Notice to Attorneys in the Jackson Barnett Case.

Jackson Barnett

IN THE
DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA.

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JACKSON BARNETT, DECEASED.

No. 4556 Equity Consolidated.

NOTICE.

TO EACH AND ALL OF THE LIVING PERSONS ADJUDGED BY THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA IN THE ABOVE ENTITLED CAUSE TO BE THE HEIRS OF JACKSON BARNETT, DECEASED, AND TO THE EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS AND HEIRS OF THE PERSONS SINCE DECEASED WHO WERE NAMED IN SAID JUDGMENT AS HEIRS OF JACKSON BARNETT; AND TO MRS. CHARLES FREEMAN OF CHECOTAH, OKLAHOMA; AND TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; AND TO HONORABLE CLEON A. SUMMERS AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOB THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA; AND TO HONORABLE J. H. FINLEY AS CHIEF UNITED STATES PROBATE ATTORNEY; AND TO HONORABLE A. M. LANDMAN AS SUPERINTENDENT OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES; AND TO THE HONORABLE FRANCIS BIDDLE AS ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES; AND TO THE HONORABLE HAROLD J. ICKES AS SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR OF THE UNITED STATES:

Notice is hereby given to you and each of you that on April 6, 1942, Anglin & Stevenson, Dick Jones, Leon C. Phillips, Stone, Moon & Stewart, E. W. Smith, Gibson & Holleman, Howell Parks, J. Garfield Buell, H. G. House, R. S. Cate, H. B. Parris, L. O. Lytle, George H. Jennings, and Hayes, Richardson, Shartel, Gilliland & Jordan, filed a petition in the above entitled and numbered cause for the determination, allowance and payment of their expenses and fees as attorneys for the successful claimants in said cause; and that, on April 4, 1942, in the order granting leave to file said petition, the court ordered that any and all persons above named or described who may desire to contest said petition shall file their answers thereto within thirty (30) days from the date of the service of this notice upon them, and set said petition for hearing in the United States Court Room at Muskogee, Oklahoma, on June 8, 1942, at 9:30 o'clock, a. m. A certified copy of said petition and said order is hereto attached, and is herewith delivered to you. Witness my hand and the seal of said court on this the 6th day of April, 1942. Clerk of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, By ________________ Deputy.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA.

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JACKSON BARNETT, DECEASED.

No. 4556 Equity
Consolidated.

PETITION FOR ALLOWANCE AND ORDER FOR THE PAYMENT OF ATTORNEYS' FEES.

The petitioners, Anglin & Stevenson, a law firm composed of W. T. Anglin and Alfred Stevenson; Dick Jones; Leon C. Phillips; Stone, Moon & Stewart, a law firm composed of J. C. Stone, C. A. Moon and Francis Stewart; E. W. Smith; Gibson & Holleman, a law firm composed of N. A. Gibson, now deceased, and Wilbur J. Holleman; Howell Parks; J Garfield Buell; H. G. House; R. S. Cate; H. B. Parris; L. O. Lytle; George H. Jennings; and Hayes, Richardson, Shartell, Gilliland & Jordan, a law firm composed of S. W. Hayes, now deceased, D. A. Richardson, Kent W. Shartel, A. W. Gilliland and Eugene Jordan, respectfully show:

1. That Jackson Barnett was a full blood Creek Indian, duly enrolled as such, and was a citizen of the State of Oklahoma. He died in Los Angeles, California, on or about May 29, 1934, intestate, and survived by no wife or issue, and by no father or mother or brother or sister. Your petitioners are informed and believe, and upon such information and belief allege, that the net value of his estate, after the payment of all inheritance and estate taxes, state and federal, and of the expenses of administration, is about $1,300,000, consisting of real estate in California and in Oklahoma, and of bonds, securities and money. The said Jackson Barnett was under restrictions imposed upon full blood Creek Indians by the Acts of Congress, and his real estate was and is subject to supervision by the Department of the Interior, and his bonds, securities and money were and are held in trust for him by said Department.

Shortly after his death administration proceedings upon his estate were commenced in the County Court of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, and, an administrator having been appointed by said court, upon the application of the United States through the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, said proceedings were removed to this court and were docketed herein as cause No. 4556 Equity. Thereafter, this court remanded so much of said proceedings as pertained to the appointment of an administrator of said decedent's estate to the County Court of Muskogee County, but retained so much thereof as involved the determination of his heirs and the respective distributive shares of his estate which they inherited. Thereafter, other actions were commenced in the District Court of Muskogee County, the District Court of McIntosh County, and other state courts, which involved the determination of the heirship of the decedent. On petition of the United States, filed in this court pursuant to the authorization and direction of the Attorney General, the said cases were also removed to this court and were consolidated with cause No. 4556 Equity and designated as No. 4556 Equity Consolidated. Thereafter, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, the United States Attorney, under the direction of the Attorney General, filed in behalf of the United States a petition in this court in said cause in the nature of a bill of interpleader, alleging that the Secretary of the Interior held certain monies, securities and properties in trust for the use and benefit of said Jackson Barnett as restricted funds and property belonging to him as a Creek Indian, that there were many persons claiming to be his heirs, and that the United States was not able to determine who were in fact his heirs, and praying that all persons claiming to be his heirs be required to appear in this cause and set forth their claims or be forever barred, and that the true heirs of said Jackson Barnett be determined and adjudicated in this action in this court. Said petition was granted, and an order for notice by publication was made and entered, and publication of said notice was duly made.

Thereupon approximately 50 different groups of claimants, aggregating nearly 800 claimants in all, intervened in this action, each group contending that it was the nearest of kin to and that its members were the sole heirs of Jackson Barnett, and praying an adjudication to that effect and the distribution of said estate to them.

2. The petitioners were and are all members of the bar of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, and of the federal courts in Oklahoma, in good standing, and were learned in the laws applicable in determining the heirship of deceased Creek Indians, and were and are experienced in the preparation and trials of such cases.

Shortly after the death of Jackson Barnett the petitioners Anglin & Stevenson, Dick Jones, Leon C. Phillips, Stone, Moon & Stewart, and E. W. Smith were employed to represent the following named claimants to the heirship of Jackson Barnett in said cause, which claimants are hereinafter referred to as Group I, to wit: Annie Beams; Melviney Barnett Ditzler; the heirs, executors and administrators of Nellie Barnett, deceased; the heirs, executors and administrators of Jimmy Barnett, deceased; Mahaley Fish Hickman; Winey Fish Lewis; Katie Fish Litzey; Frazier Fish; Millie Fish Gilroy; Charity Buckley Smith; William Fisher; Mariah Fisher Tompkins; Lewis Fisher; Koge Fisher as an heir of Seaborn Fisher, deceased; Frances Sutton, nee Fisher, as an heir of Seaborn Fisher, deceased; Marion Stevens, nee Fisher, as an heir of Seaborn Fisher, deceased; and Lawrence H. Fisher as an heir of Seaborn Fisher, deceased.

About the same time the petitioners H. G. House, R. S. Cate, H. B. Parris, L. O. Lytle and George H. Jennings were employed to represent the following named claimants, who are hereinafter referred to as Group II, to wit: Susie Conner; May (or Hannah) Conner; Wynie Conner Hendrix; Rebecca J. Baker; Katie Williams, nee Knight, as heir and devisee of Nathan Williams, deceased; the heirs of Lois Williams, deceased, who was an heir and devisee of Nathan Williams, deceased; Marcellus L. Williams as heir and devisee of Nathan Williams, deceased; John F. Davis as heir and devisee of Nathan Williams, deceased; Lucy Knight as heir and devisee of Nathan Williams, deceased; Hanna Bear as heir and devisee of Nettie Bear, nee Conner; Abbie Cosar, nee Conner, as heir of Nettie Bear, nee Conner; Willie Conner; John Conner; and the heirs of Emma Burgess, nee Conner, to wit: Jim Burgess, husband, for himself, and as next friend of his minor children, William Burgess, Little John Burgess, Sissie Burgess; and Noah Burgess and Joe Burgess, adults.

And the said petitioners, with the consent and approval of their said clients, employed the firm of Hayes, Richardson, Shartel, Gilliland & Jordan to assist them in the representation of the parties constituting said Group II.

About the same time the petitioners Gibson & Holleman, Howell Parks and J. Garfield Buell were employed in said cause to represent the following named claimants to the heir ship of Jackson Barnett, which claimants are hereinafter referred to collectively as Group III, to wit: Chissie Stepney; Barney Stepney; Rhoda Gouge, nee Stepney; Ida Gouge; and Eliza Gouge.

All the claimants in said three groups were full blood Creek Indians, or the heirs of full blood Creek Indians, many of them were illiterate, and all of them were wholly without funds with which to pay attorneys' fees, or with which to pay the expenses of investigating said vast number of adverse claims or any of them and the expense of procuring the evidence with which to refute the same, and the expense of procuring and presenting the evidence in support of their own claims; by reason of which it was necessary not only that said contracts of employment be made upon a wholly contingent basis whereby these petitioners' compensation for their services should be paid only and solely out of such recoveries as they should obtain for their respective clients, but also that the petitioners themselves should make or cause to be made all investigations necessary to refute the claims of more than 700 other claimants and to establish the claims of their clients, and themselves to advance the money with which to pay the expenses incurred in so doing, and thus to take the risk not only of receiving no compensation whatsoever for their said services but also of losing all sums advanced by them for the investigation, preparation and trial of said cause.

3. Immediately after their said employment petitioners prepared and filed intervening petitions in this cause in behalf of their respective clients, and commenced the preparation of their cases for trial; and, in so doing, they made numerous prolonged and thorough searches of the records of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes and numerous and careful examinations of all of such records as tended to throw light upon the heirship of Jackson Barnett as well as of all such records as tended to refute the claims of the vast number of other claimants herein, and procured certified copies thereof for introduction in evidence in this cause; and they also made careful and thorough search for witnesses scattered over the Creek Nation who had knowledge of Jackson Barnett and of his parentage and kindred and interviewed them; all of which searches, examinations and investigations consumed many months of petitioners' time and required the expenditure of many thousands of dollars which were advanced by petitioners.

Said cause was pending in this court from July 16, 1934, until the rendition of judgment and the overruling of the losing parties' motions for a new trial in June, 1940, and it engrossed the greater part of these petitioners' time and attention during said period in searching and examining the records of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes, searching for and interviewing witnesses, taking depositions in behalf of their clients, attending upon the taking of depositions by the adverse parties and cross examining their witnesses, investigating the law applicable in determining said heirship, attending upon the numerous prolonged hearings of said cause in this court, preparing requested findings of fact and conclusions of law, preparing briefs, making oral arguments, preparing the form of the judgment to be rendered, and thereafter until March, 1942, in defending said judgment in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and in the Supreme Court of the United States.

During said period these petitioners took the depositions in behalf of their clients, in various parts of Oklahoma and in other states, of more than 60 different witnesses, and they attended upon and represented their clients in the taking of the depositions, in various parts of Oklahoma, of more than 100 different witnesses produced by adverse claimants and cross-examined said witnesses. In addition the depositions of many witnesses were taken by adverse claimants in the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, and representatives of these petitioners attended upon the taking of said depositions and cross-examined said witnesses. Altogether these petitioners attended upon the taking of the depositions of 216 witnesses in said cause, in addition to the examination and cross-examination of a vast number of witnesses who were produced and testified personally in court. In the trial of said cause the evidence of 422 witnesses was introduced by adverse claimants, and the evidence of 115 witnesses was introduced in behalf of the three groups represented by these petitioners, and several hundred exhibits were also introduced. The record in said cause, as made and filed by the appellants on appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, comprised more than 13,300 pages, although said record was shortened as much as it was possible to do.

4. As of June 30, 1936, the three groups of parties above mentioned, being convinced that they were all related to Jackson Barnett, but being uncertain which of them was nearest of kin to him if either group was nearer of kin than either of the others, because of said uncertainty and of the fact that neither group alone was able to pay the enormous cost and expense of investigating and refuting the claims of said 47 other groups of claimants, entered into a contract of family settlement with each other, in which they agreed to unite their efforts and to cooperate with each other in the prosecution of their claims and in defending against all other claims then pending or might thereafter be filed in said action, and that in the event the court should adjudge any person or persons in any of said contracting groups to be the heir or heirs of Jackson Barnett, then the estate of Jackson Barnett or so much thereof as should be awarded to such person or persons should be deemed to have been awarded for and on behalf of the persons constituting the three groups of parties, and should be apportioned, divided and paid among and between said groups in the proportions of 50% thereof to the persons constituting Group I, 25% thereof to the persons constituting Group II, and 25% thereof to the persons constituting Group III; which said contract was duly executed, and was approved by the county courts of the various counties in Oklahpma having jurisdiction of the parties thereto who were minors or incompetents, and was approved by the County Court of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, which had jurisdiction of the administration of the estate of Jackson Barnett, and was also approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The execution of said contract was for the best interests of the parties thereto, in that neither group of said parties was able to pay the costs and expenses of preparing and trying said cause, and the attorneys for neither group were willing or able alone to advance the large sums necessary to pay the cost and expense of defending against the claims of said 47 other groups and of procuring and producing the evidence necessary to establish the validity of their clients' claims; and these petitioners devoted considerable time to the preparation of said contract, the procuring of its execution by the members of said three groups who were scattered over various parts of the State of Oklahoma, and in procuring its approval by the county courts of the various counties that had jurisdiction over the members of said groups who were minors or incompetents, and by the County Court of Muskogee County, and by the Secretary of the Interior, the latter requiring two or three trips by the representatives of these petitioners to Washington, D. C., for the presentation of said matter to the Secretary of the Interior, and the preparation and filing of briefs with him in support of their request for said approval; and the cost and expense of all of said work was advanced by these petitioners. Said contract was attacked both in this court, in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and in the Supreme Court of the United States by several hundred of the adverse claimants as being contrary to public policy and void and as being prejudicial to them; and these petitioners devoted considerable time and incurred great expense in defending said contract and its validity, and procured a judgment of this court which was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to the effect that said contract was valid, and procured the Supreme Court of the United States to deny an application for a writ of certiorari in which it was contended that said contract was invalid and prejudicial.

5. In the latter stages of the trial of said cause a number of the adverse claimants filed affidavits of bias and prejudice against the trial judge seeking to disqualify him from further hearing said cause and from rendering any judgment therein, and they applied to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit for an order adjudging said trial judge to be disqualified and requiring him to retire from the trial of said cause; and these petitioners prepared the responses to said applications and briefs in opposition thereto, and filed the same in said United States Circuit Court of Appeals, and made two trips to Denver, Colorado, in the presentation thereof, all at their own expense; and said United States Circuit Court of Appeals denied said applications.

6. Upon the conclusion of the taking of evidence in said cause these petitioners prepared in behalf of their said clients, and on July 18, 1938, they filed, requests for findings of fact and conclusions of law covering the claims of all the principal claimants in said cause, and they also prepared and filed briefs in support of said requested findings of fact and conclusions of law, and also orally argued said cause.

7. On December 16, 1939, the court filed his opinion in said cause, and on the 2nd day of January, 1940, the court made and filed its findings of fact and conclusions of law in which it found that the members of the three groups above mentioned were the nearest of kin and the heirs of Jackson Barnett, deceased, and that his estate descended and passed to and was vested in the members of said groups in the proportions therein specified; and on the 2nd day of January, 1940, this court made and rendered its judgment and decree in said cause adjudging and decreeing that the estate of Jackson Barnett, deceased, both real and personal, descended and passed to and is vested in the persons composing said three groups in the proportions specified in said judgment, to which reference is hereby made, and that no other person or persons whomsoever were heirs of said Jackson Barnett or distributees of his estate, and that all persons not named as heirs and distributees in said judgment were barred and forever enjoined from asserting any right, title or interest in or to said estate or any part thereof. In said judgment this court adjudged and decreed as follows, towit:

" It is further ordered, adjudged and decreed that as to such of the distributees of Jackson Barnett's estate hereinabove named as are restricted Creek Indians, their respective shares in said estate, excepting such sum or sums as this court may allow, fix and determine as charges thereon and payable therefrom as costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees in connection, with this suit, should be held by the Secretary of the Interior and disbursed under his supervision for the use and benefit of said restricted distributees, as are the funds of other restricted Creek Indians."

8. From the said findings of fact and conclusions of law so made and filed by this court and from the judgment and decree so rendered, more than 350 adverse claimants appealed to the United States Circuit Court of Appeal's for the Tenth Circuit; and various applications made by said appellants to said United States Circuit Court of Appeals in connection with said appeal required that representatives of these petitioners make two trips to Denver, Colorado, which they did at their own expense. These petitioners prepared, had printed and filed briefs in said Circuit Court of Appeals in answer to those filed by the various appellants therein, and advanced the costs thereof; and they argued said cause orally before said court; and on September 2,1941, said Circuit Court of Appeals filed its opinion therein affirming the said judgment and decree of this court in all things, and on October 10, 1941, it denied the appellants' several petitions for rehearing.

9. Thereupon said appellants filed in the Supreme Court of the United States their several petitions for a review by certiorari of the decision of said United States Circuit Court of Appeals in said cause, and for the reversal thereof, and they filed extended briefs in support thereof. These petitioners prepared, had printed and filed in the Supreme Court of the United States briefs in answer to those of the appellants, with the result that said Supreme Court of the United States denied said petitions for certiorari, and sent its mandate to that effect to said Circuit Court of Appeals, which said court has now set its mandate to this court affirming the judgment of this court in all respects, and directing that further proceedings be had in conformity therewith.

10. The contract of employment between the persons constituting Group II and the petitioners H. G. House, R. S. Cate, H. B. Parris, L. O. Lytle and George H. Jennings provided that the compensation payable for the services of said petitioners should be contingent upon their success in said cause, and that, if they were successful, the said petitioners should be paid their expenses incurred in carrying on said litigation and a fee equal to 33 1/3% of the value of that portion of the estate awarded to said persons composing Group II.

11. Said litigation ran over a period of neary eight years. More than 200 attorneys appeared in connection with it. Most of the unsuccessful parties made persistent and vigorous efforts to establish their respective claims. Petitioners, as counsel for the successful claimants, investigated every claim that was filed, and presented both oral and documentary evidence to refute the contentions of every party to the litigation, with no assistance from any of the other claimants who were content merely to introduce evidence in support of their own claims without regard to the refutation of the claims of the other parties to this litigation.

Many of the claims presented were wholly fabricated, and were attempted to be supported by an enormous amount of perjured testimony; and in combating said claims the petitioners devoted a vast amount of time to their investigation, and advanced large sums of money which were expended in procuring evidence, both oral and documentary, in the states of Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, California, Kentucky and Tennessee.

12. The petitioners who represented the persons comprising Group I have advanced in cash for the preparation and trial of said cause the following sums, towit:

Anglin & Stevenson, more than $4,000.
Dick Jones, more than $5,000.
Leon C. Phillips, more than $578.58.
Stone, Moon & Stewart, more than $1,775.31.
E. W. Smith, more than $1,500.

The petitioners who represented the persons comprising Group II have advanced in cash for the preparation and trial of said cause the following sums, towit:

Hayes, Richardson, Shartel, Gilliland & Jordan, more than $4,750.
L. O. Lytle, more than $2,000.
George H. Jennings, more than $.........
E. S. Cate, more than $........
H. B. Parris, more than $........
H. G. House, more than $.........

The petitioners who represented the persons comprising Group III, towit: Howell Parks, J. Garfield Buell and Wilbur J. Holleman, have advanced in cash for the preparation and trial of said cause the sum of $10,200.

The foregoing advancements were expended in searching for and interviewing witnesses, in taking depositions, in transporting witnesses to court and paying their expenses and witness fees, in traveling expenses, in attending upon the various courts, in procuring the execution of the Contract of Family Settlement and its approval by the various county courts and by the Secretary of the Interior, in payment for certified copies of records of the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes introduced as exhibits in the cause, in the payment of court costs, and in the printing of briefs in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Supreme Court of the United States; and all of said expenditures were necessary in fact and reasonable in amount; and none of said petitioners have been reimbursed for any part of said advances, and none of the clients have any means of reimbursing them except out of the recoveries made for said clients by these petitioners.

13. This cause was instituted in this court by the Department of Justice of the United States at the instance and upon the express request of the Secretary of the Interior, who had the custody and supervision of the bonds, securities and monies belonging to the estate of Jackson Barnett, deceased, and the supervision of all his property, both real and personal; and said Secretary of the Interior thereby invoked the jurisdiction of this court to adjudge and decree who were the heirs of Jackson Barnett and to decree the distribution of said estate, and this court thereby obtained jurisdiction of the res of said trust fund with power to determine the beneficial ownership and to decree the distribution thereof, and to allow and order paid all reasonable costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees, necessary to the proper presentation and the correct determination of said matters and to the preservation of the rights of said heirs, and to make said costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees, a charge upon the said funds, and to order the same paid out of said funds.

Considering the illiterate condition of many of the persons adjudged to be the heirs of Jackson Barnett and the impecunious condition of all of them and their inability to assist the petitioners either in preparing said cause for trial or in paying any of the expenses thereof; the fact that petitioners' compensation was to be wholly contingent upon their success in said cause, and that, in undertaking said employment and performing the duties devolving upon them thereunder they risked the uncompensated loss of several years of time and labor and the loss of all the money that they advanced and paid in the preparation and trial of said cause; and considering the period of time during which said litigation has been continued, and the enormous amount of labor that the petitioners have done therein in three courts, and considering that the statutes of the State of Oklahoma authorize attorneys to contract for a portion of the proceeds of a client's cause of action up to fifty percentum of the net amount of the recovery, your petitioners believe, and therefore allege, that they should be allowed and paid out of said funds, first, their necessary expenses advanced and paid by them in the preparation and trial of said cause, and second, a fee equal to 33 1/3% of the net value of said recoveries, onehalf of which fee, pursuant to the provisions of the Contract of Family Settlement, should be allowed and paid to the petitioners who represented the claimants comprising Group I, onefourth to the petitioners who represented the claimants comprising Group II, and the other onefourth to the petitioners who represented the claimants comprising Group III.

WHEREFORE, the premise considered, petitioners pray that the court will make and enter an order designating by name or description the persons upon whom this petition and notice of its filing shall be served, and prescribing the time and manner of making such service, and fixing the time within which any objections to or protests against said petition on the part of any interested party or parties shall be filed, and fixing the time and place of hearing this petition; and that upon the hearing hereof this court make and enter a supplemental judgment or decree herein determining what amounts of money reasonably necessary for the proper preparation and trial of this cause were advanced and paid for such purposes by these petitioners respectively, and what amounts of money or percentum of the recoveries would constitute reasonable and compensatory fees to these petitioners for their said services, and adjudging and decreeing that said respective sums so determined as reasonable and necessary expenses advanced and paid and as fees earned constitute and be a charge upon the funds and property so recovered for the persons constituting said three groups, and adjudging and decreeing that the same be paid to these petitioners out of said funds and property; and that these petitioners have all such other and further relief to which in law or in equity they are entitled.

Anglin & Stevenson, Holdenville, Oklahoma,

Dick Jones, State Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,

Leon C. Phillips, State Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,

Stone, Moon & Stewart,
By Joseph C. Stone, Barnes Building, Muskogee, Oklahoma,

E. W. Smith, Henryetta, Oklahoma,

GIBSON & HOLLEMAN,
National Bank of Tulsa
Building, Tulsa, Oklahoma,

Howell Parks, Muskogee, Oklahoma,

J. Garfield Buell, Tulsa, Oklahoma,

H. G. House, Muskogee, Oklahoma,

R. S. Cate, Muskogee, Oklahoma,

H. B. Parris, Eufaula, Oklahoma,

L. O. Lytle, Sapulpa, Oklahoma,

George H. Jennings, Sapulpa, Oklahoma,
Hayes, Richardson, Shartel, Gilliland & Jordan, 1133 First National Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,

Endorsed:
Filed on April 6, 1942.

JOHN H. PUGH, Clerk, By R. Kizzire, Deputy.

United States of America, Eastern District of Oklahoma.

I hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of the "Petition for Allowance and Order for the Payment of Attorneys' Fees" filed in the above entitled cause on April 6,1942, and now on file in my office.

WITNESS my hand and the seal of said court on this 6th day of April, 1942.

JOHN H. PUGH, Clerk,
By .................. Deputy.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA.

IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF JACKSON BARNETT, DECEASED.

No. 4556 Equity Consolidated.

ORDER.

The petitioners, Anglin & Stevenson, a law partnership composed of W. T. Anglin and Alfred Stevenson; Dick Jones; Leon C. Phillips; Stone, Moon & Stewart, a law partnership composed of J. C. Stone, C. A. Moon and Francis Stewart; E. W. Smith; Gibson & Holleman, a law partnership composed of N. A. Gibson, now deceased, and Wilbur J. Holleman; Howell Parks; J. Garfield Buell; H. G. House; R. S. Cate; H. B. Parris; L. O. Lytle; George H. Jennings; and Hayes, Richardson, Shartel, Gilliland & Jordan, a law partnership composed of S. W. Hayes, now deceased, D. A. Richardson, Kent Shartel, A. W. Gilliland and Eugene Jordan, having, on this 4th day of April, 1942, presented to the court their petition for the allowance and payment of their attorneys' fees and expenses in the above entitled cause, and having prayed leave to file the same, and having prayed an order designating by name or description the persons upon whom said petition and notice of its filing should be served, and prescribing the time and manner of making such service, and fixing the time within which any objections to or protests against said petition on the part of any interested party or parties should be filed, NOW, UPON CONSIDERATION THEREOF, IT IS ORDERED:

1. That leave to file said petition is hereby granted.

2. That a certified copy of said petition and of this order, together with a notice under the hand and seal of the clerk of this court stating the fact and the date of the filing of said petition, and requiring all interested parties who desire to contest said petition to file their objections, protests or answers within the time hereinafter stated, shall be served upon the following named persons, towit: (1) All living persons named in the judgment of this court in the above cause as heirs of Jackson Barnett, and the executors, administrators and heirs of such of said persons named in said judgment as are now dead; (2) Mrs. Charles Freeman of Checotah, Oklahoma; (3) The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma; (4) The Chief United States Probate Attorney; (5) the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes; (6) The Attorney General of the United States; and (7) The Secretary of the Interior.

3. That said service shall be made within fifteen (15) days from this date. The service upon the Secretary of the Interior and upon the Attorney General of the United States shall be made by the clerk of this court by sending to each at Washington, District of Columbia, by registered mail, a certified copy of said petition and of this order and of the notice provided for above; and, in proof of said service, said clerk shall make and file in this cause his affidavit showing his compliance with this provision. Service upon the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Chief United States Probate Attorney, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and Mrs. Charles Freeman, may be made by any of the petitioners by delivering to said Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes, Chief United States Probate Attorney, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, and Mrs. Charles Freeman, each, a certified copy of said petition, and of this order and of the notice hereinbefore provided for, provided the said persons so served will sign a written acknowledgment of said service; otherwise, said service shall be made upon them by the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Service upon such of the living persons who were adjudged in the judgment heretofore rendered herein to be the heirs of Jackson Barnett as are adults and are not under guardianship for incompetency may be made by any of the petitioners herein by delivering to them a certified copy of said petition and of this order and of the notice above provided for, provided the said persons so served will execute a written acknowledgment of said service, otherwise said service shall be made by the United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Service upon such of the persons heretofore adjudged to be heirs of Jackson Barnett as are under guardianship because of incompetency and upon such as are minors, and upon the executors, administrators and heirs of such of said persons named in said judgment who have died shall be made by the United States Marshall for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Any person herein required to be served, except minors and persons under guardianship because of incompetency, may waive such service by pleading to said petition or otherwise entering his appearance herein, and such waiver shall be as effective as service in strict compliance herewith would be.

4. Any person so served who may desire to contest said petition shall file his answer thereto within thirty (30) days from the date of said service upon him. Said petition and the answers thereto shall be set for hearing in the United States Court Eoom at Muskogee, Oklahoma, on June 8, 1942, at 9:30 o'clock, a.m.

Dated this 4th day of April, 1942.

(Sgd.) ROBERT L. WILLIAMS,
United States Circuit Judge,
sitting by assignment.

Endorsed:
Filed and entered on April 6, 1942.
JOHN H. PUGH, Clerk, By R. Kizzire, Deputy.

United States of America,
Eastern District of Oklahoma.

I hereby certify that the above and foregoing is a true and correct copy of an order made by the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in the above entitled cause on April 4, 1942, and now on file and of record in my office.

WITNESS my hand and the seal of said court on this 6th day of April, 1942.

JOHN H. PUGH, Clerk,
By ..... Deputy.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SERVICE.

Each of the undersigned hereby acknowledges service upon him of the above and foregoing notice, and of a certified copy of the petition and order thereto attached, by the delivery to the undersigned of said notice and of a certified copy of said petition and order.

WITNESS our hands on this .... day of April, 1942.