Re: Cooley/Touchstone, OK, c. 1850-1880
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In reply to:
Cooley/Touchstone, OK, c. 1850-1880
Lisa Luhrman 8/16/01
Lisa --I read your message with interest.I know nothing about the Touchstone family, but my ggreat grandfather, John Cooley, arrived in Indian Territory in the 1830s over the Trail of Tears.He was Cherokee.His daughter, my great grandmother, Ellen Stetson Cooley (Thornton) was born in Grand Saline, Oklahoma in about 1838.Ellen married my great grandfather, Lewis Ross Thornton, and lived out her life in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma.I understand that there is a record of a "Cooley" who was a driver for the Benge Detachment bringing the Cherokees from the Cherokee Nation East to Indian Territory.John also had a daughter named Takey who married Isaac Rogers in the Cherokee Nation West.Much of this information comes from the "History of the Cherokee Indians," by Emmet Starr, published originally in 1921.It was republished in 1993 by OKLAHOMA YESTERDAY PUBLICATIONS, Dorothy J. Tincup Mauldin Editor-Publisher, 8745 E. 9th Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74112-4815, (918)835-4118.I understand that it is being revised for republication.Also, in the "Fort Gibson Oklahoma Area and the Old Illinois District of the Cherokee Nation, published in 2000 by the Fort Gibson Genealogical Society, A Susan Cooley was mentioned in an article quoting from "Manard a Local History" by Jennifer Cain Sparks ARC Press of Cane Hill, P. O. Box 188, Cane Hill, Ark 72717 or call (501) 824-3821.Manard was located about 8 miles east of Fort Gibson, Oklahoma and "was established at a spring near Manard before 1828.Manard was the location of the first land annuity payment by the Cherokees in the west and this was probably a payment to the Cherokees that had been moved from their homes in Arkansas into Indian Territory (northeastern Oklahoma) in the 1820s."When Gold Fever hit California in 1850, a party was organized at Susan Cooley's home at Manard to plan a trip to the gold fields.The group called themselves the Cherokee Immigration Company.Susan Cooley was one of the first signed to make the trip.As you see, my information on my Cooley family is limited.Good luck with yours.Hope that something in this will give you a lead.Sara Huggins Preston
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Re: Cooley/Touchstone, OK, c. 1850-1880
Lisa Luhrman 9/06/01