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The Peter Conser House

Peter Conser was born Peter Coinson in 1852 near Eagletown in present-day McCurtain County. His father was a white trade of French descent and hi smother, Adeline, was a Choctaw Indian. Peter probably adopted the surname of Conser because of the difficulty Choctaws had in pronouncing the French name “Coinson.”

When Peter was still a child his parents separated and his mother soon died of smallpox, leaving him alone. Little is known about this part of Peter’s life but he probably worked as a farm hand. In 8162, with the Civil War in progress, federal forces invaded Indian Territory from the north. Peter, along with other members of the tribe, followed the retreating Confederates to relative safety in the south.

Peter eventually settled on the Red River plantation of the wealthy Choctaw, Robert M. Jones. This plantation with its bountiful crops provided Peter with a haven during the remainder of the Civil War, far from the federal soldiers.

After the war Peter returned north and came to the Hodgens area. With a small amount of seed corn he had brought with him, Peter began farming. Gradually, through hard work and careful planning, he began to accumulate considerable wealth. Affluence brought social recognition and in 1877, at age twenty-five, he became deputy sheriff in Sugar Loaf County. He was later a captain of the Choctaw Lighthorse in the Moshulatubbee District.

The Lighthorse

The lighthorse were the mounted police of the Five Civilized Tribes. The Choctaw Light-horse of the 1820s, under the command of men such as Peter Ptchlynn, had much power. They served as sheriff, judge, jury, and executioner. By the 1870s the Lighthorse had been stripped of its judicial powers, but they remained an effective peace-keeping force. As captain, Peter Conser was responsible for preserving order and discipline among the men and seeing that each man was properly armed, equipped, and mounted.

At Home

Peter’s first wife, Amy Bacon, was also a Choctaw. They were married shortly after Peter’s return to the northern part of the Choctaw Nation. The couple had one child, a daughter named Susan. After Amy’s death, Peter married Martha Jane Smith and they produced eight children, four boys and four girls. To house his large family Peter build a two-story home with eight rooms. In 1894, soon after the home was finished, Martha and a baby boy died during childbirth.
Peter had many public duties as captain of the Lighthorse. He also served as a representative and then a senator to the Choctaw Council. In addition, Peter ran a large farm, a blacksmith shop, grist mill, and saw mill. He also kept a general store with a post office. Martha served as postmistress of the Conser Post Office, and later Peter’s third wife, Mary Ann Holson, was named postmistress. Mary held this post until the general store and post office were torn down in the 1920s.

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