Peter Hildebrand, second son and second child of John Hildebrand and Anna Barbara Eaker, b. May 10, 1782 prob. in Rutherford County, NC. He d. Dec. 11, 1851 in the Delaware District of the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, now largely Delaware County, Oklahoma. Due to creation of the large Grand Lake, in 1940 Peter's 1851 interment was relocated from the "Old" Hildebrand Cemetery to the "New" Hildebrand Cemetery at present-day Zena, Delaware County, Oklahoma. See Note #1.

From 1806 until his relocation to the Cherokee Indian Territory, Peter Hildebrand's father was the U.S. Government sponsored miller for the Cherokee Tribe in southeast Tennessee. On the other hand, Peter operated one of the primary ferry crossings along the Conasauga River inside Cherokee lands. Under provisions of the 1835 Treaty of New Echota between the Cherokee and the United States, the widower Peter Hildebrand and his children were enumerated as residing along Okoa Creek at present-day Polk County, TN. He was not in favor of the 1835 Treaty of New Echota, and three years later was Conductor of the first and largest contingent of Cherokee emigres to use the "northern" route in the forced removal of the Cherokee to present-day northeast Oklahoma.

In circa 1808, poss. at or near the now extinct town of Columbus, Tennessee (3 miles north of Benton on the Polk side of the Polk-McMinn county line), Peter m. Elizabeth Harlan, the 1/2 blood Cherokee dau. of Ellis Harlan and Ka-ti (Catherine) Kingfisher, dau. of Cherokees Tsu-la (aka Kingfisher) and Nanye'hi (aka Nancy Ward). She was b. Aug. 15, 1793 in the Cherokee Nation either in northwest Georgia or southeast Tennessee. She d. Sept. 19, 1826 in present-day Tennessee.

Peter Hildebrand and Elizabeth Harlan had ten children, all 1/4 Cherokee by blood, b. either in or near Conasauga or Okoa Creeks at present-day Polk County, TN:

• i. Barbara Hildebrand, b. Apr, 10, 1809, d. Mar. 1, 1846 at present-day Delaware County, OK; m. Dec 23, 1830 at the Cherokee Nation East, Hiram Linder, a non-Cherokee, s. of John Linder and Myzorah Gillenwaters. Seven children of the family.

• ii. James Vann Hildebrand, b. Aug. 26, 1810, d. Aug. 1, 1859; m. Jan 17, 1834, the Cherokee Sarah Elizabeth Fields, dau. of Thomas Fields and Nancy Downing. Five known children of the family.

• iii. Lewis W. Hildebrand, b. Jan. 25, 1812, d. circa 1862; m. four Cherokee wives: 1) the widow Nannie "Otahki" Bushyhead, 2) Lucy Ratliff, 3) Oo-ti-ye Wasp, and 4) Oo-ti-ye Wasee. Six children of the family.

• iv. Jane "Jennie" Hildebrand, b. Jan. 7, 1814, d. Feb 1, 1893 in the Coo-wee-scoo-wee District of the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, that part now Craig County, OK; m. John Williams, a non-Cherokee. Three known children of the family.

• v. Catherine Hildebrand, b. Dec. 15, 1815, d. June 5, 1848; m. 1) Levi Bailey and 2) Lewis Cunnigan, both mixed-blood Cherokees. Five children of the family.

• vi. John Walker Hildebrand, b. Feb. 23, 1818, d. Sept. 17, 1910 at Polk County, TN; m. Apr. 7, 1838 Eliza Jane White, dau. of John White and Mary Haynes. Thirteen children of the family.

• vii. Ellis Harlan Hildebrand, b. Mar. 6, 1820; m. the Cherokee Sarah "Sallie" Stover, dau. of John Henry Stover and Charlotte Ward. Sallie was the older sister of Louisa Jane Stover, the 2nd wife of William Archibald Yell Hastings of Benton County, AR (a non-Cherokee), latter whose mixed-blood Cherokee son, William Wirt Hastings, became Attorney Gen. of the Cherokee Nation and one of the Cherokee's principal representatives to the Dawes Commission regarding the 1902-1907 Final Cherokee Citizenship Rolls.

• viii. Isaac Newton Hildebrand, b. Jan. 25, 1822, d. circa 1867; m. Mar. 20, 1845 the Cherokee Jane "Jennie" Ratliff. Seven children of the family.

• ix. Mary Elizabeth Hildebrand, b. Feb. 27, 1824, d. circa 1879; m. Dec. 4, 1841, Daniel Jones Frazier. Seven children of the family.

• x. Minerva Hildebrand, b. Nov. 29, 1825, d. circa 1864; m. 1) Charles Ratley, 2) Anderson Reynolds, and 3) Lewis Bowers. Three known children.

NOTE 1:

According to an Oklahoma-resident and lineal descendant of Peter, he never had a known gravestone marker but descendant family knew where his grave was in the former "Old" Hildebrand family burial ground near Goins in northeast Oklahoma. In the late 1930s the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began creating the large Grand Lake reservoir and lake system. Because the cemetery in which Peter was interred would be under water when Grand Lake was completed, after receiving permission from living descendants on Jan. 13, 1940 Peter's body was disinterred from designated Grave #10 at Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) cemetery #16 (aka Klaus Cem., Goins Cem., "Old" Hildebrand Cem.) and reinterred the same day without a grave marker in Grave #1, Lot #35, GRDA cemetery #6 ("New" Hildebrand Cem.) per GRDA Grave Removal Record dated Jan. 18, 1940.

The small marker attached to this memorial is possibly for Peter's namesake nephew who died in 1859, son of the elder Peter's brother George Hildebrand. However, according to the GRDA Grave Removal Records in 1940 no Peter Hildebrand other than the subject of this memorial was reburied in the "New" Hildebrand Cemetery. As the pictured marker hides the individual's family surname the marker may be of Peter (____) unrelated to the Hildebrand family and inappropriately attached to this memorial.

Edited and expanded 3/31/2024