Emmerson Lee James

Emmerson Lee James was my Great Grandfather. He was born in the 1870s in the Indian Territory in the U.S. (in what is now Oklahoma)--1870 according to his death certificate, 1875ish according to his marriage certificate. According to the Dawes rolls, he was a full-blooded Chickasaw Indian (although there is some speculation that he is half Choctaw half Chickasaw).

On 13 July 1899 he married my Great Grandmother, Annie (aka Anna) Gaines Mitchell (a white woman), in Ardmore, Indian Territory.

According to his daughter Thelma, presumably he had a sister named Sarah. Thelma said she remembers going to see the sister once, but when our grandfather saw she lived in "a big mansion type house," he wouldn't go on because he said she would only think he wanted something from her. So they left. Nothing else is known about her.

On the Dawes Roll, Emerson reported his parents' names as Bob Phoebe James, but we have been unable to locate them. (His Dawes number is 3573, census card number 1217--see below.)

Presumably, Emerson was orphaned in his youth and lived in the a Chickasaw orphan home (see here and here), the Burney Institute, near Lebanon in Marshall County Oklahoma. And presumably, Emerson ran away from the orphanage and changed his surname to James. Although we don't know what it was before (rumored to have been Sequoyah--unsure of the spelling--but nothing can be found that indicates that was a possibility). Later, the Burney Institute burned down, and many records burned in the fire.... (Searching online, I can find no record of it burning down--the Colbert Institute burned down, but that was a different school. There is a building from the Burney Institute property still standing today (in 2002 it was a private residence, although the Chickasaw Nation has expressed interest in purchasing the property). More information is needed about the Chickasaw Orphan Home.

Apparently Emerson claimed to have ridden with the James Gang (Jesse and Frank James and company). According to his daughter, Thelma, her mother (Annie) told her after Emerson died that after he ran away from the orphanage he joined up with the James Gang. He said he was part of them for awhile until someone got killed and he was afraid he'd be blamed for it, as the youngest member of the gang. So he got away from them and shortly after married Annie. Thelma told me that that's where our surname James came from and that his Indian name was Sequoyah (she was unsure of the spelling).

Also of note, Emerson named his first son Frank. But the dates don't seem to match up. Jesse James was killed in 1882 when Emerson was still a young boy. There were 2 "Bobs" closely associated with James gang--Bob Younger and Bob Ford, and Emerson said his Dad's name was Bob, so who knows.... My cousin Al told me he thought it was Emerson's dad who was part of the James gang.

My cousin, Al, also told me that Jesse and Frank James called their dad "Breed".

Emerson had a car in the early days of cars. But Aunt Thelma said he never bought the nicest stuff. She said he was a friendly, quiet man.

Emmerson was a farmer. According to his 1918 World War I Registration Card (see below), he was stout and of medium height with brown eyes and black hair. And his "fore finger on left his left hand perished".

Emerson and Annie must have faced considerable hardships--Annie gave birth to 10 children, and raised another, Phybee, as her own. Of those 11, 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. His Dawes number is 3574, census card number 1217--see below.
• 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. His Dawes number is 3575, census card number 1217--see below.
• Lavada Jewell James--aka Lavader & Dovey (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 Emerson from family members: 

Emerson was a farmer who grew all sorts of crops. He shared with the poor. He liked to entertain "doctors". Emerson and Annie had a cook stove and large table.

According to his granddaughter, Sue James Seely, when his kids got married, he’d give them land with a house and a car. He bought Alvin and Texoma’s groceries too (until he died?). It appears his son Alvin was his neighbor from the 1930 census.

Emerson acquired large sums of money through oil wells he had near Comanche (Source: his daughter, Thelma and some of Alvin's children). Emerson apparently buried a lot of money--some appeared once when there was a rain storm. But apparently the money was not found after he died. He was forced by the government to sell his land to them for pennies on the dollar. And possibly he had money taken by the government.

According to his granddaughter, Grace James Bullard, "Grandfather was a very shrewd business man, and quite wealthy at one time, but we have never found what happened to his property or money. His kids said they were not allowed to ask about any family or business matters."

According to Aunt Sue, when Emerson was alive, the government offered him $800/acre for his land near Comanche, Oklahoma. When he died, they took it for something like $0.38/acre (not to build the lake). Alvin didn’t allow Texoma or the kids to talk about the family, so this came out after he died, from Texoma and Aunt Thelma.

According to Betty James Chapman, Emerson's granddaughter (paraphrasing): "Aunt Phybee told me that Emerson was a leader in the community. He would have doctors, lawyers, etc. to eat and Annie was a good cook, a really caring woman. Emerson was a good business man. They had cattle. The guys would play baseball on Sunday evenings. Uncle Emerson’s (Emerson Jr.) wife remembers Alvin going to get food from Emerson and Annie. Uncle Emerson's wife didn’t want Emerson to control her like that." Also, she said that Emerson sold the land he owned under Lake Texoma before the lake was put there.

According to my cousin Eva Murphy: "Dorothy Mitchell (aka Dodie, daughter of Robert Mitchell who was the son of Joseph "Jodie" Mitchell) told me a story of who she called Uncle Emerson [that would be Emerson, Jr. or Little Emerson as he was known] and her father corrected her and said that he was a cousin--Emerson told him that she could call him Uncle whenever she wanted. Since Dodie was born in 1947, she had to have been talking about Emerson Jr., born about 1925. There was another Emerson--number 3, that was always called Sonny, who lives down around Bakersfield [California]. Mom remembers him and his wife, and I have a picture of him. Dodie also told a story of "Uncle" Emerson's wife getting very angry at him when she found him showing Dodie a package all rolled up carefully that, when unrolled, revealed a full length Indian feather bonnet as well as some other objects she was too young to recognize--Mrs. James was furious as such things were not to be shown around."

Unfortunately, Emerson suffered from alcoholism (according to many sources), as was and is common among Native Americans. He was frequently physically abusive to Annie 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.

If I recall correctly what Thelma told me, Emerson contracted the pneumonia that lead to his death after a night of drinking, then passing out in his car and sleeping in the cold air all night long. He died on 1 Mar 1934 in Bryan County, Oklahoma.

Emerson was buried with his wife and several of their children originally 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 enlarge):

Emmerson & Annie Marriage Cert

1930 Census

1920 Census

Emmerson's 1918 WWI Draft Registration Card

Emerson's obituary

Dawes Chickasaw Rolls

Dawes Chickasaw Roll with Emmerson,
Albert Levi, and Frank

This is the only place I know of where Emmerson gives his parent's
names: Bob and Phoebe James--I've seen a better copy of this

(I have more Dawes Rolls, but no Q&A that would give us more details about his background.)


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.

Websites to check out:
Indian Pioneer Papers (oral interviews with Indians in Oklahoma)
Microfilm: R 929 FIS Probate and Orphans Court Records Fisher, Charles A., 4553 

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