My great grandparents, Sam and Sallie Walton lived in Skullyville in the Choctaw Nation. They were Freedmen, and were enrolled on Choctaw Freedman Card #777. Skullyville is a town that is no longer on the map. However, during the years it existed, it was the northernmost district of the Choctaw Nation. Finding my family on the Dawes Roll, and learning of their lives in Skullyville, I became more curious about the area and surrounding community.
As a result, I have been undertaking the task of studying the Freedmen families of Skullyvlle to learn more about the people.
I have often made references to community research projects. Someone mentioned to me that they were not sure how to do that.
I have been working on a Skullyville-Sugar Loaf project for some time, and can share my outline with you. This can be a template that others can use to document their own ancestral community. We need more stories of those enslaved and freed on the western frontier. There is so much more to the story than that of our own single family. Therefore I urge others to document their own community in a similar fashion.
The bullet points listed below, can be separate projects---or they can be small chapters to put in a book format, or yet, they can be part of a free standing blog, or website. I am sharing them with the hope that others will examine their own ancestral communities and begin to tell their stories.
Slaves and Freedmen of Skullyville, Choctaw Nation
* Slaves of Skullyville - When Did They Arrive and How Did They Fare?
* Freedmen of Skullyville/Sugar Loaf
* Freedom Fighters--USCTs from the Community
* Dawes Enrollees
* Where Did They Live? Freedmen Settlements
* The Elders Who Lived Among Them
* Blood of their Fathers
* Freedmen Stories from Skullyville
I encourage and challenge other researchers to dare to tell their own story from the community. There is no better way to honor the ancestors by not only calling their name, but telling their story.
