Earl, I would be skeptical about an actual birth certificate written in Fairview in 1904! My parents were born about that same time about 15-20 miles east of Fairview, and there were no birth certificates in that area. (Alva was the county seat, and who would go to the trouble of traveling to Alva just to record something as common as the birth of a baby!) The Oklahoma Department of Health has birth and death records only from 1908 (according to the Handy Book for Genealogists.) I would guess, unless there is an actual proof of the date at which the certificate was written, that your dad's certificate is a "delayed birth certificate". That is, sometime later, perhaps in the 30's, 40's, or even the 50's (or later) when the Social Security Administration required evidence of the birth year, my dad had to have some relatives swear that my dad was actually born (on a specific date). He and his relatives had a chuckle about that, because they, of course, had no records or specific memories of dates themselves. If the above was the case, then a very common misconception was then (in the '40's and '50's) , and continues today, that Woods County (in the 1890's and prior to statehood in 1907) was a part of Indian Territory. I do, however, have several records from my great grandfather who arrived in what became eastern Major County, near Ames about 1895, that he always wrote for his address, O.T. (i.e., Oklahoma Territory). Earl, if you actually have an "original" birth certificate from 1904 that states Indian Territory, I would appreciate your confirming that information again. Jim in Ohio. ----- Original Message ----- From: <Kerseyjr@aol.com> To: <OKMAJOR-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2001 6:49 PM Subject: Re: [OKMAJOR] Major County, OK 1880's census; Oklahoma Territory > In regard to the Indian Teritory statement: Better get the state records > corrected as my father was born in Fairvier in 1904 and his birth certificate > states that it was in Indian Territory. > Earl Kersey Jr. > kerseyjr@aol.com

Briefly, I share two additional references for Woods County (a portion of which became Major County in 1907) being a part of Oklahoma Territory and NOT Indian Territory, from it's inception in 1893. (1) In the publication, "Standard Atlas of Woods County, Oklahoma, 1906", the title of this 1906 publication has no mention of Woods County being a part of Indian Territory. It is also "interesting" that the table of contents lists a map of "Oklahoma" in this 1906 publication, on page 102 and 103. On these pages, there is no mention of Indian Territory, OR Oklahoma Territory, just "Oklahoma". BUT, it definitely is a map prior to statehood since Woods County is square-shaped, and does not identify Major County as a portion of Woods County. However, the eastern side of "Oklahoma" is plainly marked off in sections as "Choctaw Nation", "Osage Nation", "Cherokee Nation", "Creek Nation", etc. A "standard" history of Oklahoma, by Edwin C. McReynolds, "Oklahoma A History of the Sooner State", University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1964, states on page 292, "On May 2, 1890, Congress passed an Organic Act for the Territory of Oklahoma...., lying between Texas and Kansas" and was "taken out" of Indian Territory. No specific eastern boundary is mentioned in the McReynolds book, but the "Historical Atlas of Oklahoma" (by John W. Morris, Charles R. Goins, and Edwin C. McReynolds, U. of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2nd edition, 1976) on Map 55, shows the boundary between Indian Territory and Oklahoma territory, in 1900, as being one that has as it's eastern boundary (and southern boundary, as part of the line goes west and northwest up the Canadian River) the following counties or Indian areas, starting at the Kansas Border: Osage, Pawnee, Payne, Lincoln, Pottawatomie, Cleveland, Canadian, Wichitas, and the "Kiowa Comanche and Apache" areas. I was surprised to find that several of the Indian areas were actually included in Oklahoma Territory and not Indian Territory. In conclusion, then, these standard references point out that between 1890 and 1907, that portion of the future state of Oklahoma that became Major County in 1907, was in Oklahoma Territory, not Indian Territory. Prior to 1890 it WAS a portion of Indian Territory, but that section of the future state of Oklahoma was not opened for settlement until September 16, 1893, during the RUN, the opening of the Cherokee Strip (or Cherokee Outlet)! Jim in Ohio.