Esq. Buck Colbert “B.C.” Franklin, Sr.

A manuscript by Buck Colbert Franklin was found which detailed his experience during the Tulsa Massacre of 1912. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/long-lost-ma...

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112916764/buck-colbert-franklin

He was the son of a Chickasaw freedman (emancipated slave), Andrew Franklin. His mother, Palesa Franklin, was one-fourth Choctaw Indian. (See Findagrave: memorials to Andrew, 1868-1954, & Palesa, circa 1871-1930). Buck's siblings were Matthew (Findagrave: May be his older brother Matthew H., Jul. 15, 1877 - Nov. 20, 1951), David, Fisher & Ludia. Mr. Franklin was named after his grandfather (aka Bular Franklin, born circa 1852 & husband of Pollie) who had been a slave of a Chickasaw family in Oklahoma.

College educated, Buck Franklin became a lawyer, notably defending survivors of the Tulsa Riots in 1921 which had resulted in the murder of 300 African Americans. According to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Mr. Franklin & family were living in Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma. His wife, Mollie, was an elementary school teacher. They had four children: Mayella, Buck, Jr., Annie & John. In the census, Mr. Franklin's year of birth is listed as 1882. Buck, Jr., born 23 Dec. 1907, died 29 July 1947. According to the 1940 census, he was a high school teacher & his wife Bessy was an elementary school teacher.

Buck Colbert Franklin was born May 6, 1879, the 7th of 10 children of David and Millie Colbert Franklin. His siblings were Andrew, Walter, Dolores aka Delora, Thomas, Hattie, Matthew, David Jr., Fisher, and Lydia Franklin.

https://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll24/id/...

Buck Colbert Franklin (1879-1960) grew up on his father's ranch in Indian Territory (what would become Oklahoma in 1907). He began attending Roger Williams University in Nashville and in 1903 he followed his mentor, John Hope, to Atlanta Baptist College (renamed Morehouse College in 1913).

Franklin became a lawyer and moved back to Oklahoma, opening a law office in Tulsa one month before the 1921 race riot. Although his law office was destroyed in the riot, he represented African American property owners in lawsuits seeking compensation for the destruction of their businesses and property in the riot. He was also the father of renowned historian John Hope Franklin.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112916764/buck-colbert-franklin

He was the son of a Chickasaw freedman (emancipated slave), David Franklin. His mother, Millie Franklin, was one-fourth Choctaw Indian. (See Findagrave: memorials to Andrew, 1868-1954, & Palesa, circa 1871-1930). Buck's siblings were Matthew (Findagrave: May be his older brother Matthew H., Jul. 15, 1877 - Nov. 20, 1951), David, Fisher & Ludia. Mr. Franklin was named after his grandfather (aka Bular Franklin, born circa 1852 & husband of Pollie) who had been a slave of a Chickasaw family in Oklahoma. College educated, Buck Franklin became a lawyer, notably defending survivors of the Tulsa Riots in 1921 which had resulted in the murder of 300 African Americans. According to the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Mr. Franklin & family were living in Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma. His wife, Mollie, was an elementary school teacher. They had four children: Mayella, Buck, Jr., Annie & John. In the census, Mr. Franklin's year of birth is listed as 1882. Buck, Jr., born 23 Dec. 1907, died 29 July 1947. According to the 1940 census, he was a high school teacher & his wife Bessy was an elementary school teacher.

Note: Choctaw Indians

The Choctaw Indians were originally from the southeastern states of Mississippi, Louisiana, or Alabama. Pushmataha was the most famous Choctaw. The chief of the Choctaws, he negotiated treaties with the United States government & fought on the American side in the War of 1812.

The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 removed the Choctaw Indians from their land to reservations allotted for them. The U.S. government relocated the Choctaws to Oklahoma. Thousands of Choctaw walked the 500 mile journey to Oklahoma & suffered much along the way. A bad blizzard in the region, along with a lack of food, a wagon shortage, & multiple deaths led the forced march to become known as the Choctaw's Trail of Tears. More than half of those that started out on the journey died before reaching Oklahoma.
∼Buck Colbert Franklin was born May 6, 1879, the 7th of 10 children of David and Millie Colbert Franklin. His siblings were Andrew, Walter, Dolores aka Delora, Thomas, Hattie, Matthew, David Jr., Fisher, and Lydia Franklin.

Affectionately known as B.C., he was precocious child who was always interested in the comings and goings of adults and curious about how things worked around him. He grew up in the beautiful community of Arbuckle in Oklahoma Indian Territory, and was an able helpmate to his ranch-owning father David and schoolteacher mother Millie. David and Buck Colbert traveled as far as 200 miles from home to attend to the family business.

Buck Colbert was named after his grandfather Buck (b. 1790, d. 1865), who bought his family's freedom before the Great Emancipation.

B.C. was an adroit horseman who could ford nearby Wildhorse Creek even when its waters were high and the current swift. He was also very scholarly and attended Atlanta Baptist College, later re-named Morehouse College.

Buck Colbert married his college sweetheart Mollie Lee Parker on April 1, 1903. They settled in Rentiesville, Oklahoma and had 4 children: Mozella Denslow, Buck Colbert Jr., Anne Harriet, and John Hope Franklin.

Through hard work and an unrivaled determination, Buck Colbert Franklin became a prominent attorney who briefly practiced in Ardmore, Oklahoma, then later doggedly defended the survivors of the Tulsa race riots of 1921. He was appointed as a Master in Chancery by District Court Judge Saul Yager in 1928.

Throughout his life, Buck Colbert Franklin fought injustice with intelligence and grace. He loved his family and community, and in his final years wrote about his life's experience in My Life and an Era: The Autobiography of Buck Colbert Franklin.

                                                                                                               Written by Pamela Jackson

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 27 2022, 20:16:51 UTC