This tag was created by Hai In Jo.
Parmelia Rowe
Parmelia Rowe (Freedmen applicant) was the daughter of Colis Jones and Philis Mayfield. She was enslaved to Mrs. Sallie Mayfield (Cherokee), who took Parmelia to Texas during the Civil War when she was small. Parmelia married Jesse Rowe in 1862 and gave birth to all of their children in Texas. In Texas, Parmelia and Jesse rented white people’s land, while Jesse sometimes came to Cherokee Nation to preach. In 1866, Parmelia came to Sequoyah to locate her father after learning that he was still living. Because her husband Jesse was preaching in Texas, she went with another man. She was unable to find her father there, but stayed two to three weeks because “there was such a trouble, killing, and me being in a growing condition.” After returning to Texas and her husband, she remained there until the year 1890, when she returned to the Cherokee Nation.
There is some contention regarding Parmelia’s date of return to the Cherokee Nation. Peter Williams, who knew her in Fort Gibson while working as a blacksmith in 1866, claimed to have seen both Parmelia and Jesse at that time, since they frequently visited Williams’s shop with his wagon. Charles Mayfield, formerly enslaved to Walker Mayfield, also recalled seeing Parmelia at Fort Gibson in 1866 when she returned to find her father. Another witness was Jack Jones, born to Colis Jones and Eliza Jones, making him Parmelia’s half brother and a Cherokee citizen. He first met Parmelia in 1892 upon her return from Texas.
Parmelia contended that her name should appear on both the Wallace and Kern-Clifton Rolls. Despite three appearances in court, her name was not registered on either roll. The decision given outlined that her testimony “fails to show that the said return was in accordance with the spirit or either letter of the provisions of the treaty of 1866 permitting Cherokee Freedmen who returned within the time specified to become citizens of the Cherokee Nation.” She was subsequently placed on the doubtful list due to the attorneys’ assertion that three witnesses were absent.