This record details the applications of Oscar Casey, Scott Casey (Walter Winfield Casey), and others for Chickasaw citizenship through the Dawes Commission (No. 191) in 1896. Claiming descent from Tempie Thomas, a Chickasaw woman, and William Casey, they presented affidavits and a prior Chickasaw court petition. Their application was denied, and no appeal was filed. Later, Scott Casey sought enrollment for himself and his children in 1902 but was rejected due to jurisdictional constraints. Similar cases involving Catherine Whittle, Sarah Whittle, and Eliza Jane Pearce for Choctaw citizenship are also documented, detailing legal proceedings and supporting testimony.
Oscar Casey Et Al.
Dawes Commission, No. 191
Record
August 31, 1896. Application for admission to citizenship filed, sworn to by Oscar Casey. The application states that applicants are descendants of William Casey and Tempie Thomas; that Tempie Thomas was a Chickasaw woman and married Casey in Mississippi; that application was made to the Chickasaw court of claims in August, 1895; that they paid a fee of $50 to have their case heard, and attached to the application is the record of the Chickasaw court of claims, reading as follows:
Received of (Oscar and Scott Casey) $50 by the Court of Claims for the establishment of their cases of citizenship.
C. A. Burris,
Chairman of Court of Claims.
Attest:
R. H. Nichols, Clerk.
There is also attached to said application a paper, of which the following is a copy:
Office Court Of Claims
Tishomingo, I. T.
August 24. 1895.
Motion made and carried that the case of Oscar and Scott Casey and J. W. Howard be passed over to the legislature for the want of the two witnesses required by the law produced by the secretary this morning.
C. A. Burris, Chairman C. on C.
Attest: R. H. Nichols, Clerk
Affidavits Attached
Susan Brown makes affidavit that she is a Chickasaw by blood: that she is 80 years old; that her first husband was a brother of Tempie Thomas; that Tempie Thomas had three brothers, Jim, George, and Robert Thomas; that the mother of these children was a full-blood Chickasaw woman and their father a white man.
Tempa Ann Casey makes affidavit that she lives in Lamar County, Tex.; that she is 76 years old; that she was born in Mississippi; that her father’s name was Thomas: that her mother was a full-blood Chickasaw woman; that she moved from Mississippi in 1850 with her husband, William Casey; that Scott Casey and Oscar Casey are her children.
F. M. Miner makes affidavit that he has known Scott Casey and Oscar Casey for 25 years; that he knows their blood “as other races are distinguished”: that they have always been known as Indians, and that he believes them to be Chickasaws.
October 31, 1896. Answer by Chickasaw Nation filed. The answer denies that the commission has jurisdiction, but says that applicants are not entitled to enrollment: that applicants have no conclusive evidence that they are entitled to enrollment; that the petition of applicants is without foundation in fact or proof. Attached to the answer is the affidavit of C. A. Burris, who states that he “never knew or heard of any persons of the name of Casey who were Chickasaws.”
November 23, 1896. The following indorsement was made upon application in lead pencil: “Oscar Casey et al., applications denied.”
Note.-No appeal was taken from this action.
September 20, 1902. Scott Casey appeared before Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes at Muskogee and applied for the enrollment of himself and two minor children as Chickasaws. He testified that he had never been admitted to citizenship in the Chickasaw Nation; that he had lived in the Chickasaw Nation nine years: that his name was Walter Winfield Casey, but that he was called Scott Casey. No testimony was taken at this hearing as to applicant’s Indian blood or ancestry.
December 8, 1902. Decision of commission rendered, holding that it was without authority to consider the case because of the act of May 31, 1900.
Statement By Counsel For Claimants
Counsel submit that as these claimants are admittedly of Chickasaw blood and have lived in the Chickasaw Nation since before 1890, applied to the citizenship committee and paid the price exacted, and their case unacted upon, that they have done everything within their power to establish their rights, are possessed of every qualification entitling them to enrollment, and were denied under the act of May 31, 1900, upon a strictly jurisdictional ground, that they are in equity and good conscience entitled to enrollment. They are: Oscar Casey, Scott Casey (real name Walter Winfield Casey), Bob Casey, Sammie Casey.
Respectfully submitted.
Ballinger & Lee, Attorneys for Claimants.