Elias Cornelius Boudinot was born on August 1, 1835 in the Cherokee Nation, near the site of Rome, Georgia. He was the son of Elias Boudinot, 1803-39, and Harriet Ruggles Gold, whom Elias had married at Cornwall, Connecticut.
On the assassination of his father (1839) all the children were sent to Cornwall and distributed among Harriet Gold's sisters, Elias Cornelius going to Manchester, Vermont.
In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Elias Boudinot studied law under A. M. Wilson and was admitted to the bar in 1856.
Boudinot first tried engineering and spent one year with a railroad in Ohio, but gave that up and settled in Fayetteville, Arkansas. While practising law, he gave a part of his time to editorial work on the Arkansian. In 1860, he was made chairman of the Democratic state central committee and went to Little Rock, where he became chief editorial writer for the True Democrat. In 1861, he was elected secretary of the secession convention. After the state seceded, he went to the Indian Territory, where he helped Stand Waitie raise an Indian regiment, in which he rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
In 1863, he was elected delegate for the territory to the Confederate Congress and served until the end of the war. After the war, he took part in restoring peaceful relations between the Cherokees and the United States. Soon after this he started a tobacco factory in the Territory, but in 1868 it was seized by the government under an act of that year. Boudinot then spent many years in Washington, trying to recover his property and working for the good of the Indians. The court of claims finally allowed a part of his claim.
Boudinot practised law, gave entertainments, and farmed in the Territory until his death.
He died at the age of 55 of dysentery in Fort Smith on September 27, 1890. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Elias Boudinot contributed to the eventual formation of the state of Oklahoma in the early twentieth century. One of his chief achievements was founding the city of Vinita, Oklahoma. He also was active in politics and society in Indian Territory and Washington, DC, supporting construction of railroads. Many Cherokee and others of the Five Civilized Tribes had tried to gain passage of legislation to found a state to be controlled by Native Americans.
Boudinot became active as a pro-slavery advocate in the Democratic Party, and at some point became the secretary to U. S. Senator James David Walker of Arkansas.
Boudinot was an ardent advocate of education for the Indians, of breaking up the tribal relations, and of allotting the lands in severalty. For this he incurred the enmity of his tribe, but lived to see his policy put partially into effect and to regain the good will of his people.
Boudinot was a man of striking appearance, a very forceful speaker, a good writer, and an amateur musician of no mean attainments. In Washington, he became acquainted with many distinguished men.
Boudinot married Clara Minear, in Washington.
1802 - 22 June 1839
10 June 1805 - 28 March 1836
5 October 1828 - 1853
1827 - 20 August 1856
1859 - 10 September 1911
He also practiced law in Arkansas with the politician Robert Ward Johnson (18-1879), who had been elected to both houses of Congress before the Civil War.
Attorney and Democratic Party politician from Arkansas who represented the state in the U.S. Senate from 1879 to 1885.
