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Estimating the number of Seminole Indians

Source: Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors #121

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In 1778 Bartram says of the Seminole:
"All of them, I suppose, would not be sufficient to people one of the towns in the Muscogulge; for instance, the Uches on the main branch of the Apalachucla River, which alone contains near two thousand inhabitants."3 He probably much exaggerated the number of Yuchi, but there is reason to believe that his estimate for the Seminole was not far wrong. Upon the whole, it appears likely that the older Seminole with whom Bartram had to deal, those living in the peninsula before the Creek-American war, constituted about one-third of the total number after the refugees from the Upper Creeks had been incorporated, and this would make them 1,500 or a little more. The Seminole seem to have been underestimated in most of the reports made of them. Joseph M. White, secretary to the Commission for Land Titles in Florida, and Mr. Penieres, subagent for Indian affairs, estimated them at about 3,000,4 and figures are given as low as 2,000. In 1823, however, an actual count was furnished by the Indians themselves, in which 4,883 were returned, exclusive of Negroes.5 Later, as various bands of Seminole were captured and sent west, the numbers of the bands are given, and we find a total of about 4,000. When we allow for those who had been killed or who had died from other causes, and those who escaped enumeration in one way or another, the correctness of the Indian figure appears to be indicated. Another estimate by Mr. Penieres to the effect that there were about 1,200 warriors would agree with this very well.8 In 1836 the United States Indian Office reported 3,765 Seminole in the west,7 and in 1837, 5,400.' Between 1838 and 1843 the figures are a little over 3,500, and between 1844 and 1856 between 2,500 and 3,000, or a trifle more. Most of these were based on the preceding enumerations, and when, in 1857, an actual census was taken only 1,907 were returned.2
During the next 15 years the number increased slowly until it reached about 2,500, and it has continued to vary between this figure and 3,000
down to the present time. Nevertheless this includes the Seminole Negroes or freedmen, and in 1905 it was found that they constituted about one-third of the nation, a proportion they have maintained ever since. In 1908 an attempt was made to secure separate figures for the full and mixed bloods, and 1,399 were returned for the former and 739 for the latter.3 It is probable that this separation was only relative and that the actual full bloods, could the truth be known, would be found to number a mere handful. The census of 1910 gives 1,729 Seminole Indians, of whom 1,503 were in Oklahoma and 226 in Florida.^ The last number is evidently an underestimate. Until 1893 no figures were given by the United States Indian Office for those Seminole who had remained in Florida. MacCaulay, however, attempted an exact enumeration of them in 1880 and found 208 individuals.5 In 1893 the Indian Office reported, or rather estimated, 450,6 and the same figure was repeated in 1894.7 In the report of 1895 we find 565 entered and the same number in 1896 and 1897.8 In 1898, 1899, and 1900 the number given is 575.5 In 1902 it is reduced to 35810 and so appears until 1911, when it jumps to 446." In 1912 this is repeated, but in 1913 it is increased to 600,12 and in 1914 reduced to 562. 13 There is known to be a considerable admixture of Negro blood in the band, but the amount of white blood is practically negligible. No separate enumeration of mixed bloods has been made.
(Swanton)