Son of Lemuel & Elizabeth Jane Oakes.

Married Harriet Newall Everidge on 5 Dec 1839 in Goodwater, IT.

Blind for a while, but regained site. (Indian Pioneer Papers, interview of Bessie Oakes Bearden).

Oakes/Brunson by Elaine Oakes:
From Jane G. Oakes:
He came to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the time of the Indian removal (1830s). He was hired by the federal government as a carpenter to build homes, council houses, furniture, etc. There may have been a brother that came with him [per Patti Pond] Conflict: Betty Oakes has a birth date of February 14, 1814 and born in Charlottesville, North Carolina [that location can't be right, no such place]. The cemetery listing has the same birth date. If that is right it will conflict with the birthdates of his siblings. Thomas is buried in the Oakes Cemetery in Hugo, Oklahoma. From Leaders and Leading Men of the Indian Territory: "Mr. Oakes built the first house ever erected in the Choctaw Nation and now the property of Thomas Ainsworth, at Oak Lodge. Unfortunately, the old gentleman has been blind for the past seven years (in 1891)." From Aunt Ora: Thomas Wilson went blind, however he regained his sight but told no one because it was believed to regain your sight meant death was approaching. One day my Aunt Ethel was playing nearby and when a cat tried to get some food she was eating, Thomas hit at the cat with his walking cane. That's the way the family learned he could see again.
From History of Indian Territory: "Thomas W. Oakes, was a white man, born in North Carolina and his occurred in the Territory in 1893. He married Harriet Everidge, a half Choctaw, who was born in the Choctaw Nation and is now living there. She is a member of the noted Everidge family that has become so prominent in the affairs of the nation. Mr. Oakes was one of the pioneer settlers of this portion of the country, having come to the west at a very early epoch in the development of this region."
From History of Oklahoma: Tomas a native of North Carolina and cae to the Choctaw Nation shortly after the removal of the tribe from Mississippi. He was a carpenter and among his activities was the erection of the first council house of the Choctaw Nation at Tuskahoma. The building was constructed of large pine logs about 1850. He was also employed in the building of houses for chiefs, Indian agents and others during the establishment of a permanent settlement. He built the Goodwater Mission School, which was one of the earliest small schools of the Nation. A white man himself, he gained Choctaw citizenship by marriage into a prominent Choctaw family.
From Historic Spots Near Tuskahoma: The new capitol was complete in 1838 and the head carpenter, and the man directly responsible for the proper erection, was a young mand from North Carolina, Thomas Oakes. He and one of his brothers had moved west but the brother had left and gone "north". The capitol was the best of its kind and elicited praise from people in the east who came to visit. The council house was erected from pine logs felled in the neighboring forests, all hand hewn with even facings of 12 by 6 inches. Doors, windows, shutters, etc. were all hand made.
Thomas was the founder of the "Red Oakes" branch, to differentiate it from his brother's family, which were the "White Oakes" branch.