Records Before the Dawes Roll
1896 Roll Taken Before Dawes Roll
On many Dawes Cards one will see the year 1896 appear under the column entitled “Tribal Enrollment, one will see the year 1896 written. This indicates that two to three years prior to the beginning of the enrollment process for Freedmen, their name had been recorded on a Freedman census of 1896.
There are two versions of the 1896 roll. One is handwritten and the second one is a typed copy. In addition, there are two different places to find the 1896 Roll, and both collections are on Ancestry.
The images of the original 1896 Roll are found in a collection on Ancestry called:
Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S. Indian Censuses and Rolls 1851-1959. There collections on that page. Attention should be paid to one of the collections in that category is called Choctaw Roll, 1896.
When you click on that category---4 reels of microfilm will be available to view.
To find the Choctaw Freedmen information, select Roll 2. On Roll 2, there are 249 images. On page 209, one will find the beginning of the Freedmen names of that particular census. (Note that the image number does not correspond with the hand-written number on the actual page.)
Portion of Freedman page of 1896 Roll.
Image accessed from Ancestry, “Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959, Roll 2, image 209 of 249
The 1896 Roll, can also be found on another Ancestry collection along with enumerations of Choctaw and some Chickasaw Freedmen. They are found in the collection called Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U. S. Marriage, Citizenship and Census Records, 1841-1927.
This contains numerous collections from the Oklahoma Historical Society. It should be noted that there are numerous collections on these reels and some of them do include Freedmen enumerated with the larger Choctaw community, but as a large separate group they are not listed. For example on CTN 4 on page 19 of 468 images one will find a census record from 1874. However, it is not an extensive record for Freedmen.
The main collection to focus on, is CTN& beginning with image 354.
The pages that follow that page, are hand-written images on the 1896 Freedmen census listed by county.
Here is a guide to the various Choctaw Nation counties reflecting Freedmen on that reel. From pages 354 to 462 are the pages of the 1896 Freedmen census.
Image 354-361 1896 Census Boktuklo County
Image 363-371 1896 Eagle County
Image 373-387 1896 Jackson County
Image 389-393 1896 Kiamitia County
Image 395-414 1896 Red River County
Image 416-441 1896 Skullyville County (other districts included in section)
Image 443-455 1896 Towson County
Image 457-462 1896 Wade County
Image 464-495 1896 Misc. Names of Those Admitted to Citizenship
Image 496 Bond Of Jim Goss, pertaining to heirs of Hogan Maytubby
Image 498-510 1896 Cont. of Names of Those Admitted to Citizenship
Image 512 End of CTN 7
1885 Roll-First Census After Citizenship
This roll is found on Ancestry, within the collection titled: Use the link here for the record: “Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S. Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959”.
The roll begins with the names of Choctaw Freedmen by District.
Source: “ Oklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S. Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959”. Image 10 of 146
In some cases interesting notations about the families appear in middle columns of the document as shown below.
The 1885 document reflects the names of the former slave holder from the Choctaw Nation, and if the family was a mixed family it was noted on this record as well as on an earlier document of 1867.
Choctaw Freedmen Census of 1867
On CTN 7 Microfilm from Oklahoma Historical Society
This is the first census taken of people who were held as enslaved people in the Choctaw Nation. Rich genealogical data can be gleaned from this record. The collection was microfilmed in the 1970s and contains over 800 images on microfilm. Within the microfilm are numerous ledgers of Freedmen.
The first images will contain the 1885 census year. The images begin on image #7 with the title page, Freedmen Roll, 1st District, 1885. The names begin on page 11 of the microfilmed collection on Ancestry. The information reflects the names of people admitted to citizenship, other family members, nationality of parents, and the person to whom they belonged before emancipation.
In addition, on the opposite page more information is reflected:
The census was conducted in December 1867, and it reflected all of the counties of the Choctaw Nation at that time. The counties reflected were: San Bois, Skullyville, Sugar Loaf, Gaines, Tobucksy, Wade, Nashoba, Eagle, Boktuklo, Red River, Towson, Cedar, Jacks Fork, Atoka, Kiamichi, and Blue.
The 1867 census is the earliest record reflecting former slaves from the Choctaw Nation.
These records are presented from the Oklahoma Historical Society and are found on microfilm CTN 7, which are now digitized online, on Ancestry. Here is a small index to this reel of microfilm, as found on Ancestry.
Image 7 – Title page
Image 11-44 Those Admitted to Citizenship1st District
Image 46-56 Those Who Elected to Leave[1] from District 1
Image 58-62 Red River County Doubtful citizens[2]
Image 64-67 Those who Elected to Leave from District 2
Images 70-167 Those Admitted to Citizenship 2nd District
Images 169- 178 District 3 Doubtful Citizenship
Images 179 - 185 Those Who Elected to Leave from District 3
Images 187-286 Expense sheet, & Index of Freedmen Admitted by County.
Image 288-351 Minutes and notes of Citizenship Committee
Image 513 -816 Miscellaneous letters, bills, receipts – all non-Freedmen related
Hopefully these three collections of pre-Dawes records will be useful for the family historian expanding their Choctaw Freedmen ancestors. In some cases, the names of Chickasaw Freedmen are also indicated, so it is worthwhile to look at all of the records.
Below are additional articles that reflect examples of Pre-Dawes data:
Choctaw & Chickasaw Freedmen Expanded ResourcesPre-Citizenship Records of Choctaw FreedmenEarly Freedmen Population of Boktuklo County, Choctaw Nation[1] Most who Elected to leave were to have been given $100 each to relocate, however, they payment was never given, and therefore they did not leave the nation. They remained in the Choctaw Nation, and most are found 30 years later on the Dawes Roll, if they had not died, and those listed on the Dawes Roll received their respective land allotments. There are only 81 who were on this list and the others documented remain in the hundreds.
[2] Only 8 people were on this list.