Black Indian Genealogy Research PDF
Preview Black Indian Genealogy Research
^>C<zc& /4facaMrs4«Hencctuc /4ttce&t&t& s4nu**uf t&e *?iae &ivitifed, *7fU6e& /Ittyela, ty. Watfortrttafc heritage ‘Book, Inc. ROOM OCT 1 8 2006 San Francisco Public Library REFERENCE BOOK Not to be taken from the Library GENERAL COLLECTIONS Stack yttcUcut tfateakoyf IR&teanck !y-V;-’ ViA fi t 100 Attyefa ty. 'Wa>tta*t- “Raji Copyright 1993 By Angela Y. Walton-Rajl Published 1993 By HERITAGE BOOKS, INC. Publishing Division 65 East Main Street Westminster, Maryland 21157-5026 www.HeritageBooks.com ISBN 1-55613-856-3 A Complete Catalog Listing Hundreds Of Titles On Genealogy, History, And Americana Available Free On Request Dedicated to the Memory of my Choctaw Freedmen Ancestors Samuel Walton Sallie Walton Sam Walton Jr. Houston Walton Louisa Ingram (Sanders) and in Gratitude to my parents Samuel Lewis Walton Pauline Walton 3 1223 07242 9518 I <2a/?& of Contents Introduction vii Chapter One 1 Slavery in the Indian Nations Myths & Realities Chapter Two 15 From Slavery to Freedom Chapter Three 25 Beginning Research in the Indian Freedman Records Chapter Four 39 Applications for Enrollment Chapter Five 73 Additional Freedmen Records Chapter Six 91 Black Indians of the Upper South Appendix One 101 Freedman Surnames from the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes Appendix Two 137 Surnames of the Tri-Racial Families of the Upper South Index 143 * *l*l&loductiOK I Most people can recall a family gathering of their childhood, listening to their elders speaking about the old days. For me, my memories focus on those hot summer days when we would pile into the car to visit my aunt and uncle in Oklahoma. On the way, my father would always point to the sign on the bridge just outside Ft. Smith Arkansas, which crossed over the river into Oklahoma. Like some kind of warning the sign would tell all travelers going west that they were "Entering Indian Territory." Like most children growing up in the 1950's my imagination was stimulated by TV westerns that dominated the airwaves with stories of cowboys and Indians. As a black child, I was always amazed when we passed the sign over the river, and my father would comment every time, "You know, Nannie is Indian-she's a Choctaw." The fact that my great-grandmother had Indian blood was known and accepted, yet whenever it was discussed, the subject would always bring an element of mystery and awe. Usually, the rest of our day in the small country village of Oktaha, on the border of the old Creek and Cherokee Nations, would be spent sampling delicious country food, having lots of cousins to play with, and, later, a chance to listen to the elders as they would reminisce about their youth. Again, the sense of awe and mystery would arise as we'd hear these elderly black people mentioning the Indians and the fact that so much of their past was in the Indian Nations. We were quiet as we listened, yet somehow I never really understood how we were connected. On the playground, the situation was different as it was not unusual to hear little black children boasting of their ties to the Oklahoma Indians. I remember that most of my playmates would talk very proudly about having Cherokee ancestry, and boast that they were connected to someone who was a chief in the Cherokee Nation. Most of us were merely joining the verbal bravado, yet some were quite insistent that they were speaking truthfully about their family. Upon my great-grandmother's death, in 1961, her family Bible was given to my father. In that Bible was a small sheet of paper illustrating the division of a township, with "Choctaw Nation" stamped on it. From time to time as the years went by, if discussion about our Indian blood would come up, I'd go to the Bible, pull out the map, and stare at the words "Choctaw Nation," and then at my great-grandmother's name - Sallie Walton - written below them. The paper had some indication of a land allotment given to her. Somehow, this was verification of sorts that she did have a connection to the Indians. Her physical features certainly revealed that she was one with mixed parentage, yet no one in the family had additional details or knowledge about her background. In 1991, after moving to Maryland, a chance trip to Washington D.C. took me to the National Archives. I had learned earlier that some records pertaining to the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma were avilable for review there on microfilm. Without much direction I started looking through enrollment cards of the Choctaws. Not recognizing names or even cities that sounded familiar, I plowed through hundreds of names. I recalled a reference in the family Bible pertaining to Sallie Walton as a Choctaw Freedman. I noticed that there were
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