The Case for Cherokee Ancestry in the Butt Family
By
Thomas K. Butt
My father used to tell me that a family rumor had it that "Grandma Cox" (Emily Paralee Anderson Cox) was part Indian. He recalled that she had a dark complexion. I first ran across a reference to Indian ancestry in a genealogy chart sent by Ann Mahon, [1] a great-granddaughter of Emily Paralee Anderson. In a letter dated December 25, 1980, from Ann Mahon to Kathleen Butt Huntington, Ann provided the following information in response to a question apparently posed by Kathleen directed at her mother, Leatha May Musgrave Mahon:
"She [Emily Anderson Cox] was part Cherokee - ancestors came form North Carolina. She was divorced from Andrew Jackson Cox after kids were grown and then she went to live with Florence in Raymondville where she died and was buried."
"Mama says no one talked about it or her cause
divorce was unheard of in those days! Florence looked more like Emily Cox. Her
brother was Jasper Anderson, who lived in Oklahoma. Mr. Cox finally married
again - to Callie - Mama didn't know her first name.."
Since then, other cousins, including Gene Norris and Steve Lipps, have provided material that fleshes out the still nebulous Indian ancestry claim.
The preponderance of evidence I have come across leads me to believe that Henry Chambers was probably full or half Cherokee. The fact that he probably wanted to move into the mainstream would explain why his descendants were later unsuccessful in getting recognized as part of the Cherokee tribe. Why were several descendants so interested in becoming identified with the Cherokee Tribe in 1896? Possibly the recession following the Panic of 1893 left these people looking for anything that would stabilize their economic condition. This was the time of "Coxey's Army" of which I have also heard both my father and grandfather speak, using the term metaphorically.[2]
According to affidavits filed with the Dawes Commission by Jonathan Norris and Russia M. Lipps in 1896, they were both descendants of Henry Chambers, " a Cherokee Indian by blood whose name appears as a member of Cherokee tribe of Indians on Census rolls when east of the Mississippi river in the years 1835 - 1848 - 1851 - 1852."[3]
Henry Chambers was the father of Rachel Chambers (ca. 1781- 1846) who married Gilbert Norris (____ - 1874). Their daughter, Frances (Frankie) Norris (1804-1893) married James M. Lipps (1800-1885). Their daughter, Edith Lucinda Lipps (1822-1895) married John Dudley Anderson (____ - 1885). Their daughter, Emily Paralee Anderson (1850-1935) married Andrew Jackson Cox (1840-1924). Their daughter, Esther Mae Cox (1879-1965) married Festus Orestes Butt (1879-1972).
The following is related by Gene Norris:
Rachel Chambers was born about 1781 in North
Carolina. She often told her children
she was one-fourth blood Cherokee. Her
father, Henry Chambers, was said to have been one-half blood Cherokee. Rachel had a sister, and a brother, named
Samuel (Sam) Chambers. She told her
children that this brother went with the old Cherokee settlers to the Indian
Territory in 1819. In fact, a Samuel
Chambers was an old settler. He was
married to a woman named Nancy. They
had several children. Unfortunately,
all but one of them had died in the Cherokee Nation by 1880. The only son to live to the time of the
Dawes Commission was Lorenzo Dow Chambers.
He, also
unfortunately, was not enrolled by the Dawes Commission at any time from
1896-1902. He died in 1909 and is
buried at Dwight Missions in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. In a Guion-Miller Application in 1906, Dow
Chambers did fill out a form for his deceased wife but included his vital
statistics. He stated he was the son of
Samuel and Nancy Chambers. That both
parents had died early. He had several
brothers and sisters, but he was the only one to live beyond 1880. He did name his father's brothers and
sisters, but no Rachel was mentioned.
He did name a Tookah Chambers, which could have been her Indian name but
she was not named as Tookah Norris.
One of
the main reasons I believe Henry Chambers was not on any Cherokee census roll
was because he left the confines of the old Cherokee Nation in North
Carolina. As a result, he gave up his
citizenship in the Cherokee tribe. The
old Eastern Nation was in the southwestern section of North Carolina near the
Georgia border. Henry Chambers lived in
the northwestern section of North Carolina in Wilkes County. At that day and time, it was not a good
thing to be part Indian. Whites looked
down on them. Apparently, Henry
Chambers must have looked more white than Indian and lived among the whites as
one of them. The whites would not have
taken kindly to the fact that he was a half-blood Cherokee, a
"half-breed." In those days,
they did not know it would be important in later years to prove you were of
Cherokee descent.
By the
time Henry's descendants, the children of Rachel, emigrated to the Indian
Territory, there was no factual proof in their beliefs. Although she repeatedly
told her children she was part Cherokee Indian, her descendants could not later
prove it. Rachel died in 1846, possibly
from consumption. Now called
tuberculosis, it is a disease which took the lives of several of her descendants. She was buried in an unmarked grave in
Overton County, Tennessee.[4]
The Dawes Commission
In the 1800s, the United States government established a system to certify Indians as well as destroy their culture and governments. The Five Civilized Tribes Commission, which became commonly known as the "Dawes Commission" headed by Senator Charles Dawes of Massachusetts. Indians were interviewed for the final rolls of citizens of the Cherokee, Choctaws, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Tribes.
Those found to have sufficient Indian blood were given land and a number, much like a social security number today, which thereafter appeared on all documents relating to them.
In 1887, Congress passed the General Allotment Act, which became known as the Dawes Act. It did not apply to the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory. The Indian agents coerced the tribe’s member to agree to allotment. This act also allowed for the sale of "surplus land not distributed to any Indian. The Oklahoma land runs also transferred the surplus lands to the white settlers.
Application for enrollment were taken from 1899 to 1906 when the "final rolls" were closed (although a few names were added as late as 1914, as a result of actions in Federal Courts.)
The Congressional Act of March 3, 1893, which became the Dawes Commission Act, also empowered the Dawes Commission to treat the Five Civilized Tribes separately and to procure from these tribes agreements for allotment of severalty lands and the subsequent dissolution of tribal government to prepare for Oklahoma statehood.
Eventually, the Secretary of the Interior, admittedly impatient over the delay and action of the Cherokees, decreed that the work of enrolling some 41,000 Cherokees would proceed under the general provisions of the Curtis Act. Agents, appointed by the Dawes Commission in the spring of 1902, attempt the forcible enrollment of the Cherokees for the Allotment Act. The signature of President McKinley meant business, and this group had begun the active preparation for the completion of enrollment. By the end of the summer of 1902, the Dawes Commission reported the receipt of nearly 50,000 applications of Cherokees, Shawnees, Delawares, by blood and intermarriage, and freedman for entry on the Cherokee rolls.
Even though the Cherokee government was to have been dissolved by statehood of Oklahoma. It was not until June 30, 1914 that all business of tribal enrollment and allotment was finished.
Principal Chief William C. Rogers, elected in the last free election in 1903, continued in his office until 1917, to sign the deeds in the transfer of Cherokee lands. When the rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes were closed on March 4, 1907, the Cherokee Nation reported its citizens as follows:
- 6,606 full bloods; 29,986 part bloods (including 197 registered Delawares);
- 286 intermarried whites; and 4,925 Negro Freedmen. This made a total of 41,798.
- The total was corrected to 41,693 in 1914.
Today the Cherokee Nation has more than 206,000 tribal
members.
Dawes Commission Application of Jonathon Norris
Gene Norris[5] has a copy of the rejected Dawes application, 1896, #2978, of Jonathan Norris made September 5, 1896 in Vinita, on file at Oklahoma City, OK. He names the children and grandchildren of his deceased sisters, Frankie, Nancy, and Agnes, and brother, Elihu, who lived around Green Forest at the time.
That affiant (Jonathan) had a full sister by the
name of Frankie Norris afterwards married to a man by the name of James
Lipps. That my said sister Frankie Lipps has long since been deceased and
that the persons named below are delineal descendants of my said sister Frankie
Lipps and following are the names and ages of a portion of my co-petitioners,
and their relationship to my said sister Frankie Lipps,
|
Names |
Ages |
Relationship
to Frankie Lipps |
|
George
W. Lipps |
68 |
Son |
|
Russea
M. Lipps |
30 |
grand
daughter |
|
Mary
E. Lipps |
28 |
granddaughter |
|
Catherine
Leathers |
66 |
daughter |
|
Emily
P. Cox |
46 |
grand
daughter |
|
Allice
O. Kirkham |
27 |
great
granddaughter |
|
Willard
Kirkham |
6 |
great-great
granddaughter |
|
Essey
E. Cox |
17 |
great
granddaughter |
|
Perry
B. Cox |
10 |
great
grandson |
|
Samuel
S. Cox |
6 |
great
grandson |
|
Lenora
Hulsey |
38 |
grand
daughter |
|
Ones
Hulsey |
1 |
great
grand son |
|
America
I. Yeager |
44 |
grand
daughter |
|
Ollie
F. Redden |
38 |
grand
daughter |
|
Jewel
Redden |
8 |
great
grand son |
|
Minnie
I. Redde |
6 |
great
grand daughter |
Gene Norris provides the following about Jonathon Norris:
Jonathan Norris, the son of Gilbert and Rachel
(Chambers) Norris, was a farmer. He was
also a self-taught stonemason. His
grandfather, Henry Chambers, was said to have been a half-blood Cherokee. He stated in later years that his mother had
always talked about being part Cherokee.
He first lived with Jane and their family near the Oak Hill Community in
Overton County, Tennessee, after their marriage in 1843 until after July 22,
1850. Jonathan moved his family to
Carroll County, Arkansas, in November, 1850.
His eldest sister, Frankie Lipps, was already living nearby in what
became Boone County, Arkansas, in 1869. Jonathan homesteaded one-hundred and
sixty acres.
His hewn-log home was burnt by bushwhackers during
the Civil War. Jonathan was tall, at least six feet in height, with a
square-jaw, high cheekbones, and large hands.
At the age of seventy-eight, his hair was still thick and dark. The first family homestead was near what
later became Green Forest, Carroll County, Arkansas, in 1866. A few years before Jane's death, in 1888, he
sold this farm to his son, Tom. Jonathan bought a place near the growing
community of Denver about eight miles northeast of Green Forest. The remains of the original cabin on the old
homestead near Green Forest still stood in 1984. It was later destroyed in 1986.
After
Jane's death in 1891, he made his home near Denver but often stayed with his
son, James, close to Green Forest. On
September 5, 1896, Jonathan, along with several other members of the family,
journeyed to Vinita, in the Cherokee Nation, to apply with the Dawes Commission
for free land in the Nation. Jonathan,
and his nephew, Jesse Hamilton (Hamp) Norris, each made a statement. These applications were denied because of lack
of factual proof. Returning to Green
Forest, Jonathan contracted pneumonia.
By the last of October, it affected both of his lungs. He died from it effects at the home of his
son, James, on November 15, 1896. He
was buried beside Jane in the family cemetery on the land of his son, James,
one mile east of Green Forest.
The
following notes are excerpts from the Dawes application which was made by
Jonathan Norris on September 7, 1896, at Vinita, Cherokee Nation, Indian
Territory. He included himself, aged
78, and all of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who were
living at that time. He also included
the families of his sisters, Frankie Lipps, Agnes McNiel, and Nancy McNiel, as
well as his brother, Elihu Norris, who were living around Green Forest in
1896. He stated that all of the
petitioners were born in lawful wedlock except for Allie C. McNiel Firestone
who was the illegitimate daughter of Paralee J. McNiel, the deceased daughter
of Nancy Norris McNiel, also deceased.
He continues:
That I
am the ligitimate son of Rachel Norris and her husband Gilbert Norris and that
my mother the said Rachel Norris before her marriage to my father was named
Rachel Chambers and she was the daughter of Henry Chambers who was a Cherokee
Indian, and was claimed and recognized as such by the Cherokee tribe or Nation
of Indians. I understand that my said
grandfather Henry Chambers resided with the Cherokee people in the old Cherokee
reservation, East, in what is now a part of North Carolina. That my mother has dead almost 50 years and
many years before her death and on many occasions have I heard her say that she
was a Cherokee Indian by blood and that she was the daughter of Henry Chambers. I have also talked with a sister of my
mothers and have heard her say also that she was a Cherokee Indian by blood and
that she was a sister to my mother and that they were both daughters of said
Henry Chambers. I was born in North
Carolina but now reside in Carroll County Arkansas, and my post office is Green
Forest in said county and that Green Forest Arkansas and Denver Arkansas are
the post offices of all of the above petitioners with the exceptions of the
Reddins, Yeagers, Lipps, and Johnsons.
Jonathan
goes on to state: That I am informed a
brother and sister of my mother emigrated West with the Cherokee Indians but as
to the time of such removal by my Uncle and Aunt I am unable to state but it
was probably about the year 1835. That
I make this application a part of and ask this Honorable Commission to use it
as evidence in this case.
signed Jonathan Norris
Subscribed and sworn to before me and in my presence
by the said Jonathan Norris this 5th day of September, 1896.
signed Harry
E. Don-Carlos, Notary Public
Unfortunately, the commission could not find the
name of Henry Chambers on any of the Cherokee rolls from 1835, either before or
after that year. The application was
rejected. The case number was Dawes
Rejected Cherokee Applications # 2978, on record at the Oklahoma Historical Society
in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Just a
little over two months later, Jonathan Norris died at his son, Jim's, home near
Green Forest. He was never able to
prove his Cherokee heritage. A
statement had also been made by Jonathan's nephew, Hamp Norris, which is
recorded in his section.
Our grandmother, Esther Mae Cox (shown as "Essey B.
Cox"), and her brothers Perry B. Cox and Samuel S. Cox are shown as
great-grandchildren of Frankie
Lipps.
Dawes Commission Application of Russea (Russia) Lipps
Steve Lipps[6] provided the following scans of the 1896 Dawes Commission application of Russia M. Lipps. Steve provides the following notes:
·
Pg1.jpg
is apparently a file or case coversheet. (dated 7 Sep 1896)
·
Pg2aTop.jpg
and Pg2bBottom.jpg are the top and bottom halves of Russia's
application
for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation. (dtd 4 Sep 1896)
I
had to split it for scanner/size reasons.
In her application she
claims
Cherokee heritage derived from:
her
father -George W.
Lipps
who
was a son of - Frances Lipps
who
was a daughter of - Rachael Norris*
who
was a daughter of - Henry Chambers
who
was a full blooded Cherokee Indian.
She
stated that he appeared on census rolls when east of the
Missippi
River in the years 1835 - 1848 - 1851 - 1852.
*The
name Norris is a little difficult to read.
By comparing
the
handwriting, I think the "N" in "Norris" is nearly
identical
to
the "N" in the word "Name" two lines below in the phrase
"whose
name appears"
·
Pg3.jpg
is a registered mail receipt verifying that the application was
delivered
to the Chief of the Cherokee Nation, G.H. Mayes for
his
consideration.
·
Pg4.jpg
is another coversheet dated 9 Sep 1896 annotated "Denied".
·
Pg5.jpg
Dated 15 Oct 1896, appears to be a legal document, prepared by
lawyers
and signed by the Executive Secretary of the Cherokee
Nation. The document uses the term "demur"
instead of denied.
(I'm
guessing that indicates that unless more evidence is produced
to
prove citizenship, then it's the same as denied.) The reasons
for
denial are carefully worded, but seem to indicate that:
Neither
Russia nor any of her relatives lived within jurisdiction
of
the Chief (within the "Cherokee Nation and Indian Territory"?)
The
wording leaves a lot for interpretation.
I may be reading too
much
into it, but I find the it interesting where it states:
"Respondent
not waiving his aforesaid demurrer, but insisting upon
the same for answer to said application says
that Lipps, through
whom the petitioner claims to derive her
right to citizenship in
the Cherokee Nation, is not now and has not
been a citizen..."
There
is no reference to "Chambers" or his citizenship, only to
"Lipps",
but the sentence does continue to include his ancestors.
So
maybe they couldn't find either on the rolls.
At any rate, it
looks
as though this was in response to Russia's re-application
based
on the wording, date and Pg6.
·
Pg6.jpg
Another routing slip or cover, dated 21 Oct 1896 and titled "The
re-application
of" . This is dated (stamped) after Pg5. I guess the
page
5 document may have been the supporting documentation for the
final
denial?
To the Honorable the Dawes Commission on Citizenship
in the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory:
Your petitioner, Russia M. Lipps, undersigned,
respectfully states that She is a Cherokee
Indian by blood, and asks to be enrolled as a member of the Cherokee
Nation of Indians in the Indian Territory. That She derives her said Indian blood from George W. Lipps, her
Father, who was a son of Frances Lipps,
Indian by blood, and she a daughter of Rachael Norris, who was a daughter
of Henry Chambers, a Cherokee Indian by
blood whose name appears as a member of Cherokee tribe of Indians on Census
rolls when east of the Mississippi river in the years 1835 - 1848 - 1851 -
1852. Your petitioner states the above
facts as the lawful grounds of her application for citizenship in …Cherokee……….
Nation, and prays that her claim may be fully investigated by your Honorable
Commission and that She be adjudged to be a citizen of said …Cherokee…. Nation
of Indians and entitled to all the rights and privileges pertaining to such
citizenship in accordance with the laws and treaties with said Nation of
Indians. My age is 30 years. My Post Office address is Batavia Ark. My
family consists of the following-named persons: My and children, as follows:
(Both words "My", above, are lined-through. The word "no"
is written to the left of the first) WITNESS my hand this 4th day of Sept 1896.
Russia M. Lipps. ATTEST L H Boyd, Cora (C)okeman. Personally appeared before
me, the undersigned authority, Russia M. Lipps To me known to be the petitioner
in the above petition, who being by me first duly sworn, upon her oath says
that she is the petitioner in the above petition, that _he has read (or heard
read) the said petition, and that the
facts stated therein are true, as she verily believes. Russia M. Lipps.
Subscribed and sworn to before me at Carrolton Ark. This 4th day of sept…… , A.D.
1896. R.(J or T). Swon N.P, My Com Ex sept-20-1898 (Preceding from Steve
Lipps[stevel@theriver.com])
________________
I, A.R. Breker, do solemnly swear that on the 8 day
of September 1896, I saw a package registered at the Post Office at Vinita I.T.
addressed to S.H. Mayes, Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Telecuah, I.T. that
registry receipt No …..578……. hereto attached, is a receipt for
said package which contained true copies of the
application of Russia M. Lipps. And of the affidavits of Russia M. Lipps In
support of the same. A R Breker, Sworn to and subscribed before me this the
….8….. day of September, 1896. ….W.(S) Stansfield……. ((This is stamped
"Notary Public, My commission expires September 17th 1899) A registry
receipt is copied on the bottom of this
sheet that shows: Post Office at VINITA SEP 8 1896 Cherokee Nation, Ind.Ter.
Registered Letter No 578 Rec'd Of W.S.Stansfield Addressed to S.H. Mayes (Tele?)quah I.T. (?D A FRAYPES L?)
P.M. ((difficult to read signature of
the postmaster (Preceding from stevel [stevel@theriver.com])
