The Choctaw Freedmen | Page 8

in Columbia,
Connecticut, March 1, 1788. Appointed Missionary to the Choctaws
1820. Removed to this land October, 1832. Organized Wheelock
Church December, 1832. Received to its fellowship 570 members. AS
A MAN he was intelligent, firm in principle, prudent in counsel, gentle
in spirit, kindness and gravity, and conscientious in the discharge of
every relative and social duty. AS A CHRISTIAN he was uniform,
constant, strong in faith, and in doctrine, constant and fervent in prayer,

holy in life, filled with the spirit of Christ and peaceful in death. AS A
PHYSICIAN he was skillful, attentive, ever ready to relieve and
comfort the afflicted. AS A TRANSLATOR he was patient,
investigating and diligent, giving to the Choctaws in their own tongue
the New and part of the Old Testament, and various other books. AS A
MINISTER his preaching was scriptural, earnest, practical, and rich in
the full exhibition of Gospel truth. He was laborious, faithful and
successful. Communion with God, faith in the Lord Jesus, and reliance
upon the aid of the Holy Spirit, made all his labor sweet to his own soul
and a blessing to others. In testimony of his worth, and their affection,
his mourning friends erect this Tablet to his Memory. "There remaineth
therefore a rest to the people of God."
REV. JOHN EDWARDS
Rev. John Edwards, the successor of Rev. Alfred Wright, was a native
of Bath, New York. He graduated from the college at Princeton, New
Jersey, in 1848, and from the theological seminary there in 1851. He
was ordained by the Presbytery of Indian Territory December 11, 1853.
[Illustration: THE CHOCTAW CHURCH, CLEAR CREEK.]
[Illustration: THE CHOCTAW COURT HOUSE, CLEAR CREEK.
Both buildings ceased to be used about 1899.]
[Illustration: REV. ALEXANDER REID. Spencer Academy,
1849-1861.]
[Illustration: REV. JOHN EDWARDS. Wheelock Academy, 1853-61;
1882-95.]
He became a teacher at Spencer Academy, north of Fort Towson, in
1851, and continued until 1853, when he became the successor of Rev.
Alfred Wright as the stated supply of the Choctaw church and
superintendent of the academy at Wheelock. At the outbreak of the
Civil War in 1861 he passed to California and after teaching two years
in San Francisco, served as stated supply of various churches during the
next twenty years, having his residence during the latter part of that

period at Oakland.
In 1882 he returned and resumed work among the Choctaws, locating
first at Atoka. In 1884 he re-opened the academy at Wheelock, and
continued to serve as its superintendent until 1895, when it became a
government school. He remained the next year in charge of the church.
He then returned to California and died at San Jose, at 75, December 18,
1903.
In 1897, Rev. Evan B. Evans, supplied the Choctaw church at
Wheelock one year. As its membership of 60 consisted principally of
students living at a distance, and they were absent most of the year, the
services were then discontinued. A few years later the services were
resumed at the town of Garvin, where another stone church was built in
1910, during the efficient ministry of Rev. W. J. Willis.
SPENCER ACADEMY
Rev. Alexander Reid, principal of Spencer Academy, was a native of
Scotland, and came to this country in his boyhood. He graduated from
the college at Princeton, N. J., in 1845, and the theological seminary
there, three years later. He was ordained by the Presbytery of New
York in 1849 and accepting a commission to serve as a missionary to
the Indians of the Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory, was immediately
appointed superintendent of Spencer Academy, ten miles north of Fort
Towson.
He was accompanied by Rev. Alexander J. Graham, a native of Newark,
New Jersey, who served as a teacher in the academy. The latter was a
roommate of Reid's at Princeton seminary, and his sister became Reid's
wife. At the end of his first year of service he returned to Lebanon
Springs, New York, for the recovery of his health, and died there July
23, 1850. Rev. John Edwards immediately became his successor as a
teacher.
Alexander Reid while pursuing his studies, learned the tailor's trade at
West Point and this proved a favorable introduction to his work among
the Choctaws. They were surprised and greatly pleased on seeing that

he had already learned the art of sitting on the ground "tailor fashion"
according to their own custom.
The academy under Reid enjoyed a prosperous career of twelve years.
In 1861, when the excitement of war absorbed the attention of
everybody, the school work was abandoned. Reid, however, continued
to serve as a gospel missionary among the Indians until 1869, when he
took his family to Princeton, New Jersey, to provide for the education
of his children.
While ministering to the spiritual needs of the Indians his sympathies
and interest