[1] One source says that James was an Irishman who had previously been an architect or a shipbuilder from Pennsylvania, while Amanda was one-fourth Muscogee.
In 1864, Callahan resigned his command to serve in the Second Confederate Congress in Richmond, Virginia, where he would represent the Creek and Seminole nations as a delegate.
[3] Very soon after Callahan left to join the army, a band of marauders invaded his ranch, burning or looting everything valuable they could find.
His wife barely escaped discovery and fled to safety in Sulphur Springs along with a slave nurse, a bag of gold, and two small children.
[a] Settling near Muskogee, Callahan resumed farming and ranching and soon became a significant player in the politics of the Creek Nation.
Callahan also acted as executive secretary for three notable principal chiefs, Samuel Checote, Roley McIntosh, and Isparhecher.
Removed with his tribe to Indian Territory, Callahan fled with his family to Sulphur Springs, Texas during the Civil War.
After two years at the newspaper, Callahan returned to Indian Territory, where he settled in Okmulgee and began a cattle ranch.
They had eight children: Josephine, James Owen, Jane Evylin, Samuel B. Jr., Sophia Alice, Emma Price, Walter McKenzie, and Edwin Thornberg.
[6][7] When the New York Times published a list of members of the Confederate Congress in 1864, S. B. Callahan was identified as representing both the Creek and Seminole Nations.
Callahan also served as Private Secretaries for three Creek Principal Chiefs: Roley McIntosh, Samuel Checote and Isparhecher.