Seminole Indian Agency (Oklahoma)

Indian Tribes Associated With This Agency
Seminole

History
In 1842, a separate subagency for the western Seminole was established on the Deep Fork of the Canadian River and was moved to the Little River in 1845. Many of the Seminoles of Florida moved to Indian Territory in 1858 and came under the Seminole Agency there, which had become a full agency in 1855. During the Civil War, the Seminole Indians who remained loyal to the United States went to Kansas and the agency operated at Neosho Falls. It was moved back to Wevoka in Indian Territory in 1867.

In 1874, this Seminole Agency in the West was consolidated with the Choctaw Agency, Creek Agency, and Cherokee Agency into what became the Union Agency in Oklahoma. In 1913, the Seminoles who remained in Florida had a separate agency created for them, called the Seminole Agency.

Sub-agents
John McKee 1842, Thomas S. Judge 1842, Marcellus Du Val 1845, Bryant H. Smithson 1853, Josiah W. Washbourne 1854

Agents and Appointment Dates
Josiah W. Washbourne 1855, Samuel Rutherford 1857, William P. Davis 1861, George C. Shaw 1862, George A. Reynolds 1865, Capt. T. A. Baldwin 1869, Henry Breiner 1870

Records
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value (for the tribe and tribal members) were created by and maintained by the agencies.

Annual Indian Census Rolls were taken at this agency for 1901 thru 1921. These rolls have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M595, rolls 461-470. Copies of these records are also available at the National Archives, their Regional Archives, and at the Family History Library and its family history centers (their ). These census rolls are also available online at Ancestry.com's subscription web site.

Letters received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Seminole Agency, 1824-1876, have been microfilmed by the National Archives as part of their Microcopy Number M234, Rolls 800-807. Copies are available at the National Archives and at the Family History Library and its family history centers on their.