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Jim,
I found him in 1850 Lee County marked M for mulatto, although I guess it cound be In. Looking at the M for Male and the M for mulatto close together, they look the same.
Hawkins Bowman
Age: 60
Estimated birth year: abt 1790
Birth place: Virginia
Race: Mulatto
Gender: Male
Home in 1850
(City,County,State): District 31, Lee, Virginia
Also in the home:
Nancy , 36
Elizabeth 14, M, b. NC
Abraham, 12, M, all children b. VA
Eliza, 8, M
George [?], 6, M
Mary, 4, M
Tabitha [?], 3, M
Robert, 1, M
Was the Catawba reference perhaps from an annotated census transcription?
Brenda
PS
I even found some Coles identified as “Indian” on their WWI draft registration cards….. if you have Ancestry, play around with the race features in different geographical regions, leave the name blank.
I located the 1850 census that Jim reffered to it is listed as ( 1850 Lee Co Va Census Fragment) at http://www.lonnd.com/tdugan/1850leec.html and it reads as follows
1241 1272 Hawkins Bowman 60 m Laborer va
Nancy (Barbour) 36 f nc
Elizabeth 14 f va
Abraham 12 M va
Eliza 8 F va
George 6 m va
Mary 4 f va
Tabitha 3 f va
Robert 1 m va
(Hawkins Bowman and children annotated: ‘M’ Hawkins Bowman was a Catawba Indian and a blacksmith. The1850 census gives his birthplace as Va, but other records give N C. It is thought that Nancy was his second wife. They were in Harlan Co Ky by 1860. Daughter Eliza b. 1842 m. John (jack) Cole as his second wife. Jack Cole was a Cherokee Indian.)
I transcribed it just as it was written , I found this article a couple of years ago but was unable to pull it up again this date it was listed under an article ( George ‘Slater’ and Catherine Ingle Thomas—Inspiring Spirits Fill with Hope)
Aubrey G Cole greywolf
Saponi 1 and Haliwagirl,
I have the reference at home and will dig it out. It was an excerpt from the Lee Co. VA 1850 Census from the Thomas family research website. I just looked for it from here at work and can’t find it. I’m sure I have it at home and will look for it this week and scan it to post.
I think the article “Indian Blood Runs Deep in Many Harlan Co Families” has been posted here before but again here’s the link.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~seky/folfoot/023.html
This article proves nothing but does state the “Indian” recognition of the Bowman family but doesn’t say anything about Hawk being Catawba. My grandmother always said our ancestry was Cherokee. Maybe she was right after all!
Haliwagirl. That is “my” Hawkins Bowman. His daughter Eliza is my gr. gr. grandmother. Thank you. I need to contact Linda again about help with posting her picture.
The info that I have in reference to Hawk being Catawba is an excerpt from the Census and not an actual transcript itself. The reference is in the form on a asterick note at the bottom of the listing for Hawk and his family. I had always assumed (we all know what happens when we “assume”) this to be correct, maybe because it was convenient. I understand that this reference is highly unusual. I’ll get back later with the info.
SIncerely,
Jim
Aubrey,
Thank you for finding and posting this info for me. I wasn’t able to open the link either but I’m sure I have a hardcopy of it at home somewhere filed away. I’m not sure now if we can believe this info now. The questions are I’m sure valid ones. There’s no doubt that Hawkins Bowman was an Indian, but now I wonder if maybe my grandmother was right about the “Cherokee” designator after all.
Also, thank you for the pictures you’ve sent to the house! I still haven’t gotten a chance to compare side by side the one you sent with mine of Eliza Bowman Cole.
Was it you that told me that Hawk and John Cole met while hiding out in Cherokee, NC during the “great Indian roundup” (my own quote) prior to the “Trail of Tears”? I can’t remember who told me that. And I still don’t know what brought Hawk (and John Cole) to Lee Co. Hawk’s wife Nancy Barbour is related to the founders of Barbourville, KY. Her father was James Barbour but I can’t find anything else on him either.
Saponi 1, unfortunately, the only “proof” that I have that Hawkins Bowman was a Catawba is what Aubrey posted and “that ain’t much” I realize. Maybe I “jumped the gun” in assuming it to be “gospel”. Chances are Aubrey and I may never know for certain. Who knows?
Sincerely,
Jim
Jim,
Does it say in your census transcription who annotated the work? It may be possible to find out more by going that route?
Brenda
Tarcarion;
In reference to James Barbour I found an article on google (James Barbour donated land for Barbourville Ky) this is an Encyclopaedia Britannica article and it states that the town of Barbourville was named for James Barbour who donated land for the town site.
The person who Enumerated the 1850 Lee Co Va census was Stephen S. Crockett, Asst Marshall on 09 Aug 1850 there was a sequence break and it was continued on 26 Sept 1850 by same person.
The info as to Hawk being A Cherokee Indian is what I was always told by my father and uncles, I came across the Catawaba through the article Indian Blood Runs in many Harlan Co Families and also from one of the relatives of John and Eliza Cole who also stated that they had come off the reservation together and had hid out in the mountains together during the remaval process. Also I have found the Bowman name listed as Catawba, I believe it was in one of the articles from this site that I was reading, I have read quite a few of them and am sitll finding material that interest me quite a lot. I think I told you about Rebecca Brittian Cole who is listed in the 5 Tribes as a Cherokee on the Dawes Rolls, (or thid is the info I had found on a genealogy .com thread
listed by a Tamara Hogshead who i have been unable to contact, she stated Eliza and John Cole were her relatives and that John Jack Cole and Eliza were bonded out and that John had worked and made enough money to pay off thier bonds, This is not gospel only a statement from another family member.
I don’t know if we will ever solve this riddle but I keep trying and I beileve that maybe John Ja ck Cole and Hawk were both probably Cherokee and then there is an article I ran across where some of the family had applied for citizenshio to the 5 tribes and it was denied through the Eliza Bowman Cole heritage.
Hope this may help in some way
as always your frtiend
aubrey g cole greyolf
Aubrey,
Excellent info! Thank you. I’m going to try to attach a picture of Aunt Becky (who must be Rebecca Brittian Cole) to this post. Her NA heritage is obvious. In the picture with Aunt Becky is Aunt Ad, an AA woman that worked for Gr. Grandma Thompson (Aunt Becky’s sister or half-sister). Also my dad and his double first cousin and another child is in the picture. Dad is one the far right. He’s about 3 or 4 years old in the picture. This would date the picture at about 1933 or 1934. Aunt Becky died in 1957 I think. Her grave is on the homeplace in Lee Co. VA. I was there last fall.
Its beginning to sound as though my grandmother was right about the Cherokee heritage of Hawk Bowman. I shouldn’t have accepted the internet source so quickly as true. I’ve read that the Cherokee and Catawba were not friendly toward each other but a common enemy can bring former enemies together with a common cause. I wonder if anything could be found on Hawk in the library at Cherokee, NC. I’ll be in Gatlinburg next month and could drive over to see what I can find.
Also the info on James Barbour is new. I’d heard that Barbourville was named after Nency Barbour’s family but I didn’t realize it was her father.
A little more info on Rebecca Jane Cole. She married Oliver Goins who died by freezing to death. Her son Johnny Goins was killed in the “Lost Battalion” during WWI, 33 days before the end of the war. He’s listed on the War Memorial in Jonesville, VA.
I’ve read the “Indian Bllod Runs Deep …” article and don’t remember them mentioning Hawk as being Catawba Indian, but anly as “Indian”. I’ll have to reread it to be sure. We’re slowly getting pieces of this puzzle. Maybe someday we’ll solve it. Hopefully. Thaks again Auubrey for all the info.
Jim
Since that attachment went well for Aunt Becky and Dad’s picture, I’ll try another. This picture is my gr.gr.grandmother shortly before her death sitting in front of her cabin in th Poor Valley in Lee Co. VA. She died in 1927. She is Aunt Becky’s and my Gr. Grandma Thompson’s mother. Again, the NA heritage is quite apparent.
Jim
Aubrey,
I just found this in reference to Aunt Becky (Rebecca Cole), the sister or half-sister of my gr. grandmother and another daughter of Eliza Bowman Cole. FIrst the quote; “Oliver Goins, born 1848 in Hancock County, Tennessee and a grandson of Zephaniah Goins migrated to Harlan County KY and married Rebecca Cole. Some from this Cole family claim to be part Indian. Some of these were original Melungeons and others were descendants of the Melungeons. No written records have been found where any of these families were called Melungeons in the areas they migrated to, which is very good evidence this name was given to their forbearers as stated in writing by the old witnesses.”
And here’s the site where this came from:
http://www.geocities.com/ourmelungeons/history
This is a site about Melungeons, that were from Newman’s Ridge in Hancock Co. TN. which borders Lee Co. VA.
Jim
Jim;
I just read the info on the melungeon’s and it is quite informative apprericte it.
The article Indian Blood runs deep in many Harlan Co family was taken from and olf Harlan Co Ky Newspaper along with several other articles published in Following the Footsteps on the http://www.rootsweb.com/~ky harlan or http://www.rootsweb.com/~seky, or that is the info I had about the author.
as always
Aubrey G. Cole
Aubrey,
Please look in the Genealogical Research page, under the thread “Vincent Hobbs of Lee Co. VA”. I posted some info about a Jefferson Cole, age 15, who was living with the Solomon Hobbs family in the 1860 Census. I’m too lazy (at 4 AM) to retype it here!
Jim
Aubrey,
Okay, I found what I was looking for! Again, this is from the 1860 Lee Co VA Census. John Coal, age 61, (the age is right as we know he was born in 1799 so I’m sure this is John Jack Cole) born Lincoln Co. NC. It states that he spelt the county “Linkham Co”. It also states “he was an Indian”, which of course we knew too! Next listed under John Coal is Eliza (no last name, we know this is our Eliza), age 18, Indian, born Scott Co. VA (John Cole must have been the envy of every man in Lee Co. being 61 and having an 18 yr old wife!). Next listed is Elizabeth, age 15, Indian, born Knox Co. (looks like E. Tenn or Ky). Jacob, age 2, Indian, Lee Co. VA. Elmira, age 1, Indian, Lee Co. VA. The house # is 330, Family # 342. These are definitely Eliza’s children, but your grandfather John isn’t born yet. This census is on disc and when I find it at home, I’ll burn you a copy and send it i the mail to you. I copied the whole disc to my work computer where I’m at now. I doubt if I can email it to you from here. It’s in Adobe and it won’t let me “cut and paste” or at least I don’t know how in Adobe. Didn’t you say you have a picture of Jacob? Another piece of the puzzle!
Jim
Aubrey,
Now I’m confused. Maybe you or anyone else like Bill can help. I think I’ve looked at this stuff so much I’m braindead (and now it’s 5 AM!). A little past the John Coal listing there’s another Eliza Coal, age 26 (meaning she was born in 1834, okay this must be the OTHER Eliza Coal, not my gr.gr. grandmother), Indian, born Lee Co.VA. But the strange thing is that listed as her children are; Jane Coal, age 9, Indian, Claiborne Co. TN. Elizabeth, age 5, Indian, Lee Co. VA. This Jane Coal must be Aunt Becky and Elizabeth must be my gr. grandmother Mary Elizabeth Cole. They’re shown living in House# 331 (John Cole (or Coal) is in House #330) with Wm. Jones (never heard of him), age 65, born Virginia ad Head of Household and Wm. L. H. Lunsford, 8, Carter Co. KY all in the same house #331. Now what’s up with this? I know there were two ELiza Coles, ours born in 1842 and the other born in 1834. But it looks like the “other” Eliza, the one born 1834, is raising Aunt Becky and my gr.grandmother Elizabeth Cole. And she’s raising them in the house right next to their real mother, “our” Eilza Bowman Cole and her husband John Jack Cole. Am I missing something here? What gives?
Jim
tarcarion;
Jim I have not figured it out either but as a child on the farm in Oldham Co Ky where I was born there were 6 or 7 families that lived in the house in which I was born, all of them daughters and sons of my g-mo and g-father and else where on the farm were more families all in laws or outlaws etc.
I lived in the house with aunts and uncles and g-parents, the house did have 20 to 30 rooms and was 2 stories tall with slave quarters above that. Some of my aunts and uncles had moved off the farm at that time. but my g-mother basically raised all of us until my g-father died in 1947 or 48.
Does this sound familiar.??? I think that the houses were not as large and children were in different households and basically stayed where they wanted as might have been the case with the 2 Eliza’s , but maybe we will figure it out one day.
I have not recieved the photo of Jacob yet and am still waiting, let you know as soon as I get it.
The more I read on the Melungeons the more confused I get , but I think this is one of the things our families tried to hide from us.
Aubrey
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