Louis Campbell Leflore. There are three families in the
old Choctaw and Chickasaw nations that stand out prominently for
their size and distinguished part in the development of these two
Indian tribes. They are the LeFlores, the Colberts and the Folsoms.
The history of these two tribes would be incomplete without a history
of these families, and extended mention of them will be found in the
pages of this work.
The LeFlore family
is of French origin, as is also the Colbert family, but "the
Folsoms are of English origin. The LeFlores were established in
America with the arrival of three brothers from France, who settled
on a homestead tract near where the City of Mobile, Alabama, now
stands. Two of the brothers married into Indian families of
prominence and wealth–one in the Choctaw tribe and the other in the
Chickasaws. Greenwood and Basil LeFlore were own brothers, while
Benjamin and Forbes LeFlore were the half-brothers of the two first
named–all of them the sons of a full-blooded Frenchman and Indian
women of purest Indian ancestry. Benjamin LeFlore was the grandsire
of L. C. LeFlore of this sketch. He was married to Miss Mary Juzan of
the Chickasaws, and Louis LeFlore, father of Louis Campbell LeFlore
of this review, was their son. The uncle of Louis, Greenwood LeFlore,
was chief of the Choctaw tribe in Mississippi, and when they came
west he remained in Mississippi, later representing his district in
the State Senate. For him LeFlore County in Mississippi was named,
and the county seat was designated as Greenwood in his honor.
father of Louis Campbell LeFlore, was born in Mississippi in 1835.
Before the war he was a prominent and wealthy planter and slave
owner, but he suffered the loss of his wealth during the war, as did
others throughout the Southland. When the war broke out he enlisted
in the Confederate service, and he served in the command of Colonel
Ross. He died when the war was nearing its end, and while still in
the service. He married Josephine Carrington, the daughter of W. D.
Carrington, formerly of North Carolina, but then a resident of
Tennessee, and later of Texas. He finally died in Mississippi. In
Texas the family was among the first settlers of Leon County, and
they were representative and prominent people
wherever they made their home. The children of Louis and Josephine
LeFlore are as follows: Louis Campbell, of this review; Abbott, who
lives near Kenefick; Felicia, who married J. M. Goddard, of Caddo.
Two died young. Marcellus, the third born child, died in
Texas, and Phoebe was but an infant when death claimed her.
LeFlore was born near Carthage, Leake County, Mississippi, on July
23, 1857. He was educated in the common schools of Mississippi before
his migration to Texas, at the age of thirteen years. He remained in
that state for ten years, during which time he attended school in
Austin, and gained a very creditable education, under the guidance of
his mother’s people, who were then residents of Texas. In 1874 he
came to the Indian Territory. His stay was brief, however, and two
years later saw his return to Texas, where he remained until 1890. In
Texas he devoted himself to the merchandise business, and was
successful in that line. In 1903 Mr. LeFlore was appointed by the
government as one of a committee of three to remove and locate about
300 Mississippi Choctaws in the Indian Territory. He was engaged in
that work until April, 1904, when he was appointed office deputy
United States marshal, with headquarters at Atoka. He filled that
office until the coming of statehood, when he was appointed as
Choctaw townsite commissioner to appraise the lots of townsites
located on the segregated coal lands. On that commission Mr. LeFlore
represented the Choctaws and Mr. Charles A. Wilson represented the
white population. In 1910 Mr. LeFlore saw the possibilities in the
new town of Kenefick, which had just been started in February of that
year, and which was located on the M. O. S. G. Railroad, then in
course of construction from Muskogee to DenisonJ Texas. He
established a mercantile business in the embryo town, and so well did
it succeed that he is still actively engaged in business there. In
1914 he installed an ice plant, and in the past few months he has
secured the franchise for a lighting plant, which it is his plan to
bring to completion in the coming year. Besides being a successful
merchant and a town builder, as he may well be said to be, Mr.
LeFlore owns and manages a large black-land farm near Kenefick, which
is a source of much pleasure to him, as well as not a little profit.
In 1883 Mr. LeFlore
was married to Miss Keturah Coleman, of Texas birth and parentage. To
them have been born the following children: Mrs. Rosa Dennett, of
Carter, Wisconsin; Michael, who manages the ice plant for his father;
Mrs. Josephine Kirkendall, of Atoka; Helen, who lives with her mother
at the LeFlore home in Atoka; Campbell, Jr., who is attending the
University of Oklahoma, and who, during his vacations, is associated
with his father in the mercantile business at Kenefick.
Mr. LeFlore is a
Mason, a Pythian Knight, an Odd Fellow and a Woodman of the World. He
is a democrat and has always loyally supported the men and principles
of that party. The family home is maintained in Atoka, where the
LeFlores are socially prominent and popular, as they are wherever
they are known.