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I just shared my story of an oral tradition of “Blackfeet” ancestry on the Welcome board, so I thought I’d share my genealogical info to see what feedback I might get.
My possible native ancestry comes from my maternal great-grandmother; Mary Lee Campbell. She was born in November 1874 in Arkansas and died circa 1920 in Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma. That is also where my grandmother was born (Park Hill), in 1918. Not only did her mother die when she was just a baby, but my grandmother was not in close contact with most of her maternal relatives throughout her life, according to my own mother.
Mary Lee Campbell’s parents were:
William A. Campbell; b: May 16, 1846 in Alabama and d: April 3, 1913 in Izard County, Arkansas.
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Sarah Elizabeth Brewer; b: Sept. 1842 in Missouri and d: circa 1917 in Garvin County, Oklahoma. They were married Feb. 13, 1867 in Oregon County, Missouri.
I don’t know if it is the Campbell or Brewer side that the Indian ancestry supposedly came from. Nothing in my research really steers me in one direction over the other. So, I’ll include both here.
William Campbell’s parents were:
George Lafayette Campbell; b: Jan. 15, 1825 in Tennessee (probably) and d: Jan. 16, 1899 in Oregon County, Missouri.
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Sarah Beason; b: abt. 1829 in Jackson County, Alabama and d: Jan. 16, 1908 in Garvin County, Oklahoma. They were married Jun. 7, 1845 in Jackson County, Alabama.
George Lafayette Campbell’s parents were:
John Campbell; b: abt. 1778 in Virginia and d: after 1850, probably in Alabama.
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Aney Webster; b: bet. 1790-1800 in Tennessee and d: abt. 1850 in Alabama (probably). They were married May 17, 1819 in Madison County, Alabama.
I have no information on the parentage of either John Campbell or his wife, Aney Webster. At various times, John Campbell could be found in Lincoln County, TN, as well as Madison and Jackson Counties in Alabama.
Sarah Beason’s parents were:
Henry Beason; b: 1806 in Georgia or Tennessee and d: bet. 1850-1860 in Missouri.
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Frances McKie; b: Jan. 6, 1805 in Tennessee and d: Feb. 27, 1888 in Dade County, Missouri. They were married about 1820 in Jackson County, Alabama.
Henry Beason’s parents were:
Jehu Beeson; b: Jan. 4, 1777 in Guilford County, North Carolina and d: after 1818 in Madison County, Alabama.
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Elizabeth Williams; b: abt 1778. I know nothing else about her or her family, origins, etc. other than she married Jehu Beeson about 1805 in Overton County, Tennessee.
Jehu Beeson’s parents were:
Benjamin Beeson, Jr.; b: Feb. 9, 1740 in Frederick County, Virginia and d: Sep. 21, 1811 in Rowan County, North Carlina
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Bethiah Lamb; b: Jan. 10, 1739 in Maryland and d: Aug. 15, 1869 in Highland County, Ohio. They were married Jul. 9, 1761 in Guilford County, North Carolina. I have only sketchy info on Bethiah Lamb’s parentage. The Beesons, however, originated in England and immigrated to America by 1680-ish. They could be found in Delaware about that time. This family is pretty well documented and were Quakers for some generations.
Frances McKie’s parents were:
Henry McKie; b: abt 1760, probably in N.C. and d: abt. 1825 in Jackson County, Alabama.
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Sarah (Unknown maiden name); b: abt. 1763 and d: June 1858 in Dade County, Missouri.
I have been unable to prove it, but I believe Henry McKie was the son of a Robert McKie of Rowan County, North Carolina. This surname, McKie, is found in documents under many variants, such as McKee, McGee, etc.
As earlier stated, I have no real clue where a possible native connection might come in, so it could be with any of these lines in theory. Also, despite having been told that my grandmother said it was Blackfeet, many of the locations for these families are closely connected to the Cherokee. The part of Alabama they lived was in the Cherokee Nation, the part of Missouri they lived in was at least somewhat associated with Cherokee after their removal from the east and then some ended up in the heart of Cherokee territory in Oklahoma. That said, I’ve found no blood connection between these families and the Cherokee.
Well, that’s about it. From what I’ve read so far on this site, I’m not sure that I see a real pattern between my surnames or their geographic locations with anything I’ve seen here, but maybe someone will see a connection or have some thoughts.
Thanks,
Randall
Hi Randall,
Sorry this took so long, I’m rechecking the info.
Do you have Sarah E Brewer’s parents as John/James R. Brewer, b.abt. 1818/20 Ala, and Cynthia/Cintha/Sintha Hall, b.abt. 1818/20 Ala ? (from 1860 Dade Co., Mo Census, Polk Twp, p.57)
This Cynthia’s mother, Sarah M. Hall, is living with them per the 1880 Oregon Co., Mo census, identified as John R. Brewer’s ‘mother-in-law’ .
This Sarah M. Hall was living with Josiah and Lydia Stockdale in 1860 Dade Co., Mo, possibly implying that Lydia is another dau of Sarah’s.
Bill
Hi, Bill; thanks for responding on this one. I knew I was going to leave something out of my prior post and you pointed it out! Actually, this line I left out may be the most pertinent to any possible Blackfeet tradition in my family, so I’m glad you asked this question.
Yes, you’ve got the right family. My Sarah Elizabeth Brewer was the daughter of John R. Brewer and Cinthia Ann Hall. The information I have is that John R. Brewer was born Dec. 11, 1818 in Alabama. He died Dec. 29, 1891 in Randolph Co., Arkansas and is buried there in the Walnut Grove Cemetery in Elm Store.
Cinthia Ann Hall was born abt. 1817 in Alabama and died Mar. 1, 1888 in Oregon County, Missouri. Cythia was the daughter of Thomas Hall and Sarah “Milly” Williams. Thomas and Sarah were supposedly married in Tennessee circa 1807-1809. The information I have says that Thomas and Sarah were born in Tennessee in abt. 1785 and 1790 respectively. However, Tennessee was not a state until 1796, so that can’t be strictly accurate. Perhaps they were born in the area that would become Tennessee. I don’t know, but I do know that Tennessee is the location given for Sarah’s birth on the 1850 and 1870 Census.
I believe I read on this forum somewhere that Williams is one of the surnames commonly found among people with a tradition of Blackfoot ancestry in their families, so this line is of definite interest to me in that regard.
I actually spoke to my mother today about this subject to clarify what has been passed down through our family about our Indian ancestry. I am almost certain that when I was a boy she told me that she had been told it was Blackfoot. The last two times I’ve asked her about this, she says she does not recall. She did say, however, that her younger half sister has told her that she thought it was supposedly Blackfoot. I have to assume she heard that from my grandmother.
My mom does, however, know that my grandma believed her mom’s side of the family to be part Indian and my mom seems to recall her saying it was her grandmother’s line. This would have been Sarah Elizabeth Brewer. Unfortunately, my grandma’s own mother died when my grandma was only a few weeks old. Growing up, my grandma only had limited interactions with that side of her family. So, there was not a great deal of detailed information for my grandma to pass along.
John R. Brewer, Sarah Elizabeth’s father, supposedly served in the Indian Wars of 1836-37. I’m not sure if this was an actual conflict or refers to the Indian Removals. I’ve not actually seen the documents myself, but he applied for a government pension based on his service. He was denied, but his second wife ended up re-applying and was granted a pension for his service. These records are supposed to exist at the National Archives. If this is true, it seems less likely that John Brewer would himself be an Indian. That steers me toward his wife’s family again – the Halls or Williams. All speculation, of course.
It’s all a mystery and I don’t know if I’ll ever solve it. I keep looking for clues, though, as it seems unlikely that someone just made up the notion that the family was of Native American descent. Everything else my grandma told my mom about our ancestry has been proven true through my genealogical research. Maybe one day I’ll prove this one, too.
Thanks again,
Randall
Many ‘citizen Indians’ did serve in various Indian wars.
I’m speculating, but the 1836-7 war may have been the so-called “Blackhawk War” in Illinois and Iowa, which occured about that time.
Bill
Bill, thanks for the tip on the Blackhawk War. I hadn’t thought of that. Also, I know plenty of Indians fought in the conflicts against other Indians. I felt it might make it less likely that John Brewer was himself part Indian, but it may not be any less likely. The more I think about it, the more examples I can think of to the opposite.
Also, I made contact with another Brewer descendant and have asked about any traditions of native ancestry passed along in their branch of the family. Am still waiting for a response, but I’m curious to hear what they have to say on the subject.
Thanks again, Bill.
Randall
Bill,
Most of what I know about Sarah Elizabeth Brewer is in the above post. I’ll recap here and, hopefully, elaborate a little on her background.
Sarah Elizabeth Brewer; b: Sept. 1842 in Missouri and d: circa 1917 in Garvin County, Oklahoma. They were married Feb. 13, 1867 in Oregon County, Missouri. Her husband was William A. Campbell.
Sarah was the daughter of John R. Brewer and Cythia Hall. This family came to Missouri from Jackson County, Alabama. The father of John Brewer has not been proven, but seems to be a James Brewer that was in that part of Alabama very early and likely originated in North Carolina.
I don’t know for sure that my alleged Indian ancestry comes from this line or from the line of Sarah’s husband, William Campbell. I’ve been seeing some surnames and references to Quakers on this site that have some commonality with the ancestry of William Campbell.
Randall
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