Folsom Genealogy Chart

Folsom Choctaw Family – List of Mixed Bloods

The Folsom family is easily one of the best known of all mixed-blood groups (see Charts 10 and 11). Their earliest members in Choctaw country were reputedly the three brothers Edmond, Ebeneezer, and Nathaniel who migrated through Indian country with their parents prior to the American Revolution. 1 According to Cushman:

“Nathaniel Folsom married Aiahnichih Ohoyo (A woman to prefer above all others). She was a niece of Miko Puskush (Infant Chief), who was the father of Moshulatubbee. She descended from a long ancient line of chiefs, and belonged to the ancient lksa Hattakiholihta, one of the two great families, the other being Tashapaokla (Part of a people); the laws of which forbid any person, male or female, to marry any one of the same lksa. Though Mr. Nathaniel Folsom had acquired but a limited education, yet he as a moral man, and the good example he set before the people of his adoption and with whom he had cast his lot, won their respect, confidence and love, which he fully reciprocated to the day of his death. According to the ancient custom of the Choctaws, he had two wives at the same time. Aiahnnichih Ohoyo and her sister, whose name has not been preserved.” 2

Cushman also included a detailed account Nathaniel Folsom had penned concerning his life among the Choctaw people. Folsom’s remembrances are an interesting and revealing account of a countryman’s life:

“The Choctaws were more numerous than now. Thirty years ago it is probable there were nearly 30,000. Before I came here the smallpox killed two-thirds of the people. The measles also destroyed a great many. There was one town entirely destroyed by the measles.

“They had axes and hoes, but not a plough in the Nation. I gave twenty-two dollars for the first
plough I had; twenty dollars for a bushel of salt; ten dollars for a common blanket. Goods were then brought from St. Augustine, Florida, on pack-horses. I gave once twenty dollars for a half bushel of salt in a time of war (the Revolution).

“The woman’s dress was a petticoat that came just below the knees, and a head-gear; and in the winter a tight woolen jacket with bright buttons in front. They had an abundance of blankets by sewing the feathers of turkeys together. They had but few iron pots and kettles, the articles were dear. 3

Key to Chart

Probable = P,  Countryman = C,  Yes = Y,  Trader = T,
Married = md,  Mixed Blood = mb

Folsom Genealogy Chart

Folsom Genealogy Chart
Folsom Genealogy Chart

In just a few words Folsom reminds us of the near decimation in colonial times of American Indians by disease, the native attraction to manufactured articles such as clothing, and the relative scarcity of iron tools and other implements. He then touched upon the introduction of cattle into the tribe:

“Ever since about the time of the Revolutionary War the Choctaws began to leave their towns and settle in the woods for the benefit of their stock. I was the first to settle on the Natchez Trace at Pigeon Roost, about twenty-five years since. Still, at the time of the exodus of the Choctaws, in 1832, they had many large and populous towns and villages in their Nation which I personally knew.

“Kings. — Some inherited the office; others were appointed by the French and English. Amosholihubih is the old family (i.e. the old family of kings or chiefs). David’s [Folsom] old uncle was of the royal family.

“At that time there were several white men among the Choctaws, all of whom married Choctaw wives, and thus became identified with that people. The descendants of nearly all of whom are still among the Choctaws to this day.

“Hardy Perry…brought the first neat cattle into the Nation.” 4

Cushman, at this point in his account of Folsom’s narration, interjected with an explanatory note on the introduction of cattle:

“The old gentleman [Folsom] evidently refers to the eastern part of the Nation, where he lived; since it was well known that either about the same time or a short time before Perry’s drove was first introduced into the eastern part of the Nation, and the waters of the Tombigbee River, Louis and Michael LeFlore and Louis Durant introduced a small herd into the western part of the nation, and located it on the waters of the Yazoo River.” 5

Cushman continues Folsom’s account of Hardy Perry:

“He bought them of the French at Mobile. Twenty-five dollars for a cow and calf. This was soon after I came into the country. Benj. James then bought one. I was the third man. From these stocks of cattle have sprung. There was abundance of horses. There were many hogs in the Nation when I first came. I have seen nearly thirty dogs at an Indian’s house. They resembled the wolf.

“David Folsom went to school on Elk River, Tennessee. Started off alone at sixteen years of age, at least 250 miles from home, and was there six months. That was the end of his schooling there. I employed another man a month to teach him figures. That was seven months’ education.

“About this time…he was married to Rhoda Nail. He took her out of the Indian Territory to a magistrate and married her lawfully. She is his wife, and this is the first instance I know of, where an Indian married according to our laws.” 6

Thus Nathaniel Folsom relates some of the pre-removal history of the Choctaw nation and some of his role in it. His descriptions of the people and their lifestyle paint a candid picture of frontier existence. Especially informative are the comments concerning the introduction of cattle into Choctaw country around revolutionary times.

A Folsom, probably “Nathaniel, was mentioned by J. F. H. Claiborne in discussing the Spanish takeover of Florida from Britain in 1781: “…a [British) courier…on his return through the Choctaw nation, induced Folsom, a chief, and fifty warriors, to accompany him to Natchez, and on their arrival the people generally assembled with their arms. They took a position on a hill, at the house of John Rowe, and unfurled a British standard.” It seems that Folsom had indeed risen to a position of power and prominence in his few years among the Choctaw. 7 Records also show Nathaniel to have been a cordial and gregarious man who often entertained numerous guests. 8

The brief biography of Nathaniel Folsom, buttressed by Cushman’s commentary, gives detailed evidence of white intermarriage with the daughters of Choctaw chiefs and also states that polygamy was not an unknown practice by the countrymen. Folsom also gives an interesting account of the lack of iron and steel implements in the tribe and the introduction of cattle.


Surnames:
Folsom,

Topics:
Choctaw,

Collection:
Wells, Dr. Samuel James. Choctaw Mixed Bloods and the Advent of Removal. University of Southern Mississippi. 1987. © Dr. Samuel James Wells, 1987. Used by permission.

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Citations:
  1. W. David Baird, Peter Pitchlynn: Chief of the Choctaws, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972) 6.[]
  2. Cushman, History, 328. Not all Choctaw Indians had “two wives at the same time.”[]
  3. Ibid., 329-30.[]
  4. Ibid., 330-31.[]
  5. Ibid., 331-32.[]
  6. Ibid., 332. For further discussion of the early role of cattle raising in the region see John D. W. Guice, “Cattle Raisers in the Old Southwest,” Western Historical Quarterly, 8 (April 1977), 167-87, and Terry G. Jordon, “The Origins of Anglo-American Cattle Ranching in Texas: A Documentation of Diffusion from the Lower South,” Economic Geography, 45 (January 1969), 63-87.[]
  7. Claiborne, Mississippi, 127-8; compare to Jack D. L. Holmes, “Alabama’s Forgotten Settlers: Notes on the Spanish Mobile District, 1780-1813,” Alabama Historical Quarterly, 33 (Summer 1971), 2:95-6.[]
  8. Debo, Rise and Fall, 38.[]

19 thoughts on “Folsom Choctaw Family – List of Mixed Bloods”

    1. Patricia Beavers

      Hello,
      I have a cousin who married into the Marrs family. I am curious about your surname of Petty. There are so many versions of the spelling of this name which include either Pettus, Paty or Patty. I have a Deliliah Paty that married into the Doss family. Do you show anything members in your family charts matching the three surnames that I mentioned?

      1. My family tree is posted on FamilyHeritage. From that and having my DNA tested, it looks like the Pettys are originally from England, but might also be Scottish. While in Scotland a couple of years ago, I visited Petty Church in Inverness. Also, in my family tree, the first Petty to come to the New World did so in the 1700s, and settled in York, Penn. Eventually, some moved west to Illinois, where my father grew up–Effingham. My great grandmother on my father’s side was a Marrs married to a petty.

    2. Hello COUSIN!

      I am also a descendant of William Erskine Marrs. My 3xggrandfather was David Marrs of Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio. I live in Toledo, Ohio.

      1. My side of the Marrs family ended up in Illinois. My great grandmother was Priscilla Marrs Petty. Most of the family ended up in California during or right after WWII. I take it with the surname of Folsom, our ancestor was married to a European. We now live in New Zealand. The situation here is a lot calmer than in the States at the moment.
        While in Scotland a couple of years ago, I visited some of the family castles; Breamar, Midmar, and Kildrummy.

  1. My ex-husband’s name is Joel Folson II, we have a daughter Khloe Folson. Based on the stories he was told by his father, Joel Folson I, their family is of the Folsom people but during the American slavery period the name was misspelled as Folson (as dark-skinned people were not allowed to read) and the name was carried throughout the family.

    I would like to connect my daughter with her Indigenous American heritage, as she is currently classified as African-American. We are currently located in Michigan.

    Please contact me at lfolson@ymail.com

  2. Patricia Beavers

    I was doing research on one of my cousin or uncles. My family connection to the Folsom family is through a marriage of a female into my male line. My dad’s parents both told everyone that they were of Native Blood, but after several members on both sides male and female lines there are no markers. So I set out to find out where these rumors were. I found both on my dad side of the family. One is a uncle that married into what is the Folsom line and the other was my dad’s sister second husband can trace his family line back to Pocahontas .

    Patricia

  3. I’m a Folsom from 1636, England. I don’t go to the Folsom meetings, but I have the newspaper clippings from my great-grandfather that ran for Governor of Massachusetts from when there were Folsom meetings. I should have a million cousins somewhere, my dad said I was a good kid so I don’t know the rest of the story but I know some stuff at least. Yup that’s how I’m saying it.

  4. My name is Janet {EVANS} Pickard, my mother, Juanita {SLOAN} Evans was born in Watonga, Oklahoma. Listing names of ancestors: Elsie Lydia {GRADY} Sloan / Sarah Belle {CONDRY} Grady / William Kyle Condry – Alice Louisa {BARNARD} Condry / Betsy {GRISSOM} Barnard / William Grissom – Susannah Chaw ew ker
    Ancestors from Tenneessee & North Carolia

    SPELLINGS FOR CONDRY: Condrey – Condray – Condreay – Cordey – Condra
    SPELLINGS and other names for GRISSIOM: Greham – Graham – Griffin
    I do some Indian Names: Tah lon tee skee / Coonah / Tahla Che Ca

    Thank You for any help, Jan

    1. I think we may be related! I am Jessica Evans and I had a great aunt I believe named Juanita! and I too am related to William Grissom and Susannah!

    2. Janet {Evans} Pickard

      Jessica Evans: Please e-mail me
      I will give you my cell phone number – would love to talk with you

      1. Janet EVANS Pickard

        Sorry, I just ran across this….
        sending you my cell phone number
        Jan EVANS Pickard
        Susannah CHAW-EW-KER Grissom
        is my ggggrandmther
        662-386-4564
        Please call anytime.

    3. Hi, Jan
      I am also related to Susannah Chaw Ew Ker, at least according to autosomal DNA testing.
      Have you received any replies?
      My ancestors who may have been related to Susannah were named Tyree and Delilah Gentry,
      They were living in Franklin County, Georgia, circa 1800.
      They lived among several people of documented Cherokee ancestry on both sides of the Tugaloo River in Georgia and South Carolina.
      Some of their children and grandchildren had documented relationships (marriage/education/military service, etc.) with documented Cherokees, especially members of the Ridge/Treaty Party.
      There must be a connection. Perhaps we could compare notes.
      Patrick

  5. we are descendants of Israel Folsom. I’am 6th great grandson.
    But trying to find a large family tree showing living family.

  6. Looking for info on one Chief Joseph (John) Folsom and his wife Tabitha Kelly. Joseph born 1786 died 1841. Looking for info on whether he is Choctaw Chief or not.

  7. My Name is Frederick Folsom son of Paul Folsom grandson of Paul Folsom Sr. I was told all my life we were Native American’s. I beleaved it was Dine’ Navajo. But my Uncle Sylvan said we were Choctaw. Is there away to fine out?
    Thank You.

    drfredfolsom@gmail.com

    1. My husband is a descendant of Nathaniel Folsom. Nathaniel would have been his 5th great grandfather. Have you identified another spelling of Folsom as Folsome and have you identified them as descendant and simply the misfortune of misspelling? Another question I have is have you identified the mother and father of Israel Folsom?

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