Hello, I’m trying to look into my great-grandmother, Peden was her maiden name (married Issac Newton Birdsill) it was said she was Cherokee, my father who is now 78, told me a little about her, but now that his memory is failing I can’t get all the info I can get, They had a son named Clarence Birdsill which is my grandfather, in Bertha Colorado, Issac Newton Birdsill (there are actually many of the same name in the family) was the son of Ebeneezer Birdsill and many are buried in Bertha, there is even the house my great-grandparents lived in called the “birdsill house” so any info would be great. Thank you
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Isaac Newton Birdsill married Jessica Myrtle Peden in 1912, in Leadville CO. He was a silver miner and she was a maid at one of the boarding houses.
Jessica has absolutely no Cherokee ancestry whatsoever. Any family lore or claim that she was part Cherokee, or Cherokee in any degree, is totally incorrect.
She can be found on the 1910 Census, living in Boulder Colorado with her parents. She was born in 1891 in Colorado. Her parents were Reuben Peden and Martha Holmes (both born in Indiana in the 1850s). They were White Americans, not Cherokee or Native Americans.
Reuben and Martha’s grave links:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=PED&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=6&GScntry=4&GSsr=161&GRid=61555465&
Reuben can be found in the 1850 Census, living with his parents James (Jr.) and Sarah (Hunt) Peden in Worthington, Indiana. This couple was married in Indiana in 1839. James was born in Pennsylvania in 1814. Sarah Hunt was born in Ohio in 1821. The family lines can be traced back to standard colonial roots, starting from the eastern settlements and then moving west over the generations. They took a northerly route through the upper Midwest.
Reuben’s paternal lines are fully traced in a publication published in 1900. See:
The Pedens of America; being a summary of the Peden, Alexander, Morton, Morrow reunion 1899, and an outline history of the ancestry and descendants of John Peden and Margaret McDill; Scotland, Ireland, America, 1768-1900
By Eleanor Hewell
Published 1900
https://archive.org/stream/pedensofamericab00hewe/pedensofamericab00hewe_djvu.txt
Excerpt:
“James Peden (my father), married Miss Margaret Love, of Sistersville, West Virginia. To them were born ten children, as follows : Elizabeth Peden, Rebecca Peden, James Peden, Joseph Peden, Jane L. Peden, David Peden Milton Peden, Reuben Peden, Hiram Peden and William Peden. All of whom have passed over to the better land, save Hiram and the writer hereof. My mother, Margaret Peden, died August 1st, 1855, ^^^ ^y father on August 19th, 1855, just nineteen days apart. Hiram Peden resides in Anderson, Madison County, Indiana; is 76 years of age, and in feeble health. I am 80 years of age and am quite rugged for that age.”
Martha Holmes was born in Indiana in 1855. She was the daughter of Hardin Holmes (1822–1872) and Rebecca MacDonald (1825–1861).
Hardin Holmes grave:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=HOLM&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=17&GScntry=4&GSsr=1441&GRid=16790146&
Rebecca’s grave:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=HOLM&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=17&GScntry=4&GSsr=2321&GRid=16790159&
Hardin’s father, Martin Holmes, was an Indian fighter. He was a PVT with the 5th Regiment of the Indiana Militia (Infantry), during the War of 1812. These troops were part of Harrison’s Indian Campaign against Tecumseh’s Confederacy.
He was listed among the early settlers in Lawrence County, Indiana, following the war (about 1817). He was associated with Perry Township.
https://archive.org/stream/historyoflawrenc00chic/historyoflawrenc00chic_djvu.txt
Thank you, you actually gave me more about that side of the family that I had not found out yet, I am trying to get all our history together and I was having trouble thank you very much.