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Benjamin Davis Questioner in Support of Claim
Department
of the Interior
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes
Atoka, I. T. June 12, 1901
#2612
In the matter of the application of Benjamin F. Davis and the
identification of himself and his three minor children as Mississippi
Choctaw.
Benjamin F. Davis having been first duly sworn testified as follows;
Examination by the Commission
Q. What is
your name?
A. Benjamin
F. Davis
Q. What is
your age?
A.
Twenty-nine.
Q. What is
your post-office address?
A.
Paynesprings, Texas
Q. How long
have you lived there?
A. About
twenty years.
Q. Where did
you live before you lived there?
A.
Mississippi
Q. And lived
there until you moved to Texas twenty years ago?
A. Yes
Q. What is
your father’s name?
A. R. M.
Davis
Q. Is he
living?
A. Yes
Q. What is
your mother’s name?
A. Nancy J.
Davis
Q. Is she
living?
A. Yes
Q. Through
which one of your parents do you derive your Choctaw blood?
A. My father
Q. How much
Choctaw blood do you claim
A. One
sixteenth
Q. Has your
father through whom you claim your right to identification as a
Mississippi Choctaw ever been recognized in any manner or enrolled as a
member of the Choctaw tribe of Indians by either the Choctaw tribal
authorities or the authorities of the United States?
A. He has
been recognized.
Q. Well, has
he been recognized by the Choctaw tribal authorities or by the authorities
of the United States?
A. By the
authorities of the United States.
Q. In what
way?
A. Well, he
was just know by the authorities of the United States.
Q. Well, in
what way was he recognized as a member?
A. Well, by
evidence.
Q. Well, did
they put him on the rolls?
A. No, they
didn’t put him on the rolls.
Q. Did they
give him any certificate to show that he was Indian, a member of the
tribe.
A. No, Yes,
only affidavits, evidence, you know.
Q. Well, hod
did the authorities of the United States?
A. Well, I
mean the citizens of the United States.
Q. The
authorities of the United states never recognized your father as a member
of the Choctaw tribe of Indians.
A. No
Q. Are you
married?
A. Yes
Q. What is
your wife’s name?
A. Myra Davis
Q. Do you
make application on behalf or your wife?
A. I don’t
understand that.
Q. Do you
make application for your wife?
A. No
Q. She is a
white woman and has no claim to Indian blood?
A. No, she
don’t claim any.
Q. Have you
any children in your family for whom you wish to make
application at this time ?
A. Yes, three.
Q. Give the names and ages
A. Della, six; Annie, four; and Ellie, two.
Q. Is that all?
A. Yes
Q. Are you
the father?
A. Yes
Q. What is
the name of their mother?
A. Myra Davis
Q. When and
where were you married to Myar Davis?
A. Parker
County, Texas, in ‘93
Q. Did you
obtain a license to marry?
A. Yes
Q. Were you
married by an ordained minister or by an official authorized to perform
the marriage ceremony?
A. By
ordained minister.
Q. Have you
your marriage license and certificate to and do you desire to offer same
in evidence?
A. I haven’t
any marriage license and certificate with me.
It will be necessary for the Commission to be supplied with evidence of
your marriage to your wife tin support of your application on behalf of
your minor children.
Q. Is your
name or are the names of your children on any of the tribal rolls of the
Choctaw nation in Indian Territory?
A. No
Q. Did you
ever make application to the Choctaw tribal authorities in Indian
Territory to have yourself or children enrolled as members of that tribe?
A. No
Q. Did you or
any one for you or your children, 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, 1898?
A. No
Q. Have you
or your children ever been admitted to citizenship in the Choctaw nation
by either the Choctaw tribal authorities, the Commission to the Five
Civilized Tribes or by judgment of the United States Court in Indian
Territory?
A. No
Q. Have you
ever made application prior to this time for yourself or them in either
the Choctaw tribal authorities or the authorities of the United States to
be admitted enrolled as citizens of the Choctaw nation?
A. No
Q. Is this
the first application of any description you have ever made?
A. Yes
Q. Do you
claim your rights as a beneficiary under the provisions of the fourteenth
article of the treaty of 1830?
A. Yes, I
guess so.
Q. Have you
ever received ay benefits as a Choctaw Indian?
A. No
Q. Have any
of your ancestors ever received any benefits as Choctaw Indians?
A. No
Q. What was
the name of your ancestor or ancestors who were residents of the old
Choctaw Nation in Mississippi or 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?
A.
Great-grandfather was named Daniel Davis and then my grandfather was named
Paul Davis.
Q. Do you
have any evidence showing that these ancestors were recognized members of
the Choctaw tribe at that time?
A. Yes, this
one, Paul, I have evidence of.
Q. Did these
ancestors, or either of them, if Choctaw Indians, remove from the
territory occupied by the old Choctaw nation in Mississippi or Alabama to
the present Choctaw Nation in Indian Territory at the time of the removal
of the other members of the Choctaw tribe form 1833 to 1838.
A. No
Q. If they
did not remove with the other members of the tribe did either one of them
within six months after the ratification of the treaty of 1830, signify to
the United States Indian Agent to the Choctaw Indians in Mississippi his
intention to remain in Mississippi and become a citizen of the United
States?
A. No, they
didn’t move there in the expiration of that time.
Q. They
didn’t what?
A. They
wasn’t none that moved here in the expiration of that time.
Q. Did they within - six months after ratification of the treaty of
1830 go to the Indian Agent to the Choctaw Indians there in
Mississippi and tell him that they didn't want to come West but wanted to
stay in Mississippi and become citizens of the United
A. They
wanted to stay in Mississippi and become citizens of the United States.
Q. Did they
go to the Indian Agent and tell him?
A. I don’t
know
Q. 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?
A. No
Q. Are there
any additional statements you desire to make in support of this
application?
A. No
Q. Have you
any documentary evidence, affidavits, written evidence of any description,
copies of records, deeds or patents, or any proper papers showing that
your ancestors were ever recognized members of the Choctaw tribe of
Indians in Mississippi in 1830, or that they ever compiled or attempted to
comply with the provisions of the fourteenth article of the treaty of
1830, or that they ever received any benefits under that article of the
treaty?
A. No
Q. Do you
want any time in which to file such evidence?
A. Yes
Thirty days time is allowed applicant in which to file any additional
evidence in support of this application.
The decision of the Commission as to your application for the
identification of yourself and your minor children will be determined at
the earliest possible date and report of same be made to the Secretary of
the Interior, conformable to the provisions of the 21st 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 by you in your
testimony.
Applicant
apparently a white man.
Henry G. Hains being duly sworn on his oath states that as stenographer to
the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes he reported in full all
proceedings had in the above entitled cause on June 12, 1901,
and that the above and foregoing is full, true and correct transcript of
his stenographic notes in said cause and said date.
Henry G.
Hains
Subscribed
and sworn to before me this 15th day of July 1901.
D. H.
Liecerbaugh
Notary
Public
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