DNA Surprise!!!!
Our RISNER DNA results are back and reveal that George W. Risner does not match any existing German Risners tested. Patience is needed! As time goes by and others are testing, we may soon find a matching cousin.
ON TO OUR RISNER FAMILY HISTORY AND RESEARCH
I have researched my maternal and paternal direct and collateral families for a good 35 years and have file cabinets bulging with documents that tell me the stories of their lives. Sometimes gifts are passed down to us from family members as was this Old Family Trunk. Inside are papers, documents, pictures, etc., relating to a collateral line of my Risner Family.
My Great Grandmother, Martha Locke Risner, was born in Warren County, Tennessee on July 7, 1847 which is the same birth day and month of my son, Collin Quinn Cannon. Martha traveled from Tennessee with her parents, George W. and Mary Rebecca Bonner Risner, and arrived in Lamar County, Texas prior to 1850 as a babe in arms. By 1860, her family had moved north across the Red River and resided in the Choctaw Nation near Armstrong Academy, Bryan County, Oklahoma, today; where she grew up and lived the rest of her life speaking Choctaw as her first language and English as her second language with a sprinkle of German. With not a drop of Choctaw in their veins, the whole family was fluent in the Choctaw Language. Our Risner Family led very colorful and interesting lives among the Native American Choctaws who had been forced from their homeland in Mississippi and exiled to what is today, southeastern Oklahoma. They accepted the Choctaw culture as their own and married into many prominent Choctaw and Cherokee Families. The Cherokees became refugees during the Civil War because of the strife on the Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas border where they lived. This forced them south and the Choctaws welcomed them into their Nation where they lived and married with some remaining but most returned to the Cherokee Nation in northeast Oklahoma after the War. This fact is why some of George W. Risner's children married Cherokees.
George Risner who married Clesbulina Hart is the Great Nephew of my 2nd Great Grandmother, Martha Locke Risner. George's father, William Risner, was the son of Jack Risner, Martha's brother. Jack and Martha were the children of George W. Risner from Tennessee.
Three years ago, I was given The Old Risner Family Trunk which contains many documents and pictures of the Risner, Guthrie and several other related families. The Trunk was in the possession of Mittye Hart, born in Bryan County, Oklahoma; the daughter of Liberty Bullet Hart. This old Stage Coach Trunk likely belonged to Liberty, a sheriff and county official, who traveled in his line of work. Mittie Hart married and moved to Colorado being heir of the Risner Trunk where it remained until her death. It is my desire to put most of what is contained in this trunk, here, so that it will not be lost in time. I have identified many of the photos and pieced together the Chaney, Williams, Holt and Hart Families from its contents. I am hoping to get all the old pictures put on this site so that you can look into the faces of your ancestors. If you recognize any of the unknown faces, please contact me. (Go to www.deadfred.com to see more pictures of unknowns found in the Risner-Hart Album)
I hope you enjoy the travels and times of the Risners contained in The Old Family Trunk.
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L O S T R I S N E R S I N O K L A H O M A A N D E L S E W H E R E Who Are They?
ROY RISNER-
Osage County Oklahoma Cemetery - May 15, 1918 - Section 22
GENEVA RISNER-
Duncan County Oklahoma Cemetery - b. Apr 7, 1900 - d. 1965
VENIA RISNER (17)- m. George R. SHEFFIELD (27)- 18 Jul 1906 - Durant, Bryan Co., OK
REVEREND HENRY CLAY RISNER-
son of Archibald D. Risener, s/o Michael b. 1824, s/o Michael and Sarah Howard Risner (Cherokee App. 43336) Rev. Risener came to Bennington, Oklahoma in the early 1900's in search of his Uncle George W. Risner who had previously passed away.
JUDAH RISNER-
1832 Choctaw Immigration Rolls: #73, age 14 (born: 1818), 4ft. 10, female, entered at Mountain Fork Depot, 1 May 1832 (now McCurtain County, Oklahoma)
MICHAEL RISNER-
His neighbor Thomas Welch on Weakley Creek in Lawrence County, Tennessee (Oct Term, Oct. 2, 1826, Lawrence County Court Session)
