Document:

"Heritage of the Hills a Delaware County History"
portions of the Polson Family section

 

This page reprints:
Heritage of the Hills a Delaware County History.
portions of "The Polson Family" from pgs. 407-409.
Copyright Delaware County Historical Society, Inc. 1979. 
It covers the William G. Polson family and their connections to Delaware County OK.
Note! This page is part of a much larger family history.

The Polson Family

William G. Polson was born in 1803 in Kentucky and died in 1851 in Arkansas. He was married to Elizabeth Ferguson, born in 1808 in Tennessee and died in 1896 near Prairie Grove Arkansas. About 1836 they moved from Lincoln County, Tennessee to Arkansas with their three sons; William Davis, John W. and Willis. The children born after their arrival were Jasper, Mary, Eliza, Jane, James N. and Charles Henry. They settled in the Viney Grove area and lived there until members of the family moved into the Delaware District of Indian Territory in the 1870's.

The Polson name was originally spelled "Polston" but around 1860 the "t" was dropped from the spelling.

Members of the family have figured prominently in the history of Delaware County. Dr. William Davis Polson served as surgeon of Brigadier General Stand Watie's Cherokee Mounter Volunteers and was at his side during most of the Civil War battles in this area. He was also appointed by the Confederacy as an assistant commissioner to provide subsistence for indigent Cherokees in 1862.

In 1856, Dr. William Davis Polson married Flora Chamberlin Ridge, daughter of the Cherokee statesman, John Ridge, who was assassinated in 1839 in the Delaware District. John Ridge was buried near his home, the site which later became the Polson Cemetery.

Two of Dr. Polson's brothers, Jasper and John W., also served under Stand Watie - Jasper as a hospital steward and John W., listed as a private in 1862 with Watie's Volunteers.

Another brother, James N. Polson, started one of the first brick kilns and quarries in this area, near the Delaware County - Missouri line, and a house built from those bricks still stands near the site of the kiln in Southwest City, Missouri. James N. was born in 1845 and died in 1894. He married Mary Henrietta Stevenson, born in 1851 and died in 1901.

The book goes on to record more recent descendants of 
James N. Polson and provides excellent photos of Dr. William Davis Polson, 
his wife Flora Ridge Polson and their daughter Carrie Polson Stevenson. 
It also includes histories of several allied families and a section on the 
Polson Cemetery at Southwest City Missouri.

  • Return to Polson Family History page