Ezekial "Zeke" Downing Proctor, Sr. 1831 - 1907

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• Suffix	Sr.
  Nickname	Zeke
  Birth	04 Jul 1831	Roswell, Fulton, Georgia, USA
  Gender	Male
  Newspaper Article	CARL P. JOHNSON (1897, November 7). ZEKE PROCTOR -- A BAD INDIAN. New York Times (1857-Current file),p. SM7.  Retrieved May 29, 2008, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004) database. (Document ID: 102545564).          The Indian country bordering on Western Arkansas has produced many individuals who have become conspicuous for their daring, both as the conservators of the peace and civil government and as defiers of the  law.  The most conspicuous fighter and killer now living in the Cherokee Nation is Zeke Proctor, ex-High Sheriff of Goingsnake District.  He is a full-blood Cherokee, is near sixty-five years of age, and not-withstanding his numerous battles, and scars made by club, knife, and bullet, he is still vigorous, active, and keen-eyed.      He went to the Nation from Georgia when a boy, when the Cherokees were removed from their Southern Reservation to their present lands.  When he was yet a young man, he became noted among his people as a hunter, trapper, and fighter.  His first victim was a man named Year-Old, a young Indian with whom he became involved in an altercation.  He buried the body of Year-Old, and adorned the grave with flint rocks.  A road now runs near the rocky mound, in what is known as "Indian Grave Hollow."  Not long after this tragedy Proctor attended a dance in the Goingsnake District, and during the festivities he became involved in a fight with two Indians named Jay-Bird and Big-Drum.  He shot Jay-Bird dead and sent a bullet through Big-Drum's body, but the latter recovered.      This occurred just at the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, and as soon as Proctor recovered from his wounds he offered his services to the United States Government as a scout, in which capacity he was a power as a spy, scout, and sharpshooter.      Subsequently Proctor joined Capt. Scraper's company of the First Indian Regiment.  At the close of the war Proctor ran for Sheriff of the Goingsnake District and was elected.  During the second year of his service, the Council of Chiefs, for some offense on the part of Proctor, deposed him.  Shortly after he got into a difficulty with one Jim Kesterson, in which he brought his revolver into action, firing at Kesterson, missing him and killing a woman spectator named Hilderbrand.  He was arrested, for the killing of Mrs. Hilderbrand, tried and acquitted.  Then he was re-arrested for shooting at Jim Kesterson.  The trial was set for May 15, 1872.  He was held as a prisoner at Goingsnake Court House.  In the forenoon of that day, Proctor was in the courtroom with a number of his friends.  Among his opponents were eight United States Deputy Marshals.  By order of the court, the men of both parties had stood their rifles and hung up their revolvers in the corners on each side of the Judge's bench, but while waiting for Proctor's case to be called, Sut Beck, a nephew of Mrs. Hilderbrand, appeared in the Court House door with a double-barreled shot gun.  He was in the act of leveling it at Zeke Proctor, when the latter's brother, Johnson Proctor, caught the muzzle of the gun and pulled it toward him.  Beck at that instant pulled the trigger, and Johnson Proctor fell dead.      Beck then shot Zeke Proctor with the remaining charge, but at that instant some one from the outside handed Proctor a gun through a window, and he began to use it most effectively, although growing weak from loss of blood.  Both factions rushed to their stacked guns and a battle at close range followed. The smoke became so dense in the Court House that the firing was mostly at random, but after it ceased, and the smoke lifted, a Deputy United States Marshal, a posse man, and ten others, lay dead on the floor and in the yard.  Proctor and his friends escaped and were finally pardoned by President Grant with the proviso that they cease their sanguinary contentions.      Proctor engaged, soon after his return to the Indian Territory, in cattle raising.  He took as a partner in this enterprise a married man named Woodruff of Siloam Springs, Ark., just across the eastern boundary.  Their herds multiplied and grew fat, but one day shortly before the time for marketing the beeves, Woodruff was found dead a short distance west of Siloam Springs. Woodruff was popular in Siloam Springs, and in their indignation the people centered their suspicion upon Proctor as the slayer of Woodruff.  The excitement grew, until a vigilance committee was formed to avenge the death of Woodruff by "waiting" upon Proctor in a body.  A prominent citizen led the avengers down to Proctor's ranch.  As they approached the house they saw him sitting out in the yard, surrounded by about twenty Cherokees squatted on the ground, every one of them with a Winchester across his lap.  Very few words were spoken, and they were by Proctor, who, pointing to a spring branch that flows near his house, shouted: "Don't you cross that stream!"  They took his advice, and returned to Siloam Springs, and that ended the Proctor-Woodruff deal.      Proctor is still riding as Deputy United States Marshal, and with his record as a killer and the Government at his back, his prowess is feared and his authority is respected.   Zeke Proctor Killed Near Tahlequah. (1895, June 19). New York Times (1857-Current file),p. 2.  Retrieved May 29, 2008, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004) database. (Document ID: 102462435). Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, June 18, Zeke Proctor was killed near Tahlequah to-day while attempting to arrest a criminal.  Proctor was a Cherokee Indian, and formerly a noted outlaw.  He had killed over a score of men, and was so feared that the Cherokee Nation and United States Government ten years ago made a treaty of peace with him, which he kept, having since been a good citizen.  He was a Cherokee Sheriff for three years.
  Item Of Interest	THE TRIAL OF EZEKIEL PROCTOR AND THE PROBLEM OF JUDICIAL JURISDICTION By Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., and Lonnie E. Underhill* On April 15, 1872, at the session of the district court in Goingsnake District, Cherokee Nation, there occurred a gunfight that left nine men dead and numbers wounded, two of them mortally. The episode became known in the history of eastern Oklahoma as the "Tragedy of Goingsnake" or the "Proctor-Beck Fight." The fight resulted from the attempts of a United States marshal from Fort Smith and his posse to arrest and take to Fort Smith Ezekiel Proctor who was on trial for the killing of one Polly Kesterson.1  Such a dramatic event had its immediate as well as its long-range effects. Immediately, it caused the federal government to pause to examine the conflict which had arisen over matters of jurisdiction between the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith and the courts of the Cherokee Nation. The long-range effect of the episode was to add to the lore of that area a series of stories, often based more on fancy than on fact. Many such stories have unfortunately not dealt kindly with some of the people involved, especially with Proctor himself. Too many writers have painted him as a "bad man," murderer, and outlaw, when actually, the records show that he was a successful farmer and rancher and lawman of some note. It is doubtful that all of the details will ever be known, but a more complete and accurate account of that fateful event can be given. The-known facts of what precipitated the trial, and therefore the fight, are few. On the morning of February 13, 1872, Ezekiel Proctor went to Hildebrand's Mill on Flint Creek about a half mile north of and across the creek from the present Flint, Oklahoma. There a gunfight ensued between Proctor and James Kesterson, during which Mrs. Kesterson was killed. Proctor turned himself in, willingly giving himself up for trial.2  What actually transpired at the mill may be lost to history, but the story is, .......[The Complete Story] Chronicles of Oklahoma By James Shannon Buchanan, Oklahoma Historical Society Published by Oklahoma Historical Society., 1893 Pages 307-322 The Following Data and Photos Provided by : Michael Allen   Kermit Beck in front of the old Beck Mill. The mill stands on his property near Flint, Oklahoma.  It was at this site that Zeke Proctor shot and killed Polly Beck  Hilderbrand. (Photograph by Phillip Steele) The Final Rolls of 1902 of the Cherokees lists Ezekiel Proctor 68 years of age, 1/2 Cherokee, Cherokee Census card 395, with William R., 30, 1/2, Ezekiel Proctor was Sheriff of Goingsnake District in 1867 and again in 1894, 1895 and 1896.  He was a Senator from Goingsnake District in 1877. He was a Cherokee Delegate to the International Council held in Okmulgee, I. T., in September 1870 and again in December 187 This I found in Vol. III, Chronicles, pages 38 and 122. I can find no reference to Johnson Cemetery, but I find in Vol. 67, Indian Pioneer History, Grant Foreman Collection, in an interview with Moses Welch of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, taken in 1937, that "Zeke Proctor is buried in the Proctor Cemetery six miles west of Siloam Springs on Highway 33." In Vol. XI, pages 371-376, is an article "Beck and Proctor Fight of Eighty Years Ago" as told by E. H. Whitmire.  This is quite interesting, but I am not copying it until I receive a request from you.  Decided to copy it and copy enclosed. In the same Volume XI, in an interview with John H. Bright of Westville, he says: "Horse racing was a f[a]mous sport in those day Every community in this part of the Going Snake District had a race track.  But the most important track was located about 4 miles northeast of the present town of Westville, Oklahoma. The most important race held at this track was in 1880.  This race was run between Ned Still and Zeke Proctor.  Hundreds of dollars were bet on this race.  The Proctor horse won.  Sam Bright, a cousin of the informant, rode the Still horse.  The track was just a little north of the Parris Cemetery."
  1900 12th US Census	Cherokee Township, Indian Territory
  	Series: T623 Roll: 1844 Page: 156 Surname GivenName Age Sex Race Birthplace State County Location Year PROCTOR ZEOK July 1834 66 M I Farmer GA GA TN ITER CHEROKEE TWP 19 N RANGE 26 E 1900 WD William Son I M July 1872 27 S IT GA GA Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor Head of Household 1900 U.S. Census -  Cherokee Township, Indian Territory Photo Courtesy of The House Of Proctor Genealogy Collection
  Family Notes	My great-great grandmother was Zeke's daughter thru Rebecca Mitchell (the triplett named Minnie) and we were wondering if anyone knew exactly where the land in Georgia is located? Also, if you have any pictures with this branch of the family, we would love to see them. Thanks for your help..... ~ Vickie Jordan Davis
  Died	23 Feb 1907
  Buried	Johnson Cemetery, West Siloam Springs, Delaware, Oklahoma, USA
  		Civil War Veteran ~ Union - United States of America 3rd Regiment, Indian Home Guards, Kansas Infantry Rank In: Sgt ~ Rand Out: Pvt Organized at Carthage, Mo., September 16, 1862. Served Unattached, Dept. of Kansas, September, 1862. 1st Brigade, Dept. of Kansas, to October, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Army of the Frontier, Dept. of Missouri, to February, 1863. District of Northwest Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to June, 1863. District of the Frontier, Dept. of Missouri, to December, 1863. 1st Brigade, District of the Frontier, Dept. of Missouri, to January, 1864. 1st Brigade, District of the Frontier, 7th Army Corps, Dept. of Arkansas, to February, 1864. Indian Brigade, District of the Frontier, 7th Army Corps, Dept. of Arkansas, to February, 1865. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 7th Army Corps, to May, 1865. SERVICE.--Bayou Bernard, I. T., July 28, 1862. Neosho, Mo., September 1. Spring River September 1. Neosho September 3 and 5. Shirley's Ford, Spring River, September 20. Newtonia September 30. Occupation of Newtonia October 4. Newtonia October 5. Fort Gibson October 15. Old Fort Wayne or Beattie's Prairie, near Maysville, October 22. Cane Hill November 28. Capture of Fort Davis December. Salem December 2. Prairie Grove and Rhea's Mills December 7. Neosho December 15. Cane Hill December 20. Expedition over Boston Mountains and capture of Van Buren December 27-29. Sent to Indian Territory and occupy line of the Arkansas River and protect friendly Indians, with Headquarters at Fort Gibson, I. T, and Fort Smith, Ark., until May, 1865. Near Maysville January, 1863. Cherokee Country January 18. Fort Gibson February 28. Neosho March 2. Greenlief Prairie March 12. Fort Gibson March 27. Fort Blount March 27. Tahlequah March 30. Near Maysville May 8. Fort Smith, Ark., May 15. Near Fort Gibson and Fort Blount May 20. Fort Gibson May 22. Fort Blount May 25 and June 1. Operations about Fort Gibson June 6-20. Spring Creek June 6. Greenlief Prairie June 16. Fort Blount June 19. Cabin Creek July 1-2. Elk Creek, near Honey Springs, July 17. Operations in Cherokee Nation September 11-15. Fourteen Mile Creek October 30. Repulse of Quantrell's attack on Fort Gibson December 16. Near Sheldon Place, Barren Fork, December 18. Near Fort Gibson December 26. Operations in Indian Territory February 1-21, 1864. Scullyville April 16. Near Maysville May 8. Cabin Creek and Prior's Creek September 19. Cow Creek November 14 and 28. Expedition from Fort Gibson to Little River and Hillabee March 18-30, 1865. Skirmish on Snake River, Ark., April 28. Mustered out May 31, 1865. History Credit: National Park Service ~ Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
  		Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor Sr. Photo Credit: Find A Grave ~ Michael Allen
  		Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor Sr. Photo Credit: Find A Grave ~ Michael Allen
  		Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor, Senior Photograph Courtesy of Phyllis Johnson Photo Source: Find A Grave ~ Phyllis Johnson
  		Johnson Cemetery, West Siloam Springs, Delaware, Oklahoma Photo Credit Find A Grave ~ Carol Bayless
  Age	75 years
  Person ID	I9418	Proctor
  Last Modified	31 Aug 2010

  
  

  Father	William Proctor,   b. 29 Jul 1794,   d. 19 Nov 1858   (64 years)
  Mother	^ Dicey "Disi" Downing,   b. Abt 1808,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Married	Abt 1823
  Family ID	F3205	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 1	^  Rebecca F. Mitchell,   b. 03 Feb 1843, Delaware, Oklahoma, USA ,   d. 24 Sep 1873, Delaware, Oklahoma, USA    (30 years)
  Married	Abt 1866	Watts, Adair, Oklahoma, USA
  	Adair County did not exist in 1866 in the state of Oklahoma. It was not founded until 1907.
  Children	1. Charlette Proctor, Welch,  b. Abt 1866,  d. Abt 1891   (~ 25 years) >  2. Francis Jane Proctor,  b. 04 Mar 1870,  d. 18 Oct 1925   (55 years)   3. Linnie Proctor,  b. Abt 1872,    4. Minnie Proctor,  b. Abt 1872,  >  5. William "Willie" Reese Proctor,  b. 17 Jul 1872, Indian Territory ,  d. 08 Nov 1910   (38 years)
  Last Modified	30 Jun 2008
  Family ID	F3206	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 2	^  Margaret Downing Denton,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	30 Jun 2008
  Family ID	F3207	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 3	^  Jane Harlen,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Children	>  1. Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor, Jr.,  b. 04 Jan 1868, Proctor, Adair, Oklahoma, USA ,  d. 10 Jan 1939   (71 years)
  Last Modified	30 Jun 2008
  Family ID	F3208	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 4	^  Eliza Chaney Welch,   b. Abt 1858,   d. Jun 1906   (~ 48 years)
  Last Modified	30 Jun 2008
  Family ID	F3210	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map		Event Birth - 04 Jul 1831 - Roswell, Fulton, Georgia, USA 1900 12th US Census - - Cherokee Township, Indian Territory Married - Abt 1866 - Watts, Adair, Oklahoma, USA Buried - - Johnson Cemetery, West Siloam Springs, Delaware, Oklahoma, USA  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  Ezekial "Zeke" Proctor Sr. ZEKE PROCTOR -- A BAD INDIAN. CARL P. JOHNSON New York Times (1857-Current file); Nov 7, 1897; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2004) pg. SM7

  
  

  Documents

  Ezekiel "Zeke" Proctor Sr. The Trial Of Ezekiel Proctor And The Problem Of Judicial Jurisdiction By Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., and Lonnie E. Underhill Source: Chronicles of Oklahoma By James Shannon Buchanan, Oklahoma Historical Society Published by Oklahoma Historical Society., 1893 Pages 307-322 Transciption Courtesy of The House of Proctor Genealogy.

  
  

• Notes

  (Research): Husb. of Rebecca Mitchell; parents of Charlotte(Welch); Frances J.(Parris); and triplets, Linnie M.(Sixkiller),Minnie L.(Crittenden), and Wm. Reese Proctor. Marr(2) Margaret "Peggy" Downing. Marr(3)Eliza Welch. Civil War, SGT. 2nd (Union) Cherokee Home Guards. Son of Wm. Proctor & Dicey Downing. Native American Figure. Only Native American in US history to have a one man treaty with the US Government. He lived up to the treaty and became a model citizen, becoming a Sheriff and Senator of Going Snake District, Indian Territory, Cherokke Nation. There are several books written about him.