Douglas H. Johnston
| Douglas H. Johnston | |
|---|---|
| Born |
'Douglas Hancock Cooper Johnston' October 13, 1856 Skullyville, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory |
| Died | June 28, 1939 (aged 82) Oklahoma |
| Nationality | Chickasaw |
| Other names | Douglas Henry Johnson, Douglas Hancock Cooper Johnston |
| Occupation | Governor of Chickasaw Nation, teacher, merchant |
| Years active | 1881 - 1939 |
| Known for | Last Governor of Chickasaw Nation |
Douglas Hancock Cooper Johnston (13 October 1856 – 28 June 1939), also known as "Douglas Henry Johnston", was governor of the Chickasaw Nation from 1898 to 1902 and from 1904 to 1939. In office, he was notable for ratifying the Atoka Agreement and for defending the tribe against claims for more money. Prior to his election as governor, he was the superintendent of the Bloomfield Academy. From 1902 to 1904 he served in the Chickasaw Senate. President Theodore Roosevelt reappointed him as Governor of the Chickasaws after the Dawes Act terminated trial governments in Indian Territory.
Johnston, the mixed-race son of "Colonel" John Johnston, Sr, and of Mary Ann Cheadle Walker (Chickasaw, 1818 – c. 1863) was born in Skullyville, Indian Territory, at a time when it was the capital of the Choctaw Nation. In the Chickasaw matrilineal kinship system, children were considered born into their mother's clan and took their status from her. Johnston's name is sometimes given as "Douglas Henry Johnston", but he was named for General Douglas Hancock Cooper. He had two elder brothers, William Worth Johnston and Franklin Pierce Johnston, and one younger, Napoleon Bonapart [sic] Johnston.
John Johnston acquired the title "Colonel" during the Seminole Wars. He had been a land speculator and a lawyer in Mississippi before going to Indian Territory. Johnston had migrated with the "Six Town" Choctaw from Mississippi, leaving a wife (Jane Bettis, from whom there is no record of divorce) and six children. According to Cornish, Colonel Johnston was closely related to the Confederate generals, Albert Sidney Johnston and Joseph E. Johnston.
In Indian Territory, Johnston had a relationship with Mary Ann Cheadle (1818 – c.1863), the mixed-race daughter of Thomas Fleming Cheadle, a European American, and of Betsy Kemp, a Chickasaw of mixed ancestry. There is no legal record of a marriage between Johnston and Mary Cheadle.
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