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cr21:
I moved back to the midwest 2 years ago from the south because I find the midwest more tolerant. I only grew up on rumors of Native American blood in the family, so I don’t know what those shoes are like to walk in, but the sexism I ran into down south was very difficult.
yeah its not so bad here.. i get the occasional dirty look but it doesnt bother me anymore. some day id like to move to north carolina or in the area. here suits me just fine right now.
I wonder if we can get corroboration from any Cornplanter Seneca on their time in that area.
Yes, this story does tie into the shreds of evidence that there were Eastern Siouan people with the Seneca.
I’ve got some people who up and moved to Iowa, too. I’ll have to dig up the info on who that was. Of course, it could all just mean that there was some good, cheap land available in Iowa and restless souls just had to go for it.
I haven’t heard of rural orphanages in the very early 19th century before, not to say they didn’t exist, but my impression is that the system of bonding children out was still in effect. Does anybody know? When did the one institution/practice give way to the other?
Does William Weger give any reasons why he is so confident the Blackfoot ID in the family was the correct one?
One argument against the hypothesis I’ve put forward on this site (and yes, it’s fine to call it an hypothesis) is that the Blackfoot ID sprang up in families following the popularity of the Wild West shows (the “regular” Blackfoot name becoming a household word). Was there anything in the information you’ve found about Nancy that would tend to pre-date this identification before Wild Bill?
Linda:
Hmmm. Good point. I doubt that there is any way of determining when/why Nancy called herself Blackfoot. (Certainly, my resources are limited to the Net and I don’t even have the email of my uncle who has done all the genealogy.) I can say this, I really doubt that you can draw any conclusions about any other Native Americans moving to Iowa, based on my information. She came to Iowa most likely because my great-great-great grandfather brought her. My information indicates that he came here with his brothers. Oh, well, I find it fascinating to explore. I was hoping to find someone who ran into the name, given the PA location. But if she began calling herself Blackfoot because of Wild Bill, her lineage could be any one of several.
Oh, sorry, Nancy’s dates are: born 1814, died 1905, born in Beaver County, PA and lived around there for several years after her marriage. Married around 1834 as John Ralston’s second wife (someone said that Susan MaWha, his first wife, was Cherokee), but apparently my uncle did not surface a marriage certificate. I have found several postings on geneology sites from descendents who said that Nancy did indeed live to be 90.
If anyone bops back into this, I found out more possible information. I ran across another descendent of Nancy Agnes Mclane who thinks she was Shawnee and has found another McLane in Beaver County, PA who was Shawnee. Have you all run into other Blackfoot folks in Shawnee? BTW, Beaver County is not far from W. Virginia.
You mean with Shawnee? It would be possible. I would be surprised if there were no Eastern Siouan refugees who threw in with the Shawnee during their revolt, and they were in the same locale, Ohio, after that war was lost. The Big Sandy is a location associated with the Eastern Siouan. There’s a very ancient place name of Tutelo on a creek or river there and remains of a prolonged settlement. And it’s known that there were Saponi/Tutelo tributary to the League, under the direction of the Seneca for a good while.
Of course, this is all tribal history and there’s a good jump to the period you’re discussing.
Linda,
Would you recommend any sources I can go to for some of that history? I have read a good deal of Internet stuff in the last few days, but if you have any print stuff to suggest that you would recommend for the location and time I am exploring, can you suggest something?
And, I got an email from the same person who found other Beaver County, PA McLanes, saying that her father said Nancy McLane was Cherokee. She is two generations closer to Nancy than me, from a line that was a brother to mine. (Incidentally, she was raised on a reservation, while I was raised with rumors that no one believed.)I have read enough now to know that there were a group of Cherokee who called themselves Blackfoot, but is it logical that someone in western PA in 1814 would likely have been Cherokee?
I do know that some of the folks around Bourbon and Fayette Counties KY (old stomping grounds of the Shawnee) claim Shawnee ancestry but indeed traceable Saponi names back to the Piedmont area. I have the Treaties between the Shawnee and the gov’t at Emma’s house. I’ll get them this weekend and we can at least compare the dates and locations of where they were located during those times verses your McLain line Tech.
Crystal
Crystal:
That would be great! I bumped into a distant connection online doing a genealogy of the family. She hit a dead-end with Nancy and would like any information. Her side of the family acknowledged the heritage. She was raised on a reservation.
Cindy
techteach, it’s probably time for you to be making the pilgrimage to university library stacks and researching what you can find on the history. The Bureau of Ethnology articles are old but classic. It’s hard to find books devoted to the Eastern Siouan. Generally, you have to look in collected works like the above.
Another thing I should mention, there are a good deal of people with the Blackfoot Cherokee ID, which in my opinions indicates and intermarried group. There are spots in Appalachia where this occurs frequently. I think it’s our eastern Siouan Blackfoot intermarried with Cherokee up in them thar hills.
in the above mentioned lineage, what reservation did this individual reside on?
or is that part of the mystery?
im pretty interested with the classic markers “cherokee” “blackfoot” etc for this individual. espcially since the tutelo have a stay in PA on the way to six nations with the cayuga
You know, you find out a lot of stuff when you realize that there is a page 2. One of those times that keeps a computer teacher humble.
Linda,
Yes, I know I need to trot to the university, but I have discovered in the last few days, that I have not entirely exhausted the Internet. Mother mentioned yet another distant ancestor of Native Am background who married one of the sons (my direct ancestor) of Nancy McLean. I have been following that ancestry online. Names: Potter, Houston,Sinkey, Green. And interestedly enough, some originated in Ohio.
dknicely
My information on Nancy Agnes McLane is sketchy. She was born in Beaver County, PA in 1814. One oral history has her raised in an orphanage, but my line of the family has no oral history about her. My mom always thought it was a joke when the rumors about Native American ancestry were discussed. However, she was my great..grandmother and my direct ancestor. Genforum has several questions from other people looking into her that mention that it might be spelled either McClane or McLean. How about your McLeans?
itconani:
If I follow the historical lines of travel of N. Americans early, couldn’t my ancestor be all three, hence the mixed family traditions? Could her ancestors not have spent time with all three groups? There is no reservation that I know of, but then, my line hid the Native American blood. My family came from Butler County, PA, but her records place her in Beaver County, PA. Her husband reportedly built the first schoolhouse in Slippery Rock, PA. And her headstone is recent, put there by some descendent who wanted to “set the record straight”.
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