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Hello, everyone! I am new here and wanted to post my first thread! 🙂 I am descended from a Mariah Chavers/Shavers from an unknown location, who my grandmother says was of Cherokee descent. My grandmother lives in Chesterfield, SC. When I told her that the Cherokees were in Western Carolina, she got a bit miffed at me and told me that we were Cherokee. A Native American friend of mine who has seen my grandmother, says that she has a NA look to her.
Some people say that Chavers is a Lumbee name, while I’ve heard others say that it is Pee Dee or Creek. What I noticed on your site is that some say that Chavers is also a Saponi name. Mariah’s census record says that she and her parents were from SC (although my grandmother said that she was from NC) and she is listed as Black along with her 2 children from her first marriage (Francis, the daughter, and Mallard, the son). With this in mind, I have 2 questions: How can I go about finding her? and What is the *real* history of the Chavers people in the Carolinas? Please help!
Chavis is currently found among the Lumbee and Meherrin tribes, and is ancestral in some other communities as well. A good start might be to go to http://www.freeafricanamericans.com and see what is under the Chavis family section. There used to be a bunch of Chavises in Marlboro Co, S.C., who said they were of Indian descent, but whether they are still there or not, I can’t say. They seemed to be connected with the Lumbees.
Welcome to the forum, MariposaMorena,
Do you have any dates for Mariah?
Was Chavers/Shavers her maiden name or her married name?
You mentioned census records. Which census did you find her on?
Bill
I have been researching many of the little known tribes in the east to see if they might have “dissappeared” the same historical timeframe that the “Melungeons” (and others) appeared, and many did. I want to look into other little known bi/tri-racial isolate groups and see if the same pattern follows them, too.
But in this research, I have run across that Chavis surname over and over in tribe after tribe, as Forest says — saw someone claiming Tuscarora blood with this surname, too. I don’t know much about them, but that surname is definitely a marker associated wo some of these groups.
Someone here is bound to be able to help you.
Welcome.
vance
I guess Mariahs’ birth year to be around 1820. Her last name of Chavers is an enigma. Her children, Francis and Mallard, had the last name of McBride. I am assuming that Chavers was her last name and McBride was the name of their father. Mariah remarried to a Black man named Peter Merriman. I found both her and Peter on the 1880 census for Chesterfield County, SC, living right next to her daughter Francis and Francis’ husband, George.
I would imagine that Mariah could have come from Marlboro County, as the census lists her bp as SC. Marlboro County is right next to Chesterfield County. As far as the Tuscarora Chavers go, from what I was told: some of the people who were formaly known as Lumbee formed a separate group who call themselves Tuscarora. How this came about, I am unsure of. One study said that some Lumbees did a DNA test and were found to be of more indian blood than most others and then did research to uncover that they were Tuscarora. Maybe the Tusc. Chavers is one of those? Some of the other stories on what happened are much more or much less favorable than this.
I have copied the Chavis portion of Heinegg’s book on Free Afr-Americans, but they only include a Jordan Chavers (mulatto) in 1790. I don’t know where he or his offspring went after that, nor where he came from. Most of the Chavis information comes from NC and their SC links are limited by 1 or 2 people.
I have a friend who is Lumbee and she has given me information about tribal registration but I want to be sure of what I am doing.
Also, my mother’s family is reputed to also be on indian descent and when I find the tribe, that is the one that I will seek registration with. Her people are from Anson County and have the last name of Flowers. Thanks for all of your help, you guys!
There was a Mariah Chavers/Chavis, said by her G-G-Granddaughter to have been Indian. On the 1850 Orangeburg Co., SC census she is listed as born about 1810 and White, but on the 1860 census she is listed as born about 1820 and Mulatto.
She was the daughter of James Chavis, b.abt. 1795 SC (son of Lazarus) and Rebecca Williams, also b.abt.1795 SC. These people are listed as Mulatto in 1850 & 1860, so are most likely to be Indian.
However, the Mariah marr’d to Peter Merriman/Merryman, on the 1880 Chesterfield Co SC census, is 44 yrs old, b.abt. 1836, so I don’t think the Mariah b.abt.1810/1820, is your Mariah.
I do see that your Mariah was likely Indian, due to the confusion various census takers had with her race, i.e., the 1870 Chesterfield Co census, pg. 289B, at 38, 38, which I think is yours:
P. Merryman, 40, male, White, SC
M. (ditto), 34, f, W, SC
F. (ditto), 15, f, W, SC
M. (ditto), 13, f??, W, SC (gender listed incorrectly?)
S. (ditto), 11, f??, W, SC.
I didn’t find them on earlier census.
I found George Merriman (Francis’s husband who is listed as Mulatto on the 1880 census) with two of his daughters and a grand-daughter in 1900 Chesterfield Co, Dist. 21 Court House, at 170, 170, pg. 93A. George is widowed by then.
Bill
Hey, it’s Mariposa here…just having trouble with my account so I will have to use this name. Wow, thanks for taking a look at that for me! I actually worked with and became friends with a descendant of the Mariah to which you referred. The Orangeburg Chavers claim Pee Dee (Creek) ancestry. I’m sure we are all related somehow, but I need to figure out my piece of the puzzle first.
I have heard of Chavers people living in Marlboro county, as well as Edgefield and, of course, Robeson (NC) county. I am at a loss for what to do here. I don’t have the names of any of her kin. Any ideas?
About the only thing I can think of is to see if you can dig up marriage records, land records, etc., in those counties’ courthouses.
Bill
Bill, thank you very much for all of your help. When I get a chance I’m going to check it out to see what I can find. Thanks again!
Hey Mariposa,
I just saw your post under “Family Surnames”.
If you have information on all your Grandparents (if born before 1930), we should start there and work backwards in time. Post that info and see what we can do. It’s often a mistake to try to look for only one person or one family unless it’s the only information we have.
Bill
I’m not sure if I was to post that information here or in “Family Surnames”, but I will put it here first and when I get more time I will post under “FS”.
Paternal Grandparents: Lemuel Plenty Hillian (born in the late 1800’s – 1899?) His father was Thomas Jefferson Hillian and his father was Friday Hillian. An uncle of mine has done reserach on the Hillian family, which we believe migrated to the Carolinas from Alabama.
My paternal grandmother: Roseanna Merriman Hillian (born about 1913). Her father was Leon Merriman and mother was Leanna Streater Merriman. Leon’s father was the George Merriman that you found on the census and his mother was Francis McBride, the daughter of Mariah Chavers. Leanna’s father was Thomas Streater and her mother was Mary Helen Owen Streater. George Merriman’s father is unknown to us although we believe his last name to have been either Merriman, White or Davis and his mother was Meady (?). Francis McBride’s mother was Mariah Chavers and her father is unknown. Mariah Chavers, I believe, was married to a McBride originally. She re-married Peter Merriman who had “adopted” his nephews, George and John Merriman. I’ll let you figure that part out. I hope that this helps.
Mary Helen Owen’s father was David Owens (a man from Ohio whose race was listed as white and mulatto at various times) and her mother was Lisa Streater Owens. The Owens live(d) in Morven, NC.
Maternal Grandparents : Grandfather: James Parson(s?). That’s all I know of him. The Parsons have NA ancestry from what I’ve heard but we are unsure. My grandmother was Tilly “Martha” Wall Short (She married a man with the last name Short). Tilly’s mother was Rachel Caraway (Carraway…the spelling varies) Wall Pegues who just passed in 1998. She thought that she was born in 1901 but other information has her born in 1899. Her father is unknown to me. Her mother was Martha Flowers Carway who passed in 1957 (?). She was said to have long, black non-African hair that she kept in a bun at the back of her head. Her father is unknown to me. Her mother was also named Martha Flowers. That’s all the information that I have on them.
This is basically all of the information that I have.
Premiere Pearl,
This is only the 3rd time I’ve heard the surname “Pegues”;I’m not positive
but I think it might be a Portuguese surname.
When I lived in FL in the 70’s there was a Pegues at my high school.She later
got involved in the fashion industry and may have appeared on national television
in that role.
There was also a Miami TV reporter for
NBC 29 also named Pegues in the early
2000’s.
Wonder if there might be a connection?
Roca
Roca, Pegues is a Portugese name as far as I know. My great grandmother, whom I had the pleasure of knowing until ’98 was married to a Pegues. Ed Pegues, I believe it was. He is not related to me (that I know of). My g grandmother’s first husband, Green Wall was my ancestor. My g grandmother, Rachel, did tell me that Ed Pegues was half-White (and Black), but I don’t know much else beyond that. As far as I know, there are several Pegues families on the border (Anson County and Chesterfield County). It is quite an interesting name.
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