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I am looking for information on my fathers side of the family. My g grandfather Andrew Jackson Gill was born May 3 1891 in Shelbyville, TN. His daughter is Willie Henderson Gill, my grandmother. She was always told by Andrew that they were Blackfoot indian. This wasn’t something that she ever questioned. Now I am researching our family geneology and have found the term Blackfoot used in reference to many tribes from many places. My family is of African American decent and from Tennessee. I have seen claims that many slaves (as my family was) intermarried with Cherokee and called themselves Blackfoot. The Cherokee sites I have visited tell me this isn’t true and sent me to a Melungeon site. That site told me I was in the wrong place. I’m not concerned with putting a label on my family, I just want to know where we come from and what our heritage is. I have hit many a brick wall searching regular geneology sites, black sites, slave records etc. So now I’m searching for my next move.
My family surnames are:
Champ~Kentucky (Montgomery Co.) > Ohio
Gill~Tennessee (Bedford Co.)
Campbell~Tennessee (Bedford Co.)
Henderson~Tennessee (Bedford Co.)
Reed~ Kentucky (Bath Co.)
Thank you. Any suggestions or assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Vicki Champ
Hi Vicki, have you tried the national archive web page. They have a searchable data base for the dawes rolls. Some members of the “five civilized tribes” Cherokee being one, owned slaves. Before and after emancipation some slaves became members of the tribe they were living with. Some of these former slaves are listed on the rolls as such.
Rod
Well, it’s not much as I’ve had a great deal of trouble locating them, but here is what I do have:
Willie (Willy) Henderson Gill b. 28 Oct 1932 Shelbyville, Bedford, TN. Migrated to Ohio. Still living. My grandmother.
Her father:
Andrew Jackson Gill b. 3 May 1891 Shelbyville, Bedford, TN.
d. June 1973 (same location)
1910 census – age 18 – listed as the stepson of Ernestine and Thomas Claybourn. GILL, ANDREW (1910 U.S. Census) Tennessee , BEDFORD, 7-DIST, Age 18, Male, Race: Mulatto, Born: TN Series: T624 Roll: 1490 Page: 90
1930 census-age 38-listed as Head of household with wife Hattie Lee (Campbell), and 5 children
Georgia Mavorene 12 (listed as SON but I know this is false)
Mary L. 9
Andrew J. 7
Thomas A. 4
Ernest (Oliver) 6months (?)
Also listed Willy Henderson 55 (Hatties mom)
The Kids:
Georgia Mavorene Gill b. 10 Feb 1928 S.B.TN. d. 1980
She went by Mavorene.
(Oliver) Ernest Gill is still living.
Willy Henderson Gill hadn’t been born yet.
I have no info on the other children, as my grandmother has made no mention of them (odd) so I will call and ask her about it.
As far as the Gill name, I am still not sure if it was Andrews mothers surname or the name of the people she was a servant for. Mama Champ (Willy Gill) Believes it was the name of her “employer” but since slavery had been abolished by mid 1800’s one would assume Ernestine would have taken a surname by then. (though she may have just kept their name) Can’t find any info on her other than what is listed above.
Well, sorry I don’t have more to offer. I’m still looking.
Campbell and Henderson are fairly common names among Cherokees, but I don’t have much info on those lines either other than Hattie Lee and Willy.
O.K. So I’ll post if I find anything new, and please do let me know if you come up with anything. Not just on my Gills, but on Gills in general as well.
(this is my longest post EVER!)
Thanks~Vicki
P.S. Last night I found proof that my gg grandfather is Mikmaq and was registered with his tribe! (on my mothers side)
I don’t recognize any of the names, but Tennessee is a major area for the Blackfoot ID and some of those families do fit the pattern strongly, so there’s that much, anyway.
About the names picked up after slavery. Robert Ball did a book, “Slaves in the Family” where he traced back the copious documents his old, slaveholding family had, then found descendants of his family’s slaves and he was surprised how seldom they took the Ball name. Virtually, none of them took it. it was kind of like, they’d take any name BUT that. Makes sense when you think about it.
How were you able to confirm the Miqmaq? Congratulations.
Linda:
The proof on my gg grandfather, William Melvin Smith came after a lot of hard work…and then a stroke of luck! I found a William Smith in the Census records listed as “indigenous” and being born on a reservation in Manitoba. So I called my mother to let her know and see if we could find a connection..proof that is was our William. I’m still not sure what it was, but something about it jarred a memory loose for her. William was married to Ethel MacCellan. Ethels sister was Electra. My mother recalled going to visit with Electras daughter Minerva and her husband as a child. So my mother called her mother. Wouldn’t you know it (as complicated as this connection was) my Nana remembered them and their names. So Mom looked them up in the phone book! They remembered her right away and had all kinds of stories to tell about the family! They confirmed that William was born on a reservation in Canada, and was an active member of his tribe. And since Williams son, Harold had lived on their property for quite a few years before he passed away, they still have the documents! Mom and I are taking a trip this weekend to visit with them and make copies of the documents as well as some pictures. Very exciting! A complicated story…not sure if I told it in an easy to understand way or not…but there it is.
Chrystal: So far I have only traced the Gills to Tennessee. I have no idea where they were before that.
Family stories….Unfortunately my parents split up when I was only about 2. My mother came back to Maine, my father stayed in Georgia. I have just begun (at 28) to get to know that side of the family. I am just starting to feel a real connection to them. So I don’t have much for family stories from them yet..Mama Champ and I have spent a few hours on the phone, but covered the past 28 years (she’s never actually seen me!). We are planning a family reunoin. It is very important to all of us to get to know eachother. Apparently they are all very close knit and most of them live within a few blocks of eachother in Ohio, with the exception of my father who couldn’t deal with being the only boy in a family of that size, so he moved to Georgia at 19.
I am looking forward to knowing more about my family. The geneology research for my mothers ancestors is what prompted me to find out who the Champs and Gills were. My journey has just begun!
I’ll close with one of my fathers favorite expressions
“Remember, professionals built the Titanic
Amatures built the Ark”
My Dad is a poet. emchamp2.com is his webpage.
Well, this is apparently Gill week. I just heard from a lady who has Gills in her family out of KY. I’ll point her here and ask her to contact you. This happens all the time. I hear from the same surnames clustered at the same time. It happened to me and I uncovered a lot from it, so from my experience, it’s definitely the kind of synchronicity that needs to be attended to.
Happy Gill week.
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