Samuel Benton Callahan

Samuel Benton Callahan (January 26, 1833 – February 17, 1911) was an influential, mixed blood Creek politician, born in Mobile, Alabama, to a white father and a mixed-blood Creek woman. His father died while he was young; he and his mother were required to emigrate to Indian Territory in 1836. His mother married Dr. Owen Davis of Sulphur Springs, Texas, where they raised Samuel. He married the daughter of a Methodist minister in Sulphur Springs, then moved back to Indian Territory. During the American Civil War, he served in the First Creek Mounted Volunteers of the Confederate Army, In 1864, he resigned his command to serve in the Second Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia, where he would represent both the Creek and Seminole nations as a delegate.^[1]

Callahan returned to his family in Sulphur Springs, then moved back to Indian Territory after the war. Settling near Muskogee, he resumed farming and ranching, but soon became a significant player in the politics of the Creek Nation. He served in the Creek National Council as clerk of the House of Kings (the Creek equivalent of the Senate) for four years, then as clerk to the Creek Supreme Court. He also acted as executive secretary for three notable principal chiefs.He worked for a time as editor of the Muskogee Indian Journal, starting in 1887. He was the superintendent of the Wealaka Boarding School. In 1901, he was appointed Justice of the Creek Supreme Court.

Samuel Callahan was born in Mobile, Alabama, as a member of the Creek tribe. He represented the Creek and Seminole nations in the Second Confederate Congress.Removed with his tribe to Indian Territory, he fled with his family to Sulphur Springs, Texas during the Civil War. His daughter Sophia Alice Callahan was born during their time in Texas, but at War's end, the family returned to Okmulgee.^[2] He served as the editor of the Indian Journal in Muskogee and He was active in tribal affairs, serving as executive secretary to three principal chiefs of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and became a justice on the Muscogee Nation Supreme Court in 1901.^[3]

Parental family and move to Indian Territory

Samuel was born to James Oliver Callahan and Amanda (Doyle) Callahan (1815 - 1902). Amanda Doyle was born in Georgia (part of the Old Creek Nation) to a white man, Nimrod Doyle and a Creek mother, Susannah Islands. Little is known of James, other than that he died in Alabama before the Creek Indians were forced to emigrate to Indian Territory. Amanda married James Callahan when she was 16 years old. The Callahans moved to Alabama, where they had two children, but one died in infancy. Amanda and Samuel, the surviving son, were forced to emigrate from Alabama to Indian Territory in 1836. Amanda married Dr. Owen Simpson Davis (1810 - 1885) of Sulphur Springs, Texas, which became Samuel's new home.^[4] After her husband died, she moved to Muskogee, where she remained with her son for the rest of her life.^[5]

Of course, Samuel went to live in Texas when his mother remarried. He attended public schools in Sulphur Springs, then went to McKenzie College in Clarksville, Texas. After graduation, he became editor of the Sulphur Springs Gazette. After two years at the newspaper, he returned to Indian Territory, where he settled in Okmulgee and began a cattle ranch.^[6]

Marriage and family

In 1857, S. B. married Sarah Elizabeth Thornberg, daughter of Methodist minister, William Thornberg in Sulphur Springs. They had eight children:Josephine, James Owen, Jane Evylin, Samuel B., Jr., Sophia Alice, Emma Price, Dr. Walter McKenzie, and Edwin Thornberg.^[6]

Service to the Confederate States of America

During the American Civil War, Callahan served in the First Creek Mounted Volunteers of the Confederate Army, He was popular among the men of his unit, who were mostly full-blood Creeks. and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. He was promoted to adjutant later that year. He assisted in reorganizing his unit in 1863, and emerged as Captain of Company K, First Creek Regiment. On May 18, 1864, he resigned from the Confederate Army to serve in the Second Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia, where he would represent both the Creek and Seminole nations as a delegate, beginning May 30, 1864.^[6][7]

When the New York Times published a list of members of the Confederate Congress in 1864, S. B. Callahan was identified as representing both the Creek and Seminole Nations.^[8]

Post Civil War

Callahan remained heavily involved in the governing of the Creek Nation after the Civil War. He was elected to the Creek House of Kings and served from 1868 to 1872. He also served as Private Secretaries for three Creek Principal Chiefs: Roley McIntosh, Samuel Checote and Isparhecher.^{[lower-alpha 1]} After his term ended in the House of Kings, he became clerk of the Creek Supreme Court. He worked for a time as editor of the Muskogee Indian Journal, starting in 1887. He was the superintendent of the Wealaka Boarding School.^[6] In 1901, he was elected a justice of the Creek Supreme Court.^[10]

Callahan died in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, where he was buried in Greenhill Cemetery.^[11]

According to his obituary, Dr. Callahan was survived by the following children: Dr. J. O. Callan and Dr. K. W. Callahan of Muskogee; Bent Callahan of Morse, Oklahoma; Mrs. Adair of Little Rock; Mrs. Eva Shaw of Waggoner; and Mrs. H. B. Spaulding of Muskogee.^[12]

Notes

References

Sources

• http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/5303
• Cox, James Howard; Cox, James H.; Justice, Daniel Heath (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous American Literature. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-991403-6.