Native American research/ancestry

Question

I am trying to research this as its been a family story, but didn't come up in my DNA test. I know there are a lot of myths, but the reason I believe it might be true is because reportedly my great (or possible 3x) grandmother received benefits from the government. I have tagged her profile as the most likely. If it's one more generation up...not sure on which side it would be. Despite this, haven't had any luck finding any evidence. Any ideas?

Answer 1

I'm not seeing anything in this family that would suggest a Native American connection.  Everyone is documented on the U.S. Census and other records back to the early 1800's and listed as white.  They did not follow a migration path of any of the Native American tribes that ended up in Indian Territory or appear on any Indian censuses or rolls.  They appear to be one of the thousands of white families who moved to Oklahoma at statehood.

Pearl and her parents in the 1910 census, after their move to Oklahoma.  The 1910 census clearly listed Indians as Indian in Oklahoma on this census, and the family continues to appear as white:

Pearlie Haselip
Age in 1910:10
Birth Year:abt 1900
Birthplace:Missouri
Home in 1910:Ottawa, Ottawa, Oklahoma
Race:White
Gender:Female
Relation to Head of House:Daughter
Marital Status:Single
Father's name:Thomas Haselip
Father's Birthplace: Missouri
Mother's name:Eliza Haselip
Mother's Birthplace:Arkansas
Native Tongue:English

Comments

I totally get that. Now that I think about it, it was likely the next gen up as Pearl's sister, Lena Oeta, was apparently named after the reported Indian heritage. Again no idea what tribe or anything like that.

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Neither Thomas nor Eliza Haselip has anything in their history that would suggest a Native American connection.  Eliza Harper's grandparents, Joseph Harper and Serena Johnson were living in Georgia after the tribes were removed, and they then moved to Texas, and then to Missouri. Thomas Haselip's mother was from Tennessee, but the Cherokee in Tennessee didn't end up in Missouri - they either stayed where they were or were moved to Indian Territory.  Thomas did not apply for the Eastern Cherokee payment, which he surely would have done if his mother was Cherokee.  John Haselip was apparently Thomas' stepfather and I have not found the name of his birth father.

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Right and it might well be one of those family myths. The benefits was the biggest reason why I thought there is a chance there could be something there. Any way to follow up on benefits? Not sure what else to look for. I've done some searches on "Oeta" but didn't come up with anything. Might have been a misspelling of a word too.

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Not sure what you mean by “benefits,”  the aren’t really any.  The Indians didn’t get any payments from the Federal government.

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I would dig into those benefits.  They may have been Civil War pension benefits although if they were from the south and fought on the confederate side, I'm not sure those vets and their wives qualified for pension benefits. Perhaps someone with better knowledge of that could say.  Or perhaps it was from a later war   

Fold3.com might be a place to search.

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I don't find Lena in Pearl's family -she is might be a cousin.  Her middle name was actuallly Odelia.

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Lena Oeta is her sister (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Haselip-4). This I do know for sure as she was alive when my mom was growing up and knew both of them well (would have been her grandmother and great aunt). 

As far as the benefits it was also some sort of payment but not many details other than that. I’ll check out the sites and see if I can dig anything up. 

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Just an FYI, I don't see her listed as "Lena" anywhere, she is listed as Marie on the 1910, 20, 30, and 40 censuses and as "Marie O."  on most other records.  Social Security death index lists her as "Oeta M."  Their mother had a sister named Orphia, so perhaps Oeta was a related name.

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There is a searchable database for Confederate Pensions approved by the 5th Oklahoma Legislature in 1915.  This same link has other searchable Oklahoma resources.  Good luck! Oklahoma Digital Prarie

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Regarding payments, there were no direct monetary payments of a lump sum or periodic stipend to individuals.  However, there were land allotments for enrolled members of the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole.  The National Archives has a searchable database including the enrollment cards and land allotment jackets  of Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes (The Dawes Commission), 1893-1914.

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This was a white family that moved to Oklahoma at statehood.  No connection to the Dawes Roll or an allotment

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Thanks for all the insights! I'll check the confederate pensions and see if maybe that is where it was originating from.

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Alright - found some notes from when I was full time researching and speaking to family years ago. Wish I had kept better notes as I'm not sure who said me that! But I believe it was my aunt who found this story...

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Haselip-3

Story from relatives: Thomas Haselip and his siblings were abandoned by their parents at a young age. They were raised by their Choctaw Grandmother Haselip(?) He didn't have shoes until he was 15 or 16 and killed rabbits and birds with stones for food. He was a self taught barn dancin' style fiddle player and built two houses in Miami, OK that might still be standing. His daughter, Oeta Marie, taught him to write his own name when she was an adult - before then he just made an X for his signature!

FYI - I find this story to be a bit suspicious and unbelieveable myself...

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The 1900  census does say that he can’t read or write, but he’s clearly listed with his mother and stepfather on the 1880 census in Missouri, the stepfather’s name is Haselip. He married Eliza Harper in 1894 in Missouri, and in 1900 they are living with her parents, her siblings, and their child in Missouri.  He didn’t live near any  Choctaw people.