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I think Nehemiah Bunch & Jeremiah Bunch may be up my line. Does anyone know much about them? My GGGrandfather, Lorenzo Dow Bunch, was born about 1820 on the TN/KY border. Just prior to his birth around 1790) there was a Bird, Joseph and Micajah (king of the Melungeons), close together in that area. I’d like to connect these lines. Here are a couple of notes taken from Goins’ & Collins’ research that talk about Nehemiah & Jeremiah as Saponi.
A 1761 report counted 20 Saponi warriors in the area of Granville County, NC and this corresponds to the “Mulatto, Mustee or Indian” taxation in Granville of such families as Anderson, Jeffries, Davis, Chavis, Going, Bass, Harris, Brewer, Bunch, Griffin, Pettiford, Evans, and others in the 1760’s. Steven Pony Hill – JGoins
1785, Post Revolutionary Pleasant Grove region Saponi Indians Jeramiah Bunch, George Gibson, and Henry Bunch receive land Grants in 1785 along the Eno River just east of Hillsboro, North Carolina. – JGoins
Jeremiah Bunch left a will in Bertie Co., NC in 1797 naming children; William (m. Mary Bunch 1785, d. 1816); Henry (b. ca. 1743, m. Eleanor Baysson 1764) ; Jeremiah Jr. (B. Ca. 1745, m. Judah Hill 1765, d. 1809); Nehemiah (d. 1815); Frederick (b. Ca 174508, d. 1810); Nancy m. Collins. A last will and testament of an Elisha Collins was located in Patrick County Virginia. It is not known at this time if this is the same Elisha we have been tracking, but there are familiar names contained therein, and some of the property he left was on Elk Creek,
Thanks
Ogemah,
Begining with the ‘known’ and working backwards in time, I have several questions…
Do you have any info or data for your Lorenzo and James being brothers? There’s about 21 years difference in their ages.
Bill
Hi Bill!
I have a court document that shows Lorenzo was the executor for his brother James’ estate. I also have Fanny’s death cert. that lists Israel as her father. I know James was about 20 yrs older. Lorenzo must have been born about 1820.
Tshwe’n,
The Bunch surname is a surname among my people the Southern Band Tuscarora Tribe of Bertie County(Indian Woods). Jeremiah Bunch was probably Tuscarora. We have 89 surnames that trace to our Tribe.
Oo-neh
Oo-yeh’-gweh Neh-rah’-gwah’
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a web site:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~ogemah/
I posted most of what has been handed down about our Bunches… Some old photos, etc. I’ve learned a lot through the research done by Jack Goins & other “Melungeon” reserachers. We’ve always been linked to the Cherokees but maybe that was after the Tuscarora or Saponi had been displaced. Lots of info on the Paul Bunch line but I can’t find a direct connection. MOst by migration & proximity to folks like JOseph Bunch & Micajah Bunch. Really nothing on my line up past my GGGrandfather Lorenzo Dow Bunch. Lorenzo Dow was a popular name back in the early 1800’s. It was believed popularirezed by a Babtist preacher.
I place the following Bunches in Cumberland Co KY in the late 1700’s: Bird, Joseph & Micajah. One is likely up our line. We have been research for more than 10 years. I can omnly speaklimited Cherokee – most of which I learned having to read the old DAWES applications.
Wado
Lorenzo Dow was a highly eccentric (but important) Methodist preacher. He had a hard time submitting to the discipline of a Bishop (or a District Superintendent), and after about 1803 operated more or less independently of the denominational structure. He introduced the southern camp-meeting to the northeastern US, also to England and Ireland. He’s buried in Georgetown, DC.
Tshwe’n Ogemah,
The picture of Robert Bunch,who was he and where was that picture taken? I was wondering if it was taken in the Bertie County area? He favors our Tuscarora people of the “Southern Band Tuscarora Indian Tribe”.
Oo-neh
Mike
Tshwe’n,
You know at one time we let the Saponi live at “Indian Woods” in Bertie County. There were marriages and intermixing.That could be very well how the Bunch surname became a part of my Tribe the “Southern Band Tuscarora Indian Tribe”. Bunch is one of the surnames of the 89 surnames of our Tribe today.
Eh-thah’-dee-geh-gwast-nehk
Oo-yeh’-gweh Neh-rah’-gwah’
I believe the photo of Robert was taken in KY. I had an old photo of Lucinda Jane Bunch but have lost it. She was dark complected with long straight black hair.
What Bunches are linked to the Tuscaroras?
The photo of the old wad and daubble house on my website is interesting. Copies of this photo were held by cousins that didn’t even know each other and all had the same story the Fanny Bunch was in the photo. I went to Tahlequah a year ago to compare our photo to the replica houses there and learned they were built based on early European descriptions of house found in NC. You can Google Tahlequah and ancient village to see their replicas.
My family farmed tobacco in KY. Fate’s barn is still standing and has what looks to me like a Cherokee morning star carved into the peak for a vent. I’m going there in a week or so to take photos. They say James Bunch was good friends with KY’s first governor.
Thanks,
Tshwe’n Ogemah,
Most of the Bunches that were in Bertie County/Indian Woods Rez were Tuscarora. The Jeremiah Bunch you posted was probably Tuscarora and his family. Many Tuscarora left and denied who they were for fear,because to be Tuscarora in NC and not on the Rez was very hazardous after the Tuscarora War of 1711-1713. Many Tuscarora probably went as white or another Tribe to conseal their Identity.
Oo-neh
Oo-yeh’-gweh Neh-rah’-gwah’
That is true about the Tuscarora being persona non grata after the Tuscarora War. I found a passage in the colonial records from 30 or 40 years after that war, there were still pot shots being exchanged between Tuscarora and Saponi. What struck me was how cocky the Tuscarora in the story were still acting at that time. I had pictured anybody still in the south after the defeat as acting pretty low profile, but that was not what was going on with that incident. Maybe that was part of the warrior ethic — act tough no matter what. The Susquehannah were certainly acting that way when they were down to a pitiful remnant, Virginia refugees after being driven out of PA.
Tshwe’n Linda,
That cockyness might have been because the Sioun allied with Barnwell and his Native Allies to fight against us in the War,which also include the Cherokee and Yamasee. Not saying that was a right thing to do after 30 or 40 years,but none the less, there must have still been a hatred there between Tuscarora and Sioun.
Oo-neh
Oo-yeh’-gweh Neh-rah’-gwah’
Yes, some of the Siouan tribes did fight with Barnwell, and it was a source of contention, though I think they’d been enemies for a long while back. The Seneca/Saponi feud was centuries old. I wonder if allied tribes fought each other’s battles. Since most warfare was a contest to kidnap captive/adoptees, it would be hard to do if your captee was from nearby. They could easily escape and run home. So, if the Seneca were fighting the Saponi and hauling their captives up to New York, and maybe the Tuscarora were taking captives from the Seneca’s hostile neighbors, it would work out more efficiently. Just a theory.
Tshwe’n Linda dis-neh Ogemah,
Some of us Southern Band Tuscarora have Seneca blood through our Parker lines. I myself have Seneca/Tuscarora blood through my two great grandmothers on my father’s side,they were both Parkers and trace to Chief Samuel Smith the last Tuscarora Chief on “Indian Woods” reservation in Bertie. Chief Samuel’s wife was a Parker as was his son Levi’s wife,both related to myself. The surname Seneca/Senigar/Senaca was among us at one time and was on lists of some of our people. They married into the Parker family. This surname is not among us now except through blood of the Parker families. Some of these Parkers left NC and went back to the Seneca Nation in NY State. Eh-heh(yes) the conflicts between Seneca/Tuscarora vs Siouan was an ongoing thing long before the Tuscarora Rebellion(What we Tuscarora call the War)of 1711-1713. I am both proud of my Seneca/Tuscarora blood,and feel a kinship with my Parker Family in NY.
Oo-neh
Oo-yeh’-gweh Neh-rah’-gwah’
(He who dances smoke)
Smokedancer
Some say it was the Seneca who drove the Siouan from Ohio shortly before Contact. Actually, I think it was a Seneca who told me that. We had a member here awhile back who knew people on the Seneca reservation, I believe in NY, who were aware of Saponi origins, I would assume tracing back to the old wars.
It’s interesting to wonder how it came about that the Saponi spent around ten years at Indian Woods, and what happened during that time.
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