My great aunt used to do a great bit of genealogy, and she always said we had Cherokee in our family history. I recall her saying something about one of our ancestors rescuing a Cherokee off the Trail of Tears and marrying her. She also said her grandmother or great grandmother was half Cherokee. I do believe it was her grandmother. Which makes the rescued Indian her great grandmother.
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Looking for Native American Connection to Isaac Blackhawk Goodman, born 6/17/1867 in Hawkins County, TN, died 6/4/1959 in Knoxville, TN. Our surnames are Goodman, Davis, Lawson. Family tree is in Ancestry.com. Any help is very much appreciated.
His death certificate gives the name of his father as Jackson Goodman, and mother as “UNK.”
A Jackson Goodman shows up in Hawkins Co, TN records in the the late 1830s and 1840s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkins_County,_Tennessee
Other sources show his mother as an Amanda Gill. This does look like a promising lead. Also, on Isaac’s death certificate, his place of employment is given as “Marble.” On the 1910 Census, Isaac Goodman living in Knoxville, TN is employed by the “Cotton Marble Grocery.” So, that seems to match up. This Isaac was born in VA, as were his parents.
A Goodman family headed by a John and Amanda Goodman, with son Isaac, shows up in the 1880 enumeration. They were living in Washington County, VA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_County,_Virginia
This is just north of Hawkins, Couny, TN, and not far from Knox.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_County,_Tennessee
You’ll also notice that this John Goodman was 35 years older than Amanda and he was an old fellow in 1880. Amanda remarried by 1889, (Hawkins Co.) to a man named William Hamblin. This Amanda can be found with her parents Josphe and Dorothy Gill in Washington County, VA in 1850 Census.
However, that is just speaking to the record trail itself. Here is a good source providing a little context, that parentage and lineage is still not very well-known in this family.
http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.goodman/2846/mb.ashx
While there is still a few connections that are yet to be proven by a clear paper trail, it is good to look at the historical context. The Trail of Tears was 1838-9. There were no Cherokees in southwestern TN, or even the border areas in northeast TN. Only about ~900 Cherokees of any high degree of blood stayed in western NC from 1840 onward. All other Cherokees that did not go on the trail and chose to stay in the east were of mixed blood, married to non-Cherokee spouses, and mostly found in areas closer to former Cherokee Nation (east) lands. The only recognized Cherokees enumerated on the Siler or Chapman Rolls in the 1850s were found in the following Tennessee Counties:
Polk County
Monroe Co
McMinn Co
Bradley Co
Hamilton Co
Nashville, TN
Meigs County
Being born in Hawkins Co. TN nearly 3 decades after the Trail of Tears in an area with no Cherokee families or communities would not indicate a high liklihood of Cherokee ancestry. Any connection would have to be further back, coming from communities or families further south, in traditional Cherokee locations.
The Blackhawk middle name also has to be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes American families would give unique names to their children, and this could be famous or well-known Native chiefs. An example of this would be WIlliam Tecumseh Sherman. Obviously, he wasn’t Shawnee. It was just an usual name his parents liked. Blackhawk name could be a similiar scenario. Just keep building your tree methodically with proper documentation and see where it takes you. Good luck!
Not all cherokee walked the trail of tears. Some were given land grants prior to that, such as with my cherokee family whose land was near Milan in Gibson county, Tennessee. My great grandfather x 5 fought with Andrew Jackson, along with about 500 cherokee warriors from the Tellico Plains area. Because of his loyalty to Jackson, his wife was given a land grant after he was killed at Horseshoe Bend in Tallapoosa, AL in 1814> She had to accept the land as an individual to be passed on after her death to her heirs and not as a tribal property. Which means now that none of my family are on the Dawes Final Roll, it is a bit harder to prove cherokee heritage. With the birth certificate naming the mother as uk, that could very well be your one link. Just my opinion. I”m no expert.
I know this story! She is my great grandmother and her name was Mary “Polly” Hale Sluss.. she was Cherokee and Evan Sluss (my great grandfather hid her in the crook of a tree so she wouldn’t be seen.. Evan and Mary had many children, one being my grandpa Benjamin Sluss who had my dad, Glenn Sluss
jpaden, I just discovered your post about a Fawbush relative that is or might be Cherokee. I saw your surname list has Fawbush, Hale, and Ritchie. My surname is Hale, my great great grandmother is Sarah Fawbush, Sarah’s daughter Mary Ann Hale (my great aunt) married Andrew Jackson Ritchie.
Would you have any documents of your Aunt’s supporting the Cherokee ancestry?