Stella Mason
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Stella Mason | |
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| Died | 1918 |
| Occupation | Freedman |
Stella née Manuel Mason (died 1918) was a Creek Freedman whose guardians and lawyers plundered her oil rich estate in Oklahoma. The orgy of graft and exploitation was part of a pattern of abuse againt freedmen among the Five Civilized Tribes. The plundering continued after she died as the estate of her 1 year old son, Isaac Mason Jr., was also plundered by crooked lawyers and guardians. A grand jury was convened to investigate guardianship cases and recommended sanctions against various attorneys and a judge, including those involved in her case.[1]
She was orphaned in 1915. Her property was leased to Pairie Oil and Gas Company, a division of Standard Oil from 1900 to until it was spun off after the Sherman Antitrust decision Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States in 1911.[2] C. Benjamin Jefferson, "Colored", was appointed as her guardian. She married Isaac Mason and in 1916 gave birth to their son. Famipy.members visited her with attorney Coody Johnson and later attorney and community leader A. G. W. Sango went to Washington D.C. and returned to Muskogee with her and her husband to retrieve her estate from her guardian upon her coming of age May 21, 1917.[3][4]
She married Isaac Mason while still a minor at boarding school in Washington D.C. At the time of her coming of age in February 1917, her estate was valued at about $130,000. Benjamin Jefferson was her guardian. She filed for divorce from her husband.[5]
Lawyers Vilas K. Vernor and Ed K. Brooks arranged for her to signa contract with them after midnight contracting them as her sole lawyer for $5,000 per year for five years paid in advance.[6]
County judge Enloe Vassallo Vernor (1879-1944), a Democrat, was involved in investigations of her lawyers. He was himsepf later prosecuted.[7]
Zitkala-Sa co-authored Oklahoma's Poor Rich Indians: An Orgy of Graft and Exploitation of the Five Civilized Tribes, Legalized Robbery (1923) about Stella's experiences and similar abuses.
References
- ↑ "Clipped From Muskogee Times-Democrat". November 24, 1917. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
- ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=dM4kRb48juIC&pg=PA239&dq=Prairie+Oil+and+Gas+Company&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiOkr-ltbDwAhXUWM0KHcSTA6oQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg
- ↑ Court, Oklahoma Supreme; Green, Edward Bell; Dale, Frank; Burford, John Henry; Williams, Robert Lee; Kane, Matthew John; Parker, Howard; Eaton, Charles Winfield Van; Morgan, Nell C. (May 4, 1921). "Oklahoma Reports: Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Oklahoma". Harlow publishing Company – via Google Books.
- ↑ "Oklahoma reports". May 4, 1921 – via Google Books.
- ↑ "26 May 1917, Page 11 - Muskogee Times-Democrat at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "The Pacific Reporter". West Publishing Company. May 4, 1920 – via Google Books.
- ↑ "16 Feb 1918, Page 10 - Muskogee Times-Democrat at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com.
External links
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