The DNS results for certain members of the named families include European, Native American and African. Some of the following names, like Moniac are well know in U.S. Military history. During the Civil War many of the men from this tribe fought for the Confederacy.
Department of the Interior- Dec 29, 1983.
To: Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs
from: Deputy Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (Operations)
Subject:
Recommendation and summary of evidence for proposed finding for
Federal acknowledgment of the Poarch Band of Creeks of Alabama
pursuant to 25 CF R 83.1983.
"During the period of the Civil War and reconstruction, they are shown in military
records and in county records, but not as Indian. Given both the difficult conditions
and the total preoccupation with the War in the South, this does not appear unusual."
"There have been certain junctures in the history of the Poarch Creeks at which they
have collectively rallied to present a unified front to an outside entity or governmental
agency, though participation at these junctures was varied and did not always include
everyone without exception. At each of these instances, however, the prominent members
or otherwise able-bodied members of the community represented the group as a whole.
These group mobilizations include a letter petition to President Madison in 1815, a
group memorial to the U.S. Congress through the Alabama State legislature in 1832, a
near-consensus of military participation in the same Confederate units during the Civil
War (though this involved only the men), religious activities and the founding of Judson
Baptist church in 1891, a timber trespass suit in 1912, a school boycott in 1947, an
Indian Claims Commission suit in 1956, and legal incorporation in 1971."
"As the decades of the 1820's and 1830's were ones of geographic shifting and uncertainty
for the ancestors of the Poarch Band of Creeks, the decades of 1840's and 1850's-up to
the Civil War--were ones of relative prosperity and growth. The constitution of the
community changed as well. due to the dying out of several older family surnames i.ike
Hale. Tate. McGirth, Cornells. etc •• and the adding of new ones through marriage, like
Adams, Gibson, Lomax, Deas, etc. History records the activities of the immediate
ancestors 01' the Poarch Band of Creeks during this period mainly in wills, deeds, special
acts. and land transfers."
"In 1839 James Steadham used certificate #7985 and certificate #7986 at the St. Stephens
land office to obtain 39 acres and 38 acres, respectively, in Baldwin County. The day
and exact location were not recorded. In the following year. the 1840 census showed,
for Baldwin County. Poarch ancestors among whom were Lynn McGhee and the families
of Deas', Earles, Sizemores, Steadhams, Tates, Tarvins, Tunstalls, Weatherfords, and
others. For Monroe County, the census showed Shomo, Weatherford, Hathcock, and
Smith, and 1he clusters of Creek half-bloods in this region were still in close proximity
to each other,- county lines notwithstanding, since the shifting lines often bisected-and
later trisected--the greater half-blood community."
"....By July 0: 1861 the War was well under way, and the Creek Nation West, in Indian
Territory, had made a treaty of alliance with the Confederate States. The remaining
Creeks in the east also joined in on the side of the Confedracy, as records suggest that
at least eighteen men from the Poarch Creek community enlisted in the Confederate
forces. Compiled from various sources, this composite list includes David Moniac, J. R. Moniac, Mike Maniac, George Moniac, W. W. Adams, Richard Rolin, Lynn McGhee (Jr.), Carmen McGhee, William Colbert, William Hollinger, Alex Hollinger, Martin Gibson, John Hinsoll, Charles Bryers, A. J. Davis, and J. V. Steadham.
As the War dragged on, the economy of the South began to suffer under the strain,
and state and municipal coffers were eventually drained of their assets. In February
of 1862, the record of the Commissioner's Court for Baldwin County shows the creation
of a "Fund ror the aid of Indigent Families of Volunteers," with $75 being disbursed for
the wife arid two children of David Moniac and $30 for the sister of William and Alex
Hollinger. The following November, a greater number is added to the list: the wife
and five children of Richard Rolin received $400, the wife and three children of William
Colbert received $300, the child of Adam Hollinger received $150, the two sisters and
one brothel~ of Carmon McGhee received $250, the wife and child of Mike Moniac
received $225, the wife and two children of David Moniac received $225, and the sister
of William and Alex Hollinger received $150. This list recurs five more times in the
Record of the Commissioner's Court on December 22, 1862, January 3, 1863, March 9,
1863, and June 22, 1863. The final list, which appears on October 22, 1863 has a
disbursement of $6.69 for the wife of Martin Gibson and $17.86 for the parents and
four broth~!rs and sisters of William Gibson. Two facts are strongly indicative of
conditions in the South at this time: first, the radical decline in disbursements to
indigent families is obvious, to the point where pennies are counted and, second, every
able-bodied man was needed to fight, even those with whole families dependent on them.
William Gibson, for example, remained in the community during the first years of the
War due to the number of his dependents, and became one of the responsible people in
the locality. On May 5, 1862 he was appointed, along with James D. Driesbach and
J. B. Smith, a8 a Road Overseer for his district. On September 10 of 1863, apparently
a month before he decided to enlist, he was appointed by the Commissioner's Court to
oversee the building of a bridge over Pine Long Creek. The exigencies of the War
finally caught up with Gibson, however, and he left his family to fight, among the last
of the Poarch Creeks to do so.
It appears that there was not a complete consensus among the Poarch Band of Creeks
at the time about the legitimacy of the Southern cause. Data published in The War
of Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies indicate that one of the Poarch Creek members, Adam Hollinger. served in the
Union Army-the First Florida Cavalry. He is first mentioned in a November 18, 1B64
letter from Colonel A. B. Spurling to General J. Bailey; he is mentioned again in a
letter from General C. C. Andrews to General E. R. S. Canby of February 14, 1865.
where Andrews states that "Sergeant Hollinger appears in the record, in which he
describes in detail his reconnaissance of and familiarity with the area in which he was
raised.
April 9,1865 General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox
Courthous4~ in central Virginia, thus ending the War. Confederate soldiers were mustered
out, and 011 the Muster Roll of Company "C" 15th Regiment of the Confederate Cavalry,
approximately 12 men can be identified as relations and ancestors of the Poarch Band
of Creeks..."