Z.T. Bottoms et al, Choctaw Claim

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Date: 1896
Location: Indian Territory, United States

Surname/tag: Bottoms

Profile manager: Ronald Prentice

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This Discussion Is To Assist Those Related AND Rebut Any Stated Native American Connections

In September of 1896 Zachariah Thomas Bottoms filed a claim for Choctaw citizenship with the Dawes Commission in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Citizenship Court. Although a dubious claim, one ultimately denied, the record contains an extensive amount of genealogical information about several generations of the Bottoms family beginning with his grandparents William and Anne.^[1]

Z.T. Bottoms et al, Choctaw. No. 8. United States court, No. 115. Citizenship court No. 75-T. Commission, No. 5024.

September 8, 1896. Petition filed with Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, alleging that claimants were descendants of Billy Bottoms, alias Nockatubbee, a half-breed Choctaw, and Ann Meshunlahtubbee, a full-blood Choctaw; that certain of claimants were residing in the nations and enjoying privileges of citizens. Attached to the petition were 37 affidavits in support thereof.

Roster of Bottoms Family

June 23, 1897. Master’s report filed. The master found as follows:

The testimony in this case shows that the applicants, except those that were intermarried, were descendants of William and Ann Bottoms. The evidence in the case further shows that William and Ann Bottoms were Choctaw Indians.

The master further found that 34 applicants were nonresidents or intermarried and not in accordance with the laws of the nation, and recommended that they be not enrolled. The report concluded as follows:

I recommend that the lineal descendants of William and Ann Bottoms as contained in this record, who reside in the Indian Territory, be admitted as members of the Choctaw Tribe.

November 15, 1897. Judgement of United States court rendered, admitting the following-named persons as citizens of the Choctaw Nation: See Image "Roster of Bottoms Family" for list. (These judgements by the Citizen Court were later vacated as part of the Dawes enrollment process.)

1903. Dawes Enrollment for Zachariah T. Bottoms Dismissed (Denied).^[2]

Statements In The Record AFFIRMING The Claim

Z.T. Bottoms, grandson of William and Anne, Affidavit for claim:

Z. T. Bottoms, 45 years old; lived in the Chickasaw Nation 19 years; came from Texas; was born in Cherokee County, Tex.; father was Smith A. Bottoms; he was part Choctaw Indian; that Zack and Eldredge Bottoms were his uncles; last time he saw Zach was in the Territory 19 years ago; that he died at White Bead in 1896; mother died in Texas; did not know grandparents; do not know degree of Choctaw blood.

John Logan, non-relative, Affidavit for claim:

John Logan, 74 years old; lived in Choctaw Nation 30 years; no relation to Hills or Bottoms; knew William Bottoms in Alabama; Prudence Bottoms, daughter of William Bottoms, made his father’s house her home; knew her sister Piety; Piety married Ben Hill; old Billy Bottoms was known as a Choctaw Indian; he was a cripple; he had the appearance of a quarter-bred Indian; he lived near Hacketsburg; Tom Bottoms was Billy Bottoms’s oldest son; Ben Hill and Kirkland, who married Billy Bottoms’s youngest daughter, moved to Cherokee County, Tex.; don’t know where Billy Bottoms went but. he left Alabama.

Cross-examination: Was born in Franklin County, Ala., in 1830; left Alabama in the fall of 1852; claimants came before he did; does not know positively that Billy Bottoms’s wife was descended from Masholatubbee.

Redirect examination: Prudy Bottoms told him her mother’s name was Ann Masholatubbee, and Billy Bottoms talked the Indian language.

Daniel Underwood, non-relative, Affidavit for claim:

Daniel Underwood, about 100 years old; lived in Choctaw Nation about 98 years; lived in Choctaw Nation in Mississippi; knew Chief Musholatubbee, a Choctaw; knew Musholatubbe's daughter, Barret; knew Ann Musholatubbee; does not know what relation she was to Chief Musholatubbee; knew Billy Bottoms; he had no wife when known by witness. Billy Bottoms was a Choctaw, nearly full blood; he cam to this county and lived somewhere on Blue; Billy Bottoms and Ann Musholatubbee lived together in old nation; Billy Bottoms was a cripple.

Statements In The Record REBUTTING The Claim

Seth Bottoms, child of William and Anne, Affidavit for claim:

Seth Bottoms, 80 years old; lived in Brinn, Ala.; father's name William Bottoms; mother was Ann Witt; father's mother married in Jefferson County, Tenn. "I am the oldest (youngest) child, born in 1824; I was born in Monroe County, Miss. My understanding is my father was born in Virginia; father had a family Bible. I don't know what became of it; never heard father claim to be a Choctaw; he never had and other name; it seems to me I have heard he had Choctaw blood. I never heard father say where he cam from; I never hard father say he married in Tennessee. Daniel Witt said he was my mother's brother; he might have been a half brother."

Riley S. Bottoms, grandchild of William and Anne, affidavit for claim:

Riley S. Bottoms, 63 years of age. Am postmaster at Knowles, Ala; am a grandson of William Bottoms; have seen grandfather; never heard him claim to be a Choctaw; grandmother died in Monroe County, Miss; about all I now about grandfather and grandmother I learned from Uncle Seth.

Nancy Rudolph, grandchild of William and Anne, affidavit for claim:

Nancy Rudolph, 58 years old, lives at Knowles, Ala.; sister of Riley Bottoms. "I reckon I have heard my mother say grandmother's name was Annie Witt."

THE RECORDED FACTS REGARDING THE LIFE OF WILLIAM AND ANNE DO NOT SUPPORT THEM BEING CHOCTAW OR DESCENDED FROM ANY NATIVE AMERICAN PERSON OR TRIBE

William
Within the record of the claim it is stated, without evidence, by some of the non-relative witnesses, that William aka "Billy" Bottoms, and alias "Nockatubbee", was "a half-breed Choctaw." However, in the same record, it is stated by his son that during his life his father never claimed to be Native American within the family discussions. Therefore, this lack of corroboration about his background, taken with the misstatements in the record about the maiden name of his wife Anne, it can be concluded that William WAS NOT a Native American person.

Anne
Within the record of the claim it is stated, without evidence, by some of the non-relative witnesses, that Anne's maiden name was "Moshulatubbee" and she was a daughter of Chief Mushulatubee of the Choctaw. However, in the same record, it is stated by her son and grandchildren that her maiden name is Witt, and these statements are corroborated by her marriage license. Therefore, without supporting evidence, and taken with the misstatements about her husband's background, it can be concluded that Anne WAS NOT a Native American person.

Known Facts For The Couple

William Bottoms was born in 1785 to Thomas and Clara (Callicott) Bottoms in Amelia, Virginia, United States. He married Anne Witt 15 July 1806 in Jefferson, Tennessee, United States.^[3] Anne Witt was born in 1791 to Elijah and Nancy Witt in Tennessee. She died about 1834/35 in Mississippi.^[4] William passed away in 1863 in Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas.^[5]

Children of Anne and William:

Thomas Bottoms 1807–1849
Piety (Bottoms) Hill 1809–1874
William Zachariah Bottoms 1812–1896
Nelson Bottoms 1815–1880
Eldridge W. Bottoms 1822–1868
Smith Alexander Bottoms 1823–1904
Prudence (Bottoms) Kirkland 1824–1869
Seth Bottoms 1825–1904

Sources

↑ “The Journal of American Indian Family Research - v. 3 (1982).” Edited by Larry S. Watson, FamilySearch, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/399027/.
↑ Enrollment Cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914, NARA M1186, NCID 251747, RG 75 Roll 0044, Card 5024, Bottoms, Zachariah T, Dismissed Fold3($)
↑ "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VNDD-5DQ : 4 December 2014), William Bottom and Annie Witt, 15 Jul 1806; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2008); citing p. 66, Jefferson, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
↑ Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/167009296/ann-polly-bottoms : accessed 02 July 2022), memorial page for Ann Polly Witt Bottoms (1793–1834), Find A Grave: Memorial #167009296, ; Maintained by Debra Harrison White (contributor 48659995) Burial Details Unknown.
↑ Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/167009162/william-s-bottoms : accessed 02 July 2022), memorial page for William S. “Billy” Bottoms (1785–1863), Find A Grave: Memorial #167009162, ; Maintained by Debra Harrison White (contributor 48659995) Burial Details Unknown.