In 1902, Jane Ridley, daughter of Paul and Matilda Higginbotham Willis, granddaughter of Sanford and Jane Holley Higginbotham applied for identification as a Mississippi Choctaw.
In this application, she states that her mother Matilda, was 1/2 Choctaw and that her father Paul, was also 1/2 Choctaw, making herself also 1/2 Choctaw.
Family legend has always provided us with the story that Jane Holley Higginbotham was full-blooded Indian, taken in and raised by the Holley’s as their own.
I’m not really surprised that her application was denied. She didn’t have her ducks in a row, and I imagine in that day and time, it would not be easy to secure the records that she would have needed to prove this.
Do I think because they refused her application that she wasn’t 1/2 Choctaw? Absolutely not. I just think she didn’t have the means or the ability to prove it.
I would be interested to know what your opinion is after reading this packet. I have several questions after reading it, but one of the main ones is that they nearly always refer to the Holley’s in this report as Holla’s, and I was wondering if anyone else had knowledge of this name or think that this is an error??
I have added her report for your review, and I will be adding those of her children in the days to come. You can find the Dawes Packets from the menu above, or you can just follow this link: Dawes Packets
Hoping for some feed back on this one!
Madeline Lynch
May 20, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Susie, I sent you a private message on Facebook with my comments. I am very curious about the Holla, Holley names. Do you think the Holley’s were not related to her? I was thinking Holley may have been the Americanized version of Holla.
Amy Coffin
May 21, 2012 at 9:43 pm
Agreed that it was not easy to prove identification.
My own Chickasaw ancestors were approved for citizenship in the Chickasaw Nation. My ancestor’s file included an actual marriage certificate (no photocopies back then) and many, many sworn affidavits and depositions regarding relationship and lineage. Government paperwork has always been a headache, though it is kind of neat to read your ancestor’s own words in a transcribed document.
Steve
February 17, 2014 at 7:46 pm
My great grandmother, Georgia Ann Morris, was supposed to be Cherokee, but reportedly born in Kiowa, Choctaw Nation per the family bible. I could find some of the Morrises in Kiowa, but not Georgia Ann. She was apparently really born in Bossier Parish, LA to Thomas Morris of MO and Mary Hages Edwards of FL. The Edwards folks, if I have the correct line, had several Creek members in it. These folks apparently did not like census takers because the Morrises and Edwards are very hard to find and moved around a lot. My grandmother did not care for “indians” because she was cousins to Cynthia Ann Parker, and her mother-in-law was also kind of dark. The only nice thing she ever said about her was that Georgia had a beautiful voice singing in church. You can see the Native American in my grandfather with his blue-black hair, bronze skin, barrel chest, and that NA nose like the one on the old buffalo nickels. My DNA test does show some asian and Native American genes, but I have no idea what the percentage is or from what part of the country. Why grandma married a guy that looked so NA is one of those inconsistencies that drives me nuts trying to separate the facts from the myths.