Polk McALVAIN ²

  General Notes:

Choctaw Roll No. 6445 ²

  Research Notes:

The records of George G. Johnston differ from the records of Ruthie King in some respects: George has Polk's date of birth as 14 Nov 1853 and place of birth as Wister, Choctaw Nation, and he also has his place of death as Wister. The author visited Kennedy Cemetery on 14 July 2001 and observed that Polk's gravemarker also shows 14 Nov 1853 as the year of birth. That year also seems consistent with the birth of his first child in 1874 (by his first marriage) and is roughly consistent with Choctaw Nation census records. Nonetheless, deference has been given the records of Ruthie King, a descendant of Polk McAlvain and an accomplished Choctaw genealogist. Ruthie reports that her great grandma always said the date of birth on his grave marker was incorrect and that Polk was much older than Louisa. It appears the main record establishing an earlier date of birth is the Muster Roll of Choctaw Indians residing in Mississippi who "emigrated" in 1838. Readers interested in the ancestors and descendants of Polk McAlvain will find an abundance of material at Ruthie's website.

Note that Kennedy and Kennady are both accepted spellings of the town and cemetery bearing that name, both located near Wister. ⁴

Polk married Sinah PERRY. (Sinah PERRY was born about 1850 ² and died after 14 Feb 1874 in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory ^{2 4}.)

Polk next married Mary CHOATE. (Mary CHOATE was born in 1860 in Indian Territory ⁴ and died on 22 Apr 1881 in Indian Territory ^{2 4}.)

  Marriage Notes:

Additional information about the descendants of Polk McAlvain and Mary Choate is contained in the family records of Ruthie King and George Johnston. ^{2 4}

Polk next married Louisa Matilda BOWERS, daughter of John BOWERS and Mary MAJORS, on 12 Jul 1886 in Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory (Kennady/Kennedy, Le Flore County, Oklahoma).² (Louisa Matilda BOWERS was born on 17 Jun 1863 in Grainger County, Tennessee,^{5 6} died on 25 Dec 1918 in Wister, Le Flore County, Oklahoma ^{2 4} and was buried in Kennady/Kennedy Cemetery, Wister, Le Flore County, Oklahoma ².)

  Marriage Notes:

Polk and Louisa were married at the home of Polk McAlvain by Judge N. J. Nelson. Note that they were enumerated as husband and wife in the 1885 census for Sugar Loaf County, Choctaw Nation, and also that Polk's Daybook recorded the birth of their son, Charles, as 1885. Ruthie reports it wasn't uncommon at this time and place for people to live together and hold themselves out as married and then officially marry when a person authorized to perform marriage came around. ²