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Hello,
I may never find my family but I will never stop looking.
My sixth great grandfather was a “full blood” born abt. 1730 in Terrible Creek, Halifax, VA. Many believe, or want to believe he was Cherokee. I once bought into this theory until I looked at the facts. Because of the region and time period he was born, it is very reasonable to believe that he was born Saponi. The Saponi people didn’t start leaving this area until 1730-1740.
I am not certain of my grandfathers name. He married Betty Helton, the daughter of Beecham Helton. When he married he took the name Thomas Helton and moved to North Carolina. According to posts on Genealogy sites his name was Lithfuss Orlefuss Creebeck. Many refer to him as “Thomas the Indian” or the “unknown Cherokee.” I haven’t found any reference to this name anywhere else. Thomas and his family never fully left the Piedmont.
My goal is to continue to learn about the Eastern Siouan. My hope is that there are people on this forum that can help me find this lost line.
Austin Helton
Have you researched yet, what the boundaries of Halifax were in 1730? Maps changed a whole lot as they became populated with colonists. It may have been huge at that time.
Hi Linda,
thank you for replying. I have done a little research but truthfully I’m not very good at it. I have a young family and I’m always at work so finding for genealogy is hard. I found this forum by following different leads and ideas. I’m not sure that it will lead anywhere but I thought I’d try. I know very little about genealogy research. I figured the more I was able to learn the more questions I would be able to answer.
Hi Austin,
If you search the forum there are previous threads about the Helton’s and Terrible Creek:
Heltons/Hiltons of Terrible Creek
Another way people on this forum find links to more info is through common surnames. Some users create a signature with lists of their surnames so others can compare notes.
If you find other people on this forum with common surnames it may lead to more info.
Others on SaponiTown who mention the Helton surname…
Koreana – descends from Nancy Helton 1909-1977 daughter of Harmon Helton and Lydia Ann Burkhart
Jack Owl – comes from Helton family that were on the Dan River – their DNA site is ttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cherietree/HeltonFamily/heltondnaprojecthome.htm
DAJ42 – descends form Sallie Helton mother of William Henry Todd b. 9 Nov 1837 – also mentions Heltonville Indiana – named for Andrew Helton and discusses it in this thread: Holland Family Migrations: VA to GA to IN
Collins – has Lisa Louis Helton who married Dr. John Rice Hudson 1980 in Milledgeville GA in their tree
Eddie – talks about an April 15 1800 land sale on Clinch Mountain in Hawkins Co TN to John Helton
yetio – mentions Charles Helton (Hylton) who married Elizabeth Gibson just before the civil war in KY
Brenda Collins-Dillon – mention Helton in this thread: Need Facts on the Big Sandy
Don’t know if that is any help.
-Marc
Helton direct male line Saponi???
A reply from this thread on genealogyboard.com talks about Lithfuss Orlefuss Creebeck genealogy and why he is suspected to be Saponi:
It is an old Rowan court record. The Saponi had an Indian Village in Abbots Creek Rowan, Today Davidson County. A lot of Heltons in that area. The Cherokee were not in old Rowan or were they in Stokes or Orange but the Saponi came from that area. Ft. Christina was just north in VA of Orange County, NC
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