Trails of Our Past

Wilson N. Jones
By: Dusty Williams

According to the 1900 Grayson County Census, Wilson N. Jones was born in December of 1827 in Mississippi. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Jones who were both of Choctaw descent. The Jones family migrated to Oklahoma with one of the Indian removal groups in 1833. There is little known about the younger days of Wilson N. Jones, however, he did grow to be a very successful man in the Texoma area. The following is taken from the Hand-Book of Northern Texas, 1886:

“Shawnee Creek Ranch is another fine stock farm in the Choctaw Nations, fifteen miles east of Caddo. It is 300 acres in extent, and is owned by Wilson N. Jones, who has also a model 250 acre bottom land farm on Red River. He plants 250 acres to corn and cotton, and lives in a beautiful and stately home, fashioned after his own plan, finely finished and furnished, and environed with pretty lawns and charming sheltering groves. Among other improvements are a large and fruitful orchard, ample out buildings, and no end of the minor conveniences that usually surround the homes of opulent and cultivated gentlemen. 

Hand-Book of Northern Texas, 1886

Mr. Jones has a 10,000 acre pasture (the largest in the Choctaw Nation) fenced with bois d’arc posts and barbed wire, and another pasture of 2,400 acres fenced in the same way. These great pastures are mainly rolling prairie, studded with extensive groves, well watered and stocked with several thousand cattle, which are bred to Shorthorn bulls. He keeps 150 horses in use on the ranch, and annually turns off 500 flat steers. Mr. Jones, who is a half breed Choctaw and made a fine property by merchandising, began the stock of business in 1861, with thirty cows and calves. He has a splendid fortune in lands and livestock, lives like a prince, dispensing a generous hospitality, is a gentleman of cultivated and refined tastes, a friend to Indian culture and progress, and one of the ablest and best men of his nation.”

Aside from his large estate in the Oklahoma Territory, Jones and his family also had a residence in Sherman, Texas where they frequented. On June 11, 1901, Wilson N. Jones passed away, leaving a very large fortune. His only heir, other than his spouse, was a grandson, Nathan Jones. The Shiner Gazette on June 19, 1901 headlined the following article:

“Ex-Governor Jones Dead. Sherman, Texas, June 13. - Wilson N. Jones, aged 63 years (incorrect age), one of the best known men of the Choctaw tribe, a resident and extensive property owner of Sherman, died late yesterday afternoon at his Territory residence seventeen miles east of Caddo. He has been quite ill for the last twenty days. His wife and family left Sherman several days ago when his illness became of a serious nature and they were with him to the last. The burial will be at his home burial grounds by the side of his father, mother and children who have preceded him. No man has been more in the public eye in the Choctaw Nation in the last twenty-five years than the deceased, who was principal chief or governor for several terms.”

The next step in the legacy of Wilson N. Jones, was his controversial will. The Houston Daily Post, on August 16, 1901 ran this article:

“Sherman, Texas, August 15 - The last will and testament of Will N. Jones, former governor of the Choctaw nation, Indian Territory, was today filed for probate by the executors named, Tom Randolph, C.B. Dorchester, D.E. Bryant of Sherman and Tom Griggs, Choctaw Nation. The bequests made are as follows: That the will be filed and probated in Grayson county, Texas. That all debts be promptly paid if any be found outstanding. That his body be buried in Sherman and that $3,000 be set apart as a monument fund and the sum of $10,000 be set apart for investment to provide a fund for the proper care of grave and monument: that his wife, Belle Eliza Jones, and grandson, Nat Jones, be buried upon their death on the lot beside him; to Jacky Jones $140, the residence in the city of Sherman to his wife during her lifetime and the sum of $10,000 per year. All his property he wills to his grandson, Nat Jones, for whom he appoints as guardian Tom Griggs, and provides the property shall come into his possession as follows: At 21 years of age, $10,000, at 24 $25,000, at 30 years, the residue. In case of Nat Jones’ death without issue, all of deceased’s possessions, real and personal, shall be placed in a trust fund for the erection, equipment and maintenance of a public hospital in the city of Sherman, Texas, and his endowment, and it is to be known as the Wilson N. Jones hospital. Of this fund he names Tom Randolph, C.B. Dorchester, D.E. Bryant, J.H. Strother, J.T. Davis and Tom Griggs trustees.”

Against his will, Wilson N. Jones was laid to rest in Oklahoma near his Territory home. His will would also become the scene of controversy 15 years later in 1916, when his heir, Nathan Jones passed away. The Sherman Daily Democrat reported on July 13, 1916 that “Yesterday’s dispatches carried a news story from Oklahoma City telling of the tragic death of Nat Jones, who took his own life by leaping from a window of an office building, his head being crushed, and the dispatches stated, every bone in his body being broken.

This news was received in Sherman with much regret by many people, for Nat Jones was practically raised in this city. He was the grandson of Wilson N. Jones, an Indian and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of the old Indian Territory, but who spent his declining days in Sherman.”

The article goes on to say that Nat Jones was a “prolific spender” and the cause for his death was despondency. There are also reports that his family disputed the fact that his death was a suicide and that he was actually murdered. In 1917, a hearing was to begin to discuss the terms of Gov. Jones’ will. There were several family members who protested that the estate should go to the establishment of the Wilson N. Jones Hospital. One of those who disputed it was, Callie Marguerite Jones who claimed to be the legitimate daughter of Nat Jones. She was born about 1915 in Oklahoma.

By 1919 the trial was well underway and received publicity all across the area. In March of 1919, the case went to the jury who ruled that the estate should be used to build a hospital. The next day it was reported that 6 motions were filed for a new trial. All claimants and interveners were denied any inheritance from the Jones estate with the exception of Callie M. Jones, whose compromise was pending approval by the court at the time of the trial.

According to guardianship records in Oklahoma, the only property H.L. Standeven, Vice President of the Exchange Trust Company, received as guardian of Callie Marguerite Jones, a minor of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was the sum of Four Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety Seven dollars in money, which was received from C.B. Dorchester. Executor of the estate of W.N. Jones. Standeven said that so far as her guardian, he had been able to ascertain that Callie had no other estate. The papers also revealed that the mother of Callie was Sadie James who did not feel that she had enough business knowledge to handle an estate with that much money, hence why H.L. Standeven was appointed as guardian. Her mother, Sadie Merle James became her guardian again in 1927 at which point the family had moved to Los Angeles County, California.

It wasn’t until almost 12 years after Nat Jones’ death that The Rockdale Reporter and Messenger ran the following article on April 5, 1928:

“Judge E.F. Wilcox, presiding in the Fifteenth District Court, has granted the petition of C.B. Dorchester, trustee of the estate of Wilson N. Jones, deceased, to expend $100,000 for the purchase of the Sherman Hospital, and to change the name of the institution to “The Wilson N. Jones Hospital.” Jones was a full-blood Choctaw Indian, who died in Sherman in 1900. (Jones was half Choctaw and died in 1901), leaving a portion of his estate for the purchase of a hospital. The fund now amounts to about $140,000.”

According to Wilson N. Jones, the hospital which was to be created from his namesake was to be established in Sherman and to never turn away anyone from treatment. According to the hospital, they have maintained the same policy throughout the years.