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They have taught the Indian the arts of agriculture and the science of the live stock industry, and they have instructed him in building schools and churches, towns and bridges, as well as how to trade profitably and invest his money. One hears everywhere over the nation about the accomplishments of these white men, before the days of white settlements. The student of history learns that the spiritual development of the Indian has been due principally to the preaching of missionaries of the white race, and out of this text he gather fragments of romance and legendary accounts of the occult religious ceremonies of the Indians before the coming of the missionaries. But in the annals of the Choctaw Nation little credit has been transferred to record of the white man whose lives were devoted to the purely educational uplift of the tribe. There were only a few such men and among them was Ben Watkins. Ben Watkins is a Virginian. He came of colonial stock and was born in the region of that Virginia aristocracy the individualism of which generation have not in the least effaced. When he was yet a lad his father moved to Mississippi, where the youth was educated in literature and law. There, in the region inhabited by the Choctaws, he acquired something of a comprehension of the future of the Indian and was inspired to devote himself to their up-lift. The Civil war prevented an early execution of his tentative plans, and a majority of the Choctaws having already moved to Indian Territory, he there foresaw the region of his usefulness. After the close of the war he moved into Arkansas, near the Indian Territory line, and after a few months selected Fort Towson, Choctaw Nation, as the center of his activities. Fort Towson at that time was on of the farthest west of military posts in Indian Territory and had become headquarters for adventurers and men in various lines of uplift work and trade. There Mr. Watkins established himself as a teacher, and under the Choctaw laws was granted a certificate to teach in the neighborhood schools. Hundreds of representative English-speaking Choctaws today were his students as boys. In 1873 he removed to Lukfata, which was the site of one of the first Indian settlements in the Choctaw Nation, and there his educational work was carried out during the remainder of his life, which came to an end in 1899. Ben Watkins mastered the speaking knowledge of the Choctaw language in the space of two weeks. Thereafter he pursued diligently a study of the language, which enabled him to write and publish a Choctaw definer, which probably was the first work of its kind ever written. This line of education not only enabled him to make great progress in educational work, but prepared him for the practice of law in the new country. These attainments caused him to be appointed clerk of the Court of the Second Judicial District, with headquarters at Alikchi, another of the pioneer communities of the Choctaw Nation. He was beloved of the Choctaws, both because of the intellectual attainments and for his marriage to Melvina JAMES a Choctaw girl. Whose father, John James, came with the Indians from Mississippi and became one of the first settlers and leading men of Lukfata. This marriage made Mr. Watkins eligible for the national office, but he held no other than that of clerk. His legal ability however, caused him to be selected by the Choctaw Council as its legal adviser and in that position he drafted a great number of the measures that were considered by the Legislature. By appointment of the board of education he later became a member of the board of education he later became a member of the board of examiners of applicants for teachers' certificates. One of the ablest and most picturesque of Indian governors was Wilson JONES. He was a man of extraordinary foresight, and during his administration is said to have labored for his people to the end that they might most useful citizens possible when tribal days had passed. Accordingly, he selected a white man for the private secretary, and the man who was probably best of all fitted for it was given the position, Ben Watkins. Something of the experiences of Mr. Watkins in this capacity is contained in the series of articles, signed "Uncle Ben," that appeared in the Indian Citizen at Atoka, during that period, and these articles, although they do not savor of boast, compel the conclusion that Mr. Watkins was the real governor during the Jones administration. Ben and Melvina (JAMES) Watkins were the parents of three children: Waldo E.; Mrs. John W. THOMPSON, the wife of a farmer at Rufe, Oklahoma; and Mrs. W. T. ERWIN, wife of a farmer at Nolia, Oklahoma. Typed for OKGenWeb by Charmaine Keith, October 14, 1998. -------------------------------------------- [NOTE 08-99: for more information contact Penny Stone - rafterl@hotmail.com - gg granddau of Ben Watkins]