While on the Oklahoma Historical Society website yesterday, I found the following information about the 1933 Relief Census. Here’s the link to the site: http://www.okhistory.org/research/reliefcensus. (Right click and select open in a new window.)
On this site listed as heads of household were both my maternal and paternal grandfathers, Carl Holder (listed as Carroll Holder, age 28 in 1933, a farmer with 4 people in the family and living in Wade, OK, which all matches Daddy Holder) and William Musgrove (age 24, a farmer with 3 people in the family and living in Oklahoma County). Also included in the census as heads of household were two of Daddy Holder’s brothers, E.F. and Joe, along with their father, G.B.
Within a few years, both my grandfathers, Carl Holder and William Musgrove, were able to buy their own farms.
For a genealogist, this census gives us another tool to place people in a particular place and social context.
In order to be on “the dole,” most likely, the family could not own any land. The head of household may have had to be of a certain age. A quick search today did not list the criteria for being on the dole in Oklahoma, but each state set up their own criteria until Roosevelt established the Federal Employment Relief Act in late 1933. I’ve requested a book on the Depression in Oklahoma, which may give more information.
From the site:
The OHS Research Center staff and volunteers have transcribed Oklahoma records for unemployment relief. These records offer insight into the economic status of Oklahomans during the 1930s. There are more than 100,000 names included in this database.
The OHS Research Division’s manuscript archives include information for several counties. These records are located in the William H. Murray Collection [1982.294]. The records are fairly uniform and consist of typed pages.
Back row: Thomas Jefferson, Margaret, Albert, Zula, James Monroe Walker, Elizabeth. Front row: Lee, Clara, Abner, Almeda, Bertha Mae (sitting in lap), Myrtie. Lee, the oldest son, is not in the picture.
Today’s blog post is an interview conducted by Louise Todd Hunt with Jeff Todd and his sister Zula Todd McIntire. Also presented is information from Abner Newton Todd’s notebook with details of the wagon trip from Arkansas to Garland, Texas. The wonderful picture above, taken in 1904, was recently posted on Ancestry.com by a cousin. I added the children’s names – if any are incorrect, let me know. This summer, I plan to retrace the Todd/Bickle route as best I can using current roads.
All the information below is from “The McIntires and the Elliotts of Bickle’s Cove, Stone County, Arkansas and the descendents of John McIntire of Maury County, Tennessee” by Pauline Mitchell Pierce, published January 1997 and used with her permission. Pauline’s work is in italics below.
On August 1, 1900, Arch Bickle and Abner Todd with their families left Stone County, Arkansas and arrived 18 days later in Garland, Dallas County, Texas to make their home. These men were first cousins.
Mr. Arch Bickle, his wife Roxie (Gaylor) Bickle, Allie, age 2, and Joe Bickle, the baby, had one covered wagon. His mother was Aunt Nan Bickle, sister of Frances Elmira Hay[n]es Todd.
Mr. Abner Newton Todd, born 1854 (the 1910 Stone County, AR census gives his birth date as Mar 1859, as does the Stone County Marriage record, but family charts from his family give the Oct 1859 date. PMP) in Cannon County, TN had migrated to Arkansas and married Almeda Elliott. They were bringing to Texas nine children in two covered wagons loaded with their possessions. One wagon was bought new for the trip and one he had made in his shop. The home-made wagon was made from green oak timber from the homestead. As the lumber had not been seasoned, it began to get loose and at night water was carried and poured on the wheels hoping they would swell and tighten up. It seemed as though they might fall apart.
Riding with the wagons was Barney Haynes, a 19 year old cousin, son of Noah Haynes. He was the hunter for the trip. Another rider was Craig Futrell who stayed in Garland for a few years, engaged in the photography business.
On leaving Mountain View, Arkansas they crossed Sylamore Creek (part of the White River) on a ferry near Calico Rock. The first day, they covered 30 miles and were as far as Clinton, then 14 miles to Scotland, 20 miles to Appleton and 21 miles to Russellville where they crossed the Arkansas River on a bridge and only made 3 miles that day, stopping at Dardanelle.
One day, Arch Bickle lost his dog who had been trotting alongside the wagons, Mr. Bickle rode back 10 miles and found the dog at the campsite of the night before.
The homemade wagon gave trouble. Abner Todd was uneasy about it. After the 59 miles to Magazine, he came the next day to Booneville and bought a new wagon. He left his homemade one to be sold. The spokes for the wheels had been shaped with a draw knife. A straight bar of steel bought and heated in the forge and shaped into an iron bank, one for each of the 4 wheels and welded together. He never received any money for his wagon he had left at Booneville.
Mr. Bickle lead the way with his wagon. The mules had never seen a train. As they came into Booneville and saw parked box cars on the tracks, Mr. Bickle started across the tracks. When the mules reached the tracks, a switch engine was coming and the frightened mules reared up in the air and bawled like a cow. They ran backwards and backed the wagon away from the tracks. If they had gone forward the wagon would have been hit. It was carrying Arch, Roxie, Allie and baby Joe.
Abner Todd had a 160 acre farm, a house, barn, a well and a blacksmith shop. It was a homestead, it was yours after you lived on the land 5 years. There was no sale made on the land. He sold the crop, his 20 head of cattle, 20-30 head of sheep and 50 head of hogs before leaving. Later he did sell the farm, sight unseen, for $500 to a Mr. Panther who lived on Mud Lane. He paid this $500 by gathering a cotton crop and giving Abner Todd his team of mules. They went to a Lawyer in Garland to prepare for the transfer of the 160 acres from Abner Todd to Mr. Panther. Later on, one of the Gaylors bought the place.
On the 8th day, they moved from Booneville to Mansfield, 21 miles; 9th day 12 miles to Hartford with was the last Arkansas town. The 10th day, they crossed into Indian Territory and came to Read Oak for 22 miles that day. This area was noted as a hideout for outlaws and a watch was set for each night that they were in Indian Territory.
The 11th day, they came to Wister Junction; the 12th day 22 miles to Wilberton. One night along the way they spend with a family named Lynn. The women spent all the next day visiting and washing clothes.
After crossing the Red River, probably at Bells, they were in Texas and did not set their guard at night. The first jack rabbits they had ever seen were around the southern part of Indian Territory. The rabbits were in droves; they ran in all directions. Barney shot some with his Uncle Abner’s gun.
A stop was made at Writewright, Texas for a visit with the John Todd family. He was a first cousin, also from Tennessee. At the John Todd farm they saw a steam thrasher at work in the wheat field. A big boiler was belching steam in the hot August sun.
It was a hot dusty trip of 18 days. They slept outside at night to be as cool as possible. They brought a milk cow along on the trip, brought food they had raised in Arkansas and purchased some supplies along the way.
Mr. and Mrs. Conner lived at Garland and the group came to their place and camped in the yard. The Todd family lived in a tent the first winter here. It snowed while they lived in the tent. Jeff Todd was 5 years old when they came. He had his 7th birthday, while they lived in the tent.
Abner Newton Todd, the son of Walker Everett Todd (see Civil War stories) and Frances Elmira (Elvira) Haynes, died on October 13, 1904, from a gunshot wound. There is speculation on the cause of the gunshot, but most believe it was suicide. (from family stories – amp)
Almeda (sometimes written as Alameda) went on to raise their twelve children and became a very successful farmer and business woman, leaving all the children a nice inheritance when she died on May 14, 1935. She never remarried.
Family stories indicate some branches of our family tree included ancestors from the Five Civilized Tribes. There is much interest in proving Indian or Native American ancestry. However, there are very specific criteria for proving Indian ancestry.
The Dawes Commission Roll Book, the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes, used for Certification of Degree of Indian Blood was compiled mainly during the years 1899-1906. Anyone who died before 1899 does not have a roll number. To be enrolled there were certain requirements to be met. Application had to be made during the enrollment period, showing membership in the tribe and actual residence within the area occupied by the tribe.
If the ancestor lived outside Indian Territory, they did not qualify to apply on the Dawes commission. Our Charles Wilson Buckmaster and his family were living in Indian Territory then, but I have not found any of his family names on the Dawes Roll, nor any evidence they were considered Indian. I have found no other records of other ancestors who were living in Indian Territory during the enrollment period.
Some people may never be able to prove Indian heritage. Indian law usually dictated that “when any citizen shall remove with his effects out of the limits of the Nation and become a citizen of any other government, all his rights and privileges as a citizen of the Nation shall cease,” provided nevertheless that the National Council shall have power to re-admit any such person who may at any time want to return to the Nation, but no one is entitled as an inherent right to re-admission to citizenship. If an applicant proves that at one time he was a recognized citizen of the Nation and has forfeited that citizenship, there is no law by which he can demand admission. As a matter of course, the same laws and usages governed the Dawes Commission in their consideration of claims to citizenship.
Possible Cherokee Connection
Through the Holder line, family tradition states Peter Adams Tyler met his wife-to-be, Eveline Minerva Price, at a trading post on the Mississippi River. Minerva was reportedly 1/2 or more Cherokee. Practicality would suggest that he met Minerva at a store or post in Northwest Arkansas. Eveline, born in North Carolina, followed the Cherokee routes to Arkansas, and Price is a prominent name among the Cherokee Nation. As yet, proof of her Cherokee heritage has not been found. Peter and Eveline married on July 4, 1845. They had nine children, including James Buchanan Tyler, Carl Lee Holder’s grandfather.
Possible Choctaw Connection
Through another branch of Eva Buckmaster Musgrove’s line, through a Google search, I found over twenty pages of records where, starting on February 1, 1898, Tryphena Elizabeth McGinnis Pearcy filed a lawsuit against the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, declaring herself and her children as Choctaw Indians. Appeals went back and forth in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Citizenship Court in Ardmore, Indian Territory and in Tishomingo, the seat of the Southern District of the Indian Territory, until 1904, when the court ruled that the plaintiffs, Tryphena Elizabeth Pearcy and her children “were not entitled to be deemed or declared citizens of the Choctaw Nation, or to enrollment as such, or to any rights whatever flowing therefrom.”
Charles Wilson Buckmaster was born on September 12 1843 in Coshocton, Coshocton County, Ohio. Wilson was a family name passed down from his great, great, great grandmother Mary Wilson Buckmaster, who was born in Kent County, Delaware in 1680.
He enlisted as a private in Company E and A, 14th Regiment of the Iowa Infantry on August 30, 1862, serving in the 42nd and the 43rd Infantry. From the regimental records, it looks like he saw a lot of action and may have been a POW. I’ve requested his military and pension records.
Service Details: The 14th Regiment, Iowa Infantry was organized at Davenport in November and mustered in November 6, 1861. Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., December, 1861. Attached to District of Corinth, Dept. of Tennessee, to December, 1862. Davenport, Iowa, and St. Louis, Mo., to April, 1863. Cairo, Ill., District of Columbus, 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, Dept. of Tennessee, to January, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 16th Army Corps, to December, 1864. Springfield, Ill., to August, 1865.
From Regiment records, Charles may have fought in the following battles: Fort Donelson February 12-16, 1862, where Walker Everett Todd, another ancestor fighting for the south, was captured; Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7; held center at “Hornet’s Nest” and Regiment mostly captured, paroled October 12, 1862, exchanged November 19, 1862; Those not captured assigned to Union Brigade and participated in the advance on and seize of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Pursuit to Booneville May 31-June 13. Duty at Corinth till August, and at Danville, Miss., till October. Battle of Corinth October 3-4. Pursuit to Ripley October 5-12. At Corinth until December 18. Ordered to rejoin Regiment at Davenport, Iowa, December 18. While en route participated in the defense of Jackson, Tenn., December 20, 1862, to January 4, 1863. Arrived at Davenport January 7. Reorganizing Regiment at Davenport, Iowa, and at St. Louis, Mo., till April. Moved to Cairo, Ill., April 10, and duty there till January, 1864. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss. Meridian Campaign February 3 to March 5. Meridian February 14-15. Marion February 15-17. Canton February 28. Red River Campaign March 10-May 22. Fort DeRussy March 14. Occupation of Alexandria March 16. Henderson’s Hill March 21. Battle of Pleasant Hill April 9. Cloutiersville and Cane River Crossing April 22-24. At Alexandria April 27-May 13. Moore’s Plantation May 5-7. Bayou Boeuf May 7. Bayou LaMourie May 12. Retreat to Morganza May 13-20. Mansura May 16. Yellow Bayou May 18-19. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., thence to Memphis, Tenn., May 20-June 10. Lake Chicot, Ark., June 6-7. Smith’s Expedition to Tupelo July 5-21. Pontotoc July 11. Camargo’s Cross Roads, near Harrisburg, July 13. Tupelo July 14-15. Old Town Creek July 15. Smith’s Expedition to Oxford, Miss., August 1-30. Tallahatchie River August 7-9. Abbeville and Oxford August 12. Abbeville August 23. Mower’s Expedition up White River to Duvall’s Bluff September 1-7. March through Arkansas and Missouri in pursuit of Price September 17-October 25. (4 Cos. sent to Pilot Knob, Mo., and participated in actions at Ironton, Shut in Gap and Arcadia September 26. Fort Davidson, Pilot Knob, September 26-27. Leesburg or Harrison September 28-29.) Regiment assembled at St. Louis, Mo., November 2 and mustered out November 16, 1864. Veterans and recruits consolidated to two Companies and assigned to duty at Springfield, Ill., till August 8, 1865, when Charles was mustered out.
His regiment lost five officers and fifty-nine enlisted men killed and mortally wounded during service and one officer and one hundred thirty eight enlisted men by disease. Total 203.
Charles mustered out as a private of Company E on June 6, 1865 at Davenport, Iowa. Shortly after mustering out, on September 10, 1865, Charles Wilson married Mahala Hopkins.
By 1880, the family had moved to Stafford, Kansas. It appears the family moved to Indian Territory sometime before April 7, 1885, when Andrew Jackson Buckmaster, Eva’s father, was born in Indian Territory, Oklahoma.
Charles died on March 18, 1919, (age 75 years) in Holdenville, Hughes County, Oklahoma, United States. He had been in Holdenville and was planning to go home to Hilltop on a local freight train. He climbed aboard the caboose which was detached from the train and fell off. He was dead when found. The doctor ruled the cause of death as a heart attack. Charles Wilson was Eva Buckmaster Musgrove’s grandfather.
Sources
U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, on-line Provo, Utah.
Index to Compiled Military Service Records, film M541, roll 4.
Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion.
Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934.
