Episode #438 In Search of Elsie Stevenson

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Welcome to Part 2 of Freedman Friday’s Story Telling time……this is the story of a search that I made for what I thought was one, Elsie Stevenson.

In 2017 I decided to participate in a 52 week project to document 52 Freedmen Families from Indian Territory in 52 weeks. This year-long effort was demanding but I enjoyed studying these families from pre-Oklahoma Freedman communities. One of the more fascinating families over the years have always stood out to me, because I have often come across families with the surname Stevenson, and many if not most of them all stemmed from someone called Elsie Stevenson.

This clan of families from the Chickasaw Nation, had to have been a sizeable clan as there were so many families of Stevensons that I would see. So among the many families that I undertook, was that of the Stevenson clan. The question arose for me—could I really analyze and document the Stevenson clan, and could Elsie have been the matriarch of all of them?

Well, I began the study of the Stevenson clan, and learned that this family was not one, but a cluster of multiple families, based in the same area, but with unique backgrounds. I wrote a full blog post about this on December 7, 2017.

But I thought I would tell the story here on this podcast for listeners who may not be familiar with my blog. This was my effort to find the story of Elsie Stevenson, or as it turned out to be—the 4 Elsies!

The documents that I found I am sharing here.

 #1 Mack Stevenson and Family

Chickasaw Freedman Card #192
Back of Card, revealing Elsie as mother of the children

  #2 Elsie Stevenson (Bynum)Chickasaw Freedman Card #586

 

#3 Elsie Stevenson wife of Louis Stevenson

 

A More Complicated Part of the Story–A Choctaw Elsie Stevenson 

 

The story of the family that descends from this Elsie is well documented on a fascinating website called: Our Shared Family History

This cluster of Stevenson families intermarried with other larger Freedman family clans. The Colbers, Cochrants, Kemps, Wrights and others share the same history, legacy and remarkable story of survival in the Chickasaw Nation. The journey to document them was truly amazing, and their legacy continues to this day.

 

 

 

 

Episode #437 Catching up With Everything February 22, 2019

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Hello and welcome to Episode #437 of the African Roots Podcast. You can always reach me at AfricanRootsPodcast@gmail.com

Well we are more than half way through the month of February of and there are so many things going on this month. Thankfully the snow that we got earlier this week has melted, and I hope that you are all warm and dry.


The genealogy community online has been buzzing. BlackProGenLIVE has been producing an episode every week during February. If you missed this week’s episode entitled “Tales from the Undertaker” Nicka Smith and panelists explore African American funeral and burial traditions, funeral, and discussed cemeteries, and incredible resources. She and co-host True Lewis were busy sharing some excellent data with the viewers. If you have interest in cemetery preservation, or where to find resources. They are broadcasting every week during the month of February

This week Bernice Bennett featured James Morgan III, who know him and his work. He is the go-to person if yo have an ancestor  who was active in Prince Hall Masons, Order of Eastern Star, Mosaic Templars of America, Royal Circle of Friends and so much more. Well he is now the author of “The Lost Empire. Black Freemasonry in the Old West.” He talks a lot about masonic lodge that exists in my hometown in western Arkansas. This is interesting because of the impact that these groups had. Many have ancestors who may have been the school janitor for work, but he may have served as the janitor of his lodge and his responsibilities that extended quite far. You want to tune in if you missed it.

We are still in Black History Month, but every month is Black History month for African Ancestored researchers. But as you plan this year’s events—don’t overlook MAAGI, the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute. There are 5 tracks: Track 1a) Fundamental Strategies and Methods Track b) In depth Look at Slavery Era Research. Track 2) DNA – a) Fundamentals of DNA   b) Advanced DNA  Track 3 Pre-and Post Slavery Era Research  Track 4 – Genealogy Writing Track   Track 5 – Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes. I am especially excited about this track—the first time that an entire track will look at Freedmen records, and we will cover everything from the Civil War to Civil court within the tribes. So excited to present these classes to the community.  And the presence of African people precede Oklahoma statehood, by 7 decades! So much to share! All of these classes will unfold at the Genealogy Center at Allen County Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. This facility is the largest genealogy library in the public library system, in the nation, and the Genealogy Center is now also the home, of MAAGI.  The dates are:  July 9 – 11th, 2019. Electronic registration is now open! Send in a deposit, or use the electronic registration.

Well today is Friday—that I call Freedmen Friday—the day in which I share some stories that I have found from my Indian Territory research. As you know, I research families from all five of the former slave-holding tribes–Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole Nations. Well I have come across amazing stories—one of them has been a mystery to learn more about what I assumed was a woman who was everywhere.

So today’s topic: Who was Elsie Stevenson? I have seen several families, who descend from Elsie Stevenson. I have seen people from multiple families among Chickasaw families all whose mother was Elsie! For years I have noticed that people all over the place claimed Elsie Stevenson was the mother. I see Elsie Stevenson, married to Mack Stevenson, and I see Elsie Stevenson married to Louis Stevenson, and so much more. The place where Elsie Stevenson lived was Woodward, I.T. in Pickens County in the Chickasaw Nation. But who was this Elsie?

Well, this podcast is going to consist of two parts—-because I shall tell the story of how I solved the mystery of Elsie Stevenson. The name Stevenson I know is a name attached to a very large clan from the Chickasaw Nation. Over the years I have read countless numbers of files and so many of them pertaining to a Stevenson family with one thing in common—many of the Freedmen on the Dawes Rolls have a mother named Elsie Stevenson.

So who was Elsie—stay tune for part 2!

In the meantime—-keep researching, keep documenting, and keep sharing what you find.