The Old Cheraws by Alexander Gregg.
p 13 -- That the Pedees [Indians] owned slaves will
appear from the following notice, published in the Gazette of the day, Aug
30-Sep 6, 1748 --
"Taken up
by Michael Welch, overseer to the subscriber on an island called Uchee Island,
a Negro fellow, who gives the following account of himself, viz., that he
belonged formerly to Mr. Fuller, and he was by him sold to Billy, king of the
Pedee Indians; that the Catawba Indians took him from King Billy, and carried
him into their nation, and that in endeavoring to make his escape from the
Catawbas, he was lost in the woods, and had been so a considerable time before
he was taken . . . Any person having any right or property in the said fellow,
may apply to the subscriber, now in Charleston."
. . .
still p 13 --
The Pedees and
other smaller tribes who now lead a wondering life, were in constant danger of
being enticed off by the more powerful and hostile nations of Indians, to join
them in their predatory excursions.
The following letters indicate the
anxiety felt on the subject by the Catawbas, as well as by the provisional
government of this period, the first was addressed by th King of the Catawbas
to his excellency, James Glen, Esq : --
“There are a
great many Pedee Indians living in the settlements that we want to come and
settle amongst us. We desire for you to send for them, and advise
page 14 -- this,
and give them this string of wampum in token that we want them to settle here,
and will always live like brothers with them. The Northern Indians want them to
settle with us; for they are now at peace, they may be hunting in the woods or
straggling about, killed by some of them, except they join us, and make but one
nation, which will be a great addition of strength to us."
his mark, the (x) King"
[21
Nov, 1752]
The People of the River by Douglas
Summers Brown
Surviving
documents from the Revolution indicate that normally the Catawba fought as a
unit under the leadership of White officers. But their own separate company of
41 men with Thomas Drennan as Captain, joined General Sumter during 1780,
1781-1782. A pay bill of this company, dated June 21, 1783, survives. Captain
Drennan may have been related to a John Drennan, who was scribe for King Prow’s
March 27, 1770, letter to the council, and who was identified as living 2 miles
from the Nation.
The
roster shows a Catawba named “Willis” as being killed at Rocky Mount and
another George White, who claimed the loss of a horse at Fishing Creek, where
the Americans were surprised and defeated. The roster, a rare document,
follows:
Capt.
Thomas Drennan, Genrl Newriver, John Brown, Robbin, Willis – dec’d,killed at
Rocky Mount (his wife and children alive), Suggar Jamey, Pinetree George,
Morrison, Henry White, John Cagg, Quash, Little Mick, Patrick Readhead, Billey
Williams, Big Jamey,Billy Cagg, John Cannon, Doctor John, Chunkey Pipe, Captain
Petter, Billey Otter, Little Alleck, John Eayrs, Petter Harris, Jacob Eayrs,
Billey Readhead, John Thompson, Jove [Joe or Prow?], Patrick Brown,
P
269 -- George Cantey, Jacob Scott, Bobb, James Eayrs, Little Stephen, little
Charley, John Celliah, Petter George, George White, Jack Simmons, Billey Scott,
Young John, Tom Cook.
White
men: Matthew Brown, Michael Delou, Ralph Smith.Another list shows Indians in
service for which there is no voucher: Genrl Newriver, Capt. Quash, Jno. Brown,
Peter Harris, Jacob Scott, Jacob Eayrs, Petr George, John Cagg, Little Charley,
Jamey, Billey Otter, Coll. John Eayrs, Billey Scott, little Aleck, Tom Cook,
Sugar jenny, Gilbert, Robin, Little Mick, Jno. Thompson, Joe, Little Stephen,
Billey Cagg, Billey Redhead, Billey Williams, John Killian, Capt. Redhead, Tom
Cook, Henry White, George Harris, Pinetree George, Chuckeface Jemmy, Bob, John
Nettles, Jno. Thompson, John Scott, George Scott, George White, horse lost at
Sumter’s defeat [Fishing Creek]
(66)
. . . a group of Catawba was with General Sumter at Hanging Rock (67) . . .66
–AA3931 S. C. Archives.
67
– Floyd, p. 109, says 35 Catawba participated. The Hutcheson letter puts the
number at 12.
P
270 --As Cornwallis army approached the Nation, after the defeat and flight of
General Horatio Gates from Camden, the Catawba’s fled with women and children
to Virginia (69). They are thought to have refugeed there with the Pamunkey
Tribe, but no proof of this has been discovered.
(69)
Mills, p. 124: Richard Winn, “General Richard Winn’s Notes – 1780”, ed. Samuel
C. Williams. S. C. H. & G. M., XLIV (Jan 1943), 6-7.
P
271 –
The
full extent of the Catawba’s participation in the Revolution will probably
never be known (75). Captain Drennan’s paybill fails to mention other Catawbas
known to have given their services, some of whom were Billy Ayers, later a
chieftan, Captain Gilbert George, Major William Cantey, Captain Kelly, John
Scott, Catawba George, and Mosey Ayers. (76). A hero of the war was Major John
Nettle . . . (77)
The
only Catawba, or Indian connected with the Catawbas who received a federal
pension for his services was Robert Marsh, a Pamunkey who settled among the
Catawba . . . (78) (75) Draper MSS, Sumter papers, 16 VV, p 318, says that 200
Catawbas were with Sumter; also Hutchinson Letter; John Henry Logan, “Extracts
from Logan manuscript [for upper South Carolina], inHIstorical Collections of
Joseph Habersham Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, III, Pt II, 83.
(76)
Draper MSS, Sumter papers, 5 VV, 7-8, 40, Ibid., 20 VV, 216.
(77)
Ibid., 5 VV, 8.
(78)
Report of Sec. of War, 1835, pension rolls Vol. III, Pt. 1 (S. C. section)
Citing Resources from the Western History
Collections For citations in published or unpublished papers, this repository
should be listed as the Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma,
Norman, Oklahoma.
When
I find something about the Catawba in Oklahoma/Arkansas I will place it here.
Last week my job took me to Oklahoma City. When I am up there I try, if I have
the time, to visit the Oklahoma Historical Society. They had a room full of
Indian or Territorial records, and I looked up some 3x5 index cards on "Indian
Pioneer papers". These are 1930's records where old-timers were
interviewed (part of a Dust Bowl era project) to get them to talk about what
life was like in Indian Territory, pre-1907 Oklahoma, before we became the 46th
state to join the Union. There were several references mentioning the Catawba.
However I could not find them online when I searched so I will have to write
them back to get copies of these documents. I was told I could get the
microfilm copied for a fee.
I
did find online several reference to the Catawba however. I believe Tony Hill
has some of these on his website. I think he has some, perhaps all of these on
his website. Excerpts of these files are below, as well as links to these
files. Since my great uncle is also mentioned I put a link to our family's
records are found as well.
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/papers/0000%20Ev...
Mrs.
Caroline Everett, informant, Council Hill, Oklahoma (daughter of William E,
Gentry). Interview as given to Jas. S. Buchanan, Indian research worker.
William
E. Gentry was born in Calhoun County, Mississippi, Mar. 11, 1842, a son of
James and Caroline Gentry. At an aarly age he accompanied his parents on their
removal to the Indian Territory. His education was acquired at the Asbury
Mission.
End
of quote
“Asbury”
was a famous founder of the Methodist Church – so this was a United Methodist
run school, which in those days was called “Methodist-Episcopal South. It
mentions he served in the Civil war in a Creek and later a Seminole regiment in
Indian territory serving the Confederacy. Then says he became a big cattleman
after the war. Then (resuming direct quote) –
By
ancestry he was a Catawba Indian adopted into the Creek Tribe.
End
of direct quite.
It
then discusses how he became a prominent settler in Indian Territory, dying in
1908, saying “He rested as he preferred to live, in the wide open space of the
plains, and for its people he loved and lived for.”
So
often on the internet people say their ancestors fled recognition as “Indian”
so they wouldn’t get sent to Oklahoma, acting as though living here were a
horrible fate – but most Oklahoman’s think/thought like Mr. Gentry did, and
love Oklahoma dearly, as do I.
I
suspect researching Calhoun County, Mississippi might reveal Mr. Gentry’s
mother’s maiden name, and perhaps where they migrated from before living in
Mississippi.
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/paper.asp?pID=52...
The
link above is interesting because it talks about Mr. Gentry and Mr. Le Blanche
went into business together in Checotah. Interesting since both claimed Catawba
ancestry. Also the interview was conducted in Okmulgee, the town where I was
born. One more thing – this Mr. D. M. Smith (the man being interviewed) taught
in the Choctaw Nation a short while, and states the Choctaw children spoke no
English – this was the 1890s – so if the Melungeons in the 1790s didn’t even
know their tribal identity nor language – they must have had Indian blood from
coastal tribes, or tribes already long assimilated into White culture. That
means they were not Cherokee. I will quote a little of it below –
“.
. . I heard that Judge Le Blanche and Col E. W. Gentry were opening up a
hardware store In Checotah. So in 1894 I went to Checotah to work for them . .
. My employers were very fine men. Colonel Gentry had been an officer in the
Civil War and judge Le Blanche was a Catawba Indian, one of the last.”
End
of quote.
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/paper.asp?pID=31...
Interview
with Willie Lerblanche (I suspect it is a typo – should be Le Blanche).
Start
–
My
grandfather was Elija Hermigine Lerblanche. He was born March 1836, son of a
Louisiana Frenchman and Vicey Gentry, who was a daughter of Elija Gentry a
white man who married a full-blood Catawba indian. He came from Alabama with
his parents to the Creek Nation . . .
End
of quote
So
the Le Blanche (or what this file calles Lerblanche) family and the Gentry’s
are related, with several files now calling them both Catawba Indians.
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/paper.asp?pID=38...
This
is an interview of a Creek Freedman named George McIntosh. Start of quote --
Date
of birth: date unknown, year: 1870.
Place
of birth: near Creek Agency, Fern Mountain, Creek Nation
Name
of Father: Tobe McIntosh, Place of birth, Alabama.
Other
information about Father: slave owned by John McIntosh.
Name
of Mother: Tama Johnson McIntosh, Place of birth: Unknown.
Other
information about Mother: She was a Catawba Indian married to Tobe McIntosh at
the Creek Agency after the slaves were made free.
End
of quote
Nothing
more unfortunately, is said of the Catawba. but it is an interesting read if
you are interested in the history of the Creek freedmen, and territorial
Oklahoma in the 19th century. It would be interesting to know if Tama Johnson,
called a Catawba Indian, came to Indian Territory also as a slave, or was she a
Catawba who emigrated west later? I think I saw “Johnson" as one of their
surnames that disappeared. Have to look it up, though.
http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/pioneer/papers/8448%20Ri...
My
great uncle – grandma’s older brother Uncle Oscar -- was interviewed here (link
above). His wife (no Indian blood) was interviewed here –
I
have known of this document for many years, but I am still going over from time
to time and often find new things. Great Uncle Oscar Richey wrote about his
family living at/near Fort Smith, Arkansas at one time, and that is where that
“Western Catawba Indian Association” was based, and that is why I am trying to
discover more about it. We had always thought our Indian ancestry was Cherokee
– but maybe it was Catawba instead.
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