White House of the Chickasaws | |
Nearest city | Milburn, Oklahoma |
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Coordinates | 34°12′31″N96°32′46″W / 34.20861°N 96.54611°W |
Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
Built | 1895 |
Architect | Waltham, W.A. |
Architectural style | Queen Anne |
NRHP reference No. | 71000662 [1] |
Added to NRHP | August 5, 1971 |
The White House of the Chickasaws in Milburn, Oklahoma was built in 1895. It was designed by Dallas architect W.A. Waltham [1] in the Queen Anne style. [lower-alpha 1] [3] The house is also known as Gov. Douglas H. Johnston House, because Chickasaw Governor Douglas Hancock Johnston and his descendants resided in the mansion from 1898 to 1971 [4] when the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. At the time of its construction, the house was on the north edge of the community of Emet, Oklahoma, where Johnston operated a store, but its formal street address is now 6379 E. Mansion Dr., Milburn, Oklahoma [3]
On July 21, 1902, Johnston Murray, the son of Oklahoma Governor William H. Murray, was born at the mansion. [lower-alpha 2] [3] William H. Murray had married Mary Alice Hearrell, one of Johnston's nieces, and their son, Johnston Murray, would go on to become the 14th Oklahoma Governor. [3] Julie Chisholm, a granddaughter of Jesse Chisholm and a niece of the Johnstons, was also married in the mansion. [3]
The house is now a historic house museum owned by the Chickasaw Nation and has been restored to a 1900 appearance. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 5, 1971, under Criteria A and C. At that time, the house was still owned by descendants of the Governor. [3]
The house design was a gingerbread style, commonly used in Victorian architecture during the late 19th century. [lower-alpha 3]
The center section of the house had four rooms. From south to north these were:
Two-room wings flanked the center. The one on the west was separated from the sitting room by an open breezeway. This wing comprised Governor Johnston"s bedroom and office.
General construction lumber was obtained locally, but most of the finishing lumber was transported by wagon from Denison, Texas. The two ornate fireplaces inside the house had mantles and facings made of cherry mahogany, which were brought from Chattanooga, Tennessee. The porch that originally encircled the house used imported walnut for the ornamental woodwork. [3]
The house is well-preserved. Only a few changes have been made to the original design. Around 1903 or 1904, the breezeway was removed and replaced with a stairway that led to the attic area, where a bedroom and bathroom had been added. Indoor bathrooms were added later, and lighting changed from the original coal-oil lamps (both hanging and standing). [3]
Johnston County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,272. Its county seat is Tishomingo. It was established at statehood on November 16, 1907, and named for Douglas H. Johnston, a governor of the Chickasaw Nation.
Milburn is a town in Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States, along the Blue River. The population was 252 as of the 2020 Census. The town is notable as the location of the Chickasaw White House, the former home of Chickasaw Governor Douglas H. Johnston. This home is now a museum and is listed on the NRHP.
William Henry Davis "Alfalfa Bill" Murray was an American educator, lawyer, and politician who became active in Oklahoma before statehood as legal adviser to Governor Douglas H. Johnston of the Chickasaw Nation. Although not American Indian, he was appointed by Johnston as the Chickasaw delegate to the 1905 Convention for the proposed State of Sequoyah. Later he was elected as a delegate to the 1906 constitutional convention for the proposed state of Oklahoma; it was admitted in 1907.
Johnston Murray was an American lawyer, politician, and the 14th governor of Oklahoma from 1951 to 1955. He was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1956, Murray switched parties and joined the Republican Party.
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The Chickasaw Nation is an Indigenous nation formally recognized by the United States government. The Chickasaw citizenry descends from the historical population of a Chickasaw-speaking Indigenous nation established in the American Southeast whose original territory was appropriated by the United States in the 19th century and subsequently organized into what is now the northern Mississippi and Alabama and the western reaches of Tennessee and Kentucky. As of 2023, the Chickasaw Nation is the 12th largest Indigenous nation in the United States by population, counting a total worldwide population exceeding 80,000 citizens, the majority of which reside in Oklahoma, where the Chickasaw national government is established in Ada.
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Mary Frances Thompson Fisher, best known as Te Ata, was an actress and citizen of the Chickasaw Nation known for telling Native American stories. She performed as a representative of Native Americans at state dinners before President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957 and was named Oklahoma's first State Treasure in 1987.
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Emet is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Johnston County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 69 as of the 2020 Census. A post office operated in Emet from 1884 to 1917. The Chickasaw have dwelt in Johnston County since the 1830s, and Emet's history reflects its Chickasaw heritage. Pleasant Grove Mission School, which was established by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1844 and served the Chickasaw Nation, was located near Emet. Chickasaw actress and storyteller Te Ata Fisher was born in Emet in 1895.
The Chickasaw Capitol Building housed the government of the Chickasaw Nation during its last six years of existence. The government ceased to exist on March 4, 1906, a little more than one year before Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory combined to form the present state of Oklahoma. The building was sold to Johnston County, Oklahoma, in 1992, which used it as the county courthouse. The Chickasaw Nation repurchased the structure and has turned it into a museum.
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Mary Alice Hearrell Murray was an American and Chickasaw woman who served as the First Lady of Oklahoma between 1931 and 1935. She was married to Governor William H. Murray and the mother of Johnston Murray.