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Friday, October 20, 2017

Equity Case 7071 Rebecca SAMUELS Chickasaw Freedwoman #284


EQUITY CASE 7071
Rebecca SAMUELS
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #284
  • Enrollment #1155-1159
  • Place of Residence: Purcell, Pickens County; Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, Gibson (Deceased)
  • Mother: KEMP, Manda (Deceased)

·         Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-131

M 1186 #284Front Rebecca SAMUELS Chickasaw Freedwoman 
The family of Rebecca SAMUELS is one of those cases where you have read between the lines and know a little something about the hundreds of individuals who sought to be transferred from the Chickasaw or Choctaw Freedman Roll to the Chickasaw or Choctaw by Blood Roll.

The importance of this issue should never be lost on anyone; these people were descendants of African and African Natives as well as Chickasaw or Choctaw Indians. They were attempting to exercise their rights to receive three hundred and twenty acres of land just as the other “mixed” Chickasaw Indians.

On the rear of Rebecca SAMUELS Chickasaw Freedman Dawes land allotment card is the name of her parents and the parents of her children and sister Mollie HOLDER. Rebecca named her father as Gibson KEMP a Chickasaw Indian who was deceased at the time of the enrolling process. This information was not taken into account and given value by the Dawes Commission and in most cases the admission someone’s father was a Chickasaw Indian ended with that notation on the back of their Dawes card.

Who was Who Among the Southern Indians a Genealogical Notebook 1698-1907 by Don MARTINI p362
The information from the index by Don MARTINI indicates there was a Chickasaw Indian with a similar name to the one on the rear of Rebecca SAMUEL'S Dawes Card and as most genealogist know, "spelling doesn't count." Clearly the information provided indicates Gibson/Gipson KEMP was deceased at the time of the land allotment process but because he may more information and/or other descendants who might connect genealogically with the descendants of Rebecca SAMUELS?

M1186 #284 Rear Rebecca SAMUELS Chickasaw Freedwoman
However there was a subtle clue inserted into the application packet (M1301) that provided more information about her claim to be a descendant of a Chickasaw Indian. On page two of her packet she makes a profound and important statement; “my mother is Amanda, daughter of John
KEMP (see Chickasaw Freedman Card 274.”) In addition it is important to note that she includes information about her sister Mollie HOLDER and the fact “we are sisters by the same mother.” 

M1301 #284 Rebecca SAMUELS Chickasaw Freedwoman
If you will recall a previous article about the KEMP clan there was no mention of Amanda as the daughter of John KEMP, yet there is a reference in Rebecca’s file that mentions “Chickasaw Freedmen Card 274.)”

This is another file that demonstrates just how important it is to obtain and research the Joe and Dillard PERRY database. Many of the individuals that are claimants on Equity Case 7071 only have hints to their Chickasaw or Choctaw ancestry in their files because the Dawes Commission only summarized the information provided in oral testimonies. As a researcher it is necessary to follow the clues given that may provide the necessary information that will tell the story of the African-Chickasaw and African-Choctaw Indians who were denied inclusion in the nation of their ancestor’s birth.

I don’t know that it is possible to definitively state that these people possessed Chickasaw or Choctaw ancestry. Our best sources for determining if they did have an Indian ancestor will be the information provided on the Dawes cards and various other sources like the PERRY files and DNA test that will support the claims of our ancestors.

I mention DNA test because I’m constantly struck by the reaction from some in the so called Native American community to dismiss these test. However it was the Dawes Commission, the United States and the Five Slave Holding Tribes that came up with the concept of “blood rolls,” “blood quantum” and “degree of Indian blood.” If they have relied on those concepts and now want to dismiss the science of DNA testing one has to wonder why?

I say this because recently I was unceremoniously “removed” from a Facebook page devoted to the descendants of Thomas LOVE a recognized Chickasaw citizen after posting a “link” to my previous article. It was argued I was angry and hated the tribe for writing about the issues like Equity Case 7071. Subsequently I was challenged about my ancestor’s claim of having Chickasaw ancestry and she began to attempt discounting the claim and the paper trail.

Another member wanted to know if I had a DNA test perform for which I informed her I had and posted my GEDmatch numbers on the site so anyone there who claim to be descendant from Thomas LOVE and his Two Wives could compare their results if they took a test. It was not long that someone informed me they took the test and when they checked, they did not see a match to me after putting my name in the database.

I suggest changing the criteria to both the surname LOVE or Chickasaw and each time she came back with the response that she did not come up with a match. However EVERY time I put those words in the database I came back with matches for someone with a LOVE or COLBERT ancestor. Now I am not an expert on DNA testing but I have to conclude that if I can come up consistently with a LOVE or COLBERT Native American ancestor and someone else and this individual didn’t; maybe they don’t have LOVE or Colbert ancestry at the least and possibly no Chickasaw ancestry to speak of?

I must say, I am getting to point of believing a statement I read in Dr. Daniel F. LITTLEFIELD Jr.’s book “The Chickasaw Freedmen a People Without a Country” (and I’m paraphrasing) that there will come a time when it is shown that many of the people on Equity Case 7071 and their descendants have more Native American blood than those on the Dawes by blood rolls. Perhaps that time has come?

Original Brief Equity Case 7071 (Courtesy of Julia POWERS)





Monday, October 9, 2017

EQUITY CASE 7071 KEMP, John et al., Chickasaw Freedmen

EQUITY CASE 7071
Empower Me to Know My History

KEMP, John et al.,

  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #274
  • Enrollment #1089-1092
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: Louis  (Deceased)
  • Mother: Jennie Non-Citizen
  • See Petition to Transfer #64
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184
  • See CHIF #268, #269, #270, #379, #273,
M1186 John KEMP Chickasaw Freedman #274 Front
When I first looked at the particular case of a family claiming Chickasaw ancestry I was reminded of a statement by my friend Carlotta KEMP says; “all KEMPS are related.” The fact that John KEMP survived to be more than one hundred years of age is remarkable. As a survivor of slavery he must have stories to tell.

Now I’m not saying it’s not true but according to this card John was still making babies as an octogenarian? That is not the only revealing item on this card. One of the easiest tells on a card of someone who is claiming Chickasaw ancestry is a notation that states “see petition to transfer.” This is telling me there is the great possibility a file may exist that will provide information regarding that individual’s genealogical history. Unfortunately I don’t have that file but any descendant of John KEMP should obtain it (and send me a copy, please) to discover more on the genealogy of this family patriarch.

M1186 John KEMP Chickasaw Freedman #274 Rear
Again, on the rear of John’s Dawes card there is no notation like so many others that will direct the researcher to who the parents of John are or if in fact it was one of John’s parents that is the basis for his claim to Chickasaw blood? However when you look at his interview packet you quickly discover John and Meline KEMP were the parents of a sizable family. It is because of this document we are able to reconstruct and locate those children and their children. 

There is nothing on the Dawes card for John and Meline KEMP that provides direct information about the ancestry of either that indicates they have Chickasaw blood. However the notation of a petition to transfer is significant if it is possible to determine Chickasaw ancestry.  It would appear from the sizable files held in the Joe and Dillard PERRY collection some sort of information is available. As a researcher on all of the individuals listed as claimants on Equity Case 7071 those are some files I will have to obtain at some point.

Meanwhile it is important to assemble the framework for establishing the various family members that descend from the original Chickasaw ancestor and that means taking the names of John and Meline children to demonstrate the genealogy of this claim to Chickasaw blood, I begin with their daughter Emily KEMP on Chickasaw Freedman Card #269.

M1301 John KEMP Chickasaw Freedman #274 p2
 KEMP, Emily et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #269
  • Enrollment #1060-1069, 4276 & 4817
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Pickens County, Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Meline
  • See NB #Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #211, #396, #402
  • See Petition to Transfer #62
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203

Emily KEMP’S Dawes card is just full of information regarding her children and grandchildren and except for on little notation you again would not think she had any Chickasaw ancestry. At the time of this writing I still don’t know because I don’t have a copy of what that notation states; “see petition to transfer #62.”

The Dawes Commissioner or clerk was very efficient in making notes of just about every other aspect of this woman’s life except what was in that petition to transfer #62. You will also note, her father John KEMP had a petition to transfer as well but, it was #64. Was there something different in his than was in her file? Was her file done independently from her father’s? These are questions that should be answered and included in the overall story of the Chickasaw Freedmen.

M1186 Emily KEMP Chickasaw Freedwoman #269 Front
 KEMP, Lorena et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #270
  • Enrollment #1070-1080
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Pickens County, Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Meline
  • See NB #Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #226, #273 & Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #191
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203

Lorena KEMP is a younger sister of Emily’s and like her sister and mother gave birth to numerous children. It is unfortunate the Dawes Commission held fast to some customs taken from a culture of slavery by stating that children to unwed mothers were somehow “illegitimate.” This practice was used to ensure the slave holder could increase his wealth by determining the status of a child by the status of the mother and this was the basis for the Dawes Commission and the Chickasaw Nation to claim the children of Chickasaw men were not Chickasaw by blood.

With that distinction the nation was able to deny thousands of acres of land to people who should have been entitled to the three hundred and twenty acres based on their ancestry like all the other “citizens by blood.” Now we see the classification used in this situation to enroll all of Lorena’s children and stigmatize them as illegitimate and Chickasaw Freedmen.

M1186 Lorena KEMP Chickasaw Freedwoman #270 Front
 KEMP, Lottie et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #273
  • Enrollment #1086-1088
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Pickens County, Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Meline
  • See NB #Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #23
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203

There is nothing remarkable about the enrollment card for Lottie KEMP and we don’t see any references to a petition to transfer but when you look at the index to the Joe and Dillard PERRY files Lottie and her children appear to be a part of the claim to have Chickasaw ancestry.

M1186 Lottie KEMP Chickasaw Freedwoman #273 Front
BLUE nee KEMP, Virginia (Jennie) et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #379
  • Enrollment #1591-1596
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Pontotoc  County, Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Meline
  • See Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #204
  • See Petition to Transfer #65
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203

Virginia KEMP aka Jennie is another daughter of John and Meline KEMP who appear on Chickasaw Freedman card #274 and like all of John and Meline’s children Wynnewood was crawling with KEMPS.

On this card we discover Jennie’s husband Smith BLUE is serving time in the Ft. Leavenworth penitentiary in Kansas. It would be interesting to dig a little deeper into his case but unfortunately Jennie’s application packet does not reveal anything more than his incarceration.

Oh, did you think I would forget the additional note that there is another “see the petition to transfer #65” on this card? It is becoming clear that there may be some additional information regarding the ancestry of this family and we have multiple references to there existence.

M1186 Smith & Virginia BLUE Chickasaw Freedman #379 Front
KEMP, Ebenezer et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #268
  • Enrollment #1055-1059
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Pickens County, Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Meline
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203

With Ebenezer KEMP and his young family we don’t know much more than what is printed on the card but he is the son of John and Meline KEMP and he resides in Wynnewood like the rest of his family. He does show up as part of the Joe and Dillard PERRY files so again we will have to see what those documents have to tell us about the rather large family of Chickasaw Freedmen?

M1186 Ebenezer KEMP Chickasaw Freedman #268 Front

KEMP, John & Harriett et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #280
  • Enrollment #1129-1133 & 4852
  • Place of Residence: Bearden, Indian Territory Creek Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Frances (Deceased)
  • See NB #Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #226, #273 & Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #191
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203
John may have been the eldest child of John Sr., and he was living in the Creek Nation with his wife when they enrolled with the Dawes Commission. John is the namesake of the patriarch of this family but he is the only child found on the Dawes Roll that did not have the same mother as the other children. Add to that it appears he only had one child with his wife Harriett before he died in 1902. 
Unfortunately I am not able to locate him in the index of the Joe and Dillard PERRY files. Despite that if he has any descendants they should know there connections to him and the KEMP family.

M1186 John KEMP Chickasaw Freedmen #280 Front
M1186 John KEMP Chickasaw Freedmen #280 Rear
The KEMP’S story is part of the Chickasaw Freedmen story, the Chickasaw Nation’s story and a part of the many individuals who sought to be recognized and accepted based on their Chickasaw ancestry. I hope more people will begin to see this as an integral part of African American history and just as importantly an integral part of the Chickasaw Nation history.

Someone recently told me the Chickasaw Nation is moving forward and not looking back at this history but I think that is misguided and sad. This was a chapter in their history that led the nation to fight with the confederate states in an attempt to maintain the institution of chattel slavery. It can’t be ignored or swept under the rug so the tribe can move forward as if their former slaves and in many cases their own people are not a part of Chickasaw Nation History.

Empower Me to Know My History

ADDENDUM:

While researching for my next article I discovered another child of John KEMP and Frances KEMP (deceased.)

EASTMAN, Serena et al.,
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #281
  • Enrollment #1134-1143
  • Place of Residence: Wynnewood, Pontotoc Indian Territory Chickasaw Nation
  • Father: KEMP, John
  • Mother: KEMP, Frances (Deceased)
  • See NB #Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #219 & Minor Chickasaw Freedmen #187
  • Joe and Dillard PERRY files BIA Record Group 75, Entry 90C,  Folder F-177-184, 186 & 203
M1186 #281F Reuben & Serena EASTMAN Chickasaw Freedmen
M1186 #281R Reuben & Serena EASTMAN Chickasaw Freedmen


Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Equity Case 7071 CHAWANOCUBBY, Samuel Chickasaw Freedman #93

EQUITY CASE 7071
Empower Me to Know My History

CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel
  • Chickasaw Freedman Card #93
  • Enrollment #374
  • Place of Residence: Johnsonville, Pontotoc County-Indian Territory, Chickasaw Nation

  • Father: CHAWANOCHUBBY, Isom aka NEWBERRY, Isom-Chickasaw Indian (Deceased)
  • Mother: Lina (Deceased)

CLARK, Mason
  •          Chickasaw Freedman Card #54
  •          Enrollment #231-234 & 4227
  •          Place of Residence: Ada, Pontotoc County-Indian Territory, Chickasaw Nation

  •          Father: CHAWANOCHUBBY, Isom aka NEWBERRY, Isom-Chickasaw Indian (Deceased)
  •          Mother: Lina (Deceased)


The case of Samuel CHAWANOCHUBBY to be transferred from the Chickasaw Freedmen Roll to the Chickasaw by Blood Roll is an interesting example of someone claiming citizenship. In many of the files of the Dawes Commission we don’t get an opportunity to see how the names of their parents become a part of the historical record. In the case of Samuel and his sister Mason CLARK the M1301 Interview Packet provides us with information I wish were a part of every record.

The documents contained in the file not only provide the name of Samuel’s father but it provides more information about his father that is not apparent when you look at what the clerk for the Dawes Commission recorded on the rear of his card. Sam provided the first name of his father as Isom and informed the commissioner that his father had an “English name” of NEWBERRY.


Sam informed the commissioner that his father and mother Lina “were married according the Indian custom; that is they lived together as man and wife…up to the time of the death of his father just after the war.” Sam went on to inform the commissioner his parents had five children in total but only two were living at the time of the Dawes allotment process.

M1301 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93 p3
M1186 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93F
M1186 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93R
Included in the interview is another document that really demonstrates just how intertwined the former slaves of the Chickasaw Indians were with the culture of the tribe. Samuel’s sister Mason CLARK needed a certified interpreter to provide her testimony to the Dawes Commission because she did not speak the English language.

M1301 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93 p5
M1301 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93 p5
M1186 CLARK, Mason CHIF#54F
M 1186 CLARK, Mason CHIF#54R
There is another document included in the packet of Samuel CHAWANOCUBBY that is very revealing and again points to the hypocrisy of the Dawes Commission and the Chickasaw Nation. Despite the attempts to distance the Chickasaw Nation from the children of Chickasaw men and accept them as citizens in the nation; some citizens developed personal relationships that allowed them to testify about those relationships.

One of the prerequisites to prove an individual was entitled to receive a land allotment or prove their citizenship required the testimony of friends or relatives. In the case of Samuel CHAWANOCHUBBY and his sister Mason CLARK a “full blood” recognized Chickasaw citizen provided testimony about their parents based on her acquaintance and knowledge. Unfortunately the testimony of Mollie PORTER a Chickasaw Indian, was not enough to have the children of Isom CHAWANOCHUBBY aka NEWBERRY enrolled as Chickasaw by blood.

M1301 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93 p7

M1186 PORTER, Joe (PORTER, Mollie) CHIBB#76

Let me point out one more important issue that shouldn’t be lost on those who don’t think the Chickasaw Freedmen shared the history and culture of the Chickasaw Indians despite their enslavement. I don’t know if you can make the intellectual argument that enslaved people were not acculturated to the culture of their enslaver and be taken seriously?

On the document that was generated by Mason CLARK and the woman who knew both her parents Mollie PORTER identifies the person that interpreted Mason’s testimony as Monroe CLARK Mason's son. There is no mistaking freedmen lived within the culture of the Chickasaw Nation.

M1301 CHAWANOCHUBBY, Samuel CHIF#93 p7

 Clearly there are some questions about this family and these people that warrant further research:



  • Where are the descendants of Samuel CHAWANOCHUBBY today? 
  • Where are the descendants of Mason CLARK today?
  • Where are the descendants of Mollie PORTER the woman who stood up to do the right thing and testify that Mason and Samuel were Chickasaw Indians worthy of citizenship by blood in the nation of their father's birth?
  • Would they have the courage to do what their ancestor did?
  • Where is the Chickasaw Nation on issues of citizenship like this, will they continue to ignore their true history?

Empower Me to Know My History

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