  J. J. McAlester. Courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Society. James
Jackson McAlester (1842-1920) In 1901, James J. McAlester appeared in the City
Directory of Denison, Texas. His entry read: "Vice-President, the National
Bank of Denison. Residence, McAlester, Indian Territory." The bank was
located at 231 West Main Street, at the corner of Rusk Avenue. President was C.
S. Cobb; and R. S. Legate, cashier. As the attached profiles suggest, McAlester was a
prominent citizen of Indian Territory. As vice-president of the National Bank
of Denison, he had replaced another wealthy member of the Choctaw and Chickasaw
nations. That was D. Osborne Fisher, who had passed away in 1898. It is not
known how Fisher's estate was handled, nor how McAlester came to possess his
interest in this Grayson County bank. Nor is it known how long he was involved,
as he subsequently played a major role in the movement that turned Indian
Territory into the State of Oklahoma. In any case, his resources, connections,
and expertise undoubtedly made him a welcome addition to the bank's management.
McAlester, James Jackson (1842-1920) James Jackson McAlester, also known
"J. J." McAlester, contributed to the development of the Choctaw
Nation in Indian Territory
and later emerged as a prominent and influential leader in the state of
Oklahoma. He has been hailed as "the Father of Eastern Oklahoma," and
contemporaries acclaimed him as the founder of the Oklahoma coal
industry and the southeastern Oklahoma town of McAlester.
McAlester served as one of Oklahoma's most respected businessmen and
politicians. Born in Sebastian County, Arkansas, on
October 1, 1842, McAlester spent his formative years in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Volunteering for service in the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the Civil War,
he rose to the rank of captain prior to discharge. At the conclusion of war
McAlester boarded with Oliver Weldon while pursuing studies in Fort Smith.
Weldon, a former engineer who had surveyed Indian Territory, gave McAlester his
memorandum book that detailed vast coal fields at the Cross Roads area in
Indian Territory. With this valuable information, McAlester left school and
moved to Indian Territory. At age twenty-four he entered the Choctaw Nation. He
found employment with the Indian trading firm of Harlan and Rooks. Later he
worked for Reynolds and Hannaford, a firm of post traders. Eventually McAlester
bought out his partners and established a store near the outcroppings of coal. In 1872 McAlester courted and married
Rebecca Burney, a Chickasaw
girl and sister of Ben Burney, a future governor of the Chickasaw Nation. This
union brought McAlester full citizenship and rights in both Choctaw and
Chickasaw nations. His citizenship entitled him to stake a claim to coal
deposits within a one-mile radius from point of discovery. Over time,
McAlester's interests in coal burgeoned, and with the arrival of the Missouri, Kansas and
Texas Railway through the Cross-Roads area, the J. J. McAlester
Mercantile Company flourished as coal production soared. During McAlester's
colorful lifetime he worked in politics,
mining,
banking,
business, law enforcement,
and ranching.
In 1893 U.S. President Grover Cleveland appointed him the U.S. Marshal for
Indian Territory. He served one term ending in 1897. From 1907 to 1911 he acted
as a member of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. In 1911 the people of
Oklahoma elected him lieutenant governor under Gov. Lee Cruce.
On September 21, 1920, J. J. McAlester died in the town that bears his name. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Coleman Cole Collection,
Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. Linda C.
English, "Inside the Store, Inside the Past: A Cultural Analysis of
McAlester's General Store," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 81 (Spring 2003).
J. J. McAlester Collection, Western History Collections, University of
Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. Dawes Roll Census Card, 22 September 1904,
"James Jackson McAlester," Vertical File, Research Division, Oklahoma
Historical Society, Oklahoma City. Paul Nesbitt, "J. J. McAlester," The Chronicles of
Oklahoma 11 (June 1933). Author: LaRadius Allen Oklahoma Historical Society
J.
J. McAlester James Jackson
McAlester (October 1, 1842 – September 21, 1920) was an American
Confederate Army
soldier and merchant. McAlester was the founder of McAlester, Oklahoma,
as well as a primary developer of the coal mining industry in eastern Oklahoma.
He served as the United States Marshal
for Indian Territory
(1893–1897), one of three members of the first Oklahoma Corporation
Commission (1907–1911), and the second Lieutenant
Governor of Oklahoma (1911–1915).[1] He was born in Sebastian County,
Arkansas, on October 1, 1842. He grew up in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
After the defeat of the Confederacy he returned to Fort Smith, where he met
engineer Oliver Weldon, who gave him details of the location of coal deposits
in the Cross Roads area of Indian Territory (now the McAlester area of
Oklahoma). In 1866 he went to the Choctaw Nation
and worked as a trader to the Indians.[1] On August 22, 1872, he married Rebecca
Burney (born 1841 in Mississippi - died May 4, 1919, in Oklahoma), a member of
the Chickasaw Nation.
This made it possible for him to gain citizenship in, and the right to own
property in, both the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. Using the knowledge he had
gotten from Weldon, he was able to make many lucrative coal claims in the area
and to establish what eventually became McAlester Coal Mining Co. His trading
company, J. J. McAlester Mercantile Company, was the company store
for the miners, since much of their pay was issued in the form of scrip
redeemable only at J. J. McAlester Mercantile.[1] McAlester House,
J. J. McAlester's home in McAlester, is on the National Register of
Historic Places listings in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.[2] He was elected as Lieutenant Governor of
Oklahoma, and during his tenure McAlester had the occasion to serve as acting
governor of Oklahoma, during the absence of Governor Lee Cruce
from the state, as evidenced by a pardon he issued in 1915 in the case of Sibenaler
v. State (1915 OK CR 45).[3] He died on September 21, 1920, in
McAlester.[1] Rebecca
Burney predeceased him. They had four children, including a set of twin girls,
all born in Indian Territory:[4][5] 1. Liza McAlester, 1873–1874 2. Sudie McAlester, 1873–1959 3. James Burney "Bunn" McAlester,
1875–1937 4. William Berry McAlester, 1879–1937 J.J.
McAlester, his wife, and three of their four children are buried in Oak
Hill Memorial Park in McAlester. Liza McAlester is buried in
North McAlester Cemetery. [5] J. J. McAlester's store served as the basis for the store visited by U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn in the 1968 novel True Grit by Charles Portis (and the subsequent 1969 and 2010 feature film versions).[6]
References 1. Biography of James
Jackson McAlester (1842-1920). - Encyclopedia
of Oklahoma History and Culture. - Oklahoma State
University. 2. State Historic
Preservation Office listing for McAlester House.
- Oklahoma Center for Geospatial Information (OCGI) at Oklahoma State
University. 3. Sibenaler v State (1915 OK CR 45).
- The Oklahoma Supreme Court Network. - 15 May 1915. 4. Genealogy of Rebecca
Burney 5. McAlesters buried in
McAlester, Oklahoma. Find A Grave. Hoefling, Larry J. (2008). - "Pittsburg County". - Images of
America. - Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. - pp.17-21. - ISBN 978-0-7385-5182-1. James Jackson McAlester 2nd
Lieutenant Governor of
Oklahoma In office: January 9, 1911 – January
11, 1915 Born October
1, 1842, Sebastian County,
Arkansas Died September
21, 1920 (aged 77), McAlester, Oklahoma Political
party Democratic Spouse(s) Rebecca Burney Profession Confederate States Army
captain, politician,
coal mine owner, banker,
merchant,
United States Marshal
and rancher  Native American Research Grayson County Ethnic Research Biography Index  Susan Hawkins © 2024 Grayson County TXGenWeb  |
