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Society of Mississippi Choctaws

Privacy Level: Public (Green)
Date: About 1910 to about 1915
Location: Gulfport, Harrison, Mississippi, United Statesmap
Profile manager: Ronald Prentice private message [send private message]
This page has been accessed 291 times.

The history of the founding of the "Society of Mississippi Choctaws" isn't recorded, but it clearly was not an official office of the Choctaw Nation or the predecessors to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. In fact, it was an agency for the law firm of T. B. Crews and H. J. Cantwell of St. Louis, MO (with offices in Washington D.C.) offering to "contract" with Mississippi Choctaw to put forth "Article 14" claims from the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. This effort coincided with the hope of reopening the Choctaw rolls for adding additional Mississippi Choctaw to the enrollment during the 63rd United States Congress 1913-1915. A similar scheme was also run by the name "Texas-Oklahoma Investment Co." However, both efforts were ultimately unsuccessful in adding to the rolls.

Contents

Society Operations

During the operation some of the Crews and Cantwell representatives, specifically A. P. Powell, perpetrated half-truths and charged unauthorized fees of up to $2.50 per application. Powell was discharged by the firm but continued to purport himself as an employee. In the end, neither the Crews and Cantwell law firm nor the local firm representatives made any attempt to ensure non-Choctaw claims were culled from the lot of 4200 applications. Thereby the "Society" may also have defrauded legitimate Choctaw of their money without delivering any results.

These activities came to the attention of the U.S. Congress, House Committee on Indian Affairs in 1915 and Mr. Cantwell was called to testify in person before the Subcommittee on Enrollment. Also a Mr. Luke W. Conerly of the Crews and Cantwell office in Gulfport, MS was called and present for the hearing. The focus was the Report of Inspector James McLaughlin to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. The lengthy hearing focused on the dubious actions of A.P. Powell. The transcript of these hearings is found in both the Congregational record of the Subcommittee and the report of lawyer Patrick J. Hurley to Chief Victor Locke of the Choctaw Nation.

To Wit:

REPORT OF INSPECTOR JAMES M'LAUGHLIN - To: Secretary of the Interior, June 1914
...A.P. Powell obtained more contracts from the class of claimants referred to than all of the other solicitors combined,
From what I was told by reputable persons at Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, La., and Gulfport, Miss., it would appear that said Powell was interested chiefly in procuring a large number of contracts, regardless of the ancestry of the applicants, as Mr. Luke W. Conerly, of Gulfport, Miss., told me that to his personal knowledge Powell obtained contracts from several families the ancestry of whom was supplied by Powell was absurdly erroneous. It is also alleged that Powell took contracts from any persons claiming to have Indian blood, and from many who had never claimed to possess Indian blood until told by Powell that they were descendants of Indians who were parties to 'the Dancing Rabbit Creek treaty of 1830 and therefore entitled to certain benefits under that treaty.
...were advised by Powell that he possessed a book which enabled him to trace the ancestry of every living person who possessed any Choctaw blood,

Those Involved

Society Mississippi Choctaws

Berry Wilson, President - FamilySearch Person: G4N9-KSC
Pearl L. Wilson, Sect'y
Luke W. Conerly, Chief Council
Alexander P. "A. P." Powell - of Homer, Oklahoma

Crews & Cantwell

Thomas W.B. Crews - FamilySearch Person: MRQK-WHN
Harry J. Cantwell - FamilySearch Person: GM2B-CXR

Letter to J.F. Bennett

A single letter is the only known example (at least to this researcher) regarding the Society. The letter is in reply to J.F. Bennett's inquiry about a Choctaw lineage. The response contains a summary of the alleged family details connecting to Chief Pushmataha, and instructions for completing and returning the included blank application form (application form not part of the attached scan but details can be found in the Hurley Report). There are at least two versions of the scan online, one a pdf, both are attached to this profile to help with providing the transcription below.

Note: The J.F. Bennett addressed in the letter is likely, but unverified, to be Joseph Franklin Bennett (1855-1941) who lived at Logtown and later Bay St. Louis, MS.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION

Chief Council

Page 1

Society Mississippi Choctaws

Berry Wilson, President

Pearl L. Wilson, Sect'y

Gulfport, Miss., Oct 9, 1912

(illiegible due to poor copy)
Station "A"

J.F. Bennett
Logtown Miss

Dear Sir

Thomas Evans was (illegible words due to crease) 1830. He was a direct descendant of Pushmataha the Choctaw Chief at the time of the war of 1812. Pushmataha's wife was Nancy Ranson a white girl stolen from her parents in Georgia and sold by a hostile Tribe of Indians.

Page 2

They had a daughter named Nana, she married Samuel Givens. They had a daughter named Nancy who married Columbus Evans. They had a son named Thomas Evans, the great grand father you mention in your letter.

I enclose your blank with Thomas Evans as your Choctaw Ancestor head of a family in 1830. Please fill it out with pen and ink. Write all names in full give maiden name of your wife, your Mother & both(of) your grand mothers. Sign the Evidence blank where indicated (several illegible words due to poor copy) a notary public then return the papers to me.

Yours Truly & (illegible)
Luke W. Conerly

You should always date your letter from your (several illegible words) or mail them. I have (illegible) your post office Pearlington because you dated & wrote your letter there. If it is not your home office scratch it out & write Logtown.

END TRANSCRIPTION

Descendancy Outlined In Letter

  1. Pushmataha and Nancy Ranson had a daughter Nana
  2. Nana married Samuel Givens and had a daughter Nancy
  3. Nancy Givins married Columbus Evans and they had a son Thomas
  4. Thomas Evans is the great grandfather of J.F. Bennett

The above descendancy is doubtful in that Thomas Evans, a proven son of Nancy and Columbus Evans, was born in 1845. This date means he cannot be the "Choctaw Ancestor head of a family in 1830" as stated in the letter. Records from 1830 do show there was a Thomas R. Evans in the Choctaw Nation. However, he and his family are noted in a report to the U.S. Congress as "7 in family, All white, lives with John Pitchlynn, overseer for John Pitchlynn," which makes this erroneous lineage a likely example of A.P. Powell's spurios book mentioned by James McLaughlin in his report.

Further, Nancy Givens, wife of Columbus Evans, was born about 1819 in Georgia. This birth year and place makes it extremely unlikely for Nancy to be the daughter of Samuel Givens and his wife Nana, as her birth is twenty years after the previous child (James Givens b. 1798) of the couple. She is more plausibly the child of James Givins and Mary (Shirling) Givens.

Pushmataha Connection

Pushmataha in his official capacity as a Choctaw representative to the Untied States is well documented within U.S. records of interactions with the Choctaw Nation. His personal life is also mentioned in these official records, although in more coincidental notations. Among those mentions, both during and immediately following his lifetime, no other narrative or historical reference to Nancy Ranson being a spouse has been found to corroborate the J.F. Bennett letter above. Likewise no other record is found of his having a child in that early period of his life, nor ever having one named Nana in his lifetime.

Resources

  • United States. Congress. House. Committee on Indian Affairs., McLaughlin, J. (1915). Enrollment in the five civilized tribes: Hearings before the subcommittee of the Committee on Indian affairs, House of representatives, on the subject of enrollment in the five civilized tribes, having under consideration the following bills: 3389, 3390, 6537, 7926, 7974, 8007, 10066, 10140, 12586 [Apr. 1-Aug. 27, 1914]. Washington: Govt. print. off.. Citing Hathi Trust Digital Library: Permanent link to this item https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t2h710f70




Images: 3
Letter from Chief Council - Society Mississippi Choctaw
Letter from Chief Council - Society Mississippi Choctaw
Letter Page 2
Letter Page 2
Letter Page 1
Letter Page 1
Collaboration


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