Life History

Notes

• Ne-dah is listed in the 1905 census with her father and mother and other mothers and siblings reported all on the same page.  Her father is enumerated with his wife To-nar-cy, and Ne-dah follows on a line by herself.  (Family units are not numbered.)  Her mother, unexpectedly, is enumerated with her second husband and her two sons by Quanah, Len and Thomas, along with three other children that appear to be hers with Sidney Mah-seet.
  
  1905 Indian Census Rolls, Comanche Tribe, Oklahoma, 30 June, Kiowa Agency, Comanche Tribe, Page 22
  Ind Name Quanah Eng Name Quanah Parker Male Husband age 64
  Ind Name Tonarcy        Female Wife age 41
  Eng Name Esther Parker Female  age 18
  
  Ind Name Ne-dah   Eng Name Laura Parker Feale age 23
  
  Taum-mer-ra-da       Eng Name Sidney Mah-seet  Male Husband 36
  A-er-wuth-take-um   Female wife 41
  Ne-hio                  Eng Name Len Parker  Male Stepson 15
  Tit-tah                 Eng Name Thomas Parker  Male Stepson 13
  Eng Name Mary Taum-mer-ra-da  Female Dau 4
  Eng Name Josephine Taum-mer-ra-da  Female Dau 1/4
  
  Laura and her husband are living next door to her father Quanah and two of his wives on the Comanche Reservation.
  
  1910 Federal Census, Comanche County, Oklahoma, 17 May, Quanah Township, Apache, Kiowa & Comanche Reservation, District 29, page 20A, Hse/Fam #6
  Birdsong, Aubra C Head M Ind 25 [b abt 1885] Marriage 1 Married 5 yrs White/MO White/MO Government Farmer, Kiowa Agency English mother tongue Rents
  Birdsong, Laura P Wife F Ind 27 [b abt 1883] Marriage 1 Married 5 yrs 1 child/0 living Comanche/OK Comanche/OK Comanche/OK 3/4 blood Comanche mother tongue
  Birdsong, Anona Dau F Ind 4 [b abt 1906] Single Comanche/TX White/MO Comanche/OK 3/8 blood English mother tongue
  
  Quanah died in 1911.  In the census that year, several of his wives and children show up in their own households.  Laura is reported with her daughter Anona in a separate household.
  
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  1911 Indian Census Rolls, Kiowa Comanche and Apache Tribes, Oklahoma, 30 June, Kiowa Agency, Comanche Tribe, Page 20
  
  1 To narcy 46 [b abt 1864] F Roll #1
  
  2 Laura Parker Birdsong (Nedah) Head 28 [b abt 1862] F Roll #1 1/2
  3 Anona A Birdsong Dau 6 [b abt 1905] F
  
  4 Weck e ah 51 [b abt 1860] F
  
  5 Ta too ah rup (Baldwin Parker)  Head 23 M [b abt 1888] Roll #3 1/2
  6 Tab bo noid (Nora Goot se que tah) Wife 25 [b abt 1886] F
  7 Ollie Parker Dau 5 [b abt 1906] F
  8 Elmer Parker Son 3 [b abt 1908] M
  
  9 Mah cheet to wook ky Head 49 [b abt 1862] F Roll #4
  
  10 Mah cheet to wook ky Bessie (Parker) Head 23 [b abt 1888] M Roll #4 1/2
  11 Theadore Ase nap Son [no age rptd] M
  
  12 Mah cheet to wook ky (White Parker) Head 33 [b abt 1878] M Roll #4 1/2
  13 Bertha Parker Dau 12 [b abt 1898] M
  
  14 To pay Head 32 [b abt 1879] F Roll #5
  15 Kelsey To pay (Parker) Son 12 [b abt 1898] M
  16 Chee Parker Son 4 [b abt 1907] M
  
  17 Taum-mer-ra-da (Sidney Mah seet)  Head 45 M [b abt 1866] Roll #6
  18 A-er-wuth-take-um   45 [b abt 1866, grave is 1853] F
  19 Mary Taum-mer-ra-da  Female Dau 15 [b abt 1896]
  
  20 Tit tah (Thomas Parker)  19 M Roll #6 1/2
  -----------------
  
  1914 Indian Census Rolls, Comanche Tribe, Oklahoma, 1 July, Kiowa Agency, Comanche Tribe, Page 1
  Laura Parker Birdsong (Ne dah) Family 1.5 Head b 1882 F
  Anona A Birdsong Dau b 1882 F
  
  U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-Current
  Neda L. Birdsong
  Born 23 Feb 188
  Died 15 Jan 1968
  Last Residence Cache, Comanche, Oklahoma 73527
  SSN 446-50-9291 issued Oklahoma (1965)
  
  There is another record of marriage in 1929 for A C and Nedah, both with the surname of Birdsong.
  
  Texas, County Marriage Records, 1817-1965
  A C Birdsong, Male
  Nedah Birdsong
  Marriage 16 Feb 1929 Weatherford, Parker, Texas, USA
  
  Cynhia Ann Parker, captured by the Comanche as a child and raised a Comanche, married a young leader named Peta Nocona.  Recaptured after the Battle of Pease River, she was returned to her white family, but tried to escape several times.
  Died at the Parker home in 1864, Anderson, Texas.
  Her son Quanah Parker became a great Comanche leader, died in 1911.
  Quanah was buried at Post Oak Mission Cemetery near Indiahoma (Comanche County), Oklahoma.
  Cynthia's body was moved to the Post Oak Cemetery.
  In 1956 Quanah's daughter Neda Birdsong and her daughter Nona Wilkinson deeded 600 acres of the Parker Ranch for the expansion of Fort Sill artillery range.  They moved to Cache.
  The Parker burials in Post Oak Cemetery were moved to the Fort Sill Cemetery in 1957.
  --  Abilene Reporter-News, Abilene, Texas, 1 January 1957
  
  ------------------------------
  Neda P Parker Birdsong
  Birth 1877
  Death 1968
  
  Neda's obit ~
  
  The Lawton Constitution
  Friday, January 12, 1968
  Front page, con't on page 4, includes photo
  
  Rites to be Monday
  
  Mrs. Birdsong, Daughter of Quanah Parker, Dies
  
  Mrs. Neda Laura Parker Birdsong, 83, daughter of Quanah Parker, the last Comanche Chief, died at 5:10 a.m. today in the Lawton Indian Hospital.
  
  She had been ill the past six years with cancer.
  
  She was born Feb. 23, 1884, in Indian Territory. Mrs. Birdsong lived about 20 years in Star House, Quanah Parker's famous home now located in Eagle Park. Most of her life, however, she lived in Cache.
  
  Services will be at 9 a.m. Monday in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, with Charles Brown, rector, officiating. Burial will be in Cache Cemetery under the direction of Becker Funeral Home.
  
  Mrs. Birdsong attended Fort Sill Indian School and three eastern schools, Carlisle Institute, Carlisle, Pa.; a Quaker school, in Morristown, N.J., and a school at Ocean City, N.J.
  
  In 1904 she attended a business college in Fort Worth, Tex., where she met her future husband, Aubrey C. Birdsong. They were married that year.
  
  After Aubrey was appointed Head of the Cache sub-agency of the Indian Bureau, they lived at the Agency quarters. They separated during World War II. She moved to Star House and lived there for about 10 years before it was moved to Eagle Park in 1957 during a Fort Sill land expansion.
  
  In 1956, Mrs. Birdsong placed her extensive Quanah Parker collection in the Fort Sill Museum, forming the basis for the present Quanah Parker Room. In 1962, the museum acquired these items from her on a permanent basis.
  
  She joined St. John's Episcopal Church in Carlisle, Pa., and was a member of the Daughters of the King, one of the highest orders of the Episcopal Church. She also was a member of the Cache Garden Club, a former member of the Entre Nous Club, Lawton, and a member of various historical societies.
  
  Survivors include one daughter, Mrs. Nona Dean, Cache; a brother, Tom Parker, of Apache; and two half-sisters, Mrs. Alice Parker Purdy, 414 ½ Ferris, and Mrs. Wanada Parker Page, 2713 I., and one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren.
  
  ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
  And the announcement of the marriage of Neda and Aubrey Birdsong
  
  Eau Claire Leader
  Tuesday, December 13, 1904, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
  
  Texan Marries an Indian Bride
  Rescues her from college fire and later chooses her for his wife.
  
  Dallas, Tex., Dec. 12 - Miss Neda Parker, of Cache, and A.C. Birdsong, of Marshall, Tex., were married here last night [11 Dec 1904?]. The bride is the daughter of Quanah Parker, Chief of the Comanche Indians.
  
  Miss Parker came to Dallas to attend school. One night an alarm of fire near the college dormitory caused an invasion of the place by the firemen.
  
  Mr. Birdsong rushed with the firemen to the rescue of the schoolgirls and carried Miss Parker to a place of safety.
  
  The chance meeting began a romance which, in spite of the opposition of the faculty, led to the marriage last night."
  
  Parents:
  Quanah Parker (1845 - 1911)
  Takewm Aerwuth (1853 - 1948)
  Spouse Aubra Birdsong (1884 - 1968)
  
  Note: Parent links provided courtesy of Cokeman2. Thank you! Neda's announcement of marriage and copy of her obituary provided by Lisa Stalnaker. Thank you!
  
  Burial Cache Cemetery, Cache, Comanche County, Oklahoma
  
  Created by Staci Pollard Jul 10, 2011
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #73126112, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=73126112
  ------------------------------
  
  Note that the story of their marriage has some puzzling aspects.  The publication is reported as a Eau Claire, Wisconsin, paper, reporting the marriage in Dallas.  Perhaps Aubra had some connection with Eau Claire.  But it is puzzling for the Dallas dateline as well as the Eau Claire location of publication that the town of Cache (in Comanche County, Oklahoma) is referred to with no further identification, as though it was very familiar to the readers.  I would think even Dallas residents in 1904 would have needed or liked some indication of where "Cache" was, let alone readers in Wisconsin.
  
  With the dateline in Dallas being "Dec 12," and the Wisconsin newspaper date of December 13, 1904, it seems the marriage took place on the evening of 11 December 1904 ("last night") in Dallas.

Sources

• 1. 1910 Federal Census, Comanche County, Oklahoma
  • 17 May, Quanah Township, Apache, Kiowa & Comanche Reservation, District 29, page 20A, Hse/Fam #6
• 2. 1905 Indian Census Rolls, Comanche Tribe, Oklahoma
  • 30 June, Kiowa Agency, Page 22
• 3. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
• 4. 1911 Indian Census Rolls, Kiowa Comanche and Apache Tribes, Oklahoma
  • 30 June, Kiowa Agency, Comanche Tribe, Page 20
• 5. Abilene Reporter News
• 6. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 7. Parker Heritage Website
• 8. Marriages of Texas