MyChoctawFamily.Net
Shopping Cart
Your Cart is Empty
Quantity:
Subtotal
Taxes
Shipping
Total
Peter James Hudson
Peter James Hudson was Born on Oct 10th 1861 in Eagletown, Indian Territory at the old Stockbridge Missionary School building.
He died on Oct 21st 1938, Talihina, LeFlore County Oklahoma, at the Indian Hospital.
He was buried: Oct 23rd 1938 at the Old Town Tuskahoma Cemetery near the Choctaw Council House on the same day as his funeral, which was held in the Choctaw Council House.
He was given the Dawes Roll #5483; Census Card #1923 He was enrolled at age 41
Note: The Above picture taken in 1908 while Peter was a U.S. Delegate for the Choctaw People in Washington D.C., and is archived at the Smithsonian Archives in Washington D.C.
Peter James Hudson was enrolled as a full-blood Choctaw, although in fact he was three-quarter blood Choctaw of a semi-non-English speaking Choctaw family, his grandfather being a white man whose antecedents and Christian name is not disclosed.
Peter was a Choctaw Nation Delegate, and the first Superintendent of the Choctaw Female Seminary at Tuskahoma.
He was educated at Spencer Academy, Drury College, And Hartford Theological Seminary.
Peter James Hudson graduated from Drury College in the Class of 1887. He was ordained as a Presbyterian Minister.
Note: According to a notation on the title page, Peter Hudson, of Eagletown, Indian Territory, was a sophomore in January 1885 and enrolled in the classical course at Drury College, North Springfield, Missouri. "Paul Roulet of that institution writes: "He (P. Hudson) came to us six years since, not knowing a word of English, and has proved himself far superior in intellectual power to any we have yet had from the Indian Territory." Recorded in J.W. Powell's - Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages.
A Choctaw Indian, Hudson dedicated his life to promoting his people.
He served as a Choctaw interpreter for the United States Department of the Interior and as the Choctaw representative to the President of the United States.
The character of Peter James Hudson is described as: humble, courageous, honest, and sincere.
He unselfishly devoted himself to the interests of his race and the preservation of their history and lore.
(Source: Drury College Bulletin, September 1939)
Peter James Hudson is here pictured with the Tuskahoma Female Academy Faculty in the late 1800s
"Peter J. Hudson came to Tuskahoma to assume the superintendency of the Tuskahoma Female Academy in 1892.
Mr. Hudson was a great leader and teacher among his people under the Choctaw Government and is today considered the leader of the Choctaws.
Mr. Hudson, upon leaving the Tuskahoma school, was elected National Auditor of the Choctaws, which position he held until 1912, when the office was abolished by Act of Congress.
In recent years, Mr. Hudson was associated with the Historical Society of Oklahoma at Oklahoma City where he contributed valuable history pertaining to the Choctaw Government.
His name will go down in history as one of the greatest Choctaws who ever lived." http://www.okgenweb.org/~okpushma/newspaper/choctaw-councilhouse.htm
The Spouse of Peter James Hudson:
Amanda Jane Bohanan
Amanda Jane was Born on April 15th 1874 and passed from this life on Nov 5th 1963.
Her Dawes Roll number was #5483 and she was listed as 1/2 blood Choctaw
Amanda Jane and Peter James Hudson were married on Aug. 16, 1892 in Whitesboro, Near Talihina, Indian Territory.
Her Father was: Samuel Henry Bohanan a Presbyterian minister (Born 1840)
Her Mother was: Margaret Susan Woods (Born 1841)
She is pictured here to the left with her Husband Peter James Hudson standing by the Choctaw Council House in the 1920s
The Children of Peter James Hudson and Amanda Jane Hudson
This picture was taken in 1908 and shows all the then living children of Peter James and Amanda Jane Hudson. Amanda was pregnant with the twins Elna and Edna when this picture was taken or would soon be, as they were both born in 1908. Their 9th child Russell Berson was born in 1911. A 10th child had died only two days after birth in 1900. The names and ages of the children pictured above are as follows as best I can surmise: Left to Right: Front row: Preston Eugene 13, Goldie Waurika 3, Helen Amanda 15, Left to Right Back row: Peter Jay 5, Irene Mildred 11, Nathan Hale 7.
Picture Source: http://sirismm.si.edu/naa/baegn/gn_01082.jpg
#1 Helen Amanda
Born: October 10, 1893 - Dawes #5485; Census Card #1923; she was enrolled at age 9 and was ¾ blood quantum. She died on September 29th 1976. She was married to Newton Hickman Hooser on October 12th 1911 in Belzoni, Oklahoma by E.M. McArther at the Missionary Baptist Church in Belzoni, Oklahoma. She was 18 and he was 22 years old when they married and their witnesses were R.W. Nelson & Ethel Nelson. Newton Hickman Hooser was Born on January 24, 1889 and died on September 13, 1956.
Helen Amanda Hudson (pictured in center of the picture below) passed from this life on September 29, 1976 in Talihina, Latimer County, Oklahoma. She attended school at the Tuskahoma Female Academy and was a homemaker.
She married Newton Hickman Hooser and their children were: Hickman Hudson Hooser (pictured below far right), Eugenia Melissa Hooser (not pictured), Ernestine Hunkapillar Hooser (Far Left), Ernest Hooser (Left of Hickman), R.D. Hooser (not pictured) and John Archie Hooser (Right of Ernestine).
Grandchildren: Mona Marie Hooser, Marilyn Joy Hooser, Rosemary Hooser, Darryl Reed Hunkapillar, Carlette Sue Hunkapillar, Terry Dan Hunkapillar, Patricia Ann Hooser, Carl Ernest Hooser, Redman Dean Hooser, Russell Berson Hooser, Hoitema Hooser, Paul Earl Hooser and John Philip Hooser.
Children of Helen Amanda & Newton Hickman Hooser
#1 Hickman Hudson
He was born in 1911 and died 1968
He married Nell Marie Lambert who was born in 1921 and died in 1987
#2 Eugenia Melissa
She was born in 1914 and died in 1938
Child
Rosemary
Born: 5/01/1934
Died: 12/09/2013
Rosemary Hooser, 79, of Clayton, passed away Dec. 9, 2013, in Fort Smith, Ark. She was born in Tuskahoma on May 1, 1934, a daughter of the late Eugeinia Hooser.
Rosemary had a masters degree in administration and supervision and worked in education serving as both a teacher and principal for several different school systems. She also worked for the Choctaw Nation in several capacities from 1985 until she retired as Hospital Administrator at Choctaw Nation Health Care Clinic on Dec. 31, 1999.
Rosemary is survived by sons, David Rowe, of Allen, Texas, and Arthur Richison of Clayton; daughter Mary H. Richison of Clayton; grandsons, Judson Rowe and Hue B. Hughes; granddaughter Erin Rowe; great-granddaughters, Harley B. Hughes and Madysin Rose Hughes; uncle John A. with wife Lucille Hooser of Clayton; and aunt Ernestine Hunkipillar of Broken Bow; and numerous cousins, other relatives and friends.
Rosemary is preceded in death by her mother; grandparents, Newt and Helen Hooser, who raised her; and two uncles, Ernest Hooser and RD Hooser.
#3 Ernestine (Twin)
She was born on October 8th 1917 - Born in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma
She married Lucian Carl Hunkapillar who was born in 1917 and died in 2003
Obituary of Ernestine Hooser Hunkapillar
Ernestine Hunkapillar, 96, passed away Monday, September 8, 2014 in Dallas, Texas.
She was born October 8, 1917, in Tuskahoma, OK. to Newt Hooser and Helen Hudson Hooser. She received her Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education from Oklahoma A&M, Stillwater, OK. She was a member of the Talihina BPW for many years and was a member of the Choctaw Nation Historical Society and served as treasurer. Ernestine taught school for many years mostly in Talihina but in several different places.
She was preceded in death by her Parents, son Terry Dan Hunkapillar, Great Grandchild Tye Ford McGehee, Brothers; Hickman Hooser, Ernest Hooser, and R.D. Hooser, Sister Eugenia Hooser and Niece Rosemary Hooser.
At the time of her death, she was survived by Son Darryl R. Hunkapillar and wife Beverly of Summit, MS. Daughter Carlette Sue Vadnais and husband Mike of Broken Bow, OK. Daughter in Law Nelda Hunkapillar of Broken Bow, OK. and Grand children, Larry Hunkapillar and wife Deborah, Roger Hunkapillar and wife Niki, Chad Vadnais and wife Michelle, Moni Vadnais and wife Andrea, Trent Hunkapillar and wife Stacey, Darren Hunkapillar and wife Cortney, Valarie McGehee and husband Bill, Felicia Jewell and Husband Josh, Danny Moore and wife Margaret, Travis Moore and wife Molly, Jason Moore and Jarrett Moore. Sixteen Great Grandchildren and one on the way. Her brother John Archie and wife Lucille Hooser of Clayton, OK. and numerous other relatives and friends.
Her funeral will be held 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, September 11, 2014, at the Talihina First United Methodist Church with Brother Baker officiating. Interment will follow at the A.L. Stephens Cemetery in Clayton under the direction of Burkhart Funeral Service of Talihina.
#4 Ernest (Twin)
He was born on October 8th 1917 - Born in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma
Ernest passed on May 22, 2012
Spouse:
Helen (Woolard)
Helen was born on Oct 11th 1921 and passed away on Jan 18th 2005. She was a Nurse and a Painter. She painted 2,601 paintings with the last one not being completed at time of her death...It was title "Unfinished"
Ernest Hooser, was a resident of Durant, and was nominated from the Durant Senior Center.
He was born October 8, 1917, in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma, to Hickman and Helen Hudson Hooser. He was an active member of Elderhostle at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
He has hosted groups of as many as 40 in studies of Choctaw language, history and heritage, Making fieldtrips to Goodland, Wheelock and other historical sites within the Choctaw Nation.
Mr. Hooser has also visited elementary and high school classes discussing Choctaw heritage, history and language.
Recently, he had visited the Red River Information Center, informing visitors about the State of Oklahoma, Indians and serving Indian food.
His hobby was photography and he was a member of Durant Chamber of Commerceʼs Red Coat Ambassadors.
He was also a member of Gideonʼs International, whose objective is to help their fellow man spiritually, distributing one million Bibles every eight days to 170 nations.
A veteran and a valuable elder, Ernest stated,
“I am proud to be Choctaw.”
This wonderful watercolor above of Ernest Hooser can be seen and read about its creation at this link here: http://kathysturch.com/blog/4270/Amazing-Grace-was-the-Peoples-Choice-Award
Children:
Carl Ernest
Born: August 29th 1942
Spouse: LouAnn (Blackerby) She was born May 2nd 1944
They were married on August 5th 1967 in Hobbs New Mexico
Children:
Patrica Ann
Born July 8th 1941
Spouse:
Leonard Lee Morgan
Born July 4th 1939
Married on July 30th 1960
#5 R.D. (Doc)
1st wife was Mable Gorman
2nd Wife was Martha Lee Long who passed away in 2001
#6 John Archie
Born August 22nd, 1924
Spouse:
Lucille Spencer
Born June 16, 1924 - Died April 20, 2020
John Archie Hooser, a U.S. Navy veteran, attended Eastern State College, Southeastern State College, and Oklahoma State University where he earned his masterʼs degree and did his graduate work. He began his career as an educator in 1952, then as educator/administrator until his retirement.
He began his second career as a supervisor on Veterans Education and is involved with many community activities, including president of Pushmataha County Retired Educators, board member of Clayton City Council, Clayton Cemetery Board, and Cartwright Memorial Library.
He is a member of First Baptist Church in Clayton and serves on the finance committee.
Hooser is also a member of Frisco Baptist Association group, a group known as “Nail Benders,”who helps build and repair churches.
He is also involved with the Lions Club.
During the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City, he gave a paper that may be used for the upcoming State of Oklahoma 100 years celebration, “The Mission of Peter J. Hudson for Education, Religion, History and the Choctaw Tribe,” a story about his papa.
Hooser has attended many leadership opportunities at Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Florida State University, University of Maryland, Las Vegas, and University of Colorado.
His awards and honors include National Membership Chairman for National Science Teachers Association, President of Council State Science Supervisors and the Missouri Science Educators Award.
He had two publications, “Editorial,” Science Teacher, January 1970, and “To the Science Teachers of Missouri,” Missouri Science News, April 1970.
He has or had professional and academic association memberships: National Science Teachers Association, lifetime membership; Council State Science Supervisors, Phi Delta Kappa, and Science Teachers of Missouri.
Obituary for Lucille Hooser
On Monday, April 20th, 2020, Lucille Hooser passed from this life into eternity with her Lord.
Lucille was born June 16th, 1924, the first child of Mack and Effie Spencer in Dunbar, Oklahoma. She grew up in the area attending Clayton High School, where she was honored as the Valedictorian. At age 20, she married John A. Hooser, who had attended Tuskahoma High.
Lucille was able to get enough college and training to begin a career that she loved, teaching. She eventually attained her Bachelors Degree at Southeastern in Durant and did post graduate work at Southwestern in Weatherford. Her initial teaching experience was at Stanley, Oklahoma, where she taught grades 1-8, all in one classroom. Husband John joined her in teaching and their professions took them to Lenapah, Stillwater and Morrison, Oklahoma, and then on to Jefferson City, Missouri. While in Missouri in 1980, Lucille's love for teaching was ended after she suffered viral encephalitis and hepatitis C. Her immune system wouldn't allow her to be engaged with her students, but she did however return to teaching bible study here in Clayton at the First Baptist Church after John retired and they moved back to John's boyhood home. Once a teacher, always a teacher. On December 28th, 2019, John and Lucille celebrated their 75th Anniversary with family and friends.
Lucille is survived by her husband, John and their three children; Hoitema, Paul and Philip. She has four grandchildren; Holly Barker, Lindsay Newkirk, Sara Sarles, and Emily Hooser. She was also blessed with four great grandchildren; Caleb and Addyson Barker and Natalie and Caroline Newkirk. Additionally Lucille leaves behind her brother, Tommy Joe Spencer and sister, Pauline Elliott.
She was preceded in death by her parents, sister, Odessa Cox, and brother, Gary Don Spencer.
All that have known Lucille whether friend, family or student, knew the same person. She was loving, kind, gentle and caring for all that crossed her path. She loved teaching. She loved cooking. She loved her family. She loved her students and she loved her God. Shortly before passing, after recovering form the use of a ventilator in Dallas, some of her first words upon recovering her speech were "I Love Everybody."
Visitation will be on Friday, April 24th, 2020 from 2PM-6PM at McCarn Funeral Service in Talihina, Oklahoma. Keep in mind, we are only allowed 10 people in the facility at a time.
Graveside services will be on Saturday, April 25th, 2020 at 11:00AM at A L Stephens Cemetery in Clayton, Oklahoma with Bro. James Easley officiating. Please remember we are still under the social distancing order and only allowed immediate family of 10 people at the service. Services are under the direction of McCarn Funeral Service of Talihina, Oklahoma.
John Archie Hooser married Lucille Spencer in 1944 and they have three children.
Children
#1 John Philip
Born in 1961
#2 Hoitema
born in 1946
#3 Paul Earl
born in 1953
John Archie Hooser grew up at a simpler time
in the heart of Choctaw country, in Clayton near the Tvshka Homma
capitol grounds. He is the youngest child
of the late Newt Hooser and late Helen
(Hudson) Hooser.
He said, in his 90 years, he has lived
a life where you would just had to have
followed him around to fully understand.
He would tell you about it anyway.
Hooser was born on Aug. 22, 1924, in a
house still important to him.
“If you come down that road about a
mile and a quarter,”
Hooser said recently, pointing out from his seat at a local
Clayton diner, “Make two 90-degree
turns, and the white house up there on
the left with the reddest roof you could
ever imagine, that’s where I was born.
That was my momma’s Indian-allotted
land.”
Hooser recalled his mother telling him
he was born on the hottest day she had
ever seen. His mother also explained
a local, Dr. Huckabee, came out to the
house in a buggy to perform the delivery
when there wasn’t much road for the
trip.
Hooser said he grew up when bread
was a dime and you rode horseback,
because that’s all there was—there were
automobiles, but they were for rich folks.
He recalls the tree he used to secure his
horse when coming into town, and remembers trips with his family
by teamand-wagon.
Speaking of his family growing up,
Hooser said they grew a crop to supply
feed for the cattle and horses. He had
five siblings, three brothers and two sisters.
He had spent some free time riding
and roping.
“I always had a dog by my side,”
Hooser said. “Spike, a German police
dog, was one of my dogs. I would take
the dog with me to get the mail and let
the dog put the mail in its mouth to carry
home.”
The Hooser family was a live-off-theland sort of people.
But his parents also
saw education as a very important thing.
“Even though my mother and father
did not have a strong education,” he
said, “they were of the mind that their
children should better themselves by
having an education.”
Education had already played an
important role in the Hooser family line,
even before John was born.
His grandfather, Peter Hudson, was at one point the
superintendent of the Tvshka Homma
Female Institute. Grandfather Hudson
got an early start academically after being handpicked by the chief at the time
to travel outside of Indian Territory to
earn an education—a story John Hooser
would gladly pass on.
Speaking of his grandfather Hudson,
Hooser said, “He got about a sixth-grade
education, then the Choctaws decided
they needed members of their tribe to be
educated so they could help in the days
to come. They selected about 10 people,
and my grandfather Peter J. Hudson was
one of them.”
After a horseback ride from Eagletown,
Oklahoma to Missouri, his grandfather
found his education at an academy now
called Drury University.
Hooser would unintentionally mime
the academic actions of his grandfather
Hudson. After earning a high school
diploma from the Tvshka Homma
School, serving in the Navy, working in
the lumber industry, then attending both
Southeastern Oklahoma State University
and Oklahoma State University, Hooser
made an academic exodus to Missouri.
“I went to Missouri, and it was only
supposed to be for three years,” he said.
“I was there 28 years. OSU offered me a
job here teaching chemistry and botany,
full fellowship. But the state of Missouri
tripled my salary if I led their science
education. So I went to Missouri.”
Before the big move, however, Hooser
met his wife, Lucille. The two had been
near each other as strangers since high
school. John attended Tvshka Homma
and Lucille attended rival school Clayton.
They met later while attending
Eastern Oklahoma State College in
Wilburton. The two moved to Missouri
and dedicated their lives and careers to
education.
During his long stint as an educator,
Hooser’s work was noticed and
rewarded. He said he got involved in
science education nationally and was
elected president of the Council of State
Science Supervisors. This position had
him playing a key role in directing and
improving school science programs. He
travelled across the U.S. inspecting their
science programs and working to make
them better.
John and Lucille had three children,
each carrying on the torch of education
started by their great-grandfather Hudson.
Daughter Hoitema went to Missouri
to study and become a nurse, taking
similar steps to her father and greatgrandfather.
Son Paul is now a professional golfer. Son Philip is a professional
actor, playwright, and director.
In 1991, once John and Lucille Hooser
reached the time of retirement, they
wanted to come back home.
“Our daughter didn’t see why we would
come back at the time,” Hooser said,
“but I told her, Hoitema, that’s home.”
By home, he meant on his mother’s allotted land, at the white house up on the
left with the reddest roof you could ever
imagine—where he was born.
Now, Hooser spends his time caring
for his land, talking the ears off Clayton
locals, and working to make his community and his tribe better.
“I volunteered my time when I retired,
I’m 90 years old,” Hooser said. “I told
both chiefs [Pyle and Batton] I was going
to give the rest of my life to my tribe. So
whatever I can do, I’ll do.”
Dedicating his time to serve others is a
trait Hooser picked up from his parents,
and it has been with him his entire life.
He said he keeps a particular lesson his
parents taught him close.
“Both of my parents were honest,
and they taught us to be helpful. My
dad taught me the best lesson,” Hooser
explained from the corner table of his
hometown diner. “He never refused
anyone in need. My father gave to people
when he hardly had anything to give, but
that’s the kind of fellow he was. And I
live by that… Now, I’m going to have a
piece of cake.”
The Children of Peter James and Amanda Jane Hudson continued
#2 Preston Eugene
Born: January 25, 1895 - Died: January 12, 1958 - Dawes #5486; Census Card #1923; enrolled at age 7 and was ¾ blood quantum.
He never married.
Preston fought in WWI and I found this statment in a book that talks about him and quotes him.
"At times other people had to send in the requested information, as vetrans were sometimes reluctant to talk about themselves.
William H. Ketcham, director of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, wrote to Dixon regarding Preston E. Hudson (Choctaw), who served in the U.S. Air Service: "Although Preston delights in telling his experiences in the war, he does not court notoriety...he considers that he did nothing more than the other boys who served in the 7th Balloon Company."
Hudson enlisted, seeing action in three battles, but he was not wounded."
Source: William H Ketcham to Dixon. Feb. 25, 1920; Preston E. Hudson questionnaire, n.d., both Wanamaker Documentation.
#3 Irene Mildred Hudson (Heard)
Born: November 12, 1897 - Died: July 27, 1998 - Dawes #5487; Census Card #1923; issued age 5 ¾ blood quantum
Spouse:
Dewey Karrington Heard
Children:
#1 Betty Jane (Watson)
#2 Edna Suzanne
The Life of Irene Hudson (Heard)
As told by her Daughters Betty and Suzanne in the book "Life And Times of the Choctaw: Original Enrollees"
Halito! It is our privilege and pleasure to share information about the life and heritage of our Mother, Irene Hudson (Heard), who is an original enrollee of the great Choctaw Nation.
Nobody was surprised when Harry J.W. Belvin, Chief of the Choctaw Nation, officially commissioned Irene Mildred Hudson (Heard) as Goodwill Ambassador for the Choctaw Nation in 1973. Nobody, that is, except Irene.
Considered by her peers as the Choctaws best public relations woman, the soft-spoken Haileville grandmother accepted the honor as she conducted her life with grace, modesty, and good humor.
If ever there were a Belle of the Kiamichi Mountain area, it would be Irene Hudson, a direct descendant of James Hudson, who was the brother of George Hudson, the Principal Chief from 1860 to 1862, whose council formed the symbol of the Great Seal of the Choctaw Nation.
She was one of the best-known women in Southeastern Oklahoma, and Irene lived under 18 U.S. Presidents.
She is admired for her infectious, smile, her kindness, her love of education, and her devotion to family.
Born November 12, 1897, at Lyceum, Indian Territory, when William McKinley was President, Irene is the third oldest of ten children.
Her father was Peter J. Hudson, a pure blood Choctaw and nephew of Chief George Hudson.
Peter is credited with teaching the English language to more Indian children then any other person.
He became a legend in education work as it pertains to the tribes, but he himself first had to overcome great odds.
"My father was taken out of the wilderness by an Indian agent and couldn’t speak a word of English, Irene recalls.
He told me how hard it was for him and that I had a big head start on him in my education."
To be continued....
The Obituary of Irene Mildred Hudson
Irene Mildred Hudson (Heard) age 100, of Haileyville, passed away Monday, July 27, 1998, in McAlester, Oklahoma.
Irene was born November 12, 1897 at the Tuskahoma Female Academy, Indian Territory.
She was the daughter of Peter James Hudson and Amanda Jane (Bohanan) Hudson.
She attended Haskell Institute at Lawrence, Kansas and later the Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, and Southeastern State College at Durant, Oklahoma.
She worked as a sales lady and alterations for J.C. Penney's in McAlester and taught school at Adamson and Haileyville before retiring from Jones Academy in Hartshorne.
She was a member of the Edgewood Methodist Church were she was an organist and Sunday school teacher working with the youth.
She was a 60-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star, currently Antekoma Chapter No. 2.
She was an original enrollee of the Choctaw Treble, a former member of the Ohoyohoma Indian Women's Club of McAlester, a Choctaw delegate of the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes; she served two terms as President, Vice President and Chaplain of the Pittsburg County Choctaw Council and a member of the Oklahoma Federation of Indian Women.
She was a current member of the Jones Academy School Board and served as Chairman in 1977-78.
She served on the Choctaw Election Board in 1971, 1975 and 1978 and was on the Board of Directors of the Foster Grandparent Program and was the Goodwill Ambassador of the Choctaw Tribe.
She was named one of three "Outstanding Indian Women of Oklahoma; and named International Mother of the Year, an award presented by representatives of ten foreign countries.
She was the first woman Honorary Highway Patrol Trooper in Oklahoma, served on the Health board at Talihina Choctaw Nation Hospital, and was past President of the Hartshorne-Haileyville Parent and Teachers Association.
Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating declared July 29, 1998 as Irene M. Heard day in remembrance of her many contributions to others.
She had lived for 80 years in Pittsburgh.
Her parents, her husband, brothers and sisters, and a special son-in-law, Charles Wayne Watson, preceded her in death. Survivors include her daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
The Children of Peter James and Amanda Jane Hudson continued
#4 Flora
(Died an infant)
Born: January 26, 1900 Died: January 28, 1900
#5 Nathan Hale
Born: March 02, 1901 - Died: January 30, 1953 - Dawes #5488; Census Card #1923; enrolled at age 2, listed as ¾ blood quantum
#6 Peter Jay
Born: February 16, 1903 - Died: April 26, 1936 - Dawes NB #928; Census Card #1025; enrolled at age 2, listed as ¾ blood quantum
#7 Goldie Waureka
Born: February 09, 1905 - Died: January 12, 1983 - (Minor Choctaws) Dawes #579; Census Card #714; enrolled at age 1, listed as ¾ blood quantum
Spouse:
John Isaac Workman
Born August 30th 1892
Children:
#1 Bobby Lee
#2 Leslie
#8 Elna (Twin)
Born: Jan. 30th 1908 in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma - Died: June 22, 1974
Spouse:
Howard Todd
#9 Edna Tuskahoma (Twin)
Born: Jan. 30th 1908 in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma - Died: Nov 1st 1990
Obituary of Edna Tuskahoma Hudson
Edna Tuskahoma Hudson, 82, of Tuskahoma died Friday, November 2 1990 at Wilburton.
Funeral services were held Monday, November 5, at Tuskahoma Methodist Church with Rev. Paul Overholt officiating.
Interment was at the Old Town Cemetery, Tuskahoma, under direction of Mills Funeral Home, Hartshorne.
Miss Hudson was born Jan. 30, 1908 in Tuskahoma, the daughter of Peter James and Amanda Jane (Bohanan) Hudson. She had lived the majority of her life in Tuskahoma.
She was retired from Douglas Aircraft Co. at Tinker Field and was a member of Tuskahoma Methodist Church.
Her parents, four brothers and four sisters preceded her in death.
Survivors (at the time of her death) include a sister, Irene Heard of Haileyville; 11 nieces and nephews, Johnny Fite of Wilburton, Margaret Richardson and Bob Workman, both of McAlester, P.J. Workman of Watonga, Ernest Hooser of Durant, Ernestine Hunkapillar of Talihina, John Archie Hooser of Jefferson City, Missouri, Rosemary Hooser of Broken Bow, Marcella Presson of Oklahoma City, Betty Watson of Mont Belvieu, Texas, Susan Heard of Haileyville and several grand nieces and nephews.
Pallbearers were Sonny Southard, Dennis Holland, James Bailey, Jimmy Meshaya, T.J. Fite and Bill Richardson.
The Children of Peter James and Amanda Jane Hudson continued...
#10 Russell Berson Hudson
Born: November 21st 1911 - Died: January 18th 1990
Married: Ethel Eureka Bohanan
Born: November 20th 1910 - Died January 22, 1986
They are both burried at A. L. Stephens Memorial Park
Clayton, Pushmataha County, Oklahoma.
The Recollections of Peter James Hudson
I understand that Miss Ellen Howell, daughter of Rhoda Pitchlynn, sister of Peter. P. Pitchlynn (later Principal Choctaw Chief) gave me the name Peter in honor of her uncle Peter P. Pitchlynn.
I was born in 1861 at the Stockbridge or Iyanvbbi Mission (School).
All the men had gone to war and my mother (Ahobatema) was taking care of the buildings of the Mission when I was born.
Mr. Cyrus Byington was still there, as I was told that that he doctored me for some ailment when I was a baby.
He left (to Ohio) in 1867.
The Choctaws in Mississippi were very clannish. The Apehka Clan made an effort to stay together at the time of the immigration.
My mother (Ahobatema) was an Apehka, so according to Choctaw custom I belong to the clan to which my mother belonged and am therefore an Apehka instead of a Haiyip Atukla, the clan to which my father belonged.
Upon immigrating to this country (now Oklahoma) my father (James Hudson) settled just across the road to the south from the home of Cyrus Byington, and he was a co-worker with Mr. Byington as long as Cyrus lived there (in Eagletown).
When I was very young we lived about one mile north of the Byington home on Luksukla Creek where his field was.
'Luksukla' means 'Turtle People'.
My father's brother, George Hudson, upon arriving in the Choctaw Nation, settled in the vicinity of Bethabara, and later died there.
His home can be seen to the left of the highway (Highway 70) (as you go West) on the West bank of the Mountain Fork River, and his grave is on the right side of the road going east.
When we were living north of Cyrus Byington’s home when I was 4 or 5 years old (1865) I remember hearing that George Hudson was dead.
He was born in 1808 and died in October or November at the age of 57.
He was the first 'Principal Chief' of the new Choctaw Nation (under the Doaksvile Constitution) in 1860 and was called by the Choctaws "Miko Sipokni" meaning "Old King".
When I was 6 years old (1867) I started school at Stockbridge, which was about one mile southwest of our home on Luksukla Creek.
Roada Pitchlynn, sister of Peter P. Pitchlynn, was my first teacher.
She opened the school buildings; being the first time they had been used since the Civil War started (1861-1862) and the buildings were all run down.
I came to school with bare feet and no hat.
In the later part of that year I remember going from the Byington home to school, so for that reason I believe my father had just bought the house in 1867.
Below is a hand-drawn sketch of the home by Peter James Hudson
The Cyrus Byington homestead, which the Hudson family lived in from 1867 until it burned down in 1905, stood on a knoll, and one could see for ten miles to the North.
It is said that when Cyrus came to this settlement in 1836, the Choctaw Indians got together and helped him build the house, which was a story and a half, (made) out of logs.
It had one large chimney made out of rock with a room on each side of the chimney, making a fireplace in each room.
There was another room attached to the North side of the main room.
The middle room was a big sitting room.
The House faced southwest, with a porch across the three rooms on the West.
The room on the North side was cut up into small rooms, dining room, storeroom, etc.
The whole house was under one roof.
A stairway went straight up to the chimney and then turned to the right to go to one room, and to the left to go to the other room, and another stairway went from the North room to the room above it.
About one hundred yards North of the house was a big barn built out of split pine logs, with a hayloft.
There was a smokehouse near the house, also built of logs; also a well and other outhouses.
Between the front of the house and the Little Rock Military Road, there was a fine orchard.
It was not large but contained a variety of fruit trees, apples, peaches, pears, plums, etc., which bore an abundance of fruit each year.
This was an ideal location for a home.
It was in this home that Cyrus Byington worked, translating (the Choctaw Dictionary and other Choctaw Language books, the Choctaw Old & New Testaments among other books), preaching, doctoring, etc.
He had three or four churches (that he started in the area.)
He remained there until he was an old man.
The Civil War came on but Mr. Byington remained until 1867.
As I said before my father bought the home of Cyrus Byington (which has been examined) and we lived there until we children became grown and scattered.
The house burned down in 1905.
There is a pile of rocks where the house once stood that can be seen from the highway (Highway 70) on the right hand side of the road as you go West.
Forty acres of the old Byington/Hudson homestead & farm was allotted to Jackson Hudson my older brother.
He died about 6 years ago (1926) and then I had about a 6/th interest in it.
That forty acres was sold with the understanding, and it was so stated in the deed, that at any time the heirs wanted to place markers on the ground to show where Cyrus Byington lived, it could be done.
Cyrus Byington died in Ohio in 1868. (One year after he sold the home to the Hudson family)
The Choctaws called Cyrus Byington, 'Lapish Olahanchi' which means 'keeping (the) horn blowing', from the fact that all the churches used a cow horn to be blown to bring the Indians to Church at the right time.
Peter James Hudson's recollections continued
My father James Hudson was an Elder (in the Presbyterian Church) all his life and visited all the Churches in the area.
My father was born in Mississippi and immigrated to this area when he was about twenty years of age (in 1831 on the trail of tears).
He died on October 24th 1875.
Note: According to John James, a School Teacher at Eagletown from 1884 to 1888, Judge James Hudson was then living when he took the work as Teacher of the Choctaw Children in 1884. He speaks a number of times of James Hudson and even quotes something he said to him during his stay in Eagletown as found in his book titled ‘My Experience with Indians’ authored by John James and which was published in 1925.
One time he took me with him on horse back to Hochatown, 15 miles north of the mountain fork river.
I rode behind him and there being no wagon road, we went along the trail-way over the mountainous countryside.
The trail-way went by what was known as Conser Slate Mine.
We stayed one Saturday night with Timothy Jefferson and the next morning, Sunday; we went to the Hochatown Church where my father preached.
Hochatown was a full blood Choctaw settlement of about twelve families.
My father used to have many cattle and hogs.
Our home was the meeting place of all the Choctaws in the neighborhood.
I have seen as many as twenty-five eat at our table in one sitting.
Sometimes they would stay all night, sometimes a week, and my father never objected.
I remember grinding corn in a hand mill to make bread, with one of the little orphans, Simon Colbert, whom my father reared, helped me.
We had to grind corn until all the guests were fed and then we ate at the last table.
As we lived on the old Military Road, many people passing by stopped to fellowship with us.
We lived on beef, corn bread, milk and a cup of coffee in little tin cups.
A biscuit was given to us only on Sunday morning because of difficulty of getting flour from the market at Paris, Texas.
We were always anxious for Sunday to come so that we could have a biscuit.
We use to play marbles and we would bet biscuits on the games.
I remember two full blood Choctaws from Hochatown who spent the night with us.
They had been to Arkansas trading and had been caught in a storm on the road trip.
One of them had buckskin leggings on and that was the first and last time I ever saw a Choctaw wearing buckskin leggings, and we children stood around and watched him with much curiosity.
When I was about 7 years old a man came to our house.
My father and mother were out at the time and we thought he was a white man and we were scared.
My sister (Harriet), in his presence, said in Choctaw, "No can’t white man come into our country."
When my father came in they started talking in Choctaw and we children quietly slipped out.
The man was Isaac Garvin, a half-breed, and his wife; Melvina was my mother's (Ahobatema's) sister.
Later in 1872, my mother and I spent the night at his home, which was located 4 miles south of Wheelock Academy.
He was principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation in 1878 and dying in office in 1880.
In 1869 (when Peter was 8 years old) Charles Cook Copeland, one of the early Choctaw Missionaries, stayed all night with us on his way to Arkansas and the next morning he performed the marriage ceremony of my sister, Harriet Hudson, to Thomas Amos.
As a child, my occupation was to work on the 48 acre farm, to kill birds with bow and arrow, hunt deer, turkey, coon, possum, skunk, beavers, and fox with old muskets which we picked up after the Confederate soldiers threw them away when the Civil War was over.
I can remember when I was a child, thirty years after immigration (from Mississippi), that there was much wild game, deer, wild ducks, wild turkeys, wild pigeons, wild hogs, wild cattle, coons, squirrels, opossum, fish etc. The Choctaws called Eagletown "Ossi Tamaha."
Just down the hill from where the Eagle County Court House stood there stands a Cypress Tree, which is said to be the largest tree in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The Little Rock Military road ran right by it.
The Tree shown here in a 1930 picture...Notice the man standing in front.
Notes: "Near this Choctaw Chief's (Jefferson Gardner) 1880 home is a 2,000 year old Cypress tree known as a landmark to early Choctaws traveling the Trail of Tears."
Source: http://204.87.108.4/toDo/attractionsDetail.asp?id=1+5U+5105
"On the grounds of this Choctaw chief's (Jefferson Gardner) 1880 home is a 2,000-year old Cypress tree killed by lightning in 1982"
"Home of Choctaw chief Jefferson Gardner circa. 1880) And a 2,000-year-old bald cypress tree that marked the end of the Trail of Tears for the Choctaw."
When speaking of Eagletown, I mean a settlement of about two miles square there being no town except a Post Office, Depot and General Store of approximately 17,000 Choctaw emigrants coming from the state of Mississippi, many of them entered Indian Territory at Eagletown for the reason that it was the nearest point or gateway from the state of Mississippi to the new Choctaw Country.
Each Immigration started in the fall and severe winter weather found them on the road, transportation was poor, supplies were hard to get, so when they reached Eagletown they were nearly starved and frozen and many were ill.
So, of course, when they found they were in Indian Territory they stopped to recuperate.
And there was much wild game in the country.
I played the traditional Choctaw ball game. (Stickball)
Nature provided for our needs in hogs and cattle. We had ponies to ride.
These all took care of themselves in the winter in canebrakes at the rivers edge.
Great forests produced acorns every year to which millions of wild pigeons and wild ducks came to feed in the fall.
When the day was over we used to sleep, the sleep of the innocent.
When I was about nine years old, my father took me to an Indian ball game between Eagle and Red River Counties.
The Old Missionaries taught the Choctaws that it was a sin to play or even watch a ball game.
My father was an Elder of the Church and at that time he was Judge of Eagle County.
He said that he had some business with a Choctaw who was to be at this ball game.
The only thing I remember is that the people were all gathered on the prairie where the game was to be played and a man went and sat down.
He wore a long thin black coat and spread an umbrella over his head. That was the first time I ever saw an umbrella.
I asked who he was and they told me it was Hopaiishvbbi.
I have heard (learned) since (then) that George Hudson's first wife was the sister of Hopaiishvbbi.
In 1874 (when I was 13), my father (who was a member of the Board of Commissioners to enroll net claimants, upon returning from a session of that board held at the home of Burnett Davenport in Cedar County) stopped at Spencer Academy and picked me up.
We had to ride the same horse, and on the road 4 miles west of Doaksville we met Coleman Cole, who was then a candidate for Principal Chief.
He was an old man then and was riding a little mule.
That was the first time I ever saw him.
I remember him asking my father who he was going to support for the Principle Chief but do not remember what my father told him.
Cole was later elected Chief.
Just before the election of 1892, when Wilson Jones and Jacob Jackson were candidates for Principal Chief, the latter as a member of the National or 'Buzzard' Party and the former as a member of the Progressive or 'Eagle' Party, it being on the first Wednesday in August, I met three Choctaws at Nashoba; William Garland, Watson Leflore, and John Wilkin called 'Haksi'.
John Wilkin had been drinking, the others had not.
Upon meeting, John Wilkin walked up to the left side of my horse and began to talk to me about politics, accusing me of being an Eagle (which I was) and then bantering me for a fight.
The more he talked the worse he got and finally grabbed my Winchester which I had in a scabbard on the left side of my horse, pulling it out with his left hand and throwing it into a right hand position as if to shot, when his two companions came to my rescue, one grabbing the point of the gun and the other the trigger, and held him.
They persuaded him to give my gun to me, which he finally did, putting it in the scabbard himself.
In November of 1897, my older brother Washington 'Wash' Hudson, and my brother-in-law Thomas Amos, was killed.
They had been to De Queen, Arkansas on business and were on the way back home late in the evening, unarmed, when attacked by Foster Fobb and Jonas James.
Wash Hudson was killed instantly, but Thomas Amos was able to drive two miles to Buck Creek where He died.
I suppose that is why they call the valley where they died 'Death Valley' today.
The spot where my brother was killed is about one hundred yards from the Highway (Highway 70) on the right side as you come from DeQueen.
On one occasion while traveling this trail-way to Hochatown, on reaching a flat wooded area a little before sundown, seeing three deer's and killing two of them, I placed them on my horse's back and continued towards Hochatown.
Upon meeting Pierce Homa, a full blood Choctaw who had hunted all day without killing any game, I gave him one of my deer.
Shown here at the bottom of the linked page is a Hand drawn map from Peter James Hudson of the Eagletown area during the years of the 1830s thru the early 1900s
The Obituary of Peter James Hudson
The Ft Towson Sentinel, October 28, 1938
Peter J. Hudson Buried Sunday:
Funeral services for Peter J. Hudson, 75 years old, will be held at Tuskahoma Sunday afternoon, after which burial will take place in the cemetery at the old capitol building near that city.
Mr. Hudson died Friday but no announcement was made as to the cause of his death.
He was one of the most outstanding and picturesque members of the old Choctaw tribe and was reckoned as one of the best-informed members of the tribe on the history of the Choctaw Indian.
In speaking of his passing, Judge Tom Hunter stated Saturday that Mr. Hudson knew more Choctaw history than any other member of the tribe and that it was regrettable that his information was not a matter of record.
Mr. Hudson is survived by several children and near relatives, the names of whom could not be learned.