Non-Stop November: Creassie Shoals Forgotten Daughter of Robert Jones

(A popular blogging meme is that of Non-Stop November--a commitment made by content creators to share something every day during the month of November. In the spirit of that blogging meme I have decided to commit to regular posts throughout the month to bring forth more of the stories of Freedmen from the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.)

The story of Creassie Shoals is a perfect example of why researchers of Freedmen families should look beyond the Dawes Rolls, Dawes Interviews and Land allotments. The documents from the Dawes Records are simple and do not reveal much more than the fact that Creassie was the daughter of a woman once enslaved.

National Archives Publication M1186, Choctaw Freedman Card #1299
Image accessed from Ancestry: Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Dawes Cards Collection

(Reverse side of same card)

This appears to be an ordinary card of a Freedman---meaning simply that she was regarded as one who came from the enslaved population of the Choctaw Nation, and thus was to be treated as one who was "less than" traditional Choctaw citizens.

Note that she was originally placed on a Chickasaw Card, but was later moved to a Choctaw Freedman Card.

The Interview:

The interview for Creassie Shoals appears to be one that was short and simple. She was asked about her mother, and also asked about her husband. Beyond that there appeared to be no controversy. There was a letter in the file addressing the fact that her names was not on an earlier roll, but it was apparently resolved because she was added to the roll as a Choctaw Freedmen.

The Rest of the Story

In spite of the questions of the commissioners, Creassie, knew who she was and she knew her legacy. She was the daughter of Robert Jones, wealthiest of Choctaw slave holders and a very influential man in the tribe. She became the plaintiff in a suit to claim her right to be enrolled as a Choctaw by Blood.

In 1906 she filed a case requesting to be placed on the roll of Choctaws by Blood. Her father was Robert Jones, and she wished to be treated like others whose fathers were Choctaws.

In addition her case was also interesting, because she was part of a movement with others who were also seeking transfer to the rolls by Blood, as they too had Choctaw parents, or grandparents.

There are many Freedmen who had family ties to persons known as Choctaws, however, in spite of it, during the Dawes process, the questions were often structured to reflect only one aspect of their history--their history of having been enslaved.  Creassie Shoals and others knew both sides of their history, and though they tried to have both recognized, they were to find themselves categorized one single way, a status which would last from the application era forward.

Creassie Shoals story had to be a complicated one. She was the daughter of the man who enslaved her, and her mother. She lived within a Choctaw social structure and though she and others stepped up to claim their birthright it would be denied. Little is known of the relationship that Creassie maintained after statehood, when the first law to be passed by the new state of Oklahoma would push people of African descent into a second class status to last well into the 1960s, decades after she would pass away.

Her history was a bicultural one as was her ethnicity, and the world in which she would live would be paved with the many challenges that faced Freedmen of Indian Territory.