Choctaw Mixed Bloods

Wells, Dr. Samuel James. Choctaw Mixed Bloods and the Advent of Removal. University of Southern Mississippi. 1987. © Dr. Samuel James Wells, 1987. Used by permission.

Choctaw Mixed Bloods and the Advent of Removal

P.P. Pitchlynn, Speaker of the National Council of the Choctaw Nation and Choctaw delegate to the government of the United States

Choctaw Mixed Blood and the Advent of Removal: This dissertation by Samuel James Wells lists the names and families of the known mixed bloods and examines their role in tribal history, especially regarding land treaties during the Jeffersonian years preceding Removal. This dissertation includes a database of over three thousand names of known and probable mixed bloods drawn from a wide range of sources and therefore has genealogical as well as historical value.

Choctaw Indian Treaty Signers, 1830

There exists several thousand names from government claims records and commission hearings, as well as genealogical evidence, which indicate a broad occurrence of mixed bloods in the Choctaw tribe. This study lists the names and families of the known mixed bloods and examines their role in tribal history, especially regarding land treaties during the Jeffersonian years preceding Removal. This study includes a database of over three thousand names of known and probable mixed bloods drawn from a wide range of sources and therefore has genealogical as well as historical value. Readers interested in more information should start their research here: … Read more

Brashears Choctaw Family – List of Mixed Bloods

The Brashears family represents one of the most industrious and influential included in this study. The genealogical thread running through this line can be traced back to the early Scotch trader, Lachlan McGillivray, and his father-in-law, the French trader aptly named Marchand, in Creek country in the mid-eighteenth century (see Chart 4). This family spans the Creek, Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. Samuel Brashears was an early trader with the Creeks and married Rachael Durant, the mixed-blood daughter of Ben Durant (another trader) and Sophie McGillivray (the mixed-blood daughter of trader Lachlan McGillivray and mixed-blood Sehoy Marchand).  His presence was marked … Read more

Anderson Choctaw Family – List of Mixed Bloods

The first Choctaw family examined, the Anderson family, has little or no documentation in Choctaw country prior to the removal era (see Chart 3) other than family tradition and representation on the Armstrong roll. There is, however, a Robert C. Anderson listed as a Mississippi Territory volunteer during the Creek War. On August 12, 1813 he had a commission Second Lieutenant.  But beyond this and a few Andersons on the 1808 and 1810 Washington County Mississippi territorial census there is little documentation on this family. One might surmise from the relatively small number (seven heads of households) of Andersons on … Read more

An Affinity For Trade

Despite their early encounters with Hernando DeSoto, whose ruthless exploitation of the Native Americans was unabashedly cruel, the Southeastern Indians greeted white men with peaceful cooperation. Later European arrivals found that their success in the Gulf wilderness depended largely upon peace with the native inhabitants, or at least peace with one of the larger tribes.  Because no large deposits of gold or other precious metals were found, the Spaniards relegated the region to outpost status and made no major effort to colonize beyond settlements at Pensacola and later Mobile and New Orleans, and thus they had relatively little contact with … Read more