Our
Ties to the Catawba
DNA Test
Here is a bar graph I was sent. It shows me mostly Caucasian, but with a little Native and a little African blood, as well.
I know that’s not much Native heritage, but it is present. Three percent (3%) is 3/100, which is close to 3/96, which is 1/32. There is a margin of error saying it could have made my DNA saying I had as much of about 1/8 to as small as 1/128th Native DNA. It is not a lot, but it is there. I had to stay in the background. Being raised in Oklahoma, there are full bloods everywhere. All I could do was say, “I ha ve a little Indian blood, not much.” I don’t want anyone to think I am anyone or anything special. At the same time I think I’ve found few things I’d like to share. I am just trying to record history that might get lost, otherwise. People in the east of mixed race were allowed to say “I’m American Indian” – but if you were from Oklahoma –well a person who is mostly Caucasian would basically become the definition of a “wannabe” – I knew I’d look like an idiot if I said that! 😊 Dad took me to Southern Plains style pow-wows by the time I was 6 or 8 years old. But we always just watched, never participated. Now that I am an old man, old habits still die hard. I have learned a lot through the years.
Eventually I was put in contact with Dr. Thomas Blumer. He spent his life researching the Catawba. He told me about the Catawba who came to Oklahoma. I was surprised that my ancestors had lived EVERYWHERE he said the Oklahoma Catawba went. I realized that although some of my ancestors might have been Cherokee as we had always thought, it was easier to find a link to the Catawba (and Associated Bands). Over the years, I quit trying to find Cherokee ancestry, and started researching the history of the Catawba and Associated Bands.
I
remember once my dogs, I had 2 at the time, started barking like crazy. I went
in the back yard only to see them standing over a dead opossum. I went over, &
picked him up by his tail. He jerked just a little showing me his VERY sharp
teeth. I thought nothing of it, as many freshly dead animal might jerk a
little. It immediately went back to not moving, appearing to be dead. I dropped
him/her over on the other side of the fence. An hour or so later I remembered
the phrase “playing possum”. So I went over to where I had dropped him, and sure
enough, he was gone. Hmmm . . . I’d been out-smarted by a marsupial. I put him
in the one place that that he most wanted – the one place that would save him from
my dogs. But things could have gone differently. He could have bitten me when I
picked him up. I got a good look at his teeth while holding him and they looked
VERY sharp. 😊 However my dogs would have then killed him. As we
act, others react. And those reactions could help or do harm. We are all at the
mercy of others. Finding Dr. Blumer took me down the road I most needed to
discover. I am very fortunate that this happened.
I
don’t want to be considered as stealing someone else’s culture, but I also
don’t want to see that culture vanish forever. I sometimes feel damned if I do, and damned if
I don’t.
I
have been creating blogs entries of my research. I have created 112 blog essays,
the first being in January, 2013. My blog essays have been visited 127,652
times, as of today, 21 Apr 2021. So someone is reading it. I’d appreciate
criticism. I won’t learn to do better
without it.
Per old photos, my Gist/Guess ancestors DEFINITELY were Native American, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Cherokee – it could be Catawban. It’s complicated. If you want me to go into it, I can. Here is a link to old family photographs. Go to the end of this blog entry for the old photos. http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2019/06/httpswww.html . [Note: The only way I have gotten these links to work is to select the entire phrase, then click the “ctrl” key followed by hitting the “enter” key.]
The Brown’s also might go back to the Catawba or Cherokee. There is an enrolled Cherokee Nation (based in Tahlequah) genealogist that thinks my Brown’s go back to John Brown Jr. found on the Reservation Rolls. I find my first known/proven Hawkins’ as a small child in Cherokee County, Al. According to 1880 census, he was born in 1835. That was before the “Trail of Tears”, so his parents might have been intruders. Cherokee County, Al. is at the southern end of the Cherokee Nation. We don’t have a photograph of him, and only one photo from a distance exists of his son, my grandpa. He looks darker complected than the man standing next to him, but you really can’t make him out. That same 1880 census says his parents were born in Alabama -- we don’t know who they were. Our Wood & Hamilton ancestors lived at the exact location the Monacan lived, but that probably is a coincidence. They passed right through the region Jefferson said he saw Indians passing by and stopping at a mound on his land. My ancestors moved from one place to another in Virginia about that exact time. But it is just wild speculation that those Jefferson might have been my ancestors. It might be that none of these were Native Americans. I want to make this report mostly about my Wayland ancestors. I am showing only Catawban ancestry that I am comfortable discussing here. Here goes.
Richey,
Wayland, & Gibson
My
Wayland ancestors are interesting. They can be traced, thank God! My first
known Wayland in America was named Nevil Wayland, 1745-1806. He was born and
christened as a baby at St. John’s Church, in Cashel, County Tipperary, which
is in the middle of Ireland. His parents were Englishmen who had settled in
Ireland. He came to America during the Revolutionary War, and lived in South
Carolina. It was written that he witnessed Charleston, South Carolina burn to
the ground in 1780. From the letters he wrote it is obvious he was well
educated. They put him on the Quartermaster’s staff and wrote that he was “a
driver of horses and cattle to the troops on the Indian line.” It was written that some Catawba were also
in/near Charleston when it burned, and it was also said the Catawba were with
the soldiers facing the Cherokee in western South Carolina. It was said the
Catawba confused the Cherokee until the Cherokee realized the Catawba all wore
a deer’s tail so the South Carolina militia wouldn’t confuse the them with the
Cherokee. In those days it took a minute to load and shoot a musket, so they
had time to make sure of whom they were facing. It was also said that the
troops purchased some cattle and other livestock from the Catawba. South
Carolina archives have about thirty documents that mention my ancestor. I sent
for and have copies of them.
It
was said of his wife, Keziah Gibson, that she was a Saponi Indian. There are
records of some Saponi serving on the Revolutionary side, who were also called
“Catawba” who had the surname "Gibson".. The Saponi were a band of the people commonly known as Catawba
Indians.
Before the Tuscarora and Yamassee Wars at the beginning of the eighteenth century, all the people were commonly referred to as “Yesah” in Virginia and “Esaw” in South Carolina. After the Tuscarora/Yamassee Wars, the survivors became known as Catawba seeing as how the Catawba were the largest surviving band of the Esaw/Yesah people. War, the slave trade, and several small pox epidemics had killed most of the people. I have written a short essay on the effects of small pox on the Catawba. https://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/05/small-pox.html Many bands disappeared at the time of the Tuscarora/Yamassee wars. Only the Catawba, Saponi, Cheraw and Pedee are mentioned very much after that date. By the 1740s some went North after the remnants of the Tuscarora to live with the Iroquois – they were called “Tutelo” and historically were often closely allied with the Saponi. They were absorbed into the Six Nations. I don’t know if they were later referred to as Mingo, or Seneca of the Sandusky, or not. I’ve heard Seneca of the Sandusky and the Mingo are now affiliated with the Seneca-Cayuga of Oklahoma, from different sources, but I am not sure if that is true or not. It was said of the “Seneca of the Sandusky”, that “there wasn’t a Seneca amongst them.”
Wayland’s
in Scott Co, Va
On
March 8th, 1796 Nevil Wayland Sr. is recorded as purchasing 50 acres
“lying in Russell County on both sides of Copper Creek, beginning on a
conditional line between John McClellan and James Gibson.”. This land later
was to become Scott County.
The
last date mentioned before Nevil Sr’s. death is October 7th, 1806.
On the February court docket of 1807 it mentions “Nevil Wayland, the
deceased . . .” A list of his possessions is mentioned. He owned 3 heifers,
1 cow and 1 calf, 17 hogs, 1 roan mare and 1 black mare, 11 geese and 15 ducks.
He also owned some blacksmithing and assorted tools, pewter bowls and eating utensils,
and assorted other items. But it also says he owned “one tomahawk.” It doesn’t
say one hatchet or axe – it says “tomahawk”. He was born in Ireland. Where did
he obtain a “tomahawk? Well, it is said his wife was a Saponi Indian.
Melungeons
The
place where my Waylands lived in Scott County, Virginia is often referred to as
the homeland of the Melungeons. A 1948 Smithsonian document mentions this.
It is entitled; Surviving
Indian Groups of the Eastern United States . Pp. 407-438; Annual Report of the
Smithsonian Institution, 1948. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; by
William H. Gilbert Jr., Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. I have
transcribed that document here; http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/surviving-indian-groups-of-eastern.html
There
is a section on the Melungeons of northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia,
both. Gibson is one of the major surnames listed. It was known in 1948 these
people were mixed race, being part Native American. Look up the French verb, “mélanger"
(meaning “to mix”), online. Some sites will conjugate it. You will find "we
mix" is translated as "nous mélangeons" in French.
Were
there Frenchmen in Virginia and the Carolina, next to Catawban speaking people?
I have found three references. 1.] The French Huguenots arrived at
"Manikin Town in 1701. One person wrote online; Most of my
Huguenots came into Manikin Towne, Virginia on one of the five ships bringing
the Huguenot refugees from London to Virginia in 1700 and 1701, according to
the The Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia. http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/growth/text4/frenchvirginia.pdf The Monakin were
the northernmost of the Catawban peoples, and like the Tutelo, were always
closely allied and associated with the Saponi. In 1677 and an addendum in 1680
there was a "Second Plantation Treaty" in Virginia. By the time the
Saponi and Manakin and others were sent to Ft. Christanna @ 1711, the two bands
had rejoined -- Saponi & Manakin as one, Historical Record: 1677-80
Treaties (charlescity.org). Several other disappearing bands had united
together and collectively they became known as “Saponi”. 2.] There is a book, "The
Journal of John Fontaine, 1710-1719." He was a French Huguenot
clergyman that visited the Saponi at Fort Christanna. My copy came from The
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in 1972. It was distributed by University of
Virginia Press 3.] There is another book "The Life and Adventures of
Wilburn Waters” - it states he was of mixed race -- French Huguenot mixed
with Catawba. These are three incidents of known French Huguenot and Catawban
speakers living near, visiting or marrying into one another’s families. I also
remember Dad saying he was told we had some French blood, but he always quickly
followed that up by saying “I have no idea where it might have come from.”
I have never seen a French surname in the family genealogy records. I share
these things to show the most likely origin of the term "Melungeons".
Per Occam’s Razor, it is the most likely explanation for the use of the term
“melungins” that every researcher should support, at least until another
explanation overtakes it. That hasn’t happened.
Most
researchers agree the first known time the word “melungins” is used in a public
document was in the minutes of the “Stoney Creek Primitive Baptist Church”. My Wayland
ancestors attended that church and the Wayland and Gibson names are all over
the minutes of that church. I found a copy of those church minutes online. I
have learned through the years something online today might disappear in a few
years, so I have started copying things important to me into blog entry when I get a chance. I have place
those Church minutes here http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/09/stoney-creek-primitive-baptist-church.html and here http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/09/minutes-of-stony-creek-primitive.html
The
Saponi
Governor
Spotswood of Virginia had the Saponi and Manakin peoples sent to Fort
Christanna, where both were to become known as Saponi, about 1711. It is in
eastern Virginia, near the border with North Carolina was a teacher who was
sent there to teach Saponi children. Eventually there was friction and the
Saponi went to live with the Catawba for a short time. When they tried to
return to Fort Christanna, they discovered their land given to them by Virginia
Governor Spotswood, had been sold out from under them. They scattered with no
place to go, and records of their whereabouts become few and far between. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Christanna
In
1739 there is mention of a Saponi camp in Craven County, North Carolina.
By
1740 it was reported that the Tutelo went north to live with their ancient
enemies, Six Nations to New York and adjacent Canada.
In
1742 eleven Saponi men are mentioned in Orange County, Virginia. Their names
are given as Maniassa, Captain Tom, Blind Tom, Foolish Zach, Little Zach,
John Collins, Charles Griffen, Alexander Machartoon, John Bowling, Isaac, and
Tom. It is interesting that 'Captain Tom' is mentioned both in 1722
at Fort Christanna and in 1742 in Orange County, Virginia. There are two other
interesting names. I’d like to note that my Keziah Gibson’s parents were Thomas
and Mary Gibson. Keziah was their youngest child born in the 1750s. These names
are evidence that the Melungeons of Southwestern Virginia and Northeastern
Tennessee early in the 19th century came from the Saponi of Fort Christanna. We
have John Collins and Charles Griffen in 1742 in Orange County, Virginia. We
also have the Collins family, claiming a mixed-Indian origin in NE Tn. and in
southwestern Virginia who became known as “Melungeons”. We also have a teacher
named Charles Griffin at Fort Christanna about 1712, and an Indian by that same
name is in Orange County, Virginia three decades later, in 1742. The teacher at
Fort Christanna was a White man. The other Charles Griffen was a Saponi Indian,
per this report. He obviously had taken the name of the teacher, or perhaps he
was his son by an Indian woman. There was a known Melungeon named “Griffen
Collins” – he seems to have been the product of a union of these two families.
Richard
Haithcock, who recently passed away, was a head man of a group from southern
Ohio, called “Carmel Indians” because that is where they eventually settled. He
mentions Saponi who are mentioned on militia rosters in 1777 during the
American Revolution. He lists their surnames as Riddle, Collins, Bunch, Bolin,
Goins, Gibson, and Sizemore. These men were assimilated mixed-race Native
Americans.
Haithcock
finds two other references and states the following surnames associated with
the Saponi who by 1827, were largely assimilated and of mixed race as well. Those
surnames he mentions are; Hathcock, Dempsey, Jefferies, Guy, Johnson, Collins,
Mack, Richardson, Lynch, Silvers, Mills, Riddle, Austin, Hedgepath, Copeland,
Stewart, Harris, Nichols, Shepherd, Gibson, Cole, Coleman, Martin, Branham,
Johns, Taylor, Ellis, Anderson, Tom, Ervin, Bowling, Valentine, Goens,
Sizemore, Bunch, Coker, Rickman, Whitmore, Mullins, Perkins, Harrison, Holley,
Pettiford. There is a document where members of the Guy and Jeffries families,
84 individuals, asked to be allowed to come to Indian Territory/Oklahoma. I
have copied this government document to the Western Catawba here http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2018/10/catawba-saponi-melungeon-ch-14.html
More
Evidence the Melungeons from the borders of North Carolina-Tennessee-Virginia Border
Area are Descended from bands of the Catawba
Cole
family
There
was a newspaper article dated Monday, 7th of October, 1901, “The
Tennessean”, page 8, a newspaper out of Nashville, Tn.
It
is not generally known there are Indians scattered all over the mountains of
Kentucky, but in nearly every county in the eastern section may be found
families named Cole, Perkens, Sizemore. or Mullins, many in some way related to
“Old Billie” Cole, a Catawba Chief, who came here from North Carolina and
settled in Floyd County nearly a century ago.
The
biggest numbers of “Old Billie’s” descendants living in ole place is the Cole
family on Big Lick Branch, in Magoffin County.
According
to Jarvis Lewis, The Melungeon families also arrived in the area the same time
as the Cole family. I am grateful to William Grohse for transcribing his
essay. http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/some-eastern-bands-of-catawban-peoples.html I have included
it as part of one of my blog entries here.
The
Cole surname is also mentioned in a 1948 document about Native American
families remaining in the Eastern United States. http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/surviving-indian-groups-of-eastern.html
There
is a lot of nonsense online about Cherokees in Kentucky. But these people were
probably Catawban, not Cherokee. And
they arrived in Kentucky about 1790-1800, not before. They probably arrived about
the time of the signing of the Fallen Timbers Treaty in 1796. And they arrived
in the area about 1790, or 1800, not earlier. Maybe 1770 when Fort Blackmore
was created; but we will never know for sure. They had mostly assimilated by
this time, and were mostly of mixed race as well.
Record
of Melungeon burials recorded by Will Allen Drumgoole.
Will
Allen Drumgoole wrote a lot of nonsense about the Melungeon families. However
she did say something of interest about Melungeon cemeteries. She wrote an article
in March, 1891 entitled "The Malungeons" for "The
Arena". In it she introduced the idea that the Melungeons might be of
Portuguese extraction. These articles by Will Allen Dromgoole and others have
caused much confusion through the years, over the origins of the Melungeons.
It
is interesting to note that the Catawba in Oklahoma wrote Congress in 1896 a
letter asking for recognition. Only five years before this Ms. Drumgoole had
called the Melungeons a bunch of Portuguese! Congress wrote a long letter as to
just why we shouldn’t be recognized. I transcribed the entire document and have
already provided a link to it. A main part of it was summed up in one
paragraph. Namely, Congress wrote the following to the Western Catawba Indian
Association;
"I
have to say that it is the policy of the government to abolish the tribal
relationship of the Indians as fast as possible, and to settle each Indian upon
a separate tract of land that he can call his own, to the end that he may
become self-supporting and independent of government bounty. It would not be in
keeping with this policy, I think, to gather up people who happen to have more
or less Indian blood in their veins and are living among the Whites, separate
and apart from Indian communities, and incorporate them into a tribe and place
them upon an Indian Reservation."
Did
Ms. Drumgoole’s writing have any effect on Congress’ response? I hve no idea. Maybe they would have
responded as they did no matter what.
But
the following from Ms. Drumgoole’s writing is interesting. She said something
about Melungeon cemeteries that caught my attention:
Near
the schoolhouse is a Malungeon grave-yard. The Malungeons are very careful for
their dead. They build a kind of floorless house above each separate grave,
many of the homes of the dead being far better than the dwellings of the living.
The grave-yard presents the appearance of a diminutive town, or settlement, and
is kept with great nicety and care. They mourn their dead for years, and every
friend and acquaintance is expected to join in the funeral arrangements. They
follow the body to the grave, sometimes familes, afoot, in single file. Their
burial ceremonies are exceedingly interesting and peculiar.
This
reminded me of Native American cemeteries in Eastern Oklahoma. I have placed
Ms. Dromgoole’s article, in its entirety, at the bottom of the following blog
entry. https://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/surviving-indian-groups-of-eastern.html?showComment=1618937227002#c3693051806684510916
But please remember the article about the Cole family was written in 1901, AFTER Congress had rejected the Western Catawba’s plea for recognition.
Back
to My Wayland Family
My
ancestors from the region where the Melungeon families wemt to Arkansas in
1815. There is a book that mentions us entitled “Pioneers and Makers of
Arkansas”, p 339-342 by Josiah H. Shinn, A. M., about the early settlers of
Arkansas. It also speaks of a man named Abraham Ruddell who as a child when he was
captured and made a slave by the Shawnee. The book speaks of Abraham Ruddell. In
1780 his home on the Holston River was attacked, He was taken by the Shawnee,
and early on he was treated like a slave. But later it states he fought at
Tecumseh’s side. Other records of his
life say lived for 16 years as a slave of the Shawnee, was treated terribly the
whole time, being freed only after the Treaty of Fallen Timbers ending the wars
of that era came to an end. This was about 1795 – I might have that year wrong.
I do not know which version of this story to believe. I have to question parts
of this story as Tecumseh came to prominence after during the War of 1812 I don’t know if the part about Ruddell knowing
Tecumseh is true or not. Maybe he knew a youth named Tecumseh and the origins
of him learning to be a great warrior. I just don’t know enough about it. It
goes on to say Ruddell went to Arkansas in 1816 and settled in Independence
County, which is the area around Batesville.
My
own ancestor, William Wayland, was said to have been “overseer” of a road going
to Batesville in 1819. There were four Wayland brothers who went to Arkansas;
Henry, Nevil Jr., Francis, and William. Why do I mention Abraham Ruddell at all?
Well continuing with the narrative of this story, we have;
. . . In the same year that Ruddell passed
away [vances
note:1840], in the last days of August another settler who came in with
Ruddell in 1816, but who settled in what is now Lawrence County, died and was
buried, not with his fathers, but in a new graveyard in the west. His name was
Nevill Wayland and he left children to perpetuate his name ….
Well,
it sounds like at least one of the four Wayland brothers knew a man who might have
known a young Tecumseh. Since my ancestor was an “overseer” on a road going to
Batesville – and Abraham Ruddell settled in Batesville – maybe William, my
ancestor, knew Abraham Ruddell, too. 😊
One more thing. From that same book, on pages 113 &114, it lists all the elderly people according to the Arkansas census records. One name they record is “Mrs. Wayland” saying she is between 70-80 years old. In the home of my William Wayland is an elderly female between 70nd 80 years old. That could be Keziah (Gibson) Wayland, making her birth about 1750ish. She's the one we've been told was Saponi Indian.
Methodist
Church in Arkansas
In
“Chronicles of Oklahoma Article; Volume 7, No. 4, December, 1929” is
mention of the first church founded in Indian Territory, which at the time
included much of Arkansas. Here is an excerpt from that article;
From
Jewell’s history, we are informed that the local preacher, Eli Lindsay, while
on the Spring River Circuit, preached at points on White River, Little Red
River, Strawberry River and Spring River. The point we are making here is that,
Little Red River is south and west of White River, and therefore in the Indian
Territory, when the White River was the dividing line between Arkansas and
Indian country.
From
“Lawrence County, Arkansas Historical Journal”, Summer 1982 – Volume 4 –
Number 3, History of Methodism in Walnut Ridge:
.
. . Here it should be noted that Walnut Ridge Methodist Church has drawn some
if its most staunch Methodists and strongest leaders from pioneer families in
the western district of Lawrence County. It will be remembered that the Spring
River Circuit, which includes part of Western Lawrence County, was the first
pastoral charge organized in Arkansas in 1815 by the Rev. Eli Lindsey. It was
this same year that Nevil Wayland came to Arkansas and his son, Jonathan
Wayland. They, with Hugh Rainwater and Terra Stuart and their families,
organized a Church on Flat Creek. Jonathan Wayland became a local preacher and
so did Hugh Rainwater.
To
the present generation of Waylands and Rainwaters (many of whom have held
membership in Walnut Ridge) belong the distinction of being descendants of the
first Methodist Church organized in Arkansas.
So
some of our Wayland ancestors helped organize the first Protestant Church in
Indian Territory, when that territory included much of Arkansas.
Fort
Gibson, Bean’s Rangers, 1832
Here
is a roster of the first troops at Fort Gibson, who were called “Beans
Rangers”.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgs/roster_of_beans_rangers.htm
That
roster includes two Wayland boys, James and Jarrett. They were first cousins of
each other. My direct ancestor, Sarah Ann Wayland, was also their first cousin.
They descended from Henry Wayland, Nevil Wayland Jr., and my Sarah from William
Wayland.
“Act
of Congress approved June 15, 1832, authorized the President to raise a
battalion of 600 mounted rangers to serve on the frontiers.” Rangers were to be “Active men, under 40
years of age, capable of enduring all the fatigues of arduous service.” The following list from the National Archives
was made from the first muster rolls at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Most of the men were enlisted by Jesse Bean
from his own Batesville, Independence Co., Arkansas area. Possibly many were future Oklahomans.
In
June, 1834 the name of Captain Jessee Bean is listed as among the officers of
troops leaving in July 1834 on the “Pawnee Expedition”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Dragoon_Expedition This was also
called “The Dragoon Expedition” and was the famous expedition that made the
first contact between the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Tribes (often referred
to as “Pawnee Picts” at this time in history) and the United States Army. Since
Jessee Bean was on this expedition, you can assume so were Bean’s Rangers. That
would include two of my great-great-grandma’s first cousins were there too, the
Wayland cousins. Also on this expedition were Tahsee, who was Sequoyah’s
brother, Jessee Chisholm, for whom “the Chisholm Trail” was named and David
Melton, who was one of the signers of the Cherokee Act of Union for the “Old
Settlers” faction. I mention the Melton’s because they lived practically next
door to my Brown’s in Northern Alabama, along the south side of the Tennessee
River. But I am sharing my connection to the Catawba, and not possible ties to
the Cherokee. Also on the expedition to southwestern Oklahoma was Nathan Boone,
son of Daniel Boone. There is a historic marker just to the north of where I
live (Altus);
Another
of my ancestors was named Joseph Richey. In a book entitled “Arkansas
Mexican War Soldiers” we have the following: Historical Highlights by Jay
Brent Tipton.
The
Arkansas Gazette on June 25, 1846 reported that “a company of volunteers
(mounted gunmen) from Lawrence County led by Capt. J. S. Ficklin arrived at
Little Rock and took the road to Fort Smith where they are destined for service
on the Arkansas frontier. The Lawrence County troops, Company C, Arkansas
Battalion Infantry and Mounted Rifles were officially mustered into U. S.
service at Fort Smith on July 6th, 1846, and were sent to Fort Gibson in the
Indian Territory. . . Company C, along with the other companies of the
Battalion, was mustered out of service on April 20th, 1847 at Fort Gibson. Even
though they did not face the Mexican Army, these men served Lawrence County,
Arkansas and ultimately the nation by volunteering and remaining at their
station.”
I
mention this because it mentions brothers, David and Joseph Richey, in the
roster of troops belonging to Company C, mentioned above. I am a direct
descendant of Joseph. Joseph Richey married Sarah Ann Wayland, who was of mixed
Catawban ancestry. They were also one set of my great-great-grandparents.
Photos
of my ancestors can be found here. At the bottom of the blog entry. https://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2019/06/httpswww.html
There
was a Dust Bowl project known as “Indian/Pioneer Papers in the 1930s. My great
uncle was interviewed and here are excerpts of what he said;
http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2019/06/httpswww.html
Now
the Indian Pioneer Papers were written during the 1930s, and elderly pioneers
were asked what life was like in the Indian Nations. My great uncle was
interviewed August 23rd, 1937. I transcribed what he wrote. The interviewer
wrote the following about our family; “My parents were natives of Arkansas
and grew up near Fort Smith which was just across the line from the Indian
Territory . . . After they were married in the year 1872, they moved into the
Indian Territory, and settled either in Sequoyah or Leflore County. I do not
know on which side of the Arkansas River they lived.” Well this is exactly
where Dr. Blumer had said those Catawba settled. In “A Guide to the Indian
Tribes of Oklahoma” by Muriel Hazel Wright; said the same -- she states in
her section on the Catawba that in 1897 a group tried to form a “Western
Catawba Indian Association” in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She also stated, “The
descendants of some of the Catawba who settled in the Choctaw Nation are now
absorbed into the Indian population of Haskell and Le Flore Counties.”
Now
dad’s (1915-1992) family lived next door to his grandparents (1851-1926 &
1854-1932) farm. Mama’s (1915-2002) family was raised next door to dad’s
grandparents, on the other side. Dad never said a thing to me about them
wanting to sign up for Dawes Rolls (they
were living in the Chickasaw Nation at the time), but mama did. She said
she heard the Richey’s (dad’s grandparents) talking about it to her parents,
and she said she overheard dad’s grandparents talking to her parents, She told
me the Richey’s said they went to enroll, even got the paperwork -- but
“something happened” (she didn’t know what), and they got upset or mad about
something, and never returned for a
second session. So we are not on the rejected rolls, either.
Well
this is enough of an introduction. I am 68 years old, and I want people to
realize there are many people who are not “wannabes”. Some of us are not trying
to appropriate someone elses culture – we would rather think of us as reviving
a dying culture. If it can’t be revived (which seems to be the case), at least I’d
like to record it. That’s all.
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