Grayson County TXGenWeb

Mary Humphrey Rennie

Richard Humphrey & Sallie McLish Colbert

John McLish & Judie Barnes

William McLish & Chickasaw Mother

Alexander Rennie was one of three brothers - Alex, John F. Rennie, and James Rennie - who came to the Chickasaw Nation from Canada and prospered greatly. Alex was National Treasurer under William M. Guy, who won a hotly contested election for governor in 1886. When William Byrd unseated him two years later, Rennie was succeeded by D. Osborne Fisher.

Alex Rennie was a director of the State National Bank in Denison in 1887. By 1891, he had become bank vice-president. He still held this position in 1896 but was gone by 1901.

Mr. and Mrs. A. Rennie

The subject of this sketch was born at Kingston, Canada, in October, 1828, the son of Alex. Rennie, of Aberdeen, Scotland, one of the first settlers in Toronto, Canada. Mr. Rennie came to Fort Washita in 1856, and joined the Chickasaw Battalion as adjutant at the breaking out of the war. Soon, however, he was relieved from duty to serve Governor Harris in the capacity of National secretary, which post he occupied for four years, at the expiration of which he filled the office of National auditor for the four following years.

In 1882 he went to Denison, Texas, where he purchased property and erected some fine buildings, filling the office of school superintendent and member of the city council between the years 1882 and 1886. Mr. Rennie is now [1891] vice-president of the State National Bank, the safest institution of the kind in Texas, which his taxable property in Denison exceeds seventy-five thousand dollars. Add to this his home property at Wolf Springs, the house and improvements alone which cost ten thousand dollars, together with live stock, and Mr. Rennie will show up among the wealthiest men of the Chickasaw Nation.

During the administration of Gov. William Guy, he was appointed National Treasurer, but transferred his responsibility to D. O. Fisher when the Byrd party assumed the reins of government.

Alexander Rennie was married in 1861 to Mary Humphrey, daughter of Richard Humphrey, her mother's maiden name being Sallie McClish, who was also mother of the late Holmes Colbert, National delegate to Washington. Mrs. Rennie, a lady of refinement and remarkable spirit, was educated at Wapanucka Academy and Colbert's Institute. She spent much of the early part of her life with her mother on Caddo Creek until her marriage. Recently a rich discovery of asphaltum has been made upon her property in that vicinity, which will soon be in a fine way of development.

[Source: O'Beirne, Harry F. Leaders and Leading Men of the Indian Territory, with Interesting Biographical Sketches ... Profusely Illustrated with Over Two Hundred Portraits and Full-Page Engravings, vol. 1: Choctaws and Chickasaws (Chicago: American Publishers Association, 1891); reprint, Conway, AR: Oldbuck Press, 1994.]

The Sunday Gazetteer
September 18, 1898
pg. 1

AN IMPORTANT RULING
The Dawes commission, sitting at Tishomingo, has rejected the citizenship of the Rennie family. A. Telle, who was here Friday, said to the Herald:
"The rejectment of the Rennie family (including A. Rennie, wife and children) was caused by a complaint filed by Sobe Love, protesting that they had no Chickasaw blood in their veins and were therefore not entitled to be enrolled as citizens. The ground Mr. Love takes is that the Chickasaw citizenship is claimed through Mrs. Rennie, and that Mrs. Rennie's mother married a Chickasaw Indian, who died. She afterward married a white man, and Mrs. Rennie is a daughter by this marriage, her mother being a white woman and her father a white man without any Chickasaw blood in their veins."
That is the ground set up and on which Mr. Rennie and his family were rejected and the Dawes commission refused to enroll them.
The Rennies will take an appeal, and the Gazetteer predicts that Mr. Rennie will be able to establish his Indian blood. In the history of the Chickasaw nation Mr. O'Beirne says, "Mrs. Rennie is the daughter of Hon. Richard Humphrey. Her mother was a McLish, who was also the mother of the Hon. Holmes Colbert." This settles conclusively the Indian lineage of Mrs. Rennie.