David McKellop Hodge

Buried Oaklawn Cemetery, Tulsa, Oklahoma

David McKellop Hodge (1841–1920) was born in Choska, Indian Territory (near present day Coweta). He was the son of a white man and a Creek woman. He became involved with Creek Nation politics, was a translator of Creek and English, was licensed to practice law in the Creek Nation and was an orator and leader in the Creek Nation Council House at Muskogee.^[1] He was often listed as "David M. Hodge" on legal documentation.^[2]

Ancestry

David M. Hodge was the son of Nathanel Hodge and Nancy McKellop, a mix-blood Creek Indian woman. Her parents were David McKellop,^[2] who came from Scotland in 1810, and Susan Perryman McKellop, daughter of Chief Perryman.^[3] According to Legus C. Perryman's Diary,^[4] Hodge belonged to the Aktayace Clan, and according to the 1882 Creek Census,^[5] he belonged to Big Spring Tribal Down (listed as D.M. Hodge).

Career

In 1897, Creek Principle Chief Isparhecker appointed Hodge to serve on a committee to negotiate with the Dawes Commission for Creek Rights. He also represented the Creek Nation sions in Washington, D.C., before Congressional committees and the Courts. In 1905, he was appointed a delegate to represent Broken Arrow at the Sequoyah Convention in Muskogee. He was a member of the convention's Committee of Three, which assisted the chairman in appointing subcommittees. The other members of the committee included Charles N. Haskell and Robert L. Owen. Hodge is credited with translating parts of the Bible into the Creek language. He collaborated with Robert McGill Loughridge to complete and publish the "English and Muskogee Dictionary," in 1890. He helped establish the Loughridge Memorial Presbyterian Church, now known as White Church, and aided the development of a subscription school that operated out of the church building from 1870-1900.^[1]

References