Seeking Seminole bloodline of Katie Bell

Dear Ms. Arbuckle,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

For an overview on how to begin your research, we suggest that you review NARA’s Native American Heritage as well as the FamilySearch Research wiki for Indigenous Peoples of the Florida Genealogy. 

If your great grandmother remained in Florida as a Seminole, she would be enumerated

in the Federal decennial census between 1880 and 1940. She may appear on both the Indian Census Rolls and the Federal census.  We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the Population Schedules for the 1880 Census, the Population Schedules for the 1890 Census; the Population Schedules for the 1900 Census, and the Population Schedules for the 1910 Census, the Population Schedules for the 1920 Census, the Population Schedules for the 1930 Census, and  the Population Schedules for the 1940 Census in the Records of the Bureau of the Census (Record Group 29) that may contain information about Katie Bell.  The 1940 Census schedules are digitized and available using the Catalog. For access to the non-digitized schedules, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov. 

For information about the U.S. Census, see the Census Bureau technical documentation and questionnaires.

You may wish to search Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org for the U.S. Census. There may be a fee for using Ancestry. Instead, please check for access at your local library as many library systems subscribe to these sites, making them free for their patrons.

If your great grandmother was part of the removal to Oklahoma, she would be documented as part of the reorganization into the  “Five Civilized Tribes”.  We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Applications for Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898 - 1914  in the Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs  (Record Group 75) that contain records that have been digitized and are name-searchable using the Catalog.  

We also located 48 series regarding the Seminole in Record Group 75 that you may wish to review for information about your great grandmother regardless of her location.  For these non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at Fort Worth (RM-FW) via email at ftworth.archives@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT1 & RM-FW. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

Lastly, we suggest searching the US Indian Census Rolls 1885-1940 and the Dawes Final Rolls that are organized by Tribal Nation.  Please review NARA’s web page on Indian Census Rolls for more information.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!