The party was over and it was back to work in 1907 following the original Statehood Day, much like this week following the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the event.

Muskogee was well represented at the festivities with the city claiming the first governor of Oklahoma, Charles Haskell. The woman who portrayed Miss Indian Territory during the symbolic marriage of the two territories on the steps of Guthrie’s Carnegie Library was Mrs. Leo Bennett, also of Muskogee. At the time, she was usually referred to by her married name and it was reported that her husband was a federal marshal. But what about this woman and what did life hold for her in the new state of Oklahoma?

The 1900 Census lists Anna C. Williams as being one-half Cherokee. Her Dawes Enrollment Card lists her as being 1/16. Born in Tahlequah in 1872, she was the daughter of Thomas and Lucy C. Trainor. She had been educated at the Cherokee Female Academy, was also a pupil of Harrell Institute in Muskogee, and taught school before her marriage to Bennett.

It was appropriate that an older married woman, mother of three, was selected to represent Indian Territory since Indian Territory was older than Oklahoma Territory, established in 1889, and had the advantages of established schools, governments, and towns. Anna had been married once before she married the older Dr. Bennett in 1895 after the death his first spouse. She was the mother of a son, Clifford Stidham. He was the father of three children: Gertrude, Lonie, and Leo E. Bennett Jr. They would become the parents of two daughters, Anna Lee and Martha, before statehood. She would also rear a sister, a brother, the son of a cousin, and also cared for several grandchildren in later years.

Reports at the time of statehood described her as “. . . a bewildering handsome matron, whose Creek (actually Cherokee) lineage is evidenced in a dark complexion, heightened by the bloom of perfect health. As she came slowly forward to the front of the platform the crowd gallantly shouted an acknowledgment. With a huge chrysanthemum the young woman shaded her eyes as she looked out over the crowd. She smiled and bowed again and again as the applause continued.” “Mrs. Bennett is a beautiful woman and shows attractively the racial characteristics of her people.”

She did not wear a traditional Indian dress as later drawings depicted the ceremony. She was dressed in the current fashion with a hat and flowing gown of white serge.

The local newspaper reported that “Mrs. Leo E. Bennett of Muskogee, whose brunette beauty was the admiration of the crowds at the inauguration of Gov. Haskell, was also one of the most striking looking women at the inaugural ball.”

Many stories appeared about her husband, Leo, as he served in various capacities, including Indian agent, Federal Marshall, founder of The Muskogee Phoenix, and Mayor of Muskogee. He made the front page on three successive days when he died in May 28, 1917, in Mineral Wells, Texas, but was brought back to Muskogee where hundreds attended the funeral.

Representing Indian Territory was not a one time thing for Anna. She again represented the territory when Oklahoma celebrated the 25th anniversary of its statehood in 1932 and at other events.

Several years after Dr. Bennett’s death, she remarried twice (to Warren R. Butz and later to Mark Matheson) with both leaving her a widow again. Her death was sudden on Aug. 19, 1939, after a day of work as librarian at the Christian Science Reading Room. She and two husbands are buried in Greenhill Cemetery, Muskogee.

Carolyn Foreman wrote, “A devoted wife and home-maker, Mrs. Matheson also possessed great executive ability. The orphan children she cared for and her war work testify to her humanitarian interests. In addition to her beauty she had unusual charm and she was never heard to make critical or unkind remarks of other people. She met life with a smile in spite of troubles that would have overcome most persons.”

An ancestor doesn’t have to be a notable person in history to research him or her. The same sources used to research Anna can be used to research other Muskogee area residents. Just a few include newspapers, newspaper indexes, cemetery records, Dawes records, “The Chronicles of Oklahoma,” marriage records, various microfilm, books, U.S. Federal Censuses, and online resources.

Beginning classes are offered free of charge on the first Mondays and Tuesdays of each month by the Genealogy and Local History Department. The Muskogee Genealogical Society offers helpful programs on the fourth Thursday of every month when it meets in the library’s Grant Foreman Room. It also publishes a quarterly for members and a story on Anna Bennett will appear in a future issue. Give yourself and your family a gift of tradition this holiday season. Start exploring your family tree. It’s a hobby that lasts a lifetime and leaves a legacy for others.