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My Great Grandfather #4 is listed on the Monacan Original Rolls you’ve provided. He’s Nelson H. Clark B.1793 D. 7 Aug 1871, married Frances “Franky” E. Mason. I’ve always heard we were Cherokee. How do I go about getting documentation? Any help would be appreciated!
JHawk
vance hawkins wrote: As for the possible Catawba/Saponi/Cherokee connection, I took a trip to Alabama 2 years ago to learn more about the state recognized Cherokee in Alabama. I felt my family were closer to the Echota Band than the NE Al Band, largely because of where they lived. But the only people I met from the Echota Cherokee were surnamed “Riddle”, which I have never thought of as a Cherokee surname. This group was based in Walker, Winston, and Lawrence County in N Central Alabama, also probably near Decatur and Huntsville areas of Alabama. They say as there were Cheroke in NC after teh removal, there were also Cherokee on the Tennessee River living in lands ceeded from about 1806 to 1818 or so. I looked at other surnames and I recall some more common to Eastern Siouan than Cherokee. “Warrior Mountain Folklore” byRicky (Butch) Walker mentions some of those surnames. It is printed by Lawrence County Schools Indian Education Program, PO Box 365, Moulton, Alabama 35650. My people in Alabama can be traced to Lawrence Co., Al. There is a second book I forget the name, “Sipsey Wilderness . . . something” by Jim Manusco.
Vance
Vance,
Do you have contact information on these Riddle’s? They have to be cousins to me. It’s funny that they too say they are Cherokee, just like my side does.
Like I said before, my Riddle’s left Bledsoe County, TN about 1830 and headed for Pulaski County, MO (they are on the 1830 Federal Census for TN and MO). One of them, Johnson “Rake” Riddle, moved to MO with the rest of them and soon after, moved to Walker County, Alabama. He was married to Jane Shephard in 1825 in Bledose County, TN. I have a lot of information on this side of the family and would like to speak with any of the Walker County Riddles.
rockhound wrote: Vance,
Do you have contact information on these Riddle’s? They have to be cousins to me. It’s funny that they too say they are Cherokee, just like my side does.
Like I said before, my Riddle’s left Bledsoe County, TN about 1830 and headed for Pulaski County, MO (they are on the 1830 Federal Census for TN and MO). One of them, Johnson “Rake” Riddle, moved to MO with the rest of them and soon after, moved to Walker County, Alabama. He was married to Jane Shephard in 1825 in Bledose County, TN. I have a lot of information on this side of the family and would like to speak with any of the Walker County Riddles.
Vance?….
A personal message was sent. You know as much as anyone else if you’ve used the ‘search’ button and searched on ‘riddle’ and ‘ridley’ .
Any additional data/information is always welcomed.
A century later, armed with the awesome power of the state, Plecker declared war on these people. Consulting a listing of surnames associated with Native American ancestry– such as Beverly (from beaver), Sparrow, Penn or Pinn, Fields, Bear, and so on–and drawing his authority from century-old census records that were likely to list Indians as “mulattoes”–particularly if the census were taken in summertime, Houck notes– Plecker embarked on a crusade to re-classify every Native American in the state as an African-American.
Plecker intimidated mid-wives, wrote threatening pamphlets, editorialized in newspapers, and trained an entire generation of county clerks and health service workers in his methods. When all else failed, he simply changed records to suit his prejudices, striking out the designation “Indian” and replacing it with “Negro” or “colored” or “mulatto”–or writing notations on the back.
But while Powhatans suffered under Plecker’s tyranny, they refused to vanish. When necessary, they sacrificed both family ties and good will in the African-American community by refusing to attend Jim Crow schools or segregated churches.
These isolationist tactics cost them–Indian communities in Amherst were often poor and poorly educated–but they appear to have worked. It is worth noting that Amherst Indians who successfully held themselves aloof from “black contamination” regained tribal recognition in the 1980s. Another group, also living in Amherst County, which proudly claimed African, Native, and Caucasian ancestry–the Buffalo Ridge Cherokee–did not.
I do admire the Blue Ridge Cherokee in Amherst County for not rejecting their members with African ties too. Blood is thicker than water, REGARDLESS. Federal/State Tribal Recognition is unfortunate because it continues to “divide and conquer” us as a whole. 🙁
Hi everyone. I just became interested in the Buffalo Ridge Cherokee Band when I bought the book and found my ancestors in it. I get the impression that the band does believe they are mixed with some of the known tribes of the area such as Manacan but they believe they are primarily Cherokee.
I don’t know if they are or not but if anyone thinks the Cherokee were never in Virginia, they better study up. First of all, before there were states, who put up the fence around Virginia and told the Cherokee to stay out. They were everywhere else in the southeast, why not Virginia? There are plenty of documents that show they were there.
What I see is that the battle between the peaceful Cherokees and the Warrior Clan is still being fought. The Cherokees who are enrolled in federally recognized tribes feel that their ancestors who suffered the trail of tears are the only ones who have a right to recognition.
I don’t believe in the ancestry police either. Why shouldn’t the Buffalo Ridge Cherokee Band get recognition? They have well-documented genealogies, according to them.
Just my thoughts,
Kathleen Rogalla
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