RELEASE DATE: JULY 17, 2011
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
Jeff Bowen is well-known for his transcriptions of various records pertaining to and associated with the Five Civilized Tribes. Several of his topics have evolved into their own series. Projected to include twelve volumes, his latest series begins with APPLICATIONS FOR ENROLLMENT OF CREEK NEWBORN--ACT OF 1905, VOLUME I.
Under the provisions of the Dawes Allotment Act in 1887, a commission was created to award parcels of land within Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to Native Americans, according to their degree of Indian blood, age, and family status. The term “newborn” referred to each Creek individual who lived within a qualified Creek or other tribal household, was four years of age or older, and was not an orphan (up to the time the land was awarded). Each Creek newborn was to receive forty acres.
In conjunction with the allotments, the Curtis Act of 1898 mandated that new tribal population rolls be compiled for inhabitants of Indian Territory. As Bowen explains in his introduction, the leaders of the Creek Nation in Muscogee resisted the census, in hopes of maintaining their tribal social organization. In order to gather the data, the Dawes Commission sent representatives to seven towns of the Creek Nation in 1905 to accept notarized official applications for the newborn; after the deadline for taking the applications occurred, the rolls to establish Creek citizenship would be closed. As a result, 2,410 children submitted applications, of which 1,171 ultimately received recognition.
Bowen’s transcriptions encompass all correspondence, such as affidavits and question-and-answer examinations, connected with the successful claimants. The material usually furnishes the names of the newborn and of his or her parents as well as the names of attending doctors or midwives, lawyers, commissioners, notaries public, and any other Creek relatives mentioned in the applications. Some recurring surnames are BAKER, BAUGHMAN, DANIEL/DANIELS, FIXICO, GAITHER, GIBSON, HAIKE/HAIKEE/HAIKEY, HARRIS, MCINTOSH, POSEY, THROCKMORTON, TIGER, and WEBB.
Transcribed from the documents found on the National Archives film M-1301, APPLICATIONS FOR ENROLLMENT OF CREEK NEWBORN--ACT OF 1905, VOLUME I provides many family relationships and details about individuals that are not found on the census cards on the National Archives film M-1186, the basis for much research about this Native American group. Genealogical libraries will want to add a copy of this book to their holdings while family researchers tracing Creek Indian pedigrees will eagerly await the publication of the next volume.
The 340-page paperback has an introduction, facsimile illustrations, and a full name index. To the book's price of $32.50, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $5.50 for one book and $2.50 for each additional copy; for FedEx ground service, the cost is $7.50 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book. The volume (item order #9805) may be purchased by check, money order, MasterCard, or Visa from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211-1953. For phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website at www.genealogical.com.
On 13 August 2011, the North Carolina Genealogical Society and Moore County Genealogical Society are sponsoring a seminar in Aberdeen, North Carolina. Featured speaker Pamela Boyer Sayre will discuss gathering, organizing, and sharing family history. For more details, go to the website at www.ncgenealogy.org.