W Carroll BOWEN Reddick Jackson GREEN William Elvie GREEN Myrtle Emma GREEN Van Buren BROOKS Caroline NOMAIDENNAME Mini tree diagram
Etta Lou BOWEN

Etta Lou BOWEN3,4,6,7,8,2,5,9,11,12,1,10

also known as 3,5,10

Nov 18693,4,2,5 - after 19308,9

Life History

Nov 1869

Born in Mississippi.3,4,2,5

1888

Married Reddick Jackson GREEN in Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.10

24th Aug 1891

Birth of son William Elvie GREEN in Coalgate, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.13,9,14,2,7,15,16,17,12

2nd Dec 1892

Birth of daughter Myrtle Emma GREEN in Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.18,19,1,20,21,9,2,22,23

3rd Oct 1898

Resident in Dawes Chickasaw Roll, Bob, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.1

1900

Residence2 in Township 8, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.2

7th May 1906

Death of Reddick Jackson GREEN in Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.9,24,25

between 1910 and 1920

Residence3 in Marietta, Love, Oklahoma.6,7

after 1930

Died in Oklahoma.8,9

Other facts

 

Married Van Buren BROOKS

Notes

  • various sources list Etta as Etta Bower, Etta Bowen or Etta Green, with no middle name or initial.  The 1900 census enumerates her as Etta L Green.  This stands for Etta Lou, which is her name in some genealogies.  In the 1880 census for Lee County, Mississippi, she is listed as Luetta, apparently reversing her names.

    But two early censuses use Luetta or a similar form, Lydda.  And in her 1903 interview with the Dawes Commission she says her maiden name was Luetta Bowen, but her current name is Etta Green.  From the balance of sources, it appears that Bower is most likely a miswrite in a record that was picked up along the way or a mistranscription of some handwritten record.  And most likely not written by Etta herself.

    The family name was apparently Bowen.  Her maiden name has been interpreted (from handwritten sources?) and reported by some family sources as Bower.  I have not seen any original family sources or documents other than the censuses.  On the Dawes 1904 Chickasaw Roll card, however, her parents' surname appears as Bowen.

    Etta's first census enumeration has her name wrong in the 1870 census, as Lydda, no doubt a misunderstanding of the spoken "Lou Etta" (for Etta Lou)..

    1870 Federal Census, Lee County, Mississippi, [no date] August, District 1, PO Baldwyn, p 52, Hse/Fam #101
    Boren, W C 31 M W  Farmer $0 Real Estate Value $325 Personal b TN [born abt 1839]
    Boren, Caroline 29 F W Keeping House b AL [born abt 1841]
    Boren, Anna 13 F W  b MS [born abt 1857]
    Boren, Bena 9 F W  b MS [born abt 1861]
    Boren, Mary 4 F W  b MS [born abt 1861]
    Boren, Lyddia 6mos F W  b MS born Dec 1869

    Lyddia matches Etta (Luetta) in the 1800 census, as our Etta Lou.  Note that the census record both her age (at the official census date) and the month in which she was born.  The 1900 census reported her birth date as November 1869.

    Family genealogies point us to the 1880 census for Lee County, Mississippi, for her family with parents W Carroll Bowen and his wife Callie.  Ancestry has misread and transcribed the family name here as Borun.

    1880 Federal Census, Lee County, Mississippi, [no date] June, Beat 1, District 86, page 19 (scan 36C), Hse/Fam #205
    Bowen, W Carroll  W M 42   Farmer TN TN TN
    Bowen, Callie  W F 40 Wife Keeping House AL GA GA
    Bowen, Annie  W F 23 Dau Single Works on Farm MS TN AL
    Bowen, John W  W M 19 Son Single Works on Farm MS TN AL
    Bowen, Mary L  W F 14 Dau Single Works on Farm MS TN AL
    Bowen, Luetta  W F 10 Dau MS TN AL
    Bowen, Alexander W M 7 Son MS TN AL
    Bowen, Peter C  W M 5 Son MS TN AL
    Bowen, Ivy  W M 5 Son MS TN AL
    Bowen, Lula W F 23days b May Dau MS TN AL

    These two early censuses may indicate that the original order of her names was Lou Etta, and later Etta was preferred and the order was reversed.  This is a characteristic in this part of the country and in this Green family lineage.

    She is called Etta Bowen in the Chickasaw History online.

    "He married Etta Bowen before 1890. See Chickasaw Dawes card 1662. (Etta Bowen is #29613.)  Etta was born circa 1866. Etta was the daughter of Carroll Bowen and Callie. Etta enrolled in Bob, Chickasaw Nation, IT for the Dawes Chickasaw Roll on 3 OCT 1898 and appears on Dawes card number 1662."
    --  Chickasaw History, Redie Jackson Green, http://www.chickasawhistory.com/colbert/i0029612.htm#i29612

    1900 Federal Census, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, 2 June, Township 8, South Range 1 East, District 151, page 1A, Hse #2
    Green, Reddick J  Head White Male Feb 1869  31 Married 12 yrs Ind Territory GA Ind Territory  Farmer  Owns Farm  Cannot read and write
    Green, Etta L  Wife White Female Nov 1869  30 Married 12 yrs  3 children/2 living MS TN AL Can read and write.

    U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895-1914
    Choctaw-Chickasaw Roll Citizens by Marriage, 25 Sep 1902
    #345 Green, Etta Age 32 [Birth abt 1870] Female Blood IW #1662

    In 1904 Etta is reported as the same age as in 1902.

    U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895-1914
    Chickasaw Roll Citizens by Marriage, 9 May 1904
    #345 Green, Etta Age 32 [Birth abt 1872] Female Blood IW (Intermarried White)

    One family genealogy from the Powell family of Etta's granddaughter, reports her as Etta D Bower.  Other family sources report that Etta changed the name Bowen to Bower.  It is not clear if this was a conscious change or perhaps a misspelling in some document that recorded the name as Bower instead of Bowen.

    Reddick "Redie" J Green, b 7 Feb 1972, d 7 May 1906
    wife Etta D Bower, b Nov 1809 Mississippi, d Aft 1930
    children:  William Alvia Green, b 24 Aug 1891
    Myrtle Emma Green, b 2 Dec 1892, d 1 Nov 1948 Marion OR
    --  Ancestry Trees, Powell Family, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/12163053/family/familygroup

    This source, reporting Etta as dying after 1930, seems to indicate they have found her in the 1930 census.  This genealogy, however, presents no documentation for this date and no entry from the census.  Her husband Reddick Green died in 1906.  Other genealogies report her year of death as 1949 in Love County, Oklahoma.

    Etta's record in the 1910 census was difficult to locate, but finally found her when searching in creative ways for her son William Elvie.  This turned her up with the surname Brooks, in the household of her second husband Van B Brooks.

    1910 Federal Census, Love County, Oklahoma, 16 May, Marietta City Ward 3, District 171, page 24B, Hse/Fam #65
    Brooks, Van B Head M W 43 2nd marriage Married 1 yr Alabama Alabama Alabama Owns
    Brooks, Etta Wife F Indian 38 2nd marriage Married 1 yr Mississippi Tennessee Alabama
    Brooks, Jennie Dau F W 17 Single Texas Alabama Alabama
    Green, William step-son  M Indian 19 Single OK OK Mississippi Own Income [b abt 1891]

    The entry for the 1920 census is unusual, in that it reports that Etta is the head of the house and Van is her husband.  This census also clarifies that Van's name is Van Buren (though the enumerator wrote it as one name).  This fills out the 1910 report of his name as Van B Brooks.

    1920 Federal Census, Love County, Oklahoma, no date, Washington Township, Marietta City, District 130, page 14B, No Hse/Fam #s on this page
    Brooks, Etta L Head  Rents F W 48 Mississippi Tennessee Alabama (Occupation Unreadable) Working for City
    Brooks, Vanburen Husband M W 54 Alabama Alabama Alabama Carpenter for City

    Some other genealogists did find Etta in the 1930 census, where we find she is going by her first married name again.  She has been widowed again with the death of Van Buren Brooks some time after the 1920 census, and is living alone in Love County.  No death record has been found for Van Buren.

    1930 Federal Census, Love County, Oklahoma, 7 April, Marietta, District 9, page 7B, Hse #133, Fam #143
    Green, Etta Head Owns $200 value M W 58 Widow MS TN AL No Occupation

Sources

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