Angela Conser-McKean rests in the kitchen of the Peter Conser Home after giving a family a tour of the location.
Peter Conser Home Returns to Care of Conser family Line
By Brandon Frye
Choctaw Nation
Heavner, Okla. - After growing up in Florida away from the stories and people of her ancestry, Angela Conser-McKean moved to Oklahoma to be near family and found herself working as a caretaker of a historical home built by the hands of her great-great grandfather.
Her distant relative, Peter Conser, was a well-known Choctaw Lighthorseman born in 1852 who lived a life of great impact on a developing Oklahoma. His home, the Peter Conser Home, stands as one of the Oklahoma Historical Society’s (OHS) Historic Homes–historic sites which the organization claims tell the personal stories of the individuals who built the state of Oklahoma.
Conser-McKean’s arrangement with OHS supplies a nearby modern home to her and her husband, with utilities and rent at no cost to the couple. In exchange, Conser-McKean keeps the grounds and interior of the location in pristine condition, plans and holds events filled with learning experiences, and gives tours teaching the history of Peter Conser to anyone interested in visiting.
“Growing up in Florida I didn’t know anything about Oklahoma or Choctaw history, and it has been amazing learning about my culture,” Conser-McKean said. “I have enjoyed learning some of the stories about Peter, especially from my grandfather.”
As Conser-McKean would tell you, the home was built in 1894, near the town now known as Heavener, when Peter Conser was married to his second wife, Martha.
“The story is there was a tree near a creek which Peter liked to play on when he was a kid,” Conser-McKean said. “He loved that tree and creek, so when he decided he wanted to live somewhere he came back here.”
Visitors can still spot a very large, old tree just behind the homestead to this day.
Martha was pregnant with Peter’s 10th child, and the couple needed a bigger home to raise their family. Unfortunately, Martha died during childbirth about two months before the house was finished. But Peter did go on to raise his children in the home.
Conser was well equipped for life on the frontier, according to Conser-McKean. Many experiences from his youth readied him for the hardships found in early-Oklahoma.
Peter’s father was a Swiss immigrant. His Choctaw mother died when he was only 10.
An old Choctaw named Ainetubby took a young Peter in, helped raise him, and taught him how to work.
According to Conser-McKean, Peter wrote about an advancing group of Union soldiers who pushed the group of Choctaws Peter lived with into fleeing. Escaping this situation, Peter found himself taking refuge at Robert Jones’ plantation.
Jones was a wealthy Choctaw with the confederate army. Peter was able to take refuge on his plantation and learn how to farm during his interactions with the slaves. When the war was over, Peter and a friend of his came back to the Heavener area as teens.
Locals formed a small settlement including a general store and post office near the location where the Peter Conser Home sits. Peter played a large role in this community, offering a gristmill for everyone to grind their grains, a blacksmith shop for metalwork, and a sawmill, which made many coffins as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic.
His great-great granddaughter, Conser-McKean, said she wants to help her community and open the Peter Conser Home just like he did.
Taking care of other people and being there for the community was something that Peter and his family did,” Conser-McKean said. “If a child didn’t have a home, Peter opened his home to them. Maybe we can’t still open the Peter Conser Home to live in, but we can hold events for them to come learn and experience something.
Conser-McKean said since Chief Batton became Chief, the Peter Conser Home has had more Choctaw activities. She listed a quit show, a pottery class, and plans to start holding stickball games on the property, she said because Peter used to host them in his day.
Erin McDaniel, with Choctaw Nation Tourism, said her department has worked with the Peter Conser Home, advertised the recent 150th Anniversary event, promoted the site through social media, and submitted it to the website roadtrippers.com. She said the Tourism Department is actively finding ways to partner with the home.
Kathy Dickson, Director of Museums and Historic Sites with the Oklahoma Historical Society, said the arrangement her organization worked out with the family is a way for the family to share their heritage with visitors.
“It is Angela’s family history,” Dickson said. “It’s not just a job for her, it’s part of her family heritage. She is very committed to the property.”