Getting Started With the Book--My Take on Chapter 1

    

    
Well, I have begun the journey once again to look at the book by B.C. Franklin.  I found myself looking at many things including the map at the front of the book. I kept looking at the map wondering why the nations of Indian Territory were not reflected on the map.  But then I began to think---Buck Colbert Franklin lived during the era of our gr. grandparents----and they basically knew the world as I.T. or Oklahoma Territory.

Yes, when there were times for allotments such as during the Dawes Commission---they were asked specifically if they resided in the Choctaw, Chickasaw nation, but basically---there were no harsh boundaries when going from Ardmore to Muskogee. One simply set out on the train, or on the road and arrived.  I personally only looked at the Territory by the tribal nations---but in reality---travelling in the Territory---no border crossings, no papers to show that you were a citizen of your specific nation---it really didn't matter.   Funny thing---I have never thought about that, until I stared at that map in B.C. Franklin's book.

Chapter 1

Page from My Life and an Era, by B.C. Colbert

I like the fact that B.C. Franklin began with some background about his own father. Apparently I have missed something------David Franklin aka David Burney was a Civil War soldier!  I had never noticed that.

In the very first chapter---he mentioned that his father David Franklin enlisted in the Civil War, joining the 1st Indian Home Guards.

Now----the Home Guards----there were 3 regiments of the Home Guards---and these were the only 3 Union Army regiments during the Civil War. The remaining Indian Regiments were Confederate.  So---here it was stated in the book that BC Franklin's father was a Union Soldier!!  Wow----how did I miss this!!

But there it was---right at the very bottom of page 1---in the footnote, in fact:

Footnote from Chapter 1 reflecting military service of David Franklin aka David Burney

Well-----that sure told me a lot!

Now, I should point out that I am a Civil War researcher.  I pay close attention to the soldiers who were from Indian Territory.  Many of those who were slaves from Cherokee and Creek Nations, served in the Home Guards AND also in the US Colored Troops. (Particularly the 79th and 83rd US Colored Infantry.)

So, when I paid attention to that footnote---(I have no idea how I missed it before)---that told me something!

First of all I learned that there were some Chickasaw slaves that also served in the Indian Home Guards.  I know that many Creek slaves and some Cherokee slaves as well went into Kansas and enlisted in the Home Guards. I also know that some were in the 1st and 2nd Kansas Colored Infantries as well.  In addition to that, a few Choctaws who lived near Ft. Smith had also enlisted in the Union Army, when troops were being recruited in western Arkansas.

But this was in the southern part of Indian Territory----this was way down in Chickasaw country.  And here, was David Franklin---aka David Burney, enlisting with the Indian Home Guards.  Hmm.......what a surprise!

I decided to confirm this on my own and so I checked on the Civil War soldiers database operated by the National Park Service. Sure enough---there was David Burney.  Also I saw another name---Dick Burney in the same regiment.  (hmm.....were they brothers?)

From the Civil War Database: Two Burneys in the Indian Home Guards. Were they possibly brothers?

I wanted more information----so I also checked on the Civil War Pension Index on Ancestry and yep there was David Burney aka Franklin---he filed for and he received a pension for his service in the Union Army.

Index to pensions. This reflects the pension application of David Burney, 

for his service in the Union Army in the Civil  War

Well ----this gives me an unexpected assignment---on my next trip to the National Archives in Washington, I will be pulling the pension file of David Burney (Franklin) to see what I can learn about his life.

Was he Free or Enslaved?
There was a time when David Burney/Franklin was a slave of the Burneys of the Chickasaw Nation. He says that Dave purchase his own freedom before the Civil War.  BUT----there is also a contradiction----the same footnote says that he ran away from his master and joined the Union Army during the Civil War. So---I am not sure if Franklin was free or enslaved.  However, regardless---the Franklins had a strong tie to the Chickasaws before and after removal, and long before the Civil War. They were a family native to the Territory.

I found some wonderful references to the family's life even before the War.  Alexander Franklin---known as "Zander" had encouraged David Franklin (B.C.'s father) to fight  on the side of "Freedom."   There was a strong suggestion that there truly some privileges that David Franklin really had---for he had already been described as having had a business, and Uncle Zander convinced David to join the Union Army while he looked after their family business.  So---if they had a business---then some of the rigidity that we often read about from Chickasaws towards their slaves--there may have been some degree of flexibility.

Tennessee Years?
This part of chapter 1 is intriguing.  Unlike what was written, I find it hard to believe that Dave Franklin spent anytime in Tennessee.  To get there---he would have had to have been in a regiment that was there in Tennessee---and the military record of the Home Guards does not reflect any time spent in Tennessee.
Here is the record of the Home Guards in which David Burney served:

Source: Dyer's Compendium of the War of the Rebellion

On this one point---I believe that David Burney/Franklin was one to exaggerate a bit.

Much of the chapter was a good read---reflecting life in the various settlements and communities in the Territory.  There were the stories of people met on the road, and also stories of the various animals from Old Blue, the sow and her many offspring, to the horse who trembled when he knew that a panther was in the vicinity.  How sad to see that the panther was a people friendly creature, part of a traveling circus.

However---this first chapter I found particularly enjoyable---if nothing else, because of the rich genealogical data.  Dave Franklin, son of the first Buck Franklin had several children and many of the aunts and uncles of B.C. Franklin were mentioned by name.  

This clearly is the main family from which so many Franklins of southern Oklahoma come.

Reader's Group is Launched

My Life & an Era by B.C. Franklin

Join the Reader's Group

How exciting!!!

A group has been created on Facebook by Terry Ligon to encourage discussion and exploration of the history of Indian Territory Freedmen. And the first book to be discussed will be My Life and an Era, by B.C. Franklin. I was excited to see that this was begun, for it will provide a platform for those who share an interest in the untold stories of Indian Territory Freedmen.  I decided to launch a blog as a companion piece to the readers group, inviting comments and thoughts about the chosen book.

My hope is that the reader's group will become a platform for discussion, of our unique history, the particular stories of our own families, and an exploration of the community histories that come forth from the books that we shall discuss. I am excited to be a member of this group and I hope that you will join in, and share your thoughts either here, or on the Facebook group, (or both) and let's explore our history together!

So we begin----how fiitting that we begin with the father of the late John Hope Franklin. B.C. Franklin (as he preferred to be called) was an attorney, from Chickasaw Country, although he was enrolled as a Choctaw Freedman.

I purchased this book when it first came out, and was thrilled to see it. B.C. Franklin had truly lived throughout many critical years in Indian Territory as well as the early days of the new state of Oklahoma.

Dr. John Hope Franklin his son, though he rose to become the nation's premiere historian, I often wondered why he had never devoted his scholarship to history of events in Indian Territory. However, as I looked at the difference between his life and that of his father---there was the answer.  He lived as a black man in American, from Fisk, to Harvard then as a professor at Howard, and Duke.  His father though trained outside of the Territory, grew up in the Territory, returned home and practiced law in Oklahoma.  The story that I often wanted John Hope Franklin to tell---was not his story. But it his father's.

Thankfully John Hope Franklin, and his own son John Whittington Franklin, decided finally to address B.C. Franklin's goal---to tell the untold story of the Territory.  Since it was lived through B.C. Franklin's life--the story was best told from his perspective.

So---I will be posting thoughts and opinions as they come to me---and I hope that you will join me with comments to the blog.  I will also welcome "guest" bloggers to post here as well.

(As our topics change the book image will be changed at the top of each blog post.)