Catawba -- Saponi -- Melungeos; Ch. 9: One Band of the Saponi becomes the Melungeons

Chapter IX – One Band of the Saponi Become the Melungeons

From Saponi to Melungeon, Part 1

This section will cover the movements of these families From Louisa Co., Va to Flatt River, NC, to the New River, and on to Scott Co, Va and from there to Hancock Co., Tn. At the beginning of this migration they were still called Saponi Indians. By its end, they became known as Melungeons.

A 1745 document concerning unclaimed tithables living in the households is the first document that included the Bunch and Gibson surnames. The Bunch surname later appears in Catawba records. Both Bunch and Gibson were prominent surnames in Louisa and Orange Counties in Virginia. According to Carlson, per oral tradition about these families during the next century they would claim to be White families who were Portuguese or Spanish, but no corroborating evidence has ever surfaced (p. 113). Carlson discovered at least one marriage between the Saponi Collinses and these Gibson’s by 1739. (190) By 1747, Thomas Collins obtained some land in Louisa County, Virginia. Gilbert Gibson’s land was adjacent to Collins’ place. Carlson believes Thomas Gibson and Gilbert Gibson are closely related. This is the same Thomas accused of concealing tithables in 1745 in Louisa County. On p. 114, Carlson says; Several of these Indian families remained in Louisa County, upstream on the Anna River down Turkey Creek on the Virginia frontier, as it was situated at that time, between the James and the South Anna Rivers. During the 1750's, one map would continue to label them as “Nassaw Indians”. Other families moved to the Flatt River in North Carolina. In 1750 they were in Granville County, North Carolina.

Carlson says pertaining to Thomas Gibson and the migration of these Saponi (p. 115); “later in 1751, Tom Gibson received a noticeably large grant from the prominent ‘Earl of Glanville’ of 640 acres on the Flatt River adjoining John Collins . . . the Christian Saponi’s choice of resettling at Flatt River must be more that in interesting coincidence . . . documents produced during the decade would show that these had settled among or immediately adjoining the remaining band of Occoneechi Indians who had removed here somewhere around 1732. Carlson paraphrasing Ramsey, saying; “up until the late 1750s, John Eaton, Ephraim Osborne, William Harrison and other colonists using the Trading Ford as a place to trade with the Saponi, Cherokees, and Catawba . . .” Carlson adds; “Mitchell’s map also identifies the Aconeechy living on Flatt River. Bowen’s 1752 map also shows the ancient title of Occoneechi was being applied towards the Indians living at the junction of the Flatt and Little River where the trading Path crosses them. Mitchell’s well known 1754-1755 map of North America then adds to the complexity of the picture. He shows one band of the Occoneechi where Bowen did three years prior at the mouth of the Flatt River exactly where the Christian Saponi from Virginia settled in 1750. But Mitchell also shows yet another Aconeechy Town (191) a dozen miles upstream at the headwaters of the Flatt . . .

(p. 116) The cartographic division of the Occoneechi bands on the Flatt from one village in 1752 to two in 1755, coincides perfectly with the immigration of the Christian Saponi families from Virginia to the area . . . following a sickness epidemic and a series of attacks on the Catawba Towns to the southwest in 1753, which prompted a portion of the Catawba Saponi band to temporarily move into this part of North Carolina. Primary documents cited by Tilley show that from 1753-1758 this band of about 30 Saponi were living just North of the Flatt River in Granville County. Their location was reported to be on the lands of William Eaton, and is thought by one local historian to be those lands Eaton held just north of present day Henderson. . . unlike the Christian Saponi, these Saponi still required an interpreter . . . William Eaton filled this position . . . the Christian Saponi had not used an interpreter for more than fifteen years. 

Carlson continues; . . . Granville County authorities reported that about 12 or 14 Sapona men and as many women and children’ were living among William Eaton’s regiment in Glanville County in 1753-1754, and these Saponi had newly come up from Cheraw (Sara) Town in the Catawba Nation . . . In a 1755 document citing figures used by the governor, Moravian Bishop A. Spangenburg claimed that 28 Saponi had recently moved to Granville County from Virginia. Because Granville County embraced Orange County just prior to that Bishop’s publication, it is clear that the Bishop was referring to the Christian Band of Saponi … (192)

Movements of the Christian Saponi, 1738-1755

Let’s review. The Saponi left Ft. Christanna in 1729 to live with the Catawba. They tried to return to Fort Christanna, but were told that their lands there had been given away. Old troubles with the Meherrin, Nottaway, and Tuscarora resurfaced, and they felt they had to leave. One group went to live in the lands of Governor Spotswood, the man who had given them lands of Fort Christanna in the first place. He lived further North in Orange County, Virginia. By 1743 they had worn out their welcome, and were told they had to leave those lands. Some went to live with the Catawba and others to Louisa County near the Anna River. They eventually moved down to the Flatt River region of Northern North Carolina.

More excerpts and paraphrasing of Carlson’s dissertation starting on page 119 

Carlson begins; “From 1750 to the Revolution, the Christian Saponi families remained split between the Louisa County mountains in Virginia and the more distinct Flatt River Community down in North Carolina”. He says other mixed-race families joined them on Flatt River – the Sizemore’s and the Ridley’s, or Riddle’s. After the proclamation of 1763, he speaks of the Flatt River Indians moving again, further west in North Carolina and Virginia. (193)

Forest Hazel mentions some of these Indians. Forest is another of those researchers I have great respect for. He says;

By 1754, at least one group of 30-40 Saponi had traveled to North Carolina and settled on the lands of William Eaton, where they were enumerated in the Colonial Records of North Carolina (Saunders 1968). These Saponi have allegedly been ancestral to several Indian groups presently living in North Carolina, although since none of their names are given, it is difficult to make the claim with any degree of certainty. However, it is known from oral tradition that an Indian named Sam Parker moved to the Texas community from the Vance-Granville county area prior to the Civil War. In 1752, a Thomas Parker was granted land on Tabb's Creek adjoining lands of William Eaton and William Chavis, another individual who seems to have been of partial Indian ancestry. There are still Parker’s of Indian descent living in that area near the town of Kittrell. It is also noteworthy that William Chavis, who owned the land near the Saponi settlement in old Granville County, also owned land in what is now Alamance County. The Orange County deed books show that on August 27, 1768, William Chavis "of the County of Granville" sold to Joseph Pritchit some 320 acres on both sides of the Haw River, "it being part of a tract of land granted to the said Wm. Chavis by deed from Wm. Kinchen bearing the date the __ day of December 1751" (Orange County Register of Deeds 1790). It may have been entirely coincidental that Chavis owned land near where the Saponi would resettle 20 years later, or perhaps there were Indian families living on or near Chavis's land in Alamance County as well as in Granville County. The Chavis name is still predominant among the Meherrin Indians of Hertford County and the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County. (194)

At the same time these Saponi were living in North Carolina, there was at least one other group living in Virginia. In 1757, the Virginia governor at Williamsburg received a delegation of Indians including "King Blunt and the thirty-three Tuscaroras, seven Meherrins, two Saponies and thirteen Nottoways" (Hillman 1966). Well, here is that citation Mr. Haithcock mentioned. During the French and Indian War some Tuscarora, Nottaway, Meherrin, AND Saponies visited with the Governor of Virginia. The Tuscarora had a “King Blunt” back in 1713, so this is most likely his son or grandson.  This indicates that the Saponi were still in existence. Since only the “King” of the Tuscarora was mentioned, one could surmise that he was probably the war leader of this bunch. I suspect over time, a few came and went and the numbers of each of these tribes rose and fell. Part way through the war there may have been 5 or 10 Saponi at some point. It seems likely that they were still in the Brunswick-Greenville county areas of Virginia. It was just before this time that certain individuals who were ancestral to families in the Texas community began to receive patents of land, primarily in the area around Emporia, Virginia. Joseph Hathcock was one of these early grantees, receiving 200 acres in 1732. Other landowners near him bore names such as Jeffries, Whitmore, Burnette, and Stewart, which figure in the history of the Texas families. (195)

At this point, it should be noted that there is some evidence that the area of Alamance and Orange counties may still have had a few settlements of Indians who never left the region, and who consolidated with the Saponi to form the Texas settlement after the Revolutionary War. Various tax lists for Orange County in the 1750s include several families of so-called mulattos bearing the surnames Bunch, Gibson, and Collins. Jeramiah and Henry Bunch received land grants in the area, near the Eno River. The term "mulatto" had a somewhat different meaning in the 1700s; rather than defining simply a black-white mixture, the term was used to classify a wide variety of mixed-blood peoples, so the Bunches and others could easily have been mixed-blood Indians and not Africans (Forbes 1988). It is obvious that when Southern Indians ceased living in what the local non-Indians perceived to be an "Indian" manner, they were relegated to the larger "free colored" class. The situation of the Nottoway and Ginkaskin in Virginia, or the Machapunga in North Carolina, are clear examples of what happened to these remnant Saponi-Occaneechi and other groups like the Meherrin and Chickahominy. This is not to say, however, that the Indians ceased to think of themselves as Indians, or that all the traditional ways were lost. It was simply the perception of their neighbors that changed. Some of the Gibson’s later moved to Macon County in western North Carolina where their descendants had the reputation of being of Indian ancestry. Other Bunches, Gibsons, and Collinses appear to have moved west, arriving in eastern Tennessee by way of Ashe County, North Carolina, and formed the nucleus for the so-called Melungeon settlement in the vicinity of Hancock County, Tennessee (Price 1950:130). These are the same Gibson’s, Collins’, and Bunch families Dr. Carlson had followed from Louisa County, Virginia down here to northern North Carolina.

In 1756, the Moravians near present Winston-Salem reported that they received a visit of "Cherokees from the fort near Haw River." Haw River was approximately where it exists today, in Alamance County and far from any known Cherokee settlements (Fries 1922:165). What is more likely is that the Indians were Sissipahau, or a group related to the Occaneechi Town Indians, who were living in a palisaded village similar to that which was used at Occaneechi Town. To the settlers, it would certainly look like a fort. The reference, if taken at face value, indicates: that there were Indians living in the Alamance County area in 1756, years after they were supposed to have vanished; and (196) they were living in a more or less traditional manner. The oral tradition of various white families in the area support this. These traditions say that there was an Indian settlement nearby when the town of Graham was first settled, and that along Piney Branch in the southern part of the county the settlers found "Indian Tee-pee wigwams" along the creek, again indicating some type of traditional dwelling. Archaeological remains in the Pleasant Grove area indicate widespread habitation over a long period of time. Although no confirmed Contact period sites have been located here, the state archaeological site files include at least one Late Woodland period site in close proximity to an abandoned graveyard that dates to the early 1800s and was once used by the Corn and Jeffries families.

I would like to consider another possibility. Remember the date – 1756! This is the timeframe of the French and Indian War. Maybe this was the unit made up of Tuscarora, Nottaway, Saponi and Meherrin Indians. It was said there were there were three units during the French and Indian war made up of mostly Catawban and Cherokee Indians. One was near Winchester, Virginia, another west of Roanoke, Virginia. And there was a third I haven’t found yet. Maybe this is the location of the third.

The next reference to the Saponi as a distinct tribe in the area of interest is from the official papers of Lt. Governor Francis Fauquier of Virginia. In 1763, he wrote to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantation Affairs in response to various queries about affairs in the colony. Referring to Indians in Virginia, he states "There are some of the Nottoways, Meherrins, Tuscaroras, and Saponys, who tho' they live in peace in the midst of us, lead in great measure the lives of wild Indians". Once again, the indication is that the Saponi retained many of their Indian customs and certainly their Indian identity. Fauquier contrasts them with the Pamunkey and Eastern Shore Indians, whom he says follow the customs of the common planters and wear non-Indian clothing. The location of the Saponi settlement(s) is again not revealed. But notice he mentions the same four tribes as the ones who were recruited by the English in the French and Indian War.

Up to the Time of the Revolution 

What appears to be the next to last official reference to the Saponi as a distinct tribe in the South is in 1764 when, according to a report from the Indian superintendent of the South, the Sapony and the Nottoway combined had "60 gunmen" (American Historical Review 1915). This report, although short and lacking in specifics, is an interesting basis for speculation. It may be inferred from the reference that the Saponi "gunmen" were still a noteworthy military force in the eyes of the superintendent and had adopted the use of firearms (as opposed to earlier references to Indian "bowmen"). It may also be inferred that they were living in proximity to the Nottoway. It is known that the Nottoway were living in what is now Southampton County, Virginia, near the present-day town of Courtland. The Saponi settlement appears to have been in neighboring Greenville County, south of Emporia, Virginia. It is also unknown how many of the "60 gunmen" were Nottoway and how many were Saponi. At least 5-10 must have been Saponi for them to have been listed separately, but there may have been as many as 15-20 of the 60 who were Saponi. If a ratio of 1:4 is used to represent the number of adult males to other family members, this suggests that 50-100 Saponi were living in Virginia in 1764. Added to the 28+ Saponi who were living on Col. Eaton's land in Granville County, North Carolina in 1754, this would suggest that there were at least 125-150 Saponi shortly before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, living there. It is known that some of the Nottoway fought in the Revolution; consequently, it would not be surprising for Saponi men like William Guy and Simon Jeffries to have also served with the colonial forces. We will have more about the descendants of William Guy and Simon Jeffries later

A final reference to the Saponi in Virginia during the pre-Revolutionary War era can be found in James Adair's History of the American Indians, published in 1775. Adair remarks that "In Virginia, resides the remnant of an Indian tribe, who call themselves Sepóne" (Williams 1930:67). While it is uncertain whether this statement was still true by the time Adair's book was published, it certainly supports the idea that the Saponi were recognized as a distinct group well into the mid and latter third of the eighteenth century.

From the above discussion, it is clear that not all the Saponi died off or removed to the Catawba or the Iroquois. Fifty years after they were commonly thought to have vanished, the Saponi presumably were still living along the North Carolina-Virginia border, where they had always lived, retaining many of their traditional ways. At the same time the official records speak of the Saponi sending delegates to the governor at Williamsburg (1757), a large community of nonwhite persons, claiming to be Indian, was developing in south-central Greensville County, Virginia. Early family names were Jeffries, Guy, Watkins, Haithcock, Stewart, and Whitmore, all families which moved to what would become the Texas community around the time of the Revolutionary War. Several of these community members fought in the Revolution; Robert Brooks Corn, William Guy (see descendants), Simon Jeffries, Britton Jones, John Jeffries, and Charles Whitmore are all Revolutionary War veterans from Greensville County who were classed as "Free Persons of Color." Marriage, land, and other official records from the area show a relationship between members of these families. For example, when Delila Jeffries, widow of John, filed for money due her as a pensioner's widow in 1855, Charles Whitmore and Drewry Jeffries (see descendant) both gave evidence supporting her claim. In 1818 (after the community moved to Alamance County), Jacob Jeffries's will, on file in the North Carolina Archives, was witnessed by David Haithcock, and one of his daughters was married to a Guy. There are numerous examples of these associations, exactly what might be expected from a group of people of the same background. The tendency toward endogamous marriage is one that has continued up until the last generation or so, and even now the preference is for marriage with a partner of similar background. (197)

Carlson mentions Tom Gibson again, saying he obtained more land, bordering lands obtained by Tom Collins and George Gibson, and an Indian man named Moses Ridley/Riddle.  Carlson speaks of (p. 120); “Documents such as tax records reveal that, in the first few years on the Flatt River, the people of the Christian Saponi Band were enumerated as “White tithables”. Soon after Orange County was formed from Granville in 1753, new county officials chose to count the citizen Indians . . . as Molatas . . . Virginia and North Carolina law stipulated that individuals of half Indian and half White heritage to be labeled ‘mulatto’, while individuals less than half Indian could be deemed ‘White’. (198) In Virginia, any person that was of 1/16th African heritage or more was to be recorded as ‘mulatto’, regardless of the character of the remainder of their blood quantum.

“The author talks about a Sizemore man being recorded as a ‘mulatta’. He says; “. . .three years prior [meaning about 1750] Ephriam [Sizemore], George Sizemore, and William Joiner were counted among ‘an old Indian man’s list’ of Indian and/or mixed blood families living at the time in Lunenburg County, Virginia. (199) . . . one may surmise that these men were counted as ‘citizen-Indians’ at that time, and no tribal identification was shown.” A century later, a Thomas Joiner married a half-sister of my direct ancestor. In Bedford County, Tn, related Joyner’s were listed as “mu” on census records, meaning ‘mulotto’. One of these Joiner’s applied to the Cherokee Freedmen’s Rolls, claiming to be a tri-racial grandson of John Brown, the 1/8^th Cherokee who operated a Ferry Crossing at “the Suck”, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He claimed his father was part Creek and his mother, the daughter of John Brown and a slave woman. 

Throughout the Seven Years War, the Catawba and their allies were courted. But the Flatt River Indians, per Carlson (p. 128), were also being treated poorly, with several lawsuits against them. By about 1770, many of them had started to return to Virginia. Carlson says, “By 1770, most of the Flatt River Indians had removed back to the mountains of Virginia. It appears debts, stricter hunting and taxation laws, in combination with the passing of the infamous Proclamation of 1763 and a growing non-Indian population around Flatt River, would all be factors that played a role in prompting this move.” (200)

The Proclamation Line of 1763

At the end of the French and Indian War British gained French territory in America, mostly in Quebec. The King of England thought the source of much friction between the American Indians and her colonists was that the colonists were constantly moving westwards, and claiming more and more Indian lands. This was the reason for the Proclamation of 1763.

Per http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/1763-proclamation-of ; we have – In 1763, at the end of the French and Indian War, the British issued a proclamation, mainly intended to conciliate the Indians by checking the encroachment of settlers on their lands. In the centuries since the proclamation, it has become one of the cornerstones of Native American law in the United States and Canada.

This royal proclamation, which closed down colonial expansion westward, was the first measure to affect all thirteen colonies. In response to a revolt of Native Americans led by Pontiac, an Ottawa chief. King George III declared all lands west of the Appalachian Divide off-limits to colonial settlers. The edict forbade private citizens and colonial governments alike to buy land from or make any agreements with natives; the empire would conduct all official relations. Furthermore, only licensed traders would be allowed to travel west or deal with Indians. Theoretically protecting colonists from Indian rampages, the measure was also intended to shield Native Americans from increasingly frequent attacks by white settlers.

Map 16. Royal Proclamation Line of 1763

By Cg-realms; adapted from a scan from the National Atlas of the United States - Adapted from National Atlas of the United States scan uploaded by Kooma using File:Blank US Map.svg as a template, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5666078

Settlers were not to settle beyond west of the line drawn on the map above after 1763. West of that line was considered Indian lands. In 1742 the Six Nations had relinquished their claim to those lands. These lands close to the “line” in Northwestern North Carolina and Virginia especially, had been in dispute between the Cherokee and the Catawba and Associated bands. About those times, some of the Saponi began moving to that region. (201)

From Saponi to Melungeon, Part 2

My own ancestor, Nathaniel Gist (b 1736, son of Nathaniel b. 1707) was nephew to Christopher Gist who died of Small Pox in 1759.). My Nathaniel, b. 1736, also moved to what was then called Washington County, Virginia, and settled near what is now Coeburn, Wise Co., Va. Gist’s River and Gist’s Mountain are nearby. Coeburn was first known as Gist’s Station long before it was called Coeburn. A document exists saying Joseph Blackmore (brother to John Blackmore. The brothers created Fort Blackmore), when he obtained lands at Castlewood (Also called Cassal's Wood), he was assignee of our Nathaniel Gist. That’s MY Nathaniel, 1736-1780! The Dorsey’s agree on this point. We, my Gist’s, showed up there the same time the earliest of the Christian Saponi did, about 1770. My Gist’s arrived from Cumberland County, North Carolina. In the 1750s my Gist’s had been next to the Moravians in the Winston-Salem area, at a place called Mulberry Fields. They moved east to Cumberland County, NC shortly thereafter where they remained until about 1770. One more thing -- MY Nathaniel Gist b. 1736 is NOT the same Nathaniel many believe was Sequoyah’s father. The claim is made that Sequoyah’s father was Nathaniel, son of Christopher – the same Christopher that died of Small Pox in 1759, whom the Catawba called “father”. 

By page 133, Carlson is talking about Forts in southwestern Virginia, from 1770 on. These forts were manned by local farmer/hunter/militiamen. Some of these were the Christian Saponi. He mentions 1773-1774 “Delinquent Tax List” of Botetourt and Montgomery Counties, saying; “These lists show the names of over a dozen adult males of the Christian Saponi and families residing primarily on “Indian Lands” off the New River and Reed’s Creek.” (202). They were just on the western side of the lands described in the Proclamation of 1763.

Of these forts, Carlson also discusses those that would become locations associated with Nathaniel Gist. He says; “Some of these early frontier forts and the people who occupied them would later enter into the history of the Christian Saponi of New River. These would include the fort that the Moore brothers of Castlewood, not far to the northwest of the New River in 1769. In 1772, Mathias, Jacob, and Henry Harmon emigrated from near Salisbury in North Carolina and established a defensive family compound on Carr’s Creek off the Clinch River. The most significant of such forts to later Saponi history however, would be Blackmore’s Fort, which was also established in 1772.” This fort was constructed on the lands acquired by Captain John Blackmore located at the mouth of Stoney Creek on the Clinch River. (203) I can’t help but think of my Nathaniel Gist living there at the same time, and that my Nevil Wayland would attend that church on Stoney Creek shortly afterwards. Although their families lived near one another, the Waylands were there twenty years after the Gist’s had gone, a descendant of the Gist’s would marry a descendant of the Wayland’s in Arkansas, in 1872, and they became my great grandparents.

Christian Saponi also served in the Revolutionary War, but they did so as individuals, and not as an Indian Unit. Carlson states the Flatt River Indian Community was 130 miles from the New River Community. Carlson says (p 138); “In late 1776, Old George Gibson passed on. Apparently he was the last link holding the fading remnants of the Flatt River Community together, for within a few years following George’s death, most of his relations would join with Tom Gibson in the Mountains, while others scattered into Caswell and Guilford Counties in North Carolina.” Carlson discusses (pp. 139-140) divided loyalties during the Revolutionary War of some of these families. They mention Osborn’s Company of Militia, saying many New River Christian Saponi men were mustered into it. They were mostly on the Western frontier to guard against Shawnee-Cherokee attacks. He mentions the Bowling’s, Riddle’s, and Sexton’s.

I couldn’t find a good map of all of these movements of the Saponi from Fort Christanna westwards, although I really need one. Sorry about that.

References:

190. 'Who's your people?': Cumulative identity among the Salyersville Indian population of Kentucky's Appalachia and the Midwest muck fields, 1677--2000. by Dr. Richard Allen Carlson Jr.; Michigan State University

191. Ditto

192. Ditto

193. Ditto

194. “Occaneechi-Saponi Descendants in the Texas Community of the North Carolina Piedmont” by Forest Hazel

195. Tutelo, Saponi, Nahyssan, Monacan, aka Piedmont Catawba Tribe of the Ohio Valley, Virginia, Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Six Nations/Ontario, Canada compiled by Richard Haithcock, Saponi. Publication date November 11, 2004.

196. “Occaneechi-Saponi Descendants in the Texas Community of the North Carolina Piedmont” by Forest Hazel

197. Ditto

198. 'Who's your people?': Cumulative identity among the Salyersville Indian population of Kentucky's Appalachia and the Midwest muck fields, 1677—2000. by Dr. Richard Allen Carlson Jr.; Michigan State University

199. Ditto

200. Ditto

201. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Proclamation_of_1763 . The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War, which forbade all settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. The lands to the west of this line were to be considered Indian Lands.

202. 'Who's your people?': Cumulative identity among the Salyersville Indian population of Kentucky's Appalachia and the Midwest muck fields, 1677--2000. by Dr. Richard Allen Carlson Jr.; Michigan State University

201. Ditto

202. Ditto

Maps:

Map 16. Royal Proclamation Line of 1763