Redmanship in Kentucky for Fifty Great Suns

by Frank L. Smith

GUSTAV AUGUST ELLERKAMP

PAST GREAT SACHEM GUSTAV AUGUST ELLERKAMP
1901-2

The subject of our sketch was born September 30, 1858, at Hoom, Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon the death of his father in 1868 he moved to Hanover, Germany, where he attended the public schools, emigrating to this country in 1873, landing in Louisville July 30th of that year, unacquainted with the English language and the customs of the people. He was engaged in the grocery business until 1892, when he took a position with C. F. Vissman Co., where he remained fifteen and a half years, and rose to be manager of their branch house, making it a success. He attended the Jefferson School of Law during the winters of 1905-6 and 1906-7, graduating with honors in May, 1907. He was admitted to the bar April 23, 1907, at Brandenburg, Meade County.

Brother Ellerkamp was a charter member of Shawnee Tribe, No. 9, at Louisville, and was one of the few faithful members of that Tribe to hold out against the desertion of nearly 150 members, leaving about 18 to shoulder a debt of several hundred fathoms which was finally paid off. Later Brother Ellerkamp became a member of Cherokee Tribe, No. 8, when the Tribes consolidated. While a member of No. 9 he was admitted to the Great Council of Kentucky in 1899, and at the same session was elected Great Junior Sagamore, being advanced to the stump of Great Senior Sagamore the following great sun, and was elected Great Sachem at Danville in 1901. During his administration great work was done for the uplifting of the Order, and while he had much to contend with he made for himself an enviable reputation, even though he was sick a large portion of the year, and could only direct the action of able lieutenants. At the conclusion of his term as Great Sachem he was elected Great Prophet and Great Representative to the Great Council of the United States for two great suns. He was elected again for two great suns in 1905, and re-elected in 1907, where he is now serving. He has served upon many important committees in the Great Council of the United States, and was a member of the Committee on Permanent Long House, and to his good offices on that committee is largely due the selection of Louisville as the permanent location of that building. He was a member of the Committee on Law and Usage that edited and arranged the present code of laws of the Great Council of Kentucky.

Brother Ellerkamp is now practicing law in the hunting grounds of Louisville, and is as ardent a Red Man as ever, attending the councils of his Tribe and never missing a session of the Great Council of Kentucky.

JOHN D. WALKER

PAST GREAT SACHEM JOHN D. WALKER
1902

The subject of our sketch was born in Brooksville, Bracken County, Kentucky, and lived there for thirty years. He attended the public schools, and at an early age learned the carpenter's trade with his father. He enlisted in the Confederate army during the Civil War, and at its close returned to Brooksville and again took up carpentering, but shortly afterwards engaged in a manufacturing enterprise that proved profitable for a time. In 1870 he bought out the drug store of Dr. J. D. Wallins, and conducted that business for several years, when he attended the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, from which institution he was graduated and returned to his drug business, practicing medicine in connection with the same. At that time Bracken County produced large quantities of tobacco, and he became interested in buying tobacco together with his other duties, becoming so much interested in this latter enterprise that he devoted his whole energies to this industry. Becoming interested in politics, he was elected chief of police for a term of two years, at the end of which time he was elected sheriff, and served as such for two years, continuing all the time to handle leaf tobacco. Being successful, he sought a larger field and went to Cincinnati, where he conducted a leaf tobacco brokerage business, and while meeting with success, he was induced to take the road for a large plug and twist tobacco manufacturer. While on the road he was induced to move to Lexington, where he organized the Blue Grass Tobacco Company in 1886, and for about eighteen years he superintended that business, until recently he established the White Plume Tobacco Company at Lexington, of which he is now the manager.

Brother Walker was a charter member of Winona Tribe, No. 4, of Lexington, and received the honors of a Past Sachem by virtue of being its first Keeper of Wampum, which position he held during the existence of the Tribe. He was admitted to the Great Council in 1895, and was elected Great Keeper of Wampum in 1897, serving as such for five consecutive great suns, and in 1892 was granted the honors of a Past Great Sachem and elected Great Representative to the Great Council of the United States for two great suns. He is now a member of Miantonomo Tribe, No. 1, is a regular attendant at the sessions of the Great Council, and has the good will and confidence of every member of that Great Body.