the Cooweescoowee District of Cherokee Nation, I.T. or whose children associated with relatives of my Dick Childers' in-laws--Sam and Sarah Ackley. 

There is a well-known outlaw from Cherokee Nation who has the distinction of being the first man Judge Parker sentenced to hanging in Fort Smith. John Childers' Cherokee mother and sister lived in what is now eastern Oklahoma. Another Richard Childers was a member of Creek Nation and lived in what is today Tulsa County. His ancestors were William Childers (a Scotsman) and Maria Shoe Boots (mixed Cherokee). William Childers was a trusted clerk to Cherokee leader Major Ridge, and moved from Georgia to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) with the Ridge family in 1837. 

(This was posted in October of 2014, long before I knew much about Virgil Wantland's family. That has since changed)

This family photo was shared on Facebook last week by a cousin (Thanks, Loi!) who snapped the photo from an album that once belonged to our Great-Grandmother Evie (Baker) Childers. The three men are identified as Sam Childers, Sam Baker and Virgil Wantland. Was Virgil a cousin by marriage or blood? A family friend? As of this date, no one has put names to faces in this undated photograph. A few of us think it is the two Sams who stand behind Virgil, each with a hand on Virgil's shoulder. 

 Thanks to draft registrations from World War I, we have a brief description of the three men. Childers has brown hair, Baker has black hair, and Virgil's hair is "auburn." See their three cards in the gallery below. Click to enlarge for easy reading. Remember to click again to return to this page:

https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc162575/m1/6/zoom/?q=Wantland&resolution=1.5&lat=2894&lon=2327

Virgil was lucky not to have suffered permanent paralysis. He sued, and his employer later appealed Virgil's lawsuit:

Source: PETROLEUM IRON WORKS CO. v. WANTLAND, 1911 OK 104, decided March 21, 1911 by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma at URL: http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?id=4108&hits=6627+3553+3547+3270+3245+274+268+6+


Let me back up and lay groundwork as to the possible history between these three men. First, Sam Baker is my Great-Grand Uncle, the younger brother to my Great-Grandmother, Ora Evaline. His full name: Samuel Oscar Baker, born February 14, 1890, in Gallatin, Daviess County, Missouri--two years after the birth of his sister "Evie." And Sam was born three weeks after Virgil in early 1890-- also in the town of Gallatin. Might they have been boyhood friends? Schoolmates? Kin? 

By 1900, Sam and Evie Baker's mom, born Matilda Anna Lee, is widowed, having lost her second husband, William Henry Ward. This census page below is from the 1900 Fed. Census for Daviess County, Missouri, showing their race, gender, birth month and year, age and marital status:

Virgil's parents were John Woodson Wantland and Lennie Mae (Roach) Wantland, married in Daviess County, Missouri in 1886. They appear in rural Daviess County in the 1900 census. Here's the whole census page for Jackson township. See the Wantlands near the top? Also in the gallery is a cropped photo which may be easier to read. The Wantland family starts on line 2 in this 1900 Federal census page:

KANSAS BOUND: Both the Bakers and the Wantlands are next found in 1905 in Cherry township, Montgomery County, Kansas, along the Oklahoma border. The Wantland family first shows up on Kansas State Census page 63, and continues with the remaining children on the next page. What prompted both families to move from Missouri to Kansas? 

The Wantland kids are at the top, and the Baker family appears at the bottom of this next page:

Source: Kansas State Census Collection, 1855-1925


NEIGHBORS: Sam Baker's mother, previously referred to as Matilda Anna Lee, is seen here as Annie Price, age 40. She had married her third husband, James Allen Price, on November 29, 1900 in Daviess County, Missouri. This was her last marriage, as Mr. Price did not die prematurely as did her first two husbands. Together they had three daughters (see Baby "Zela," their first child) along with their children from prior marriages. You will see Harry Baker, Evie Baker (soon to marry Henry Childers), and Sam Baker, age 15. All are neighbors to the Wantlands.

Did these two families move together from upstate Missouri to the Kansas/Oklahoma border? Why move in the first place? I've one idea. You might recall what was happening then in Indian Territory. Thousands of white people were moving into land previously promised to the Five Civilized Tribes. A promise made in perpetuity 70 years earlier to Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Tribal nations--but only if they relocated from southeastern United States. Those tribal members that did not move by the mid-1830s were forcibly evicted. Their land and possessions taken. Hence the Trail of Tears. In late 1907, land was again taken from the tribes as Oklahoma became a state. White westward expansion was in full swing on the prairie.

Just south of the Kansas border where our Wantlands and Bakers would later live, a pivotal event occurred. The Nellie Johnstone No.1 blew in as a gusher, producing up to 75 barrels of oil a day before it was capped in early 1897. Bartlesville in Indian Territory was "the place you ought to be." 

Along with the gushing black gold came even more "intruders" to Indian Territory. Intruders = the term applied by the U.S. Government to uninvited squatters on tribal land. Plenty of jobs became available as new communities popped up. With new employment came families, and young people who later tied the knot. I've copied/pasted the transcription of Virgil's marriage to Mayme Saunders, with spelling errors intact:

The Childers/Baker ceremony took place in Basin, a small community in Pawnee County, Oklahoma Territory. Here is Evie Baker and Sam Childers' marriage license in January of 1907. Oklahoma would become a state later that year:

A newspaper editor commented on the upcoming nuptials of my Great-Grandparents in a local paper: The Appalachia Out-Look. (Pawnee County, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 47, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 31, 1907. See Sam's name highlighted here on page 5. 

https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc173546/m1/5/zoom/?q=Childers%20%22Appalachia%20Out-Look%22&resolution=3&lat=3623&lon=3246 

Another time I'll continue with the marriage of Sam Baker to Virgil's younger sister, Della Wantland:

     (To Be Continued)


-- This was updated with minor corrections in August 2017.