Embedded Files
Emma (Perryman) Drew
02/14/1876 - 02/21/1913
Tribal Nation: Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Tribal Town: Locvpokv
By Marcus Anthony Martinez (TU, BA Class of 2025) with assistance from Abby Rush (TU, MA 2024).
Early History
Emma Perryman was born on February 14, 1876, in Tulsa, Indian Territory to Rachel Alexander Perryman (1849-1933) and George Beecher Perryman, Sr. (1845-1899).1 The extended Perryman family was key to establishing the Muscogee (Creek) settlement named Tallase, (which means “Old Town” in the Mvskoke language), and which eventually came to be called Tulsa by white settlers. Lewis Perryman or Kochuk na Misso, Emma’s grandfather, was a successful cattle rancher and landowner before the Civil War, and most likely had African ancestry, although several branches of the Perryman family enslaved Black workers, including Lewis and his brother Mose.2
Emma’s father, George Beecher Perryman, Sr., was one of three Perryman brothers who held significant leadership positions in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. George became a successful rancher and businessman. Emma’s sister, Ella, remembered proudly that their father “was a rancher, and owned (by lease) all the land south from where Tulsa is today to 51st Street, west to the Arkansas and east to Lewis Avenue.”3 George’s brothers, Legus and Josiah, both served in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s government: Legus C. Perryman as principal chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation from 1887 to 1895, and Josiah Perryman as the postmaster of the first post office in Tulsa.4 Emma’s mother earned a reputation for generosity and hospitality among her people. One family member recalled, “I’ve been told that nobody ever appeared at her door and went away hungry.”5 George was also well known for his charity, and Emma’s sister, Ella, noted, “My father was always taking some homeless boy or girl to raise.”6
Black and white photographic print of George Perryman, Sr., Emma’s father, taken by an unknown artist (c. 1850-1900).
Image credit: The Oklahoma Native American Photographs Collection at the Gilcrease Museum (Accession No: 4326.3937, Previous No: 73305).
Photograph of Emma Perryman Drew.
Image credit: Monetta and Robert Trepp. Interview by John Erling, September 9, 2010. Voices of Oklahoma Oral History Series.
In addition to caring for strangers, George and Rachel raised a large family. Emma Perryman was the fourth of eight children, which included Moses S. (1870-1901), John H. (1872-1883), Ella Legus (1875-1951), Ebenezer G. “Abner” (1978-1905), George Beecher, Jr. (1883-1937), Mamie E. (1884-unknown), Sarah (1888-unknown) and Henry William (unknown-1899).7
School
An 1894 commencement program from the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls (PSIG) documents Emma’s attendance there. This program lists Emma reciting a speech, “Life of Will Carleton,” at PSIG’s commencement.8 Unfortunately, no other documentation has emerged about her experiences at the school.
Also attending PSIG was her cousin Ida Perryman, whose father, Thomas Ward Perryman, was the brother of George Perryman, Sr., Emma’s father. An interview of Ella Kneedler, which is archived as part of the Indian Pioneer Papers, confirms this sibling relationship: “Mrs. Arthur C. Perryman, whose husband is the son of Rev. Thomas Ward, [...] was a brother of George Perryman.”9
(The Indian-Pioneer Papers Oral History Collection includes transcripts of interviews conducted in the 1930s by government workers with thousands of individuals in Oklahoma. The transcripts contain first-hand accounts of life in Indian Territory and then the state of Oklahoma from 1861 to the 1930s.)
Closing Commencement Exercises for the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls, June 5, 1894.
Image credit: The University of Tulsa: A History 1882-1972, pg. 32.
Adult Life
On March 10, 1897, when Emma would have been twenty-one years old, the Muskogee Morning Times announced, “Miss Emma Perryman is in the lead for the honors of being the most popular young lady of Tulsa. The contest is being conducted by the Tulsa Republican.”10 Later that year, Emma married Clifton “Cliff” Drew (1871-1938), a white man who was born in Illinois and had moved to Tulsa from Pawhuska to find work as a cow puncher. The wedding took place in Tulsa. Emma Perryman and Cliff Drew eventually had eight children: Rachel (1898-1899), Lela C. (1899-1900), Moses Warner (1901-1908), Luella (1903-1905), Elsie (1904-1904), Luther (1905-1905), Charles “Charley” (1907-1907), and Tulsa (1911-1993).11 Tragically, only their youngest child, Tulsa, lived to adulthood, and most of their children died as infants.
Although they perished, all of the Drew children were entitled to allotments because of Emma’s Muscogee citizenship, and the allotment of their son Moses Warner proved especially lucrative. In 1905 the value of his land increased exponentially due to the Glenn Pool oil strike on the property. As an article of July 24, 1907, in The Dewey World, noted, “A well brought in early in the week by the Lafayette Development company on the Moses Warner Drew allotment, three miles and a half northwest of the Ida E. Glenn allotment in the Glenn Pool gasser. It is said it is good for 400 barrels of crude and 10,000,000 feet of gas.”12 The allotment inherited by Moses Warner Drew was 160 acres in Glenn Pool, Oklahoma. It is not clear when exactly the allotment was granted to Moses Warner Drew, but it happened before he died.
When Moses died at the age of seven, Emma and Cliff were entitled to their son’s allotment, which made them quite wealthy. This wealth made Emma and Cliff Drew famous throughout Tulsa as a couple whose lives were changed by the Oklahoma oil boom. They lived in one of the finest homes in Tulsa, which was situated on Thirteenth Street and Boulder Avenue, both had their own automobiles, and they built and owned a five-story building for a bank and office space in downtown Tulsa called the Drew Building.13
This vintage postcard features the Drew Building, looking north on Boston Avenue, highlighting Tulsa’s architectural charm and the influence of Emma and Clifton Drew on the city. It was located at the northwest corner of 3rd and Boston, circa 1910s.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the collection of Mike Lins.
Although their public lives were characterized by opulence, Emma experienced legal and personal problems in her adult life, including domestic violence and spousal abuse.14 Emma was able to divorce Cliff Drew in 1910, receiving a $12,500 settlement. Although technically divorced at the time, on September 14, 1911, Emma gave birth to her youngest child, Tulsa Drew, a baby girl who would be her only child to survive to adulthood.15
Death and Legacy
On February 21st, 1913, Emma Perryman died at the age of 38 from typhoid fever. She is buried at the Perryman Cemetery at 31st Street and Utica Avenue with her mother and father, Rachel and George Perryman, Sr. In death she has been remembered as one of the wealthiest women in the city of Tulsa.16 She outlived all her children except for her youngest, Tulsa, who was two years old at her mother’s death and lived for 82 years. Her ex-husband Cliff Drew inherited a modest fortune upon her death but promptly squandered it in less than six months and was said to be entirely penniless by 1913.17
Tribal Enrollment Information
Enrollment Number: 2173
Card Number: 658
Photograph of Enrollment Details for Emma (Perryman) Drew.
Image Credit: National Archives and Records Administration
Endnotes
1 Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Emma Perryman Drew” FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24745965/emma-drew, (Accessed April 8, 2025); Rachel Perryman, U.S. Census Bureau, 1900 United States Federal Census,Township 19, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Enumeration District 0052, Sheet Number 18a. Accessed through Ancestry.com on April 8, 2025 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/186389876.
2 For evidence of Lewis Perryman’s mixed Afro-Indigenous heritage, see Claudio Saunt, Black, White, and Indian: Race and the Unmaking of an American Family (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 169-172, and Gary Zellar, African Creeks: Estelvste and the Creek Nation (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007), 176. For information about Lewis Perryman see Reuben L. Partridge, “Biography of L.C. Perryman, Tulsa, Oklahoma,” https://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/crkst20.html. Partridge’s mother was China Perryman, one of Lewis Perryman’s children with Ellen Perryman and thus Emma’s aunt. Lewis Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma is named after Lewis Perryman, Emma’s grandfather. For further details, see the oral history, "Monetta & Robert Trepp: History of The Perryman Family," Interview by John Erling. Voices of Oklahoma, September 9, 2010, https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family.
3 Ella Perryman Kneedler, Interview by Effie S. Jackson, September 2, 1937, Tulsa, transcript, The Indian Pioneer Papers Collection, The University of OKlahoma Digital Collections, https://repository.ou.edu/islandora/object/oku%3A15156. [Hereafter cited as Kneedler, IPP Interview], 360-368.
4 "Monetta & Robert Trepp: History of The Perryman Family," Interview by John Erling, Voices of Oklahoma, September 9, 2010, audio, 04:25, https://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family.
5 “Monetta and Robert Trepp: History of the Perryman Family,” Interview by John Erling, Voices of Oklahoma, September 9, 2010, audio, 03:25, https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family/
6 “Monetta and Robert Trepp: History of the Perryman Family,” Interview by John Erling, Voices of Oklahoma, September 9, 2010, audio, 03:25, https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family/
7 “Monetta and Robert Trepp: History of the Perryman Family,” Interview by John Erling, Voices of Oklahoma, September 9, 2010, audio, 03:25, https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family/; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “John H. Perryman,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24745934 (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Ella Horner, U.S. Census Bureau, 1900 United States Federal Census, Township 19, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Enumeration District 0052, Roll 1853, page 24. Ancestry.com, accessed on May 17, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/records/75124903; Rachel Perryman, U.S. Census Bureau, 1910 United States Federal Census, Township 19, Creek Nation, Indian Territory. Enumeration District 0220, Roll T624_1274, page 18a. Ancestry.com. Accessed on May 17, 2025. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/186389876;Sarah Perryman, U.S. Census Bureau, 1920 United States Federal Census, Lynn Lane Township, Oklahoma. Enumeration District 183, Roll T625_1486, page: 7a. Ancestry.com, accessed on May 17, 2025. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/105288933
8 Logsdon, Guy Williams. The University of Tulsa: A History, 1882-1972 (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977), p. 32.
9 Kneedler, IPP Interview], 360-368.
10 “City in Brief,” Muskogee Morning Times, March 10, 1897, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/586372922/ (accessed May 17, 2025).
11 Millie Belle, “Clifton C. Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/132808675, accessed March 8, 2025; “Can Stand Prosperity,” The Daily Oklahoman, December 5, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/900392026 (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Rachel F. Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24745947/rachel-f-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Lela C. Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24746041/lela-c-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Moses Warner Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24745977/moses-warner-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Luella Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24746025/luella-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Elsie Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24746036/elsie-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Luther Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24746021/luther-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Amelia Crombie-Christy, “Charles “Charley” Drew,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/24746090/charles-drew (Accessed March 8, 2025).; Tulsa Drew Pfister, U.S. Death Certificates 1899-201, Indiana Archives and Records Administration, 1993, Roll 18. Ancestry.com, accessed on May 17, 2025. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60716/records/541335?tid=970662&pid=401003005595&ssrc=pt
12 “Gas at 75 Feet,” The Dewey World, July 24, 1907, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/585946986/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).;“Ab Perryman Dead,” The Tulsa Tribune, December 28, 1905, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/882362738/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).
13 “$20,000 Damage in Slander Case,” The Tulsa Tribune, January 26, 1906, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/882363273/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).; “One Dose of Cocaine Too Many,” The Tulsa Weekly Democrat, January 14, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/882643806/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).; “Gas at 75 Feet,” The Dewey World, July 24, 1907, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/585946986/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).;“In The Oil Fields,” Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat, June 29, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/584038761/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).; “Can Stand Prosperity,” The Daily Oklahoman, December 5, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/900392026 (Accessed March 8, 2025).
14 “Cliff Drew as a Wife Beater,” Tulsa World, October 28, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/882370619/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).
15 “Emma is sued now for $2500 Attorney Fees” The Tulsa Tribune, December 14, 1910, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/882754438/ (accessed May 17, 2025); “Squaw Man ‘Bucks,’” The Wave-Democrat, October 8, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/581610161/ (Accessed March 8, 2025).
16 “In the Oil Fields,” Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times Democrat, June 29, 1909, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/584038761/ (Accessed May 17, 2025); “Emma is sued now for $2500 Attorney Fees” The Tulsa Tribune, December 14, 1910, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/882754438/ (accessed May 17, 2025); “Children are suing on $15000 Mortgage,” Tulsa World, June 11, 1911, Newspapers.com, https://newspapers.com/image/882981032/; “Emma Perryman Dead,” The Tahlequah Star-Citizen, February 27, 1913, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/873890702/ (accessed May 17, 2025).
17 “Cliff Drew as a ‘Plain Drunk,’” The Tulsa Tribune, August 18, 1913, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/image/883140383/ (accessed May 17, 2025).
Bibliography
“Ab Perryman Dead.” The Tulsa Weekly Democrat. December 28, 1905. Newspapers.com.
“Can Stand Prosperity.” The Daily Oklahoman. December 5, 1909. Newspapers.com.
“Children are suing on $15000 Mortgage.” Tulsa World. June 11, 1911. Newspapers.com.
“City in Brief.” Muskogee Morning Times, March 10, 1897, Newspapers.com.
“Cliff Drew as a “Plain Drunk.” The Tulsa Tribune. August 18, 1913. Newspapers.com.
“Cliff Drew as a Wife Beater.” Tulsa World. October 28, 1909. Newspapers.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Charles ‘Charley’ Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Belle, Millie. “Clifton C Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Elsie Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Emma Perryman Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “John H. Perryman,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Lela C. Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Luella Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Luther Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Moses Warner Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Crombie-Christy, Amelia. “Rachel F. Drew,” Findagrave.com.
Death Certificate for Tulsa Drew Pfister, 25 Oct 1993. License Number 1019317, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
“Emma is sued now for $2500 Attorney Fees.” The Tulsa Tribune. December 14, 1910. Newspapers.com.
“Emma Perryman Dead.” The Tahlequah Star-Citizen. February 27, 1913. Newspapers.com.
“Gas at 75 Feet.” The Dewey World. July 24, 1907. Newspapers.com.
“In The Oil Fields.” Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat. June 29th, 1909. Newspapers.com.
Logsdon, Guy William. The University of Tulsa. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1977.
“One Dose of Cocaine Too Many.” The Tulsa Weekly Democrat. January 14, 1909. Newspapers.com.
Partridge, Reuben L. “Biography of L. C. Perryman, Tulsa, Oklahoma.” Transcription. homepages.rootsweb.com. L. B. Howard, July 26, 1984.
Perryman Kneedler, Ella “Interview with Ella Perryman Kneedler” Interview By Effie S. Jackson, June 22, 1937, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Transcript. Indian-Pioneer Oral History Project, The University of Oklahoma, Western History Collection, Norman, OK.
Rev. Thomas Ward Perryman, “Interview with Rev. Thomas Ward Perryman” interview by Mrs. W.S. Robertson, 1888, Kansas City, Missouri. Transcript. Indian-Pioneer Oral History Project, The University of Oklahoma, Western History Collection, Norman, OK.
“Squaw Man ‘Bucks.’” The Wave-Democrat. October 8, 1909. Newspapers.com.
Trepp, Monetta, and Robert Trepp. 2015. Review of The Perryman Family. Edited by Mel Myers. Voicesofoklahoma.com. Monetta and Robert Trepp. February 16, 2015. https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/perryman-family/.
U.S. Census Bureau. Ella L. Perryman-Horner. 1900 United States Federal Census. Township 19, Creek Nation, Indian Territory; Roll 1853; Page 24; Enumeration District 0052.
U.S. Census Bureau. Rachel Perryman. 1900 United States Federal Census. Township 19, Creek Nation, Indian Territory; Roll T_624_1274; Page 18a; Enumeration District 0220.
U.S. Census Bureau. Sarah Perryman. 1920 United States Federal Census. Lynn Lane Township, Oklahoma; Roll T625_1486; Page 7a; Enumeration District 183.
“$20,000 Damage in Slander Case.” The Tulsa Tribune. January 26, 1906. Newspapers.com.
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