In view of the fact that these applicants have had sufficient time in which to present their testimony, the Commission considers these cases as closed, and the evidence submitted in support of same, embraces the oral statements of the several principal applicants and the documentary proof filed by them at the making of their original applications.
The oral statements of the applicants are very conflicting and unsatisfactory. From the testimony of Julia Thompson, the principal applicant in this group of consolidated cases, it appears that she is the daughter of one Willoughby Trotter, who was a son of Gilbert Indian, and she claims that her said father and grandfather were possessed of Choctaw Indian blood, but does not state the degree. She however, claims to be possessed of one quarter Choctaw blood herself. The applicants Willoughby Thompson and Tobias Brock claim their alleged Choctaw descent in the same manner as claimed by the applicant Julia Thompson, and it is shown by their testimony that Willoughby Thompson is the son of Julia Thompson by her husband Berry Thompson, who the applicants allege, was a full blood Negro and to whom Julia Thompson was married in the year 1854. The applicant Tobias Brock claims to be a half brother of the applicant Julia Thompson. The applicants Margaret Ferrill and Candis Allen claim to be the daughters of the applicant Julia Thompson by her husband Captain John, who they allege was a full blood Choctaw, they at the same time alleging that their mother Julia Thompson, was a full blood Negro. From the testimony of the applicant Indiana Coleman, also a daughter of the applicant Candis Allen, it appears that Captain John, who it is claimed was the husband of Julia Thompson, was named either Thompson or Smith, but in view of the fact that Indiana Coleman is the granddaughter of the said Captain John and that his own children, Margaret Ferrill and Candis Allen, are unable to state that their father had any other name than Captain John, the statement made by the said Indiana Coleman is to his name, is given very little consideration.
An affidavit is filed in the application of Julia Thompson which is signed by Cato Evans and Wash. Ferrill, the latter of whom is apparently the husband of Margaret Ferrill, and in said affidavit it appears that Julia Thompson was married to a Negro named Berry Thompson in the year 1854 and that they lived together as man and wife for ten years, and that she was the daughter of on Willoughby Trotter, a half blood Choctaw who was the son of Gilbert Indian, and that there was born to said union the applicant Willoughby Thompson, but no where is said affidavit is reference made to the marriage of the said Julia Thompson to Captain John, the alleged father of the affiant Wash Ferrills wife. The applicant Candis Allen claims to have been born in 1853 and alleges that her father Captain John died when she was a year and a half old. The applicant Margaret Ferrill claims to have been born in about the year 1846, and as before stated, the testimony as to the line of descent of these applicants is very unsatisfactory, but in view of the fact that all the applicants except Tobias Brock claim to be lineal descendants of Julia Thompson, either by her alleged Choctaw husband Captain John or by her alleged Negro husband Berry Thompson, and as the said Julia Thompson claims to be possessed of one quarter Choctaw blood, her said descendants must necessarily have derived part of their Choctaw blood from the said Julia Thompson, and the applicant Tobias Brock being a half brother of the said Julia Thompson, they both having the same father, Willoughby Trotter through whom they claim their Choctaw blood, his application can also be considered with theirs as claiming from the same common ancestry, which is traced to Indian Gilbert. There is no testimony offered by the applicants who claim to be descendants of Julia Thompson by her husband Captain John, which would tend to show that the said Captain John was recognized by the tribal authorities as a member of the Choctaw tribe of Indians in Mississippi or that he complied or attempted to comply with the provisions of article fourteen of the treaty of 1830, and there is nothing in the testimony submitted by Julia Thompson and her co-applicants who claim directly through Willoughby Trotter and Indian Gilbert, that would tend to show which of the alleged Choctaw ancestors of the said applicants was recognized by the Choctaw tribal authorities as a member of the Choctaw tribe of Indians in Mississippi and complied or attempted to comply with the provisions of article fourteen of the treaty of 1830.
From the testimony of Julia Thompson it appears that she was born in Alabama in the year 1827, and therefore her father Willoughby Trotter must have been married and the head of a family in the year 1830, when the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was concluded, and it is incumbent upon the applicants herein who claim through the said Willoughby Trotter, to show that he was a recognized member of the Choctaw tribe of Indians in 1830 and complied or attempted to comply with the provisions of article fourteen of the treaty of 1830, and this, as before stated, they have failed to do.
It does not appear from an examination of the records in the possession of the Commission of those persons who did comply, or attempted to comply with the provisions of article fourteen of the treaty of 1830, that any person by the name of Captain John (Thompson or Smith) or Willoughby Trotter, or any other name as borne by the alleged ancestors of these applicants, ever signified their intention to Colonel Wm. Ward, Indian Agent, Choctaw Agency, to comply with the provisions of article fourteen or presented their claim as beneficiaries under said article to either of the Commissions duly authorized by the acts of Congress of March 3, 1837 and August 23, 1842, for the adjudication of such claims.
The authority vested in the Commission by the twenty-first section of the act of Congress of June 28, 1898 (30 Stats. 495) is as follows:
Said Commission shall have authority to determine the identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choctaw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Choctaw Nation concluded September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty, and to that and may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and perform all the other acts necessary thereto and make report to the Secretary of the Interior.
It is the opinion of the Commission that the evidence in this case is insufficient to determine the identity of Julia Thompson, Candis Allen, John Allen, Minnie Allen, Ella Allen, Della Allen, Pearl Allen, Bryd Allen, Aleck Allen, Early Allen, Banistor Allen, Lewis Allen, Annie Allen, Cora Allen, Luther Allen, Indiana Coleman, Margaret Ferrill, Elda Ferrill, Lemuel Ferrill, Charley Ferrill, Emma Hayes, Minnie Hayes, Bamar Hayes, Ollie Hayes, Maggie Hayes, Lucy Hayes, Cicero Hayes, Jack Ferrill, Mary Ella Ferrill, George Ferrill, John Ferrill, Fannie Ferrill, Robert Ferrill, Willoughby Thompson, Tobias Brock, Julia Turner, and Charlie Allen as Choctaw Indians entitled to rights in the Choctaw lands under the provision of law above quoted, and that the application for their identification as such should be refused, and it is so ordered.
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes
There are 3 signatures, none of which are readable.
Commissioners
Muskogee, Indian Territory
April 15, 1902
