Lucy Reed

Lucy was a Creek woman

Muscogee (Creek) Nation: the nation descends from the historic Muscogee Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands. Official languages include Muscogee, Yuchi, Natchez, Alabama, and Koasati, with Muscogee retaining the largest number of speakers. They commonly refer to themselves as Este Mvskokvlke (pronounced [isti məskóɡəlɡi]). Historically, they were often referred to by European Americans as one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast. The nation includes the Muscogee people and descendants of their African-descended slaves who were forced by the US government to relocate from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to Indian Territory in the 1830s, during the Trail of Tears.

The Oklahoma (west of the red line) and Indian Territories (east of the red line) in 1890
Source: Wikipedia contributors. "Muscogee Nation." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 Jan. 2024. Web. 4 Apr. 2024.

Delegations from 34 tribes at the Creek Council House, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, ca. 1875. Photo by Jack Hillers, courtesy National Archives, 75-IP-1-49.

Biography:
Lucy Reed was a full-blood of the Creek Nation living with her husband Louis Reed a Creek negro in Wagoner, Wagoner County, Oklahoma. It was noted that she was not receiving the best of care from her husband. At the same time, she had a partner Richard A Sheppard, a full-blood of the Cherokee Nation, who resided on his allotment in Warner, Muskogee County, Oklahoma, some 30 miles distant. Both she and Richard were adjudged to be insane and both were, within a month of each other, committed to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. Documents discussing this have been posted to the media tab as Case 35: Lucy Reed and Case 37: Richard A. Sheppard

The commissioner of the Five Civilized Tribe indicates that both Lucy and Richard were on the duly approved rolls of the Creek and Cherokee nations.

"Her case is a very pitiful one and she is greatly in need of proper medical attention and care"

According to Carla Joinson in her book Vanished in Hiawatha, Lucy was admitted sometime after adjudication as insane on October 13, 1906, but before Richard who was admitted on November 3, 1906. She was, according to this book, diagnosed with epileptic dementia, although there is no mention of that in the adjudication documents by the Indian Agent. (epileptic seizures in people with dementia are known as focal onset seizures. These can involve brief periods of increased amnesia or unresponsiveness. We see involuntary repeating movements, often of the hands and arms, or the face (chewing, lip-smacking, or swallowing). Dementia and epilepsy have a bi-directional relationship, meaning people with epilepsy are at an increased risk of developing dementia, and people with dementia are at an increased risk of developing epilepsy.)

In a letter signed by Oscar Gifford, Luch died at 3 AM on April 19, 1907. This date is confirmed in the letter dated February 17, 1934, from Dr. L.L. Culp to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and he indicates that she was buried in the Canton Hiawatha Cemetery, tier 5 plot 4.

Her profile is part of the The Canton Asylum One Place Study.

Research Notes:
-Lucy and Richard A. Shppard are mentioned together in the same correspondence regarding insanity and commitment to the Canton Asylum, it is not clear if they were partners. the Dawes application for Richard A. Sheppard states that he was not and never had been married.

__________
Sources:

1906 Oct 17 - “National Archives NextGen Catalog, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian AffairsSeries: Case Files on Insane Indians.” Catalog.archives.gov, catalog.archives.gov/id/104369429. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024. Case 35: Lucy Reed,.

1907 Apr 7 - "South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CY84-NCPZ : Sat Mar 09 13:53:01 UTC 2024), Entry for Lucy Reed, no image

1907 Apr 19 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14491649/lucy-reed: accessed April 3, 2024), memorial page for Lucy Reed (unknown–19 Apr 1907), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14491649, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).

1907 Apr 19 - Hilton, M. (Ed.). (2023, July 10). Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians Historical Marker. Historical Marker. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=183486 Photo by Ruth VanSteenwyk, July 10, 2023, courtesy of HMdb.org

Mary Fairchild 4-29-07 · Lucy Reed 4-19-07 · Minnie LaCount 7-5-06

1910 Oct 12 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=675, line 78, Table 7 Form of mental disease of those admitted since opening of Asylum