Seminole County, Oklahoma Native American Data In 1830, U.S. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, forcing Native Americans to move west of the Mississippi River. All but a few hundred Florida Seminoles took the forced march along the "Trail of Tears" out of Florida toward Oklahoma's Indian Territory. John Frippo Brown was the last principal chief of the Seminole Nation before Oklahoma statehood. Born near Fort Gibson in the CherokeNation, Indian Territory, on October 23, 1842, he was the eldest child of Dr. John F. Brown, Sr., a government physician, and Lucy Redbeard, a Seminole. His siblings included Alice Brown Davis, the Seminoles' first woman chief.   Brown served as a Confederate army officer under Seminole chief John Jumper during the Civil War. He represented the Southern-allied Seminole in postwar negotiations and signed the Reconstruction Treaty of 1866. He succeeded Jumper in 1885 and remained in office as "governor" until 1901, when Hulputta Micco defeated him. He was reelected following Micco's death in 1905, serving until the tribal government was abolished in 1906. Although he had opposed allotment, Brown negotiated the Seminole agreement with the Dawes Commission in 1897. He subsequently favored separate statehood for Indian Territory, and served as a delegate to the Sequoyah Convention in 1905. Governor Brown maintained a ranch southeast of Wewoka near present Horntown in Hughes County. He and his brother Andrew J. Brown were the proprietors of the Wewoka Trading Company at Wewoka. An ordained Baptist minister, Brown pastored the Spring Baptist Church near his home at Sasakwa from 1894 until his death. He had three wives, the first of whom was Lizzie Jumper, the daughter of John Jumper, and twelve known children. John F. Brown died at Sasakwa on October 21, 1919.   Source: Chronicles of Oklahoma CHUPCO, JOHN  Seminole Indian chief John Chupco was born in Florida circa 1821. A full blood, he led the Hvteyievike (Newcomer) Band to the Indian Territory (present Oklahoma) during the Third Seminole War (1855-58). As a town chief he rejected the August 1861 treaty of alliance between the Seminole Nation and the Confederate States of America. He and his townspeople subsequently joined the followers of Loyal Creek leader Opothleyahola and removed to Kansas. During their flight Chupco participated in the Civil War battles of Round Mountain (November 19, 1861), Chusto-Talasa (December 9, 1861), and Chustenalah (December 26, 1861). In Kansas he enlisted in the U.S. Army and attained the rank of first sergeant in Company F, First Regiment, Indian Home Guard. Standing six feet, seven inches tall, Chupco was nicknamed "Long John" by his fellow troops. During the war he was regarded as the "Northern" Seminole chief, while John Jumper led the Southern faction. He represented the Loyal Seminole at the Fort Smith Council of 1865 and signed the Seminole Reconstruction Treaty of 1866. The United States recognized him as the principal chief of the Seminole Nation from 1866 until his death in 1881.   During the postwar years Chupco expected all Seminole to help rebuild their nation. A stickler for law and order, he enforced fines for loafing. He became a member of the Presbyterian Church at Wewoka in 1869. He maintained a farm residence and possessed much livestock. In 1870 he had approximately 140 acres under cultivation. That same year he protested proposed national legislation to establish the Territory of Oklahoma. John Chupco died at his Seminole Nation home on February 17, 1881. Although uneducated, he was regarded as an able administrator.  Source: Chronicles of Oklahoma Source: Seminole Nation Chiefs Davis, Alice (Brown) was the daughter of Dr. J. F. Brown and Lucy Graybeard. She was born near Parkhill, Oklahoma, September 10, 1852. Alice belonged to the Tiger Clan (Katcvlke). She was a sister to Gov. J. F. Brown. She attended Rev. Ross Ramsey’s School (Wewoka Mission) north of Wewoka.  She married George Davis in 1874. They had eleven children. The Davis' owned a trading post and post office at Arbeka, in the north part of the Seminole Nation. Alice was a teacher and in 1905, served as Superintendent of Emahaka School.  Mrs. Davis was a member of the Spring Baptist Church at Sasakwa, Oklahoma. On behalf of the church, she went to Florida for mission work. She was also active in the Muskogee, Seminole, and Wichita Baptist Association.  Before serving as Chairman for the Seminole Tribe, she was the interpreter for the Seminoles in the courts of law in business dealings involving the Seminole Indians because she was bilingual. She also served with the Dawes Commission. President W. G. Harding appointed Mrs. Davis to serve as the Chairman of the Seminole Tribe because of her education and knowledge of laws in 1922. She was the first Seminole woman to be appointed to this position.  Mrs. Davis died June 21, 1935. In 1961, she was nominated to be placed in the American Indian Hall of Fame at Anadarko, Oklahoma. In 1964, a bronze bust of Mrs. Davis was sculpted by Willard Stone and unveiled at the World's Fair in New York City.  Source:  Seminole Nation Chiefs Source: Seminole Nation Chiefs HARJO, CHITTO (Chit-t Ha'ch ) is symbolic of opposition to the forces of assimilation, and his leadership is legendary because of his tragic, mysterious death. Chitto is a form of the Creek word meaning snake, and Harjo, a common second name among Creeks, means recklessly brave. The English equivalent is "crazy." Consequently, among non-Creeks in Indian Territory, and later Oklahoma, Chitto Harjo was known as "Crazy Snake." He was also known as Wilson Jones, Bill Jones, Bill Snake, and Bill Harjo. Harjo was born in 1846 in Arbeka on the Deep Fork River in Indian Territory. His father was Aharlock Harjo and his mother unknown. Originally known as the "gate of the Muskogees," Arbeka's traditional function was to guard the Creek people. Prior to removal, Arbeka warriors were expected to warn other Creek towns of approaching danger. When Harjo traveled to stomp grounds starting in 1898 to oppose the allotment of Creek territory, he was fulfilling his town's gatekeeper role. Harjo and his followers, called "Crazy Snakes," opposed the allotment of Creek land until his disappearance in 1909. Starting in 1900 he used various means to halt the allotment process, including a trip to Washington, D.C., to lobby Pres. Theodore Roosevelt. He led a rebellion of dissident Hickory Ground Creeks to establish an independent government, was arrested twice, ran for Creek chief, refused to file for an allotment, schemed to move to Mexico, and made an eloquent speech before the select Senate committee mandated with "the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Tribes."  Sadly, a racist incident resulted in a shootout at Harjo's home, located near Henrietta in 1909. He was wounded and forced into hiding in the Kiamichi Mountains, where he eventually died of his wound circa 1911.  Source:  Seminole Nation Chiefs Source: Seminole Nation Chiefs Jumper, John was born in Florida about 1820. He came to Indian Territory about 1843 as a prisoner. Chief Jumper had five sons and two daughters.  After reaching the Indian Territory, John Jumper worked many years on the Seminole Tribal Council before becoming Chief of the Seminole Nation.  During the Civil War, the Seminole Nation was divided as some bands sided with the Confederacy and some with the Union. During this period, the Seminole Nation had two recognized head chiefs. John Jumper served as the head chief for the Confederate Seminoles. He attained the rank of Lt. Colonel of the Mounted Seminole Volunteers in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. After the war, he continued to serve as Chief of the Seminole Nation for over ten years. He declined re-election in 1877 to devote more time to missionary ministry. He was re-elected in 1882 after the death of Chief Hvlpvtuce.  John Jumper was very concerned with the welfare and education of his people. In addition to being a Chief, he served as a pastor at Spring Baptist Church at Sasakwa, Oklahoma from 1850 until his death. According to Routh, author of The Story of Oklahoma Baptists, (1932), John Jumper was one of the most influential Chiefs among the Seminoles. John Jumper died October 15, 1896.  Source:  Seminole Nation Chiefs Source: Seminole Nation Chiefs BACK ©2007 Genealogy Trails