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Bumgarner, Lou,
Choctaw
Lou Bumgarner Et Al.,
Choctaws.
Commission memorandum No. 226. Dawes No.
620.
September 8, 1896. Application was made to
the Dawes Commission for the enrollment of
George A. Bumgarner, stepson of the
principal applicant, as a citizen by blood.
The record shows that the answer of the
Choctaw Nation was filed, but said answer
does not appear among the papers.
December 2,1896. Decision of the commission
in words and figures as follows, to wit:
"Denied." No appeal taken from this
decision.
December 1, 1905. Petition was filed for the
enrollment as citizens by blood of the
Choctaw Nation of Lou Bumgarner, John H.
Bumgarner, Lee Bumgarner, William Bumgarner,
Annie Bumgarner, Pink Bumgarner, Bob
Bumgarner, minor children of Lou Bumgarner,
and George A. Bumgarner, stepson of Lou
Bumgarner.
The sworn statement of the principal
applicant attached to the petition sets out
that she was born in the Choctaw Nation on
the 16th day of May. 1867; that her great
grandfather Stevens was a white man who
married a full-blood Choctaw woman who
became the mother of Jesse Stephens,
grandfather of applicant, and through whom
she inherits her Choctaw blood; that
applicant's mother married S. P. Shirley,
father of applicant; that she left the
Choctaw Nation when a little girl but
returned in 1880 and had lived continuously
in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations ever
since; that she married Hubbard Bumgarner
under the Choctaw law, and that the
above-named children were born in lawful
wedlock; that she and her children were
enrolled upon the Choctaw tribal rolls by
the Choctaw revisory board January 14, 1897;
that she had not made application to the
commission, as she did not know the
necessity of it and thought her citizenship
complete.
Attached to the petition was the following
certificate:
981, John H. Bumgarner: 982, Lee Bumgarner:
983, George Bumgarner; 984, William
Bumgarner; 985. Annie Bumgarner: 986. Pink
Bumgarner; 987, Bob Bumgarner.
This is to certify that the above names were
enrolled ou the legal citizenship of the
Choctaw Nation by the chief commissioner
board at Tuskahoma.
This January 14, 1897.
A. B. Durant, Chairman.
P. Davis A. Homer, Clerk.
This is to certify that A. B. Durant is the
duly appointed chairman of the board of
census commissioners appointed under an act
of the General Council of the Choctaw
Nation, passed at the regular session of
1896. for the purpose of enrolling citizens
of the Choctaw Nation.
Given under my hand and the seal of the
Choctaw Nation at the city of Caddo, Ind.
T., this the 23d day of January, 1897.
[seal.] Solomon .T. Homer,
National Secretary, Choctaw Nation.
Indorsed on the back as follows:
296 filed for record April 18, 1898. 3 p.
in.
C. M. Campbell, Clerk.
There is also attached a certificate of
C. M. Campbell, clerk of the United States
court for the southern district of the
Indian Territory, that the above certificate
of enrollment was filed for record in his
office on the date indicated.
January 8, 1906. The commissioner reported
to the secretary that the names of
applicants were found on the tribal rolls
with the notation opposite, "Enrolled
without authority of law," and that as it
did not appear that application had been
made for their enrollment prior to December
25, 1902, he recommended that applicants be
advised that he was without authority to
receive their application. (Copy hereto
attached.)
February 10, 1906. The department concurred
in the recommendation of the commissioner,
and denied the petition.
March 8, 1906. Motion for review filed with
department, in which the following reasons
were assigned therefor:
1. That the record showed that her
application was made December 1, 1905 (date
fixed by act of Apr. 26, 1906). and that
applicants wore on the tribal rolls.
2. That applicants had no knowledge of the
notation having been made upon the tribal
rolls opposite their names; that it was made
without their consent or notice to them.
3. That it was not shown when said
indorsement was made, or by whom, whether
placed thereon by authority or by some
person maliciously.
4. That said notation is a legal conclusion
of some clerk of the commission or officer
of the nation.
5. That under the opinion of the Assistant
Attorney General in the case of William A.
Thompson the action of the revisory board In
enrolling applicants was legal.
April 17. 1006. Department referred said
motion to the commission with directions
that the same be adjudicated in accordance
with the act of Congress approved April 26,
1906.
June 18, 1906. Proceedings were had before
the commissioner, and Lou Bumgarner
testified that she had made no application
in person or by letter prior to December 1.
1905; that applications had not been made
for the enrollment of any of the applicants
prior to that time, except as to George A.
Bumgarner for whom application made
September 8, 1896.
October 1, 1906. Decision of the
commissioner rendered, holding that no
application had been made within the time
prescribed by law (prior to Dec. 1, 1905),
except as to George A. Bumgarner, and that
his case be determined upon its merits. .
October 15, 1900. Separate decision of the
commissioner ordering the enrollment of
George A. Bumgarner as a citizen by blood.
January 19, 1907. The commissioner forwarded
to the Secretary a schedule of enrolled
citizens for his approval, said schedule
containing the name of George A. Bumgarner.
February 28, 1907. The Secretary affirmed
the action of the commissioner, refusing to
consider application of Lou Bumgarner et al.
March 4, 1907. Secretary disapproved
schedule of citizens containing name of
George A. Bumgarner.
Tribal Enrollment
The following is a certified copy of that
portion of the 1896 tribal roll containing
names of applicants:
Statement by Counsel
Counsel for claimants respectfully submit
that the birth of applicants in the Choctaw
Nation, of Choctaw parentage, their
continuous residence In said notion, and
enrollment by the legal authority of the
Choctaw Nation, entitles them to
consideration by the Congress of the United
States, to the end that they be restored to
those rights of which they were deprived by
the unauthorized and culpable action of the
chief clerk of the former Commissioner to
the Five Civilized Tribes, William O. Beall,
In first making n pencil notation upon the
tribal rolls that the applicants were
enrolled without authority of law, and then
in failing to inform the Secretary that such
notation was so made by him.
It Is a matter of common knowledge that the
tribal officials, upon the last day of the
authority of the commissioner to receive
applications, made application to the
commission for the enrollment of all persons
whose names appeared upon the tribal rolls,
and who had not theretofore applied. It
would appear that the department considered
the blanket application made by the tribal
officers as not applying to these people,
because the conclusion was clear from the
report of the commissioner that they had
never been legally enrolled. Had this
concealment of fact and suppression of
information been known to the department,
applicants herein would now be In possession
of their property.
Those entitled to enrollment are: Lou
Bumgarner, John Bumgarner, Lee Bumgarner,
William Bumgarner, Annie Bumgarner, Pink
Bumgarner, Bob Bumgarner, George A.
Bumgarner.
Respectfully submitted.
Walter S. Field, Attorney for Claimants.
Census roll of Choctaw Nation.
1681 Bumgarner, Jno. W. Head of
family, Enrolled without authority of
law.
1682 Bumgarner, Low, Enrolled without authority of
law.
1683 Child Bumgarner, Geo., Male, Enrolled without authority of
law.
1684 Child Bumgarner, Wm., Male, Enrolled without authority of
law.
1685 Child Bumgarner, Annie, Female, Enrolled without authority of
law.
1686 Child Bumgarner, Pink., Female, Enrolled without authority of
law.
1687 Child Bumgarner, Bob., Enrolled without authority of
law.
This is to certify that I am the officer
having custody of the records pertaining to
the enrollment of the members of the
Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and
Seminole Tribes of Indians and the
distribution of the land of said tribes, and
that the above and foregoing is a true and
correct copy of that portion of page 41 of
the "Census roll of Choctaw Nation,'' Blue
County, taken November, 1890, showing the
tribal enrollment of the persons whose names
appear opposite Nos. 1681 to 1687, both
inclusive, together with blue lead pencil
notation appearing on the margin thereof
opposite said names. Muskogee, Okla.,
November 1, 1910.
J. Geo. Wright,
Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes.
By W. H. Angell,
Clerk in charge of Choctaw Records.
Department of the Interior,
Commission To The Five Civilized Tribes,
Muskogee, Ind. T.. January 8, 1906.
The
honorable the Secretary of yhe Interior.
Sir: On December 6, 1905 (I. T. D.
11827-1905), the Secretary of the Interior
referred to this office for report a
petition of Chester Howe in the matter of
the claim of Mrs. Lou Bumgarner and her
children to enrollment as citizens of the
Choctaw Nation; also statement of Mrs. Lou
Bumgarner and certificate of A. It. Durant
and Solomon J. Homer to the enrollment of
John H. Bumgarner, Lou Bumgarner,
George Bumgarner, William Bumgarner,
Annie Bumgarner, Pink Bumgarner, and Bob
Bumgarner by the Choctaw revisory board.
January 14, 1807.
Reporting in this matter I have the honor to
advise that the names of Jno. W. Bumgarner,
Lon Bumgarner, George Bumgarner, William
Bumgarner, Annie Bumgarner, Pink
Bumgarner, and Bob Bumgarner appear upon
the 1896 census roll of the citizens of the
Choctaw Nation, Blue County, opposite Nos.
1681 to 1687 Inclusive, respectively, and
that opposite their name Is the notation:
"Enrollment without authority of law."
I have further to report that it does not
appear from the records of this office that
application has been made by or on behalf of
the persons above named for enrollment as
citizens of the Choctaw Nation prior to
December 25, 1902.
It is alleged in the statement of Mrs. Lou
Bumgarner accompanying the petition of
Chester Howe that she is a citizen by blood
(of the Choctaw Nation) and has resided in
the Choctaw country since February, 1880;
that she made no application to the
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes not
knowing that any necessity existed therefor
and believing that her citizenship was
complete, and that she did not know until
recently that her citizenship was contested.
I have therefore to recommend, inasmuch as
no application was made to the Commission to
the Five Civilized Tribes prior to December
25, 1902. for enrollment as citizens of the
Choctaw Nation of Mrs. Bumgarner and her
children above named, that Mr. Howe be
advised that under the provisions of the act
of Congress approved July 1, 1902. there is
now no authority for the reception of
original applications for enrollment in the
Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.
The petition of Chester Howe is herewith
returned.
Respectfully,
(Signed) Tams Bixby,
Commissioner.
(Through the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs.)
Notes About the Book:
Source: Five Civilized Tribes In Oklahoma, Reports of the Department of the
Interior and Evidentiary Papers in support of S. 7625, a Bill for the Relief of
Certain Members of the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma, Sixty-second Congress,
Third Session, Published 1913, by the Department of the Interior, United States.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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