Remembering Joseph Medicine Crow, the Last Crow War Chief

Joseph Medicine Crow, the last war chief of Montana’s Crow tribe, died last year at the age of 102. A noted Native American historian, Medicine Crow was an indelible source of education and a heroic figure of the American west. Herman Viola, the curator emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, once said “When you meet Joe Medicine Crow, you’re shaking hands with the 19th century.”

Medicine Crow was the last surviving person to hear a first person account of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn. His grandmother’s brother, White Man Runs Him, was a scout for Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.

Cont. here: http://www.wideopencountry.com/joseph-medicine-crow/?utm_source=Boomtrain&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiAiMjU2YjU4ZGUtOGFiYy00MDA5LWIxNmQtNzg4ODhhYWQ3NGMzIn0%3D&utm_campaign=20170403&utm_medium=manual

© History Chasers

Indian Slavery in Colonial Times Within the Present Limits of the United States Pt. 1

New York: Columbia University, 1913

Lauber, Almon Wheeler


OF the processes in vogue among the English for the acquisition of Indian slaves, the most productive was that of warfare.1 With the exception of the Pequot War and King Philip’s War in New England, the Indian wars in the English colonies were confined to the south, and there the greatest number of Indian war captives were enslaved.


After the Indian massacre of 1622 in Virginia, there was published in London, in the same year, a tract entitled “The Relation of the Barbarous Massacre in Time of Peace and League, treacherously executed by the native infidels upon the English, the Twenty-second of March, 1622, published by Authority.” The general trend of the tract is to show the good that might result to the plantation from this disaster. Number five of the possible results reads: “Because the Indians, who before were used as friends, may now most justly be compelled to servitude in mines, and the like, of whom some may be sent for the use of the Summer Islands.”2


The policy advocated by the tract was carried out in succeeding Indian wars in Virginia. The accounts of a certain Thomas Smallcomb, lieutenant at Fort Royal on Pamunkey, who was probably killed in the war with Opechancanough, show him possessed at the time of his death, 1646, of several Indian slaves.1 It seems probable that these slaves were captives in war. After his rebellion, 1676, Bacon sold some of his Indian prisoners.2 The rest were disposed of by Governor Berkeley.3


From the beginning of the colony, the settlers of Carolina were in trouble with the Indians. In September, 1671, war was declared against the Kussoe, a tribe on the southern frontier who posed as allies of the Spaniards, and who vexed the Carolina settlers with petty depredations. The Kussoe were quickly defeated, and the prisoners sent to be sold out of the colony, unless ransomed by their country men.4 During the war with the Stono Indians in 1680, the captive Indians were brought to Charleston and sold by Governor West to the traders in the colony to be carried to the West Indies as slaves.5


The breaking out of the war of the Spanish Succession in 1701 gave Governor Moore a chance to attack the Spanish Indians, capture and sell them under the excuse of the rules of war. Therefore, in 1702, he led a force of militia and Indians against St. Augustine, burned the city, and carried off, as slaves, whatever Indians he could obtain from the Spanish Indian villages along the way.1 A second attack on St. Augustine was made by Moore in 1704, with the purpose of destroying missions and carrying off slaves.2 An advance into the territories of the Apalachee resulted in the destruction of several missions, and the capture of more than a thousand Indians, some free, some slave.3 Nearly all the Apalachee were distributed as slaves among the Carolina settlers.4 The enslavement of Indians, indeed, was carried on wholesale. A letter to the proprietors, July 10, 1708, states that “the garrison of St. Augustine is by this war reduced to the bare walls, their cattle and Indian towns all consumed, either by us in our invasion of that place, or by our Indian subjects . . . they have driven the Floridians to the islands of the cape, have brought in and sold many hundred of them, and maybe now continue that trade, so that in some five years, they’ll reduce the barbarians to a fearless number.”5 In 1708, Colonel Barnwell of South Carolina made an expedition to the Appalachian province of Florida. It is thought that this was the time when Captain Nairn of South Carolina, with a party of Yamasee Indians, advanced to the vicinity of Lake Okechobee and brought back a number of captive Indians as slaves.6 A similar expedition of Colonel Palmer in 1727 against the Yamasee resulted in the destruction of many Indian towns, the slaughter of many natives, and the carrying off of great numbers to Charleston as slaves.1


As the result of the three expeditions sent by South Carolina from 1702 to 1708 against the Yamasee, Apalachee, and Timucua of northern Florida, there was carried back to Charleston, for sale as slaves, almost the entire population of seven towns, in all, some 1400 persons.2 The captives taken in 1715 when the Yamasee and Creek Indians made a foray upon the South Carolina frontier, were sold as slaves. Mr. Johnston, a South Carolina missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in his letter to the Society, December 19, 1715, states: “It is certain many of the Yammousees and Creek Indians were against the war all along. But our military men were so bent upon revenge, and so desirous to enrich themselves by making all the Indians slaves that fall into yr hands . . . . that it is in vain to represent the cruelty and injustice of such a procedure”.3


Throughout the Tuscarora War in North Carolina, Indian captives were retained or sold as slaves.4 At the beginning of military operations, following the Indian massacre of 1711, the friendly Indians agreed to help the English against their enemy upon promise of a reward of six blankets for each man killed by them, and the usual price of slaves for each woman and child delivered as captives.1 During the course of the war several hundred Indian allies were used by the English,2 and these allies took advantage of the opportunity to obtain large number of Indian captives to sell to the slave traders of the time.


In an attack on an Indian fort in 1711, thirty-nine women and children were captured and disposed of in the settlements as slaves.3 The two chief expeditions during the war were those of Colonel Barnwell, who was sent by South Carolina in January, 1712, and of Colonel Moore in January and February, 1713. Colonel Barnwell’s expedition took two hundred Indian women and children prisoners.4 The expedition of Colonel Moore virtually ended the war by capturing the fort in which the Tuscarora had taken refuge.5 Nine hundred men, women and children were killed or taken prisoners.6 In both expeditions the allied Indians secured as many as possible of the captured Indians whom they took along with them to sell as slaves in Charleston,7 and they still further increased their supply of slaves by attacking the peaceful Indians along the route of their return to South Carolina.8 During the course of the war more than seven hundred Indians were sold into slavery.


Related article:
https://books.google.com/books?id=6aLAeB5QiHAC&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&dq=indian+slaves+eastern+seaboard&source=bl&ots=Aa6Au_uT17&sig=aDOev21-5f39OkwkJDiCeS6vtoE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAmoVChMI3ISb6qC7yAIVBKKACh0xnwqu#v=onepage&q=indian%20slaves%20eastern%20seaboard&f=false


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Melungeon Myth of Drake Dropping off Passengers on Roanoke

Melungeon Myth of Drake Dropping off Passengers on Roanoke

 By Janet Crain

A myth exists on the Internet that the Melungeons, a group of dark skinned persons of mysterious origins found living in East Tennessee two hundred  years ago descend from Turkish prisoners and sundry other non-English persons said to have been rescued by Sir Francis Drake during the sacking of Cartagena and then deserted on Roanoke Island in 1586. In truth, there is NO evidence there were any left behind there, much less several hundred. This myth was introduced in a book published in the 1990's by Brent Kennedy titled The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People : An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America. 

This book might have lanquished in obscurity on the shelves of a few Libraries and book stores had it not been for the Internet and the new found surge of interest in genealogy. Suddenly everyone fancied him or herself a Melungeon. Several Unions were held of people from various mailing lists and persons attending were happily discovering knots on the back of their head, thought to indicate Turkish ancestry. Having someone in your Family tree who possessed six fingers was a definite plus. These traits were all described in the a fore mentioned book. No one ever looked too closely into the incident said to have occurred in 1586. But that is precisely what this paper intends to do. 

 In the sixteenth century, Sir Francis Drake was one of the most famous men in England, indeed the English speaking world and beyond. He could do no wrong in his Queen's eyes. He had brought her an enormous return on her personal investment in an earlier voyage. A brilliant man in many ways, Drake was ruthless, but highly admired by the captives he had freed and the Maroons who came to his aid to help him fight and share in the rewards.  Drake was returning home from the sacking of Cartagena when he decided to visit Roanoke and dispose of some of the freed prisoners and Maroons he had acquired during his adventures. He was carrying a human cargo of some several hundred. Ivor Noel Hume in "Virginia Adventures" contends Drake highly inflated the numbers. The voyage had not been financially successful in spite of his daring and flamboyant actions. It is quite likely he was advancing his case by sending back reports of greater exploits than actually had occurred. There were reports of many nationalities released from the Spanish prisons as well as Maroons who had come in from their strongholds in the surrounding areas to help Drake as he was known to be generous with the spoils of his marauding. Alas this voyage would not compare to previous ones.

This voyage is of great interest to Melungeon researchers because this voyage in 1586 is the basis of the Turkish connection first started by statements in Brent Kennedy's book; Melungeons; an Untold Story of EthnicCleansing. It is, in fact, the keystone of the Turkish Connection Theory. Remove it and the rest crumbles. That is what I propose to do.

It is known that many of the people with him never reached Roanoke. Many died of strange fevers in Florida. These fevers were the scourge of sea travel at that time. Caused in part by the crowding together of humans in the cargo holds of ships where the fetid air trapped and spread any contagious disease like wildfire, and probably acerbated by nutritional deficiencies. In any case, reports contend that anywhere between 350 and 750 people died of these fevers. Apparently Drake intended to leave the rest of the freed Africans and South American Indians to furnish labor for the new Colony on Roanoke which he expected to have grown to some 600 English by then. In truth there were only about 100 men, badly in need of food and suffering the ill effects of their bad treatment of the local Indians. Ralph Lane was in charge at Roanoke and he accepted Drake's offer of minimal food supplies(Drake had been out a long time and was running low himself) and a ship, the Francis, capable of navigation into the bay plus other pinnaces, etc. and armament. All the supplies were loaded onto the Francis along with Lane's best naval officers. Lane wanted to stay a few more weeks exploring the Chesapeake.

Hume states:

When on June 11, the two men (Francis Drake and Ralph Lane) exchanged their unsettling news, several truths became evident; Drake was not there (as the Roanoke settlers had first hoped) to resupply the Colony; he was short of food himself and so was better able to supply guns than butter. Futhermore, Lane could not have had any desire or ability to house 250 blacks who would out number his white settlers two to one.

They came to an agreement whereby Drake would leave skilled workers, artisans, two pinnaces, several small boats and a large ship, the Francis. All the supplies were loaded onto the Francis along with the skilled mariners needed to sail such a ship. Immediately a terrible hurricano struck and it was every man for himself. The ships standing out in the roadway cut and ran, scurrying out to the deep ocean to get away from the treacherous shoals and currents, dangerous enough in good weather. The Francis was among those who sailed on to England.

Ralph Lane then accepted Drake's offer to transport the first colonists back To England. Most of the small pinnaces carrying the extra passengers had been dashed to pieces on the shoals during the storms. The Turks, known to have been with Drake, were apparently better safeguarded. They were valuable as trade for English prisoners lanquishing in Ottoman prisons. Some 100Turks were, in fact, ransomed to their homeland.

So, just who might have gone ashore before the storm hit? Many people have a hard time visualizing the scene at Roanoke. Roanoke is surrounded by very shallow waters, hence the name; Shallowbag Bay. The only way to get there was by laborious offloading of men and supplies to shore boats and threading through the one pass, Fernando Pass, and the treacherous shoals and currents made worse at times by Northwestern winds blowing directly into the Bay. The shore boats were large by our standards and equipped with a mast and sail. They required a skilled pilot and several strong sailors to row. People didn't just hop on one and go sight seeing. Only those with important business such as Sir Francis Drake and Ralph Lane who negotiated several times were transported back and forth. The rest of the fleet with the passengers on board stood out in the Roadway, the navigable waters off the Outer Banks,which wrap around this area like protecting arms.

I am saying this to lay to rest the idea of a huge number of the passengers dis-embarking and perhaps being caught off guard by the storms and staying behind. Hume and David Beers Quinn are the authorities on this period and both say there were no Turks left. Hume says no one else, Quinn, at most avery few. Left with no supplies on the Outer Banks what would they have found to eat? If the Indians had not killed them, they would have starved.

It should be noted that the Native Americans communicated by a"grapevine" so efficient that Indians in Canada knew of happenings in the Virginias. No mention of any dumped off passengers was ever made.

Additionally, there was plenty of room for these passengers to sail with Drake. Hundreds had died in the battles in Florida, from fevers, and in the hurricane. Drake was returning with more ships than he left with, having captured many. And they would have furnished badly needed labor to sail these ships back to England.

Add to this the extreme difficulty of unloading these passengers in addition to loading the Roanoke settlers, which the crew deeply resented for the delay and extra work and danger this imposed and it is highly unlikely Drake would have taken such actions in the middle of a three day hurricane.

Ivor Noel Hume says:

Thus the hurricane of June 1586 may have ripped away the first page from the history of blacks in English America.

A cruel and terrible fate for these forgotten people that historians of the time did not consider important enough to even record their fate.

Two weeks later an emergency supply ship sent by Sir Richard Grenville arrived and found no one although they searched diligently. They left to return to England. About one or two weeks later a big supply ship arrived with Grenville onboard. They were as mystified at the deserted condition of the island as the men on the earlier supply ship. They searched even further "into the main" (mainland) and as far as Chesapeake. Grenville was heavily invested in this first effort, having sold an entire estate (consisting at this time as a manor house and every type of supporting industry needed to run the estate; mills, stables, barns, houses, dairies, animals, tools, even small villages) to finance the settlement of over 100 men for over a year. It was a requirement of Raleigh's patent from Queen Elizabeth that the area be occupied continuously by English people. Finding no one and not knowing where they had gone, he left some 15 soldiers to hold the fort. Based upon later interviews with Indians, they all perished.

It is quite clear they found no one who could have been the passengers Drake was previously carrying.

As previously stated the Indians had a very effective rumor mill which carried news far and wide. It is just inconceivable that these people could have survived unnoticed when their appearance would have been a matter of great curiosity among people who had never seen African natives.

Thus it seems there is no evidence that any people were left behind in the Colony and documented evidence that 100 turks were returned to their homeland. 

Resources:

The Virginia Adventurers by Ivor Noel Hume Copyright 1994 p. 53Corbett, Spanish War. Refers to the return of 100 ex-galley slaves to theTurkish dominions.

William S. Powell, North Carolina through Four Centuries, p. 42. Refers toQueen Elizabeth's reason for returning the Turks. David Beers Quinn, Roanoke Voyages. Cites Wright in footnote regarding Turks

Wright, Further English Voyages. Source of Quinn's information about Turks.

Hakluyt Society for 1975, Second Series, No. 148, p. 202, Note 3. Sir Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage, 1585-1586. A detailed and authorative account.

Acts of the Privey Council, 1586-87, PP. 205-206. (Public Record Office[London]), PC 2/14:169) Contains a letter from the Queen's Privey Council addressed to a merchant in London, who traded with Turkey, that asks him to make arrangements for the return of 200 Turks to Turkey.

Document 10, The Primrose Journal (British Library Royal MS.7C,xvi, folders166-173. Capt. Frobisher's journal of the 1586 Drake-led voyage. MentionsTurks being aboard his ship.

David Beers Quinn Set Fair for Roanoke David Beers Quinn The Roanoke Voyages 1584-1590

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The Shepherds and Sizemore's of Eastern Kentucky

The Shepherds and Sizemore's of Eastern Kentucky

When people discuss the early history of our state, they often mention early explorers like Thomas Walker and Daniel Boone. These men forged into Native American hunting grounds to create what is now known as the Daniel Boone Trail, or Wilderness Trail. Yes, many people of Scottish and Irish decent followed this trail, but there were a few families with a more diverse heritage that came into this state. Some followed the Wilderness Trail, others came through Pound Gap. These Tri Racial families moved from the area of Hawkins County Tennessee and Wise Virginia in the early 1800s. Some, like the Sizemore's, had Native American ancestry through the Cherokee and Creek tribes, while the Shepherd's had this plus African American ancestry. 

Let's look at the Shepherds. The earliest picture I have of this family is Henderson Shepherd and his wife Louisa. Henderson was born in Wise Virginia in 1821. Both he and his wife have ancestors that came from the New River area, primarily through the maternal side. This is where we find women with no last names or history. Through the Paternal Lines, we find these families came to America in in early 1700s, possibly as Indentured Servants from England and Ireland. 

What is interesting about Henderson is the picture of him and his family. When we look at Henderson, we can see obvious European and African lineage, and his wife Louisa is said to have been part Native American. The child Henderson holds appears to be a Native American girl, while Louisa holds a little boy that is more Caucasian in appearance. In this picture, we get a glimpse of what a truly Tri Racial family would have looked like. Henderson is my 3 X Great Grandfather.

Henderson's son Clem Shepherd married Rutha Musselwhite. Rutha has ties to Wilkes County through her mother Tamar Allen. We have no evidence of what race she was or who her parents are. Her father, Worley Musselwhite, was born in Roberson North Carolina with no listed parents. My thought would be that both of her parents could be of possible Lumbee origin. And by the picture of Clem and Rutha, I think that would be a fair assumption. 

Clem would have a son named Elijah Shepherd, who would later marry Ann Jones. Their daughter, Oddie Shepherd, was my grandmother through my father.

So, let's talk about Ann Jones. Ann was the daughter of Bige Jones and Sallie Woods. Bige was the son of Civil War soldier Edward Jones and a Native American lady named Mary Polly Asher Jones. Sallie was the daughter of Mahala Sizemore-Woods and Lilburn Woods. Mahala is the daughter of Ann Pruitt and Russell Sizemore. Russell's mother was Rhoda Sizemore, daughter of George All Sizemore and Agnes Shepherd. His father is unknown. We know by pictures that the Sizemore's indeed have some degree of Native American, but so does the Woods and Jones. When we research these families, we find the same information, with ties back to areas like Wilkes County NC, Wise VA, and Roberson County NC.

 Yes, this has taken many years to put together and document with evidence. Lucky, I also have a cousin that had pictures of these people. When we put a face to the name, the story starts to unfold. Our Tri Racial ancestry is revealed before our eyes.

Mike Fields

Abijah Shepherd center. Grandson of Henderson Shepherd and great great grandson of Russell Sizemore.

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Revealing American Indian and Minority Heritage by DNA Testing and Traditional Genealogy

 It is an honor to announce the publication at JOGG by Roberta Estes, co-admininstrator on the Melungeon DNA Project. This is a peer reviewed article which has passed scrutiny by a panel of highly respected DNA experts. This paper is a must read by genealogists who are using any of the various types of DNA testing available.  -  History Chasers

Roberta Estes's new academic paper has been published as of Sunday. It's free in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy sponsored by ISOGG.

The paper, titled "Revealing American Indian and Minority Heritage using Y-line, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X Chromosomal Testing Data Combined with Pedigree Analysis" is at the link below:

http://www.jogg.info/62/files/Estes.pdf 

The index of the entire journal is available at this link:
http://www.jogg.info/62/index.html

It is a long process to publish a paper at JOGG. Roberta was invited to write this article in March of 2009 and it was submitted a year ago with final revisions in July.

It will also be on her website shortly as well at www.dnaexplain.com under the Publications tab. Lots of free goodies there too.


Abstract

As a project administrator of several historically based genetic genealogy projects, such as the Lost Colony, Cumberland Gap, Melungeon, Carolina Native Heritage and Hatteras Island projects which involve thousands of participants, I routinely receive questions from individuals who have an oral history of Native American heritage and would like to use genetic genealogical tools to prove, or disprove, their oral history.  This paper documents the various discovery steps and processes using different types of DNA testing for a typical individual participant and appropriate family members whocarry an oral Native history combined with genealogical evidence that has been forthcoming during the elapsed years since genetic testing for genealogy first because available.  Each test along with associated benefits and detriments are discussed in relation to the analysis of minority ancestry.  The conclusion combines the information from all the various tests, pedigree analysis and genealogical evidence, discussing which tests are beneficial and most accurate, and which ones are not useful, and why.

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Cherokee Nation speakers at the Funk Heritage Center in Georgia

This event sounds like a not to be missed event for anyone who can possibly attend.

The following is from an email sent out by Michael Martinez, director of the Reinhardt College Hill Freeman Library and Spruill Learning Center in Waleska, GA. These events are part of the year-long series of events at the college based on the indigenous peoples of North America:

Gene Norris, Robert Lewis, and Gina Burnett will be arriving in Waleska Wednesday evening, Jan. 13 and returning to Oklahoma on Sat the 16th. On Thursday, Jan 14, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Burnett will speak in the library on the third floor at 1 p.m. Mr. Norris will speak that evening at the Funk Heritage Center at 7 p.m. These events are free, open to the public, and no reservations are required. (Also please note that you can become a fan of the Funk Heritage Center on Facebook.)


http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Waleska-GA/Funk-Heritage-Center/149287297310?ref=search&sid=1033419362.1549261626..1

Funk Heritage Center: Gene Norris will speak in the Estelle Bennett Hughes Theater. He is a Board certified genealogist specifically trained in tracing Cherokee ancestry. He is the senior genealogist with the Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. He is also a member of the Board of Certification for Genealogists in Washington, DC, the Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc., the Goingsnake District Heritage Association, the National Genealogical Society, Member of the Board of the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Trail of Tears Association, the Cherokee-Moravian Historical Association and the Carroll County Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. He has actively been involved in genealogical research for twenty-three years and has been specifically concentrating on Cherokee genealogy since 1994.

More here:

http://trailofthetrail.blogspot.com/2010/01/cherokee-nation-speakers-at-funk.html


© History Chasers

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New Research Library Now Open

Harry Truman's hometown hosts a new site for genealogy buffs

By JUDY WILEY
McClatchy Newspapers


Travelers who've caught the genealogy bug may want to make plans for a trip to Independence, Mo. The new $8 million Midwest Genealogy Center opens May 11 and houses microfilm and microfiche with Civil War histories, American Indian records, black family history records, passenger lists, plantation records and more.

Classes will be offered, as will consultation with foreign-language experts. And if you're really wrapped up in research, there's a break room, lockers and "limited" food service. More: http://www.midwestgenealogycenter.org/

Cont. here:

http://www.miamiherald.com/814/story/528501.html

Midwest Genealogy CenterDiscover YOUR History

The Library's goal in building the Midwest Genealogy Center is to provide a fitting and appropriate facility to house the library's nationally recognized, world-class collection.

The new library will be built on about 8 acres of land at the intersection of Lee's Summit and Kiger Roads in Independence, Missouri, and will open on June 2, 2008.

The new library will cost over $8 million and is being built without an increase in library taxes.

The new library will have over 50,000 square feet of space, on two-levels (more than 4 times larger than the current space).

The new library will have ample tables, computers, and reader-printers for researchers.

The new library will have lockers, a break area, and limited food service for patrons who frequently spend entire days exploring family histories.

The new library will include several oversize parking spaces for people visiting on daytrips, or those passing through with RVs.

The library is accepting donations to make this facility become a reality.

http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/genlh/mgc.htm