What a Difference A Century Can Make: 1903 - 2011

Courtesy of Black & Red Journal

Source: Eufaula Indian Journal, August 28, 1903, p. 8, column 2

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(click here)

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Removal of Freedmen - Official & Ongoing since 1938

The recent actions this week of the Cherokee Nation to remove the Cherokee Freedmen once again, and just prior to a runoff election of a chief who has worked diligently for their removal brings back interesting memories of days of segregation, voting rights and voting prevention by those in power.

However, looking at historical records, it is also clear that such sentiments have interesting origins emanating from the Bureau of Indian Affairs over 70 years ago.

There was a fear that Freedmen-descendants of slaves held by the Five Tribes would eventually outnumber the other members of the tribe--and so to prevent any power to emerge from Freedmen and their descendants, official anti-black policies were established by the BIA, and expressed in written documents.

This sentiment was a national one, was one in which persons with African Ancestry regardless of other mixtures in their lineage--were to be excluded systematically and officially in all aspects of American life. This was warmly embraced in the Five Slaveholding Tribes.

The actions of exclusion in 2011 are merely following a seven-decades old policy that is now perceived to be logical, in spite of its illogical and illegal nature.

Further documents from the BIA:

  

The most interesting documents reflect the numbers that the BIA had presented as the current population of Freedmen.  Keeping in mind that this document was created in the 1930s, in the years prior to World War II, it appears that until that time, the numbers of Freedmen descendants was still being kept. They had significantly grown since the numbers admitted during the years of the Dawes Commission.

There is a tremendous lesson, in particular the need to learn the history and the facts that reflect the efforts of the descendants of former slaves from Five Tribes which held them in bondage and their efforts to find a place and meaning in a land where history has forgotten them.

 Their stories are important and like all stories, deserve to be told.

Education for Freedmen in the Creek Nation

Recently, I was thrilled to come across some information in the Congressional Record pertaining to education for Freedmen in Indian Territory.

 Of interest to me has been the establishment of schools for Freedmen in the whole of Indian Territory. In the Creek Nation, Evangel Mission, the remains of which are now the home to the Five Tribes Museum, has it's own history and is one of the few school buildings that stand in Oklahoma today that educated former Indian tribal slaves. And many are familiar with the Tullahassee Mission School. A major tribal leader of the Creek nation, Sugar T. George was superintendent of that school for some time.

In the years after the Civil War,  the struggles of the former slaves from all of the Five Slaveholding Tribes was ongoing, and education was a continuing issue. A few images of schools here and there, have appeared in historical journals providing occasional glimpses into the lives of the Freedmen, and at some of the private religiously run boarding schools, but I have never seen a comprehensive list of day schools, sometimes referred to as neighborhood schools, until recently.

The year before statehood was 1906 and the 59th Congress was in session. A detailed report coming from Indian Territory was submitted and among the data was rich information pertaining to the day schools.

Some tribes were more ambitious than others in allocating funds for their children, including the children of their former slaves. Stable schools, day schools, boarding schools and neighborhood schools were created in many of the towns and hamlets in Creek Nation towns, and I came upon one list that was very interesting as it listed the schools by name and the race of the student population was also included.

As a result I was able to extract the names of the schools for African Creeks, and was able to compile a unique list of Freedmen schools in that nation.

Source: 59th Congress, 2nd Session House Document No. 5

List is an extraction from list of Creek Day Schools

Source: 59th Congress, 2nd Session House Document No. 5

List is an extraction from list of Creek Day Schools

This is probably the first and only list created name each of the Freedmen Day schools in the Creek Nation. I should mention however, that private schools such as Flipper Davis College and others private schools funded by religious denominations will not be on this list. This list, however might provide additional information for other researchers who seek to document the history and lives of the Freedmen in greater detail.

I shall in a future blog post include Freedmen school lists from the other tribes.

Evangel Mission, A School for Creek Freedmen

 

Evangel Mission,  a School for Freedmen, Location: Muskogee Oklahoma

It is important to keep one's eyes open for pieces of history all the time.  

Sometimes an old photo can tell stories and many times stories are found small pieces of paper that can tell a story. I often find clues even when I am not looking. Finding the answers to questions unexpectedly.

Such is the story of my learning about Evangel Mission.

While recently going through a collection of records, I noticed a letter. Since it was written on stationery, I enlarged it just to see the image, and thought it looked familiar. And this simple letter in an old collection finally revealed the name of this beautiful school. It was known as Evangel Mission.

The masthead on the letter revealed not only the name of the school--but indicated that it was a place of residence for"friendless"  Indian and colored children. This school was probably the first school known to be racially integrated, as a school for Indian and "colored" children. The letter was written almost 30 years before Oklahoma became a state and quickly instituted racial codes separating the races for decades.

Evangel Mission was a Baptist School founded in 1883

Evangel Mission was established in 1883, and was operated by Baptists missionaries.But not much has ever been written about the school.. But from the a letter written in 1888, on official stationery it appears that in the 1880s, for some time the school was under the direction of Rev. Ira A. Cain. 

Today, the building is known by a different name--the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.Yet, when visiting the site today----it it known to be a building rich in history but the name of the school is not mentioned. 

Interestingly---there are several historical markers on the ground of this site---for at one time, it was also the old Creek Agency, but Evangel Mission School is not mentioned by name on any of the historical markers. 

Marker on Grounds of Evangel Mission, now The Five Tribes Museum

Source of photo: Personal Collection of Anegla Walton-Raji

Another marker on the found of the museum

Photo: Personal Collection of Angela Y. Walton-Raji

Five Tribes Museum Today

Photo Taken by Angela Walton-Raji

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One historic artifact rests on the grounds, which could be the old school bell for Evangel Mission.

Photo taken by: Angela Y. Walton-Raji

And next to the school bell is another marker that speaks to the history of the building as the old Creek Indian Agency.  

On the marker it also mentions that the building was at one time a school. However, the name of the school is not mentioned.

Marker next to the old bell, mentions that the building 

was once a school used by Creek Freedmen children, but no name is mentioned.

Thanks to a letter that was found in a collection of letters, the name of the school, one of the officers of the school, Rev. Ira A. Cain, is now known. It is clear that the school was known as Evangel Mission.

On the school stationery, a caption underneath the image of the school suggests that there were additional buildings that comprised Evangel Mission School.

If the school was a self-functioning school as the marker suggests, there would have been other buildings, and being a Baptist school there also would have been a chapel among the buildings. Though much of the land around Evangel Mission (now the Five Tribes museum), is now occupied by a large water tank on one side and a hospital on the other side, I cannot help but still wonder what the other buildings were, and where they stood.  

Nothing has surfaced to date with the names of the children, nor any of the teachers.  However, the letter below suggests that the school was funded by some relatives of the school children, and all were not known to have been orphans or "friendless" children.

Letter Found on Evangel Mission School Stationery

Page1

Page 2 of letter from Evangel Mission 

Someday, I hope that the history of Evangel Mission school will be known.  Unlike so many other schools, that have disappeared and are not remembered,  this is probably the only Freedman school known to still be standing.  

Many questions about Evangel Mission must be asked:

Who founded the school?

Who were the teachers?  

Who were the students?  

Do the foundations of other buildings still exist on the property?  (Have they ever been sought?)

Have any records of Evangel Mission survived?  If so--where are they? 

Could old records be in the building today?  

And now that the name of this school is known---Evangel Mission---can it's name be put someplace on the premises?

In a recent blog post,  I mentioned that there are so few landmarks that represent the African American history of Oklahoma, especially the pre-statehood-Indian Territory years.  

Oak Hill Academy for Choctaw Freedmen is gone. 

The Cherokee National Colored High School is gone.  

Tullahassee Mission School aka Flipper Davis College is gone. 

The Creek-Seminole College for Freedmen in Boley is gone.

All of the original buidings that were built on Langston University are gone.

Sango College in Muskogee is gone.

Tushka Lusa Academy for Choctaw Freedmen is gone.

Dawes Academy for Choctaw and Chickasaw Freedmen is gone.

BUT-------for some reason---perhaps for the beauty of it architecture---the old Evangel Mission School stands. 

Although at present the visitor to this building is not told of its rich history, perhaps that can be changed. Although today it is known as the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, nothing prevents anyone from referring to this important building by the name that it once bore for many years---Evangel Mission.

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Rare 1868 Census Document from Choctaw Nation Found

The Western History Collection at the University of Oklahoma contains much useful data on Indian Territory. While looking at many of their digitized images, an unusual census record caught my attention. This was one of a census record taken in Cedar County, reflecting the population in 1868.  This is rare, particularly as it reflects a Choctaw community during the Reconstruction era.    I am sharing the few pages of that 1868 census here, for all researchers.

The Source of data comes from the Native American Manuscript Collection.  It was found in the Choctaw Nation Papers . Within that collection, in Box 49 Folder Number 9 this census tabulation can be found.  The document is approximately 19 pages long and the last two pages reflect the Choctaw Freedmen and the 1 white family enumerated as well.

A look at the first page reveals how detailed the information was that was collected of those considered to be fully Indian:

Page 1

Information collected on males was detailed breaking down data on the age categories of each male:

Male Heading on 1868 Census Form

Information collected on females was less detailed:

Female Heading on 1868 Census Form

Data collected on the Freedmen--their former slaves were the least detailed:

Heading Found on Freedman Page of 1868 Census Form 

Since the 1868 Freedman page was small and only consisted of 1 full page it is shown in its entirety here.

1868 Cedar County Census - Choctaw Freedmen

The value of Freedmen was clearly reflected in the manner in which data was collected. Age categories did not matter and both genders were grouped together. In addition, many of these former slaves were not listed with surnames. This was a mere two years out of slavery. (Remember slavery was not abolished in Indian Territory until 1866, not 1865.) Quite possibly these former slaves were still being addressed with single names, and possibly some had not begun to use surnames. However this list does represent one of the very first times that the names former Choctaw slaves were written down in family groups---not as property but as adults with families. Though small, this could possibly  be the earliest listing of Choctaw slaves known to exist

There was a small page reflecting a white family also on the same document:

Like the Choctaw families more data was included on the males and females 

than were collected on the former Choctaw slaves.

All documents and all pages can be found on the site of the Native American Manuscript Collection and the Choctaw Nation Papers, at the University of Oklahoma.

Their Struggles Continued for Decades

Letter written by Chickasaw Freedmen to Washington DC asking about rights denied to Chickasaw Freedmen. This was written 4 decades after slavery ended in the Chickasaw Nation.

These letters tell so many stories.

Last summer while on a number of trips to the National Archives at College Park MD, I began to read and copy a number of heartfelt letters written by Freedmen of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, expressing their plight.  With the Chickasaw Freedmen in particular, they were an abandoned people---released from bondage reluctantly by their Chickasaw slave holders.  Like the other tribes, the Chickasaws also signed a treaty in 1866, officially ended slavery in the nation, and the treaty stated that these former slaves were to be assisted in their new life, with citizenship and the rights and privileges that came with citizenship.

Some of the five slave holding tribes complied, but the Chickasaw Nation fought it continually up to Oklahoma statehood, in 1907.  Today the Chickasaw Nation,  (like their Cherokee neighbors) is a wealthy tribe--one of the wealthiest in the nation, in fact.  Of course the descendants of those slaves have no rights, and now that more than a century has passed of statehood, and today, the stories of Chickasaw Freedmen appear only now on the faded pages in forgotten boxes at the National Archives.  But---the stories that they tell!

In the letter above, Ellis Williams wrote a simple letter asking if it was true that he and his people in Chickasaw country had truly been denied their rights.

He wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Interior in 1903, and asked,

"I whis(sic) to know is it a fact that the Indians beet(sic) us out of our freedman writs(sic) or not..
How painfully sad this is, particularly as the former Chickasaw slaves and their families were a people without a country until statehood, when Oklahoma joined the Union in 1907.  But immediately one of the Oklahoma statesman, who is is taid had Chickasaw ties, had strong disdain for freedmen initiated the first law passed by the state, making separation of the races legal. Thus, the "coach law" was passed legalizing Jim Crow accommodations on public transportation. (The Oklahoma did not repeal this law until 1965.)

I became curious as to who Ellis Williams was and looked up his Chickasaw Freedman Enrollment Card.

Enrollment Card of Ellis Williams Chickasaw Freedman

The 2nd side of his card was also revealing.

Reverse side of Dawes Card for Ellis Williams

Information about Ellis and his history is present reflecting that he was a slave of Chickasaw Sophia Keeel

On the front of the card is also the name of his wife, Viney. On the reverse side, her history is interesting.  She was said to have been a slave of the Eastmans. Betsy Eastman was her slave owner.  (Betsey, it was revealed in the application jacket was a Chickasaw woman whose husband was an inter-married white citizen.)

Although not much is known of Ellis Johnson the man, his file is rich with data (which I shall put in another blog post)  

However the status of the family was part of the greater saga of Freedmen hoping to have issues settled in their nation, along with the land allotments that they were to have received. 

His letter above speaks to the frustration that must have been felt during those years of alienation and neglect by both the US government that never enforced the adoption of the Chickasaw slaves. That denial of rights is still upheld to this day.

In Search of Oklahoma Freedmen Landmarks

Source: Oklahoma Map Produced by:

Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department - Travel & Tourism Division 

 Most of the landmarks are gone. But---they were there--and should not be forgotten.

There were the old black towns.  Over two dozen of them were there at one time, and now today the few that remain are only a ghost of what they once were.  Boley the most well known of the towns, still exists.

Boley Oklahoma

Source: The Encyclopedia of African American Heritage

Towns like Boley, Tullahassee, and Red Bird, and Langston, are still around, but others like Foreman, Wybark, and Gibson Station are not.

Location of some black towns of Oklahoma

There were many institutions, yet nothing remains of the old Creek Seminole College for Freedmen.

The old Creek & Seminole College no longer exists, and nothing marks where this facility was.

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

Near Valiant Oklahoma, there was a beautiful boarding school for Choctaw Freedmen called Oak Hill. Later changed to Elliott Academy, only a marker on the side of the road remains.

Image of Oak Hill Academy, for Choctaw Freedmen

Source: The Choctaw Freedmen, by Robert Flickinger 1914

State Historical Marker for Oak Hill Academy, now remembered as Elliott Academy stands near Valiant OK

Old Agency Cemetery--a sadly forgotton burial ground in the Creek Nation

Old Agency Cemetery, once a major burial ground for Creek Freedmen is now inaccessible, although thousands of people pass it daily on Highway 69 right outside of Muskogee.

Agency Cemetery as Seen from Highway 69 in Muskogee Oklahoma

However, should one venture into this sacred burial ground---amazing history is there. Creek leader, former soldier, tribal leader and well known attorney Sugar T. George is buried there.

At one time this 10 foot marble marker stood over the grave of Sugar T. George, Creek tribal leader. It now lies toppled over and on the ground,  unattended, unseen and long forgotten.

How startling to see the once beautiful marker over the grave site of Sugar T. George, ling on the ground.  This amazing Freedman leader, was a former tribal councilman who served in both the House of Warriors and the House of Kings in the Muscogee Creek Nation. He was also at one time, town king of North Fork Colored, and also served as superintendent of the Tullahassee Mission School for Creek Freedmen. 

A few feet away, another marker also bearing his name rests.

Original marker for Sugar George

Photos of Sugar George taken at Agency Cemetery by Tonia Holleman and Angela Walton-Raji

Not far from the entrance to the cemetery lies one of the oldest of the Creek Freedman leaders---Harry Island.

Pushed over on its back lies the dignified headstone of Harry Island official interpreter of the Creek Nation.

About a mile away from Old Agency is the Durant Family Cemetery---with the headstone of Rev. MondayDurant.  There is no access into the Durant Cemetery from the road and it is covered by thick brush. Maps of the city do indicate where this burial ground is located.  Even an aeriel view shows the cemetery, without entrance or access road.

Aerial view of Durant in Muskogee Oklahoma. There is no access to this burial ground

Thanks to the efforts of Sue Tolbert of Muskogee, images were captured of the headstone of the Rev. Monday Durant, who was also a leader in the Creek Nation. Image was taken several years ago, before the burial ground was consumed by the brush.

The grave site of Creek Leader, Monday Durant, Muskogee Oklahoma. 

Photo taken before neglect swallowed this historic site.

Photo courtesy of Sue Tolbert

Smaller landmarks are of course completely gone, such as tiny school in the Choctaw Nation, near Atoka, known as Salt Creek.

Salt Creek School

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

 The beautiful Tullahassee Mission School was a Creek Freedman boarding school. In its earlier days it was a school for Creeks by blood and did not admit African Creeks. Then when abandoned by the priveleged Creeks it was a school for tribe's former slaves.  It later became Filpper Davis College owned and operated by the AME Church.  

Tullahassee Mission School in 1891

Source: Archives & Manuscripts Division of the Oklahoma Historical Society

However, today, only a marker tells part of the story.

Historical Marker near historical school

The Cherokee Colored High School

Six miles northeast of Tahlequah in an area known as Double Springs, there was the short lived Cherokee Colored High School. Located on the main road northwest of Tahlequah, the school was prevented from being located in Bartlesville when town citizens did not want a black school in their midst. It was therefore located near, but not in, Tahlequah. [A comprehensive history of the school was written in the 2010 issue of Voices of Indian Territory by Dr. James McCullagh of the University of North Iowa.] 

Today, one cannot find indication that the school ever existed. No historical marker can be found along highway 82, near Tahlequah. But thanks to Dr. McCullagh, a photo of the school accompanies the article.

Photo courtesy of Dr. James McCullagh, University of Northern Iowa

The school's history was written about in the Chronicle of Oklahoma.  

Early information about the Cherokee Colored High School

Sadly the school was burned in 1916 and nothing remains of its past.

Other Schools:

In 1909 a list of schools once supported by the Baptists was listed and for Indian Territory (which was by then, Oklahoma) two schools were listed: Sango Baptist Colleg (of which there is no image to be found), and Dawes Academy in Ardmore.

Partial List of Baptist Supported Schools 1909

All that remains of Dawes Academy are the steps behind Calvary Missionary  Baptist Church.

Steps of the Old Dawes Academy

Dawes Academy Steps in Perspective. Located in Ardmore OK at Calvary Baptist Church

Photos courtesy of Joyce Settles

So many rich stories yet nothing remains to show that such rich history took place on Oklahoma soil. Nothing reflects the schools, the burial sites, so many of the old towns.

Is there effort being made to tell their stories?  

One cannot expect anyone in Tahlequah to tell the story of the old high  school, with the political climate being what it is. But there are the descendants whose ancestors were educated there.  The legacy belongs to them--as well as to all Oklahomans.

In the Creek Nation, Sango College remains a dim memory mentioned occasionally on the faded pages of old journals, like that of Tullahassee Mission.

Choctaw Freedmen had Oak Hill, and Chickasaw Freedmen had Dawes Academy--yet, too they are gone and now forgotten. Seminole Freedmen and Creeks briefly had the college in Boley, but yet, there is no evidence upon the soil.

The history of black people in what is now Oklahoma, predates statehood. In fact the presence of African descended people began in the 1830s during the years of the removal. 

Slaves came, free people of color also came in smaller numbers.  After slavery officially ended in 1866, the black towns thrived for several decades.  Schools appeared on the landscape, but now, 100 years later, no historic landmarks speak out from the land. But African people lived on the soil and their home was the Choctaw Nation, the Chickasaw Nation, the Cherokee Nation the Muscogee Creek Nation, and the Seminole Nation.

We were there, and our history is part of the legacy of the Territory, the legacy of the Five Tribes, and the legacy of what is now Oklahoma.