After 30 years of Research, do we have any Cherokee blood?

 

            Do We have Cherokee Blood?

             Maybe . . . still?

Hawkins surname

My father was named Alpha Omega Hawkins in my birth certificate, which also states that I was born in Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma in December of 1952. Dad’s birth certificate states he was born in August, 1915, at Manitou, Tillman County, Oklahoma. His father was Noah Allen Hawkins. Noah is a three-year old child in the home Joshua Allen Hawkins and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Maryanne Byrum, on the 1880 census. The Byrum’s came from Bertie County, North Carolina. There exists a photo of Elizabeth’s nephew – he looks 100% Caucasian. Back to the Hawkins’. Noah had moved to Indian Territory where he married my grandma in 1904 in the Chickasaw Nation. That 1880 Texas census was taken June 25^th, 1880 says Joshua was born in Alabama. It states that both his parents were also born in Alabama. We have never known who Joshua’s parents were. 

Joshua Allen Hawkins, my great-grandpa, went to prison in Texas on April 17^th, 1858. He was discharged on April 17^th, 1860.  At the time of his incarceration, he lived in Cherokee County, Alabama. That means he was born between April 17, 1837 and June 25, 1837. Those same prison records say "nativity", meaning birthplace, and say "Alabama". There is some ambiguity as to where when it says he was from Cherokee County, Alabama, it also means he was born there. My DNA matches those of many Hawkins families, so he was not adopted. The clincher for me is in his prison record that states Joshua had blue eyes . . . that means he is most likely, mostly Caucasian. Time to move on. I have had dozens of people ask me about my Hawkins surname asking me if they were Native. Although he was found in Cherokee County, Alabama and was born just before the Trail of Tears, the fact that he had blue eyes tells me he was most likely European. The fact that My Y-chromosome DNA Hawkins families who trace their families back to England, possibly the region around Kent. This tells me our Hawkins lines tie us to England. Being in Cherokee County, Alabama, doesn't necessarily mean he was born there. Having his birth place in Alabama in 1837 says nothing about Cherokee ancestry.  He had said his parents were born in Alabama. He could have been mixed-blood and that might have given him blue eyes. But I can't assume that. This is just grasping at straws. Knowing who his parents were would help, but we don’t know that, either.

Brown surname

My great grandma’s maiden name was Josephine Brown. She was born March 24^th, 1854 to David Brown and Harriet Guess in Lawrence County, Arkansas. David had moved to Arkansas from Alabama. He is last mentioned in Alabama in 1847 on a tax roll and first mentioned in Arkansas in 1848 in another tax roll. He married Harriet in Shelby County, Tn (Memphis) in 1841, but moved back to Alabama afterwards. His parents were John Brown and Polly Black, who married on December 23rd, 1820 in Lawrence County, Alabama. They had land on the Tennessee River, on its south bank, in Lawrence County. Their land was right next to a place called “Brown’s Ferry” near but on the opposite back of the river from Decatur, Alabama. This land was ceded from both the Cherokee and Chickasaw, about 1816 as it was claimed by both. Some Cherokee families might have remained behind once the land was ceded. Some of the Meltons did, and they were neighbors of the Brown’s. One Melton, David Melton, signed the Articles of Union for the Old Settler faction.  One Cherokee genealogist said they thought we descended from a man named “John Brown Jr” on the Cherokee Reservation Rolls. He had participated in the War of 1812 as a member of the Cherokee contingent in the Creek War. However it is difficult to move on from there. He had enlisted as a “private”. There are three men naned “John Brown” on the Cherokee Emigration Rolls and three more with that name on the Reservation Rolls. Both rolls were taken about 1817,1818, or 1819. But I have never made heads nor tails of all the men named “John Brown”, nor have I figured out how to distinguish one of them from one another. Some of them were with the Old Settler faction. Mine died in Alabama just before the 1850 census. His wife is called “Mary Brown” and is listed as a “Widow” on that census.  He is listed on the same 1847 tax records as his son, my ancestor, David Brown, in Alabama. David is listed in the 1850 & 1860 census in Lawrence County, Arkansas. David's mother Mary, is in the same Lawrence County, Arkansas census in 1860. David had married Harriet Guess in 1841. 

I have discovered a record of Catherine Brown. Huntsville Republican, 25 July 1823: Died on the 18th at the residence of Dr. Campbell, Miss Catherine, daughter of Mr. John Brown of Cherokee Nation. (she) Was moved from her father’s residence to Dr. Campbell’s in Limestone Co.

Referenced: MARRIAGE, DEATH AND LEGAL NOTICES FROM EARLY ALABAMA NEWSPAPERS 1819-1893, by Pauline Jones Gandrud.

            Interessting . . . Decatur, in Limestone County is just across the Tennessee River from where my Brown's lived in 1823. It is said that is where she died. I don't know if that means anything or not. We might be related. We lived right on the river, but the southern bank. Limestone County is on the northern bank of the river. After researching this many years, all I can say truthfully, is that we have found evidence, but not proof that we descend from the Cherokee Brown's.

            This is about as far as I can go with our Brown’s. There are just too many people claiming descent from the Cherokee Brown’s. I still can’t see any answers as to who descended from whom. Now it’s time to try to tackle our biggest most confusing surname, the Guess/Gist’s.

        Gist/Guess surname – this is confusing and takes time

     What started my search into genealogy and trying to see if our stories of Native American ancestry was as a child, to just look and my dad, and uncles and aunts, and great uncles and aunts, and grandma. Anyone looking at us would have said we are Native Americans. Today however, anyone looking at the generations coming later, my nephews and nieces, and their children, would say that we are white. To make things worse, “EXPERT’s” online say we are delusional stealers of other people’s culture and families. The truth is most likely somewhere in the middle. Maybe some are faking it or just don’t know any better, but I suspect many are just not documented, and the Native ancestor goes back in time several generations before accurate records existed.

    Our look into a possible kinship to the Cherokee through Sequoyah ended up with a search into the Catawba, This story is told below. It is long and can get or appear confusing. Let me continue.

     Family stories about being related to Sequoyah

I remember as a child going to a pow-wow and dad saying we had some Indian blood. I first thought we were part Comanche because we lived in Southwestern Oklahoma. I remember someone telling me “You look like a White Indian.” One day someone asked me “What tribe?” and I had no idea. I said “Comanche” because I had no idea, and since they lived here, well maybe that was it. Later I learned there was a family story that we were related to Sequoyah. However I never researched these things at that time. I just remembered them, but let them be.

I was probably 40 years old before I really started looking into our heritage. I’m 68 now (as of early May, 2021). I remember Uncle Andrew when asked about our heritage, replied, “I’d be careful about looking into that, if I were you. You might not like what you find.” What on earth did he mean by that? Dad bought a book by “Dub” West in 1976 entitled “The Mysteries of Sequoyah” so he must have been looking into it, too. After he passed on in 1992, I got more serious about looking into our heritage. Dad only had 2 sisters left. That generation was going fast. As a child I knew some of my great uncles and aunts, grandma’s generation. I had never asked any of them anything about our heritage. Now that generation was gone, and the generation after theirs was almost gone, too.  Then one of the two remaining Aunts passed on. Time was short. I sent off a letter to Aunt Lorena, the last of her generation and I have included that. Now she too, is gone.

If you look at old family photos, one branch of the family goes from looking mostly Indian not so long ago, to mostly Caucasian today. The generations of my ancestors that knew our true heritage have gone now.

First Story

I once heard a cousin say “we descend from Sequoyah”. But I know that is not exactly what Dad said. Below is how I remember his story went.

Dad used to tell me the following story. He said he often walked to school barefoot. I used to have access to a photo of him barefoot at a one room school, but when mama died it vanished, and I have asked for a copy but no one seems to know what became of it.  He also said his grandparents lived between his house and the school, and said sometimes on the way home from school, he'd stop by their house for a time. He said on occasion, his grandma looked through his Oklahoma History book, and said she pointed to a picture of an Indian in the book, and said, “Do you know you are related to him?” Dad always said he didn't remember which Indian it was. Now since Dad's grandma's maiden name was Josephine Brown, and Josephine's mother's maiden name was Harriet Guess, well many of us suspected maybe it was Sequoyah.

Well Dad and I used to argue over petty things when I was young -- I was rebellious. Him being born in 1915 and me in 1952, there was a generation gap. As a child he went to town in a mule driven wagon, and a 20 mile trip to town and back took all day and half the night. It was so different from how things are now. He was penniless as a child and I never lacked much. He was a very good man. Now I understand why he was as he was, but he’s not here to tell him.  I didn't get interested enough in those stories until Dad was older. I finally showed him that photo of that famous King painting of Sequoyah from an old Oklahoma history text book and ask him if that was the photo he'd shown his grandma and she'd referenced. But all Dad would ever reply was “I just don't remember.” Too bad. So I wished I'd asked him before, and I'd wished I'd been more curious about this when I was younger, and that we hadn’t argued so much.

Second Story

After Dad and most of the others had passed away, I realized if I wanted to hear any other stories about our Indian blood, I'd have to ask Aunt Lorena, the last of her generation. So I wrote her and asked her if she ever heard any family stories about us being related to Sequoyah. Below is what she replied. Now there was originally a fifth page in which she said she was “quite sure” her mother had said that Harriet (Lona Richey, Aunt Lorena's mother, was the daughter of Josephine Brown, and Josie's mother was Harriet Guess/Gist) was Sequoyah's “niece or great niece”. Now there were only 4 or 5 lines on that fifth page, but what it said was important.  I don’t know what became of it. I have transcribed the majority of her letter, and I had page five transcribed on my computer before I lost it. Here is that transcription:

Dear Vance and wife,

I am sorry I have been so slow answering your letter. I have no idea what I could tell you that you don’t already know.

The reason I am so late answering is I had an accident at a dinner theater here in town during intermission. I have no idea how it happened unless I tripped on a man’s coat lying on the floor or someone may have pushed me. I fractured my shoulder and hip on the left side. Have spent almost two months in rehab hospitals. I walked the first time last week. I’m home now and will have rehab at home. I tire easily.

I remember more about what our mother told us than grandmother Richey. We had a wonderful grandmother and I suppose she talked more about Sequoyah to the boys than to us girls. Alpha was almost 6 years older than I. She was a Brown before she married grandfather Richey. Her mother was a Guess before she married great grandfather Brown. I think mama said she was a niece of George Guess, “Sequoyah”. He was known as a Cherokee intellect. I have some literature on him. He was never a Cherokee chief but was called upon to deal with the U. S. Government. He did live in Indian Territory as well as Arkansas. He had a home in Sallisaw, Ok. I don’t know if it still exists. He was born in 1778 in a small Cherokee village of Tuscegee in Tennessee. He is known for inventing the Cherokee alphabet. I remember a lot about him in our Oklahoma History.

Our mother looked a lot like some Indian trait, as well as her sister Aunt Bea, Uncle Hoten, Uncle Will, and Uncle Swan. I saw a picture of Uncle Hoten and Uncle Otho (he died in 1917 or 1918). A school picture of the old Holton school just about a mile and ½  from where we were raised South and East of Manitou. They definitely showed Indian blood, very nice looking, though. The Cherokee were the most civilized of the “Five Civilized Tribes.”

Grandpa and Grandma Richey came to Indian Territory before Oklahoma became a state. They lived in covered wagons when Mama and Aunt Bea were little girls. I used to love to hear her talk and tell when they were children. Aunt Etta drove a team of oxen while grandpa and I suppose Uncle Swan drove the others/horses. Sage grass was taller than mama and Aunt Bea. Grandmother made little red caps for them to wear when they went out to play. Both Andrew and Raymond were born before Oklahoma became a state. They and Cecil were born in a half dugout. Our Aunt Zora (Uncle Swan’s wife) was the mid-wife to the three boys. Grandmother Richey delivered Lula. They were having a snow storm and the doctor couldn’t get there until she was three days old. I think Doctor Comp delivered the rest of us kids. He lived in Manitou. [Vance’s note: both my parents told me they were delivered by my Great grandma Richey – no doctor was present].

I know you didn’t ask for –

[Note: And I no longer have the last page. But I did save in one place on my computer her letter. The following was on page five.]

I know you didn’t ask for a lot of the things I have written. I’m proud of them and still love to think about their early lives, so different from today . . .

I’m quite sure it was Great-grandmother Brown who was a Guess and was a niece or great niece of George Guess.

With love and best wishes,

Aunt Lorena

Third Story

There is one more story. In “Pioneering in Kiowa County”, volume 4, my great uncle’s descendants wrote about their branch of our family. They wrote about their covered wagon getting stuck in the mud crossing the Salt Fork of the Red River, and other things. At the end of the story my second cousin adds “O. T. Richey was a direct descendant of Sequoyah of the Cherokee Indian Tribe. Sequoyah was Oscar’s great-great-grandfather.” – submitted by Naomi Stephens Meinert.

So while dad’s story suggested we were “related to an Indian” whose painting was in the Oklahoma History text book, his sister said she remembered being told we descended from Sequoyah’s niece or great niece, and a second cousin of mine had written we descended from Sequoyah himself. I guess that’s why some family stories are considered unreliable. But I think there is a grain of truth in it. All three stories agree on one point – we are related to Sequoyah in some fashion.

Indian Pioneer Papers

The man mentioned above, my Great Uncle Oscar Taylor Richey, wrote a little something about our family. There is a historical record of some early settlers of Indian Territory called IPP, or Indian Pioneer Papers. This was a Dust Bowl Era project to get Old Timers of all races and mixes to tell their family story of how they came to live in Oklahoma when it was known as “Indian Territory”. There were thousands of such interviews.

In 1936, the [Oklahoma Historical] society teamed with the history department at the University of Oklahoma to get a Works Progress Administration (WPA) writers' project grant for an interview program. The project employed more than 100 writers scattered across the state, with headquarters in Muskogee, where Grant Foreman served as project director. Asked to "call upon early settlers and (record) the story of the migration to Oklahoma and their early life here" the writers conducted more than 11,000 interviews, edited the accounts into written form, and sent them to the project director who completed the editorial process and had them typed into more than 45,000 pages. When assembled, the Indian-Pioneer Papers consisted of 112 volumes, with one set at the university, the other at the society. There are only two complete bound sets of originals.

These interviews can be found online (along with other documents) here –

http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/

 My great uncle Oscar and his wife Emma both responded to this request. I have transcribed both of them. Here are excerpts of those two documents. They later settled on a farm just north of Lone Wolf in Kiowa County, in southwestern Oklahoma.

Date: August 23, 1937

Name:  Oscar T. Richey

Post Office:  Lone Wolf, Kiowa County, Oklahoma

My parents were natives of Arkansas and grew up near Fort Smith which is just across the line from Indian Territory. Both come from pioneer families.

After they were married in the year 1872, they moved into Indian Territory and settled in either the present Sequoyah or Leflore Counties. I do not know on which side of the Arkansas River they lived, but I remember very clearly hearing my mother say that the territory was like a wilderness and that they had to go back to Fort Smith for everything they had to buy and that when they needed protection all the officers of the law had to come from Fort Smith.

Mother never ceased to tell us children of an experience which she had while living at that place. Two White men and Two Negroes committed some kind of a crime in the Indian Territory, were taken to Fort Smith tried and convicted and were sentenced to be hanged.

When the day of the hanging came, she and Father like everybody else in the country started early for the hanging was to be a public affair, and they traveled all day through the woods and across the streams and when they reached Fort Smith there were literally a thousand people which was a great number at that time, gathered as if at a picnic to witness the hanging. Mother watched the hanging and it was so horrible to her that she regretted attending such a thing all the remainder of her life.

They later moved to the Chickasaw Nation. Oscar said the following; Living was pretty hard for us as we were poor and the land had to be cleared and broken before we could plant or grow any crops. Everything had to be hauled by wagon from Nocona, in Montague County, Texas and the roads were only wagon tracks with no bridges on the streams to amount to anything and the bridges which were built would wash away every time there was a flood on the river or creek.

At first we depended for our food mostly on rabbits, squirrel, fish and other small game. These animals furnished us with meat and we raised a little corn on land which we were able to clear out . . .

Oscar’s wife wrote the following; My parents moved to Indian Territory in 1890 and settled 12 miles northeast of the present town of Duncan. in Stephens County.

My father was very fortunate as he bought a lease from a Chickasaw Indian named Belton Colbert, which was rather well improved.

 I mention this because I suspect this was talking of Benton Colbert. I found no record of “Belton” Colbert”, but there was a Benton Colbert. She was writing in the 1937 about what happened when she was a small child in 1890. The Colbert’s were a powerful, well known and respected Chickasaw family.

Now that I have established a baseline of my ancestry, I want to find out more about our “Guess” ancestors.

Which Guess/Guest/Gist ancestors are mine?

First, I’d like to extend a big hand to Don Sticher. He helped me discover which Guess/Gist family we descend from. There are Guess/Gist families all over Oklahoma and Texas. With his help, we shot them all down. We couldn’t prove any of them were ours. All we had to go on was Harriet’s census data, and her marriage to David Brown in 1841 in Shelby County, Tn. We knew they lived in Lawrence County, Arkansas.  

One day we discovered Mary Brown, in Walker County, Alabama in 1850 was in Lawrence County, Arkansas in 1860. We discovered a John Brown and a David Brown too, in Alabama for a 1847 tax record, and on the 1850 census there was a Mary Brown, widow listed as well. Our David Brown is in Lawrence County, Arkansas on a 1848 tax record – we found the year he moved to Arkansas. Mary Brown was his mother and apparently John Brown was his father. Our John Brown turns out to have married Mary (Polly) Black in 1820 in the northeastern part of Lawrence County, Alabama. Having these Brown’s gave us a place to start searching our Gist’s. Something finally panned out.

It turns out the there were also a lot of Gist/Guess families living in the area. One Rachel Guess married Thomas Tolbert/Talbot, also in 1820. Signing for Rachel was a James Havens. Interestingly, and sadly for Thomas, he died within a year of his marriage to Rachel. She remarried in 1822 to Emmanuel McNutt. On the 1830 census is Emmanuel McNutt with 2 males between 10 and 15 years old. There is one daughter under 5, one between 5-10, and 2 daughters between 15-20. Now Rachel and Emmanuel married in 1822, and on the 1830 census several children in the household are older than 8, both male and female. On the 1830 census, Emmanuel is between 20-30 while Rachel is between 30-40. Those older children were Rachel’s, and not Emmanuel’s. Rachel’s maiden name might not have been “Guess”.

Interestingly, and this is the clincher, the Emmanuel McNutt family is living in Shelby County, Tn, on the 1840 census. That’s the county where David Brown married Harriet Guess in 1841. There is a James Gist serving with the Union during the Civil War. James married Elizabeth Frazier in Shelby County, Tn in 1848. Elizabeth filed a widow’s pension papers and in his Army papers it said James was born in Lawrence County, Alabama, and that he had “dark eyes,” black hair” and had a “dark complexion”. 1860 census says James was born about 1819. That was before Rachel’s marriage to Emmanuel McNutt. Census records also put our Harriet’s time of birth about 1817, before Rachel’s marriage to Emmanuel, yet she was of child baring age. I believe Harriet and James to be brother and sister to an unknown male surnamed “Gist or Guess”. Harriet's name is spelled "Guess" on her marriage records, yet James name is spelled "Gist" on his Union Army records out of Missouri. His brother-in law, my ancestor, David Brown, served in the 8th Confederate, Arkansas. Both were dead by 1865. A photo of Hariet exists – a tin-type. This was given to me by great-Aunt Ettie’s daughter-in-law. This is supposed to be a photo of Harriet (Guess) Brown (abt 1817-1886). The baby is supposed to be great-Aunt Ettie, Harriet’s grand-daughter. It was her family that saved this tin-type. As we saw, her brother, James Gist, was said to have a dark complexion, have dark eyes and black hair. They appear to be Native American.

Gist’s Station and Gist’s Station’s Camp

Don Sticher is one of the administrators of the Guess/Gist/Guess DNA site. He walked me through EVERY Guess/Gist/Guest family found in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and nearby states, going back east to the Carolina’s, Virginia and Maryland. DNA tests and genealogical records confirmed our branch goes back to a man named Nathaniel Gist. There is a book, “Christopher Gist of Maryland and Some of His Descendants 1679-1957”; by Jean Muir Dorsey and Maxwell Jay Dorsey. Everyone trying to research these Gist families must look through it. I looked up Nathaniel Gist in their book. There was a Christopher and a Nathaniel Gist Sr. who were brothers. Both of these men had sons named Nathaniel Gist, We descend from Nathaniel Jr, son of Nathaniel Sr. During the French and Indian War Christopher Gist befriended George Washington. Christopher died of small-pox in 1759 half way through that war. His son, named Nathaniel Gist, is thought by many to be Sequoyah’s father. He lived to see American as an independent country. Meanwhile MY Nathaniel Gist was killed in 1780 at the battle of Kings Mountain during the American Revolutionary War.

The Dorsey’s say the following about our Nathaniel; Nathaniel Gist 4 (Nathaniel 3, Richard 2, Christopher 1). B. c, 1736, Baltimore County, Maryland; d,  Oct 7, 1780 at the Battle of Kings Mountain, North Carolina.  They also said; Nathaniel Gist was a young boy when his family moved from Maryland to Virginia. He lived with his father beyond the Dan River in Rowan County, North Carolina, until it was necessary for the frontier families to move to a place of safety. Nathaniel and several of his brothers moved to Cumberland County, North Carolina.

It is unclear exactly when Nathaniel Gist left his lands in Cumberland County, North Carolina and moved up to Washington County, Virginia.

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~varussel/indian/28.html 

We the Commissioners, etc...do certify that John Dickerson, heir-at-law to Humphrey Dickerson, who was assignee of Joseph Blackmore, who was assignee of Nathaniel Gist is entitled to 310 acres of land lying in Washington county on the north side of Clynch River in Cassell's Woods, to include his improvement. Surveyed the 28th day of May, 1774. The quote above makes it clear that Joseph Blackmore knew our Nathaniel Gist. Someone purchased land from Joseph Blackmore in 1774, and sometime previously Joseph had purchased the land from Nathaniel Gist. This is just down the road from Fort Blackmore. This Fort was mentioned with respect to the origin of the Melungeons. It was said to have been built about 1771.

I hope this website stays up –

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~varussel/other/forts.html One of the few historic references to Gist’s Station is found in a book about the life of Wilburn Waters.  Today Gist’s Station is at the location where Coeburn is located, in Wise County, Virginia.    There is a curious thing mentioned in Coale’s “Wilburn Waters.” He tells of the Indians going to this station in 1777, after their capture of Jane Whittaker and Polly Alley, and finding it well defended they make no attack upon it. But there is no mention of it in veterans or their spouses making pension requests, or anything similar. The creator of the above web site states, “That some sort of fortification existed at Coeburn is unquestioned, since from the earliest times the place was called Guesses Station, and retained that name until the coming of the railroads when the name was changed”. Well the Dorsey’s put MY Gist family there, in their book

It is also interesting to note that there was a place called “Gist’s Station’s Camp” in Southern Kentucky. In 1805 a legal claim was being made on some lands in southern Kentucky. Here is part of what was recorded at that time. They were being asked about events that happened in 1775, thirty years earlier.

Wayne County, KY Deed Book A, Page 213-216 (LDS Film #590703). The deposition of Nathaniel Buckhannon . . .

Question by Young - - Was there not another trace besides the two above spoken of leading from Cumberland River to Prices Meadows?

Yes, from Gesses Station Camp  near the big Cotton to Prices meadows.

Ques. by Mills - - How far was Gesses Station Camp from the mouth of Pitmans Creek?

Answer - - Opposite on the contrary side of the River.

Question by Young - - Was not the trace last spoken of very much travelled?

Ans. - - It was our general crossing place when we came to or returned from Prices meadows.

So there was a place in 1775 called “Gist’s Station’s Camp”. Gist’s Station” was bypassed in 1777 by Cherokee or Shawnee who attacked other stations in that same valley.

When Lewis Jarvis wrote about the Melungeons, he said; They were originally the friendly Indians who came here with the Whites as they moved west . . . The White emigrants with the friendly Indians erected a fort on the bank of the river, and called in Fort Blackmore. . . they have married among the Whites until their race has almost become extinct. . . The old pure-blood[s] were finer featured . . .

From the historic marker below, it appears Fort Blackmore was built about 1771. From Jarvis Lewis writings, it was built by the Whites and friendly Indians.

There is one last reference I want to cover. It comes from a book entitled “Land of the Lake” about the history of Campbell County, Tennessee, by Dr. G. L. Ridenour, 1941

One 340 acre tract of land calls for a location on both sides Beaver dam Creek “including William Sharp’s improvement at Reed’s corner along a conditional line between William Sharp and John Brady on a cross fence down a small branch, thence along the fence twenty-nine poles striking the creek at a bent so up said creek to Miller’s line where John Guest (Gist) now lives.”

This John Gist was the son of an Indian trader and a Cherokee woman.  He was kinsman of Sikwayi, or Sequoya, whose English name was George Gist, the inventor of the Cherokee alphabet of syllables.  Years later Aaron Guest of Kentucky acknowledge the receipt of his part of  “the estate of my father Aaron Guest, Deceased, where Jason Cloud and John Guest (Gist) were executors.”  

Dr. Ridenour’s daughter saw to it his book was published. In the Preface his daughter, Crea Ridenhour says "Much detailed research and time went into the writing, and the information included in the book was painstaking historically correct. . . . much that he knew died with him." Crea Ridenhour, Nov. 11, 1991. I’ve run into and had to make that excuse, a lot.

Several men that knew John Gist in northeastern Tennessee would up in Lawrence County, Alabama. Jason Cloud, who was executor of his son Aaron Gist's things wound up at Brown's Ferry near Chattanooga -- but there was a second Brown's Ferry near Decatur, Alabama. James Havens was a neighbor of John Gist's in Eastern Tennessee. James Havens signed the marriage document of Rachel Guess in her place, in Lawrence County, Alabama. Rachel's daughter Harriet Guess married David Brown, son of John and Mary Brown.

Rachel's Marriage

            Harriet's (Rachel's daughter) marriage to David Brown

            In Conclusion

I am leaving out a lot of details. I am leaving this report of these Gist’s where I started, with a Gist man said to be a kinsman of Sequoyah. Dad said we were “related to” an Indian found in the Oklahoma History book. I think he was referring to Sequoyah. We've discovered a record of “John Gist” said to be a “kinsman of Sequoyah”. We seem to be related to him, too. I have no idea how we might be related except to say we descend from Caucasian cousins, both named Nathaniel Gist. That is for all intents, proven. But it is still possible we are closer related than that.

I doubt if my Hawkins relatives are Native American, altho I can't prove or disprove it. Occam's razor would tend to conclude  that we were probably just intruders.

I strongly suspect my Brown's are of mixed-race heritage, and we may go back to John Brown Jr., found on the Cherokee Reservation rolls living on the Tennessee River in Northern Alabama. I know the difference between evidence and proof. We have evidence for a Cherokee heritage, not not proof of it.

Our Gist's are a different story. They lived near the Cherokee and the Catawba and there is evidence for either, or both. I can not determine which of those two are ours. But our photographic evidence is overwhelming. They are mixed-Native. I can not determine whether that mixture in Cherokee or Catawban.

This John Gist might be related to the Catawba rather than the Cherokee. Who knows? He lived in a Melungeon community, yet his family moved to former Cherokee lands along the Tennessee River. Maybe we are related to Sequoyah on his Caucasian side, only. There’s a lot more information that I have, but it doesn't prove anything of importance -- it just leaves us with more questions. That makes this a fine place to stop.

ADDENDUM -- DNA Painting of Native Componets

First do a DNA test, Then create a username and password here - GEDmatch Login - GEDmatch Login . Download the information the DNA tester you chose provides for you at the login you just created. You can now use that information.   Here are the results of a DNA “painting” performed for me by a friend who knows how to do a “painting”.  I am mostly Caucasian, but on all 22 chromosomes, there is a little Native American DNA. I was told the following;

Vance Hawkins M061610 time for your comparison before you die of old age, LOL.

I use MDLP World22 at Gedmatch Admixture Heritage; it picks up smaller bits of DNA than Autosomal Comparison and I consider these bits clues, not noise. [Vance's note: some DNA researchers just deletes part of your DNA calling it "statistical noise", leaving small percentages of native culture out. This person does not do this, thank God.]

I have been told that Painting goes back 500 years and that significant segments signify an ancestor of that ethnicity within the last 300 years, meaning since 1700.

Significant Segments are those colors on Painting which go up or down more than half-way. I do not trace Siberian DNA.

So, according to Painting, this is where your chromosome segments are Native American Indian:

On chromosome # 1 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 25-30M, 209M, and 243-244M. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 5M, 29-30M, 94-97M, 209-211M, and 243-246M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 17-18M, 178-179M, 201M, and 209-214M [Sigfnificantly so at 213-214M]. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 39-41M, 94-96M, 159M, and 209M.

On chromosome # 2 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 0-1M, 26-28M, 59-60M, 73-74M, 106-108M, 119-121M, 151-156M, 168-169M, and 213-215M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 15M, 23-28M, 102M, 114M, and 192M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 26-28M, 86M, 102M, 144-150M [significantly so at 147M and 150M], 192-193M, and 215M.

On chromosome # 3 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 6-8M, 23-26M, 30-32M, 38-44M [significantly so at 40M], 117-118M, and 181-182M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 23-24M, 71M, and 116-118M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 118M.

On chromosome # 4 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 127-131M [significantly so at 130M]. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 80-81M and 127-131M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 63-67M, 88-89M, 175-176M, 180-182M, and 186-190M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 80M and 136M. 

On chromosome #5, you are:  NorthAmericanIndian at 78M, 95M, 101M and 141M.  You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 90-91M and 135-139M.  You are MesoAmericanIndian at 67-69M.

On chromosome # 6 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 148-149M. You are NorthAmericanIndian At 3-4M, 112-122 [significantly so at 114-117M], 148-149M, and 167M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 22-23M, 148-149M, and 152M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 0-1M, 1-2M, 22-24M, 113-119M, and 148-149M.

On chromosome # 7 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 0-1M, 1-2M, and 34M. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 9M, 27M, 29-31M, 34-36M, 82-83M, 89-90M, and 95M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 104-105M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 2M, 4-6M, 19-21M, and 25M.

On chromosome # 8 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 60-63M and 85M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 106-108M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 3M. We share MesoAmericanIndian tribal DNA at 3M on this chromosome.

On chromosome # 9 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 19-23M. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 0-1M, 1M, 110M, and 129-131M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 19-20M, 108-109M, and 137-139M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 103-104M on this chromosome.

On chromosome # 10 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 2M, 13M, 96M, 124-126M, and 130M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 53-54M, and 111M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 123-124M.

On chromosome # 11 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 7M [significantly so]. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 21M and 23M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 25-26M

n chromosome # 12 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 15-16M, 18-19M, 29-37M, 91-92M, and 96M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 108-112M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 45-46M and 129M.

Onchromosome # 13 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 27M and 109M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 48-49M, 82M, and 109M.

On chromosome # 14 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 80-81M, 97M, and 98M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 25M, 73M, and 80-81M.

On chromosome # 15 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 20-23M, 25M, 27-29M, 51-54M, and 84-85M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 40-43M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 88-91M.

On chromosome # 16 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 66-68M. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 55-58M [significantly so at 55M], and 65-67M.

On chromosome # 17 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 6-7M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 32-33M, 40-41M, 62M, and 65M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 3M.

On chromosome # 18 you are ArcticAmericanIndian at 1-2M.

On chromosome # 19 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 35-37M and 53-54M. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 8-9M, 44M, and 53M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 54M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 53M.

On chromosome # 20 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 16-17M and 34-35M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 0-1M, 2M, 15-16M, and 58-59M. You are MesoAmericanIndian at 16M.

On chromosome # 21 you are SouthAmericanIndian at 14M. You are NorthAmericanIndian at 14M, 30-31M, and 42-44M. You are ArcticAmericanIndian at 27-28M.

On chromosome # 22 you are NorthAmericanIndian at 47M

There haven't been a  lot of Native peoples to compare the DNA with. It was divided into catagories according to the location the Native people your DNA matches. Therefore although it might say I match Arctic, or MesoAmerican DNA, that just means we match with someone from that region that has taken the test, and not that we have Arctic ancestors in the recent past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Ties to the Catawba

 

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 1/128^th 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.

             Others

            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 8^th, 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 7^th, 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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