The following are cases of claimants who never made application for enrollment within the time fixed by law, but who are of half Indian blood or more and incompetent to look after their own interests. The attention of the department was directed to these cases as indicated herein.
Person Interviewed: Tom W. Woods Location: Alderson, Oklahoma Place of Birth: Florence, Alabama Age: 83 Lady, if de nigger hadn’t been set free dis country wouldn’t ever been what it is now! Poor white folks wouldn’t never had a chance. De slave holders had most of de money and de land and dey wouldn’t let de poor white folks have a chance to own any land or anything else to speak of. Dese white folks wasn’t much better off dan we was. Dey had to work hard and dey had to worry ’bout food, clothes and shelter and we didn’t. … Read more
Person Interviewed: Morris Hillyer Location: Alderson, Oklahoma Age: 84 My father was Gabe Hillyer and my mother was Clarisay Hillyer, and our home was in Rose, Georgia. Our owner was Judge Hillyer. He was de last United States senator to Washington, D. C., before de war. My mother died when I was only a few days old and the only mother I ever knew was Judge Hillyer’s wife, Miss Jane. Her nine children were all older than I was and when mother died Miss Jane said mother had raised her children and she would raise here. So she took us … Read more