All My Ancestors

Today I had the opportunity to consult the Melven Cornish papers.  At the OHS Library we have this collection on microfilm.  The original is housed at the University of Oklahoma’s Western History Collections.

I’m putting in a plug here for the Western History Collections. If you research western history, or if you had family working or living in this area, you owe it to yourself to learn about this special collection.  This link is just to what’s digitized and available online–wonderful resources.  The Indian Pioneer History Papers are interviews that were done by the WPA with persons who were living in Oklahoma and/or Indian Territory before and during the statehood years.  Browse through some of the photos on this website–cowboys, Indians, civil rights, OU history, football and otherwise–just a sample of what this collection holds.

But the collection I was perusing today was the Melven Cornish Collection.  [Take a look at all the Native American related collections digitized at their site http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/nam/browse.asp?sub=7.]

Why is looking at this particular collection important for my search for information about the Richard Hagar MCR 7334 file?  When the enrollments were being done, in between 1898 and 1906, the tribes hired attorneys to protect their interests.  The persons who were applying often hired attorneys to work their applications through the Commission.

The bottom line about the Dawes Commission was that it was a way to determine who was going to get land, and, as you can imagine, this attracted lots of folks who were not entitled to an allotment from one of the Indian tribes.  I don’t know if this was Richard Hagar’s motive.  But I do know that the Chickasaw and Choctaws hired a firm from McAlester, Oklahoma, that included Melven Cornish.   Mr. Cornish had begun his involvement with the Dawes Commission as a stenographer for the persons applying for citizenship as Choctaw freedmen back in 1898.  Here’s the description of this collection:

Cornish, Melven (b. ca. 1870)
		Papers 1876-1940 20 feet Attorney. Case files (1903-1904) and letterbooks (1900-1905) relating to Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians citizenship claims; dockets (1903-1904) for the central and southern divisions of the U. S. District Court; an account book (1899); and a record book (1876) entitled Proceedings of the Court of Claims, Choctaw Nation, along with clippings (1896-1907) and published court documents (1900-1940) relating to Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian cases represented by the law firm of Mansfield, McMurray, and Cornish in U.S. courts.

I thought there might be something in his papers related to this Hagar case, but if so, it is not a major part.  Thee name index does not include the Hagar name or any thing that might be an alternate spelling.  I was hoping that the answers, or at least the response, to the 5 page (single spaced!) questionnaire sent to the deponents Richard Hagar has introduced into the record–John D. Layne and Caswell Griffith, both from Arkansas [sic].  No such luck.

April 6, 1904, a letter to is sent to Richard Hagar’s attorney in Sulphur Springs, Texas, J. A. Hurley, informing him that the Commission has rendcered its decision “refusing the application for identification as Mississippi Choctaws of the several persons included in the case of Richard Hagar et al.”  The letter is signed by T. B. Needles, Commissioner in Charge.  A similarly phrased letter is also sent to Richard Hagar whose address is given as Fort Towson, Indian Territory, and a third copy is sent to “Mansfield, McMurray & Cornish, Attorneys for Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, South McAlester, Indian Territory.”

Not everyone thought the law firm was behaving legally nor in the best interest of the Choctaws and Chickasaws.  Here’s a link to an article protesting the actions of this law firm from the 1910 New York Times.

Another view, included in the obituary of partner George A. Mansfield states

He removed to South McAlester, Indian Territory, and became the senior member of the law firm of Mansfield, McMurray & Cornish. This law firm represented the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations of Indians from 1899 to 1908, their most notable achievement being the defeat of the citizenship claimants, known as Court claimants, and the restoration to the Tribes of claims, for lands and property of the value of several million dollars.

Kent Carter’s book on The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914 is the source to help you understand all the forces at work during this time.  There are no easy answers.

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So when Richard Hagar was given a month to provide additional information as to why he and his children should be admitted to the Mississippi Choctaw rolls, he submitted a statement by Joe Toten, a resident of Suqualak, Noxubee County, Mississippi.  The name Toten is “corrected” throughout the statement with a pen, so I’m not positive that is the name–it might be Taten.  And I believe Suqualak should probably be Shuqualak, which is a small town in Noxubee County, Mississippi.

Richard says that he expects to prove by this witness that his (Richard’s) grandfather was Steely Hagah and resided in Mississippi until 1857 and then moved to Arkansaw [sic].  Toten says Steely Hagah was a half-breed Mississippi Choctaw and that his wife was full blood Mississippi Choctaw, that the said Streely [sic] was registered by the US Commissioners in 1837 as a Mississippi Choctaw and was enrolled and recognized as a Mississippi Choctaw by the commissioners.  As such a recognized and enrolled Mississippi Choctaw, he received lands from the government of the U.S., and resided on same for a period of more than five years.  That Steely Hagah was recognized among the Mississippi Choctaw Indians of Mississippi and known and accepted as such in 1830.  That Joe Toten was personally acquainted with the said Steely Hagah and personally knew all the members of his family.  That he personally knew Stirling Hagah to be the son of the said Steely Hagah, and that the “said Stirling Hagah is the father of your applicant R. Hagah.”  That Joe Toten personally knew the said Stirling Hagah and the members of his family.

And then, in closing, the statement says,

That the said Joe Toten is now 97 years of age, and is not unable from age and infirmatives to personally appear before the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes to give his testimony in person.

This sent me straight to the 1900 census for Noxubee County, Mississippi.

I was not surprised to find no one who matched this person.

So I went back to 1880.  For this year, I found, in Noxubee County, a fairly good match.  If Joe was 97 in 1903, that means he was born about 1806.  Here’s a J. H. who was born about 1810, AND who is living in the said county.

J. H. Tatum 70

S. A. Tatum 59

Jane Reed 42

Did Richard use a person his father had known in Mississippi and construct supportive testimony for his 1903 application?  Richard sends this statement from his home in Sulphur Springs, Texas, in April 1903, a month after his personal appearance before the Commission.  How did he get this statement from a man, who, if alive, lived almost 500 miles away?

Also enclosed is the testimony of a man named John D. Layne, whose residence is given as Rockey Comfort in Little River, State of Arkansaw.  Mr. Layne’s age is given a 82, and I did find a good match for this witness.

1900  Jackson, Little River County, Arkansas

John D Layne 79

Elizabeth Layne 76

William Smith 17

Margaret Smith 16

Robert Smith 12

Willis Smith 9

Wayne Jackson 7

Layne professes to have know Mary Hagah, the wife of Steely Hagah, that she was the mother of Stirling Hagah who was the father of the applicant, that she was a Mississippi Choctaw Indian, that Stirling Hagah and Dan Hagah his brother always claimed to be Choctaw Indians and that they looked like they had Indian blood in them, and that they claimed kin to Robert Jones of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.

He, too, is unable from advanced age to appear before the Commission.

A third deponent, Caswell Griffith, also from Little River County, Arkansas, provides about the same information, though he does provide Mary’s maiden name as Huckbee and that Steely and son Stirling both spoke the Choctaw language.  He notes that Mary’s father’s name was John Jones and that Mary had the appearance of a full blood Choctaw, and that all the Hagahs claimed to be Choctaw.  He says he was about 18 at the time of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, which was signed in 1830, making him born about 1812.

The closest I can get to a person with this name is in 1880 in Little River County, Arkansas

Caswill Griffith 52

Allice Griffith 30

Cisero Griffith 22

Rocksiana Griffith 20

Nancy Griffith 18

Edward Griffith 14

There are Griffiths still living in the area in 1900, but I did not find Caswell.

All three of these oaths are submitted with a notary from Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas, where Richard Hagar is living, saying that R. Hagar is known to him and that after being duly sworn, says the facts set out in the foregoing documents are true and correct to the best of his information knowledge and belief.

If I’m reading the packet correctly, these depositions are added to the application packet, but the Commissioners also sent a 3 page questionnaire to Richard’s attorney in Sulphur Springs, to be administered to each of the witnesses.

I did not find any responses among the 60+ pages.

There is another letter that states it encloses a certified copy of the marriage license and certificate between T. R. Hagar and Mary Fowler.  Unfortunately, no copy of the marriage record is in the packet, nor is the date or place of the marriage provided. [Other records indicate Richard Hagar is also knows as Thomas Richard Hagar.]

So what to make of these statements?  What parts of the depositions are true and what parts are not?  I would very much like to believe that the maiden names for the women are correct–I find other documents online that have these names for the wives, but what are the sources?  I believe that the information about the westward movement from Mississippi to Arkansas to Texas (in Richard’s case) is accurate.

I’ll post more about this case later.

I’ve been working in the census records and have found data on Richard’s family in Texas and Arkansas.  I’ll continue that search.

In addition, at the OHS Library, we have copies of the Melvyn Cornish papers.

So who is Melvyn Cornish, you ask?

Melvyn Cornish was one of the attorneys for the Choctaw Nation during this time period.

I can hardly wait to see what’s there.

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OK.  So yesterday I told you I’d try to follow up on the applications to the Dawes Commission by the Hagar families.  Yesterday I discussed the application of Arthur Lee Hagar for his 5 minor children.  Today, I will discuss the application, also rejected, of Richard Hagar, made 13 July 1903.

This packet is over 60 pages in length–much longer than the documentation found in the AL Hagar materials.  Richard states that he is 60, that he was born in Tennessee, lived in Itawamba County, Mississippi for a while, and is now residing in Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas.  Arthur, born in 1875, would have been about 28 at the time he made his application, though his age is not provided in the materials.  There is some thought that Richard may be Arthur’s uncle, but we haven’t gotten that far yet.  (I worked on these families years ago and evidently lost the database in one of my computer upgrades–but I still have the paper!!)

Richard gives the name of his father as Sterling Hagar and his mother as Mary.  He states that his father’s father’s name was Stelly Hagar and that he was married to Mary Ann Jones.  It is through Mary Ann Jones, daughter of John Jones, according to Richard Hagar, that he is claiming to be 1/4 Choctaw.

Richard is repeatedly asked if any of his family were part of an earlier application process–were they a party to the Treaty of 1830 (commonly called the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek).  He consistently answers “no” or “I can’t say.”  He does answer “yes” when he is asked if he wants additional time to present further evidence.  He’s given 30 days.

In closing for this first appearance before the Commission, he is also asked if he speaks or understands the Choctaw language.  A:  No

Is there any further statement you wish to make?  A: No

Have any of your relatives been before the Commission?  A: No

And then this observation recorded by the clerk:

This applicant has the appearance of a white man; shows no indication of possessing Choctaw blood; hair formerly brown, now gray; blue eyes, light complexion, mustache formerly sandy; he has no knowledge of the compliance on the part of his ancestors with the provisions of article 14 of the treaty of 1830.

Are you getting a sense of what the answer’s going to be?

The final decision appears to have come down 15 Mar 1904.  A paragraph long sentence essentially says that while there are persons named John Jones  and Mollie Jones McGee Hagah/Hagar in the territory where the Choctaws resided in Mississippi and Alabama,  that none of these persons ever applied for or were granted Choctaw citizenship, either in Mississippi nor in the Indian territory.

That’s the short version.  The packet also includes some fascinating testimony from persons who supposedly knew Richard Hagar’s father and grandfather.  I’ll talk about that tomorrow.

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This week another family story was confirmed by a record.

My mother in law, now 94 and youngest of the 12 children born to Arthur Lee Hagar and Samantha Hawkins, always said that Pappy (Arthur) had “gone up to try to get on the rolls” from their home in Eastland County, Texas.  Their family has a story of Native American heritage, and like many of the persons I work with at the Oklahoma Historical Society Library, “look” like they might have Indian heritage.

Early in my genealogical searching, I looked for a connection and did not find one.  But this week another family researcher shared one sheet from the rejected application to the Mississippi Choctaw New Born rolls made by Arthur Hagar.  In 1906, he applied for membership for 5 of his and Samanthan’s children–Clarence, Cecil, Vera, Velma, and Vernon.  All of these children were under the age of 8–Clarence was 7, wins Vera and Velma were age 5, Cecil was 2 and Vernon was just a year old.

Here’s where it pays to look for the records.  I’d always thought that the Hagar family thought their Indian heritage came through Samantha Hawkins’ line, but I was wrong.  In some of these applications, it is Arthur who is claiming to be Choctaw.  I say on some.  On others, it appears that they both claim Choctaw tribal membership and on others neither claims to be Choctaw.  I don’t necessarily believe these people were trying to be deceptive–their statements are on forms typed by a clerk and I’m not sure the clerk’s typing is accurate in every case–not to mention that copies appear to be re-typed on another form rather than using carbon on these particular documents.

In any case, the reason for refusal is based on “Section 2 of the Act of Congress approved April 26, 1905 (Public No. 129), provides:

That for ninety days after the approval hereof applications shall be received for enrollment of children who were minors living March fourth, nineteen hundred and six, whose parents have been enrolled as members of the Choctaw, Chickawaw, Cherokee, or Creek tribes, or have applications for enrollment pending at the approval hereof.”

So the children were denied because their parents were not enrolled  on any of the tribal rolls nor was an application pending.  These papers are in packet 291 on the Mississippi Choctaw packets.  I found them through my subscription to Footnote.com–they are also available on microfilm in the OHS Library.

This Hagar family did not meet another criteria for enrolling onto the Final Rolls through the Dawes Commission–they did not live in Indian Territory.  I will have to investigate if there were exceptions for those who were attempting to enroll as Mississippi Choctaw.  From Kent Carter’s The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribe, 1893-1914, I do know that some of the Commission traveled to Mississippi to locate Choctaws who had remained there when most of the tribe had been moved on west into what is now southern Oklahoma.  But so far I’ve found nothing that provides an exception for persons living in Texas.

So despite the failed attempt to enroll, these documents do support the family story.  It is also, perhaps,  a lesson to re-create and confirm some of those early findings.

Tomorrow (or so) I’ll post about another Hagar who appealed the decision to not be admitted and talk about some of the records generated by that process.

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