This page provides context for the Folsom family of Choctaw heritage, offering historical details and reliable source material.
A Brief Origin of the Folsom Family of Choctaw
Israel Folsom and Mary (Chambers) Folsom were the parents to four known sons; Nathaniel Folsom Sr, Ebenezer Folsom, Edmund Folsom and Israel. The father was born in Connecticut, the mother in New Jersey, met and married in either New Jersey or in North Carolina, moving to that state with a Baptist colony. From North Carolina, after the children were born, the family left that state living in Georgia for a time. About 1775 the father again moved his family, this time to the southwest, reaching the area which was home to the First People known as Choctaw.[1]
During the last stages of their journey into the region, they encountered other travelers at Pearl River who were returning due to sickness. The father, fearing for his family, decided to return to North Carolina, but eventually altered course into the Chickasaw lands. This caused a dispute between the eldest son, 19-year-old Nathaniel, and his father, and his parting ways with the family. In a letter to his friend Cyrus Byington, Nathaniel offers his recollection of the event:
For the remainder of his life Nathaniel resided among the Choctaw as an adopted member of that society. Eventually his brothers Israel, Edmond and Ebenezer would join him. The three remaining brothers, Israel having died young, would each learn the Choctaw language and marry Choctaw women, making their homes and livelihoods as immigrants accepted into the culture. Thus, these brothers became the foundation of the Folsom family of Choctaw.[2] Folsom descendants, through their fathers listed here, may be connected to John Folsom of Norfolkshire, England, who emigrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration about 1638.
WikiTree Category Listing of Descendants: Folsom Family of Choctaw Heritage
Folsom Family of Choctaw Generation / Father / Mother / Children 1 Israel Folsom[1][3] Mary Chambers Nathaniel Israel Ebeneezer Edmond . 2 Nathaniel Folsom[3][4] Ai Ne Chi David Rebecca Rhoda Israel Adam Jerry McKee Molly Edmond Emily Amziah Lucretia Elizabeth Solomon Delilah Shame* Polly* I-Ah-Ne-Cha Nathaniel Isaac* George Samuel John Robert Billy . 2 Ebeneezer[3] Ni Ti Ka Sophia . 2 Edmund[3] Yokahliti Jeremiah Peter Ward Nathaniel Rachel Abigail George Unknown Margaret (Peggy) David Eve
- * Disputed child or mother/child connection
Note: Czarina (Colbert) Conlan, a great-granddaughter of Nathaniel Folsom, who in 1919 began working as the curator of the Native American collection of the museum run by the Oklahoma Historical Society, provided family knowledge and documentation to Elizabeth Knowles Folsom for the Genealogy of the Folsom Family. That work and other mentions of the family by Cushman, Byington and in publications such as the History of Bethel Presbytery, help place the children with their correct birth mother.
Resources
First Person Accounts
- Byington, Cyrus. “Memoir of Nathaniel Folsom, as Told to Cyrus Byington, June 1829.” Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma, http://libraries.ou.edu/locations/docs/westhist/harg.htm. Accessed 1 Sept. 2019. Jay L. Hargett Collection: Box H-57, Folder 59
- Cushman, H. B. History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians. Headlight Printing House, 1899. p. 387 – 391 https://archive.org/details/histchoctaw00cushrich/page/387/mode/1up
- The Missionary Herald, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. v .19, 1823, perma link https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.ah6kxy, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.ah6kxy?urlappend=%3Bseq=129
- Cumberland Presbyterian History Bethel Presbytery
Scholarly Works
- Folsom, Elizabeth Knowles Genealogy of the Folsom family: a revised and extended edition, including English records 1638-1938, published 1938, Reference Volume 2, pages 807-8 https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89066140435
- Debo, Angie. The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic. Univ. of Oklahoma Pr., 1934.
- O'Beirne, Harry F, Laura S. Gross, and Theodore Gross. Leaders And Leading Men of the Indian Territory: With Interesting Biographical Sketches. I. Choctaws And Chickasaws: With a Brief History of Each Tribe, Its Laws, Customs, Superstitions And Religious Beliefs. Chicago: American publishers' association, 1891. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.35112102619832
Government Documents
- "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPF-BTF : 29 July 2017), Nathaniel Folsom, Lowndes, Mississippi, United States; citing 85, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 71; FHL microfilm 14,839.
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set, Vol 246, 1835 https://books.google.com/books?id=G49HAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Searchable version: Access Genealogy: Armstrong Roll
Other Websites
- Folsom Family Association of America Inc.: Israel Folsom
- Access Genealogy: Folsom Choctaw Family
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Byington, Cyrus. “Memoir of Nathaniel Folsom, as Told to Cyrus Byington, June 1829.” Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma, http://libraries.ou.edu/locations/docs/westhist/harg.htm. Accessed 1 Sept. 2019. Jay L. Hargett Collection: Box H-57, Folder 59
- ↑ Debo, Angie. The Rise and Fall of the Choctaw Republic. Univ. of Oklahoma Pr., 1934. pg 37-38
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Folsom, Elizabeth Knowles Genealogy of the Folsom family: a revised and extended edition, including English records 1638-1938, published 1938, Reference Volume 2, pages 807-8 https://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89066140435
- ↑ Cushman, H. B. History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians. Headlight Printing House, 1899. p. 387 – 391 https://archive.org/details/histchoctaw00cushrich/page/387/mode/1up