DNA Surprise!!!!

Our RISNER DNA results are back and reveal that George W. Risner does not match any
existing Risners and that he was Native American Indian - not German.  If and when we
find the actual surname, I will post it here.  George adopted the name Risner as early
as 1845 or earlier.  He went by that name as all the records on this website are under
that name and will remain under that name.


                    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)