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Falonah Plantation, Drew Cemetery, and Refuge Plantation
August 14, 2006
Webpage by
Paul Ridenour
Information provided by Charles Steger
On August 14th, 2006, Patti Haskins and I drove to Jefferson, Texas, to meet Charles Steger. Charles had brought friend LaWanda Tyson. Our goal was to visit the Falonah Plantation, Drew Cemetery, and the Refuge Plantation, which are north of Jefferson. Charles is an expert on this topic and the Creek McIntosh family. His research is located at the Oklahoma Historical Society. The history on this webpage was based on his research.
Creek Chief William McIntosh's (1775 - 1825) second wife was Susannah Rowe (1796 - 1869) [some sources incorrectly indicate Susannah Coe or Roe]. Susannah was Creek and 1/4 Cherokee. They had four children:
Rebecca McIntosh (1815 - 1888) - married Benjamin Hawkins and Spire Hagerty
Delilah McIntosh (1818 - 1895) - married William Drew (1/4 Cherokee) and had five children
Artuami Ccache (Sachpa) (Armstrong) McIntosh (1819 - 1844) - adopted
Hettie Katherine McIntosh (1820 - 1887) - married James D. Willison, Sr.
Daniel N. McIntosh (1822- 1896)
After Chief William McIntosh was murdered, Susannah McIntosh married his half-brother Roley McIntosh ( - 1863) but they had no children. Roley became the first Chief of the Creek Nation in the West. Roley did adopt a Creek boy named Roley who later became a Creek Chief. Roley (Delilah's uncle) and his nephew Chilly McIntosh brought the Creeks to Indian Territory in 1828.
After William Drew died, Delilah's mother, Susannah, and her uncle Roley (Susannah's husband) came to live at Falonah Plantation. The Falonah house is still there with some modifications. Roley, Susannah, and William Drew are buried in back of the house in the Drew Cemetery. There are no markers, only rocks. Delilah Drew is buried in the Rogers Cemetery on the Honey Springs Civil War Battlefield northwest of Checotah - www.paulridenour.com/ok.htm. Her daughter Susan Drew married William Penn Adair and William Rogers, Susan was present at the birth of Will Rogers to name him "William Penn Adair Rogers." Delilah's daughter Kate Drew married Buckner Rogers. Delilah and her children were baptized Catholic in Jefferson, TX, on Christmas Eve, 1876.
Benjamin Hawkins received a land grant of 4,000 acres in Cass and Marion counties from Sam Houston. After Benjamin died, Rebecca married Spire Hagerty and lived on the Phoenix Plantation (also known as The Hagerty Place) . Spire received land from the Republic of Texas in Harrison County where Phoenix is located.
We did not get to visit the Phoenix Plantation. The original house foundation has been located. There is also a cemetery called the Phoenix Cemetery (known as the Hagerty Family Cemetery).
After Hagerty died, Rebecca moved to the Refuge Plantation and partnered with her sister Hettie. There is a slave cemetery on the Refuge Plantation but no one has located it. Falonah (2214 acres), Refuge (3400 acres), and the Phoenix (5,000 acres) plantations are all joined together. Hettie lived on 648 acres on the other side of Scott's Creek. Rebecca placed the Phoenix Plantation in the hands of her surviving children from Hagerty, Rebecca had children with Hawkins and five children with Hagerty. Some Hawkins and Hagerty children and heirs are buried in the Hagerty Family Cemetery. The cemetery does have some gravestones but they are laying on the ground. Phoenix was sold by Rebecca's heirs to J. J. Taylor, father of Lady Bird Johnson, on August 4, 1915.
Refuge no longer has a house but where the house stood, we found several pieces of broken glass, pottery, and China. The house was built in 1849 and completely gone by 1920. When Rebecca moved to Oklahoma, she told her slaves that she was coming back to Refuge and to leave everything in place. Everything "was" left in place, but she never came back. Near the house is a large oak tree and the south chimney bricks have been located. The north chimney is still being researched. There is a gas line marker near the location of the house. Down the hill from the house were the locations of two slave homes. Rose of Sharon, Huckleberry, Chinaberry, Devils Walkingstick, Horse Mint, Deer Weed, and Honey Locust are everywhere.
Rebecca and Hettie are buried separately but near their sister Delilah in Oklahoma. They left Texas in the 1880s and moved to the Eufaula District which is now present-day McIntosh County. Rebecca with her land and slaves, was probably the richest person in Texas during that time with an estimated net worth of $85,000.
I met the woman who currently owns the Falonah Plantation. Her great grandfather J. O. Jackson bought the remaining 200 acres for $800 from Delilah Drew on Jul 17, 1877.
I cannot divulge the exact locations of the Falonah and Refuge Plantations because they are on private land.
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