[5] Career Reeves and his family farmed until 1875, when Isaac Parker was appointed federal judge for the Indian Territory. A year later, he married Nellie Jennie from Texas and immediately began to have a family. On February 13, 1903 he was received at Ft. Leavenworth Penitentiary and became Inmate No. His own son, Bennie, had been charged with murder, after having killed his wife in a fit of jealousy. After the death of his wife, Reeves married Winnie Sumter of Muskogee, Okla., and. His memoir. When William S. Reeves died, his son George made Bass Reeves his personal companion and servant. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Ben grew into a tall, lean man with slate blue eyes. Bass Reeves was born to enslaved people in Arkansas, and the person who likely enslaved his family was William Reeves. Try again later. Once asked why he spent so much effort enforcing the "white man's laws," Bass reportedly replied, "Maybe the law ain't perfect, but it's the only one we got, and without it we got nuthin'. He waited along the route Tom Story used, and surprised him with an arrest warrant. The Western District of Arkansas is established. Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation and no longer a fugitive, the six-foot-two, 190-pound former slave left the Indian country, bought land near Van Buren, Arkansas, and became a successful stockman and farmer. Oops, something didn't work. While there is not a large amount of information on Wiley Escoe in circulation, he was known as a lawman, and a Black deputy U.S. . However, it was his refusal to make exceptions that was extraordinary. And perhaps most exciting, he was portrayed in the HBO series Watchmen in 2019. Dozier eluded Reeves for several months until the lawman tracked him down in the Cherokee Nation. His authority extends throughout Indian Territory and covers about 75,000 square miles at the time, the Fort Smith Federal Court was the largest in the nation. Harriet Reeves 1868 - Unknown. He then quickly disarmed a second and shot a third, only injuring him. In 2007 the US Route 62 Bridge crossing the Arkansas River, connecting Muskogee with Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, was named the Bass Reeves . Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager. His great-uncle, Paul L. Brady, was the first black person to be appointed as a federal administrative law judge in 1972. . [5] He married Nellie Jennie from Texas, with whom he had ten children, five boys and five girls. He takes Bass, now a grown man, with him as a guard and valet and still as his slave. . Records relating to Bass Reeves and his family: Inmate Case Files from Leavenworth Penitentiary (. Bass Reeves was born in 1838, at birth place, Arkansas. In 1889, after Bass was assigned to Paris, Texas, he went after the Tom Story gang of horse thieves. Little is known of their early relationship but in less than two years, it ended in her murder and his incarceration at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. It would be a good idea to occasionally highlight The Life Summary of Benjamin When Benjamin Reeves was born in June 1880, in Arkansas, United States, his father, Bass Reeves, was 41 and his mother, Nellie Jennie, was 30. He registered for the draft on September 12, 1918 at the age of 39 as was required by law. Like the many outlaws he had arrested, he was tried before Judge Isaac Parker. Two weeks later, Bass returned to Muskogee with his son in tow and turned him over to Marshal Bennett. He married Castella Brown on 20 November 1900, in Muskogee, Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States. Nudie E. Williams, "Bass Reeves," Negro History Bulletin 42 (April-May-June 1979). Reeves, thinking quickly, explains that he needs to write down the date of their capture, buying him enough time to draw his revolver, which he used to shoot dead one of his attackers. He tracked down A year later, he married Nellie Jennie of Texas. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Reeves was 38 years old at the time, 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighed 180 pounds, and rode a large horse. The New York Public LibraryAn illustration of a shootout in the Wild West. [5] [6] [7] [8] If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. . In the film, Majors plays Nat Love, the leader of a band of outlaws on a quest to hunt down his sworn enemy Rufus Buckthe man who murdered Loves parents, and the one responsible for the cross embedded in his forehead. His parents are enslaved by the Arkansas State Legislator William Steele Reeves. Dozier was known as a jack-of-all-trades when it came to committing crimes, as they covered a wide range from cattle and horse rustling, to holding up banks, stores, and stagecoaches; to murder and land swindles. When he asked her about an alleged infidelity, she replied that it was true. Benny Reeves served 22 years at Leavenworth Prison. Thanks for your help! Led by the 18-year-old Rufus Buck(center), the members of the gang included Maoma July, Lucky Davis, Sam Sampson, and Lewis Davis. His son was tried, convicted to life in prison, and sent to Kansas Leavenworth Penitentiary. Reeves eventually procured a homestead in Van Buren, Arkansas, where he was the first black settler. Wikimedia CommonsThe Lone Ranger, Tonto, and his silver stallion from the 1950s TV series The Lone Ranger. Please try again later. became a policeman for the City of Muskogee. In her early years, she worked as groundskeeper at the Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart in Toledo, Ohio. Bass Reeves grew up illiterate and remained illiterate for his entire life. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. Marshal and order him to hire 200 deputies. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/reeves-bass. Bass Reeves' Family: Wife and Children. Jennie, a Texan, and fathered ten children, five boys and five girls. outlaw Tom Story for five years between 1884 and 1889, finally killing him in a gunfight. There were also former slaves of the tribes, freed and made tribal members after the Civil War, settlers from the East (both black and white) who sharecropped tribal property, and a good measure of outlaws fleeing from civilization. A real-life hero. Reeves, who at this point was now nearly 70, joined the Muskogee Oklahoma Police Department as the only Black patrolman. He sent the deed to Castellas land as payment for his legal fees to obtain a pardon or commutation of sentence.[6]. In 1864 he married Nellie Jennie (d. 1896) and after her death Winnie Sumter (1900-1910). We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. failing health forced his retirement. All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Ben Reeves remained in Okmulgee and later married Fleccia Cromartie of Iowa. [online version available through Ancestry.com]. ", 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. He was 68 years old by then, but took on another position with the Muskogee Police Department, which he kept until his health began to fail. In 2013, he was inducted into the Texas Trail of Fame. Delroy Lindo is an accomplished actor, with over 40 years of experience in film, television, and theater. Https://books.google.com/books?id=oLSZAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA627&lpg=PA627&dq=Cynthia+Tolliver+supreme+court&source=bl&ots=ppz5UDbEBj&sig=ACfU3U03UsaC1R9sBabfBMIWgxxUBI3hzA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqtKr_6M7xAhWEPM0KHUoiCLQQ6AEwEXoECB4QAw#v=onepage&q=arkansas&f=false . This account has been disabled. Reeves diagnosis with Brights disease finally ended his career. Oops, we were unable to send the email. Lnea del tiempo de desarrollo embrionario y fetal. Bass Reeves, was the first black U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi River and one of the greatest frontier heroes in our nation's history. Parker, in turn, appointed a U.S. In his 32 years as a Deputy U.S. Freeman said, This is a Black man in Americas legendary Western history who has been totally overlooked. with him. Marshal Bass Reeves, a Black man who fled the Civil War, befriended the Seminole and Creek Indians, and eventually became one of the greatest lawmen in the Wild West. -1863 The Emancipation Proclamation is issued by President Abraham Lincoln; Bass Reeves, still living in confederate territory, is now legally a free man and no longer must live as a fugitive. White outlaws had so terrorized the interior groups, especially the Creeks and Seminoles, that Whites, with or without a badge, were unwelcome. Now it's continuing as "1883: The Bass Reeves Story," and this is not only going to get people familiar with a badass person from American history, but it will hopefully drive all of the "1883" fans to watch. Bass Reeves, is the first African-American to be deputized by the U.S. Offers may be subject to change without notice. In 1906 Bass only wrote one letter to his son and received none for that whole year. Reeves is almost killed while pursuing four men along the Seminole Whiskey Trail. You might start by introducing When Isaac C. Parker was appointed judge for the Federal Western District Court at Fort Smith, Arkansas, on May 10, 1875, to bring law to the Indian Territory, one of his first official acts was to swear in a United States marshal and appoint 200 deputies to curb the lawlessness in the area. Mrs. Tolliver was defended by the Iowa Land & Trust who argued that Reeves had no right to the land in the first place as he is not a member of the Tribe. Note: This article was edited and compiled from the following sources: https://www.greatblackheroes.com/government/bass-reeves/, https://allthatsinteresting.com/bass-reeves, https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-bassreeves/. He killed fourteen men in the performance of his duty while assigned to the federal district courts at Paris and Sherman, Texas, during his thirty-two-year career as deputy. He began his life as an outlaw at the age of 18, robbing stagecoaches, banks, and stores. Marshal service. 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