[Note—Happy Valentine’s Day! I tend to associate Valentine’s Day with chocolates. In fact, a big heart of Lindt Gourmet Truffles waits for my wife on the living room table. The name of tonight’s pioneer black lawyer sounds appropriate and pleasing to the ear. Welcome to the enterprising life of the one, the only, Sugar T. George (1827 - 1900)]
Unlike our pioneer black lawyer William H. Brisby (1836 - 1916) whose mother was a Pamunkey Indian, Sugar T. George was comfortable as an African-Creek man. This is the story of a black man of mixed heritage born a slave in the Muskogee Nation. My children have Native American antecedents in their distant past as do a number of Old Americans. For my family, the Native American faint embers in the family tree are distant memory.
Not so for George.
George was the son of Sorrow Pigeon and Nancy Lovett. Sorrow belonged to David Pigeon, although the evidence suggests George at some point belonged to the McIntosh planation. This logic makes sense as the McIntoshes in the Trial of Tears were forcibly removed from their home in Georgia to Indian Territory. And for those who are unsure about the playbill of characters, the McIntoshes were Native Americans and slaveowners.
The forced removal occurred in 1828 which would have meant the McIntoshes were in the early vanguard of exiles from Georgia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears
The McIntoshes “settled along the Arkansas River west of Fort Gibson” which would explain George coming of age in the bottom lands area named Three Forks. George worked and developed his trade as a skilled blacksmith.
The Civil War forced Creeks in the Indian Territory to cast their lot in the national divide. Would Creeks fight for the Union or the Confederates? The answer reflected the larger split in the country. Loyal Creeks chose to align with the Union. Southern Creeks found common cause with the South.
Upper Creek Chief Opthole Yahola fought his way out of Indian Territory (Oklahoma) to avoid domination by pro-Confederate Creeks. George escaped from slavery and tagged along with Yahola’s trek out of harm’s way. It was not an easy escape. Accounts show that Yahola and his followers were fighting off Confederates every step of the way. The date was November 1861. Sugar T. George was free from bondage.
Once safely free in Kansas, George turned around and ran back into the firefight. He enlisted in company H of the 1st Indian Home Guards and brought the fight to the Confederates, this time on the offensive. George could read and write, which helped propel him into a leadership position in his unit. He became a 1st Sgt. Labels are misleading, however. A white and Indian officer were dismissed for improper behavior, so the company was basically led by George for over six months. In a sign of the prejudice and bigotry afoot, blacks could not serve as officers even though a man of command like George was acting as officer.
=========
After the Civil War
There are many reasons why reparations for American slavery is the second worst idea in American history. Here is another running tab with the bartender of reason and common sense.
All Creeks were not prejudiced and bigoted against former black slaves. I grant you the pro-Confederate Creeks were hopeless. Let’s put that out there. However, the Loyal Creeks envisioned a new Indian nation where being a former slave was irrelevant. On August 4, 1865, the Loyal Creeks passed a law in their Tribal Council. The tribal law granted African Creeks full citizenship rights. And just like that, the Loyal Creeks beat the U.S. Government to the punch. The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would not be ratified until December 6, 1865. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/13th-amendment#:~:text=Passed%20by%20Congress%20on%20January,slavery%20in%20the%20United%20States. The 14th Amendment guaranteeing equal protection under the law would not be ratified until July 9, 1868. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/14th-amendment#:~:text=Passed%20by%20Congress%20June%2013,Rights%20to%20formerly%20enslaved%20people. The 15th Amendment granting black Americans the right to vote would not be ratified until February 3, 1870. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/15th-amendment#:~:text=Passed%20by%20Congress%20February%2026,men%20the%20right%20to%20vote.
Under the Creek Treaty signed on June 14, 1866, the Loyal Creeks secured equal political, economic, and social rights in the Creek Nation, which included an equal share in all tribal lands and annuity payments. In plain language, the Loyal Creeks granted reparations for American slavery to every freedmen in the Creek Nation.
Reparations for American slavery has already been granted on a timely basis within a year of the 13th Amendment. “Indeed, as Eric Foner has written, alone among the four million emancipated African Americans, the Creek (and Seminole) freedmen in the Indian Territory actually received ‘forty acres and a mule.’” Any descendant of Creek slaves is disqualified from double dipping into the pool of reparations for American slavery. Said reparations for these former Creek slaves was dispensed as of June 14, 1866.
Did the pro-Confederate Creeks hoop and holler? Yes, they did. And they lost the argument. The Loyal Creeks stood firm. They protected the rights of African Creeks. “With full rights to the soil, the dream of ‘forty acres and a mule’ and the development of an independent yeomanry would become a reality in the Creek Nation.” Do we really want our federal government to comb through the family line of every Black American for evidence of a disqualifying Creek ancestor? Isn’t this sort of thing one would expect in Apartheid South Africa or Nazi Germany?
Would Black descendants of the Creek Nation have a financial incentive to deny and conceal their Creek antecedents?
Just asking as I am a curious man.
Unlike the Honorable William H. Brisby, Sugar George embraced and leaned into his Indian heritage in his public life. In 1867, George was at the front of the line when it came to filing a claim for compensation as part of the Loyal Creeks. He proudly claimed his war service as one of 60 black soldiers in the Indian Home Guards.
In October 1867, the Creek Nation through a United Creek Council adopted a constitution. A “House of Kings” would serve as a Senate. A “House of Warriors” would serve as a House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, George “settled near North Fork Town on the Canadian River where many of the McIntosh family had also moved.” George lost his first wife, Mariah McIntosh, in this same year.
The 1870s
By 1875, George was the first pioneer black lawyer in the Indian Nation (Oklahoma). The records show George was “paid a salary of $25 to act as prosecuting attorney in Fort Smith, Arkansas.” You may ask yourself, why is Sugar George of the Creek Nation prosecuting criminals in Arkansas? Here is the convoluted explanation:
George prosecuted criminals in Arkansas, not the Indian Territory, because at the time all “criminal cases involving U.S. citizens [in the Indian and Oklahoma territories] were under jurisdiction of the Federal Court,” the nearest of which was located in the Western Federal District at Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Those of you who live near reservations (San Diego County has the most Indian reservations of any county in the U.S.) will appreciate the above logic of jurisdiction. Did you know my daughter first learned to drive on an Indian reservation in Palm Springs? As a nervous Dad, I was more comfortable taking my chances with a young teenager behind the wheel on the res.
The 1880s and Beyond
George held several elected positions in Oklahoma Territory. The voters in North Fork elected George to the House of Kings, “similar to the Senate.” The House of Kings “was composed of 1 representative from each town [in the Creek Nation] who was elected by a vote of the town represented for a term of 4 years.” Sugar George made history as one “of the earliest African Creek representatives from North Fork Colored.” In the National Council, George was an active legislator. He sponsored legislation and sparred with his colleagues.
The voters also elected George Judge of the Muskogee District.
And where did he find the time to become a Reverend? I do not know.
These were times of good harmony between Creek Indians and Black Creeks. One eyewitness remembered “after the Civil War, Indians and freed people lived along the Canadian River as next door neighbors without racial animosity.” Dr. King’s I Have A Dream comes to mind. While people lived in harmony in the Creek Nation, madness descended upon northeast Texas “where racial violence and murder of freed people were common.”
The 1880s
Place aside the resume accomplishments for a moment. What really stands out about George is his genuine, noble passion for learning. He knew the value of reading and writing and its value in leadership. He wanted those skills and abilities for others freed from slavery.
Once the Civil War was over, George gave a hand up to freedmen at every opportunity. He read documents for them. He wrote letters for former slaves. He was in great demand as a literate man around North Fork. This passion for learning led to his service on the Tullahassee Mission School Board in the mid 1880s.
And Beyond
George acquired a fortune over his lifetime. He “worked hard and smart.” Enjoying a position of influence in the Creek Nation, George “was considered one of the wealthiest” Blacks in Indian Territory. One commentator observed George “owned a big store and lived in great pomp.” Another noted George “was a wealthy old Negro, owned several houses here and had lots of money.” Still another writer captured the financial acumen of the man: “Because of his strong sense of finance, he also was requested to keep the financial records of the (Tullahaassee Mission School).”
Simply put and said, Sugar T. George “had risen to a prominent position in the Creek Nation and was considered one of the wealthiest Negroes in Indian Territory.”
Conclusion: This pioneer black lawyer of Creek heritage died on June 30, 1900. As befitting a great estate, his descendants quarreled over their inheritance. What a shame but, then again, family will be family. I prefer to think of this pioneer’s final resting place in the Agency Cemetery in Muskogee. A five foot high marble monument sits atop Sugar T. George’s tomb. The inscription reads:
In memory of Rev. SUGAR GEORGE. Died July 31, 1900. Aged 82 years. The day is past and gone the evening shadows appear. O may we all remember well the night of death draws near.
Powerful information provided in a historically enlightening fashion. Interesting to note that American Indians were slave owners... An interesting book about blacks and indians is "Indians Black: A Hidden Heritage" by William Loren Katz. And yes, reparations is a dumb idea.
This might be my favorite one yet! I wish I had read it sooner, when I was having a conversation with what I’m guessing was a young person. As I know you’re aware, there’s a lot of arguing over Israel right now. Let’s just say that she does not support them, so I explained why I did. At one point she tried to compare the way we forced Native Americans onto reservations with the Palestinians, and she seemed to think the Native Americans aren’t allowed to leave. (I’m wondering how old she is?) And, of course, she went on to talk about all the horrible things that were done to them by white people, and I agreed, but also pointed out that tribes did plenty of horrible things to each other, as well. I also tried to explain that not everything was or is bad. It seems as though this is the only way people want to see things these days.
Wonderful story, and thank you once again.