i’m sorry, this will probably be a tough one. this was the frontier. you’ve seen the westerns in movies. this was the time period. usually one of the neighbors volunteered to keep records for the county. some of those records survived and some not. sometimes they had courts.
in my opinion, you should proceed from death on backwards. be sure you have childrens’ records, such as birth, death, marriage. if you don’t have those, you might find the social security application that was filed 1/1/1937, if the child lived past that date.
often a delayed birth certificate was filed to show proof of age. so if you ask for a birth certificate, ask also for a delayed birth certificate. they are often catalogued separately.
you might be able to find newspaper mentions of the native trouble. you can see your local public library about this. often the texas archives or texas historical society will lend microfilms of old newspapers to your local public library and you can read them.
natives kept no records, as their language was not written until the middle of the 1800’s. and if native parents could not be established at the time, it will be difficult to find native tribes. look at the texas tribes and contact them. they might have some information.
since george williams was a doctor, there might be some personal correspondence, some newspaper mention, because doctors were worthy of newspaper mentions.
hmm,, was this the family? w. a. williams was clerk of the court.
Household Members:
Name Age
W. A. Williams 38
A. C. Williams 23
M. A. Williams 8
E. Williams 3
L. A. Singletery 32
Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 1, Montague, Texas; Roll: 1320; Family History Film: 1255320; Page: 373C; Enumeration District: 119; .
you might check for a civil war record and see if any civil war pension record was filed for him. they are fairly detailed.
do check the county websites, official, rootsweb.com for records. you should check the texas state archives. look at the natives in texas at this time – map link in this email.
you should get her death certificate and obituary.
genealogists use names, dates, locations, children and spouses to match records. if you have a common surname, you need to give more information rather than less. if you post about women, it is helpful to include the maiden name and the married name and designate which one is the maiden name.
first of all, heritage and tribal enrollment are two different things. many times natives didn’t apply for enrollment because 1) they didn’t qualify, 2) they were philosophically opposed to enrollment, 3) they didn’t have documentation, or 4) they were mississippi choctaw and their ancestor had accepted land or benefits in lieu of tribal enrollment.
the dawes roll was taken 1896-1906, so you should trace your ancestors down to that time period. mostly, they had to be living in oklahoma by that time and agree to live there permanently.
2 ways to search:
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/finalroll.php
this will let you enter partial names to get card#. click on the card# in the card column and you can see other names in that family.
other resources on the left and at the bottom of this webpage. native census records and databases are especially useful.
http://www.okhistory.org/research/dawes/index.php
this will give you card# (family group) and enrollment #. they have some native marriage records too. other oklahoma records listed at left.
if the name is common, you may find too many possible records.
the tribe has an excellent information to help you. it is found under genealogy advocacy.
http://choctawnation.com/services/departments/community-services/
mississippi choctaw and choctaw tribe explained here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw_Trail_of_Tears
http://www.choctaw.org/
jena choctaw tribe in louisiana:
http://www.jenachoctaw.org/
MOWA tribe
http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1368
http://www.uab.edu/uabmagazine/2009/july/losttribe
http://www.native-american-online.org/MOWA-Choctaw.htm
MOWA Band Of Choctaws Wilford Taylor 1080 Red Fox Road Mount Vernon, AL 36560 (251) 829-5500. E-Mail: chieftaylor@mowachoctaw.com
texas tribes
http://www.native-languages.org/texas.htm
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/texas/index.htm
http://www.texasindians.com/
http://www.texasindians.com/
http://www.lsjunction.com/places/indians.htm
oklahoma tribes:
http://500nations.com/Oklahoma_Tribes.asp
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/oklahoma/index.htm
http://www.cowboy.net/native/tribes.html
types of records available for native americans:
pages 366-369 in particular although the entire native american chapter is helpful.
The Genealogist’s Companion and Sourcebook:
Guide to the Resources You Need for Unpuzzling Your Past
Emily Anne Croom
you can ask for these particular pages from your local public library. if they don’t have the book, you can get the pages through the interlibrary loan program.
native american records are discussed in pages 352-386.
Tracing ancestors among the Five Civilized Tribes: Southeastern Indians …
By Rachal Mills Lennon
this book could be accessed through the interlibary loan program also.
always find the state archives. some records are online, some records are not. but many times you can find a record not found in other places. you want to see also about newspaper mentions for obituaries, births, marriages in particular.
check courts for probate, civil and criminal cases, marriage records.
this book is a good read about the dawes roll and how they implemented it.
The Dawes Commission and the allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914
By Kent Carter
good advice about native research:
http://jenniferhsrn2.homestead.com/research2.html
if your relatives came from a different geographic location or belonged to a different tribe, try searching google for the state and tribes. you might find a contact for a state-recognized tribe or a federal recognized tribe.
i have collected many resources over the years. if you want to write to me, shamlet76@gmail.com and request the choctaw resource list, i will be glad to send it to you.
i am just a volunteer that wants to empower people to learn how to do genealogy.
suzanne hamlet shatto
Kimberely
suzanne hamlet shatto
Dorothy Willard