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Hello TuckahoePrincess!
You are not alone in finding ancestors that are listed on the census without a race given. As we have come across the same thing in our research. What year do you find the race not listed, in your family? I’ll have to look again at the census copies I have to let you know the year in which we find our ancestors listed without a race given. I know that at the top of the census it reads; “FREE INHABITANTS OF ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA”. Most researchers will tell you that if the race isn’t given that it means they were white. However they have no proof for this statement, it’s only a guess on their part. If they were white, why use the term “Free Inhabitants”? As we all know if they were white they would be free, so there seems to have been no need for this census heading!
Another thing you need to make sure that you have looked at the whole census record, not just your family. As the census will at times have “WHITE” listed & all those below that may not have a race listed, but that means they are “WHITE”, until you see a change in race listed. Of course we all know that “white” doesn’t tell the true ethnic background of a family, due to the many Intermarriages amoung Europeans & American Indian families. It’s just a label, as far as I’m concerned & nothing more.
Take Care & God Bless
Coheelady 🙂
Hello everyone. I’m new to the forum and not quite sure how to introduce myself. I’m researching my Anderson family from Wood County, WVA. And that’s why I’m here. Many of your family histories sound quite a bit like mine.
What I’m looking for now is where my Collins line comes from and who my Collins ancestor really was. The family history says Rupert Collins was a surveyor who led a surveying party to the upper waters of the South Branch of the Potomac River. Somehow he met with the Shawnees led by Pucksinwah. Rupe Collins fell in love with Pucksinwah’s daughter, Tecumapease (who is the sister of Tecumseh) and they married. Their daughter, Jane Collins married Lewis Full. Family history say Lewis descends from one of the many Dutch settlers that sought homes on the South Branch of the Potomac River. Lewis and Jane Collins Full lived near Senaca Rocks, WVA for awhile, then moved further west to Wood Co. My Great Great Grandmother, Mary Ann Full Anderson is the daughter of Lewis and Jane’s son, Andrew Full and his wife, Emma Jane Hartley. Mary Ann Full married Michael Staats Anderson.
Sorry to run on so long, but, believe it or not, this is the short version – there’s another off-shoot of the tale that brings in Mary Ice, the captive, as either the mother of or the sister of, Tecumseh and one of the grandmothers of our family.
The Fulls have always sworn up and down the story is true. The only problem with this wonderful history is 1) I can’t prove it and 2) I have a hard time believing it. For one thing, I can’t get past Rupert Collins or Lewis Full to find their parents. Down line from Rupert, Jane and Lewis, no problem. The only other reference to Rupert Collins I’ve found on the internet is a history item talking about an Indian Scout called Capt Rupert Collins in Ohio which I lost in a harddrive crash and haven’t been able to find the reference again.
Once I started reading about the Melungeons, a great light went off – I’m wondering now if Rupert Collins was one of the families who decided to hide out in the hills and also, if Lewis Full was actually Black Dutch. That would answer many questions.
Our family also has Sheppards in the tree. We have many Melungeon characteristics – shovel teeth, skull bumps, etc. If I posted photos of some of my family, you’d see we certainly look as if we have Native American genes – many with straight black hair, black eyes, high cheekbones, etc. Our daughter married a Jarrells from Pulaski, Va. and I understand they also have Native American as does Jeff’s father’s maternal line, McGgolthin. As you can see, I have many questions and hope I can help others here with their search.
By the way, my Grandma Anderson also told us we were related to Chief Cornstalk, of the Shawnee tribe. We certainly were living in the right terriotory, only a few miles from Point Pleasant, WVA.
Welcome Grace. That is a very interesting family story. I am glad to see you’re skeptical, it makes it all the more interesting. How exhaustively have you looked for this evidence? Is there still a possibility that it may be true?
We have a line that leads back to some French semi-notables, with small parts in Napolean’s drama. Our ancestor is noted as having died childless as a young man in the history books, (we know this was staged and he escaped to Germany) so the one time we ventured to some authority, at the museum in LA where his portrait is hanging, he scoffed at us, let us know what the books say, and turned us away.
So, there’s all the more skepticism when an ancestor happens to be ‘somebody,’ relatively speaking. Whoever the mixed blooded people in your family were, they were obviously very bright, either to have been tied to such special people, or to have researched and imagined so interesting a tale, and deserve our respect. Picturing their ancestry in such a positive light beats the hell out of the overloud denials so many others reverted to.
Grace:
When I joined this forum, I was looking for a reference to Blackfoot in my ggggrandmother. What I found in my research was evidence to indicate she was likely Shawnee (The Mormons list her as Shawnee.), as the tribe members of Black Hoof (sometimes called Black Foot) called themselves Blackfoot and lived in the area she came from. Her children married into families believed to be Shawnee from another tribe who came from near Shepherdstown, WV. Anyway, in my attempt to find information, I am reading a biography on Tecumseh. His mother was, according to the book, a Cherokee captive named Methotasa or A Turtle Laying Her Eggs in the Sand. However, I do believe that oral histories usually have some sort of truth in them. Certainly, I have found out that my grandmother’s claim that we have native american ancestry has turned out true, in fact, more so than she claimed. I now communicate with native cousins on the Internet that I never knew I had. We are investigating the mysteries together now.
Cindy
Yeah, I’m related to Cordell Hull– who was Secretary of State under FDR… and who won the Nobel Peace Prize– through his mother, who is noted by the history books as being part-Indian or part-Cherokee. Apparently, HER mother was the full-blooded Cherokee… which is interesting, because Cordell Hull’s grandmother was a Flowers– who is documented in MY family tree as a daughter to the brother of my progenitor (as far back as we can trace, in fact)… AND they were all from Buckingham County, Virginia– the right place to be for the Tuckahoe/Saponi/Cherokee amalgamation to occur. It just makes you think differently about your genealogical search. It is less of a search for individuals (although that is paramount) than it is a search for a sense for who these people were and why and how they “passed”. Pre-Colonial America was a helluva lot more multicultural than the history books let on. Remember that “history is written by those who win”, but history can be rewritten by those who survive. 🙂
TechTeach, where have you seen it said that the followers of Blackhoof are sometimes called Blackfoot? I had wondered at the very beginning of my research on this if our Blackfoot ID could have been a garbling of Blackhoof, but I never found anything further on it.
“History is written by those who win”, but history can be rewritten by those who survive
I like that.
Grace said:The Fulls have always sworn up and down the story is true. The only problem with this wonderful history is 1) I can’t prove it and 2) I have a hard time believing it. For one thing, I can’t get past Rupert Collins or Lewis Full to find their parents. Down line from Rupert, Jane and Lewis, no problem. The only other reference to Rupert Collins I’ve found on the internet is a history item talking about an Indian Scout called Capt Rupert Collins in Ohio which I lost in a harddrive crash and haven’t been able to find the reference again.
Welcome Grace, I am also a Collins descendant & researcher. It’s funny you posted this because just the other day I pulled up the website of “Full & Collins Families of WVa.” As I read the site I realized that this is close to the same territory that my Collins seem to find themselves after leaving North Carolina. Question:
Did the Collins return to the mountains because they had been there or had families there in the past? I also searched for Rupe/Rupert Collins thinking he would have been about the age for my Meredith Collins (b. 1760) father. I couldn’t find anything on him either but you have to realize that there was probably a indian name then they took the Collins name so we might never be able to find the documented truth.
Brenda
Thanks for all your information and help. I’m not giving up on finding my Rupert Collins and Lewis Full but sometimes I wonder if they leaped full-grown from the forehead of one of their Pendelton County mountains <
> I was looking over my research links and wondered if you all are aware of the one I posted below. It’s specific to the hill country and, for example, there’s quite a few Collins listed. Part of the site shows families who are linked to each other – the rest is unrelated families. I’ve found a few of my connections there.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~deschart/wdc.html
Linda:
Give me a few days to locate the copy of the Web site I found the Blackfoot information on. I have an interview on Friday and a concert for my son tomorrow in Indiana. I can look this weekend.
It was a reference that I found from an historian dated (as I recall), 1910. I also found a distant cousin in my research who is a Shawnee studying our genealogy who also stated that this was the case, that Black Hoof’s people called themselves Blackfoot. It made sense to me then that my ggggrandmother, who apparently called herself Blackfoot but whom the Mormons identified as Shawnee, might have belonged to this group. Further research placed Black Hoof’s group in her area of Pennsylvania. I may not be able to find that piece of informtion though. I printed off the former Web site, but I don’t think I printed off the latter.
I do not believe that this negates your theory though, Linda. Why could Black Hoof’s people not be made up of other displaced tribes who joined the Shawnee? I also found a Shawnee treaty that bears a Shawnee signature closely related to Tutelo, something like Totala. I can find that site for you too if you like.
Cindy
I know a fellow who’s a descendant of Chief Blackhoof. He wasn’t adverse to the idea that perhaps we’d misidentified Black hoof for Blackfoot, but he didn’t mention that any of them called themselves Blackfoot. It will be interesting to see what he and his family think of this evidence. I guess they should know.
Cindy,
I would like to see that treaty. Linda, weren’t the Totero on the Roanoke at the three islands at one point?
This is an interesting topic. I noticed my mother’s family surname Richardson on the list of Melungeon surnames. My mother’s family is primarily that of present day Haliwa-Saponi and mixed Cherokee lineage. I’ve been trying to trace the roots and went as far back as to the early 1700’s at Fort Christianna. But from what I’m told the Haliwa in my family adopted the name Richardson after they were Christianized. I’m still trying to find any evidence of pre-Christian names. This is a very informative topic, keep up the good work.
I’d be interested in what you’ve found going back that far. From what I’ve heard there seems to be a gap of a generation or two between the historical mention of the people at Fort Christanna, and surnames of their descendants. What are the earliest dates on your family?
In 1780-82 Benjamin, William, and John Richardson (brothers) received land grants in Halifax County, NC near the county line. According to my uncle Sam an Elder of the Haliwa-Saponi. Joseph was at Fort Christianna, he was taught at the Indian school run by Charles Griffin from William & Mary. He moved with his family to Northampton County, NC then to Edgecombe County, NC. Benjamin, William, and John could read, write, and were familiar with the legal system. I’m waiting to see what documents I can obtain besides the roster of Col. William Eaton regiment that lists 2 William Richardsons. I think it might have been William Sr., and William Jr. I also found the link in other soldiers wills, that listed Benjamin and William. It that some may have served with Benjamin Richardson, and Elijah Bass who would eventually marry his widow Mary Bass who was also a Bass before her first marriage. Elijah and Mary were both the great grandchildren of John Bass who married the Nansemond Keziah Elizabeth Tucker. I’m planning on making a trip to Hollister, NC were the Haliwa reside (were my parents and extended family are) to obtain what documents W.R. Richardson (Chief Talking Eagle and my cousin) originally hired a genealogist to conduct the research back in the mid to late 50’s.
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