Genealogy Pointers, Jan. 10, 2017
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New Books for January
"Federal Records of the Five Civilized Tribes," by Rachal Mills Lennon
 Pennsylvania Vital Records Collection Priced for Quick Sale
Grant issued to a Drawer in the Cherokee Land
Lottery of 1832
New Books for January
Michael Ports has sent us three new books bound to interest persons with Georgia
ancestry. Two of them concern lotteries devoted to the distribution of former Native
American land ceded to the U.S. and falling within Georgia. The third new title is the
latest book in Dr. Ports' series of transcriptions of Jefferson County Inferior Court
minutes.
Baldwin County, Georgia, Lottery Drawers for 1820 and 1821
In 1820 and again in 1821, the State of Georgia conducted the Third and Fourth Land
Lotteries to distribute former Cherokee and Creek lands within the state that those tribes
had ceded to the federal government between 1814 and 1818. The records of those
lotteries for Baldwin County, Georgia, in particular, are available on microfilm at the
Georgia Department of Archives and History. The lottery rolls identify both the persons
eligible to participate in the two lotteries and the names of the "Fortunate Drawers," the
persons who actually won title to the former Indian lands. The arrangement of the lottery
records themselves is according to the old Baldwin County Militia Districts, and
thereunder by the names of militia officers. Each resident is identified by name and one or
more of the eligibility categories that entitled him/her to take part in the lottery: Applicant
Generally; Widow, Widow of Someone Who Died in Public Service during the War of
1812; Orphans of Persons Who Died in the War; Orphans Generally, Revolutionary
Officers and Soldiers; or Persons Who Served during the Late Seminole Wars. The
complete name index at the back of this new volume makes it easy to search for any of the
more than 3,000 Baldwin county inhabitants found herein.
Jefferson County, Georgia, Lottery Drawers for 1827 and 1832
The contents and arrangement of this volume are similar to those of the Baldwin County,
Georgia lottery book described above. The lottery rolls identify both the persons eligible to
participate in the two lotteries and the names of the "Fortunate Drawers," the persons
who actually won title to the former Indian lands. Mr. Ports has included a useful history
of the lotteries and a 1952 map of the Jefferson County Militia Districts to aid researchers
in more precisely locating the origins of potential ancestors. In all, this new, indexed work
identifies about 2,000 people who took part in the Jefferson County lotteries.
Jefferson County, Georgia, Inferior Court Minutes. Volume VII: [October 26, 1835-May
20, 1868]
The Jefferson County Inferior Court had jurisdiction over county business matters, such
as care for the poor, building and maintaining the courthouse and jails, building and
maintaining roads and bridges, issuing liquor licenses, nominating justices of the peace,
performing naturalizations, appointing guardians, authorizing indentures, and
maintaining a register of wills. Volume VII of Inferior Court minute transcriptions is
based on the original Minute Books 10, 11, and 12 and carries the series forward from
October 26, 1835 through May 20, 1868. It is the concluding volume in this series, and by
far the largest one.
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"Federal Records of the Five Civilized Tribes," by
Rachal Mills Lennon
Excerpted from the book Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes, which is
available from us as an eBook as well as a print book.
Historical Background
The history and culture of the American South are unique, owing chiefly to the
intermingling of the races and the diverse ethnic backgrounds of countless families.
Modern Southerners proudly boast traditions--real or not--of Native American ancestry.
Odds are, these traditions lead directly back to the so-called Five Civilized Tribes. The
Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Indians dominated a broad swath of
territory from North Carolina to Mississippi before their forced removal westward. Long
hailed for their adaptability to "white" ways (hence the designation "civilized"), these
nations have gained near honorific status among Southeastern genealogists.
The five Indian groups that dominated the Southeast, known to history as the Five
Civilized Tribes, were not all of the same ethnic family. The Cherokee were the
southernmost branch of the Iroquois. Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles were
dominant members of the Muskogean family. Beyond these, several other tribes were still
viable in the Lower South as the U.S. government moved into and across that area--for
example, the Catawba in South Carolina and the Koasati (Coushatta) in Alabama-although federal records of the late 18th and 19th centuries largely ignore these smaller
groups.
In Arkansas and Louisiana, states normally considered part of the Southeastern U.S.,
other tribes were active. However, the major groups there (the Caddo and Osage) were
culturally akin to the tribes of the Southwest and the Plains. Smaller groups--remnants of
the Attakapas, Chitimachas, Taensa, and Tunica, for example--had exceedingly limited
relations with the U.S. until the 20th century; thus, little is found on them in the earlier
federal records. However, by the time the U.S. had acquired this area, via the Louisiana
Purchase of 1803, small bands from the Five Civilized Tribes were already migrating into
Arkansas and Louisiana, first to hunt and then to settle.
Federal relations with America's native peoples were both paternalistic and antagonistic.
Consequently, the surviving historical records were kept for a variety of purposes: to
subdue and subjugate tribes; to effect and maintain treaties; to minimize conflict between
Indians and whites (and blacks); to acquire territory; to identify and compensate
individual Indians and white countrymen displaced by land transfers; to remove tribes; to
educate and assimilate individuals; and, of course, to financially support whole groups
after they were reduced to welfare status by Euro-American encroachment.
Chronological Framework of Federal Records
Pre-modern records of federal interaction with American Indians are divided broadly into
three bureaucratic periods. A basic familiarity with these political time divisions is
essential to the location of federal records.
1774-1789: Pre-Federal Era:
September 1774 saw the first assembly of the Continental Congress, a body that would
govern until the individual colonies adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1781. From
then until the creation of the U.S. in 1789, the union was governed by Confederation
congresses, which created three separate Indian superintendencies to serve the Southern,
Middle, and Northern tribes. The records of this era are maintained separately froth the
federal records below.
1789-1824: War Department Era:
With the creation of the U.S. in 1789, Indian affairs were assigned to the Department of
War, where authority would remain for the next 35 years. Most records in the War
Department were destroyed by fire on 8 November 1800. Consequently, for genealogical
purposes, most "Indian records" within this department date only from 1800 to 1824. In
1806, an Office of Indian Trade was established within the War Department--a
bureaucratic move that caused another regrouping of records.
1824-1947: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Era:
In March 1824, the War Department established a separate Office (later Bureau) of Indian
Affairs--generally known today as the BIA. This office functioned until 1849, when it was
moved to the Department of the Interior.
Hence, those "Indian records" genealogists seek at the National Archives are scattered
across several collections, according to time frame: i.e., the records of the Continental
Congress, the War Department, and the BIA. Most extant records of the Continental
Congress have been published in print or microform, with excellent indexes. For the War
Department era, resources are more limited and far less easily explored. Under the BIA,
vast resources have been created, and major ones now have finding aids and published
transcripts or abstracts. Yet many researchers who use them to search for Southeastern
Indian forebears are disappointed because the BIA materials on these tribes predominantly relate to families that removed to Oklahoma. [END]
From this point in her book, Ms. Lennon proceeds to describe the salient federal records
along topical and tribal lines, creating a highly focused catalog of the federal holdings that
are most helpful for studying the Southeastern Indians who did not migrate westward. To
Look Inside Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes: Southeastern Indians
Prior to Removal or order as an eBook or print book, visit
https://library.genealogical.com/details/3bnv3
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Pennsylvania Vital Records Collection Priced for
Quick Sale
(Sale price in effect until 11:59 p.m. EST, Wednesday January 11, 2017.)
Our three-volume collection Pennsylvania Vital Records contains reprints of virtually every
article on births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths that ever appeared in the two most
important Pennsylvania periodicals, The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and
Biography and The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. As with similar compilations, this
work was produced with the object of bringing all such material within reach of the
genealogist, for complete sets of these periodicals are almost impossible to find these days.
Our three volumes are, of course, completely indexed--a necessity in a work that contains
references to over 100,000 persons. For the period prior to 1820, in fact, they offer the
researcher perhaps his best chance of making ancestral connections in Pennsylvania.
Best of all, we have dropped the price on this outstanding collection by more than 50%--from
$200 to $99.95. The special sale price of this extraordinary set will remain in effect until 11:59
p.m. EST tomorrow, January 11, 2017. If you have Quaker State ancestors, this is one special
offer you don't want to let slip through your fingers. For more information or to order, visit
www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=4569
Was $200.00 Now $99.95