RELEASE DATE: MAY 24, 2015
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
As many genealogists know, tracing Native American lineage can be quite difficult. However, if they belonged to one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole), finding Indian ancestors may sometimes be an easier task. But looking through records like the well-known Dawes rolls can be a lengthy process. To make such valuable information from that federal source accessible to more researchers, Jeff Bowen has completed Volume 1 of his new series, CHOCTAW BY BLOOD ENROLLMENT CARDS, 1898 - 1914.
Bowen bases this multi-volume set on the 6,100 Choctaw enrollment cards (sometimes referred to as "census cards") that were prepared by the Dawes Commission between the years 1898 and 1914. Information was gathered by the Commission to help in the decisions to accept or reject the thousands of applications for citizenship submitted by tribal members.
The author’s introduction provides a brief general history of the enrollment cards, including the political struggles between the tribes and the U. S. government and within the tribes themselves.Also explained in the essay is the actual process of Choctaw enrollment.
He reproduces the cards in the numerical order of the Dawes Commission card/field number on the Choctaw roll. For each individual listed in the household on an application, the enrollment card furnishes such facts as the county of residence, post office, relationship to the head of the family group, age, sex, degree of Indian blood, and tribal enrollment (year, place, and page number). When applicable, the material shows if a spouse was an “intermarried white.” Additional notes about some or all of the individuals in a family may give additional details such as an alternate name, references to different cards; dates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce; name of a spouse from another tribe; and whether the application was accepted, refused, or cancelled later.
Names of hundreds of people seeking Choctaw citizenship status can be found in Bowen's new work. A sampling of surnames includes ADKINS, AGEE, ARBUCKLE, ASKEW, BENCH, BENTON, BUCKHOLTS, BURKES/BURKS, BUTTERFLY/BUTTERY, CAMP, CAMPBELL, COFER, COOPER, COTTEN, CUSHMAN, DAVENPORT/DEVENPORT, DENNIS, DILLARD, FOLSOM/FOLSOME, GARDNER, GARVIN, GOFORTH, GRAY/GREY, HAZEL, HOWELL, JAMES, JENNINGS, KEMP, LINDSEY/LINDSEY, LYNN, MCDANIEL/MCDANIELS, MOORE, MORRIS, PERRY, RIDDLE, SPAIN, SPERLING, STIDHAM, TALIAFERRO, YUCKER, WEST, and WRIGHT.
By putting information from the Dawes rolls into book form, Bowen makes the material readily available to family historians seeking Indian forebears. CHOCTAW BY BLOOD ENROLLMENT CARDS, 1898 - 1914, VOLUME I is the beginning of a worthy new series that belongs in all genealogical collections of Native American ancestry.
The 336-page work has soft covers, an introduction, illustrations, and a full name index. To the book's price of $35.00, 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 8601) may be purchased by check, money order, MasterCard, or Visa from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (For phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com).