History of the Judge Franklin Faulkner Home
by Tom F. and Echo Rider
November 15, 1986
This log cabin is part of the home of Judge Franklin Faulkiner. (He signed his name Falkner.)
It was moved to the present location from a site about one and one-half miles southwest of Atkins, Oklahoma, or five (5) miles northeast of Sallisaw, Oklahoma. This cabin was typical of the early day settlers. It was erected by Faulkner before the Civil War and moved to the present location by the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce in May, 1957, to celebrate Oklahoma’s 50th birthday.
In 1982, the dog trot and another log room were added. John and Lahoma Ross donated the logs from an old log house on their farm located six (6) miles east of Sallisaw on Miller Ridge Road. The gables, floor and rafters are from the side-room of the Tom Blair home, located north of Sequoyah’s Home.
Mr. Faulkner, a white man, came to Indian Territory in the 1830′s as a teamster over the “Trail of Tears”. Faulkner was married to four wives: Aursakie Potts, Nancy Pettit, a woman named Brewer and Nancy Choate Garvin, his last wife. Being married to Cherokee women, he received rights as a Cherokee citizen.
He became a leader of the Cherokees and served as Judge of the Sequoyah District, Cherokee Nation, from 1871 to 1885, except for two (2) years.
At the request of Tom F. and Echo Rider, the Sallisaw Champber of Commerce deeded the Faulkner Home to the Sequoyah County Historical Society in June 1977. Later, Tom F. and Echo Rider leased from the state of Oklahoma their right-of-way, beginning at the Coors Building and extending east to Cherry Street, for the Sequoyah Historical Society. This plot was leased for $1.00 for the term of the least – twenty-five (25) years.
The Society appointed a restoration Committee, which consisted of four members: Tom F. and Echo Rider, Alfred and Janelle Fullbright. This committee worked deligently to restore the home to its original state. The home was placed on the National Registry of Historical Places on the 23rd day of March 1980. In 1981, another member was added to the committee, Irma Crawford.
The Sequoyah County Historical Society gave all the property, the Faulkner Home, the Blair Home and the land lease to the Fourteen Flags Heritage Club, April 8, 1986. Since that time, club member Steve Foster has added a viewing area and window shutters to the cabin. Club member Hank Dehnhardt built a display case in the drog trot.
The following biography Julius Madison Worley was posted at the museum and for the life of me, I can’t remember which building it was posted on.
Julius Madison Worley was born in North Carolina in 1834. He moved to Ellijay Ga. in early 1850′s. He left Georgia and made the land run of 1889 in Oklahoma. His homestead was one mile east of what is now Tinker Field in central Oklahoma. He died in 1917 and is buried in Worley Cemetery on the homestead. He was the great grandfather of Flossie Jones, a charter member of Fourteen Flags Heritage Club. His son, who was Flossies grandfather, moved from Georgia to what is now Adair Co., Ok in 1905. He was a Baptist minister, farmer and owned and operated a water powered grist mill near Wauhillau, Ok., later known as Goldies Old Watermill.
