Sworn Affidavit of Alexander Harlin Regarding His Continued Enslavement Until the 1866 Treaty as Part of His 1896 Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw
To the Honorable Dawes Commission
To the Five Civilized Tribes—
Your petitioner most respectfully represents that he is a Choctaw Freedman, of African Blood, and belonged to Sarah Harlin, A Choctaw by Blood. And I belonged to her as her Slave for several years before the late Rebellion. And was still her Slave when the war ended, and at the time of the Treaty of 1866, between the United States of America, and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes of Indians, I lived with her in the Choctaw Nation, near Red River, where I was Freed. I will further state that I am 43 years of life, am now a resident of Stonewall Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory. And for the reason of my Affidavits submitted, I ask your Honorable Commission to enroll me as a Choctaw Freedman. I neglected to enroll when I was adopted by the Choctaw Nation of Indians. I only ask the rights granted by Treaty and Adoption of the Choctaw Nation.
Most respectfully—
Alexander Harlin
his x mark
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of August A.D. 1896.
Geo. H. Truax,
Notary Public
- Title
- Sworn Affidavit of Alexander Harlin Regarding His Continued Enslavement Until the 1866 Treaty as Part of His 1896 Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw
- Description
- In this sworn affidavit, Alexander Harlin attested that he, as a "Choctaw Freedman, of African Blood," was enslaved by a Choctaw woman Sarah Harlin until the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of his application for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls.
- Date
- 1896-08-26
- Temporal Coverage
- Territorial Expansion
- Gilded Age
- Jim Crow Era
- Exclusion Era
- Allotment and Assimilation Era
- Progressive Era
- Long Civil Rights Movement
- Document Type
- Government Record
- Document Category
- Primary Source
- Archival Source
- Alexander Harlin Sworn Affidavit, Choctaw Freedmen #37, Applications from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee Area Office, Relating to Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes Under the Act of 1896, Microfilm Publication M1650, Roll 9, National Archives and Records Administration
- Contributor
- Keziah Anderson
- Title
- Sworn Affidavit of Alexander Harlin Regarding His Continued Enslavement Until the 1866 Treaty as Part of His 1896 Application for Enrollment as a Choctaw
- Description
- In this sworn affidavit, Alexander Harlin attested that he, as a "Choctaw Freedman, of African Blood," was enslaved by a Choctaw woman Sarah Harlin until the Treaty of 1866 was signed. The statement was made in support of his application for enrollment in the Choctaw Nation under the Act of June 10, 1896 which authorized the Dawes Commission to add names to existing tribal rolls.
- Date
- 1896-08-26
- Temporal Coverage
- Territorial Expansion
- Gilded Age
- Jim Crow Era
- Exclusion Era
- Allotment and Assimilation Era
- Progressive Era
- Long Civil Rights Movement
- Document Type
- Government Record
- Document Category
- Primary Source
- Archival Source
- Alexander Harlin Sworn Affidavit, Choctaw Freedmen #37, Applications from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee Area Office, Relating to Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes Under the Act of 1896, Microfilm Publication M1650, Roll 9, National Archives and Records Administration
- Contributor
- Keziah Anderson