Tiana (Rogers) Houston (1799 - aft. 1838)

Born 1799 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Ancestors

Wife of David Gentry — married about 1820 (to 1828) in Indian Territory, Oklahoma [uncertain]

Wife of Samuel Houston — married about 1830 (to about 1832) in Arkansas Territory

Died after 1838 after age 39 in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, United States

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Not to be confused with Tiana (Foster) Rogers (1804-aft.1859).

Biography

There are many varied stories about Tiana or Diana Rogers, the Cherokee woman with whom Samuel Houston lived from about 1830-1832. She left no descendants and is found in few contemporaneous records. Most of what is published about her is undocumented at best. Her name appears in English-language records as Diana or Dianna; no record of it written in Cherokee syllabary is known.

Tiana/Diana Rogers was born about 1800 in the Cherokee Nation (East), the daughter of John Rogers, a white man, and Jennie Due, a Cherokee. She had at least four full siblings, John Rogers, Jr., Anna Rogers [Flowers, Irons], Joseph Rogers, William Rogers and Susanna Rogers [Miller] and a number of half-siblings. ^[1] She married David Gentry, also a white man, about 1820. They were the parents of two children, Gabriel and Joanna. Both died young and left no descendants. ^[2] The Gentrys moved to the Cherokee community in Arkansas; David Gentry died while fighting the Osage, about 1828. Gen. Sam Houston, the former governor of Tennessee arrived in the western Cherokee Nation in 1829. Already a friend of many Cherokee, in 1831 he was granted Cherokee citizenship and married the widowed Diana Gentry. ^[3] Houston set up a trading post near Fort GIbson where he and Diana lived until 1833 when Houston left her and went to Texas. They had no children. About 1836 Diana married another white man named Sam McGrady. ^[4] They apparently separated before Diana's death from pneumonia in 1838. There are varying claims regarding her final resting place. Some believe she was originally interred at Wilson Rock Cemetery. Those remains were moved to Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Sept. 1904. A headstone was set up over the grave, bearing the inscription" "Talahina, Indian wife of General Sam Houston.' (This headstone has since been replaced.) Cherokee historian Emmet Starr wrote, "her last resting place is unknown, but somewhere near the vicinity of her home near Rex, Oklahoma... "The bones interred in the National cemetery at Fort Gibson and foisted on the public as those of Samuel Houston's Cherokee wife were those of a woman whose maiden name was Coody, who was never the wife of Houston. ^[5]

Research Notes

Rootsweb posting by Willard Gentry:

"Tiana's name as it appears in the official documents found in the War Department and Bureau of Indian Affairs is spelled both "Diana" and "Dianna" Rogers. Her name among the Cherokee was "Tiana", supposedly because the Cherokees had difficulty pronouncing the "d" in Diana, so we will use it here. The name "Talahina" found on her gravestone seems to have no foundation in fact." ... Narrative goes on to say (citing Starr) that Tiana was daughter of John Rogers by his step daughter Jennie Due (daughter of Elizabeth Emory and Robert Due), and that Tiana was born between 1796 and 1803.^[6]

Historian William Seale has this to say in his book titled Sam Houston's Wife, page 23 (among other references):^[citation needed]

"Sam Houston bought an interest in a trading post, and by Cherokee law took an Indian wife, a blacksmith's widow named Diana Rogers Gentry.who was part Cherokee and whose family Houston had known as a boy. At their Wigwam Neosho, she and Houston operated an apparently successful business and maintained small herds as well. Diana Rogers Gentry is a baffling character in Houston's life. Some years his senior she seems to have offered him temporary peace in which he tried to regain hiss emotional strength."

Here is Emmet Starr's version:

"Samuel Houston resigned the governorship (of Tennessee) April 16, 1829, and immediately repaired to Tahlonteeskee, capital of the Cherokee Nation (West). He was adopted into the Cherokee Nation by "An Act Conferring Citizenship in the Cherokee Nation on Samuel Houston" approved October 31, 1831. He then married Tiana Gentry nee Rogers and settled northeast of and near the "Lower Falls" of the Verdigris River where he operated a small trading station. He was deputed by the government of the United States and the Cherokee authorities to induce the "Texas Cherokees" to return to the Cherokee Nation in December, 1832. He told his wife and friends he intended to stay in Texas.... His wife refused to leave her home and kinsmen, so he went alone... " ^[7]

In his earlier book "Cherokees "West" Starr goes on to say that Tiana Gentry was the half-sister of John Rogers who was the last chief of the "Western" Cherokee. He says that Sam and Tiana located west of and near Fort Gibson. Houston had no children by his marriage to Tiana. She lived several years after his departure for Texas. ^[8]

James' 1929 (?) biography of Samuel Houston first mentions "Tiana Rogers" on page 140 when describing the efforts of Houston's first wife to encourage him to return to her: "Again they were at opposite poles, Eliza entreating, Houston holding aloof. What caused this? Had Tiana Rogers taken the vacant place in his heart?" [more coming...]^[9]

Haley's 2002 biography of Samuel Houston says that she appears in the historical records as "Diana" and that there is no contemporaneous record of "Tiana" or "Talihina". Haley also writes that when she established her relationship with Houston that she was a widow in her 30s, widow of a white blacksmith and half sister of Houston's friend, John Rogers. Haley writes that the formality of her relationship with Houston is debatable. There is no record of a formal marriage ceremony. He suggests that because the Cherokee were soon to grant him citizenship and because Diana herself was not full blood, that the Cherokee may not have required any formal ceremony. And technically, because his divorce with his first wife was not yet final, he could not marry her through the US courts. Haley indicates that this relationship ended and he left her Wigwam Neoshe with its farm, orchard and trading business.^[10]

Who was Buried in National Cemetery?

On September 3, 1904, the remains of what was believed to be Tiana Rogers was exhumed from the grave at Wilson's Rock. A large crowd of people stood by as the remains were carefully removed and taken to Ft. Gibson for further investigation. "The bones were that of a very tall and large framed woman. A tortoise-shell comb was in the grave. All large bones were there, lower limbs and arms with skull in two parts, frontal and back with portions of upper and lower jaw which contained a number of teeth in an apparently perfect state of preservation. Most of the teeth were fine showing a high state of intelligence and moral qualities. It also showed large social organs, all showing that the woman was a person of much more than ordinary talent and ability. The shell comb was circular shape about seven inches across."^[11]

Fort Gibson, I.T., Sept. 8--The re-interment of the body of Talihina (Tiana) Rogers, the Cherokee wife of General Sam Houston, at the national cemetery here was a notable event. It is probable that his is the last interment that will ever take place in the officers' circle in the old cemetery and the event attracted thousands of people.

The body of the Cherokee woman has rested in a grave at Wilson's Rock on the banks of the Arkansas river near Fort Smith for half a century. The identity of the grave was fully established two years ago and since that tme a number of Cherokees and others have been interested in removing the body to the national cemetery. At last permission was secured from the war department to transfer the body to the national cemetery. Because she was once the wife of a United States army officer, she was entitled to be buried within the circle surrounding the ag [sic] staff in the cemetery. The re-interment was augmented with a great deal of ceremony. Garfield post No. 5, G.A.R., attended in a body and took part in the ceremonies. There was a great crowd of people, for Talihina Rogers was famous among the Cherokees. After the services there were speeches, in which were recounted some interesting chapters of Cherokee history. the casket containing the body was opened and the crowd passed by looking in at the few bones, all that was left of a noted character.

Robbers had been at the grave before the funeral directors exhumed the bones. It is understood that there were some jewels in the grave with the woman when she was buried, and this probably accounts for the robbery. Not a piece of jewelry was found when the body was exhumed.^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. p. 305 & 307. Digitized edition at https://archive.org/details/historyofcheroke00lcstar/page/n5
2. ↑ Starr, HIstory, p 317
3. ↑ "Sam Houston's Cherokee WIfe Honored by Son," article in the Muskogee Times Democrat, Sept. 26, 1919, cited in Gregory and Strickland, Sam Houston with the Cherokees.University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1967. p. 41
4. ↑ Gregory and Strickland, "Sam Houston," p. 49
5. ↑ Starr, Emmet. Cherokees "West." self-published, Claremore, OK, 1910, pp. 143-144
6. ↑ Willard Gentry as cited by "Medicine Woman" in GENTRY-L (Rootsweb mailing list) 3 May 2003; link
7. ↑ Hampton, David K. and Baker, Jack D., eds. Old Cherokee Families Notes of Dr. Emmet Starr. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1987, Vol. 1, Note C995, p. 137.
8. ↑ Starr, Emmet. Cherokees West, Claremore, OK: Emmet Starr (1910), pp. 139-144.
9. ↑ Marquis James, The Raven, A Biography of Sam Houston, Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company (1929), p 140...And especially starting on page 150. Link
10. ↑ James L. Haley, Samuel Houston, Norman, OK: Univ. of Oklahoma Press (2002), p 70; link
11. ↑ Gregory and Strickland, Sam Houston With The Cherokees
12. ↑ "Special to Daily Leader ," in The Guthrie Leader, Guthrie, OK, Sept. 8, 1904

See also:

• Iron Head Vann, From Iron Head on David and Tiana (Rootsweb GENTRY-L mailing list dated 2 May 2003); cites [Emmett] Starr, History of the Cherokee, p 305-307, 317
• Haley, James L. (2002). Sam Houston. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3644-8. Pages 56, 70, 75. 90, 2020, 256
• Source: S-635683283 Repository: #R-1098475140 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Page: Ancestry Family Tree Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=64270433&pid=160
• Repository: R-1098475140 Name: Ancestry.com