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Hello everyone,
I’m writing to ask if anyone has come across the term Blackhawk Indian or Blackhawk Cherokee in their search for eastern Blackfoot ancestry.
For some time now I have been researching my earliest documented Native ancestor, an 18th century Cherokee supposedly named “Blackhawkâ€. While seeking information about him, I began to take notice of references to “Blackhawk Indians†and “Blackhawk Cherokees†that appeared as queries in several genealogical forums. This led me to suspect that my ancestor’s real name may have been lost and the term Blackhawk Cherokee became replaced in family oral history by Blackhawk “the†Cherokee.
Since there is no historically documented tribe called Blackhawk, and to my knowledge nothing in Cherokee culture to suggest the phrase has any historical precedent, this leads me to wonder if the term may have a usage similar to or synonymous with Blackfoot, especially since we have no real evidence to prove they were Cherokees. (In fact, Blackhawk’s daughter lived in Rowan County, North Carolina, in piedmont Siouan territory, with a German immigrant until her death by smallpox in 1780.)
Does anyone have any ideas about the meaning of Blackhawk?
Thanks for your help,
John
I have never heard of any Cherokee with that name. What surnames are associated with it?
I can think of another usage, but it would not date way back to 1780.
vance
Hi Vance,
Blackhawk’s daughter married or lived with a German immigrant named Wendel Miller in Rowan County. Her name has been lost. Their descendants married into the Shaver, Harris, Kimball, Kirk, and Melton families, to name a few. About these surnames, the Melton line is Meherrin, but it’s a different branch from mine. The Harrises don’t appear to be Indian, although my ancestor Martha “Pattie†Harris was born in Granville County in 1752, which I believe was when a small group of Saponi was living there. The Kimball ancestor was a nephew of the two Kimball traders with the Saponi in Virginia (I don’t recall their names), and the Kirk line has rumored Native ancestry.
There are Cherokees with the surname Blackhawk on the Dawes Roll, but I haven’t found a contemporary person with that name to compare notes. I’ve also researched all the 18th and 19th century Blackhawks I could find on genealogical lists: Blackhawk Sizemore, Conley, Taylor, Mosley, Myers, etc., but have not made a connection.
We considered a tri-racial or African-Indian origin after finding the Blackhawk name among Cherokee freedmen, but my cousin’s DNA test results showed us to be a Euro-Native mix.
So I guess the bottom line is that while we could be of Cherokee ancestry, since the family oral history says so and since we have a bona fide Cherokee surname in the family, it could also be a case of later generations filling in lost information by using a stereotypical Indian name and a tribal name that is familiar to all. If I had to guess, I would probably say Blackhawk came from a piedmont Siouan tribe, since his daughter was living in their territory, albeit in a white settlement. Then again, I guess they could’ve come from anywhere.
Thanks, John
Melton is a surname I have researched. There were Cherokee Melton’s also, and they married into Doublehead’s family. Cherokee Melton’s lived near Melton’s Bluff on the Tennessee River in Northern Alabama.
I am beginning to think there were many mixed-blood people from Virginia/Carolina tha migrated to the region between the Cherokee and Chickasaw Nations near Lawrence County, Alabama. Some here are interested in the Harris surname.
Vance
I wasn’t familiar with the Cherokee Meltons. Our Meltons are definitely Meherrin because a couple of my cousins have enrolled, leaving the rest of us not on the Melton line to figure out who we are. 🙂
When you wrote about Alabama I checked my notes for Blackhawk Indian or Blackhawk Cherokee queries on the genealogical lists that I mentioned in my original post. There was no one looking for the name in Alabama, but there were a couple of Blackhawk Cherokee village inquiries in Mississippi. I know there’s a town named Black Hawk, Mississippi that was supposedly named for a Choctaw. But when I asked an area historian about it he said it was unlikely because the name is atypical for Choctaw naming patterns. There was a Cherokee named Blackhawk who had a village in Pope County, Arkansas about the time of removal, but none of this has checked out for me personally. The rest of the Blackhawk queries involved the same states where the eastern Blackfoot name has been recorded.
Back to my ancestry: Wendel Miller was last recorded in Pennsylvania in 1752, then reappears with a family in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1756. He either met Blackhawk’s daughter in Pennsylvania and brought her with him, or met her along the way, or met her after he arrived. The latter seems the simplest and most likely. There is another element of the oral history regarding Blackhawk that I haven’t mentioned: according to one source, the town of Blackhawk Hollow, West Virginia was named for our ancestor. After speaking with several historians in the Kanawha County area, most doubt that this could be the case since there were no permanent settlements, white or Indian, in the area at that time. I have since investigated every town named Blackhawk I could find for leads, but none have checked out. Is the reference to a Blackhawk placename that no longer exists? I’d love to hear from anyone that may have any information.
John
Hi John, my g-g-g grandmother’s name was Awhawho Blackhawk.
She was born in West Virginia, around the Kanawha area. Her english name was Margaret Elizabeth Smith. she married David W. Shaver.
According to our research, “Chief Blackhawk of the Cherokees moved his band to what is now called Blackhawk Hollow, located near the Moose club in Charleston, WV. The descendants of this band, a triracial group, remain there to this day.
This information comes from the people living there.
Cheekis
Wolfclan
Who are your Melton’s? If you do a search here on the forum for Melton you will see some posts by me on Melton…
Sue J
Hello Cheekis,
Thanks very much for the message. Wow, this is great news! I obviously have a lot of questions, so if it’s OK I’ll contact you offlist. If for any reason my message doesn’t reach you, please let me know here.
Many thanks,
John
Hi Sue,
Thanks for your post about the Meltons. My cousin is really the expert on the Melton line since it’s his direct ancestry. I know they are Meherrins, but I don’t recall specific names. If you have any questions about North Carolina-Virginia Meltons I’ll be glad to pass along any questions you may have to him or put you in contact with him directly.
Thanks, John
John,
I don’t want you to have to do extra work for Melton’s if your cousin is the one really into this line. I would appreciate his contact info if that is preferable.
I have William Hunt Allen and Robert II as brothers..brothers of my Joseph Allen..all brothers..Robert Allen I is their father.
One of William’s daughters, Nancy marries Nathan Melton born abt. 1735.
One of the sons of Nathan and Nancy is William and he marries Lucy Daniel Allen, one of three marriages by him but they had children. Lucy is the daughter of Robert Allen III and Elizabeth West, with Robert a son of Robert brother to William Hunt Allen. Their is more criss-crossing and many Melton descendants of just these two Allen-Melton marriages. Beginning origins in Va. and then Orange co NC. Haw River. Some on to South Car. too.
Any info is great..Your cousin? Sue J
Hi Sue,
If you would, please check your private messages folder. I sent an email a few days ago about my cousin, but my message tracker says you haven’t picked it up yet.
Thanks, John
Wolfclan,
I am really bad about checking private messages on here. I don’t look very often.
I sent you an e-mail from here..hope you got it.
Thanks, Sue J
My Melton line is from Hertford County. My gggrandmother was Sarah(Sallie) Brown. born abt 1861, her father was Isaac Brown born abt. 1825, son of William Brown born abt 1780 and wife Margaret(surname?). Issac’s wife was Mary Melton,she was born abt. 1835. Mary Melton’s parents were Meade/ Meede/Meady Melton born abt. 1794 and his wife was Martha(surname?).
Thats as far as I have gotten. They are Meherrin Indians.
Oo-neh
Mike
Hi John, I finally made to the the forum! I posted some detailed info on the MELTONs on the Meltons of Roxboro thread. I’ve found this discussion of Blackfoot Indians/Blackfoot Cherokee to be very interesting.
Since we last spoke I found reference to our ancestor, Blackhawk’s daughter, as being named “Red Fern” and also “Elizabeth” in several family trees. I don’t know where this information came from or how to try to verify it, but it might be another piece of the puzzle nonetheless.
Another interesting tidbit… Collins is a common middle name in my grandmother’s branch of the family. It’s kind of a tradition in our family to use Maiden names as middle names (I think a lot of Southerners do this). But, we don’t have any ancestors named COLLINS that I am aware of.
Lee
Hi Lee,
I’m glad to see you on the list! I have also come across the names Elizabeth and Red Fern in relation to Wendel Miller’s wife, but no one seems to know where that came from.
Re the Collins name, I think you’re right that the surname doesn’t appear in the Miller-Shaver line, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Wendel Miller’s wife turned out to be from one of the family names often discussed on this list. That’s what I’m looking into now.
Again, it’s good to have you here.
John
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