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Hi Eddie,
Yes it can be very difficult to trace Native Ancestry as many of our people were all over the place.I see you did DNA testing which helps clarify many aspects of genealogical research. My DNA was Native American belonging to Mitochondrial Haplogroup “A”. I will get you in contact with a Benton who has done extensive research.
Shoshone
My 4th Great Grandfather, William Benton is listed on an Anson Co., N.C. Regulator Petition (ca. 1767) along with George Skipper. Skipper was the last chief of the Nottoway and he and part of the remainder of the tribe moved into N.C.
There were also some Lowery’s mentioned on land deeds (Anson Co.) with my Benton line so it would appear that there was some connection by marriage or blood to Indian families and they often relocated in groups at the same time.
I see that you already found the information on Epaphroditus Benton who had an Indian wife. Also our Bentons lived in Ahoskie area of Hertford County, which had several mixed blood Indian families as neighbors.
Tom K.
Shoshone…do you have any Bennetts in the Stafford VA area? My sister married into a Bennett family from there. They also have relatives in Conneticut and Ohio, where she currently lives.
Not to my knowledge, although I think our “Indian Uncle” Frank Bennett may have had a son who was a Bennett who lived in Virginia. I saw his name and residence as being VA on Uncle Frank’s Death Certificate. If his son were alive to day he would have been very old. Can you get any information on this male line and possibly find out if it was from NC??? If so there may be a relations.
Just in case someone is reading – Shawnee and Chowan mean the same thing – southerners, in Algonquian. Not to be confused with one another – it all depends on context…
Hey Itcanoni, nice to see you around. I didn’t know that about the Chowan. Is Chowanoke a variant of that word? How much were the Chowan (Shawnee) in NC or VA?
I’m familiar with the Chowan Indians who occupied the Bennets Creek/ Catherine Creek reservation, as my ancestor was Edward Mashburn who was the school master at the school established for the Chowan Indians. This school was the first school in North Carolina for Indians, and was located in what is now Gates Co. N.C. near the village of Sarum, I think there is a historical marker noting the site.
Shoshone,
I noticed the pic of you with Beckee Simmers Garris of the Catawba Nation taken at Yap Ye Iswa….
It is a small world as one of my first cousins use to be married to Beckee’s sister Pam Simmers.
I’m familiar with the Chowan Indians who occupied the Bennets Creek/ Catherine Creek reservation, as my ancestor was Edward Mashburn who was the school master at the school established for the Chowan Indians. This school was the first school in North Carolina for Indians, and was located in what is now Gates Co. N.C. near the village of Sarum, I think there is a historical marker noting the site.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the information about my ancestors. Great to know. Yes I was down home last year and got to do lots of research and interview family members some of whom I never met. The knowledge that elders hold is so valuable. My mom was also instrumental in helping me out. I did have most of what I could recorded and archived for future reference as it is very valuable.
Yes that is Beckee. A wonderful woman. I stayed with her for about a week on the Catawba reservation before I went over into our hometown. She is now the medicine woman for the Catawba Nation. She is very involved in the Native American Community down there. Then she attended and participated in our tribal pow wow in SC. We had a great time. Got to meet lots of nice people and talk about our ancestors and history. There are many stories about our people that history books will never capture. Only the spoken word of that can be talked about when we sit down and talk with the elders of different nations. I learned this from my trip.
Nice to meet you Jeff.
Shoshone
I believe they were called Chowanoc. My Harrell descendants are supposed to be Chowanoc, however I haven’t found a direct link other than they’re very apparent physical make-up.
Hello,
this is actually my first post here at Saponitown, hello everybody! I am a Chowan descendant as well, albeit tenuously. My link goes back to a 1644 marriage between Edward Basse and an Indian woman by the christian name of Mary Tucker. (Edward’s brother John married a Nansemond woman named Elizabeth, and today is the basis of the current tribal rolls). Anyway, to reply to the comments on the similar names of the Shawnee and Chowanoc, there are some interesting theories out there. The Shawnees real name is Shawanugi, and according to some spellings (there are many) the Chowans name can be Chawanoke, Chowanoke, Chowan, or Chowanoc. The Algonquian derivitives are the same. Shawan and Chowan mean South, and Ugi and Oke can mean people or place. So they are the People of the Southern Place. This was noted by some anthropologists who have speculated that they were originally one pleople, who had a split many years before the Europeans came. And Indeed, I have heard, though jot researched personally, that the Shawnee originally came from Southeastern USA before moving to the Ohio area. None of this is conclusive, and may never be proven save for some kind of archealogical evidence. Anyway, the Chowanoc remained the most powerful Algonkians south of the Powhatans, and let a tri-nation alliance to protect each other from the western iroquoian and Souin tribes.
Lars
I am descended from this Epaphroditus Benton, the Moores, and the King family all living in the ouskirts of and possibly on the rez.
John King to John Benton Jr. Dec. 20, 1731 374acres on the south side of Bennett’s Creek. Test: Henry Bonner, John Williams,Constance Luten. (this John Williams was the husband of Ferebee Pugh, born1733, daughter of Francis Pugh and Pheribee Savage. He married Ferebeeabout1754, she was born about 1733 and died after 1759. Three sons of theirsare known, no daughters, but there is a strong tradition in theWilliams familyof some Cherokee ancestry).
*John King, son of John King, deed, to JohnBenton; march 27, 1739.Tract of land on West side of Bennett’s Creek, patentedby John King,decd, Nov. 4, 1707, adjoining land of Thos. Speight and others.Test, Elisha Benton, Moses Benton, Miles Riddick. (This John King was relatedby marriage to the Pugh family).*
Lars had pointed out to me a court record that involved a John King, an Indian found in a journal as such:
Jno King an Indian” complained to the governor’s council in 1695 that his people were “denyed their liberty of Hunting to which they pretent title by former agreement.” The Council ruled in his favor, saying “the Indians have liberty to hunt on all wasteland that is not taken up…” Michelle LeMaster, “In the Scolding Houses'” Indians and the Law in Eastern North Carolina, 1684-1760,” in The North Carolina Historical Review LXXXIII, no. 2, April 2006
Recently I found anothe book that gave more detail of this man who is probably my 5th or 6th great uncle, the book is “Suspect Relations: Sex, Race, and Resistance in Colonial North Carolina” By Kirsten Fischer; on page 40, which names two englishmen who specifically were the men doing the tribe harm. They are a William Godfrey and John Parish. The paragraph is specifically referencing the Chowan Indians.
I also found one of the King women married into the Skipper of the Nottoway and Quick families.
If there is anyone who is researching this King, Benton or Moore family, I would love to compare notes and meet family.
Thomas
spilleddi;33448 wrote: I’m looking at a map from a reprint of Thomas Harriet’s A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, from 1590. The map shows a tribe called Chawanook in NE North Carolina. I know Spaniards reached that area before the English, but I don’t believe the French did.
I’m descended from Mariah Bennett born in 1782, married James Huggins in NC. Another Bennett woman married Jame’s brother. I haven’t researched this branch of my family, but may Huggins family does have Lumbee and African from their Ivey family, also Creek and Jewish from their Weldon family.
The reestablished Chowans of North Carolina has purchased land at Bennetts Creek in Gates County and will start their new place soon according to the Chowanoc/Meherrin tribal site
My connection to the Chowan comes through my third great Grandmother America Baker. Her third great Grandfather is the John Freeman mentioned below. John Freeman married the daughter of Chief Thomas Hoyter, Tabitha Hoyter. This marriage into the tribe, apparently, gave John the ability to sell Chowan land.
In 1751, the headmen of the tribe, James Bennett and John Robbins, Indians, and John Freeman, planter sold the Chowan land to Richard Freeman, in the following deed:
Chowan County – To all to whom these presents shall come we James Bennet & John Robins Chowan Indians & John Freeman Planter of the County and Province aforesaid Know Ye that we the aforesaid James Bennet, John Robins & John Freeman for and in consideration of the sum of Twenty Pounds Lawfull money of Great Britain to us in hand paid by Richard Freeman of the county and Province aforesaid, Planter, the receipt of which we do hereby acknowledge have granted bargained sold conveyed confirmed & deliver and do by these presents grant Bargain Sell Convey Confirm and Set Over unto the aforesaid Richard Freeman one certain tract or parcel of land & pocoson lying on the No. side of Bennets Creek commonly called & known by the name of the Chowan Indian Land Two Hundred acres by Estimation beginning on Blanchards Line running then west … together with all and singular the appurtenances thereunto belonging unto the said Richard Freeman, his heirs and assigns forever hence they yielding and paying to our Sovereign Lord the King the yearly quit rents of and by(?) required for every hundred acres hereby granted by the said James Bennet, John Robins and John Freeman as aforesaid to the said Richard Freeman his heirs..the aforesaid James Bennet, John Robins, & John Freeman and do bind ourselves and each of our heirs and by these presents to forever warrant and defend unto the said Richard Freeman his heirs and the above mentioned tract or parcel of land and pocoson from all manner of persons whatever…whereof we the aforesaid Ja. Bennet, Jn Robins Chowan Indians and John Freeman, Planter have hereunto set our hand and seals this — of January, 1751
Signed & Sealed & Delivered in the presence of Richard Garret, Reuben Hinton, George S. Outlaw – Chowan County for January County Court 1751
These may testify that the within Deed of Sale of Land from James Bennet, John Robins, & John Freeman to Richard Freeman was duly proved in open Court by the oath of Richard Garret and on motion is ordered to be registered. Registered January 23, 1751
Signed Sealed & Delivered in the presence of:
Richard Garret, James B. Bennett, Reuben Hinton, John R. Robins, George S. Outlaw, John Freeman
Chowan County January County Court 1751
Present His Majesties Justices These may codify that the within Deed of Sale of Land from James Bennet John Robins & John Freeman to Richard Freeman is hereby proved in open Court by the oath of Richard Garret & on Motion is ordered to be Registered. Registered Jan 23, 1751
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