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Galveston Daily News
Galveston, Texas
Thursday, July 20, 1893
Arrest of a Solicitor
Gainesville, Texas, July 19: G. W. AKERS, a solicitor for claimants to citizenship in the Cherokee nation, is in jail on the charge of swindling. About six weeks ago Akers and his son-in-law, WILLIAM KOHLER, came to Gainesville and, renting a house at 107 Bell street, opened up a land office business. Akers claimed to have received authority from Chief MAYES before his death to represent the Cherokee government in hunting up claimants to lands in the Cherokee nation, and he said he was one of 13 of such agents. During his stay in Gainesville he has filed 96 applications, about 40 of which were made by citizens of Cooke County, who had Cherokee blood in their veins. For each of the applications he charged a fee of $20, and he entered into a contract to carry the case through to a successful termination for $20 more. The first $20 was to pay for having the case filed with the Cherokee government, and when the applicant’s claim was definitely established, he was to pay $20 more.
J. G. GILLENTINE of Whitesboro, who was contemplating filing a claim and who was ready to make the necessary affidavit, concluded that he would investigate matters a little before he gave up his $20, so he telegraphed the secretary of the Cherokee council at Tahlequah to know if agent Akers was all right. An adverse reply came back from Secretary ADAIR. The case was laid before County Attorney ROGERS, City Attorney MCCANS, Sheriff WARE, and Justice HILL, and last evening Akers was arrested and jailed on a charge of swindling. His bon was fixed at $1000 pending investigation, but as yet it has not been given. He will be given a preliminary hearing trial Saturday. KOHLER, Akers’ son-in-law, left the city last night.
Akers was seen in the county jail by a News reporter today and he submitted to an interview. He said: “I have done nothing wrong; I had a written permission from Mayes before his death to solicit these claims but I don’t know what I did with the document. I had it at Purcell. All the claims I solicit are taken under the treaties of 1848 and 1866 and in accordance with the records taken by the Cherokee government. There are 22,108 names on the Cherokee rolls of citizens unaccounted for and it was the descendants of these citizens of the Cherokee nation whose interests I am looking after.”
It is claimed that the time fixed by act of the Cherokee council for these missing citizens to file their application for citizenship has expired and that there is no hope for any of those making application through Akers now having their claims considered. The affair has created the most profound sensation, as a large number of those making applications here are citizens of Gainesville and some had filed more than one claim. Further developments are expected.
Monday, July 24, 1893
The Akers Case
(more about the contract form that Akers had his “clients” to file)
Akers’ books show that he has been conducting his agency business several months that he has done business in Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indian Territory and Texas.
From the Dallas Morning News on July 30, 1893
More about the examining trial of G. W. AKERS…
W. H. MAYES, assistant secretary of the executive department of the Cherokee government, testified that the department in which he was employed had exclusive custody of the rolls of all the Cherokee Indians and the name of BASS did not appear in the North Carolina rolls. The rolls were presented as evidence. (ENNIS W. WATKINS, complaining witness, had stated that Akers told him he had a claim because Watkins’ ancestors, PATSY and FRANCIS M. BASS, were listed in the North Carolina roll… Watkins stated he could not read or write, lived in Thackerville, Chickasaw Nation, was 63 years of age)….
Akers, it seems, is not the only “agent.”
Today, several gentlemen arrived from Parker County who had recently been duped. One of the gentlemen, who asked that his name be withheld, informed The News reporter that the party is located at Poolville, Parker County, where he had been operating for the past four months, during which time he has scooped in several innocent victims, the cost to each being $20. He claims to represent the five Indian tribes and says he working under the direction of an attorney at Tahlequah.
W. H. MAYES, assistant national secretary of the Cherokee nation, who is in the city, says the attorney mentioned did operate in Tahlequah awhile but a short time ago, his fraudulent practice coming to the knowledge of the Cherokee government, he skipped the country and the last heard of him, he was in Pennsylvania.
The gentlemen who arrived here today said they were en route to the Choctaw nation to get their portion of the lease sale money now being paid out and which the Poolville man represented to them they were entitled to. On reaching here they learned of the fate that had overtaken Akers, whose examining trial was in progress, and they at once retraced their steps to Parker County, badly disappointed, but much wiser men. They expressed their determination to prosecute the Poolville man immediately on their return home. They stated that several other citizens of that county had already gone to the Indian country to locate their claims.
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