They Came West With the Indians, "Captured Prisoners of War, Black Seminoles"

    “As the war progressed, the ranks of blacks were swelled by refugees from Florida plantations and others captured by the Indians. It is impossible to say how many blacks were among the Seminoles during the war. One early estimate set the number of black warriors at 250, with 150 of these estimated to be runaways. Another estimate set the total number of blacks at 1,400, of whom only an estimated two hundred were slaves of the Indians. Yet when the Seminoles were finally removed between 1838 and 1843, nearly five hundred blacks went west with them.”

Africans and Seminoles, From Removal to Emancipation, Dr. Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr.

   On Sept 22, 1837, General Thomas S. Jesup who oversaw a portion of the Seminole removal from Florida, wrote to the Secretary of War, Poinsett, seeking “sanctions” for actions he undertook regarding the purchase of “negroes, captured by the Creek,” for which he paid $8,000. 

 

   Jesup’s letter to the Secretary argued that “promises made to them before they entered the service, to all Indian negroes and other Indian property captured by them.” He went on to bolster his argument by informing Secretary Poinsett his rationale for his actions, “To end all difficulty on that subject, I have purchased the negroes from them on account of the public for eight thousand dollars. There are about eighty of the negroes besides Abram’s family, and those who are free; some of them perhaps, may be found on investigation to be the property of citizens.”

 

   Clearly, Jesup’s actions of paying the “Creek Warriors” the $8,000 was done before he received approval from the War Department and as a way of demonstrating the urgency of his actions, he included, perhaps, his reasons for the payment. 

 

   “The Creek Indians had been promised a reward for the captures they should make of negroes belonging to citizens of the United States-had compensation not been promised they would have taken no prisoners but would have put all to death.”

 

   Perhaps, Jesup rightfully concluded that since the Creeks were entitled to this “reward” therefore, justifying his “compromised payment for eighty negroes” at “twenty dollars for each slave captured.”

 

   Jesup’s letter reveals a lot more about this transaction. He suggested “The Seminole Annuity, it seems to me, might be charged with the amount paid to the Indians for these negroes, as well as with the reward for securing those who belonged to citizens.” There is a certain duplicity in this payment, making the Seminoles pay for the claims of slaves by United States citizens, as well as paying the Creek Indians for capturing them to avoid the murder of eighty slaves. Jesup concluded the payment of twenty dollars a slave to the Creek Indians was “entirely satisfactory to them though it is far less than the value of the negroes.”

 

   The struggle of the Seminoles in Florida and the Blacks that lived among them had been problematic from the start. As early as 1823 and the signing of the Treaty at Camp Moultrie, a stipulation was written in the document “that all runaway slaves which go into the Indian country after the date of that treaty, shall be taken up by the Indians, and restored to their owners.” It was the idea that the Seminole Nation in Florida was a harbor for runaway slaves from nearby states, that made it an imperative to remove the Seminoles and the blacks that lived among them west of the Mississippi. This was a population of black people that had minimal control if any on their freedom of movement. This was a problem for the nearby states when the nation was in Florida and could become a problem again, in Indian Territory.

   “It is highly important to the slave holding states that these negroes be sent out of the country; and I would strongly recommend that they be sent to one of our colonies in Africa.”

 

   The muster rolls for the Seminoles and Negroes “captured prisoners of war” being removed west are loaded with good historical and genealogical information. These rolls offer something unique about the story of removal. In no other tribe that was removed west are the names of the African and African-Native descendants that came with them. When the Seminole Nation commemorates their forced removal west of the Mississippi, the story of those Black people among them should always be included.

M-234 Seminole Muster Roll #290, Frame 247 (Ancestry.com)

Sarah Grant, Lydia Jackson, "A Riddle, Wrapped in a Mystery, Inside DNA"

Originally Published Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Bettie's List-Lydia JACKSON Chickasaw Freedwoman # 391

This article has been updated and includes additional new information since first published in 2010

   The Dawes Commission handicapped the former slaves in Indian Territory known as freedmen from the beginning by not properly conducting AND recording their interviews for land allotments and citizenship in the tribes of their birth. For the most part, the majority of the people who were placed on the Freedman roll and sought a transfer will discover their jackets are nothing more than a summarization of the oral interview taken at the time. In order to establish their rights as “Citizens by blood” at the time of the Dawes enrollment process, the vital information that would substantiate their testimony was left out to the oral interviews that were sent to the Department of the Interior for review.

 

   Lydia Jackson was a woman involved in the Equity Case #7071 lawsuit that involved approximately two thousand people who sought a transfer from the Choctaw and/or Chickasaw Freedmen rolls. In 1907 they sued the two tribes along with the Department of the Interior for twenty million dollars which was calculated to be the value of land they should have received had they been declared "citizens by blood" because they had father's who were recognized citizens of the Chickasaw or Choctaw Nation.

   Ben LOVE was a recognized citizens of the Chickasaw Nation and named as the father of Lydia JACKSON who was born about 1842, according to the information on Lydia's Dawes card #391. Lydia was the daughter of Sarah Grant, an enslaved woman that gave her age as seventy-four when she applied for citizenship and a land allotment in September of 1898. 

   Sarah's oral interview doesn't provide any information on how and when she came west, but her age suggests she more than likely was part of the numerous slaves brought to Indian Territory with Benjamin Love.

 Don Martini: Who was Who Among Southern Indians a genealogical notebook 1698-1907 pp399-401

  
   Lydia Jackson the focus of this story and the woman attempting to gain rights as a Chickasaw citizen for herself and five children, fathered by Calvin Jackson, a non-citizen has a file that is part of the Joe and Dillard Perry, "Petition to Transfer Files." There are at least three files contained in this database that apply to Lydia Jackson, Chickasaw Freedman Card # 391; and her children Frank Chickasaw Freedmen Card # 394, Josie Chickasaw Freedman Card # 392, John Chickasaw Freedman Card # 393, Jenny Davidson Chickasaw Freedman Card # 390 and Dora Johnson on card #395. 

   Sarah GRANT, Chickasaw Freedman Card # 200; the mother of Lydia Jackson has the summarization of her interview by the Dawes Commission and aside from her age and who enslaved her, tells the commissioner, "My husband is dead. My children are all married and have families." 

   Interestingly, it is Jennie Davidson, a daughter of Lydia that provides the lion's share of the information about this family, their connection to one another and who enslaved her mother Lydia; Ben Love. Jennie provides the names of her siblings, their ages and members of their family's, spouses and children if any. The document that has that information was created in 1898, at the time of the Dawes enrollment process. 

   There was an even more interesting letter in Jennie Davidson's file that has to be mentioned. The letter is dated January 3, 1906; from Muskogee, Indian Territory. Addressed to Jennie Davidson who was living in Ardmore, Indian Territory; the commission acknowledges the receipt of a letter from Jennie, about a month earlier, on December 11, 1905. The letter sent by Jennie was an application seeking a transfer from the freedman roll to the roll of citizens by blood. Remember, Jennie's mother Lydia, was the daughter of a recognized Chickasaw citizen, Benjamin Love.

   The twist to this particular story, one that detrimentally affected hundreds of other people with similar circumstances was "an opinion" by the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of the Interior on November 11, 1905, "that were no application for enrollment as citizens by blood of the Choctaw or Chickasaw Nationhood been made prior to December 25, 1902, there was no authority for the reception of applications for their enrollment as citizens by blood of said nations." The commissioners letter closed with the advice it would not be necessary to "forward additional evidence in this matter at this time."

   Clearly, Jennie, Lydia and Sarah demonstrated a great deal of courage in seeking the truth about their "lineal descent" and fought to have the record corrected. Sadly, Sarah past away before any resolution could be obtained and the descendants of these brave women have a lot to be proud of, but the truth has yet to be realized.

  

   There is one more aspect of this story that must be told. Recall that on Sarah's Dawes card, she identifies Tom Grant as her enslaver. Looking at the Love family, lo and behold, Tom Grant was married to one of Ben Love's daughters, Mary Jane. 

   Two things come to mind with this information. Ben Love had access to Sarah and very well had the power and ability to impregnate her and be the father of Lydia in 1842? When I first came across this story it intrigued me because it was part of Equity Case #7071, which my Great Grandmother, Bettie Ligon was the lead litigant.

   It's a funny thing about "lineal descent" and DNA, on the surface, I read this story about Jennie Davidson, Lydia Jackson, and the rest, but didn't make the connection until I was contacted by one of Lydia's descendants. It appears we share some DNA and then it hit me Benjamin Love, the father of Sarah Grant and Bettie Ligon's father Robert Howard Love are brothers, their father was Thomas Love. With the DNA tie and the genealogical evidence, the connection to the Love ancestry is easily proven for the descendants of Thomas and Robert Love. 

   There is one last comment on this subject of Freedmen seeking a transfer to the Citizen by Blood Roll. Okay, maybe more than one comment. The first is, if the DNA is correct and there is no reason to doubt it. Then, what Sarah Grant said about who fathered her child Lydia Jackson, and what Margaret Ann Wilson said about who fathered her child, Bettie Ligon, has to be the truth based on the DNA. 

   That leads to the elephant in the room, the lawsuit for $20,000,000 dollars in 1907. This was the determined value of the three-hundred and twenty acres lost to those individuals who sought to be transferred. The Dawes Commission used every type of excuse from illegitimacy to women who would sell their virtue in an effort to get land and money they were deemed ineligible.

   There was no protection for these women who gave birth to Benjamin and Robert Howard Love's children. The women were abused and the children stigmatized and the justice system denied them their due process when it deemed their applications were too late. However, the fact their Dawes Cards were processed in 1898, with clear information that suggest they exerted their blood ties to be placed on the blood rolls, the commission ignored this and frankly, omitted that information from the Department of the Interior for a proper evaluation. 

   The abuse, the loss of wealth and continued denial of the descendants of Lydia Jackson and the thousands of other people is a stain on the Department of the Interior, the Chickasaw Nation and the Choctaw Nation as they all silently continue to abuse the very idea of "lineal descent."

Don Martini: Who was Who Among Southern Indians a genealogical notebook 1698-1907 pp399-401

Photo Courtesy of Frank Overton Collection
Lydia Jackson seated front row center

Rolla Henson "We Came West With the Indians"

 Rolla Henson aka Rollen Roach-Centenarian

Eliza Whitmire-Cherokee Freedwoman#902, Indian Pioneer Papers Interview #12963

 

  “My name is Eliza Whitmire. I live on a farm, near Estella, where I settled shortly after the Civil War and where I have lived ever since. I was born in slavery in the state of Georgia, my parents having belonged to a Cherokee Indian of the name of George SANDERS, who owned a large plantation in the old Cherokee Nation, in Georgia. He also owned a large number of slaves but I was too young to remember how many he owned.”

   Rolla Henson as he was listed on Cherokee Freedman card #91 was one-hundred years of age when he applied for a land allotment in the Cherokee Nation April 4, 1901. Initially he received his Citizenship Certificate on April 28, 1905 according to a stamp on his Dawes card. Rolla’s Dawes card had him living in the Illinois District, with a post office located in or near the Cherokee Capitol of Tahlequah, Indian Territory.

 

   Apparently, Rolla was dismissed and the application for a land allotment and citizenship was dismissed because he supposedly died on 11^th of August 1903. It was later shown through some testimony on the 10^th of August, 1905 that Rolla Henson aka Rollen Roach died prior to September 1^st, 1902. The confusion for the name of Rolla Henson is probably because he was listed on the 1880 Roll as Rollen Roach. 

 

   What is known about Henson-Roach’s parents comes from the rear of his land allotment card. Both were deceased by 1901, both were enslaved by John McIntosh, a recognized Cherokee citizen and both were listed as “freedmen.” Without any additional information we can’t definitively say that his parents came west with the Cherokee, but it may be presumed they were based on the way they are described on the card, as “freedmen?”

   In August of 1905 an inquiry was conducted to determine if Rolla Henson-Roach was alive and able to receive his land allotment. During the hearing several facts about “Uncle Rolla” as he was known, were discovered. He lived just outside of a community called Melvin where a mercantile store owned and run by a woman named Jennie Taylor, a Cherokee by blood, provided details about “Uncle Rolla’s death.”

 

   Jennie Taylor was able to provide the year Rolla died from drowning in Fourteen Mile Creek, which was just below the town of Melvin. Jennie was no longer in the mercantile business at the time of the hearing three years after she closed her business. However, she managed to save her books from the business in which she wrote that a man named Bass Harlin purchased burial clothes for “Uncle Rolla” in the month of April 1901. Taylor also indicated the final payment for clothing took place in October of 1901.

 

   Interviews of people in the community about Uncle Rolla’s death, revealed a familiar name into the conversation. Tom Beamer, a fifty-three-year-old Cherokee citizen, also living in the Melvin community, was asked a series of questions by a man named K.S. Murchison. Demonstrating the racial atmosphere in the area or with the people from that area, Murchison freely referred to Uncle Rolla as “old darkie” or “the oldest darkie in the country.”

 

   It was later in the questioning that Murchison attempted to determine the year in which Roll Henson died from drowning. Tom Beamer, probably like the former slaves had difficulty with the concept of time because they were illiterate. However, it seems people developed methods of overcoming their lack of an education.

 

   The exchange is insightful on a few levels,

The name of Dorcas Buffington is important because she too, was someone who came west with the Cherokees, but her story goes further, her being a nurse will be discussed in another chapter. 

 

   Rolla Henson applied and was enrolled as a Cherokee Freedman, on the 4^th of April 1901. He was sure of his age, but he thought he was about one-hundred years of age. At the beginning of the “war between the confederacy and the United States,” Rolla told the interviewer, he was “right here” in the Cherokee Nation.

 

   He was asked about his whereabouts “during the war.” It was then Rolla said he “went with the army.” Which army was not asked or answered but he added that he was not a soldier, but “I went with the command as a cook;...Down south.”

 

   If all things being true, Rolla would have been in his early sixties as a cook for somebody’s army and survived that ordeal just as he survived coming to Indian Territory, probably as a man in his late thirties? It is unfortunate we don’t have diaries of people like Rolla Henson aka Roach to tell us what his experiences were and how he came to be in the Cherokee Nation and Indian Territory. One thing we do know, he was not born there. 

 

   He may have died a very said and painful death after surviving the Trail of Tears and cooking for an army during battle, but his name will be remembered and he too, should be included in the commemoration of those that came west with the Indians.

Creek Nation Removal, Andrew Sullivan-Octogenarian

 “If I ain’t, you won’t find another one here.”

Andrew Sullivan-Octogenarian

 

   In a 1900 affidavit in support of the application for citizenship of his daughter Sarah, and himself, Andrew Sullivan was responding to questions about his identity as a citizen in the Creek Muskogee Nation. Andrew was approximately eighty-two years of age and apparently still feisty.

 

   Andrew established his residence and political affiliation as he put it, “I belong to Arkansas.” Then when asked if he considered himself a citizen of the Creek Nation, Andrew left no doubt about it with his reply, “If I ain’t, you won’t find another one here.” 

 

   We, who are familiar with the Dawes Commission interviews have an understanding that when trying to establish whether a person is eligible to receive a land allotment and citizenship in a Nation, Muscogee or one of the other four tribes, the interviewer like a well-trained lawyer will ask the same question several different times, and several different ways. It appears, on this day, Andrew was not having any of it. 

 

   In my efforts to locate and document the “enslaved” people that “came west with the “Indians” Andrew Sullivan provided the information that stamps his boarding pass on the trail of many tears, when he in my opinion, tersely informs the interviewer, “That’ what I am trying to tell you. I have been living here over forty years or more. Ever since I came to this country. I come here when I was twenty-year-old.” 

 

   Perhaps, the interviewer attempting to trip Andrew up, followed Andrew's answer with, “Then you wasn’t born in the Creek Nation?” He may not have been able to read, but Andrew demonstrated he was not an ignorant man when he simply stated, “Yes, in Alabama, in the Creek nation with the Injuns (sic); I come here with them.”

 

   There was one more aspect of this interview that stood out. Andrew indicated he came to Indian Territory “with a lot of Injuns (sic) and colored people.” Andrew worked as a teamster which allowed him to travel extensively, “way up the other side of Eufaula about fifteen miles on the Canadian.” As the interview continued, Andrew indicated his work took him in and out of Indian Territory before the war, from Ft. Smith in Arkansas to Ft. Gibson in Indian Territory. 

 

   Not to leave an opportunity to trip Andrew up about his eligibility for citizenship and a land allotment, the interviewer asked Andrew, “How long have you lived in Ft. Smith?” Andrew’s answer was very interesting. “I didn’t live there at all. I staid (sic) there until I got my pension, working, and then come back.” Andrew’s response begs the question, did he receive a pension from the United States government for his work as a teamster? Did Andrew Sullivan enlist in the United States military to gain his “freedom?” Some research into the United States Colored Troops may be warranted.

 

   The story of Andrew Sullivan is another example why it is so important to tell the stories of those who came west with the Indians during the “removals.” The “inclusion” of enslaved people on the “Trail of Tears” needs to be researched and included in the history in each of the five slave holding tribes. When the tribes commemorate the event, each year, and pay respect to their ancestors, they continue to omit people like Andrew Sullivan, who said it best when asked if he considered himself a Creek citizen, “If I ain’t, you won’t find another one here."

The story of Andrew Sullivan is an excerpt from a book I'm working on to identify and write stories about the enslaved people that "Came West With the Indians." 

The phrase came west with the Indians is an expression that is used by many of the surviving slaves, some who reached the age of one-hundred or more, and lived to tell their story. Their story that continues to be "missing" from the stories and commemorations that each of the Five Slave Holding Tribes, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek/Muskogee and Seminole Nations engage in, every year.

There are over four-hundred survivors that "participated" in the various removals; it's time, their names are included in this story. We know what the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek/Muskogee and Seminoles experienced, those who came west with them, shared that experience.

Joe Battiece Choctaw Freedman?

Petition to Transfer From Choctaw Freedman Roll to Choctaw By Blood Roll #F-026

Joe BATTIECE Choctaw Freedman Card #498

Claimant in Equity Case 7071

#BlackHistory365

   In the matter of the petition of Joe Battiece and Ollie Battiece for the correction of the enrollment records of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes in the matter of their enrollment as freedmen of the Choctaw Nation, and for the transfer of their names from the said Freedmen Roll to the roll of Choctaw by blood.

 

   January 15, 1906, there was filed with the Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes by Albert J. Lee attorney for the petitioners, a petition for Joe Battiece and his son Ollie Battiece, praying that their names be transferred from the roll of Choctaw Freedmen to the roll of citizens by blood of the Choctaw Nation.

 

   Attached to the petition is the affidavit of Joe Battiece, in which he alleges that he is twenty-nine years of age, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation and lives in the town of Hugo, Indian Territory.  He further stated, at the time he appeared before the Dawes Commission for enrollment, his father was a full blood Choctaw named Solomon Battiece and "his mother was a colored woman named Lottie Williams, that he was born out of wedlock but that his father had always acknowledged him to be his son; that his father is a recognized and enrolled Choctaw by blood and that his father is still living and resides near Hugo, Indian Territory."

 

   No answer to the petition was filed by the attorneys for the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations within the fifteen days allowed for that purpose by the regulations adopted by the Commissioner January 2, 1906.

M-1186 Choctaw Freedman Dawes Card #498 Front/Rear Joe BATTIECE et al., 

M-1301 Oral Interview/Summary Joe BATTIECE Choctaw Freedman Card #498 p2

   It is incredible the lengths the Dawes Commission went to to deny enrolling people of mixed African-Choctaw or African-Chickasaw ancestry on the “by blood” rolls. This is the summary of the oral interview that was conducted in 1899 when Joe Battiece applied for land allotment. Nowhere in this interview is the question; “who is your father?” If that is not a part of the so called record, how does the name Solomon Battiece, with the description, Choctaw Indian appear on the rear of his enrollment card? Clearly, when the testimony was transcribed by the stenographers, something important was omitted.

M-1186 Choctaw by Blood Dawes Card #1638 Solomon BATTIEST

   While you ponder that bit of prestidigitation, when Joe and his attorney Albert J. Lee submitted an affidavit “for the correction of the enrollment records of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes” the commission responded with their standard; “It does not appear from the records of the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes that Joe Battiece, at the time of his application for enrollment as a Choctaw Freedman or at any time subsequent thereto, and prior to December 25, 1902, ever made any application or asserted any rights whatsoever to enrollment as a citizen by blood of the Choctaw Nation.” It could be argued that the missing testimony was the assertion of those rights but because they don't appear in the transcript, Joe Battiece and his attorneys were arguably denied due process?

   The nature of the 1899 interview was clear, the only thing the Dawes Commission was interested in was establishing Joe Battiece and his siblings status as freedmen, based on the “race” of their mother, a formerly enslaved and deceased woman named Lottie Williams. 

   It is this kind of hypocrisy and lies that are part of the legacy of the Dawes Commission, the Choctaw Nation and the Chickasaw Nation that they appear to be blind to the racial discrimination that occurred from the outset. The antebellum past, appears to determine the nature of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes today?

William ALEXANDER, Chickasaw Freedman #1

William ALEXANDER

Chickasaw Freedmen #1

 

#BlackHistoryOurHistoryMyHistory

#BlackHistory365

 

   During the 1890’s many men and women became advocates and leaders in the Chickasaw and Choctaw Freedmen community. One of those individuals to emerge as a leader in their community was the brother of my great grandmother William ALEXANDER. During the tumultuous time when Chickasaw Freedmen were organizing, he was a member of the Chickasaw Freedmen Association led by Charles COHEE.

 

   Like so many of our ancestors there is not a full and complete record available so William can be recognized for his contributions, but within his Dawes file there is some information that allows us to get a general feel for his participation in the advocacy for Chickasaw Freedmen citizenship and land allotment.

 

The fact that William Alexander and his family were enumerated on Chickasaw Freedman card number one demonstrates how he was leading the way for other freedmen, as they sought to be recognized as people with legitimate rights for citizenship in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. There are thousands of ancestors like William Alexander, Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedman, that have left valuable record documenting our unique history.

Chickasaw Freedmen Card #1, front

   William ALEXANDER was born during the War of Rebellion, in Indian Territory to Cornelius PICKENS and Margaret Ann WILSON. It is believed his birthplace was Burneyville, Indian Territory in Pickens County. Like other freedmen he migrated north and settled in the community of Purcell, Indian Territory.

 

   During his testimony before the Dawes Commission, William informed the commissioner that his father died “sometime during the war” but it is not clear if Cornelius was a soldier and there are no clues about the circumstances of his death. 

M-1301 Chickasaw Freedmen #1, William ALEXANDER p6

   It is not clear why William had the surname of ALEXANDER, he did have a brother Colbert ALEXANDER that identified with that name, however his three sisters Salina, Isabella and Susan were all known by the surname PICKENS prior to their marriages. It is only speculation that William chose ALEXANDER as a surname based on the name of his maternal grandfather, Colbert Alexander? 

M-1301 Chickasaw Freedmen #1, William ALEXANDER p6

   Reading the limited information contained in William’s file illustrates just how connected and supportive our ancestors were when it came to issues of family and community. William indicates just how strong his bond was with his brother Colbert and sister Carrie ALEXANDER-BROWN; their children were a vital part of his family and given a warm embrace as they were raised in the home he shared with his wife Victoria and their four children; Isabella, Ora, Clinton and Odell ALEXANDER.

 

   Unfortunately I don’t know any of the descendants of William ALEXANDER; he died intestate and there was a large record concerning the property left to his widow and children. Hopefully in time we will discover the descendants of Isabella, Ora, Clinton and Odell? 

 

   More research is necessary to fully understand the record and legacy left by William Alexander, someone that was at the forefront of change in Indian Territory and Oklahoma; we cannot allow his legacy to be lost from the pages of history.

 

Front Page America, "As Above, So Below"

Front Page America

“As Above, So Below”

 

   Viewing history through the lens of newspapers can be tricky, especially when it comes to reading about historical events and issues that pertain to Black people. The “Black Press” and the so called, “Mainstream Press” can have seriously divergent views.

 

   Another aspect of using historical newspapers to view history, it can provide a gauge to see what changes, if any have occurred over time. It is the front pages of newspapers, above the fold and below it that set the tone, directing the reader to what the publisher considers, “news.” 

   Through the years, I have collected literally thousands of copies (digital) of newspapers from across the country that contain articles pertinent to my research on the history of Indian Territory and the state of Oklahoma; most of the articles that interest me have something to do with the formerly enslaved people of the Five Slave Holding Tribes, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek/Muscogee and Seminole.

   The front page is a window into the past but like most of history, you should take what you read with a grain of salt. Over one-hundred-years ago, the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma was destroyed. One of the cities “Black” owned papers was provided commentary on the incident about a month later July 21, 1921.

   Today, the descendants of the survivors are still fighting and recovering from that tragic day. Clearly, the “Spirit of Tulsa Riot Victims Unbroken.” These are some of the articles from the front page of “The Black Dispatch,” “The Largest Circulated Negro Journal in Oklahoma.”

Above the Fold

   This is a nice positive article about the resilience of the citizens living in and business owners of the Greenwood District of Tulsa. It would have been insightful had the writer printed the names of the survivors he/she encountered but that’s just me.

 

   However, let’s not forget the atmosphere that existed in Oklahoma that may have contributed to making the “Tulsa Riot” possible, some might say, inevitable?

Below the Fold

   Remember, this is a “Black” owned paper, their view of current events reflects the publisher and the community they serve. The 1920’s does get romanticized in movies and books, but the reality of those years included a country coming out of a World War, Anti-Blackness was still present and much of the land received by the formerly enslaved people of Indian Territory was being lost to land foreclosures for failure to pay taxes or bank loans. That’s another story!

Andrew Sullivan, I Came to This Country From Alabama

Andrew Sullivan-Octogenarian

 

   In a 1900 affidavit in support of the application for citizenship of his daughter Sarah, and himself, Andrew Sullivan was responding to questions about his identity as a citizen in the Creek Muskogee Nation. Andrew was approximately eighty-two years of age and apparently still feisty.

 

   Andrew established his residence and political affiliation as he put it, “I belong to Arkansas.” Then when asked if he considered himself a citizen of the Creek Nation, Andrew left no doubt about it by replying, “If I ain’t, you won’t find another one here.”

 

   We, who are familiar with the Dawes Commission interviews have an understanding that when trying to establish whether a person is eligible to receive a land allotment and citizenship in a Nation, Muscogee or one of the other four tribes, the interviewer like a trained lawyer will ask the same question several different times, and several different ways. Andrew was not having any of it. 

 

   In my efforts to locate and document the “enslaved” people that came west with the “Indians” Andrew Sullivan provided the information that stamps his boarding pass on the trail of many tears, when he, in my opinion tersely informs the interviewer, “That’ what I am trying to tell you. I have been living here over forty years or more. Ever since I came to this country. I come here when I was twenty-year-old.” 

 

   Showing his ignorance or attempting to trip Andrew up, the interviewer responds to that answer with, “Then you wasn’t born in the Creek Nation?” He may not have been able to read, but Andrew demonstrated he was not an ignorant man when he simply stated, “Yes, in Alabama, in the Creek nation with the Injuns (sic); I come here with them.”

 

   There was one more aspect of this interview that stood out. Andrew indicated he came to Indian Territory “with a lot of Injuns (sic) and colored people.” Andrew worked as a teamster which allowed him to travel extensively, “way up the other side of Eufaula about fifteen miles on the Canadian.” As the interview continued, Andrew indicated his work took him in and out of Indian Territory before the war, from Ft. Smith in Arkansas to Ft. Gibson in Indian Territory. 

 

   Not to leave an opportunity to trip Andrew up about his eligibility for citizenship and a land allotment, he asked Andrew, “How long have you lived in Ft. Smith?” Andrew’s answer was very interesting. “I didn’t live there at all. I staid (sic) there until I got my pension, working, and then come back.” Andrew’s response begs the question, did he receive a pension from the United States government for his work as a teamster?

 

   The story of Andrew Sullivan is another example why it is so important the stories of those who came west with the Indians on the Trail of Tears be researched and included in the history of each of the five slave holding tribes. When they commemorate the event and pay respect to their ancestors, they continue to omit people like Andrew Sullivan, who said it best when asked if he considered himself a Creek citizen,  “If I ain’t, you won’t find another one here.”