Louise "Louisa" Serena (Turnbull) Sumter 

Louise “Louisa” Serena (Turnbull) Sumter

(8/15/1874 - 9/10/1901)

Choctaw Nation

By Robert Calvin Loveall (TU, BA Class of 2026)

Early History

Louise “Louisa” Turnbull was born in Blue County, Indian Territory, on August 15, 1874, to Simeon Turnbull (ca. 1843-1881) and Elizabeth Wilson, within the bounds of the Choctaw Nation.1 Limited information exists about Elizabeth Wilson, but family documents indicate that she died during or shortly after Louisa’s birth.2 Louisa’s obituary in the Indian Citizen mentions that soon after Louisa’s birth, her family moved to Tulihikia, Atoka County, Indian Territory, near Boggy Depot.3 Her father Simeon was a prominent lawyer in Blue and Atoka Counties.4

After the death of his first wife (Louisa’s mother), Simeon married Susan A. Foreman, a woman of Cherokee descent.5 Simeon and Susan had six more children, including Inez (1877 - 1966), Julia (1879 - 1922), Silena “Lena” (1881 - 1953), and Simeon Jr. (1881 - 1927).6 Simeon, Sr. died in 1881, when Louisa would have been approximately seven years old. It should be noted that in the 1885 Choctaw Nation Census, it records Susan had five children and lists them in the following order, Cornelia, Anna, Julia, Simeon, and Silena. While this is the only mention of a possible “Cornelia,” it is possible that Cornelia was another name of Louisa, since the Census records them as the same age. No documentary evidence indicates the cause of death, but according to a family story, on May 11, 1881, Simeon died in a horse-riding accident while rounding up cattle.7 Three days after Simeon’s death, his second wife, Susan A. Foreman, gave birth to twins, Silena and Simeon Jr. Louisa’s half-siblings.8 Susan died in 1886 due to unknown causes, when Louisa would have been approximately twelve years old.9

Upon Susan’s death all the children were split up. Silena and Simeon, Jr., were adopted by Dr. John Cobb and his wife in Texas, while Inez Turnbull and Julia Turnbull were raised by their uncle and aunt, Turner, Jr., and Adeline Turnbull.10 Louisa was already attending the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls (PSIG) at the time of her step-mother’s death in 1886.11 No clear documentation has yet emerged to confirm who became Louisa’s guardian upon her stepmother’s death.

School

Louisa began her education by “attend[ing] neighborhood schools until she was eleven years old, when she was placed in the Indian mission school at Muskogee [PSIG] by ex-Governor Allen Wright,” a former leader of the Choctaw Nation, who served as the Nation’s School Superintendent from 1880 to 1884.12 Louisa’s obituary states that she was enrolled in PSIG by 1885, one year prior to her stepmother Susan’s death.13

Newspaper records indicate that, when on break from school or on holiday, Louisa regularly visited her family. The Indian Citizen, for example, noted on September 22, 1892, that “Miss Louisa Turnbull from near Boggy Depot left on the 17th to attend school at Muskogee.”14 

On January 4, 1894, just before her final semester at PSIG, the Indian Citizen observed, “Miss Louise [sic] Turnbull who is attending school at Muskogee, spent Xmas with her uncle Henry Wilson of this county.”15

On January 4, 1887, when she would have been thirteen years old, Louisa signed an autograph book for Alice Robertson, Director of PSIG, with the words, “Remember me and I will remember you.”16 

She appears in numerous Rolls of Honor that regularly were communicated to the local newspapers. To give two examples, the Muskogee Phoenix published Rolls of Honor that mention Louisa Turnbull on April 11, 1890, and March 2, 1893. In 1890, she earned grades of 100 for attendance, 96 for scholarship, and 98 for deportment. In 1893, she earned 100 for deportment, 97 for scholarship, and a 99 average grade.17

Another example of her academic accomplishments appeared during PSIG’s Closing Ceremony, marking the end of the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls in 1894, before the school’s transition into Henry Kendall College: “Mr. Frank Hubbard” awarded a Bible to Louisa for “Best General Record.”18

Adult Life

Shortly after the closing of PSIG in 1894, when she would have been twenty years old, Louisa found herself back at her hometown of Tulihikia.19 After returning, she dedicated herself to becoming a teacher in her local neighborhood schools. As a result, she completed her testing by the Board of Examiners of the 3rd Judicial District Court Nation at the Pushmataha Court grounds, earning a teaching certification, then worked as an educator for multiple school terms.20 While she was working as a teacher, she met Robert Sumter (6/4/1875 - 8/9/1933), a farmer living near Boggy Depot, “during which time her heart was wooed and won.”21 Robert had been a resident in the Choctaw Nation since his family moved to Atoka County from Georgia in 1884.22 The two married on March 29, 1897.23 Louisa was described as a “kind, loving, and devoted wife, always having the welfare of her husband and friends at heart.”24

Death and Legacy

Around the age of 26, in 1900 or 1901, Louisa gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Serena L. Sumter.25 While visiting her husband's parents on the 24th of August 1901, Louisa became sick, and a day later Serena passed away.26 Shortly after, Louisa died on the 10th of September, 1901, due to unspecified complications with her health.27 She and her daughter are buried in Westview Cemetery in Atoka, Oklahoma, leaving Louisa no direct descendants.

Ann Eliza Worcester Robertson, Alice Robertson’s mother, included a note in her private journal (apparently a draft of a letter to the Muskogee Phoenix) regarding the early and untimely death of Louisa Turnbull:

I am sure that many readers of the [Muskogee] Phoenix remember lovingly Miss Louisa Turnbull, a very interesting Choctaw girl in the Presbyterian School for Girls at Muskogee in the earlier years of its history, and will grieve to hear of her comparatively early death Sept. 11, 1901, after a very happy married life of four and a half years, with Robert O. Sumter, her husband. She was a lovely Christian worker while here, and her sorely bereaved husband writes that she was a Christian—a most faithful and zealous worker.28

Tribal Enrollment Information:

Louisa Turnbull died before being issued her Dawes Roll Number; however, in an unusual turn of events, her husband Robert Sumter gained Choctaw citizenship through intermarriage and was issued his own Dawes Roll Number, 391. Records indicate that Louisa Turnbull’s Tribal Enrollment Number was 12460, Field Number 4094, in Atoka County in 1896.29

Notes

1 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” Indian Citizen, October 03, 1901, page 2, https://www.newspapers.com/article/indian-citizen-in-memory-of-mrs-robt-s/152044239/, July 29, 2024; Robert E. Sumter, Choctaw Nation, Dawes Roll #391, Card #4094, Field #4004, August 29, 1899, National Archives Catalog, Native American Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/630164; Lesa Pfrommer, “Simeon Turnbull,” FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46603802/simeon-turnbull, Accessed April 24, 2025.

2 “Lena (Silena) and Simeon Turnbull, Jr.” Ancestry.com. Accessed on July 29, 2024. https://www.ancestry.com/mediauiviewer/collection/1030/tree/19369846/person/803122950/media/ac42a403-a40f-4f79-8770-5d23cb16ce36?galleryindex=3&sort=-created. 

3 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” 2. 

4 “Simeon Turnbull, Obituary,” Ancestry.com. Accessed on July 29, 2024.

https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/19369846/person/803122950/media/e409c9b7-c1e3-46ac-b1d0-3a193d142464?galleryindex=6&sort=-created;

“McKinney and Turnbull Attorneys at Law,” The Vindicator, June 7, 1873, page 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/612733422, April 24, 2025. 

5 “Susan A Frances Foreman.” Ancestry.com. Accessed on July 29, 2024.

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/19369846/person/833952963/facts;

“History of the Cherokee Indians and their legends and Folk Lore,” Emmet Starr, Internet Archive, pg. 328, Accessed on April 24, 2025. https://archive.org/details/historyofcheroke00lcstar/page/328/mode/2up?q=%22Simeon+Turnbull%22.

6 Susan Turnbull, U.S. Census Bureau, 1885 United States Federal Census, Blue County, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory. Page 49. Ancestry.com. Accessed on July 29, 2024. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1059/images/M595_623-0446?pId=4660710;

Lesa Pfrommer, “Albion B. Turnbull (1874-1874)," Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46601776/albion_b_turnbull, Accessed August 11, 2024;

Lesa Pfrommer, “Walter J. Turnbull (1876-1876),” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46602028/walter_j_turnbull, Accessed August 11, 2024;

Lesa Pfrommer, “William Turnbull (1876-1876),” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46620127/william_turnbull, Accessed August 11, 2024; Ancestry.com, “Turnbull.”

7 Ancestry.com, “Simeon Turnbull.”

8 Ancestry.com, “Simeon Turnbull, Obituary.” 

9 Ancestry.com, “Simeon Turnbull, Obituary.”

10 Ancestry.com, “Lena (Silena) and Simeon Turnbull Jr.”

11 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” 2.

12 On Rev. Wright, see John Bartlett Meserve, “Chief Allen Wright”. “Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 19, Number 4, December 1941,” pp. 320. The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1827455/m1/16/?q=Allen%20wright.

13 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” 2. 

14 “Louisa Turnbull Traveling.” Indian Citizen. September 22, 1892, page 5, https://www.newspapers.com/image/611437878/?clipping_id=152289475, July 29, 2024;

15 “Miss Louisa Turnbull Spending Christmas with Henry Wilson.” Indian Citizen, January 4, 1894, page 5, https://www.newspapers.com/article/indian-citizen-miss-louisa-turnbull-spen/152290408/, July 29, 2024.

16 Alice Robertson’s Autograph Book, Jan 4, 1887. 1931.001.5.1.5. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester Families, 1815-1932, Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK.

17 “Presbyterian School Notes.” Muskogee Phoenix. April 24, 1890, page 5, https://www.newspapers.com/article/muskogee-phoenix-thu-may-08-1890-page/150958428/, April 24, 2025; “Roll of Honor.” Muskogee Phoenix, March 02, 1893, page 5, https://www.newspapers.com/image/611445598/?match=1&clipping_id=151846671, July 29, 2024. [BS28] 

18 “Closing Ceremonies for PSIG.” Muskogee Phoenix, June 7, 1894, page 5,  https://www.newspapers.com/article/muskogee-phoenix-closing-ceremonies-for/124467541/, July 29, 2024.

19 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter," 2; “Closing Ceremonies for PSIG,” Muskogee Phoenix, 5. 

20 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter," 2.

21 Robert Sumpter, Choctaw Nation, Card #4094, November 20, 1902, Indian Territory, U.S. Dawes Enrollment Jacket. National Archives and Records Administration. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/44334857; "In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter, 2.”

22 United States of America, Georgia, Habersham County Marriage Records, 1841-1874, “Marriages.” Ancestry.com. Accessed on July 31, 2024. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4766/images/40660_303222-00274?pId=896901; Robert Sumpter, Choctaw Nation, Card #4094, November 20, 1902, Indian Territory, U.S. Dawes Enrollment Jacket. National Archives and Records Administration. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/44334857.

23 United States of America, Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Atoka County, 1841-1927, “Marriage, Estate and Land Records,” Ancestry.com. Accessed on July 29, 2024. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/203135:9026?tid=&pid=&queryId=297e07e9-e692-4dcd-9844-483fce639f6c&_phsrc=uDp507&_phstart=successSource; Robert Sumpter, Choctaw Nation, Card #4094, November 20, 1902, Indian Territory, U.S. Dawes Enrollment Jacket. National Archives and Records Administration. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/44334857.

24 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” 2.

25 L Mastan, “Serena Sumter,” Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65924696/serena_l_sumter,  Accessed July 29, 2024. 

26 Mastan, “Serena Sumter;” “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” 2.

27 “In Memory of Mrs. Robt. Sumter,” 2. 

28 Ann Eliza Worchester, Personal Letter, 001.3.10. Pg. 121. Papers of the Robertson and Worcester Families, 1815-1932, Special Collections, McFarlin Library, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK.

29 Robert Sumpter, Choctaw Nation, Card #4094, November 20, 1902, Indian Territory, U.S. Dawes Enrollment Jacket. National Archives and Records Administration. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/44334857

Bibliography

“Albion B. Turnbull (1874-1874).” Find a Grave. Accessed July 29, 2024 

“Closing Ceremonies for PSIG.” Muskogee Phoenix, June 7, 1894, Newspapers.com, Accessed July 29th, 2024 

“Certification at the Pushmataha Court,’ Indian Citizen, August 22, 1895, Newspapers.com. Accessed July 29, 2024 

“Dawes Enrollment Jacket for Choctaw, Choctaw by Blood, Card #4094.” National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed August 9, 2024. 

“Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records From Select Counties, 1828-1978 for Robert O Sumter.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 31, 2024. 

“Henry Wilson.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 30, 2024. 

“Henry Wilson of Boggy Depot.” Newspapers.com, May 24, 1876. Accessed July 29, 2024 

“Louisa Turnbull and Anna Wilson.” Indian Citizen, Newspapers.com, August 15, 1895. Accessed July 29th, 2024 

“History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore : Starr, Emmet : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. Accessed July 29, 2024 

“Louisa Turnbull Traveling.” Newspapers.com. Accessed July 29, 2024. 

“McKinney and Turnbull Attorneys at Law,” The Vindicator, 7 June 1873. Accessed September 8, 2024. 

“Miss Louisa Turnbull Spending Christmas with Henry Wilson.” Newspapers.com, January 4, 1894. 

“Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 30, 2024. 

“Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Land Allotment Jackets for Five Civilized Tribes, 1884-1934.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 30, 2024. 

“Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Marriage, Citizenship and Census Records, 1841-1927.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 29, 2024. 

Oklahoma Historical Society. “Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 19, Number 4, December 1941.” The Gateway to Oklahoma History, July 27, 2021. Accessed 29, 2024. 

“Presbyterian School Notes.” Newspapers.com, April 24, 1890. Accessed July 30, 2024 

“Roll of Honor.” Newspapers.com. Accessed July 29, 2024. 

“Serena L Sumter,” Find a Grave. Accessed July 30, 2024. 

“Simeon Turnbull,” Find A Grave. Accessed September 8 2024. 

“Simeon Turnbull, Obituary.” Public member trees. Accessed July 29, 2024. 

“U.S., Confederate Service Records, 1861-1865.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 30, 2024. 

“U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 for Susan Turnbull.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 29, 2024. 

“U.S., Native American Applications for Enrollment in Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 29, 2024. 

“U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 30, 2024. 

“Walter J. Turnbull (1876-1876).” Find a Grave.  Accessed July 30, 2024 

“William Turnbull (1876-1876).” Find a Grave.  Accessed July 30, 2024