The history of the Shawnee is fascinating. Naturally the most famous Shawnee known would be Tecumseh, born circa 1768. But this series contains the descendants of Tecumseh and many famous chiefs and warriors along with their families.
It starts with some fascinating materials covering not just the Shawnee but the Sac and Fox Nations. The first volumes concern the estates of these tribal members along with a mixture of other tribes within the Sac and Fox Agencies jurisdiction: Tribes such as the Absentee Shawnee, the Potawatomie, Winnebago, Mexican Kickapoo, Iowa, Otoe, and Pawnee, to name a few. You will find long sought after questions answered through Births, Deaths, Adoptions, and Guardianships. There will also be other records with Wills, Cemetery Records, Vital Statistics, Marriage, and Divorces later within this series. These materials are carefully transcribed from original documents that were rescued from a loft with a leaky roof. They were close to being lost forever from water damage. These logbooks and documents were boxed and stored in an attic where they kept vegetables in a building owned by the Sac and Fox Indian Agency.
The majority of this volume, Volume X, consists of the transcriptions of deaths, births, marriage cards, cemeteries and other vital records, and which contain various documents and documentation memorializing the specific event. There are approximately 1,932 individuals documented. Sources will be found providing locations, values, fees, divisions of property, and, often, expenses associated with the event (death, marriage, etc.). Anyone examining these documents will find numerous family names, ages, relationship, sometimes death dates, along with any number of circumstances surrounding the event. Regarding Marriages, the marriages are undated, but do list the entire family, the year of the event, and the blood quantum of each family member.
In addition to the Sac & Fox and Shawnee Tribes, other tribes mentioned in this Volume are the Absentee Shawnee, Creek, Iowa, Kickapoo, Ottawa, Otoe, Pottawatomie, Seminole, and Winnebago.
These volumes were transcribed from Oklahoma Historical Society film rolls SFSA-50 to 53.
