"Tracing Our Roots" Newsletter Archive (A monthly genealogy newsletter written by the late Brenda Kellow, dec'd, for the Plano Star Courier newspaper. We've included all the ones we could recover.)
RESEARCH IN OKLAHOMA; INDIAN TERRITORY; AND, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY
by Brenda Kellow, B.A., CG
The state of Oklahoma, a part of the Louisiana Territory, evolved out of Indian Territory, created in 1830, and Oklahoma Territory created in 1890. It is the home of the Five Civilized Tribes: Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole. [To remember these, I use the memory tool: Four tribes with a c and one with an s. ] These were not the only American Indians residing in the state. Please remember that there were a total of sixty-five different tribes making their home in Oklahoma. Before research can be successful, it is essential for the researcher to have a complete understanding of both Indian and Oklahoma Territories. To help with the understanding, there are maps of the territories in the manuscript collection of the University of Oklahoma.
The people at the libraries and archives are fun and informative, but finding the item being searched is often perplexing without first doing your homework. It is often the case that to be successful, you have to physically go from place to place or even drive to another city. If you are having trouble, below is a little guide that may help you search for you roots in Oklahoma.
Vital information after statehood began in 1908, however, general compliance, like other states, did not become standard operating procedure until the 1930s. The Division of Vital Statistics is located at the State Department of Health, 1000 N.E. 10th St., Post Office Box 53551, Oklahoma City, OK 73152. In order to obtain a vital record the researcher must provide a purpose and relationship statement. Some marriage records created before statehood in 1907 are housed in the courthouse of the county where the marriage was performed. An index to some marriage records are online at www.chickasawhistory.com/m_index.htm, and others for the counties of Greer, Harmon and Jackson Counties at www.rootsweb.com/~okgreer/olgrmarr.html. Remember, before Greer County was part of Oklahoma, it was a part of Texas.
The Oklahoma Department of Libraries, is located at 200 N.E. 18th Street in Oklahoma City 73105, and is the location of the Archives where most researchers go first for information. Filed here, in the basement, are the newspaper files containing all kinds of information to help in your search. A search of the newspapers unearthed a death that occurred in Oklahoma County but was published in the western panhandle papers. Hint: Be painfully thorough in your research techniques. The benefits can be beneficial.
Guides will be of interest also. A guide to the archives and libraries is found in the 2002 issue of Footsteps, volume 17:2. The Chronicles of Oklahoma by Tanya D. and G. Allen Finchum is also helpful. So is the book, Guide to the Historical Records of Oklahoma by Bradford Koplowitz; and Genealogical and Local History Collections in Oklahoma, by Paul Follett and Melodie Sanders.
At the Oklahoma Historical Society Records Division, 2100 N. Lincoln, Oklahoma City 73105-4997, is a bibliography of Miscellaneous Microfilm Oklahoma Historical Society Library Resources Division, compiled by John Maricle. They also house the Catalog of Oral Histories by the Oral History Program committee of the society. Found there also is A Guide to Newspapers and Newspaper Holdings in Oklahoma; Index to Death Records of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Historical Library and Archives, by Joyce Rex; Indian Archives Index; Indian Archives Inventory found in the Premier Issue of Journal of American Indian Family Research; Oklahoma Cemeteries; Oklahoma Marriages; and, Preliminary Inventory, Blacks.
The University of Oklahoma Bizzell Library, 401 W. Brooks St., Norman 73019, houses many manuscript collections on Western History. Of particular interest to American Indian researchers is Cherokee Nation Papers Inventory and Index; American Indian Resource Materials in the Western History Collections University of Oklahoma by Donald L. DeWitt; Guide to Photographs in the Western History Collections of the University of Oklahoma compiled by Kristina L. Southwell.
Oklahoma is a Public Domain State. The land records are available from the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency. When the online homepage is working, information can be found at www.blm.gov/. Chances are that if a record applies to any event or person within the Five Civilized Tribes, the information is also available at the National Archives Southwest Division in Fort Worth. Even so, a thorough search within the state of Oklahoma is essential.
Meyerink, Kory L. editor. Printed Sources, A Guide to Published Genealogical Records. Salt Lake City: Ancestry Incorporated, 1998.
Pfeiffer, Laura Szucs. Indian (Native American) Records, p. 110. Hidden Sources, Family History in Unlikely Places. Orem, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 2000.
LEARN TO NAVIGATE THE LIBRARY TOOLS
The next Genealogy Friends Saturday Seminar is this Saturday, July 16th at the Harrington Library. Doors open at 9:10 a.m. and the program runs from 9:30 to noon, 501 East 18th St. This month's topic will be "Learning about using InterLibrary Loan and WebCat" with librarian Cheryl Smith. Admission is free.
This is a great opportunity to learn the library tools while networking with other active genealogists just like you.
IRISH TO AMERICA WORKSHOP
August 20 - Plano, Texas: The Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries is very proud to announce that David Rencher will be our speaker for an all-day seminar. Mr. Rencher is employed by the Family and Church History Department in Salt Lake City, where he is the Director of Records and Information. The topics of the seminar will be:
1) Beginning Irish genealogy (Irish jurisdiction and reference work),
2) Irish immigration (North America),
3) Irish Censuses and Census Substitutes and
4) Effective use of the Family History Library catalog.
Further information and registration forms will be available on our website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgfpl
Brenda Kellow, dec'd, Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Instructor, had a Bachelor s Degree in history and taught genealogy courses at the local Community College and computer genealogy at the University.
