Executive Department Of The Cherokee Nation,
Tahlequah, January 26, 1871.
Gentlemen: Enclosed you will please find a list of the names of the districts, and also a list of the judges of the several districts up to present time. Also copies of the act in relation to marriage and estate, and the act in relation to a seal. There is no law legalizing marriages contracted according to the customs of the country, or annulling such marriages. The copy enclosed is all the information I can give you in relation to marriages, as regards the seal. There is no law authorizing any of the judges to use a seal in any of his official transactions. The names of the clerks of the several districts I could not get on account of being locked up in the Auditor’s office at this place, and he resides some distance from here. I will send after the key to his office, and forward you a list as soon as it can be done.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES VANN,
Acting Principal Chief Cherokee Nation.
ALLEN Ross, Secretary.
Messrs. F. E. FOSTER and GEO. E. WEBSTER.
P. S. I shall be at Gibson next week, and will then give you all the information required.
An Act in regard to marriage and estates.
Be it enacted by the national council, That all regular ministers of the gospel, of every denomination, having the care of souls, and all judges of this nation, are hereby authorized and empowered to solemnize the rites of matrimony according to the rites and ceremonies of their respective churches, and all such marriages shall be deemed lawful. No person, being married, shall marry another person without first having obtained a bill of divorce from the proper authority. Nor shall it be lawful for any person to marry and live with, as man and wife, his or her connection nearer than that of second cousin.
Be it further enacted, That when any person shall die intestate, the estate of such person shall be divided, according to law, between his or her lawful widow or widower as the case may be, and the legitimate children of the same.
Tahlequah, October 24, 1855.
JOHN ROSS. JAMES VANN,
Assistant and Acting Principal Chief Cherokee Nation.
Executive Department,
Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, January 24, 1871.
ALLEN ROSS, Private Secretary.
A List of the clerks of the district courts of the several districts: from July 1865, to July 1870.
1. Coo-wees-coo-wee district:
D. W. Lipe, October 1865, to October 1867.
J. B. Mayes, October 1867, to October 1868.
J. B. Mayes, October 1868, to July 1870.
J. B. Mayes, clerk at present time.
2. Delaware district:
James Tincup, July 1865, to October 1865.
James Tincup, October 1865, to October 1866.
James Tincup, October 1866, to October 1867.
T. J. McGhee, October 1867, to October 1868.
T. J. McGhee, October 1868, to October 1869.
T. J. McGhee, October 1869, to October 1870.
T. J. McGhee, clerk at present time.
3. Going Snake district:
John Thornton, July 1865, to July, 1870.
John Thornton, clerk at present time.
4. Flint district:
Big Bullet, July 1865, to October 1865.
J. VV. Adair, October 1865, to July, 1870.
J. W. Adair, clerk at present time.
5. Saline district:
J. L. Springston, July, 1865, to July, 1870.
J. L. Springston, clerk at present time.
6. Tahlequah district:
O. P. Daniel, July to October 1865.
Silas D. Ross, October 1865, October 1866.
Daniel R. Gourd, December 1866, to August 1867.
William H. Turner, August 1867, to October 1867.
William H. Turner, October 1867, to January 1868.
Robert B. Ross, January 1868, to October 1868.
W. H. Turner, October 1868, to July 1870.
W. H. Turner, clerk at present time.
7. Sequoyah district:
Franklin Falkner, July to October 1865.
Franklin Falkner, October 1865, to October 1867.
George Bingo, October 1867, to October 1868.
Ellis Sanders, October 1868, to July 1870.
Ellis Sanders, clerk at present time.
8. Illinois district:
Amos Thornton, July to October 1865.
Moses Pine, October 1865, to October 1866.
Albert Barnes, October 1866, to October 1867.
Daniel R. Gourd, October 1867, 7 mouths, 1868.
D. W. Lipe, 1868, 5 months, 1868.
W. P. Boudinot, October 1868, to October 1865.
Albert Barnes, October 1869, to July 1870.
Albert Barnes, clerk at present time.
9. Canadian district:
George Bingo, July to October 1865.
Daniel R. Gourd, October 1865, to October 1866.
Sanders Chote, October 1866, to October 1867.
O. P. Brewer, 1867 to July 1870.
O. P. Brewer, clerk at present time.
The within list of clerks is as correct as I can at present get at in the auditor’s office.
JAMES VANN,
Acting Principal Chief Cherokee Nation.
Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, February 15, 1871.