Friday, December 18, 2009

NAMES UNDER THE CHOCTAW TREATY 1830.

The names on this page are either full blood or half and others are white men with Indian wife’s. And they all had one thing in common they were asking for the Location of there land or asking for a reservation for land. There is a lot of good information here if your looking into your Indian ancestors. This information is in the form of letters and of testimony’s

Note. This information comes from Public Lands ( 1834-1835 ) Vol.,7., pages 1-139, 627-652, 659-665. This information is housed at the Library of Congress.
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IN RELATION TO THE LOCATION OF RESERVATIONS UNDER THE CHOCTAW TREATY OF THE SEPT. 27, 1830.

DEPARTMENT OF WAR, Office Indian Affairs, February 3, 1834.

SIR: Juba B. Hancock has transmitted to this office papers to establish his claim to reservations for himself and two children, under the 14th article of the treaty of September 21, 1830. He states that he is a white man, married to a Choctaw woman, the mother of these children. That his son, William Mitchell, was twelve years old on the 1st day of September, 1830, and his daughter, Mary Melinda, was ten years old on the 14th February, 1830. That his name and theirs were registered by Col. Ward, in August, 1831, but the leaf on which they were registered was lost. This statement is supported by the affidavit of Giles Thompson and David Fulsom, and P. P. Pitchlynn, certifying that the claimant was, for many years prior to the treaty a citizen, and entitled to all the privileges of a citizen. You are requested to inquire of Col. Ward whether these circumstances are truly stated, and if they are, you will locate a section for the father, and a half section for each of the children, and apprise the department of the result.
Very respectfully, &c., E. HERRING.

P. S. There is a third child, Caroline Delia, who is now about ten years of age, and of course entitled.
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WASHINGTON City, February 10, 1834.

SIR Under the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, George W. Harkins was entitled to two sections of land, the one to include his improvement, and the other to be a floating claim. A considerable time before the treaty Mr. Harkins had built and paid for a house on section 31 in township 16, range 1 east; and at that time said George W. Harkins had no other improvement in the nation, but resided with his mother.

But as he did not reside on that section at the time of making the treaty, it was denied to him, and given to Vaughn Brashears, who was also entitled under the treaty to his own improvement, which was situated on the section next adjoining, on the south, to wit: section 6 in township 15, range 1 east, to which latter section the said Brashears had a rightful and proper claim.

As the treaty provides that, in all cases of doubt, the construction shall be in favor of the Indian claims, it is thought that as Harking had no other residence or improvement of his own, that this must be the land to which, under the true meaning of the treaty, he is entitled. It is therefore respectfully asked that a patent shall not issue to said Brashears, but that the case may be considered, and the title to said section 31. awarded to George W. Harkins.
I have the honor to bet your obedient servant, GREENWOOD LEFLORE.
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WASHINGTON CITY, February 19, 1834.

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th instant, inquiring what knowledge, if any, Mr. Laud or myself has of the validity of the claim of John T. Harlan for reservation of land for himself and family, as members of the Choctaw tribe of Indians; and, in reply, I have to state for the information of your department, that at the date of the treaty of 1830, John T. Harlan was not a resident of the Choctaw country, having previously been ordered out of the nation by the United States agent., Col. William Ward, for the crime of murder; nor was he or his family ever recognized as members of the Choctaw nation. He is a white man, and his wife a Cherokee, from which nation he ran away for a crime similar to that committed in the Choctaw country.

I have therefore no hesitation in saying that his claim is altogether unjust, fraudulent, and unworthy of your consideration.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, GREENWOOD LEFLORE.
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DEPARTMENT OF WAR, Office of Indian Affairs, December 17, 1833.

SIR: In answer to your letter of the 19th ult., to the Secretary of War, relative to the mode of locating the reservations for Delila and her children, Peggy Trahern and her children, and the widows of Pushmitaha and Puck-tshe-nubbee and their children, I am instructed to say that you will locate in one body those sections intended for Delila and her children; and in one other body those for Peggy Trahern and her children; and in. like manner with the other two widows. And in selecting the land for them, you will take neither the best nor the worst, but that which is of good average quality, fit for cultivation and improvement.
Very respectfully, ELBERT HERRING.
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DUMFRIES, September 20, 1833.

SIR: Your attentive acknowledgment of my letter, enclosing Mushulatubbee’s conveyance to D. W. Wright, I duly received, but have deferred replying until now. In order to a fair and equitable adjustment of the numerous contracts for floating claims and reserves, I will submit a few facts analagous of the whole; and from which I hope the War Department will be able, in part, to reach the cunning land speculator in his strongest hold.

In a majority of cases, a small advance was made by the citizen to the Indian for his possession, say from one-fourth to one-tenth the amount on as the price, the balance Agreed to be paid when the President ratified the sale. Promissory notes were given to the Indians, to be paid when the title became perfect. A bona fide deed an and warranty, with acknowledgment of the receipt of the whole purchase money, is given by the Indian who emigrates forthwith to Arkansas. The purchaser, as soon as he can, sells the land to an emigrant settler, and he, perhaps, to some one else. Indeed, it may go through half a dozen transfers before the ratification; and, consequently, before the money is due to the Indian, the first purchaser, by a few successful operations, realizes a fortune, leaving the Indian to seek him where he can find him, and the last purchaser in danger of losing his land and improvements, honestly obtained and paid for.

Mushulatubbee’s two sons (full blooded Indians), James and Hiram King, were allowed a section each at the treaty (at their father’s old place), on the great military road leading to Lake Pontchartrain, a most valuable location. Messrs. Wright, Hatch, and Hand, of Columbus, had formed a sort of combination or connexion to speculate in claims. Old Mushulatubbee was with them a great bobba shela (a friend ), and, together with the two floating sections, they got Mushulatubbee’s Sons two sections before mentioned, for which they gave three young negroes. Pending this transaction, Messrs. Grabel, Grant, and Lincecum, of Columbus, informed me that squire Maglue, or Maclue, who knew that the said negroes were free, had colleagued with a lawyer Tucker, of Columbus, to extort money out of Colonel Townshend, who brought the negroes from Tennessee or Kentucky, and sold them to the said company. Wright, Hatch, and Hand. Of the six negroes sold Mushulatubbee, five of them were free the sixth purchased from Grabel Lincecum. The said free negroes were the offspring of a free woman that accompanied a family from near Hagerstown, Maryland, to Kentucky, many years ago.

But to return to Tucker and Maclue: they went to Towushend, and threatened to make the discovery unless he would give them five hundred dollars. He agreed to do it, and gave his note accordingly; but when it became due he refused to pay it, on the ground of bribery and extortion. They sued him in the court at Columbus; the trial came on before Judge Nichols, and, perhaps, few cases have occurred where the enormity of crime was received with less concern. It was said that Wright & Co. took back those negroes, and put others in their places; but not believed., James King having been hurried off with them to Arkansas long before the emigration commenced.

Mr. Lincecum, also Peter Pitchlynn, told me it was only a sham; that the negroes (excepting one of them, drowned in the river Poteau,) were eighteen miles from Fort Smith. Wright, a few days after the treaty, took a deed for Robert Nail’s claim for a half section. Robert was then about eighteen years old. It was to be paid for as soon as the sale was ratified by the President. Robert and his mother had great confidence in Wright, and of course would sign any paper he required of him. Supposing, therefore, as soon as the emigration commenced, that he could get his money, he applied for it, and was told he would not pay him, but would place the money in the hands of Major Pitchlynn. He continued to battle Robert with this as long as I remained in the nation.

Wright & Co. had taken, I understand, a conveyance bond from the old interpreter, Middleton Mackay, for his grant from Congress, given in lieu of his reserve, which was not valuable. Mackay told me he had never received anything from them, and merely promised to give them the refusal. Mackay and his wife died of cholera on. the road between Memphis and Little Rock. I have no doubt some one has set up a claim for Mackay’s donation, and I am as certainly sure he never sold it.

The claim of Captain Billy Hays (a Choctaw) came directly under my notice: Nored and McNutt agreed to give him seven hundred dollars, viz., three hundred dollars on the first September, 1831, and four hundred more first January, 1832. McNutt left for Arkansas with the emigrants; Nored remained, and paid Hays two hundred and seventy-six dollars. The agreement was left in my hands, and I gave it to Major Armstrong, who told me he had left it with Colonel Ward at the old agency. Nored refuses most positively to pay the balance, on the ground that Captain Hays was not allowed as much land as he expected. Nored lives on the place, eighteen miles N. E. of Doak’s stand. I hope he will be made to pay to Billy Hays heirs every cent before any title is given him. The land is richly worth the money: a good house on it, a large enclosure, and four hundred and eighty acres.

Col. James McDonald, an educated Choctaw, was provided for in the treaty, and subsequently drowned himself in Pearl river, near Jackson. Robert Jones, a relative of McDonald, told me that Judge Caldwell, of Clinton, had obtained from McDonald’s mother) (his rightful heir, ) the claim for a paltry, or, at least, a consideration far short of its value.

In reference to the latter part of your letter, I ought only to say, “ the account of my injuries and wrongs are rather long, and the particulars tedious.” But, in using this apology, I do not abandon the task of recounting, to those who feel interested for me, the whole subject-matter thereof; and by which, although not justifiable in any law, yet decidedly so by those who have heard and believed my statement of the transaction. It is a matter of astonishment to myself and friends how I have encountered so many difficulties; and what has been the cause of it ? My own impression is, that it has ever been my misfortune to meet with oppression, and to resist to a degree beyond the necessity of the case.

During my service in the army and elsewhere for the government I have disbursed near an hundred thousand dollars. I was among the first commissaries appointed after establishment of the commissarait I have letters in the archives of the War Department showing my promptitude as a volunteer in the time of the war, and of my general character for capacity and integrity through life. I can procure ample testimonials from an extensive acquaintance in the different parts of the country I have resided. I defy any one to bring a charge of fraud or peculation against me in more than twelve years public service. My misfortunes are, therefore, rightfully ascribed to an irresistible impulse of passion, almost as fatal to my peace and happiness as the worst of offenses. I did think I should never offend again when that best of men, Major Eaton, listened to my wrongs, and gave me employment; I did use and every precaution to avoid collision with any person. But I am growing tedious, and will only add as I am rather under the ban, that I hope you will look on my case with a more favorable view hereafter than the first impressions induced you to do; and that I may not despair, at some future period, of being restored to the confidence of al1 my friends.
I am sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, WM. S. COLQUHOUN.

As you may have noticed these letters can get very long, and for this reason, I will only give parts of the letters or the names within them. I will however give the page number, so if you wish to have a copy of the letter, it can be found and copied. Those whishing to have a copy of a letter, or some information on a name, please give the ( Title of this page) and the name and page No., for without them I may not be able to help you. My address can be found in my profile.
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NEAR JONES’ BLUFF, Sumpter County, Alabama, September 29, 1833.

Jacob Daniel, has been a citizen, for twelve years and more, he served three years and five months as a regular soldier in the United States army, and most of the time in active service in the last war. He entered his name in the books, wishing to become a citizen of the United States. At the time he entered his name and wife and his four children who were under ten yeas. He also had a first son who was away at the Choctaw academy, in Kentucky, and forgot to put his name down. Mr. Daniel is now asking the Secretary of War, if his son is entitled to a section of land, even though he was not under his roof at the time the names were entered. Mr. Daniel is also asking the Secretary to look and see if his brother-in-law, who was a brother soldier, who served with him in the last war is on the books. Jacob Daniel, asked that all letters be directed to him at; Daniel’s prairie, Green county, Alabama.
Page No. 16.
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Names of person claiming sections of land.

1. Susan or Susannah Graham-p. 26, 30, 32, 33, 34, 36, 89, 133, 135.

2. John Hacha or Hachar?-p. 27.

3. William Prine-p. 27.

4. Stacy Collins-p. 27.

5. Levi Pickins-p. 28.

6. Captain Joseph Pickins-p. 28.

7. David W. Wall-p. 31, 32.

8. Thomas Wall-p. 31.

9. Amelia Trahern-p. 32.

10. Letha Trahern-p.35.

11. Peggy Trahern, second wife of Wesley Trahern-p.32.

12. James L. McDonald-p. 34.

13. Robert Jones-p.34.

14. Ann V. L. L. McEllyn or Ann L. Lewllyn, mother of Susan Graham-p. 33,34.

15. William Ott-p. 36.

16. Wesley Trahern, children, Anelia, Letha, Washington, First wife Delilah, Second wife Agnes now wife of James Foster. It was later stated that Peggy was not a wife?-p. 36.

17. Charles Frazier, Nelly Dyer, Rachel Davis, James Perry, Nancy Moore, Moses Perry, Molly Frazier, Moontubbi, Tishepia and Hala-p. 628, 632.

18. John T. Hammond-p. 632, 661.

19. John B. Hancock-p. 633.

20. Matthew Seabronch-p. 633.

21. Benjamin Bullock-p. 633.

22. Ho-pi-es-ka-re-ne, or “Little Leader.”-p. 633.

23. John Walker-p. 634.

24. Allen Jenkins-p. 637.

25. Lemuel George-p. 638.

26. Robert Turnbull-p. 639.

27. John T. Hammond-p. 639.

28. Moontubbee-p. 639.

29. Tis-ho-pia, -p. 639.

30. Rachel Davis-p. 639.

31. El-a-no-au-chi, -p. 639.

32. Och-in-chi-homa, -p. 639.

33. Tick-bafa-tubbee, -p. 639.

34. James Oxberry-p. 641.

35. Jacob Thompson-p. 644, 645, 659, 660.

36. John R. Contee-p. 645, 659, 660.

37. Thomas Stewart, mother Susan Graham-p. 646.

38. Benoni Taylor-p. 647.

39. Robert Hancock-p. 647.

40. Reuben H. Grant-p. 647.

41. Alexander Brashears-p. 648.

42. Allen Stanton-p. 648.

43. David W. Wall-p. 648.

44. Betsey Buckles-p. 648.

45. Imponah aka Billy-p. 649.

46. Cunneubee-p. 649.

47. Lucy McGilbry-p. 650.

48. John McGilbry-p. 651.

49. Thomas D. Wooldridge-p. 651.

50. Jesse Beams-p. 652.

51. Jesse A. Ivery-p. 652.

52. John T. Harlan-p. 662.

53. Edmond Jenkins-p. 638.

Note. To author more information in the Index.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Segelquist,
My ancestor, George W. Harkins received 2 sections of land from the Doaksville Treaty. I can not believe I stumbled across a website which has most probably revealed the location of at least one section of land of which I had no way of knowing how to find.
A big Thank You, David Harkins

Genealogy Addict said...

Peggy Trahern WAS NOT the second wife of Wesley Trahern, she was married to his brother. You didn't read all of the letters, Wm Ward wrote that he knew both his wifes (Delilah and Agnes) and Peggy was in no way associated

Dennis Segelquist said...

If you will go down the page to ( Names of persons claiming sections of land.) Number 16. I state Peggy was not his wife. As you may remember I stated these were not all the letters as some were just to long, and this may cause some confession. I have noted the page number for all the letters on this page, to get them, all you need is to request them.

Anonymous said...

I am Rebecca and William Trahern's ggggrandaughter. I really enjoyed your site:) I've been trying to find proof of Rebecca's surname of Long,being Felicity Lefleur's daughter. Maybe I will find something someday here on your site that will help me. Thank Again!