A Creek Methodist minister and politician, Samuel Checote was born near Fort Mitchell, Alabama, in 1819. A full-blood Creek, he received instruction at the Asbury Manual Labor School near Fort Mitchell. After removal to Indian Territory Checote and his parents settled west of Okmulgee in 1829. There, under the influence of John Harrell, a Methodist missionary, Checote attended Harrell's academy and from thence devoted his life to preaching. When the Lower Creek Council in 1832 and 1844 passed a law forbidding any tribal member to preach, Checote successfully appealed to Chief Roley McIntosh to repeal the law.

Checote joined the Indian Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, October 28, 1852. Only during the Civil War did he exchange his devotion to the word of God to that of the sword. He began his Confederate service as captain of Company B of the First Regiment of Creek Mounted Volunteers on August 13, 1861, and on August 19, 1861, he became lieutenant colonel of his regiment.

Postwar strife between Upper and Lower Creeks continued. Upper Creeks had been pro-Union, and Lower Creeks had fought for the South. When Checote was elected principal chief of the Creek Nation in 1867, the factional conflict accelerated during the Green Peach War. His tenure as chief lasted for twelve years, and the Creek people saw a number of administrative and moral changes due to his leadership. He was selected a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1882; however, he was too ill to attend. Checote died in his Okmulgee home September 3, 1884 

JOHNSON, Glen Dale, a Representative from Oklahoma; born in Melbourne, Izard County, Ark., September 11, 1911; moved to Paden, Okla., 1920; attended the public schools; graduated from the University of Oklahoma Law School at Norman in 1939; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice at Okemah, Okla.; member of the State house of representatives 1940-1942; resigned his membership in the house in January 1942 and enlisted in the United States Army as a private and was discharged as a captain in May 1946; resumed the practice of law; elected as a Democrat to the Eightieth Congress (January 3, 1947-January 3, 1949); was not a candidate for renomination in 1948, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator; neutral arbitrator for National Mediation Board in 1949 and 1950; served as attorney in the Office of the Solicitor, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 1961-1967; chairman, Oil Import Appeals Board, representing the Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., 1967-1969; attorney in Solicitor’s Office, Department of the Interior, Muskogee, Okla., 1969-1972; was a resident of Okemah, Okla., until his death there on February 10, 1983.

Leon Chase Phillips (1890-1958) —was born on December 9, 1890, on a farm in Worth County, Missouri. His parents were Rufus Putnam and Bertha Bressler Phillips. In 1892 his father bought land west of present Clinton, Oklahoma, later moving the whole family to their new home. After graduating high school from the local public education system,He was a member of the Democrat party. The eleventh governor since statehood he served from 1939 to 1943. Born December 9, 1890, in Worth County, Missouri, Phillips moved to Oklahoma at an early age. While a student at Epworth University in Oklahoma City, he studied for the ministry, but changed to law and received his LL.B. from the University of Oklahoma in 1916. He was admitted to the State Bar in that year and to practice before the United States Supreme Court later. He would serve his country throughout the war as a private in the artillery division of the U.S. Army. After service in World War I, he returned to Okemah where he practiced law. After returning to Okemah, Phillips became active in politics, serving in various party positions. These led to his election to the Oklahoma Legislature in 1932. While in the legislature, he served as speaker of the House of Representatives in 1935, as well as being Democratic minority leader in 1937. After being reelected in 1934 and 1936, he ran for governor in 1938 and won. He was Governor from January 9, 1939, to January 11, 1943. Throughout his term he received many honors, including and being made honorary chief of the Otoe tribe. He also made the presentation to the nation of the Will Rogers statue in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Phillips was a member in many organizations, including the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, and the Kiwanis. Phillips was married twice. His first wife was Myrtle Ellenberger of Norman. They were married on June 19, 1961, and had two children, Robert Rowe and Lois Ann. The couple later divorced in 1951. On April 24, 1953, he married Helen Conklin. After retiring from the office of governor, Phillips moved back to his farm near Okemah, and he continued to practice law. A decade and a half later Phillips would pass on, dying of a heart attack in the post office in Okmulgee on March 27, 1958.He lived in Okemah until his death March 27, 1958, and is buried in Weleetka. Interment at Hillcrest Cemetery.