1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 52 52

1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 52
My direct ancestor is Charles Pearson GARRETT being my Grandfather. He was called either
“CP” or “Charlie”. Perhaps the reason for the Garretts settling in Benton County, AR (which
adjoins what was then Indian Territory) can be seen by the actions of Charles Pearson
GARRETT and his brother, Thomas Marion Garrett. They both courted girls of Cherokee
heritage in Indian Territory. The photo below was taken in 1892 and shows C.P. GARRETT
(the tall one) standing with the Blackwood family. On CP’s left is the girl (Margarette Louise
Blackwood) that he will marry the following year. The girl on CP’s right is Mary Catherine
Blackwood who will marry CP’s brother Thomas Marion Garrett in a few years.
genes were as brothers and sisters.
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The story goes that in 1893 CP
had to get the permission of the
Cherokee Chief to marry
Margarette Blackwood who
was 1/16 th Cherokee. Brother
Thomas Marion Garrett
married Magarette’s sister,
Mary Blackwood in 1897.
This set up the rights for their
children to be allotted land
owned by the Cherokee Nation,
West. It also setup the unusual
situation of brothers marrying
sisters so that while their
children were 1 st cousins, their
Children of Charles Pearson GARRETT and Margarette Louise BLACKWOOD were:
John E. GARRETT was born August 8, 1894 on Mosley Prairie, Going Snake
Dist., Cherokee Nation, Delaware Co., OK; married Millie Prediger
Hubbard in 1924; died July 14, 1973 in Siloam Springs, AR after a
stroke.
Gracie G. Garrett was born February 10, 1899; married Fielding F. McClung
and died in Delaware Co., OK. They lived within a half mile of CP
GARRETT’S station and Gracie was an Oklahoma tag agent and a
Notary Public working out of the station.
Loy D. Garrett was born February 12, 1901; married Virginia Moore; moved
family to Arvin, CA where he died. Loy took his family to California
during the dust bowl years which made him an “Okie”. He spent the rest
of his life as a worker for the De Giorgio Fruit Company.
Annie Elizabeth Garrett was born June 8, 1903; married Harold B.
McLaughlin; was still living in 2000. Harold and Annie spent their life
in Siloam Springs where Harold (Mack) was a barber.
Theodore (Ted) Roosevelt Garrett was born February 18, 1905; married Mary
Ruth Hawk on May 19, 1932 and died April 2, 1991 in Siloam Springs,
AR. Ted and Mary Ruth lived on a farm 3 miles down the river from
Dad’s (John E. GARRETT) farm that had belonged to Mary Ruth’s
father. They later retired to live (and die) in Siloam Springs.

1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 53
Thomas Henry Garrett was born November 18, 1908; married Dolly
Pilkington; died in Siloam Springs, AR. Tom and Dolly were
entrepreneurs owning and operating a various times; a service station; a
café, a hotel; a motel, two auto supply stores; a dress shop and a TV
cable service.
Ruby Irene Garrett was born December 19, 1911; married and divorced A. J.
Lacy; married Sam J. Steele; and died about 1998 in Siloam Springs,
AR. Ruby’s first husband was the owner of a automobile body shop in
Tulsa, OK and an alcoholic.
Carmen Julius Garrett was born May 27, 1918 and died 1919, 18 months old.
Preparatory to Oklahoma statehood that would occur in 1907, those having Cherokee blood were
entered on the “Cherokee Roll”. Margarette’s roll number was 1872. Oldest son John
GARRETT was 1873; Grace Garrett’s was 1874; Loy Garrett’s was 1875; Anne Garrett’s is
probably M something; Ted Garrett’s number was M2961. Children with Cherokee blood born
after 1903 were called “too lates” meaning that they were born too late to receive a land allotment
– they did however, receive an allotment of cash.
So, CP’s wife and three children received land allotments; two children received cash allotments
and the youngest two received nothing – they were known as “too damned lates”.
Thomas Marion Garrett’s wife and two oldest children received land allotments; Millie Ruth
Garrett was born soon enough to receive land but Thomas Marion Garrett said that all of the
good land had been taken so he opted for a $600 cash allotment.
Nora Garrett, daughter of John GARRETT married Lewis Bradford Allen who was part
Cherokee Indian. Lewis Bradford Allen was born in Indian Territory (near Flint Creek). His
mother was Nancy Mitchell, born February 1, 1839. Nancy was the fifth granddaughter of Chief
Moytoy of the Cherokee Nation. She was born on the "Trail of Tears". Nancy's name sake was
Nancy Ward, Cherokee princess better known as White (or Wild) Rose.
The allotments were from 70 to 90 acres each and the Garretts receiving them took them in one of
two places. One was in what is now Delaware County, OK and about 3 miles west of the state
line in an area called “Moseley Prairie”. The other place of favor was 3 or 4 miles south of
Moseley Prairie on land adjoining the Illinois River in the county that is now Adair County.
After the land allotments, the Garretts owned seven farms all within a few miles of each other.
However; the Illinois River turned out to be a divider with those north of the river seldom visiting
those south of the river. For example, my cousin Glenn Stinchcomb, who was born and raised on
one of the land allotments on the Moseley Prairie, and I, who was born in the same year south of
the Illinois River never knew each other until we were 65 years old.
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1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 54
Below is one of the actual land allotments given to John E. GARRETT. There is a second one
that I have. Note that it is from ”The Cherokee Nation” and is dated the 19 th of September, 1908.
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1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 55
The above map shows the area including Moseley Prairie; the Illinois River lands; the southern
part of Delaware County; the northern part of Adair County and Siloam Springs in Benton
County, AR. The red circle is Moseley Prairie; the western red blocks are some of the land
allotments; the yellow is for cemeteries where the Garretts are buried; the red square on the state
line is the location of CP Garrett’s service station and home; the black square is the location of
John GARRETT’s home; the orange and pink involves ancestors on my mother’s side; and the
heavy green line is the 14+ mile road from my father’s land allotment and home to Siloam
Springs, AR.
Little is known of CP GARRETT’s life as a young man; however he must have gone to school
since he could read and write. He loved machinery and owned both a large steam engine and a
threshing machine. My father and CP’s oldest son, John E. Garrett had to quit school (5 th
grade) and run CP’s steam engine and threshing machine. Dad would thresh for all of the farmers
in a large area going from farm to farm. This would take from one to two months during which
he and his crew would have to eat and sleep with the farmer-customers. He told many stories of
bad food, bed bugs, hair lice and sleeping in the barns as a part of the horrible living conditions.
He attributed that experience to his stunted growth of 5’ 4” height and weight of less than 140
pounds.
Most of Charles Pearson GARRETT’s life was spent operating his business on old Highway 33
at the Arkansas/Oklahoma state line. His place was on the Oklahoma side. His main business
was that of a “gas station”. Around 1920 when sons Ted and Tom were still at home, they would
walk westward on the dirt Highway 33 and wait until a car came along, at which time they would
run along beside the car, jump upon the running board and talk the driver into stopping at CP’s
station for gasoline.
On the next page is a photo (looking east) of Charles Pearson GARRETT’S service station
taken sometime in the 1930’s. Their living quarters were in the back of the station, on the north
side. CP had made his field just north and west of the station into an air field and I believe the
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1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 56
people in this photo were attending an air show. The state line is just beyond the building where
the tree line is seen. The car in the lower right foreground is on old Highway 33. CP leased the
air field to John Brown University (located west of Siloam Springs and a mile north of the
station) but in the 1940’s, CP claimed that John Brown University “cheated” him out of it.
The space between the station and the Arkansas line served several functions. At one time it was
a “Port-of-Entry” where all trucks entering Oklahoma had to stop. It was a liquor package store
at one time and later a shop from which Grace Garrett (oldest daughter of CP and Margarette)
sold automobile license plates and notary public services.
To the left and in back of the station was CP’s equipment barn where he stored his threshing
machine. At one time, he also had a few tourist cabins built there. Later on, to the left (west of the
station was a large windmill that provided water for their home and station. Awfully, a smelly
outdoor toilet was next to the windmill.
During C.P. GARRETT’s lifetime:
The Dr. Pepper soft drink was invented in 1885 by Charles Aderton.
The Coca-Cola soft drink was invented in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton.
The Pepsi-Cola soft drink was invested in 1898 by Caleb Bradham.
In 1912, Otto Fredrick Rohwedder invented the bread slicer.
The automobile was invented, developed and manufactured by the millions.
The Wrights invent the airplane in 1903.
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1000 Years of Garrett Family History Page 57
The Cherokee Connection
The small amount of Cherokee blood in the Garretts, all comes from the Blackwoods.
Margarette Blackwood Garrett was 1/16 th Cherokee. Her father, John William Blackwood
was a white man from TN. I have a copy of a hand written letter to Margarette Blackwood from
John William Blackwood’s brother, James Thomas Blackwood. In his letter, James tells of
Margarette’s birth as being “on Little Cypress Creek in Wayne County, 4 miles of the Ala. Line –
about 20 miles south of Waynesboro”. As it turns out, the location is less than 70 miles from
Belle Mina, AL where CP’s ancestors were from. James T. Blackwood had been a minister at
the Cross Roads Church a “short distance away” from where Margarette was born.
Margarette’s mother was Emma Elizabeth Ward, 1/8 th Cherokee from Winston County, AL
which is in northern Alabama (see yellow dot) and on the edge of the original Cherokee Nation,
East.
Margarette’s grandmother was Margaret Ann WELCH who was 1/4 th Cherokee. Margaret
Ann Welch’s father was George
Washington Welch who along with his
wife, Margaret Jones were both 1/4 th
Cherokee. Minor (not principle) Chief
George Washington Welch lived in
Cherokee County, GA and owned a mill that
he built with slave labor in 1820 and a store
built in 1830. The location of the mill and
store is represented by the black dot on the
map on the left and was only a few miles
from where Frances Bates Garrett’s
grandfather (William Erwin Bates) was
born. When George Washington Welch
was dispossessed, the government appraised
his property at $12,500. According to the
1835 Cherokee Census, in George Washington Welch’s household were “6 quarter bloods, one
slave, one marriage with white race, one farmer, two readers of English, one weaver and two
spinners’.
George Washington Welch’s mother, Elizabeth McSwain and her father, David Welch were
both 1/4 th Cherokee.
Elizabeth McSwain’s mother, Nannie Downing was ½ Cherokee. Her father was Alexander
“Trader” McSwain who, as the name implies, was a trader. Nannie Downing was born where the
yellow dot is on the above map. Nannie Downing’s mother was a full blood Cherokee of the
Wolf Clan whose Indian name was Cheto Wolf and whose English name was Hannah Fawling.
Hannah Fawling had married an English soldier, named Major John Downing around 1735.
Some accounts say that Major Downing was captured by the Indians, tortured, mutilated, and
burned at the stake at Fort 96, South Carolina. The red dot on the above map is the area of where
Major John Downing may have been killed. Other accounts report that he died a natural death
in 1793 in Northumberland Co., VA.
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