Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

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Ellen Cantrell

Lisa Hudgens Lisa Hudgens

posted on October 30, 2010

Ellen Cantrell is my ggggrandmother. She applied for membership in the Choctaw tribe. She was 1/2 Choctaw.
Commission to The Five Civilized Tribes, Department of The Interior. "In the matter of the application for enrollment of Ellen C. Cantrell, and her children, Thomas J. Cantrell, Oscar Cantrell nad Lillie P. Cantrell, and her grandaughter, Susan E. Cantrell, as citizens by blood of the Choctaw Nation.
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It appears from the record of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, that September 9, 1896, in the case entitled “Ellen C. Cantrell, et al., vs. Choctaw Nation” (1896 Choctaw Citizenship Docket, case number 968), the applicant, Ellen C. Cantrell made original application to said Commission under the provisions of the act of Congress approved June 10, 1896, (29 stat., 321), for the admission of herself and her children, Thomas J. Cantrell, Oscar Cantrell, and Lillie P. Cantrell, as citizens by blood of the Choctaw Nation, and on December 5, 1896, the said Ellen C. Cantrell, Thomas J. Cantrell Oscar Cantrell and Lillie P. Cantrell, were by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes denied admission as citizens by blood of the Choctaw Naiton. From this decsion of the Commision an appeal was taken to the United States Court for the Central District of Indian Territory, which court, in the cas entitled “Ellen C. Cantrell, et al., vs. Choctaw Nation” (Citizenship case number 30), reversed the decision of the Commision denying the said Ellen C. Cantrell, Thomas J. Cantrell, Oscar Cantrell and Lillie P. Cantrell admission to citizenship in the Choctaw Nation and admitted said applicants as citizens by blood of said Nation. The applicant Susan E. Cantrell, is a daughter of the applicant, Thomas J. Cantrell, and having been born subsequent to the date of the original application made herein to the Commission in 1896, is identified by proper proof of birth, filed with and made part of the record in this case.
It further appears from the record in the possession of the Commission that on December 17, 1902, the Choctaw and Chickasaw Citizenship Court, created by the provisions of the act of Congress approved July 1, 1902, (32 Stat., 641), “set aside, annulled, vacated and held for naught” the aforesaid judgement of the United States Court for the Central District of Indian Territory. Said cause has not been appealed or certified to the said Choctaw and Chickasaw Citizenship Court for a trial de novo within the time prescribed by the provisions of said Act of Congress approved July 1, 1902.
In accordance with the opinion of the Acting Attorney General dated May 9, 1904, (I.T.D. 3824-1904), and the opinion of the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of the Five Civilized Tribes is without authority to take any action of any character looking to the enrollmetn of Ellen C. Cantrell, Thomas J. Cantrell, Oscar Cantrell, Lillie P. Cantrell and Susan E. Cantrell, as a citizen by blood of the Choctaw Nation, and it is, therefore, hereby ordered that the application of Ellen C. Cantrell, Thomas J. Cantrell, Oscar Cantrell, Lillie P. Cantrell and Susan E. Cantrell, for enrollment as citizens by blood of the Choctaw Nation be dismissed."

Commission to The Five Civilized Tribes, Department of The Interior. "7-4214
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
COMMISSION OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES.

I would love to know if she was ever enrolled in the tribe. Her daughter Lillie P Cantrell Davis wrote her daughter a letter stating that the Indians were building her a brick house, but did not know if she was entitled to one being in California.
Thank You
Lisa Hudgens

suzanne hamlet shatto suzanne hamlet shatto

posted on October 30, 2010

you would have to contact the tribe directly for the answer to this.

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

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