Our Family's Catawba/Saponi History

Our Ties to the Catawba

DNA Test

Here is a bar graph I was sent. It shows me mostly Caucasian, but with a little Native and a little African blood, as well. Also I haven't shown the Melungeon's links to the Saponi yet -- It is coming -- I just need to find the citation again. Once I do, it'll appear here.

I know that’s not much Native heritage, but it is present. Three percent (3%) is 3/100, which is close to 3/96, which is 1/32. There is a margin of error saying it could have made my DNA saying I had as much of about 1/8 to as small as 1/128th Native DNA. It is not a lot, but it is there. I had to stay in the background. Being raised in Oklahoma, there are full bloods everywhere. All I could do was say, “I ha ve a little Indian blood, not much.” I don’t want anyone to think I am anyone or anything special. At the same time I think I’ve found few things I’d like to share. I am just trying to record history that might get lost, otherwise. People in the east of mixed race were allowed to say “I’m American Indian” – but if you were from Oklahoma –well a person who is mostly Caucasian would basically become the definition of a “wannabe” – I knew I’d look like an idiot if I said that! 😊 Dad took me to Southern Plains style pow-wows by the time I was 6 or 8 years old. But we always just watched, never participated. Now that I am an old man, old habits still die hard. I have learned a lot through the years.

Eventually I was put in contact with Dr. Thomas Blumer. He spent his life researching the Catawba. He told me about the Catawba who came to Oklahoma. I was surprised that my ancestors had lived EVERYWHERE he said the Oklahoma Catawba went. I realized that although some of my ancestors might have been Cherokee as we had always thought, it was easier to find a link to the Catawba (and Associated Bands). Over the years, I quit trying to find Cherokee ancestry, and started researching the history of the Catawba and Associated Bands.

I remember once my dogs, I had 2 at the time, started barking like crazy. I went in the back yard only to see them standing over a dead opossum. I went over, & picked him up by his tail. He jerked just a little showing me his VERY sharp teeth. I thought nothing of it, as many freshly dead animal might jerk a little. It immediately went back to not moving, appearing to be dead. I dropped him/her over on the other side of the fence. An hour or so later I remembered the phrase “playing possum”. So I went over to where I had dropped him, and sure enough, he was gone. Hmmm . . . I’d been out-smarted by a marsupial. I put him in the one place that that he most wanted – the one place that would save him from my dogs. But things could have gone differently. He could have bitten me when I picked him up. I got a good look at his teeth while holding him and they looked VERY sharp. 😊 However my dogs would have then killed him. As we act, others react. And those reactions could help or do harm. We are all at the mercy of others. Finding Dr. Blumer took me down the road I most needed to discover. I am very fortunate that this happened.

I don’t want to be considered as stealing someone else’s culture, but I also don’t want to see that culture vanish forever. I sometimes feel damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.

I have been creating blogs entries of my research. I have created 112 blog essays, the first being in January, 2013. My blog essays have been visited 127,652 times, as of today, 21 Apr 2021. So someone is reading it. I’d appreciate criticism. I won’t learn to do better without it.

Others

Per old photos, my Gist/Guess ancestors DEFINITELY were Native American, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Cherokee – it could be Catawban. It’s complicated. If you want me to go into it, I can. Here is a link to old family photographs. Go to the end of this blog entry for the old photos. http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2019/06/httpswww.html . [Note: The only way I have gotten these links to work is to select the entire phrase, then click the “ctrl” key followed by hitting the “enter” key.]

The Brown’s also might go back to the Catawba or Cherokee. There is an enrolled Cherokee Nation (based in Tahlequah) genealogist that thinks my Brown’s go back to John Brown Jr. found on the Reservation Rolls. I find my first known/proven Hawkins’ as a small child in Cherokee County, Al. According to 1880 census, he was born in 1835. That was before the “Trail of Tears”, so his parents might have been intruders. Cherokee County, Al. is at the southern end of the Cherokee Nation. We don’t have a photograph of him, and only one photo from a distance exists of his son, my grandpa. He looks darker complected than the man standing next to him, but you really can’t make him out. That same 1880 census says his parents were born in Alabama -- we don’t know who they were. Our Wood & Hamilton ancestors lived at the exact location the Monacan lived, but that probably is a coincidence. They passed right through the region Jefferson said he saw Indians passing by and stopping at a mound on his land. My ancestors moved from one place to another in Virginia about that exact time. But it is just wild speculation that those Jefferson might have been my ancestors. It might be that none of these were Native Americans. I want to make this report mostly about my Wayland ancestors. I am showing only Catawban ancestry that I am comfortable discussing here. Here goes.

Richey, Wayland, & Gibson

My Wayland ancestors are interesting. They can be traced, thank God! My first known Wayland in America was named Nevil Wayland, 1745-1806. He was born and christened as a baby at St. John’s Church, in Cashel, County Tipperary, which is in the middle of Ireland. His parents were Englishmen who had settled in Ireland. He came to America during the Revolutionary War, and lived in South Carolina. It was written that he witnessed Charleston, South Carolina burn to the ground in 1780. From the letters he wrote it is obvious he was well educated. They put him on the Quartermaster’s staff and wrote that he was “a driver of horses and cattle to the troops on the Indian line.” It was written that some Catawba were also in/near Charleston when it burned, and it was also said the Catawba were with the soldiers facing the Cherokee in western South Carolina. It was said the Catawba confused the Cherokee until the Cherokee realized the Catawba all wore a deer’s tail so the South Carolina militia wouldn’t confuse the them with the Cherokee. In those days it took a minute to load and shoot a musket, so they had time to make sure of whom they were facing. It was also said that the troops purchased some cattle and other livestock from the Catawba. South Carolina archives have about thirty documents that mention my ancestor. I sent for and have copies of them.

It was said of his wife, Keziah Gibson, that she was a Saponi Indian. There are records of some Saponi serving on the Revolutionary side, who were also called “Catawba” who had the surname "Gibson".. The Saponi were a band of the people commonly known as Catawba Indians.

When I was looking for Nevil Wayland's wife I noticed "Gibson's surrounded our family in both southwestern Virginia and Arkansas. Upon realizing this, and knowing her name was "Keziah", I was told the following in an email. The person emailing me was a Melungeon Gibson researcher, and first suggested my Kezziah might be the same Keziah/Cusiah mentioned below--

If your Kezziah is a Gibson she is likely the daughter of Thomas and Mary Gibson of Henry County, Virginia. The Champ Gibson [below] moved to Rockingham Co., NC and some of his descendants are

found in Hawkins Co., Tenn.

HENRY COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Will Book ? pp30-31

Dated 3 January 1780

Probated 23 March 1780

To my loving wife Marey Gibson and my daughter Cuzziah Gibson my whole estate.

Thomas (x) Gibson

Zackeriah King, Joel Gibson and Lambert Dotson executors. 23 March 1780. Exhibited by Joel Gibson who gave bond with Lambeth Dodson and Champain Gibson as his securities.

I think...but can not prove... that the Humphrey (see below) name came from Moses Humphrey who married to Frances Gibson, daughter of Thomas Gibson d. 1734 in Hanover Co., Va. Francis Gibson Humphrey was the sister of Valentine Gibson:

SURRY CO. NC TAX LISTS 1771 (alpha)

Jacob Gibson

William Gibson

Humphrey Gibson 1 [also 1772]

Valentine Gibson 3

James Shepherd 1

This should read, "Lewis Humphrey married to Francis Gibson". Moses Humphrey is the one that had land on Newman's Ridge Hawkins Co., TN, Deed Book 11, p. 273. James Johnson to Vardeman

Collins, Registered 27 May 1825. 25 February 1825. Each of Hawkins Co., TN. $400. 75 acres situated on Blackwater Creek, part of a 300-acre tract entered by said Johnson & Moses Humphreys, beg. at a white oak and hickory on Vardeman Collins' line. – end of email --

So other researchers brought this possible Melungeon Gibson connection to my attention. Notice above Frances Gibson, wife of Lewis (or Moses?) Humphrey. Also notice Frances was sister to Valentine Gibson. Notice both were son/daughter of Thomas Gibson. Also we see Humphrey Gibson living next to Valentine. This is in the 1770s. This is a known Melungeon family, known to have been descended from a band of the Catawba.

Gibson’s and Wayland’s in Arkansas – Various Documents

1830 census, Lawrence County, Arkansas

#4, 1

James Gibson 10001, 10001 <=> 1 male, 1 female 0-5, 1 male 1 female 20-30.

Next door to James Gibson is William Wayland.

William Wayland, 020001, 30100100001 <=> 2 males 5-10, 1 male 30-40 years old. 3 females 0-5, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 30-40, 1 female 80-90 years old. The elder female would have been born about 1740-1750 – and Nevil Sr. was born in 1745. Is the elder female Keziah? William would have been born between 1790-1800.

#4, 4

Nevil Wayland Sr. 0011101, 0011001 <=> 1 son and one daughter 10-15, 1 son and one daughter 15-20, 1 son 20-30, 1 male and one female 40-50. Nevil (Jr.) would have been born between 1780 and 1790.

12 names later

Henry Wayland 01001001, 0011001 <=> 1 male 5-10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female 15-20, 1 male 20-30, 1 female 40-50, 1 male 50-60 meaning he was born between 1770 and 1780.

#4, 6

Francis Wayland 2010001, 1112001 <=> 2 males and 1 female 0-5, 1 female 5-10, 1 male and 1 female 10-15, 2 females 15-20 years old, 1 male and one female 40-50. Francis and is wife are several years, most likely, older than William.

#4, 9

Nevil Wayland Jr., 200001, 0001 <=> 2 males under 5, 1 female 15-20, one male 20-30. Was he a son of Nevil or Henry?

Nine names down –

Samuel D. Gibson, 0001001, 00101001 <=> 1 female 10-15, 1 male 15-20, 1 female 20-30, 1 male 40-50, 1 female 50-60.

1840 census, Lawrence County, Arkansas

#4, 11

Henry Wayland 201001, 00011

8 names later

Robert Gibson 00001, 20001

2 names later

William Gibson, 00001, 10001

4 names later

Humphrey Gibson 020001, 001001 (Notice this name -- Humphrey Gibson, but in Arkansas living near our Waylands in 1840. Recall a couple of generations earlier, in the 1770s, we have Humphrey Gibson who was related to “Cusiah Gibson”, who also was a daughter of Thomas Gibson.

#4, 16

William Wayland 10010001, 10300010001

4 names later

Sarah Wayland 0001, 00001001

2 names later

James Wayland 00001, 00001

1840 Census, Prairie, Washington County, Arkansas

Francis Wayland 10100001, 0110001 <=> Washington County, Arkansas borders Northeastern Oklahoma. Francis was the last of the four Wayland brothers to move west, the others being Nevil Jr., Henry and William. It is one of his descendants that took the same DNA test that I took, that showed he too, was multi-racial.

Before the Tuscarora and Yamassee Wars at the beginning of the eighteenth century, all the people were commonly referred to as “Yesah” in Virginia and “Esaw” in South Carolina. After the Tuscarora/Yamassee Wars, the survivors became known as Catawba seeing as how the Catawba were the largest surviving band of the Esaw/Yesah people. War, the slave trade, and several small pox epidemics had killed most of the people. I have written a short essay on the effects of small pox on the Catawba. https://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/05/small-pox.html Many bands disappeared at the time of the Tuscarora/Yamassee wars. Only the Catawba, Saponi, Cheraw and Pedee are mentioned very much after that date. By the 1740s some went North after the remnants of the Tuscarora to live with the Iroquois – they were called “Tutelo” and historically were often closely allied with the Saponi. They were absorbed into the Six Nations. I don’t know if they were later referred to as Mingo, or Seneca of the Sandusky, or not. I’ve heard Seneca of the Sandusky and the Mingo are now affiliated with the Seneca-Cayuga of Oklahoma, from different sources, but I am not sure if that is true or not. It was said of the “Seneca of the Sandusky”, that “there wasn’t a Seneca amongst them.”

Wayland’s in Scott Co, Va

On March 8th, 1796 Nevil Wayland Sr. is recorded as purchasing 50 acres “lying in Russell County on both sides of Copper Creek, beginning on a conditional line between John McClellan and James Gibson.”. This land later was to become Scott County.

The last date mentioned before Nevil Sr’s. death is October 7th, 1806. On the February court docket of 1807 it mentions “Nevil Wayland, the deceased . . .” A list of his possessions is mentioned. He owned 3 heifers, 1 cow and 1 calf, 17 hogs, 1 roan mare and 1 black mare, 11 geese and 15 ducks. He also owned some blacksmithing and assorted tools, pewter bowls and eating utensils, and assorted other items. But it also says he owned “one tomahawk.” It doesn’t say one hatchet or axe – it says “tomahawk”. He was born in Ireland. Where did he obtain a “tomahawk? Well, it is said his wife was a Saponi Indian.

Melungeons

The place where my Waylands lived in Scott County, Virginia is often referred to as the homeland of the Melungeons. A 1948 Smithsonian document mentions this. It is entitled; Surviving Indian Groups of the Eastern United States . Pp. 407-438; Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1948. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office; by William H. Gilbert Jr., Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. I have transcribed that document here; http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/surviving-indian-groups-of-eastern.html

There is a section on the Melungeons of northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, both. Gibson is one of the major surnames listed. It was known in 1948 these people were mixed race, being part Native American. Look up the French verb, “mélanger" (meaning “to mix”), online. Some sites will conjugate it. You will find "we mix" is translated as "nous mélangeons" in French.

Were there Frenchmen in Virginia and the Carolina, next to Catawban speaking people? I have found three references. 1.] The French Huguenots arrived at "Manikin Town in 1701. One person wrote online; Most of my Huguenots came into Manikin Towne, Virginia on one of the five ships bringing the Huguenot refugees from London to Virginia in 1700 and 1701, according to the The Huguenot Society of the Founders of Manakin in the Colony of Virginia.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/growth/text4/frenchvirginia.pdf

The Monakin were the northernmost of the Catawban peoples, and like the Tutelo, were always closely allied and associated with the Saponi. In 1677 and an addendum in 1680 there was a "Second Plantation Treaty" in Virginia. By the time the Saponi and Manakin and others were sent to Ft. Christanna @ 1711, the two bands had rejoined -- Saponi & Manakin as one, Historical Record: 1677-80 Treaties (charlescity.org). Several other disappearing bands had united together and collectively they became known as “Saponi”. 2.] There is a book, "The Journal of John Fontaine, 1710-1719." He was a French Huguenot clergyman that visited the Saponi at Fort Christanna. My copy came from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, in 1972. It was distributed by University of Virginia Press 3.] There is another book "The Life and Adventures of Wilburn Waters” - it states he was of mixed race -- French Huguenot mixed with Catawba. These are three incidents of known French Huguenot and Catawban speakers living near, visiting or marrying into one another’s families. I also remember Dad saying he was told we had some French blood, but he always quickly followed that up by saying “I have no idea where it might have come from.” I have never seen a French surname in the family genealogy records. I share these things to show the most likely origin of the term "Melungeons". Per Occam’s Razor, it is the most likely explanation for the use of the term “melungins” that every researcher should support, at least until another explanation overtakes it. That hasn’t happened.

Most researchers agree the first known time the word “melungins” is used in a public document was in the minutes of the “Stoney Creek Primitive Baptist Church”. My Wayland ancestors attended that church and the Wayland and Gibson names are all over the minutes of that church. I found a copy of those church minutes online. I have learned through the years something online today might disappear in a few years, so I have started copying things important to me into blog entry when I get a chance. I have place those Church minutes here http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/09/stoney-creek-primitive-baptist-church.html and here http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/09/minutes-of-stony-creek-primitive.html

The Saponi

Governor Spotswood of Virginia had the Saponi and Manakin peoples sent to Fort Christanna, where both were to become known as Saponi, about 1711. It is in eastern Virginia, near the border with North Carolina was a teacher who was sent there to teach Saponi children. Eventually there was friction and the Saponi went to live with the Catawba for a short time. When they tried to return to Fort Christanna, they discovered their land given to them by Virginia Governor Spotswood, had been sold out from under them. They scattered with no place to go, and records of their whereabouts become few and far between. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Christanna

In 1739 there is mention of a Saponi camp in Craven County, North Carolina.

By 1740 it was reported that the Tutelo went north to live with their ancient enemies, Six Nations to New York and adjacent Canada.

In 1742 eleven Saponi men are mentioned in Orange County, Virginia. Their names are given as Maniassa, Captain Tom, Blind Tom, Foolish Zach, Little Zach, John Collins, Charles Griffen, Alexander Machartoon, John Bowling, Isaac, and Tom. It is interesting that 'Captain Tom' is mentioned both in 1722 at Fort Christanna and in 1742 in Orange County, Virginia. There are two other interesting names. I’d like to note that my Keziah Gibson’s parents were Thomas and Mary Gibson. Keziah was their youngest child born in the 1750s. These names are evidence that the Melungeons of Southwestern Virginia and Northeastern Tennessee early in the 19th century came from the Saponi of Fort Christanna. We have John Collins and Charles Griffen in 1742 in Orange County, Virginia. We also have the Collins family, claiming a mixed-Indian origin in NE Tn. and in southwestern Virginia who became known as “Melungeons”. We also have a teacher named Charles Griffin at Fort Christanna about 1712, and an Indian by that same name is in Orange County, Virginia three decades later, in 1742. The teacher at Fort Christanna was a White man. The other Charles Griffen was a Saponi Indian, per this report. He obviously had taken the name of the teacher, or perhaps he was his son by an Indian woman. There was a known Melungeon named “Griffen Collins” – he seems to have been the product of a union of these two families.

Richard Haithcock, who recently passed away, was a head man of a group from southern Ohio, called “Carmel Indians” because that is where they eventually settled. He mentions Saponi who are mentioned on militia rosters in 1777 during the American Revolution. He lists their surnames as Riddle, Collins, Bunch, Bolin, Goins, Gibson, and Sizemore. These men were assimilated mixed-race Native Americans.

Haithcock finds two other references and states the following surnames associated with the Saponi who by 1827, were largely assimilated and of mixed race as well. Those surnames he mentions are; Hathcock, Dempsey, Jefferies, Guy, Johnson, Collins, Mack, Richardson, Lynch, Silvers, Mills, Riddle, Austin, Hedgepath, Copeland, Stewart, Harris, Nichols, Shepherd, Gibson, Cole, Coleman, Martin, Branham, Johns, Taylor, Ellis, Anderson, Tom, Ervin, Bowling, Valentine, Goens, Sizemore, Bunch, Coker, Rickman, Whitmore, Mullins, Perkins, Harrison, Holley, Pettiford. There is a document where members of the Guy and Jeffries families, 84 individuals, asked to be allowed to come to Indian Territory/Oklahoma. I have copied this government document to the Western Catawba here http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2018/10/catawba-saponi-melungeon-ch-14.html

More Evidence the Melungeons from the borders of North Carolina-Tennessee-Virginia Border Area are Descended from bands of the Catawba

Cole family

There was a newspaper article dated Monday, 7th of October, 1901, “The Tennessean”, page 8, a newspaper out of Nashville, Tn.

It is not generally known there are Indians scattered all over the mountains of Kentucky, but in nearly every county in the eastern section may be found families named Cole, Perkens, Sizemore. or Mullins, many in some way related to “Old Billie” Cole, a Catawba Chief, who came here from North Carolina and settled in Floyd County nearly a century ago.

The biggest numbers of “Old Billie’s” descendants living in ole place is the Cole family on Big Lick Branch, in Magoffin County.

According to Jarvis Lewis, The Melungeon families also arrived in the area the same time as the Cole family. I am grateful to William Grohse for transcribing his essay. http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/some-eastern-bands-of-catawban-peoples.html I have included it as part of one of my blog entries here.

The Cole surname is also mentioned in a 1948 document about Native American families remaining in the Eastern United States. http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/surviving-indian-groups-of-eastern.html

There is a lot of nonsense online about Cherokees in Kentucky. But these people were probably Catawban, not Cherokee. And they arrived in Kentucky about 1790-1800, not before. They probably arrived about the time of the signing of the Fallen Timbers Treaty in 1796. And they arrived in the area about 1790, or 1800, not earlier. Maybe 1770 when Fort Blackmore was created; but we will never know for sure. They had mostly assimilated by this time, and were mostly of mixed race as well.

Record of Melungeon burials recorded by Will Allen Drumgoole.

Will Allen Drumgoole wrote a lot of nonsense about the Melungeon families. However she did say something of interest about Melungeon cemeteries. She wrote an article in March, 1891 entitled "The Malungeons" for "The Arena". In it she introduced the idea that the Melungeons might be of Portuguese extraction. These articles by Will Allen Dromgoole and others have caused much confusion through the years, over the origins of the Melungeons.

It is interesting to note that the Catawba in Oklahoma wrote Congress in 1896 a letter asking for recognition. Only five years before this Ms. Drumgoole had called the Melungeons a bunch of Portuguese! Congress wrote a long letter as to just why we shouldn’t be recognized. I transcribed the entire document and have already provided a link to it. A main part of it was summed up in one paragraph. Namely, Congress wrote the following to the Western Catawba Indian Association;

"I have to say that it is the policy of the government to abolish the tribal relationship of the Indians as fast as possible, and to settle each Indian upon a separate tract of land that he can call his own, to the end that he may become self-supporting and independent of government bounty. It would not be in keeping with this policy, I think, to gather up people who happen to have more or less Indian blood in their veins and are living among the Whites, separate and apart from Indian communities, and incorporate them into a tribe and place them upon an Indian Reservation."

Did Ms. Drumgoole’s writing have any effect on Congress’ response? I hve no idea. Maybe they would have responded as they did no matter what.

But the following from Ms. Drumgoole’s writing is interesting. She said something about Melungeon cemeteries that caught my attention:

Near the schoolhouse is a Malungeon grave-yard. The Malungeons are very careful for their dead. They build a kind of floorless house above each separate grave, many of the homes of the dead being far better than the dwellings of the living. The grave-yard presents the appearance of a diminutive town, or settlement, and is kept with great nicety and care. They mourn their dead for years, and every friend and acquaintance is expected to join in the funeral arrangements. They follow the body to the grave, sometimes familes, afoot, in single file. Their burial ceremonies are exceedingly interesting and peculiar.

This reminded me of Native American cemeteries in Eastern Oklahoma. I have placed Ms. Dromgoole’s article, in its entirety, at the bottom of the following blog entry. https://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2020/10/surviving-indian-groups-of-eastern.html?showComment=1618937227002#c3693051806684510916

But please remember the article about the Cole family was written in 1901, AFTER Congress had rejected the Western Catawba’s plea for recognition.

Back to My Wayland Family

My ancestors from the region where the Melungeon families wemt to Arkansas in 1815. There is a book that mentions us entitled “Pioneers and Makers of Arkansas”, p 339-342 by Josiah H. Shinn, A. M., about the early settlers of Arkansas. It also speaks of a man named Abraham Ruddell who as a child when he was captured and made a slave by the Shawnee. The book speaks of Abraham Ruddell. In 1780 his home on the Holston River was attacked, He was taken by the Shawnee, and early on he was treated like a slave. But later it states he fought at Tecumseh’s side. Other records of his life say lived for 16 years as a slave of the Shawnee, was treated terribly the whole time, being freed only after the Treaty of Fallen Timbers ending the wars of that era came to an end. This was about 1795 – I might have that year wrong. I do not know which version of this story to believe. I have to question parts of this story as Tecumseh came to prominence after during the War of 1812 I don’t know if the part about Ruddell knowing Tecumseh is true or not. Maybe he knew a youth named Tecumseh and the origins of him learning to be a great warrior. I just don’t know enough about it. It goes on to say Ruddell went to Arkansas in 1816 and settled in Independence County, which is the area around Batesville.

My own ancestor, William Wayland, was said to have been “overseer” of a road going to Batesville in 1819. There were four Wayland brothers who went to Arkansas; Henry, Nevil Jr., Francis, and William. Why do I mention Abraham Ruddell at all? Well continuing with the narrative of this story, we have;

. . . In the same year that Ruddell passed away [vances note:1840], in the last days of August another settler who came in with Ruddell in 1816, but who settled in what is now Lawrence County, died and was buried, not with his fathers, but in a new graveyard in the west. His name was Nevill Wayland and he left children to perpetuate his name ….

Well, it sounds like at least one of the four Wayland brothers knew a man who might have known a young Tecumseh. Since my ancestor was an “overseer” on a road going to Batesville – and Abraham Ruddell settled in Batesville – maybe William, my ancestor, knew Abraham Ruddell, too. 😊

One more thing. From that same book, on pages 113 &114, it lists all the elderly people according to the Arkansas census records. One name they record is “Mrs. Wayland” saying she is between 70-80 years old. In the home of my William Wayland is an elderly female between 70nd 80 years old. That could be Keziah (Gibson) Wayland, making her birth about 1750ish. She's the one we've been told was Saponi Indian.

Methodist Church in Arkansas

In “Chronicles of Oklahoma Article; Volume 7, No. 4, December, 1929” is mention of the first church founded in Indian Territory, which at the time included much of Arkansas. Here is an excerpt from that article;

From Jewell’s history, we are informed that the local preacher, Eli Lindsay, while on the Spring River Circuit, preached at points on White River, Little Red River, Strawberry River and Spring River. The point we are making here is that, Little Red River is south and west of White River, and therefore in the Indian Territory, when the White River was the dividing line between Arkansas and Indian country.

From “Lawrence County, Arkansas Historical Journal”, Summer 1982 – Volume 4 – Number 3, History of Methodism in Walnut Ridge:

. . . Here it should be noted that Walnut Ridge Methodist Church has drawn some if its most staunch Methodists and strongest leaders from pioneer families in the western district of Lawrence County. It will be remembered that the Spring River Circuit, which includes part of Western Lawrence County, was the first pastoral charge organized in Arkansas in 1815 by the Rev. Eli Lindsey. It was this same year that Nevil Wayland came to Arkansas and his son, Jonathan Wayland. They, with Hugh Rainwater and Terra Stuart and their families, organized a Church on Flat Creek. Jonathan Wayland became a local preacher and so did Hugh Rainwater.

To the present generation of Waylands and Rainwaters (many of whom have held membership in Walnut Ridge) belong the distinction of being descendants of the first Methodist Church organized in Arkansas.

So some of our Wayland ancestors helped organize the first Protestant Church in Indian Territory, when that territory included much of Arkansas.

Fort Gibson, Bean’s Rangers, 1832

Here is a roster of the first troops at Fort Gibson, who were called “Beans Rangers”.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgs/roster_of_beans_rangers.htm

That roster includes two Wayland boys, James and Jarrett. They were first cousins of each other. My direct ancestor, Sarah Ann Wayland, was also their first cousin. They descended from Henry Wayland, Nevil Wayland Jr., and my Sarah from William Wayland.

“Act of Congress approved June 15, 1832, authorized the President to raise a battalion of 600 mounted rangers to serve on the frontiers.” Rangers were to be “Active men, under 40 years of age, capable of enduring all the fatigues of arduous service.” The following list from the National Archives was made from the first muster rolls at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Most of the men were enlisted by Jesse Bean from his own Batesville, Independence Co., Arkansas area. Possibly many were future Oklahomans.

In June, 1834 the name of Captain Jessee Bean is listed as among the officers of troops leaving in July 1834 on the “Pawnee Expedition”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Dragoon_Expedition This was also called “The Dragoon Expedition” and was the famous expedition that made the first contact between the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita Tribes (often referred to as “Pawnee Picts” at this time in history) and the United States Army. Since Jessee Bean was on this expedition, you can assume so were Bean’s Rangers. That would include two of my great-great-grandma’s first cousins were there too, the Wayland cousins. Also on this expedition were Tahsee, who was Sequoyah’s brother, Jessee Chisholm, for whom “the Chisholm Trail” was named and David Melton, who was one of the signers of the Cherokee Act of Union for the “Old Settlers” faction. I mention the Melton’s because they lived practically next door to my Brown’s in Northern Alabama, along the south side of the Tennessee River. But I am sharing my connection to the Catawba, and not possible ties to the Cherokee. Also on the expedition to southwestern Oklahoma was Nathan Boone, son of Daniel Boone. There is a historic marker just to the north of where I live (Altus);

Another of my ancestors was named Joseph Richey. In a book entitled “Arkansas Mexican War Soldiers” we have the following: Historical Highlights by Jay Brent Tipton.

The Arkansas Gazette on June 25, 1846 reported that “a company of volunteers (mounted gunmen) from Lawrence County led by Capt. J. S. Ficklin arrived at Little Rock and took the road to Fort Smith where they are destined for service on the Arkansas frontier. The Lawrence County troops, Company C, Arkansas Battalion Infantry and Mounted Rifles were officially mustered into U. S. service at Fort Smith on July 6th, 1846, and were sent to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory. . . Company C, along with the other companies of the Battalion, was mustered out of service on April 20th, 1847 at Fort Gibson. Even though they did not face the Mexican Army, these men served Lawrence County, Arkansas and ultimately the nation by volunteering and remaining at their station.”

I mention this because it mentions brothers, David and Joseph Richey, in the roster of troops belonging to Company C, mentioned above. I am a direct descendant of Joseph. Joseph Richey married Sarah Ann Wayland, who was of mixed Catawban ancestry. They were also one set of my great-great-grandparents.

Photos of my ancestors can be found here. At the bottom of the blog entry. https://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2019/06/httpswww.html

There was a Dust Bowl project known as “Indian/Pioneer Papers in the 1930s. My great uncle was interviewed and here are excerpts of what he said;

http://vancehawkins.blogspot.com/2019/06/httpswww.html

Now the Indian Pioneer Papers were written during the 1930s, and elderly pioneers were asked what life was like in the Indian Nations. My great uncle was interviewed August 23rd, 1937. I transcribed what he wrote. The interviewer wrote the following about our family; “My parents were natives of Arkansas and grew up near Fort Smith which was just across the line from the Indian Territory . . . After they were married in the year 1872, they moved into the Indian Territory, and settled either in Sequoyah or Leflore County. I do not know on which side of the Arkansas River they lived.” Well this is exactly where Dr. Blumer had said those Catawba settled. In “A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma” by Muriel Hazel Wright; said the same -- she states in her section on the Catawba that in 1897 a group tried to form a “Western Catawba Indian Association” in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She also stated, “The descendants of some of the Catawba who settled in the Choctaw Nation are now absorbed into the Indian population of Haskell and Le Flore Counties.”

Now dad’s (1915-1992) family lived next door to his grandparents (1851-1926 & 1854-1932) farm. Mama’s (1915-2002) family was raised next door to dad’s grandparents, on the other side. Dad never said a thing to me about them wanting to sign up for Dawes Rolls (they were living in the Chickasaw Nation at the time), but mama did. She said she heard the Richey’s (dad’s grandparents) talking about it to her parents, and she said she overheard dad’s grandparents talking to her parents, She told me the Richey’s said they went to enroll, even got the paperwork -- but “something happened” (she didn’t know what), and they got upset or mad about something, and never returned for a second session. So we are not on the rejected rolls, either.

Well this is enough of an introduction. I am 68 years old, and I want people to realize there are many people who are not “wannabes”. Some of us are not trying to appropriate someone elses culture – we would rather think of us as reviving a dying culture. If it can’t be revived (which seems to be the case), at least I’d like to record it. That’s all.