By T.S. Akers
The final resting place of R.W. Bro. Joseph M. Coodey
at Greenwood Cemetery of Eufaula.
Among the Five Tribes, there are surnames of note. Some of
those names carry much the same weight today as they did in the nineteenth
century. One can hardly discuss the Cherokee Nation without mentioning John
Ross. And then there are Indian surnames that have faded into history. One of
those family names that has nearly been forgotten is that of Coodey. For the
brethren of Eufaula Lodge No. 1, AF&AM, a member of the Coodey family,
Joseph McDonald in particular, should always be remembered.
To properly place Joseph McDonald Coodey in time, an
accounting of his genealogy should be considered. His Cherokee lineage begins
with a Cherokee woman named Ghi-goo-ie. Later known as Peggy, she was born
about 1727 in what is today North Carolina. Ghi-goo-ie married William Shorey,
a native of Scotland, in 1740. The couple’s daughter Annie Shorey, born in 1750
in what is now Alabama, married John McDonald in 1769. John and Annie’s
daughter Mary McDonald was born in 1770 and married Daniel Ross of Scotland in
1786. Daniel and Mary had eight children, including John Ross in 1790, who
later rose to fame. One of the siblings was Jane "Jennie" Ross, born
in 1787, who married Joseph Coodey in 1805. Joseph Coodey was originally from
Virginia and had made his home in Tennessee. He and Jennie Ross had nine
children, of which two were sons: William Shorey Coodey born in 1806 and Joseph
McDonald Coodey born in 1827.[1]
As can be discerned, the Coodey brothers were nephews of
John Ross, who served as Principal Chief of the Cherokees from 1828 to 1866.
Ross was a mentor to the eldest Coodey brother William Shorey, who in 1831 was
part of a delegation sent to Washington, D.C., to present grievances against
the state of Georgia for allowing white settlers to move onto Cherokee land.[2] William Shorey went on to
draft the Cherokee constitution in 1839 and was then elected president of the
National Committee, an advisory group to the chief.[3] William Shorey died at
Washington, D.C., in 1849, again serving as part of a Cherokee delegation. He
was laid to rest in Congressional Cemetery with Masonic honors.[4] He may have become a
Freemason in Tennessee or Tahlequah; the former being where John Ross had
joined the Fraternity.
The Coodey Family arrived in the Indian Territory in 1834.
Their residence was situated with a Cherokee settlement located six miles east of Fort Gibson on the south side of Bayou Menard.
There, Joseph Coodey the elder operated a grist mill. When Sequoyah died in
1843, Coodey took over his salt works on Lee’s Creek, operating it under the
name J. Coodey and Son.[5] Advertising in the Cherokee
Advocate in 1846, the salt works boasted that 3,000 bushels of salt were on
hand for immediate shipment. The salt works ended up not being profitable and
the Coodey’s sold it in 1848.[6]
Joseph McDonald Coodey was just seven years old when he made
the journey west with his family. To provide for his children’s education, the
elder Coodey employed a private tutor by the name of McLane. Joseph McDonald
eventually went into the mercantile business, first as a clerk for his uncle
Lewis Ross in the Grand Saline area. The two later operated the firm of Ross
& Coodey at the Creek Agency near Fern Mountain on the Arkansas River. Ross
retired from the mercantile operation shortly before the Civil War and Joseph
McDonald became the sole proprietor. Joseph McDonald married Mary Rebecca
Thornberry, a sister to the wife of prominent Muscogee citizen George W.
Stidham, in 1857.[7]
At the onset of the Civil War, most of the residents of the Creek Agency
abandoned the settlement, taking refuge either in Texas or the southern portion
of the Indian Territory. Joseph McDonald chose to close his store at this time
and took his wife and two children to Texas. He then returned to the Indian Territory to fight for the Confederacy.[8]
The original charter of Muscogee Lodge No. 93, issued by
the Grand Lodge of Arkansas in 1855.
When Cherokee Lodge No. 21 was chartered by the Grand Lodge
of Arkansas in 1848, the lodge’s first Junior Warden was the elder Joseph Coodey.[9] He served that lodge as
Worshipful Master in 1850.[10] It was likely in this
lodge at Tahlequah that Joseph McDonald Coodey took the degrees of Freemasonry.
With his mercantile operation apparently thriving at the Creek Agency, Joseph
McDonald became one of the men responsible for bringing Freemasonry to that
community. It is believed that Rev. Calvin M. Slover, George W. Stidham, and
Joseph McDonald Coodey personally travelled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to obtain
a dispensation to form a lodge at the Creek Agency. Muscogee Lodge No. 93 was
duly chartered there on the 9th of November in 1855. The first Worshipful
Master was George W. Stidham, with William Whitfield as Senior Warden, and
Albert Barnwell as Junior Warden.[11] In 1859 the elder Joseph
Coodey died at the age of 80.[12] At the time the Civil War
began, Joseph McDonald was serving as Senior Warden of Muscogee Lodge. As
people began to flee the Creek Agency, Joseph McDonald took his family south to
Texas. He also took the lodge charter with him to preserve it; either carrying
it with him throughout the war or storing it with his family in Texas.[13] Owing to Joseph
McDonald’s efforts, the original Muscogee Lodge No. 93 charter survives to this
day and is the only original Indian Territory charter that does.
After the withdrawal of the federal army from the Indian
Territory in the spring of 1861, the Confederacy sent Albert Pike into the
Indian nations to negotiate treaties of alliance. He had represented the
Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Muscogees in legal claims against the federal
government, which made him someone the Five Tribes were familiar with.[14] Pike began his
negotiations that summer and was met with immediate success amongst all but the
Cherokees. It was not until October that a treaty was signed with the Cherokee
Nation, which like the other treaties called for the Cherokees to raise a regiment
of cavalry for Confederate service.[15] Some Cherokees
sympathetic to the Confederate cause had already begun organizing a regiment
that summer. After delivering his family to Texas, Joseph McDonald Coodey
returned to the Indian Territory and enlisted in the 1st Cherokee Mounted
Rifles on the 12th of July as a lieutenant in Company I. The regiment was then
commanded by Colonel John Drew and was mustered into Confederate service that
December.[16]
The majority of the regiment had deserted by 1862 and those who remained were
reorganized as the 1st Cherokee Mounted Volunteers under the command of Colonel
Stand Watie.[17]
Coodey’s company was transferred to the 2nd Cherokee Mounted Volunteers in
February of 1863.[18]
During his service with the Confederacy, Coodey would have participated in the
Battles of Pea Ridge and Honey Springs.[19] He likely took part in
one of Watie’s more fantastical raids, the capture of the federal supply train,
consisting of over 300 wagons, at Cabin Creek in September of 1864.[20]
Before Joseph McDonald Coodey could return to Texas to
collect his family, his wife Mary Rebecca passed away in 1866. Coodey then made
his residence at North Fork Town on the Texas Road, where he married Mary M.
Hardage of the Muscogee Nation in 1867. From this marriage, three additional
children were born.[21] Coodey returned to the
mercantile business at North Fork Town, which was also referred to as Old Town
and Micco. There he formed a partnership with David B. Whitlow, who was a
cooper.[22] When the Katy Railroad
crossed the Indian Territory in 1872 and bypassed North Fork Town, a group of
men from the community induced Robert S. Stevens, construction supervisor, to
locate a depot north of the Canadian River in exchange for $1,000. The men who
put up the necessary funds included Coodey, Whitlow, and George W. Stidham, all
of whom were Masons. It was then that the town of Eufaula was born and situated
three miles to the west of North Fork Town.[23] As people began to move
into the new town, Coodey & Whitlow were the first to reopen their store,
located west of the railroad tracks.[24] This would become Front
Street, Eufaula’s original commercial thoroughfare.
Gray's Atlas Map of the Indian Territory from 1872,
illustrating the route of the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad (the Katy Railroad).
(Courtesy of the Gilcrease Museum)
It has been said that Muscogee Lodge No. 93 resumed
operation at North Fork Town immediately following the Civil War on the second
floor of George W. Stidham’s store.[25] The community’s
population at the time was around fifty people.[26] The residents of North
Fork Town also included four Freemasons, Joseph M. Coodey, George W. Stidham,
David B. Whitlow, and Rev. Henry F. Buckner.[27] What is more probable is
that those four men began meeting as Masons again after the development of
Eufaula in 1872. As all the lodge members had dispersed from the Creek Agency,
where the charter was originally established, the four men may not have been
aware that the Grand Lodge of Arkansas had suspended their charter in 1867 for
failing to respond to the grand lodge’s notice.[28] In 1874 these Masons now
located at Eufaula chose to set their affairs straight with the Grand Lodge of
Arkansas. This was likely brought about by the desire to form a Grand Lodge of
the Indian Territory, a movement spearheaded by Granville McPherson at Caddo
Lodge No. 311. That lodge had been chartered at Caddo in 1873.[29] The brethren of Muscogee
Lodge settled their debt for dues in arrears with Arkansas, but their original
lodge number had been re-issued and a new charter was granted to them as
Muscogee Lodge No. 90 on the 1st of April, 1874.[30]
When the convention was held at Caddo to form the Grand
Lodge of the Indian Territory, Joseph McDonald Coodey was not in attendance.
His proxy as Senior Warden was carried by Rev. Calvin M. Slover. As the sun set
on the 5th of October, 1874, Muscogee Lodge came to be known as Muscogee Lodge
No. 1 under the newly established grand jurisdiction.[31] The following year, the
annual communication was held at Eufaula and that occasion marked the beginning
of Coodey’s service to the new grand lodge. In addition to presiding over his
lodge as Worshipful Master in 1875, Coodey was elected Junior Grand Warden that
September.[32]
Coodey was never carried forward as a grand officer, even though he was again
elected Junior Grand Warden in 1879.[33] Whilst serving Muscogee
Lodge as Master or a Warden during this period, Coodey was also appointed
District Deputy Grand Master in 1878.[34] With the exception of the
year 1879, he remained in that role until his passing.[35]
Joseph McDonald Coodey passed away at Eufaula on the 19th of
November, 1882, at the age of 55.[36] He was laid to rest on a
gentle rise north of town, land that Coodey had given the community to be
used as a cemetery.[37] In time, Coodey’s friends
George W. Stidham and David B. Whitlow would occupy plots not far from his own.
Upon his passing, Muscogee Lodge offered the following resolution for Coodey:
In Memoriam
Whereas,
The Great Creator has been pleased to remove our worthy and well beloved
brother, Jos. McD. Coodey from the curses and troubles of a transitory
existence to the rest and joys of a blessed immortality, therefore be it
Resolved,
That we, the members of Muscogee Lodge No. 1, deem it proper and becoming to
notice the death of our highly esteemed brother and co-laborer who departed
this life Nov. 19, 1882.
Resolved,
That we do hereby bear record of his death and testimony of his piety as a
follower of Christ, of his zeal and fidelity as a member of this Lodge, and of
his worth in all his public and private relations in life.
Resolved,
That we extend our heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family of our brother,
in this, their irreparable loss and that we wear the usual badge of mourning
for thirty days.
Resolved,
That a copy of this memorial be sent to the Indian Journal, Cherokee
Advocate, and Indian Chieftain with request that they publish the same, and
also that a copy be spread upon the records of this lodge.
R.C. McGee,
I.G. Vore,
M.G. Butler,
Committee[38]
The fraternal dead from Muscogee Lodge No. 1 for the year 1882.
(From the proceedings of the Grand Lodge of the Indian Territory)
[1] Carolyn T. Foreman, "The Coodey Family
of Indian Territory," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 25, no. 4 (1947):
324-325.
[2] Tiffany Coodey, "William Shorey Coodey:
The Cherokee Statesman," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 75, no. 3
(1997): 321.
[3] Coodey, "William Shorey Coodey: The
Cherokee Statesman”: 326.
[4] Foreman, "The Coodey Family of Indian
Territory”: 340.
[7] "Death of Joseph McDonald Coodey," Our
Brother in Red (Muskogee, I.T.), December 1, 1882, 4.
[8] Flora Coodey Audd, Interview, October 11,
1937, United States, Works Progress Administration, Indian Pioneer Histories,
Vol. 12: 513-520.
[9] Clarence Brain, "Historical Notes on
Masonic Organizations in Indian Territory," The Chronicles of Oklahoma
22, no. 1 (1944): 113.
[10] “Grave Is Violated,” Tulsa World
(Tulsa, OK), March 6, 1925, 20.
[11] "Eufaula Masonic Lodge Oldest in
Oklahoma," The Indian Journal (Eufaula, OK), March 2, 1922.
[12] "Joseph Shorey Coody," Find a
Grave, accessed April 23, 2024, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5096938/joseph_shorey_coodey.
[13] "Eufaula Masonic Lodge Oldest in
Oklahoma," The Indian Journal.
[14] Joy Porter, Native American Freemasonry:
Associationalism and Performance in America (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 2011), 215-216.
[15] “Treaty with the Cherokees. October 7th,
1861. A Treaty of Friendship and Alliance.,” The Statutes at Large of the
Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America (Richmond: R.M.
Smith, 1864), 394-411.
[16] Compiled service record, Joseph Coodey,
Lieutenant, First Cherokee Mounted Volunteers; Carded Records Showing Military
Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Confederate Organizations, compiled
1903-1927, documenting the period 1861-1865, Record Group 109; National
Archives, Washington, D.C.
[17] Michael A. Hughes, "Drew, John Thompson
(1796-1865)," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture,
accessed April 23, 2024, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=DR002.
[18] Compiled service record, Joseph Coodey.
[19] "1st Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Rifles,
CSA" Battle Unit Details - National Park Service, accessed April
23, 2024,https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm?battleUnitCode=CCS0001R0T2I
[20] Whit Edwards, The Prairie was on Fire:
Eyewitness Accounts of the Civil War in the Indian Territory (Oklahoma
City: Oklahoma Historical Society, 2014), 118.
[21] Flora Coodey Audd, Interview.
[22] Linda F. Wendel, "How Did Eufaula,
Oklahoma Begin?," The Indian Journal (Eufaula, OK), March 30, 2017,
10.
[23] Carolyn T. Foreman, "North Fork
Town," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 29, no. 1 (1951): 107-108.
[24] Charles L. Follansbee, Jr., "The
Pre-Statehood History of the Eufaula and North Fork Town Area," The
Indian Journal (Eufaula, OK), February 5, 1959.
[25] "Eufaula Masonic Lodge Oldest in
Oklahoma," The Indian Journal.
[26] Foreman, "North Fork Town”: 90.
[27] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: First Annual Communication (Caddo,
Choctaw Nation, 1875), 24.
[28] Brain, "Historical Notes on Masonic
Organizations in Indian Territory”: 111.
[29] Masonic Centennial Lodges: 1874-1974
ed. Marvin L. Julian (Guthrie: Oklahoma Lodge of Research, 1974), 2.
[30] "Eufaula Masonic Lodge Oldest in
Oklahoma," The Indian Journal.
[31] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Convention (Caddo, Choctaw Nation,
1874), 3 & 29.
[32] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: First Annual Communication (Caddo,
Choctaw Nation, 1875), 3 & 13.
[33] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Fifth Annual Communication (Eufaula,
Creek Nation, 1879), 24.
[34] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Fourth Annual Communication (McAlester,
Choctaw Nation, 1878), 37 & 58.
[35] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Eighth Annual Communication (Vinita,
Cherokee Nation, 1882), 40.
[36] Proceedings of the M.: W.: Grand Lodge
A.F. & A.M. of the Indian Territory: Ninth Annual Communication (Fort
Gibson, Cherokee Nation, 1883), 34.
[37] Charles L. Follansbee, Jr., "The
Pre-Statehood History of the Eufaula and North Fork Town Area.”
[38] "Died - Joseph McD. Coodey," The
Indian Journal (Eufaula, I.T.), November 23, 1882, 5.
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