Wilson, Willie W., House

The Willie W. Wilson House is significant because of the historical importance of its builder and because of its architectural style. Born in 1857 in a two-room log cabin in the old Choctaw Nation, Willie Wilson was a three-quarter blood Choctaw Indian. Among the tribal schools he attended was Old Spencer Academy, a noted educational institution and the site of which is on the National Register. As an adult, he engaged in farming and ranching activities, but he attained his financial prominence as a merchant and banker in the small community of Fort Towson. He was a major figure in the political affairs of the old Choctaw Nation, being elected at different times to the Council, to the Senate, and to the posts of Auditor and Treasurer. Following the demise of the tribal government in 1906, he participated in different conferences preliminary to the formation of the State of Oklahoma. Among these was the famous Sequoyah Convention, which met in Muskogee in 1905 and sought admission of Indian Territory as a separate state. Wilson died on July 1, 1924, but his home remained within his family until 1951 when it was purchased by its present occupants.

Wilson had his Fort Towson residence constructed in 1906 as a gift for his third wife, a white woman who had served as a missionary teacher among the Choctaw Indians. That Wilson should present her with such an imposing house styled in wholly non-Indian architecture suggested his personal accommodation to the white man's ways" and his desire to demonstrate his status within the community just as the State of Oklahoma--a white man's creation--was being organized. The builder of the home was J. G. Shelton, a prominent local carpenter. Temple form in style, the two-story structure was totally unique to the community, and save for an identical house constructed for Wilson's brother some 20 miles further east, was unique to the region. The latter house no longer exists, a fact that increases the importance of the Fort Towson property. Fortunately, the Wilson House remains largely uncompromised from its original architecture, the only alteration being an addition of a den on its back side in 1951. This, however, in no way impeaches its architectural integrity. Even the interior of the house remains in its original form.

Because its original owner was a major figure in the history of the Choctaw Indian tribe and because it remains architecturally unimpeached after 74 years, the Wilson House, then, is of major significance in Choctaw County and southeastern Oklahoma.