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Tobias Brock Examination by the Commission
Meridian, Mississippi, April 18,1901.
In the matter of the application of
Tobias Brock for identification as a Mississippi Choctaw.
Tobias Brock, being first duly sworn, upon
his oath testified as follows:
Examination by the Commission.
Q.
What is you name?
A.
Tobias Brock.
Q.
What is your age?
A.
Sixty eight.
Q.
What is your Post Office address?
A.
Shubuta.
Q.
Mississippi,
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
How long have you lived in Mississippi?
A.
I have been here thirty- eight years sir.
Q.
Where did you live before you came here?
A.
Choctaw, Alabama.
Q.
How long did you live in Choctaw, Alabama?
A.
Hold on! –sixty eight – I have been here twenty eight years.
Q.
In Mississippi?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
How long did you live in Choctaw, Alabama?
A.
I come here the second or third year after the surrender from
Alabama.
Q.
How long did you live in Choctaw Alabama?
A.
I was born there, and lived there until I come to Mississippi.
Q.
What is you father’s name?
A.
Willoughby Trotter.
Q.
Is he living?
A.
No sir, he is dead.
Q.
What was you Mother’s name?
A.
Becky Brock.
Q.
Is she living?
A.
No sir, she is dead.
Q.
Through which one of your parents do you derive you Choctaw blood?
A.
From my father.
Q.
How much Choctaw blood do you claim?
A.
I claim a quarter.
Q.
Has your father ever been recognized in any manner, or enrolled as
a member of the Choctaw tribe of Indians by the Choctaw tribal
authorities, or by the authorities of the United States?
A.
No sir, not as I knows of.
Q.
Are you married?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
What is your wife’s name?
A.
Emeline Brock.
Q.
Do you make application on behalf of your wife?
A.
No sir.
Q.
Have any children?
A.
Five
Q.
Are any of them under twenty one years of age and unmarried?
A.
Ain’t none of them under age.
Q.
Is your name on any of the tribal rolls of the Choctaw Nation, in
Indian Territory?
A.
Not as I knows of.
Q.
Have you ever made application to the Choctaw tribal authorities in
the Indian Territory to be enrolled as a member of that tribe?
A.
No sir.
Q.
Did you, or anyone for you, in 1896, make application to the
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes for citizenship in the Choctaw
Nation under the Act of Congress of June 10, 1896?
A.
No sir.
Q.
Have you ever been admitted to citizenship in the Choctaw Nation,
by either the
Choctaw tribal authorities, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes,
or by the
United States Court in Indian Territory?
A.
No sir.
Q.
Have you ever made application prior to this time to either the
Choctaw tribal
authorities, or to the authorities of the United States, to be admitted or
enrolled as
a citizen of the Choctaw Nation?
A.
No sir.
Q.
Is this the first application you have made of any description?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
Is it now your purpose to make application for identification as a
Mississippi Choctaw?
A. Yes sir.
Q.
Do you claim your right as a beneficiary under the provisions of
the Fourteenth article of the Treaty of 1830?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
I will read it to you; it is as follows:
“Each Choctaw head of a family, being desirous to remain and become a
citizen of the States, shall be permitted to do so, by signifying his
intention to the Agent, within six months from the ratification of this
Treaty, and he or she shall thereupon be entitled to a reservation of one
section of six hundred and forty acres of Land, to be bounded by sectional
lines of survey; in like manner shall be entitled to one-half that
quantity for each unmarried child who is living with him over ten years of
age; and a quarter section to each child as may be under ten years of age,
to adjoin the location of the parent. If they reside upon said lands
intending to become citizens of the States for five years after the
ratification of this Treaty, in that case, a grant in fee simple shall
issue; said reservation shall include the present improvement of the head
of the family, or a portion of it. Persons who claim under this Article
shall not lose the privilege of a Choctaw citizen, but if they ever remove
are not entitled to any portion of
the Choctaw annuity.”
Q. Have you
ever received any benefits as a Choctaw Indian?
-
No sir.
-
Have any of your ancestors
ever received any benefits as Choctaw Indians?
-
No sir.
-
Who among your ancestors were
residents of the old Choctaw Nation, in Mississippi and Alabama, and
acknowledged members of the Choctaw tribe of Indians in 1830, when the
treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was entered into between the United
States and the Choctaw tribe of Indians?
-
My father and my grand
father.
-
Have you any evidence
showing that your father or grand father were recognized members of the
Choctaw tribe of Indians at that time?
-
No sir, than what they said.
Q. Did
they remove from the Territory occupied by the Choctaw Nation in
Mississippi and Alabama to the present Choctaw Nation, In Indian
Territory, at
The time of the removal of the other members of the Choctaw tribe of
Indians
Between the years 1833 and 1838?
A
No sir.
-
Did they within six months
after the ratification of the treaty of 1830, signify to
the
United States Indian Agent of the Choctaw in Mississippi, their intention
to
remain
in Mississippi and become citizens of the United States?
-
No sir.
-
Have any of your ancestors
ever claimed or received any land in Mississippi as
Beneficiaries
under the provisions of the Fourteenth Article of the Treaty of 1830?
-
No sir.
-
Are there any additional
statements you desire to make in support of your
Application?
-
Not any
-
Have you any documentary
evidence, affidavits, written testimony of any description, copies of
record, deeds on patents, or any proper papers showing that you
ancestors were ever recognized members of the Choctaw tribe of Indians
in Mississippi in the year 1830, or that they ever complied, or
attempted to comply, with the provisions
Of the
Fourteenth Article of the Treaty of 1830, or that they have ever received
any benefits under that article of that treaty?
-
No Sir.
(This applicant has the appearance of being a negro, and shows no
indication of being possessed of Indian blood. He speaks a few Choctaw
words, but is unable to carry on a conversation in Choctaw, and does not
understand the language thoroughly.)
The
decision of the Commission as to your application for identification as a
Mississippi Choctaw will be determined at the earliest possible date, and
a report of the same made to the Secretary of the Indian Interior
conformable to the provisions of the Twenty First Section of the Act of
Congress of June 28, 1898, and a copy of the same will be mailed to you at
your post office address as given in you testimony.
R.S.Streit, being first duly sworn, upon his oath states that as
stenographer to the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, he reported
in full, the proceedings had in the above entitled cause, on the 18th
day of April, A.D. 1901, and that the above and foregoing is a full, true
and correct translation of his stenographic notes of said proceedings on
said date.
R.S.Streit
Subscribed and sworn to before me at Meridian, Mississippi, this 27th
day of April, 1901.
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