Researching the Slavery Era for Choctaw & Chickasaw Freedmen

Researching the years when both Choctaw and Chickasaws participated in America’s system of black chattel slavery is a story that is vital to the history of those who were later freed. There are two areas to explore: 1) The Enslaved and 2) The Slaveholders.

The Enslaved

Prior to Removal
Not much is written about the hapless souls held captive. Few places mention their names, nor the quality of their lives. However, among the very few documents to be found are notations made from a religious community in Holley Springs Mississippi at the Presbyterian. Missionaries arrived in northern Mississippi in the 1820s and ministered to the Chickasaws. Among them were enslaved Africans in that Chickasaw community, one of whom was an enslaved woman known as Dinah, whose story was noted in Monroe Mission papers. This bilingual woman later served as an interpreter to the Chickasaws and was later able to purchase her own freedom.Her story is one of the earliest stories about enslaved people among Chickasaws.

During the many months of removal, among Chickasaws, are some documents reflecting enslaved people have been found, but only listed them as fatalities. Two “negro children” died on one of portions of the removal, and were reflected in one of their documents.

Resistance to Slavery

The efforts of enslaved people being able to resist their condition is reflected in two kinds of events---1) Feeling from bondage, and 2) slave uprisings.

1) Fleeing from Bondage.
Evidence of escape or “runaways” can be found in the few publications of the day. In the 1850s the Choctaw Intelligencer, a bilingual newspapers published some notices of people who escaped.  

Slave Uprisings and Runaways
Several slave uprisings occurred in Indian Territory after removal to the west. The most famous was in nearby Cherokee Nation, when the slaves of Joseph “Rich Joe” Vann made an escape hoping to reach Mexico. Though they were not successful, it is said that some Choctaws joined the freedom seekers, but no names have ever been found.

In 1861 the same year of theCivil War, an uprising occurred on the Hall Plantation in the Skullyville community. Choctaw Freedmen who lived in the Skullyville community are likely to have had family connections that lived near the old Hall estate. In particular are communities such as Fort Coffee, Spiro, and Oak Lodge.

Few if any uprisings have been recorded in Chickasaw communities, as it is believed that a much tighter rain was in place for the enslaved. However, to find runaways in the Territorial it is suggested that early publications such as the Intelligencer, or the Cherokee Phoenix that were published before the Civil War are good places to find runaway ads. There are not many but still one can learn about the climate in which the ancestral family lived. The few names that are stated in the ads, if they come from the ancestral community, then one might learn about the conditions in which the enslaved lived, which led to the escape. Such stories can be a part of the family narrative, if they lived in or near the same community where your own ancestors lived.

Mapping Slavery Era

Most maps that reflect slavery in America before the Civil War usually omit Indian Territory. The space right above Texas is always left blank as if slavery never occurred. However, it was decided a few years ago, to map the various parts of Indian Territory where slavery did occur. The website, Mapping the Freedmen’s Bureau, uploaded such a map. Using the  U. S. Federal Census for1860 and specifically the Slave Census Schedule, a map of Indian Territory Slave owners can be found.

Many researchers have found a Dawes Card and see who the slaveholder was, but do not have  a clear idea of what part of the Territory, or specifically where in the Chickasaw or Choctaw Nation the ancestors were enslaved.  The map show where each of the slave holders kept the ancestral family in bondage.

Note that when one enlarges the map that the small icons spread out over a google earth map. When one hovers the computer mouse over the icon a small pop up will appear (see small red box below) reflecting the record where the slave census record can be found. 

By clicking on that particular icon, you will be taken to the exact page where the slaveholders names appear along with the marks reflecting the people he (or she) held in bondage. In the example shown above Tishomingo was reflected. This is what appears on the image for Tishomingo:

There are usually 80 people on a page, with only the names of the slave holder appearing on that page. The small tic marks right before the “age” column represent the enslaved people. The pages for each community can be examined.

In the Chickasaw Nation the communities were:
Tishomingo, Panola, Pickens & Pontotoc

In the Choctaw Nation, the communities were:
Boktuklo, Eagle, Red River, Towson, Cedar, Kiamitia, Blue, Gains, Cole, San Bois(Samboy) & Skullyville 

 First Names in the Quest for Freedom

In October 1865 a group of black men--once held in bondage in Indian Territory--wrote a series of letters to the Freedman's Bureau asking for help.  Their families were still being held in bondage by Indian slave holders, many months after the war had ended. The letters were sent to the Freedman's Bureau in Ft. Smith Arkansas, and they were seeking assistance in the release of their loved ones from the painful yoke of slavery.

The men wrote a poignant letter to the Freedmen’s Bureau seeking relief. The workers forwarded the letter to Washington DC seeking a solution to the problem in both Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations. Along with the letter, came a list o the families and the names of their loved ones. The names on the letter are possibly the very first letter reflecting the names of some enslaved people from both tribes. Prior to that time the names of any of the enslaved people were unknown to the outside world. Because of that the names of the families of the petitioners are reflected on this page.

Family of Buck Bushyhead (US Soldier) Nancy & Lucyann & Josephine & Margaret & Narciss Bushyhead.

Family of Charles Perry (A Discharged Soldier)  Agga & Simon & George & Sanders Perry
Family of Andrew Chief Watkins 3 sons James, Jacob & Charles Watkins.

Family of Watson Brown (Interpreter) Wife Harriet Brown, Child Minny(?) Brown
Family of Daniel Loman, (Farmer) Wife Sophia, 1 child Robert Loman. Also sister and four children: Sister's name Nancy Harrison children's names: Isaiah & Sary & Lisa & Buck
Family of Ben Colbert  Has mother and two brothers.  Mother's name Rachel Colbert. Bros names July & Mobeal Colbert. One sister Nancy Colbert.

Family of Grundy Thompson (Blacksmith)  Wife Rachael Thompson
Family of Hanson Thompson (Blacksmith) Five Children Mahaly, Henry, Angeline, James and Rachel.
Family of Willson Thompson (Farmer) Wife Elizabeth, one child (Infant) Mother Jane Thompson and two brothers William and Pompey Thompson

Family of Randolph Gardner (Boarding House Keeper)  Mother, 3 nieces 1 nephew. Mother's name Tennessee Gardner, Nieces names Laury, Missa & Jane Gardner. Nephew's name John Gardner

Family of Isaac Kemp Wife and one child. Wife's Name Susan Child's name Elizabeth. Also Mother Frances Kemp and her children 4 in number: Frances, Mary, Charles & Elijah

Family of Jerry Kemp, (Blacksmith)  Wife and 4 children. Wife's name: Frances Kemp.  Children's names: Francis, Mary, Charles and Elijah

Family of Henry Kemp Wife and 3 children.  Wife's name Caledonia. Children's names Leroy & Leander & Infant.

Family of William Fisher  Wife Ellen and child names Alexander. One sister named Emily Fisher. Two nieces named Isabella & Prly(?) Fisher. Also Father and Mother names John & Nancy Kemp and their children Moses, Dickson Betty Adeline,  (?) and Francis Kemp. And a sister and her child Frances Kemp, and her children Mariah and Iverson and Ben (?) and Thomas and Johnny Kemp and infant.

 It is not known when these families eventually got to breathe their first breath of freedom, and how long it took for their Indian masters to release them, but many of these persons remained in Indian Territory---which was their home, and 30 years later, many of them and their children were later enrolled by the Dawes Commission and received land allotments.

Buried in the hundreds of letters sent to the Freedman's Bureau was this wonderful piece of history from Indian Territory.

Special Case Files

Chickasaw-Choctaw Citizenship Court Files

Joe & Dillard Perry Case Files