Yep!! I Got That Indian In Me!

My mother’s father’s (aka Maternal Paternal) side was always a mystery to me. I suppose this could be the ongoing narrative in most families, especially in the African American community. Maternal or Paternal side. I know we hear about men leaving the family mostly from males and the underlined trauma that it creates…… ok, ok, I digress, a conversation for another day.

As I was saying, Now let’s not be mistaken, he, my grandfather, was a Major part of my mother’s life and mine. My mother’s parents were married for 43 years until my Grandfather’s untimely death in 1995.

We never really spoke much of his family that I can remember. I mean, I WAS really young when he passed away. I suppose I was 10, so not that young. There were a couple of special cousins that came and visited often from California. Our cousin “Jr”, O’Neal Warner Jr.,  to be governmentally correct, Jr. nicknamed me “Leprechaun”. NO ONE EVER told me HOW Jr. was our cousin, they would just say cousin. Typical, I know, AND I never knew his Government name because you know how we do with nicknames, lol…… Later, via research, I found that Jr. was my Grandfather’s half-brother’s son.

Then there was our cousin “Punch”, Lord knows I loved me some “Punch”!!!! She would get off the plane from California and we would go straight to Gates Barbeque. Lol. Barbeque is kinda what Kansas City is known for. She was another cousin that Nobody could explain to me. All I knew was she was a Pauley and we would go visit ALL the Pauley’s at a family member’s house off of 9^th and Quindaro. Later via research, I learned that her mother was my Grandfather’s  Mother’s half-sister. So his Aunt. Which made my grandfather and Punch 1^st cousins. This made punch my 1^st cousin 2x removed!!! Yep! I got this connection thing down to a science!!! Ok, I know I lost some of y’all with that once removed, twice replaced, put it back and remove it again, lol.

So when people say “once removed”, it means generationally. So, because Punch is my grandfather’s FIRST cousin, she would be my mother’s FIRST cousin ONCE removed because it’s one generation down from her father. Got it? Ok so Punch is my mother’s 1st cousin 1x removed, I am my mother’s daughter, so now Punch is My FIRST cousin TWICE removed! See it’s Really Not that hard if you think about it.

Okay, so back to my grandfather, a little bit about him. He was born in a small town called Idabel, Oklahoma. The population is currently estimated right around seven thousand. Back when he was born the population was roughly 2.5 thousand, again a SMALL town called Idabel. What’s funny is I know people say we’re ALL related, which we probably are, lol. Truthfully, if your Grandparents were born in or are from Idabel, 9/10 times we ARE related! Period! No Debate! I CAN prove it! The town of Idabel is known as Choctaw Country.

My Grandfather was raised by his maternal grandparents because his mother died when he was about six. To my knowledge, his father was not in the picture. Remind you families get deep and things happen…His father was married at the time of conception so I’m pretty sure that contributed to the fact that he was absent. However, my grandfather was in touch with his half-sister, Celessie, who stayed in Wichita, KS. I don’t believe I have ever met her though. Besides the knowledge of his sister, my grandfather told his children that he didn’t really have much family. (Lord Knows, the 8 THOUSAND DNA matches say otherwise…..I’ll tell y’all later WHY I’m SURE that ALL 8 thousand matches belong to my Grandfather.)

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Soooo, here comes the GOOD part. In 2005, this information was ALL that I knew. I was curious now, I had Questions!!!! I need to know WHO is my grandfather’s mother, WHO are his grandparents, my mother only said “Alfred” and that’s all she knew. WHO is his father?! This story has SOO many holes in it!!! Honestly, this side of the family was such a frustrating mystery, I left it alone for a while, y’all researchers know how that be. In January of 2011, my sister and I decided to take this information and attend a presentation at the Archives that was being given here in Kansas City, MO by a lady named Dr. Dorothy Witherspoon. We had never heard of her. Needless to say, we were Super excited. After her presentation, she gave the audience some one-on-one time and as soon as we told her he was from Idabel, she already knew to look at Indian Records. This was our very first time EVER hearing of a “Freedmen Roll”. That day she told us that our family was on the Choctaw Nation Dawes Roll. #GameChanger. I’m a Descendant of Alfred Lewis.

I went home and I dove right in. I remember being mesmerized for days in. I would like to attribute that visit to my genealogical addiction. I began to study The Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole). The BIGGEST Rabbit’s hole if any. Now I’m kinda geeked “Yep! I Got That Indian In Me!!” Ummmmmm, so I THOUGHT!!! At first glance, I’m pretty sure that’s what that translates to…… Man, do I have SOOOO much to learn!!!! It’s Not quite the case. #StayTuned

***From here on You will hear me talk a WHOLE lot more about this here Dawes Roll, 5 Civilized Tribes, Freedmen Roll, “By Blood”, Indian Reservations, Idabel, Eagletown, McCurtain County, and so much more that goes along with my “Lewis Family” and ALL of it’s findings. When I tell you MY family is Lit!!!! There are SOOO many aspects to research about this here family. So many that there are tons of books about my family. #MyLewisFamily #IdabelRoots