Annie Gaines Mitchell

Annie (aka Anna) Gaines Mitchell was born 1 Jan 1881 in Texas (death cert and tombstone) to William M. Mitchell and Nettie E. Mathis or Mathews.

Here is a picture of Annie's parents, siblings, and Annie's daughter, Dovey (Lavada).




On 13 July 1899 Annie married my Great Grandfather, Emmerson Lee James (a full-blooded Chickasaw Indian), in Ardmore, Indian Territory.

When Annie was married, she received a special Lily from her mother--a family tradition. Here is an account about this tradition by my cousin, Leona Guthrie, "Outside the front door of Nettie's home was an unusual lily that she had been given by her mother when she married. When Nettie's two daughters [Annie and Myrtle] married, each was given a start of the lily. That lily bloomed in Tennessee before 1860, in Texas from 1870, it bloomed in Indian Territory when Nettie moved from Texas. In 1912 in Oklahoma it bloomed in Myrtle May's front yard and was taken with her to New Mexico in 1926 when her family moved there. It was in Hobbs, New Mexico that I first saw the lily bloom both in my grandmother Myrtle's front yard, and in my mother Lillie's front yard. Nettie, Myrtle and Lillie are all gone now, and the lily blooms in my own front yard. I have sent it to all the other branches of family that I have been in contact with through genealogy and it now blooms in six other states. I am living back in Oklahoma some miles from where Nettie's lily grew. When it blooms I smell the sweet perfume, and know that the women that came before me, and I have a common love and bond, and it smells like lilies." (Leona passed away in 2004. Our cousin, Eva Murphy, also has that Lily. She shared with me and I tried growing it in Utah, but it didn't make it through the winter.)

According to her death record, Annie was a housewife and she was white. (According to her daughter Thelma, Annie is part Irish and has a little bit of Cherokee blood. Thelma said William Mitchell had a little Indian in him.) Annie's death record says she resided in Oklahoma all her life and she was a Baptist.

Emerson and Annie must have faced considerable hardships--Annie gave birth to 10 children, and raised another, Phybee, as her own. Of these 11 children, only 4 lived to adulthood. Their first two children died before the age of 2 years old.

Their children were:

• Frank James--aka Frankie (male; b. 1901 in Mead, Bryan County, Indian Territory--Annie's mom Nettie was the midwife; d. 11 Jan 1903 in Aylesworth, Oklahoma; buried Yarborough Cemetery, Bryan County Oklahoma)--I have his probate records from 1905--he had about 160 acres of land valued at over $1,000, and Emmerson, the administrator, was entitled to all "rents and revenues". It said that Frank was a member of the Choctaw tribe--I'm not sure if that is a mistake or if there is something we don't know about.
• Albert Levi James (male, b. 4 Jun 1902, Aylesworth, Oklahoma--Annie's mom Nettie was the midwife; d. 25 Nov 1903 in Aylesworth, Oklahoma; buried Yarborough Cemetery, Bryan County Oklahoma)--I have his probate records from 1905--he had about 160 acres of land valued at over $1,000, and Emmerson, the administrator, was entitled to all "rents and revenues". It said that Albert was a member of the Choctaw tribe--I'm not sure if that is a mistake or if there is something we don't know about.
• Lavada Jewell James--aka Lavader & Dovey--see photo above (female, b. 29 Sep 1904, Aylesworth, Oklahoma; d. 19 Jan 1918, Aylesworth; buried Yarborough Cemetery, Bryan County Oklahoma)
• Harmon W. James (male, b. 27 Oct 1906, Aylesworth, Oklahoma; d. 9 Oct 1907 in Aylesworth; buried Yarborough Cemetery, Bryan County Oklahoma)
• Eller Mae James--aka Ella (female, b. 4 Jul 1908, Aylesworth, Oklahoma; d. 27 Aug 1921 in Aylesworth; buried Yarborough Cemetery, Bryan County Oklahoma)
• Alvin Asbon James (my grandpa) (b. 28 Dec 1910, Mead, Bryan County, Oklahoma; d. 11 Apr 1959, Lamesa, Dawson County, Texas; buried Ackerly Cemetery, Texas)--the first of their children to live into adulthood
• Alvieans James--aka Elvie, Alvin, Alvia, Ely (male; b. 12 Feb 1913, Mead, Bryan County, Oklahoma; d. 1 Jul 1922 in Mead--according to his sister Thelma, "Elvie" drowned)
• Thelma Ellon James--Married name: Carrol (female; b. 9 Jan 1915, Mead, Bryan County, Oklahoma; d. 3 Nov 2007 in Kingston, Oklahoma; buried 6 Nov 2007 in Lebanon Cemetery, Lebanon, Oklahoma)
• Emerson James, Jr. (male; b. 19 Jul 1917, Bryan County, Oklahoma; d. 10 Nov 1965, Bakersfield, California--died of a heart attack according to his daughter)
• Eastman James (male; b. 23 Jan 1920, Aylesworth, Oklahoma; d. 20 Apr 1923, Mead, Bryan County, Oklahoma; buried Yarborough Cemetery, Bryan County Oklahoma)
• Raised as their own: Phybee DeLois Lewis (female, b. 28 Mar 1928 in Madill, Oklahoma)--Phybee was raised by Annie Mitchell and Emerson James after her mother died when Phybee was about 18 months old. Phybee told me that she was never legally adopted, but Annie was her "mama". 

Other things I learned about Annie from other family members:

According to Betty James Chapman, Emerson's granddaughter (paraphrasing): "Aunt Phybee told me that Emerson was a leader in the community. He and Annie would have doctors, lawyers, etc. to eat and Annie was a good cook (Emerson and Annie had a cook stove and large table), a really caring woman.... They had cattle.

Note from Eva Murphy: one of Annie's children was killed in a hog pen.

Annie's Chickasaw Enrollment # is 4858 (need to locate).

Emerson was a farmer who grew all sorts of crops. They were wealthy at one time from oil revenues on their land. He shared with the poor. He liked to entertain "doctors". 

It appears from the census that Alvin lived next to Annie and Emerson in 1930.

According to Thelma's daughter Nadene, Annie delivered Nadene, Lorene, and Wilma when they were born.

Unfortunately, Annie's husband, Emerson suffered from alcoholism (according to many sources). He was unfaithful to her and he was frequently physically abusive to her when he was under the influence of alcohol. Aunt Thelma said he was never physically unkind to children, although Alvin's daughter Sue says Alvin received a "whipping" from Emerson even after Alvin was married.

Annie lost her husband in 1934. If I recall correctly what Thelma told me, Emerson contracted the pneumonia that lead to his death after a night of heavy drinking and other unseemly behavior, then passing out in his car and sleeping in the cold air all night long.

Annie died a few years later, at the age of 58, on 5 Jan 1939 in Mead Oklahoma. According to her death certificate, her cause of death was "Dropsy 'heart trouble'". According to her death record, her cause of death was diabetes and pneumonia. 

Annie is buried with Emerson and several of their children. They were originally buried in a James family cemetery, but their graves were moved by the government to the Yarborough Cemetery at the Colbert Boat Club in Bryan County, Oklahoma when Lake Texoma was created.

I have viewed census records for Emmerson and Annie from 1900 (Indian Territories) and 1910, 1920, and 1930 (all in Bryan County Oklahoma). It seems they stayed in the same general area most of their lives.

On census records, in the cemetery, etc., I keep coming upon the Jeffloe/Jethlo family next to the James family--Joe and Sallie Jethloe. I haven't been able to determine if there is any relationship between the James's with the Jeffloes.

Original Documents and other sources (click to view larger):

Emmerson & Annie Marriage Cert

1930 Census

Annie's Death Record

Annie's Death Cert.

Cemetery Photos from the original James family cemetery and the cemetery the graves were relocated to--the Yarborough Cemetery in Bryan County, Oklahoma (I took the color photos on my visit there in 2002):

I have more details from talking to Aunt Thelma that I need to type up.... And Nadene says she also has notes from interviewing Thelma.


If you have more info, please share with me at bsteimle@mwi.com.