Grandmother's Wooing

 

William Paul, on Old Deck, about 1892

Around 1893 or so – Grandmother, Victoria Rosser, would have been 16 , and my grandfather, Bill Paul, 17 – Bill started riding up to the Rosser house on his horse, Old Deck, asking to see Grandmother. They had known each other since the Rossers came to Indian Territory seven year earlier, and may have been in the same school together. But apparently Grandpa refused to let Bill in, or Vick out, since their feelings for each other were mutual. I thought at first his opposition to their relationship might have been prejudice against Indians, but that didn’t really make sense since the Chickasaws were the most prominent members of the community, but Bill wasn’t just any Chickasaw. His father, Sam Paul, had been the Progressive candidate for Chickasaw governor, until he was murdered by his own son, Bill’s older brother Joe, in 1891. And if that hadn’t been enough family scandal, Joe himself was murdered in 1895 by his cousin,  Jennison. 

In the meantime, Vick’s mother died of a tumor in her abdomen, so Vick and Bill were probably drawn together even more since both had recently lost a parent. After his wife’s death Grandpa sent Vick and her younger sister, Ada, to stay with their older sister, Cora, who was divorced and living in the nearby town of Wynnewood, where she had opened a millinery (hat) shop. “Old Sis,” as Vick called Cora, was even more opposed to her love affair with the young Chickasaw than her father, so this arrangement just led to more tension. That’s when Grandpa sent Vick to Georgia to visit his mother, Sarah Rosser Lumpkin, to try and cool things down a bit.

Here’s a letter Vick received from Grandmother Lumpkin after her return from Georgia. 

 1895: Envelope: To: Miss Victoria Rosser, Wynnewood, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.

            From: Cedartown, Ga., 1895

To Vicie,

Dear Grandaughter

I received your letter also ---- little ears which were the first I ever saw of the kind. (Mamma must have sent her some animal ears which were intended as a good luck charm) We had a very smart statesman of whom it was said that he carried a rabbit foot in his pocket for luck. I think if there is anything in it, that one of those ears would do as well. I want you to write a long letter. When you wrote me you did not say anything about Cora and I have not heard from her since she first got home. (Mamma’s sister Cora must have recently visited their grandmother. She got a divorce from her husband about this time so it may have been that event that occasioned her visit) I am very anxious to hear from her - we should be glad if she could be near us so we could see her any time - We also hope to see you and little Sis (Sister Ada) I forgot to keep the size of the square I sent you, but you can send me the length of it in your letters, with piece. (I can’t make out all the words but Grandma Lumpkin was apparently sending her granddaughter pieces of material for a quilt Mamma was making for her hope chest.) - thanked? Ada - you and she were getting on well with your music which I want to hear (the melodian) - you must persevere and keep up your practice, and do not neglect it to make a quilt - The snow gin away very slowly - Cora carried a pacel of things for your ma’s grave but the weather has been very unfavorable to work with flowers - The cold has just withered my flowers - I have a friend in town who has saved some. I had a letter from Kittie (another of Mamma’s older sisters) last night saying all wise well - give love to all of the family and write soon to your affectionate

Grand Ma SDL (Sarah Dismukes Lumpkin - Dismukes was her maiden name)

Footnote: Scans Family - My Scans - Scan 0002 - 2-1 & 2. From family Bible.

Victoria Rosser, in about 1892

Around the time Vick visited her grandmother in Georgia, Bill got married !  To his cousin, Abbie McClure. I guess he just gave up on Vick since the Rossers were determined to keep them apart. But then something happened that changed everything. Abbie’s brother murdered Bill’s brother Joe. The Paul and McClure families’ relationships were complicated, and I won’t try and explain them since I don’t understand them either, but after Joe's death, Bill’s marriage to Abbie soured, and his relationship with Vick Rosser started up again. 

The scandals continued. In 1897 Jennison was found run over by a train, with bullet holes in his chest. Bill and his brother Buck were prime suspects in the presumed murder, but neither was indicted. When I asked my mother about it, she said simply, “Pappa and Uncle Buck were away at school. They couldn’t have done it.” Actually Sherman, Texas, isn’t that far from Pauls Valley, even on horseback. 

So, in spite of Bill’s marriage, he and Vick kept seeing each other, and in November of 1898 they were married only a month after his divorce from Abbie McClure. 

Here’s another letter from Grandmother Lumpkin, just a couple of months before her wedding. 

Cedartown, Ga                                                                     July 9, 1898

     Dear Vicie

                  Your good letter to hand, picture a fine substantial looking fellow and strong. - you say you would not have him go to the War (The Spanish American War). He looks well fitted by nature for campaigning. I hope however he will not have to go for now - I think the War may end pretty soon - we have destroyed the Spanish fleet at Santiago and will bombard the city if they do not surrender very soon - I am glad to hear that you all are well and that you have a good prospect ahead and feeling happy - large weddings have gone out of style here in Ga - They get married in a traveling suit and take a trip off somewhere - Marry at a church mostly (Mamma and Pappa got married at the Garvins' home) - You did not say that Mr Morris had married out in California - We thought it would be an easy matter for him there when Cora was here (Mr Morris was Sister Cora’s ex-husband.)- I am sorry you do not hear from her - I have replied to her last letter to me long since, but perhaps she did not get it - I hope you will be good to old Sis, as you call her - I leave it as my dieing request - I fear that crops will be short this year in Ga. for the lack of rain. People are becoming discouraged - Glad you have good seasons - We have clouds but little rain - Mr L’s (Lumpkin) health is very precarious - he complains of his head and is more and more unable to move around - I am better and more active than I ever expected to be anymore. You ask after your Uncle D’s family (Perhaps Dismuke? which was Grandma L’s maiden name) - I have not seen any of them in some time. They have had a death in the family, Tidies husband. Left her in good circumstances with 3 little ones to raise - his bro Jones lives with her - She is a thorough going woman - good woman – Bessie’s health is better. Aunt Della is badly broken down - Dave looks well and handsome - The Bookmart kin are pretty well and nice. Your Uncle Jacks wife has gone north to visit his relatives -well I suppose I shall have to quit calling you the little girl now. I hope you may enjoy a long and happy life, though I shall not be here to hear from you very much longer- You must be a very good wife- amiable and sweet tempered, as you will have everything that you desire without having to work and make it. (after all, she was marrying a rich Indian) Your lives have fallen in pleasant places. Write me soon again. I shall like to hear from you. Give my love to your Pa and Sisters.

Your Affectionate Grandma. S D Lumpkin.

Footnote: Documents - Scans family - My Scans - Scan 0002_3-4. 

Shortly after this letter was written, Mr. Lumpkin died, leaving Grandma Lumpkin alone. Grandpa Rosser brought his mother out to Indian Territory, but she didn’t live long. Grandmother’s “Old Sis” Cora married again, this time to a Doctor Glaze, and they moved to Idaho, where she opened a flower shop. They had a daughter together named Mildred. 

Cora Rosser Glaze, 1912

Three Killings in the Family

                                                       Joe Paul

Sam Paul and his oldest son Joe had never been close. Joe spent much of his childhood with his Uncle Tecumseh, and his Aunt Mary. Joe was close to his two younger brothers, Bill and Buck though, and my grandfather Bill said that if it weren't for Joe they would have starved while their father was in prison.  

I had only heard part of this story myself until recent years, because it was considered a scandal in the family. It wasn't spoken about. But now, the people involved and those that knew them are long gone, so it probably doesn't matter so much anymore. 

I've added to what my mother told me about these events by reading accounts written by Mike Tower, in his book, Outlaw Statesman, about Sam's nephew Fred Waite; by Moman Pruiett in his memoirs, Moman Pruiett, Criminal Lawyer; and by Bill and Cindy Paul in Shadow of an Indian Star, which is written as fiction but from what I can gather is taken mostly from historical research.   

When Sam Paul got out of prison in 1884 he sent his son Joe to college and then went about the business of rebuilding his life. By the time Joe returned, Sam had remarried and had regained his prominence in the community. When Joe began drinking and getting into trouble, he had several run ins with his father, even to the point of gun fire. Finally Joe left Pauls Valley and joined his grandfather Smith Paul in California. The reason is unclear, but there was a rumor that Joe had an affair with his father's wife, Jennie, and that Sam had threatened to kill him.  

Anyway, Joe stayed in California long enough to get married and have a child. I actually met one of his great grandchildren last year at a Chickasaw gathering. I'm not sure of the details, but from what my distant cousin told me, Joe was only married a short time before he deserted his California wife. Smith Paul also decided to leave his California family about that time, about 1890, and so they returned to Indian Territory together.  

When Joe returned the feud between father and son didn't start up again for a while, but when Joe continued to drink and to get into fights, his father warned him to control himself. Joe responded by going around town boasting that the next time he saw his father he was going to kill him, so they both got ready for a show down. There were at least two encounters between the two, and in one Joe was shot in the chest. It took several months for him to recover from this injury, but soon afterwards, he walked into a café where his father was eating and shot him twice in the back with a Winchester rifle.  

According to the story I was told by my mother, Tecumseh McClure, Sam's older brother,  instigated the killing. She said that she was told by her father that Tecumseh had Joe worked up into a frenzy over the threat his father posed to traditional Chickasaw customs, so the murder was actually politically motivated. Of course Joe may not have needed much encouragement.  

My mother also said that her father didn't blame his brother Joe for what he had done because of the mistreatment and neglect he had suffered because of their father. Our family and Joe's were always friends. It was actually a conflict between Joe and Tecumseh that led to the next family killing.  

After Sam Paul's murder Joe was arrested and sent to Paris, Texas, for trial, but because he and Sam were both Indians, the court decided it did not have jurisdiction, therefore Joe returned home a free man. The Chickasaw courts didn't take up the matter either, further evidence that the murder was politically motivated. Joe Paul was even appointed as a judge in the Chickasaw court.

During the next three years Joe led for him a respectable life, he got married to a full blood Chickasaw lady named Maulsey Stewart, and performed his duties as judge, but the quick temper that he had inherited from his father caught up with him. One night he got into an argument with one of his drinking buddies that ended in a gun fight. Joe was arrested and he spent the night in jail. The next day his uncle Tecumseh bailed him out and lectured him about his disgraceful behavior. Joe then slapped Tecumseh in the face and walked off. Two months later Tecumseh's son Jennison killed Joe in the same café where Joe had killed his father Sam. 

                                 Jennison, Tecumseh, and Imon McClure

The Pull-backs were still in control of the Chickasaw government - in 1884 Tecumseh McClure had even served as governor - so Jennison was acquitted of Joe Paul's murder, but he wouldn't remain free for long. Three months after the trial he was found dead on the railroad tracks, run over by a train.  

Moman Pruiett described the incident in his book, Moman Pruiett, Criminal Lawyer. He wrote that he was playing poker with Jennison McClure until late the night of Jennison's death. At one point in the evening:  

a squatty half breed sidled in. He stood beside the table for several minutes, watching the play indifferently, before he spoke.

"Bill Paul in town; I just seen him," the half breed said.

The players exchanged significant glances and continued their play. When the hand was finished Jennison McClure pushed his stack of chips toward Weaver, who was banking, and arched his eyebrows.

"You quittin'?"

"I go home now," he said.

"It's almost daylight, Mac," Pruiett suggested. "Hadn't you better play a couple more before you leave?" (Pruiett refers to himself in the third person in his book)

"I go home now," he repeated.

"Look here, now, Jennison," Weaver said. "It ain't hardly safe to be runnin' around here in the dark, without knowin' where he is. Why don't you stick around a little longer. You know damn well he ain't comin' up here."

"I go home now," McClure said, without changing tone or expression.

"Pay him off," said Pruiett. "He says he go home."

The squatty informer was already dozing in a chair. New hands were dealt and McClure walked carelessly out the side door.

"It's getting light, now, as sure as hell," Pruiett observed. "let's go an' get some breakfast after this hand. How long's Jennison been gone?"

"Listen!"

"That was a shot!" Pruiett whispered.

There was a short silence, than two more shots. The players glanced toward the little half-breed Indian, who slouched low in his chair with his dirty hands folded peacefully across his pot belly. His eyes opened wide and understandingly. With a significant shrug of his shoulders he closed them again and began to nod.

"Damn it," Pruiett gritted. "I'm out. If you two fellows want to play any more it's all right, but I'm quittin'. What the hell's that?" He jumped and started.

"You're all upset," Weaver laughed. "It's just a train whistle. It's the mornin' Santa Fe. I'm out too."

"Come on, Shorty; coffee." Pruiett called to the little Indian. He was close at the heels of the quartet as it reached the bottom of the staircase which ran up the side of the stone building. A woman hurried up Paul Avenue from the east, from the direction of the Santa Fe Depot. "Is Doc Young up here?" she inquired, breathlessly.

"No, he ain't," one of the men said. "What's wrong?"

"The mornin' train just ran over a man," she said. "You want Doc for professional service, or official service?" Pruiett asked. Young was the mayor and chief magistrate, as well as the principal M.D.

"It ain't for treatment," she answered. "He's mince meat. We just want him there for the identification, an' to watch the pickin' up." 

Pruiett describes walking over to the tracks, seeing the body, and recognizing the shirt

Jennison had been wearing. Then Jennison's father Tecumseh arrived: 

Ex-Governor Tecumseh McClure of the Chickasaw Nation, who was the father of Jennison McClure who had just been killed, appeared upon the scene, looked all around and said, "Jennison he's cut up bad. Well, he's all right. He, Fred Waite, Sam and Joe Paul, all now in Injun's Happy Hunting Ground."  

Moman Pruiett tended to dramatize things. Indian's didn't really talk like that, and they didn't refer to the after life as the "Happy Hunting Ground" either, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was true that my grandfather and his brother killed Jennison McClure. My grandmother always denied it, saying that Bill and Buck were in school at the time in Sherman, Texas, but it would have been possible for them to ride down one day, kill their cousin, and ride back the next. They were loyal to their brother Joe, and revenge was a strong tradition among the Chickasaw.

                     Body of Jennison McClure on Railroad Tracks, 1897