I'm beginning this discussion because there is so much confusion and misinformation around Mellum Harris, in the hope that others who may know about her can share what they know, and can document. The Overview Tab documents what I've been able to find so far.
My discoveries and questions to date:
1) The census reports from 1901 through 1911 for the Klamath Agency show Mellum, aka Betsy, was the aunt of William Crawford and his family, with whom she resided. She does not appear in Klamath census reports before 1901 that I can see. Based on surname, William would have been the husband of Eliza who would have had to have been a sister of Mellum, but I find no records that state this. So I can identify NO relatives.
2) Carla Joinson's Book Vanished in Hiawatha, which I use as the primary source for the list of those confined in the Canton Asylum, says that Mellum was a Winnebago committed by the Klamath Agency. Winnebago did not reside on the Klamath Reservation in Oregon! The Klamath Agency supported the Klamath, Modoc, the Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians, Paiute, and Pitt River Indian tribes. So this statement appears to be incorrect. (Note: there have been several other small errors in this book.) To see if I can confirm I reviewed the census reports from the Wittenberg Indian School (Winnebago of Wisconsin) and the Winnebago of Nebraska. Both the Wisconsin Winnebago and the Nebraska Winnebago censuses began in 1904, and I had already found Mellum in Oregon by 1901. However, she is NOT listed in those censuses. (I have shown Mellum Harris as a Modoc Indian based on her relation to William Crawford and the census reports in which she is found, but she could just as easily have been Klamath.)
3) Her age in the Klamath census reports shows her either as born 1840-1841 or of an age consistent with that date of birth, being 55 in the 1910 federal census. However, in the 1911 Canton Asylum female census, Mellum Harris is reported as 71 years old, sixteen years older in one year! A statement in the Carla Joinson book says that her "age-around fifty-five but looked seventy: died on August 23, 1912". The date of death is confirmed by the newspaper obit.
4) As to the newspaper obit from August 31, 1912, it states her age as 71. However, this obit is from The Evening Herald, Aug 31, 1912, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States. Why is a newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia reporting on the death of an Indian woman in South Dakota to be buried on the Klamath Reservation in Oregon? The obit states that she "passed through this city" on the way to Chiloquin, Oregon, and the Klamath Reservation. Really? South Dakota to Oregon by way of Atlanta, Georgia? But on a positive note, this obit also says that "as near as can be learned, this person had no relatives". I've not found any either, yet. (Note: NARA has approximately 2,980+/- documents about patients at the Canton Asylum, I have copies of each but am required to open and read each one to see to whom it applies. The NARA filing system is by box, not by person. Also, the Canton Asylum under Dr. Harry Hummer post-1910 is notorious for poor record keeping. For example, of the 400+/- souls who passed through the Canton Asylum, he had paperwork for only 9 who had been declared legally insane.)
5) Mellum died at the Canton Asylum on August 23, 1912, but she was NOT buried in the Hiawatha cemetery. Her body was returned to the Klamath Reservation. But she had no relatives..., so by whom and why was her return requested? And where was she buried?
6) Who was Orville Elliott who purportedly was the purchaser of the land owned by Mellum Harris? BLM records show the purchase on June 20, 1900.
