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by Jeff Bowen (Transcribed by)
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. These volumes will cover a multitude of classifications as they progress. You will first of all in early volumes find estates, beginning in 1885 and follow through with genealogical source materials for families that have only wished they had years ago. 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. These books cover a range of time from 1885-1924. There are numerous Indian agencies from various states as well as many old bankers and their organizations in many of these documents. You will find many old time lawyers and their firms' names as well as a great deal of mention of different professions from the day. Each book will be approximately 340 pages including an index. This series won't be your average genealogical census or typed payroll records with miscellaneous tribal expenditures. So far it is providing interesting reading and a great deal of Native history while making you understand what your ancestors lived through in another era, creating your future. These volumes were transcribed from Oklahoma Historical Society film rolls SFSA-50 to 53.
