Lucy Crain

Lucy was a Seminole Indian woman of the Tom Palmer Band

Seminoles largely trace their ancestry to the ancient Indigenous people of Florida (Calusa, Tequesta, Ais, Apalachee, and others) and to the Muscogee Creek and other Native American migrants from Georgia and Alabama who came to Florida in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The Seminole Indians who lived in Florida just prior to removal had mixed origins, including a severed branch of Lower Creeks from the Chattahoochee River and runaway black slaves from the nearby plantations of white settlers. The Florida Indians and the Spanish government received the slaves as free people and, by the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Seminoles had broken all connection with the Creeks (Foreman 1932; Welsh 1976). The word “Seminole” actually means “separatist” or “runaway” (Foreman 1932).

Throughout the first half of the 1800s, the United States attempted to force the Seminoles off their lands and move them to designated Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) as part of the Trail of Tears. Most Seminoles refused to leave voluntarily, and the U.S. military invaded Seminole homelands to enforce removal. Thousands of Seminoles surrendered or were captured or killed in the fighting. This forced removal was part of the U.S. policy of Indian Removal and is how there now exist two separate and sovereign groups of Seminole people. One is in Florida (Seminole Tribe of Florida) and another in Oklahoma (Seminole Nation of Oklahoma). After the passing of the Indian Removal Bill in 1830, the Seminole Indians fought perhaps harder than any other tribe to defend their lands. The Seminoles’ homes and settlements were destroyed and the inhabitants were driven into the nearby swamps where they were hunted for six years. Those who were captured were carried away as prisoners to Indian Territory (Foreman 1934).

Source: Simpson, Linda. “Seminole Nation, I. T. - Trail of Tears (Westward Movement).” Www.seminolenation-Indianterritory.org, 2 Aug. 2015, www.seminolenation-indianterritory.org/trailoftears.htm. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida – the only tribe in America that has never signed a peace treaty.

Clans and Bands
Seminole society is built around eight clans—Panther, Bird, Wind, Bear, Deer, Big Town (Toad), Snake, and Otter. Children are members of their mother’s clan. Seminoles consider everyone inside the same clan to be family (aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) and therefore they must marry outside of their clan. No clans are considered more important than each other, although some Seminoles believe that certain clans have different strengths or provide different natural attributes to their members. Today, because of marriages to non-Seminoles or non-clanned women, not all citizens of the Seminole Tribe are members of a clan.

The band was one of the two major elements of the Seminole Society. Originally, each band was a separate Tribe which later joined with the others to form the Seminole Tribe in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Throughout the history of the Seminole Nation, the band was of primary importance to the Seminole people.

The band was the center of religious life; first with the great annual ceremonies such as the Green Corn Dance, and later with the churches. It was also the center of political and legal life. The band Chief, his assistant, and one of the band counselors from each band formed the Tribal Council. Within the band, the band Chiefs and the counselors made the laws for that band and served as a court to settle disputes within the band. The band also was a focus of economic life for the Seminole. Each band had a communal field which was worked by all of its able-bodied members. The produce of the field was under the control of the Chief and was used to feed guests, provide for orphans and the destitute, and help with the expenses of running the band.

Through time, the number of bands has been steadily reduced, as some bands died out or joined with other, related bands. In the 1830’s in Florida, there may have been as many as 35 bands, in 1860 there were 24, and by 1879 there were only 14 bands - the current number. In 1866, two new bands were recognized. These were both Freedmen bands composed of Negroes who had been associated with the Seminole since before removal.
Seminole Tribal Bands

• Caesar Bruner Band
• Ceyvah Band
• Dosar Barkus Band
• Efvlv Band
• Fushutche Band
• Hecete Band
• Hitchiti Band
• Hvteyievike Band
• Kanchatee Band
• Kanhutke Band
• Kinkade Band
• Mekasukey Band
• New Comer Band
• Nurcup Harjo Band
• Ocese Band
• Rewahle Band
• Tallahassee Band
• Thlewahlee Band
• Thomas Palmer Band - came from the Panhandle in Florida, west of Tallahassee.
• Tusekia Harjo Band
• Wm. Connor Band

Source: “Seminole Nation - Indian Territory - Bands.” Seminolenation-Indianterritory.org, 2024, www.seminolenation-indianterritory.org/bands.htm. Accessed 3 Nov. 2024.

Biography:
Lucy Brown was born at Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Indian Territory c. 1847 to father John Fripp Brown of South Carolina (1800-1868) and mother Lucy 'Nancy White Skunk' Brown (Greybeard) of Florida (1822-1868), a member of the Tom Palmer Band. Lucy was one of 10 siblings. She married sometime before 1881 Alexander 'Alix' Willis Crain of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. they had three (3) children, Anna E. Oliver Crain (1881), Allan Willis Crain (1883), and Ambrose Marmaduke Crain (1886), as identified in the Dawes Seminole Enrollment Card

Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 8

According to the book Vanished in Hiawatha, author Carla Joinson states that Lucy, CJ identifies her as Lucy Crane, was admitted on April 17, 1910, and diagnosed with hypochondriacal melancholia, (Hypochondriacal melancholia was a term used in classical medicine to describe a state of mental and bodily discomfort that included hypochondriacal fears, depression, and restlessness.)

Lucy had been suffering mentally since before 1904. Initially, her husband Alex had her admitted to the Oklahoma Sanitarium sometime before May 24, 1904. The Oklahoma Sanitarium was a private sanitarium in Norman, Oklahoma. Doctors there concluded that she was chronically demented and suffered from delusions of chronic persecution and that she was not violent but quite troublesome and hard to control. They recommended confinement.

Records show communication with the Indian Agent of the Union Agency as early as August 1904, with a formal authorization to commit to the Canton Asylum issued by the BIA on August 23, 1904. Lucy was admitted from the Oklahoma Sanitarium (a private sanitarium in Norman), via the Union Agency, Muskogee, Indian Territory.
She was received by then-superintendent Oscar Gifford on August 27, 1904.

A complete correspondence file can be found here: https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000210596315876

On July 16, 1907, Oscar Gifford, acting on instruction from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, furloughed Lucy to return home, which was then in Econtuchka Township, Seminole County, Oklahoma. Lucy does seem to have returned to the Canton Asylum however, on a date is unknown, because she does appear in the 1910 and 1911 Canton Asylum patient census reports, as well as Dr. Harry Hummer's review of the mental diseases since the beginning of patient care in Table 7, and the patients in the asylum on that date in Table 8.

Lucy died on April 25, 1915. Her body was returned to her home. Her tombstone reads: Lucy, wife of Alexander Crain Mar 7, 1847/Apr 29, 1915, probably reflecting the date of burial.

Her profile is part of the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Canton_Asylum.

Research Notes:
Dawes Rolls, 1898–1914
Seminole (by Blood), Card 8
Name Age Sex Blood Quantum Roll No. Enrollment/Card Group Note Card No.
Alexander W. Crain 51 M Adopted 24 Seminole by Blood Card 8
Lucy Crain 51 F 1/2 25 Seminole by Blood Card 8
Anna E. Crain 16 F 1/4 26 Seminole by Blood Card 8
Allen W. Crain 14 M 1/4 27 Seminole by Blood Card 8
Ambrose M. Crain 12 M 1/4 28 Seminole by Blood Card 8
__________
Sources:

1901 Apr 2 - Enrollment for Seminole Census Card 8, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian AffairsSeries: Enrollment CardsFile Unit: Dawes Enrollment Cards for Seminole, Citizens by blood (BB), 0001-0099, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/267582

1901 Sep 20 - "Oklahoma Applications for Allotment, Five Civilized Tribes, 1899-1907", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2H9-Z59K : Sun Mar 10 00:02:46 UTC 2024), Entry for Lucy Crain, 1899-1907, pg. 863-868/1044, Department of the Interior, Commission fo the Five Civilized Tribes, Seminole Allotment Office, Wewoka, I.T.

(Curator Note: The full application can be seen here: https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000210568853821

1905 Dec 23 - "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPX-JLNL : Fri Mar 15 01:08:49 UTC 2024), Entry for T H Oliver and Saml Oliver, 23 Dec 1905, pg. 354/375, Mother of the Bride, Pottawatomie, Marriage Records

1910 May 14 - "United States Census, 1910", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPXP-W68 : Sat Mar 09 15:10:14 UTC 2024), Entry for Emily Waite and Mrs, Womack, 1910, pg. 80/1082, line 80 (age 63 as Lucy Crane, b=Nebraska), census of the United States Indian Insane Asylum, District ED 274, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1910 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll015unit/page/n503/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 503/519, line xxx (age 63, female), Canton Asylum census

(Curator Note: Lucy is probably line 36 with the name obscured based on the age of 63 which does show.)

1910 Aug 12 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=674/1115, line 28, Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since opening of Asylum

1910 Aug 12 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=677/1115, line 57, Table 8 Form of mental disease of those in Asylum, June 30, 1910, revised

1911 Jul 3 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll015unit/page/n503/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 504/519, line xxx (age 64, female), Canton Asylum census

1915 Apr 25 - "Find a Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVKF-QDFY : 4 October 2023), Lucy Brown Crain, ; Burial, Wewoka, Seminole, Oklahoma, United States of America, Oakwood Cemetery; citing record ID 40186754, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
-Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/40186754/lucy-crain: accessed November 2, 2024), memorial page for Lucy Brown Crain (7 Mar 1847–25 Apr 1915), Find a Grave Memorial ID 40186754, citing Oakwood Cemetery, Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma, USA; Maintained by Vicki Moore-Carberry (contributor 47344192).