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looking for Arnold Heathcock information

Amber Lee Amber Lee

posted on June 26, 2010 and updated on March 30, 2011

Hello Message board,
Last year, I sent out an inquiry for information on my paternal grandmother’s father side, believing I was looking for Native American ancestry information on his side. The exact Native American heritage is unknown: Choctaw, Cherokee; I don’t know.

It turns out it was not Arnold Heathcock’s information I needed to search from your message board; but, his wife, Della Steele, who I cannot find any childhood information on her, including no birth information from Ancestry.com and a few other sources.

The family has always been told there was Native American blood on my grandmother’s side. It was just presumed it was on her father’s side. Now, I am beginning to research any information on the Steele’s family line; and, if there is any connection to Bache, Oklahoma where I know Della’s husband, Arnold, was buried along with his other family members. One of which was his father, James Richard Augustus Heathcock, who was a reverend of what denomination I am not sure; but, I am assuming that maybe he was ministering to the natives in Oklahoma. I am not sure. I am just in this new research path.

Lastly, I do have Della with her husband in Choctaw Indian territory in a U.S. Census report that is why I am looking to your tribal information first. If anyone can give me any leads to possibilities, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Amber Lee

suzanne hamlet shatto suzanne hamlet shatto

posted on July 7, 2010

i did not find any surname heathcock records on the dawes roll. they might have been native but probably didn’t apply for enrollment.
when social security came into effect on 1/1/1937, many people had to file delayed birth certificates to show proof of age. maybe his children filed these. check with the vital records for the state where they were born.

as far as the accident, you might want to see your local public library to see if there were any possible newspaper articles about this accident. often libraries can request newspapers owned by other libraries so that you can read them.

unfortunately, you have not named a location, given any years they were alive, named no spouses or children. you have given no dates of death. you haven’t given your grandmother’s name. this is a common surname, so you have to give more information rather than less. if you post about women, it is helpful to include their maiden name and 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 enrollmment.

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.

there are some researchers who posted family trees on rootsweb worldconnect and you might want to contact them for more information about your family.

HATHCOAT FAMILY HISTORY
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Index | Descendancy | Register | Pedigree | Ahnentafel | Download GEDCOM | Add Post-em

  1. ID: I02749
  2. Name: Arnold Heathcock
  3. Sex: M
  4. Birth: 1890
  5. Death: 5 APR 1921 in LeFlore County OK

HintsAncestry Hints for Arnold Heathcock

3 possible matches found on Ancestry.com Ancestry.com

Father: Rev. James Richard Heathcock b: 20 NOV 1865 in Corinth Miss
Mother: Talitha V. Terry b: 3 DEC 1864 in Arkansas

Marriage 1 Della b: 1895 in Oklahoma

Children

1. Dorie E. Heathcock 2. Oscar Heathcock 3. Calvin Washington Heathcock b: 29 FEB 1916 4. Lillie Heathcock b: 3 NOV 1921 5. Mattie Lou Heathcock b: 17 MAY 1925

note that mattie has a birthdate after his date of death. you will have to resolve conflicting data like that.

it appears that his parents were born in AL, so you might want to also check the mississippi choctaw tribe and the MOWA tribe.

there are census records available and a world war I draft card.

the tribe has an excellent information to help you. it is found under genealogy advocacy.
http://choctawnation.com/services/departments/community-services/

i am just a volunteer that wants to empower people to learn how to do genealogy.

suzanne hamlet shatto

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