Since my teenage years I have been interested in history, including family history, but I never asked the questions about my extended family that we all wish we had asked when we had the opportunity. In the late 1990's I asked my mother about our Choctaw Indian heritage and she wasn't even entirely sure how to spell her grandfather's surname (Cochnauer) or even his given name (Dougald). That was the spark that got me going; tracking down family history. I have found over 900 Cochnauer / Cochneuer relatives. One fact I discovered researching my Choctaw bloodline is that if your surname is 'Cochneuer', (this spelling of 'Cochnauer' arose due to the misspelling 'Cochneuer', which was entered in the Dawes Rolls) you are Choctaw (or adopted Choctaw) and we are related because I know of no other 'family' with that surname.
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Since my teenage years I have been interested in history, including family history, but I never asked the questions about my extended family that we all wish we had asked when we had the opportunity. In the late 1990's I asked my mother about our Choctaw Indian heritage and she wasn't even entirely sure how to spell her grandfather's surname (Cochnauer) or even his given name (Dougald). That was the spark that got me going; tracking down family history. I have found over 900 Cochnauer / Cochneuer relatives. One fact I discovered researching my Choctaw bloodline is that if your surname is 'Cochneuer', (this spelling of 'Cochnauer' arose due to the misspelling 'Cochneuer', which was entered in the Dawes Rolls) you are Choctaw (or adopted Choctaw) and we are related because I know of no other 'family' with that surname.
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