George Washington Stidham
{{Short description|American politician and judge (1817–1891)}}
{{For|the soldier|George W. Stidham}}{{Infobox officeholder
| image = George W. Stidham.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1817|11|17}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1891|3||1817|11}}
| caption = Stidham, {{Circa|1888 or 1889}}
| birth_place = Henry County, Alabama, US
| office = Delegate to the United States House of Representatives
| order = Creek
| office1 = Muscogee Nation
| order1 = Chief of the
| office2 = Muscogee Nation
| order2 = Chief Justice of the
| termend2 = March 1891
| termstart2 = 1867
| occupation = politician, soldier, farmer, judge
| death_place = Muscogee Nation, US
| term_start = 1848
| term_end = ?
}}
George Washington Stidham I (November 17, 1817 – March 1891) was an American politician, soldier, farmer and judge.
Biography
Stidham was born on November 17, 1817, on an Indian reservation in Henry County, Alabama.{{Cite book |last=Pilling |first=James Constantine |author-link=James Pilling |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aYU0AQAAIAAJ&dq=George+Washington+Stidham&pg=PA87 |title=Bibliography of the Muskhogean Languages |date=1889 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=87 |language=en}} His father Hopaychutke (died {{Circa|1829}}) came to the United States from the British Isles and joined the Muscogee Nation. He did not attend school, and learned English at age 20.{{Cite news |date=2011-12-08 |title=George Washington Stidham |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mcintosh-county-democrat-george-washingt/131070170/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |work=McIntosh County Democrat |pages=3}}
In 1837, during the Trail of Tears, Stidham and other Native Americans moved to Choska, Oklahoma. There, he worked as an interpreter, and got married in 1841. He was appointed as a Creek Delegate to the United States House of Representatives in 1848.{{Cite news |date=1951-06-28 |title=George Stidham |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/mcintosh-county-democrat-george-stidham/145744744/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |work=McIntosh County Democrat |pages=1}}
During the American Civil War, he served in the Confederate States Army, under Albert Pike. To shelter refugees, he purchased a 6,000-acre property near Texarkana, Arkansas. The deeds were destroyed during the war, causing him to lose the land. He was the first to plant wheat in the Muscogee Nation. He also organized the first Masonic lodge in the Muscogee Nation.{{Cite web |date=2007-12-15 |title=Judge Stidham brought progressive ideas to the Creek Nation |url=https://www.muskogeephoenix.com/archives/judge-stidham-brought-progressive-ideas-to-the-creek-nation/article_d46f36c1-8310-5bdd-844c-b555625d0444.html |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Muskogee Phoenix |language=en}}
Stidham was elected Chief of the Muscogee Nation, but never took office. He served as Chief Justice of the Muscogee Nation from 1867, until dying in office in March 1891, aged 73. Stidham, Oklahoma is named for him. He is the father-in-law of George Washington Grayson.{{Cite book |last=Grayson |first=G. W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SzQ4n_8Kzh4C&dq=George+Washington+Stidham+and+Grayson&pg=PR9 |title=A Creek Warrior for the Confederacy: The Autobiography of Chief G. W. Grayson |date=1991-02-01 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-2322-6 |page=39 |language=en}}