Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-The Trillion Dollar Question?

$20 Million in 1907 Equals 1,043,790,291,753.06 in 2021

Chickasaw Freedman Card #61 Rear

Chickasaw Freedman Card #61 Front

The Joe and Dillard Perry petition to transfer from the Freedmen roll to the Chickasaw by Blood Roll became the “test case” for admitting all people who possessed Chickasaw or Choctaw blood to be enrolled as “citizens by blood” despite whether they had an ancestor (female) who was held in bondage.

The Joe and Dillard Perry case is pivotal because it established that a person who was a lineal descendant of a Chickasaw or Choctaw “Indian” was entitled to enroll on the citizen by blood roll and receive three-hundred and twenty acres of land.

After many years of litigation the Department of the Interior in November of 1906 ruled the Perry’s were entitled to be transferred from the freedmen roll to the roll of Chickasaw citizens by blood roll.

The success of the Perry case should have been the precedent for similar cases that were denied by the Dawes Commission and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. These cases became known as Equity Case 7071; Bettie Ligon vs Chickasaw & Choctaw Nations and the United States Department of the Interior.

To understand the importance of the Perry case and the effects it could have on Indian Territory as it became the new state of Oklahoma you have to understand the political and economic impact it would have on the new state of Oklahoma.

“This ends one of the hardest legal battles ever waged in the Interior Department regarding the Choctaw-Chickasaw citizenship and the effects of the present decision will be far reaching, as thereby all persons now on the roll as Choctaw or Chickasaw freedmen who can prove their descent from a Choctaw or Chickasaw Indian will be entitled to have their enrollment as freedmen cancelled and be enrolled upon the rolls of citizens by blood and instead of receiving only an allotment appraised at $130.16 they will be entitled to an allotment of the appraised value of $141.28, besides a full share of all tribal money.” 

If only justice was that simple and Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations as well as the Department of the Interior applied the law equitably. Such was not the case and in only a few months later it would be necessary for more “half-breed Indians” to file suit to protect their rights as citizens of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation.

The lawsuit file on April 13, 1907 initially involved approximately one thousand –five hundred individuals seeking a transfer from the Choctaw and Chickasaw freedmen roll to the by blood roll of the tribe of their respective birth.

It was calculated that these men, women and children who were the children or descendants of Choctaw and Chickasaw men would stand to gain the equivalent of ten thousand ($10,000) each; in a land allotment of three hundred and twenty acres as opposed to the forty acres they would receive as “freedmen.”

The argument used by the tribes, the Dawes Commission and the Department of the Interior was based on the antebellum “custom” of children of slave women follow the status of their mother in regards to their “race.”

However, the mandate for the Dawes Commission and the Department of the Interior was to enroll and allot 320 acres of land to all who “possessed” Indian blood!

Seems to me, a debt is long overdue and payable? Whether a person was born out of wedlock or not does not affect their genealogy.

The number of individuals involved in this lawsuit now known as Equity Case 7071 increased from 1,500 to two thousand. The amount of that suit adjusted for inflation based on the figure $20,000,000 compound at just a simple 10% per annum would equal $1,043,790,291,753.06  in 2021. 

I suspect the number will continue to increase each year until the debt is paid?

Cover Page Original Brief Equity Case 7071

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-The Trail of African Tears

 The Trail of African Tears

As we near the close of "Black History Month" it is important to note that there is some history that constantly gets overlooked and ignored during this time of remembrance and celebration. The history of chattel slavery among the so called Five Civilized Tribes barely is mentioned in the mainstream history books and sad to say there appears to be very little acknowledgement of this tragic chapter in Native American history.

M-234 Emigration Roll#144 (1839-1842)

There is a wealth of documentation when the Five Slave Holding Tribes were removed to Indian Territory they brought with them numerous people of African and African-Native descent. It has been demonstrated in previous articles that many of these individuals survived to experience their emancipation in 1866 as well as be enumerated on the Dawes Freedmen Rolls. 

It is because the enslaved people of African and African-Native descent took every step with the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians their involuntary participation must be recognized as well. 

When the tribes speak of their hardships along that trail without including those in chains, they present a story that is denying the tears left by people who are a part of that history and suffer again from being marginalized by those who speak only of the hardships experienced by Native people along the same trail.

As we look back at the history of America and specifically as it relates to the varied experiences of Black people on this continent, it is an imperative that we include the history of Indian Territory Freedmen. 

It is an imperative that the Five Slave Holding Tribes include the history of chattel slavery to begin the process of reconciliation with the descendants of Indian Territory Freedmen. 

We are seeing a great example of this with the recent acknowledgement of the Cherokee Nation as they remove the references to “citizenship by blood” that is the predicate for excluding Freedmen descendants in all five nations.

M-234 Emigration Roll #144 (1839-1842)

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-The Centenarians

 The Africans Among Us

Years ago when I was doing research bordering on crazy I would get off work, make a beeline to the San Francisco Main Library and copy hundreds if not thousands of pages of the Congressional Record Serial Set. I did this on reading Dr. Daniel Littlefield’s book, “The Chickasaw Freedmen a People Without a Country.” 

I made a habit of meticulously go through his footnotes to find out where he found what appeared to be firsthand information about Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen history. It gnawed at me that he would have this information that might lead me to my ancestors because one of them was prominently featured in his book. 

So without fail, whenever I had some time to go over to the library before jumping on the BART train home, I took full advantage of the time and made sure I had my little copying card full because each copying session probably meant I had to spend at least two to three hours making copies of this incredible resource. 

One day I came across something that stuck with me for years. It was a petition by freedmen of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations that had a list of names of the people who concluded the Choctaw Nation failed to adopt them after four years and denied them the opportunity to educate their children or any of the privileges stated in the Treaty of 1866; expressed their desire to be “removed” from the Choctaw nation and receive the one-hundred dollar per capita that was spelled out in the same Treaty of 1866. The treaty set aside $300,000 earmarked a portion that the formerly enslaved formerly enslaved population of Choctaw Freedmen was entitled to IF they agreed to leave the nation of their birth. 

House Miscellaneous Document 46, (42nd Congress, 2nd Session) 

In that memorial to Congress with all of the names of the people who were electing to leave was a curious footnote that caught my attention.  On page 2 of the document was the name Sally JONES, a widow who made “her X mark” indicating her willingness to leave but that was not what made me notice? Sally’s name had an asterisk by it and at the bottom of the page it was explained. 

The document was written and sent to Congress in 1872, four years after the time the Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations were to adopt their formerly enslaved population and that footnote indicated that Sally JONES was one-hundred and seventeen years old! 

Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway) Sally JONES did not live another twenty-five or more years to be enumerated on the Dawes Land Allotment roll but recently I was taken back to those times when copying the Congressional Record and making new discoveries was all that I lived for (okay maybe just an exaggeration but you get my meaning.) 

I was contacted by Lee Etta STARKS, a Choctaw Freedmen descendant and she was inquiring about one of her ancestors: Easter Powell, Choctaw Freedmen Roll #4176

Choctaw Freedman Card#1300 

The conversation we had led Ms. Lee STARKS to inform me that her ancestor's parents were born in Africa and that got crazy me thinking about how many others who were about one-hundred years of age and may have lived long enough to be enumerated on the 1900 United States Census. Following our conversation I began searching for other freedmen who were enumerated on the Dawes Freedmen Roll to see if there were others with an ancestor that was born in Africa and possibly lived among the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians?

1900 Census Indian Territory Choctaw Nation 

Ms. Lee STARKS’ family history appears to be a very intriguing history and as we discussed it I am convinced Easter POWELL’S story will be told by her descendant I can’t wait to see what she writes about this woman who survived to be counted among the survivors of the removal, lived to experience enslavement and the emancipation of herself and her children. 

Easter lived to experience the 19^th and 20^th centuries and she left a remarkable paper trail that her descendant has a treasure trove of documentation to share with her family and future generations of that family.

McCurtain Gazette Sept. 18, 1908 p4c5

Clearly I had to ask the question were there any other individuals who left a record of being one-hundred years of age like Sallie JONES and Easter POWELL among the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians? 

I was pleasantly rewarded with other centenarians on the Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen Rolls. They deserve recognition as survivors and their story deserves to be added to the pages of Indian Territory Freedmen History. 

Nancy CARTER-CHOF#1301, age 100

Dock DUNFORD CHOF#814, age 104

John KEMP-CHIF#274, age 98?

Easter OSBORNE-CHOF#521, age 100 d

Adeline ROEBUCK-CHOF#484, age 100

Elvirah THOMAS-CHOF#1139, age 101

Nancy WRIGHT-CHOF#1094, age 100?

Indian Territory Freedmen History, The Centenarians-Nancy Wright

Nancy WRIGHT           CHOF#1094            Enslaver Allen WRIGHT

Nancy Wright was born in Mississippi circa 1800 there isn’t any information on her parents or where they were born. Like other Centenarians Nancy lived to experience some monumental changes in the evolution of Indian Territory and the United States. 

Choctaw Freedman Card#1094 front

Nancy is also an example of why it’s important not to adhere to the hard rule that the age of the freedwoman is exactly what is written in the record. When you look at her Dawes card it was clear there was some issue of what Nancy’s  actual age; was she ninety or one-hundred years old? 

In Nancy’s interview jacket her son in-law D.K. Carson tells the commissioner Nancy’s age was ninety years in 1899 but a year later on the 1900 US Census for Indian Territory Nancy’s age is given as one-hundred. On the 1896 Census of Choctaw Freedmen living in Tobusky County Nancy was listed as eighty-seven year old. 

Of course all of these different ages only demonstrate how difficult it can be to get the correct age of some of African descent who was enslaved. However the record does show Nancy survived some of the most important history in America by way of Indian Territory and the Choctaw Nation. 

One of the things that is important about the life of Nancy and her longevity is we learn she and her husband Anthony Wright were enslaved by the Governor of the Choctaw Nation, Allen Wright; the grandfather of Muriel Wright the historian. 

Again it is wonderful to honor someone who was an eyewitness to so much history of Indian Territory. We don’t know the whole story of Nancy Wright but because her enslaver was such an influential character in the history of the Choctaw Nation there is hope her story can be found among his family’s papers.

Indian Territory History Month-The Centenarians Sadie COLBERT-WILLIAMS

 Indian Territory Freedmen History-The Centenarians

Chapter One

Sadie COLBERT-WILLIAMS       CHIF#408        Enslaved by Sally ALBERSON

Sadie Williams is the first story of this special group of “Centenarians” who may have come to Indian Territory during the removal and the record provides testimony about her age, husband and children. 

It will take some more in-depth research to confirm Sadie’s was part of the removal but until other information refutes it, she is a member of this honored group of “freedmen” ancestors. 

It is important to recognize the Centenarians for numerous reasons; the first reason has to do with dispelling the notion that black people only occupied Indian Territory/Oklahoma following the Civil War and became a part of the landscape that developed the “All Black Towns” of the late1800’s. 

These men and women are documented to have lived in the territory prior to all of that history and should be recognized as some of the founders of Oklahoma.

Sadie Colbert-Williams lived a long life full of challenges for a woman living among the Chickasaw Indians from removal to surviving the War of the Rebellion. She lived to feel the exhilaration of Emancipation for herself and all of her living descendants. 

Sadie Colbert-Williams began life approximately at the turn of the nineteenth century and lived to see Indian Territory become the state of Oklahoma in the twentieth century and finally gaining citizenship when it had been denied her in the nation of her birth. 

The Centenarians are a very special group of people and they are to be honored by saying their name and telling their stories as best we can.

Although Sadie doesn’t provide the name of her husband in her interview she does discuss her children and grandchildren who provide the name of the man/men that fathered her children.

THE LEGACY OF SADIE WILLIAMS

·       Salina Johnson CHIF#414 (see PTT#6) b. 1834

o   1910 Census OK-McClain County-Hopping Township-ED185

o   Salina’s father was John Allen aka Johnson?)

o   Frances Grayson CHIF#412 (father Jim Colbert-Chickasaw Indian)

§  Roxanna Anderson CHIF#294

o   Zilphia Alexander CHIF#413

·         Hickman Johnson CHIF#411 b. 1837 d. July 28, 1901 (father is Johnson Allen d.)

o   Fort Smith, Arkansas US Criminal Case#105 Hickman Johnson

o   See SMITH, Martha CREF#1796

o   See KING, Angeline CHOF#D-191

o   TAYLOR, Frances CREF#1803

o   JOHNSON, Joe CREF#1800

o   COLBERT, Jennie CREF#1801

·         Sylvester Colbert CHIF#400 b. 1844

o   See PTT#5

o   See CHIF-NB#438

·         Luvinia Davis CHIF#409 b. 1846

o   Matilda Carolina CHIF#358 (See CREF#1533 OR 1596)

o   Husband Frank Carolina-CREF

·         BREWER, Emily CHIF#401-b. 1847 (see PTT#46&47)

o   See CHIF-M#209

·         COLE, Delilah CHIF#403-b. 1849

o   GIBBS, Theodore CHIF#404-b. 1874

o   COLE, Jeff CHIF#405-b. 1875

§  COLE, Mabel See CREF#152

·         COLBERT, Tobias CHIF#406-b. 1856

·         COLBERT, Boston CHIF#407-b. 1854

o   COLBERT, Carrie See CHIF#259

·         DAVIS, Luvinia CHIF#409-b. 1846

·         CAROLINA, Matilda CHIF#410-b. 1865 

*In creating this list of Centenarians I've taken the liberty to include people who were listed as being in their 90's; this is done because as researchers of Black Americans our recorded history and the ages of our ancestors may not be accurate because of the lack of corroboration on dates. So, I've employed the use of a ten year +/- error rate. In any event someone ninety years old may have experienced a lot of the history that someone who was one-hundred or more years old.

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-This Week In Indian Territory

 

Chronicles of Indian Territory February 6^th, 1898

 “How much Negro wealth went into the building of Oklahoma?

It is only exceeded by the sweat, toil, and tears of … slaves’ free labor of more than 250 years!” 

Buck Franklin COLBERT, “My Life and an Era”

From the time of their “emancipation in 1866 the formerly enslaved population of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations were not adopted as citizens according to the Treaty of Fort Smith. The issue was debated and the leading men and women in the communities of Freedmen regularly met to strategize on their unresolved status in the nations of their birth.

According to the treaty there was language in the treaty that allowed the “option” of making citizens of the former enslaved population within a specified time of two years. The two nations debated individually among themselves on putting the former slaves on an “equal” footing as a Choctaw or Chickasaw citizen and it was viewed by many in those nations that to allow their former slaves equality in the political and economic life of the nation was a bridge too far. 

Within the citizenry of both nations there were enlightened individuals who thought it wise and moral to adopt those of African and African-Native descent but the history of racism was overwhelmingly the dominate view that prevented the nations from adhering to the principles of equality and adoption of people who were considered inferior and non-Indian. 

In 1873 there were enough people in the nation that pushed legislation that would adopt the Chickasaw Freedmen which succeeded in the Chickasaw Legislature passing a bill for adoption that was submitted to the United States Congress for ratification. 

The legislation lingered in Congress without any attempt at ratifying the Chickasaw Legislation adopting their formerly enslaved population and complying with the provisions of the 1866 Treaty of Fort Smith. Because Congress failed to act and ratify 

The question of citizenship for the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen lingered throughout the period of 1868 up to and beyond Oklahoma statehood in 1907. One might argue the question of citizenship for the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen AND their descendants remain an unanswered question that requires a resolution today. 

This was the issue during the period of the Dawes Land Allotment process during 1898-99 and it was a question that was address many times in newspaper articles and editorials. 

During the week of February 06, 1898 this question was still being debated twenty-five years after the act passed by the legislature of the Chickasaw Nation entitled “An act to adopt the negroes of the Chickasaw Nation,” February 13, 1873. “Referred to the Committee on Freedmen’s Affairs and ordered to be printed.”

 This article was published months before the Dawes Commission was to begin its work to enumerate those former slaves on a roll for land allotments but the argument for their adoption as citizens remained unanswered.

 We know fifteen years following the 1866 Treaty of Fort Smith the formerly enslaved population of the Choctaw Nation was successfully adopted as citizens but ten years later the issue was still being debated for the citizenship status of the Chickasaw Freedmen. 

One thing is clear from this history, the fiduciary responsibility of the United States failed the formerly enslaved population of the Chickasaw Freedmen and their descendants even today the question of citizenship for the Choctaw Freedmen descendants which was established in 1885 according to the 1866 Treaty of Fort Smith is being ignored and abrogated.

Daily Ardmoreite February 06, 1898 p2c1-4

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-Council of Freedmen

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month

 The Council of Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen 1868-Watson BROWN

Living in the shadow of the Choctaw Council House a freedmen leader emerged that challenged the system of oppression within the nation regarding the former slaves that lived among the Choctaw Indians. 

Watson BROWN at the time of his application for a land allotment as a Choctaw Freedman was the tender age of seventy years. Initially, the BROWN family was placed on the Chickasaw Freedmen roll but was transferred based on who was his last slave owner; James BROWN. 

Like so many of the freedmen records there is little information documented in the Dawes interview packet that reveals the name of Watson’s parents. Whether he provided that information to the commissioners we don’t know, hopefully that information will be discovered by descendants of Watson BROWN.

Historic Capitol Tushka-homa Choctaw Nation Copyright 2021 Terry LIGON

Choctaw Freedman Dawes Land Allotment Card#1205 Front

CHOF#1205 Rear

Approximately thirty years earlier Watson BROWN was a member of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Freedmen Council that consisted of thirty-six individuals. The council sent four members of their organization to Washington, D.C. with a petition to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The representatives were instructed by the association to “present the views set forth in our petition of this date (1868) and respectfully urge the government to take early action in all matters affecting our interest.” 

"...We respectively pray that we be removed from the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations at an early day and that the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, before mentioned, be used by the government as the government may deem fit, for our use and benefit..."

What the former slaves of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians did was not an easy decision for them and it was not a decision that did not have possible adverse consequences to them and their families. Their actions were one of the earliest forms of political protest in Indian Territory by former slaves and it was a determined act to receive “equal justice” for them as an emancipated people. 

The story of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen is an incredible American story that has gone largely unnoticed. We should all be proud of the men and women who stood firm in their determination to be recognized as citizens with the “rights and privileges” in the only nation of their birth!

Senate Executive Document 82 (40th Congress, 2nd Congress)

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month

American History Month?

When I embarked on this task of publishing an article a day during "Black History Month," "Indian Territory Freedmen History Month," or better yet; "American History Month" I came across a newspaper article that posed three questions for the papers readers. I thought it had some lessons to teach us today one-hundred and sixty-one years later. 

At the time the issue was slavery but we don't have the institution today but clearly the country is divided on a host of "issues" that put the Union in danger as it did in 1860, at the eve of the so called "Civil War."

Question number three seems to hold the answer: "Is it not the part of wisdom to look all the evils that now distract the union, square in the face, if we would sustain and perpetuate it; to call things by their right names, and cultivate friendly relations with our brethren...upon the only true principle-that of perfect equality?"

You decided?

Anti-Slavery Bugle Feb 11, 1860 p1c6

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-Caesar Bruner

 Caesar Bruner Creek Freedman Card #740

Caesar Bruner Photo Courtesy of Susie Moore

Caesar Bruner comes from what historian Kevin Mulroy calls “Seminole maroons.” Bruner is purported to have been born around 1828 in Florida and was part of the Seminole migration that eventually settled in Indian Territory.  

Seminole Freedman Card#740 front

The Bruner’s were a successful and wealthy livestock owning family within the Seminole Nation. One of Caesar’s relatives, Ben Bruner became the leader of the Jim Lane band of the Seminole tribe following the Civil War which later became known as the Bruner Band and subsequently Caesar Bruner became the band leader as he came to be the most known and respected of the Seminole leaders. To this day the Caesar Bruner Band exists in the Seminole Nation. 

Caesar Bruner was among the many Seminole’s who were considered Loyalist and some enlisted in the Union Army. The Loyal Seminoles presented claims to the United States following the war for lost property and this is one of the reasons the Bruner’s maintained their wealth following the Civil War.

Senate Document #72 (55th Congress, 3rd Session)Jim Lane/Caesar Bruner Band

Following the Civil War Freedmen in the Seminole Nation became an integral part of the nation and held positions as blacksmiths, religious leaders, interpreters, store owners, guides, politicians and many other important positions of responsibilities as citizens in their nation. Caesar Bruner was no exception. He was credited with having the first “Negro” store in the county.”

Seminole Producer February16, 1941 p9c2

As the leader of the Band that bore his name he had a responsibility to attend council meetings and represent his nation. Without question Caesar Bruner was a leader in his community as well as an interpreter and religious leader. He moved his band to an area that later became known as Brunertown. His home was one of the first and last standing log homes in that community. According to some records Caesar Bruner and his family were also known as some of the best cattle ranchers in the area. 

Seminole County News November 28, 1946 p4c6

The Caesar Bruner Band as were all freedmen within the Seminole Nation, were given “equal rights” in the nation following the War of Rebellion through Reconstruction and up to Oklahoma statehood. As a political entity within the Seminole Nation the Caesar Bruner Band and the Dosar Barkus Band maintained their role in representing their freedmen constituency within the Seminole Nation.

One of the critical decisions Caesar Bruner had to make during Reconstruction was the relocation of the people who lived in the Bruner Town settlement near Salt Creek to establish it at Turkey Creek. As stated earlier the Bruner’s engaged in raising livestock and the encroachment of nearby cattle rustler’s was the main cause of the relocation.

Around 1879 when Caesar Bruner moved his band to Turkey Creek he also assumed leadership of the Jim Lane Band and the band began to bear his name. As statehood approached in 1906, Caesar’s son "Ucum" Bruner replaced him as leader but the band retained the name and to this day it remains the Caesar Bruner Band of Seminole Indians. 

There has to be a sense of disappointment for many who are members of the Seminole Nation especially those in the Caesar Bruner and Dosar Barkus Bands because they don’t share the same status as citizens in the nation of this great leader.

 Caesar Bruner had a vital role in the maintenance of the Seminole nation and his descendants have been relegated as mere second class citizens one where their ancestors fought for the very survival of the nation during the so called Indian Wars in Florida. These same individuals remained loyal to the United States during the War of the Rebellion and again, it is shameful how the Seminole nation treats its citizens who proudly claim their history as the Caesar Bruner  Band.

Seminole County News June 28, 1923 p5c1

Indian Territory Freedmen History Month-The Blending of People & Culture

 From Akers Township to Ardmore, From Indian Territory to Oklahoma

It has always been an observation of mine that in Akers Township and Ardmore, Oklahoma the people known as Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen became absorbed into the life and culture of the people who were enslaved In the United States and migrated to Indian Territory. 

The Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes for the most part ostracized their former slaves despite the Choctaw Freedmen having been adopted as citizens in the nation of their birth in 1885. When you include the migration of southern whites who brought with them attitudes that included Jim Crow laws, it is not surprising to see the former slaves of Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians begin to forge family ties with the former slaves who came to Indian Territory in hopes of securing land and establishing a home following their “emancipation” in the United States.

I have been fortunate to have a copy of the Douglass High School Alumni Directory that provides the history of a segregated school and its history not long after Indian and Oklahoma Territories became the state of Oklahoma in November 1907. When I first saw the Douglass Dragon’s Alumni Directory the surnames of the men and women in the publication were all names I was familiar with because of my research of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen. 

Because I am so familiar with the numerous families and records of the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen I took another look at the alumni directory for names and photos of people who might be an original Dawes enrollee or at the very least, a descendant of an original enrollee! 

Unfortunately the majority of Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen descendants resided in what the locals call the “country,” we will not see a large number of original Dawes enrollees as Douglas Alumni but through the years there will be many of their descendants who became alumni.  The first recorded groups of alumnus that appear in the 2001 Douglass Historical Digest are illustrated below: 

Out of this group of graduates, none appear to be original Dawes enrollees. Again the Chickasaw and Choctaw original enrollees and their children had not migrated to the more “urban” setting of Ardmore but continued to educate their children in the rural area at schools established at churches like Mt. Olive, Jehovah Baptist and Dawes Academy which was on the land of Calvary Baptist church where only the steps to the school remain.

The history in this part of southern Oklahoma is important to understand the blending of families and reinforcing the fact that people of African and African-Native descent established their presence before  blacks migrating there after the War of the Rebellion and prior to the land rushes of the 1880's.

Immediately following the War of the Rebellion with the migration of blacks from the United States the evolution of blended families began to take root in this part of Indian Territory. 

Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen “controlled” tens of thousands of acres of land when Oklahoma became a state in 1907; with the increase of blacks migrating into the territory and marrying Indian Territory freedmen many began leaving their farm land and migrated to Ardmore for jobs, marriage and education for their children. 

In the class of 1923 we can identify at least one individual who appears to be an original Dawes enrollee; Mary Ann SHANNON; Chickasaw Freedman card # 503.

We see in the 1900 census the SHANNON family was living on part of their allotments in what was known as Akers Township. It clearly illustrates the father of Mary Ann was a farmer and owned the land on which he farmed, providing for his large family. As with most of the former slaves of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen, educating their children was very important.

The blending of rural and urban Oklahoma, freedmen and “state Negroes” is an important part of the states history as well as the history of Black America, it is well documented and should be taught at the very least in the schools of Oklahoma. The continued telling of the myth that blacks appeared in the state following the Civil War or when the Land Runs began is false and misleading. 

The class of 1923 which included Mary Ann SHANNON is a vital part of Oklahoma's history, the history of the Chickasaw Nation and the history of African-American's as a connection to the history of both!

Unfortunately, the school system, on many levels seems oblivious to this history; yet we have evidence readily available and it would be criminal if the descendants of these men and women don’t take responsibility to have their ancestor’s story told!