Native Heritage Project

“Others with Mormons in the West”

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Roberta Estes

While reading James Mooney’s paper, Powhatan Confederacy, Past and Present, I was transcribing the list of Pamunkey tribal members from 1899, and I noticed “the small print.” At the end of the list was a note that said “Others with Mormons in the West.”

Now this is surprisingly good news, because as we all know, the Mormons tended to document their families, as genealogy is part of the Mormon religion. Mormons believe that families can remain intact in the hereafter, but of course, before you can remain with your family, you have to figure out who they are. Here’s a nice blog post that explains why, in case you’ve always wanted to know. http://familyhistoryresource.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-genealogy-is-important-to-mormons.html

In any event, this also tells us that the Mormon Church was active among this tribe of Indians as well. They were also very influential within the Catawba tribe in South Carolina. A number of those tribal members also “went West” with the Mormons in the 1800s.

Why were the Mormons so interested in Native Americans? The Mormon faith believes (believed?) that the Indians were a lost tribe of Israel. As such , they wanted to convert them to the Mormon faith. They worked among the Eastern tribes to do so, offering them food and sustenance as they were suffering from loss of land and other economic setbacks. I have the question mark beside believed because DNA tests have not confirmed their belief.

It’s ironic that the Mormon push to the west in and of itself presented the same problems to the western Indian tribes that they were seeing the results of and ministering to in the east. Here’s a link about the Mormons and the Indian tribes.

http://www.onlinenevada.org/mormons_and_native_americans:_a_historical_overview

Posted in Pamunkey, Powhatan | Leave a comment

Portuguese Men and the Revolutionary War

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Roberta Estes

In years following the Revolutionary War, primarily in the 1800s, many families who were admixed began to claim they were Portuguese. This became quite prevalent and there is quite a difference of opinion as to why.

Some people feel there was a large group of people with secret exotic ancestry. Some feel that it was perhaps from the DeSoto and Pardo missions in the 1600s, although 200 years later, that admixture would have dropped to less than 1%. Some feel that it was because Portuguese was considered to be “white,” but being Portuguese would explain why you looked “dark.” That made Portuguese a better alternative to either black, Indian or mulatto, all of which came with a significant amount of legal and social baggage. Portuguese allowed one to be white, despite looking admixed.

If people in the 1800s were claiming that their ancestors were Portuguese, then we should find some of those “dark” people serving in the Revolutionary War. At that point, they would have been less admixed, and so “darker” than their descendants in the 1800s.

Searching the Forgotten Patriots documents, the original plus the supplement of all non-white, African-American, Indian or other “dark complected” soldiers, we find a total of 5 men with Portuguese ancestry, as follows:

Anthony Buffin, African and Portuguese mixed, lived in Dartmouth, Mass.
John Gomey who served in Mass.
Andrew Russen, from Wareham, Mass.
John Parala, deserted from Connecticut
John Anthony, “Portuguese born – dark as a mulatto,” deserted on the Mattapony River (Va.)

Of the approximate quarter of a million Americans who served during the war, 5 isn’t a very large percentage.

Posted in Military, Portuguese | 1 Comment

Eastern Cherokee Place Names

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Roberta Estes

This list of Eastern Cherokee place names is very interesting. There are no names of people. Most of these locations were abandoned with the tribes’ forced removal in the 1830s to the western lands, the event we know today as the “Trail of Tears.’

http://donchesnut.com/genealogy/pages/cherokeeplace.htm

There is so much history buried in place names for those who look, and who have a good translator which this site provides.

Here are a few very interesting examples:

Tagwa’hi

“Catawba place,” from Ata’gwa or Ta’gwa, Catawba Indian, and hi, locative. A name occurring in several places in the old Cherokee country. A settlement of this name, known to the whites as Toccoa, was upon Toccoa creek, east of Clarksville, in Habersham County, Ga.; another was upon Toccoa or Ocoee river, about the present Toccoa, in Fannin county, Ga.; a third may have been on Persimmon creek, which is known to the Cherokee as Tagwa’hi, and enters Hiwassee river some distance below Murphy, in Cherokee County, N.C.

The Catawba were well known initially as enemies of the Cherokee, then eventually, many joined the Cherokee. Regardless of which state they were in, enemy or friend, their lands abutted and overlapped, and they were always a consideration.

The state name Tennessee is thought to have come from this word:

Tanasi’

A name which cannot be analyzed, commonly spelled Tennessee, occurring in several places in the old Cherokee country, viz.: 1. On Little Tennessee river about half-way between Citico and Toco creeks, in Monroe county, Tenn. 2. “Old Tennessee town,” on Hiwassee river, a short distance above the junction of Ocoee, in Polk county, Tenn. 3. On Tennessee creek, a head-stream of Tuckasegee river, in Jackson County, N.C. Tanasqui, visited by Pardo in 1567, may have been another place of the same name.

Both DeSoto (1540) and Pardo’s (1567) journeys took them through Cherokee country. They name several places that are not otherwise known in the Cherokee language. Some may have actually been Creek. However, there is no question that they encountered the Cherokee people, as well as other tribes. This makes the next place name quite interesting.

Skwan’-digu gun’yi (for Askwan’-digu gun’yi)

“Where the Spaniard is in the water” (or other liquid). A place on Upper Soco creek, on the reservation in Jackson County, N.C.

Posted in Catawba, Cherokee, Creek | 1 Comment

1836 Census of Ottawa and Chippewa Halfbreeds (Michigan)

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Roberta Estes

The 1836 Census of Ottawa and Chippewa Halfbreeds is quite an interesting document. The purpose was to determine who was to be paid and how much as a result of an 1836 Treaty with the Ottawa and Chippewa wherein they expressed a desire to take care of their “halfbreed relatives.’ Article 6 of the Treaty calls for such.

http://www.mainlymichigan.com/nativedata/1836OttChipCensus/1836OttChipp-index.aspx

This census is the result.

http://www.mainlymichigan.com/nativedata/1836OttChipCensus/1836OttChippPaging.aspx

It contains a lot of detail: where the applicant lived, the amount of Native “blood,” how much money, by category, they were to receive, and paid to whom. What is doesn’t necessarily tell us is which of their parents or grandparents were Native. In some cases, a little bit of sleuthing and some deductive reasoning can tell us a lot.

For example, let’s look at the case of Corestie Barry, age 6 and sibling James Smith Barry, age 1. The 1836 census tells us that they are half Chippewa, the children of George Barry and they live with him in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Neither George Barry, nor his wife appear on the census, so one of them must be full blooded Native and one non-Indian, probably white. The two children were approved to receive funds, received $95.14 each, payable to George Barry. These folks probably wished they had half a dozen kids.

With a little luck, we should be able to find these folks in the 1850 census, but alas, neither George nor Corestie seem to be alive. We don’t know the mother’s name, but no female Barry is listed in the census. Sault St. Marie is at the confluence of two Great Lakes and Michigan with Canada, so finding James Barry, age 16, living with a family whose head lists his occupation of “voyager” is not surprising. It’s not at all unlikely that James became a voyager too. We don’t find him in 1860 or 1870. The Great Lakes are a harsh mistress.

There were two other children by the Barry same surname, born in 1836 and 1837, also living with other families. We’ve hit a dead end.

Aitkin Bayard’s record was different. He was age 7, lived at “Grand River”, half Ottawa, son of Michael Bayard “by a Grand River Squaw.” He received $305.89, a huge sum of money at that time.

Many of these applicants have European given and surnames. Even as late as 1870, most of the Chippewa and Ottawa in Michigan were still using Native names. You can clearly see this pattern on the Durant Rolls, taken in 1908 and required to connect back to someone enrolled in either tribe in 1870. http://www.mainlymichigan.com/nativedata/DurantRoll/FullCensus.aspx

The fact that these “halfbreed” names were European is of itself a hint as to which parent was not Native, although reading through these cases, that is clearly not always the true. Admixture is not new in this generation either, as some parents are noted as mixed themselves which in many cases puts their birth back before 1800. While Michigan was not settled in 1800, there were clearly fur traders and trappers, mostly French, who frequented the region, especially via the Great Lakes.

This census, since there are often notes, tells us about how much migration was occurring. There were several people born in Canada and many others living outside the area. One man was “on a mission,” but he was approved regardless. I surely wonder what kind of mission he was on in 1836. Many people from varying tribes appear to be living with tribes not their own. Far more intermingling occurred that what we presume before the days of mass and easy transportation. It appears not to have stopped people, maybe just slowed them down a mite.

Posted in Chippewa, Ottawa | 5 Comments

Hindu Sam

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Roberta Estes

Some things catch your attention and are just such good examples they can’t be passed by. I found this gentleman named Hindu Sam classified as an Indian living in Manhattan, NYC, NY in the World War I draft registrations. There were two red flags right away, one being his name and the other being where he lived.

New York was a destination locations for people from all over the world, so I always look at the actual registration card for anyone registered there.

Hindu Sam was not literate and could not read or write. We know this because he signed his name with a X and a witness.

Hindu Sam probably wasn’t his name. This man was born in Bombay, Hindustan, India. He very probably did not speak English, or if he did, not well. When asked what country he had allegiance to, Great Britain was entered. This always throws people, and the answer is the same in 1917 as it was in the 1600s. India was a British Colony. In 1917 it’s only interesting in that it helps us eliminate people who are classified as Indian that are not Native American. In the 1600s it was of more importance, because some people from the “East Indies” were imported as servants with English families and subsequently had families here.

What could be confusing in 1917, if one didn’t look closely, is that Hindu Sam worked in Onondaga Co., NY, the county in which the Onondaga Indian reservation is located.

I wonder whatever happened to Hindu Sam. Looking at the records on Ancestry.com, we find Hindu Sam in 1914 living in the poorhouse, working as a cook, on Staten Island. He has been in the US for one year, was not feeble minded and could do labor. His wife and parents were in India. I didn’t find Hindu Sam by that or a similar name in the 1920 or 1930 census. Maybe Hindu Sam went back to India, used a different name, or died.

Posted in Military | 1 Comment

Will the Real Meherrin, Please Stand Up

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Roberta Estes

The Colonial Records of North Carolina contains several gems, one of which is a mystery that involves the Meherrin Indians.

In the “Colonial Records of North Carolina, Second Series – Volume VII – Records of the Executive Council – 1674-1734″ (Editor Robert Cain, Department of Cultural Resources Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina 1984) on pages 167-169, we find a petition from the Meherrin asking to have land surveyed for a reservation. This petition is followed by a second claiming that the Meherrin aren’t who they claim to be. The language has been slightly modernized with punctuation. My commentary is in italics below. You can see the transcription of the document here: http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.html/document/csr02-0294

October the 28th, 1726

This day was read at the Board the petition of the Maherrin (sic) Indians shewing that they have lived and peaceably enjoyed the said Towne where they now live for such a space of time as they humbly conceive entitles them to an equitable right in the same. That they have not only lived there for many years but long before there were any English settlements near that place or any notion of disputes known to them concerning the dividing bounds between this Countrey and Virginia and have there made large improvements after their manner for the better support and maintenance of themselves and families by their lawfull and peaceable industry.

The above reference to the disputes regarding the dividing bounds is referring to the disputed border between Virginia and North Carolina. The border was for a long time unsurveyed, and when surveyed in 1709/1710, between flawed equipment and disagreement between representatives of both colonies, agreement could not be reached. The disputed band was 15 miles wide, north to south, and both colonies forbid settlement in this area. Regardless, people did settle in the disputed region, paying taxes to neither colony. This area became known for rogues and outlaws. During the initial survey, Virginia accused the North Carolina surveyors or not wanting the survey to be completed because they were trading with the illegal settlers in this “no man’s land” region. This disagreement lasted more than 40 years in total and made for a very colorful period in history. More can be read at this link: http://www.carolana.com/Carolina/Noteworthy_Events/NC_VA_border_surveys.html and http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/ncboundary.html

On the map below, you can see the disputed band labeled Carolina Charter 1663.

Notwithstanding which Collonel William Maule and Mr. William Gray have lately intruded upon them and have Surveyed their said Towne and cleared grounds on pretence that it lys in this Government and that the said Indians have allways held it as Tributaries to Virginia which is not so praying this Board to take them into their protection as their faithfull and Loyall Tributaries and to secure to them a right and property in the said Towne with such a convenient quantity of land adjoyning to it to be laid off, by meets and Bounds as to them shall seem meet.

Tributary Indians were tribes that entered into an agreement with Virginia, in particular, or another state in the same manner. The Indians agreed that they were subjects of the King and the representatives of the government agreed to certain things as well, typically reservation land, food, supplies and protection. The Indians also agreed to fight with and defend the colonists and settlements, and the settlers agreed to protect the Indians from other tribes, typically the Seneca or other Iroquoian tribes that raided from the North. Sometimes there was either a real or ceremonial amount of tribute to be paid by the Indians to the Governor in skins, or a representative chestnut, on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, or Michaelmas, on today’s calendar as Sept. 29th. Here is a list of Virginia’s tributary in Indians in 1670. http://www.baylink.org/treaty/indians.html

Then allso was read the petition of sundry inhabitants living near the said Indians shewing that sundry familys of the Indians called the Maherrin Indians have lately encracht [encroached] and settled on their land which they begg leave to represent with the true account of those Indians who are not original inhabitants of any lands within this government but were formerly called Susquahannahs and lived between Mary Land [Maryland] and Pensilvania and comitting several barbarous massacrees and outrages there killing as ’tis reported all the English there Settled excepting two families they then drew off and fled up to the head of Potomack and there built them a fort being pursued by Mary Land and Virginia Forces under the Comand of one Major Trueman who beseiged the fort eight months but at last in the night broke out thro the main guard and drew off round the heads of several Rivers and passing them high up came in to this Country and setled at old Sapponie Towne upon Maherrin River near where Arthur Cavenah now lives but being disturbed by the Sapponie Indians they drew downe to Tarraro Creek on the same River where Mr. Arthur Allens quarters is. Afterwards they were drove thence by the Jennet Indians down to Bennets Creek and settled on a Neck of Land afterwards called Maherrin Neck because these Indyans came downe Maherron River and after that they began to take the name of Maherrin Indians, but being known the English on that side would not suffer them to live there, then they removed over Chowan River and settled at Mount Pleasant where Capt. Downing now lives but being very troublesome there one Lewis Williams drove them higher up and got an order from the government that they should never come on the So. side of Wickkacones Creek and they settled at Catherines Creek a place since called Little Towne but they being still mischievous by order of the government Collonel Pollock brought in the Chief of them before the Governor and Council and they were then ordered by the Government never to appear on the South side of Maherrin, They then pitcht at the mouth of Maherrin River on the North side since called old Maherrin Towne where they afterwards remained tho they were never recieved or became tributaries to this Government nor ever assisted the English in their warrs against the Indians but were on the contrary very much suspected to have assisted the Tuskarooroes [Tuscaroras] at the Massacree.

This reference is to the Tuscarora War which took place between 1711 and 1733, sparked by the continued encroachment of the settlers on Indian land. The event which began the war was the murder of John Lawson in 1711. Baron De Graffenreid escaped with his life from the same event, a trial held by the Indians, although ironically it was DeGreffenreid that was involved with the sale of the Tuscarora Village, right out from under the Tuscarora, without their consent. In any event, this episode set of a tenderbox which resulted in the Tuscarora War in which many people on both sides were killed. Virginia attempted to stay neutral which South Carolina sent troops, white and Indian, to assist the colonists. Many Tuscarora who were not killed were enslaved. More can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuscarora_War

The Baron De Graffen Reed offering his Oath that one Nick Major in Particular being one of the present Maherrin Indians satt with the Tuscarooroes at his tryall and was among them when Mr. Lawson the Surveyor Genl. was killed by them so that these Maherrins were not originally of this Country but enemies to the English every where behaving themselves turbulently and never lookt on as true men or friends to the English nor ever paid due acknowledgement to this Government. Some years agoe Col. Maule the then Surveyor Genl. obtained an order to Survey the Lands at old Maherrin Towne which was accordingly done and pattented afterwards since that they have paid Tribute to this Government and have been allowed by the Government to remain on those lands. But since that a great sickness coming among them swept off the most of them, and those that remained moved off those lands at Maherrin Towne and sundry at them have lately seated their timber and stocks and hindring them from improving their lands they being unwilling themselves forcibly to remove the said Indians least some disorders might arise thereon praying an order to the Provost Marshall That if the said Indians do not remove off in some convenient time they may be compelled thereto etc.

This paragraph provides us with some very interesting information. The Tuscarora were an Iroquoian tribe, so finding a Susquehanna among the Tuscarora “visiting” is not a surprise. These tribes maintained relationships over great distances and hundreds of years, acknowledging their “counsinship.” The more interesting part is the statement that the Meherrin removed from their town after the sickness. This sickness is testified to as if there is current knowledge, so it would be after the Meherrin land was patented. I was unable to find a land patent to the Meherrin prior to this 1726 date, although there may be one buried in the Virginia records. However, this leaves us with the question of where the remaining Meherrin went after they left their town. It sounds like the Indians just moved onto adjacent land that the English either felt were theirs or had patents for.

Whereupon by the consent of both Parties It is ordered in Council that the Surveyor Genl. or his Deputy do lay out unto the said Indians a certain parcell of land lying between Maherrin River and BlackWater River runing three miles up Blackwater River and then a streight line to such a part of Maherrin River as shall be two miles from the mouth thereof and if the same line shall leave out the settlement of Capt. Roger a Meherrin Indian that then the Surveyor do lay out a tract of 150 acres the most convenient to his dwelling. Which lands when surveyed, the Surveyor is to make return thereof into the Secretarys Office that grants may pass for the same to the said Indians.

It is further ordered by this Board that the said Indians shall quietly hold the said lands without any molestation or disturbance of any persons claiming the same so as the same persons right or pretentions to the said lands be reserved unto them whereby they or those claiming under them shall have the preferrence of taking up the same when the said Indians shall desart or remove therefrom.

While this language is not unusual in terms of Indian land, it is unique in that the idea that someone gives up the right and title to their land by moving off of it is foreign to the English (and by inheritance, the American) system of property rights. We don’t find this language in any other documents pertaining to Europeans, only dealing with Indian land grants for tribes. It appears that the European settlers, knowing that the Indians tended to be migratory, appeased the Indians currently before them by allocating land for their usage, but knew that eventually, the Indians would move, probably never realizing that by doing so, they would forever lose the right to that land. The concept of land ownership in general was very foreign to the Indians, and once they began to understand the English concept of land ownership, the convoluted concept of “ownership until vacating” was even more confusing to them, resulting in the eventual loss of almost all tribally owned lands, which was, of course, the original intention.

Posted in Meherrin, Susquehanna | Leave a comment

Chicohominy Living on Mr. Ben Arnold’s Land

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Roberta Estes

Abstracts: Acts of Assembly for James City County:

April 24, 1691 court session: The Chicohominy Indians’ petition to continue living on the land “of Mr. Ben. Arnold” is read in court and also given to the Committee of Propositions.

This tells us that they are currently living there, and begs the question of where the land of Mr. Ben Arnold was located. Why were they living on his land and not their own? Was permisstion granted? What happened to those Indians?

Source:

A Study of Virginia Indians and Jamestown: The First Century http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/jame1/moretti-langholtz/chap10a.htm (chapter 10 table link)

Posted in Chickahominy, Virginia | Leave a comment

Atha Sorrells, the Woman who had the Audacity to Challenge Walter Plecker, and Won

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Roberta Estes

The article “Native Americans Lived along Pedlar Creek at the Top of the Blue Ridge” was originally credit to Wikked Lester via the Virginia Historical Association, who has since denied authorship. He further states that Ruth Knight Bailey, JD, who teaches adjunct law at East Tennessee State University wrote the original essay. (See followup note at the bottom of the article). From this article, shown at the link below, I extracted many facts, but much of the rest has been rewritten for this article. http://shaybo-therisingtide.blogspot.com/2011/08/native-americans-lived-along-pedlar.html

Mormon Missionaries worked among the Blue Ridge communities from 1883-1898. In its early days, from 1830 to 1846, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints was unique in that it was somewhat color-blind. (Church members generally called themselves “Latter-day Saints” or “Saints,” according to the Bible. Almost everybody else called them Mormons.)

The writings of Joseph Smith, the first president, did indicate that lineage mattered to God, with Israelites receiving covenant promises first and the descendants of Cain receiving them last. The early church nevertheless welcomed all converts, “black and white, bond and free.” The Mormons believed that the Indians are one of the Lost Jewish Tribes, brought to America for safety. To Latter-day Saints, this made modern Indians a precious remnant of one of the ancient tribes of Israel, who would gather in an American Zion, which was Utah of course, to welcome the second coming of the Messiah.

Enter Walter Plecker, Virginia’s Registrar of the Virginia Bureau of Vital Statistics, much despised by non-whites. One of his primary goals was to prevent anyone of color from associating in any way with anyone who was not. According to Plecker, there were two races, black and white, and if you had any “colored” ancestry at all, you were not white. He altered legal documents, hunted down those he felt were incorrectly “registered” and made the cleansing of white Virginia his personal mission. His Racial Integrity Act was passed in 1924 classifying people as black, those with any negro or other nonwhite heritage, which he equated with negro heritage, or white. This went beyond previously existing legislation that specified 1/16th or more “negro” blood constituted black. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Ashby_Plecker and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_Integrity_Act_of_1924

The county clerk in Rockbridge County, Va. denied Atha Sorrells (born 1904) a white marriage license. Sorrels sued him and won by proving that “colored” did not necessarily mean “Negro.” She produced evidence to show that she had a distant Indian ancestor but no black ones, thereby falling within the legal exception for one-sixteenth Indian blood. She subsequently married Robert Painter in 1925. http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=lva/vi02800.xml;query=;brand=default

Atha Sorrell’s case included her family tree which carefully identified Atha, her mother, and her maternal great-grandparents — Joe Clark Jr. and Julia Sorrels.

Key elements were as follows to show that her ancestors were always considered Indian or white. (Note: Without the original depositions, it’s impossible to determine the exact relations of the following people. I suspect that Daniel Curry is not related, but either provided a deposition or testified which is why the connection is made below.)

1. Joe Clark, Sr., born 1797 . . . . Joe Clark owned slaves and bought Peter Curry the father of Daniel Curry who was sold at auction. (Indian and White)

2. Polly Clark (Nee Clark) . . . was mother of James Clark [who bought a writ of] Mandamus for white marriage license – white license granted County Court order Book 1876 pages 137, 174 (Indian and White)

3. Marriage license :[Left box) John Whiteside / Always white No question [Right box] Bettie Sorrells / Always white No Question

4. Marriage License: [Left] Paternal / Joe Clark Jr. [Right] Maternal / Julia Clark (Nee Sorrells)

5. Marriage License: Atha Sorrells / R.L. Painter White License Refused On Account Of Atha Sorrells

Plecker chose not to appeal the ruling, fearing that an appellate court could hold the Racial Integrity Act to be overly vague in its definition of “Caucasian.”

Proceedings regarding the Mormon Elders and the Mason/Sorrels family from the Rockbridge Historical Society, Volume XIII 207:

The elders discovered the craggy landscape dotted with tiny log houses, many belonging to members of the Mason family. One day in 1884, John Mason took Kimball and Welch [Mormons] up to the cabin of his parents, Peter Mason and Diannah Sorrells Mason. Fifteen family members gathered to meet them.

That night, Elder Kimball wrote in his journal: “[A] stranger sight I never saw. He [Peter Mason] was seventy years old. [He] was born and raised at this same place (top of the Blue Ridge Mts). He was of Indian descent, his skin being almost as dark as an Indians. His hair was long and black. Mrs. Mason — his wife — was very old. She said what she thought and was somewhat of a doctress. They had seventeen children — twelve boys and five girls. Children and grandchildren about forty-two. Indian blood was discernable in most of their faces.”

Look which way you might — poverty was everywhere to be seen. They were but little ahead of the Indian people in education. None of them had ever belonged to a church of any kind. If the elders had seen any indication that a group of Native Americans lived along Pedlar Creek at the top of the Blue Ridge, they would have sought them out as “chosen people,” just as other elders had sought out the Catawba Indians in South Carolina and the Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.

This is, in fact what occurred, with the Mormons visiting and living among these families, and exhorting them to move to the “American Zion” in Utah. In 1888, the letters of the missionaries mentioned that a group of these people were preparing to move west, including two of Mason’s daughters and their families. The Mormon focus included Indian families in the Pedlar Community of Amherst County, the Irish Creek community of Rockbridge County and the tip of Nelson County.

Atha Sorrells didn’t pass away until 1979. I don’t know if she realized she was the only person, and a woman besides, to beat the mighty Plecker, but we all owe her a very large debt of gratitude for her bravery and fortitude in the face of adversity. Oh, yes, and one more detail, not only was she brave to stand up to Plecker, she did so pregnant and unmarried. She married Robert Painter, in victory, on May 31, 1925 and her first child, a daughter, was born in July of that year. Atha, many hearts stand with you!

Followup note: On 2-26-2013, I received a very rude note from Wikked Lester. The article “Native Americans Lived along Pedlar Creek at the Top of the Blue Ridge” was originally credit to Wikked Lester via the Virginia Historical Association. Wikked has since denied authorship. He later provided the information that Ruth Knight Bailey, JD, who teaches adjunct law at East Tennessee State University wrote the original essay.

Omitting the rude portions, Wikked Lester says the following: “I have never published, submitted, gave or otherwise presented one scribble of written material to The Virginia Historical Association. To clarify, this information was simply copied from ancestry dot com, and it included Proceedings of Rockbridge Historical Society, and the journals of the Mormon Missionaries and was presented to a friend [Shaybo], in the form which I recieved it, from which you have ”extracted” your facts ….based on fourth hand information, of which I authored not a word.”

This article has helped a number of people, and I am choosing to leave the article intact, except for correcting the information about the authorship. Fortunately, I provided the original link as well, which remains, still crediting Wikked and the Virginia Historical Association.

My original goal with this blog and this article was to honor Native ancestors and to help people connect with their Native heritage. As far as I’m concerned, this still passes muster. The original article has several sources. It provides a guiding light and gives people a good resource to turn to, the depositions, of they so desire. Atha Sorrels was a women with amazing courage and deserves to be honored and remembered. Additional information is available, for the digging, to family members, like Dwayne Painter, who want to do so.

It’s comments like Dwayne Painter’s (in the comments section) that inspire me to continue.

Posted in Virginia | 32 Comments

White Pigeon

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Roberta Estes

Sampson White Pigeon – how do I record his name? Is his surname White Pigeon, or Pigeon. In his case, he lists his wife in the WWI draft registration as Eliza Pigeon, so I’m going to index him by the name of Pigeon, although I have my doubts. I will also cross reference it with White Pigeon.

He registered in Allegan County, Michigan, a county in the southwest corner of the state. There is town there called White Pigeon, so I decided to see if I could discover anything interesting, and sure enough, I did.

The history of the town of White Pigeon, which is in St. Joseph County, Michigan, also in Southwest Michigan, tells us that the town was named after the Potawatomi Indian Chief Wahbememe, which means Chief White Pigeon. According to legend, while he was at the gathering of the chiefs in Detroit, Wahbememe heard plans to attack the settlement which is now White Pigeon. The Chief was a friend to the white settlers and didn’t want to see harm come to them so he set out on foot and ran almost 150 miles to the settlement to warn the people. After running that long distance and giving his warning, he collapsed and soon died from exhaustion. His remains are buried in the town, and the site is now part of the National Register of Historic Places.

You can read more about the WhitePigeon family at this link: http://whitepigeonfamily.com/

Posted in Michigan, Potawatomi | Leave a comment

1774 Census of the Inhabitants of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Roberta Estes

The 1774 census of Rhode Island included several categories, most importantly, “Indians.” You can see the transcribed census at this link.

http://www.newhorizonsgenealogicalservices.com/1774-ri-colonial-census.htm

When Indians are included in a household with others, we don’t have their names, only that of the head of household. When there is no white head of household, and just people in the Indian column, it’s clear that the entire family is Indian. Some circumstances are less clear. Taking a look at Eunice Toogood in the first census district, below, is a good example. Eunice is white, there is an Indian in the household, and I know from other records that Toogood/Twogood and Tewgood are Native names in Rhode Island. So from this, I’m extrapolating that either Eunice is married to a Native man or she had a child that is half native and counted as and Indian. I could be wrong, but I’ve included this family as Native, as noted by the names in bold below.

The bold families will go in the Native Names project. But what about the others? Are the Indians in these other families slaves? Look at James Brown, the second entry. He has 5 Indians and 3 blacks living with him. The blacks are probably slaves, but are the Indians slaves or simply a family living on his land and working for him? Did they later take his name because they are familiar with him or because they became known as “his” Indians? I don’t feel that I can include these names as Native names, because I clearly don’t know that they are, but I hate to eliminate them entirely.

Does anyone have thoughts about how to handle this situation on the Native Names list?

Key:
A = White males above 16 years of age.
B = White males under 16 years of age.
C = White females above 16 years of age.
D = White females under 16 years of age.
E = Indians
F = Blacks
G = Total

Barrington, Bristol Co.

FAMILIES	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
ALLEN, Joseph, Jr.	2	4	2	–	1	–	9
BROWN, James	3	–	2	1	5	3	14
QUOM, Joshua	–	–	–	–	5	–	5
RICHMOND, Sippeo	–	–	–	–	3	–	3
SMITH, Sarah (widow)	1	–	3	–	1	–	5
TYLER, Moses	1	1	2	4	1	–	9
TOOGOOD, Eunice	–	–	1	–	1	–	2
WATSON, Matthew, Jr.	1	2	1	1	1	–	6