Alexander Fisher Son of His Father

National Archives, Ft. Worth
Perry Files: File #7, Image #7

From Mayhew, in the Choctaw Nation, Alexander Fisher appeared in front of the Dawes Commission in 1899. He represented himself and his family. 

National Archives Publication M1186, Choctaw Freedman Card #865

Reverse side of card

Clearly with the knowledge of his family history in detail. it is amazing how short his "official" Dawes interview actually was. Clearly this was a summarized statement and not a true interview. The actual words spoken by Alexander Fisher are not provided in the file.

National Archives, Publication M1901

Cases such as that of Alexander Fisher reflect the effort of the commissioners to ignore the detail that was brought out later when they sought to be removed from Freedman status to that a citizen by blood. Without these records and the challenges that they made the researcher would not know.

And, in spite of the detail that they had to provide---the actual words stated by these families, are still lost. Nevertheless, vital information, some of which goes back two and even three generations is present. The result is that more of their stories can still be gleaned. The tie that the Fisher family had to the Choctaw Fisher family is clear, and with this extra data more of the story can be told.