I am trying to find anyone out there that may have more pictures, history, information on my 2nd great grandmother Mahala Melvina Love. BIRTH 6 JUL 1855 • Perry, Pike, Illinois, United States. DEATH 6 JUN 1940 • Green River, Emery, Utah, United States. It’s told that she was given to her father Charles Love, unsure of her birth mother (none listed on death certificate); though she was raised by Charles wife Anne Eliza Miranda James. Her picture which can be found on Ancestry.com has been shown and confirmed of her look being Cherokee..but we are unable to find any proof of documentation to confirm, this is my goal.
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If you have lore that claims a young female was “adopted” by a certain family, then the only way to prove this is through specific documents that either confirm the specific arragement or lineage, or a DNA test confirms relationships to known descendants of identified couples. In the case of Native American ancestry along specified lines, mtDNA or Y-DNA test can absolutely confirm straight maternal or paternal lineages (Native American haplogroups are very distinct).
However, you’ve got one element that doesn’t make much sense, which is: a daughter born in 1855 in Pike, IL that was supposedly Cherokee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_County,_Illinois
That isn’t anywhere near Cherokee communities in the 1850s. The majority of the Cherokee population was in Indian Territory at that time (now Oklahoma), and few tribal members would be moving away from those lands. The few exceptions would be mostly mixed bloods moving around looking for work, but their numbers were still extremely small. This could be general labor, ranching, etc. So, you might find a few Cherokee cowboys working in Kansas or Texas, or various ranching areas near Oklahoma. Or, a few moved west during Gold Rush era, and some worked on railroads. Things of that nature. To find an aberrational Cherokee family or individual living in Pike County, IL at that time period would be like a statistical outlier situation, or a needle in a haystack scenario. And even having a White couple – in any location – that supposedly “adopted” a Cherokee child is highly uncommon anyway. The myth of Cherokees “giving away” their kids is a genealogical trope. It normally covers for illegitimate parentage or less tragically romantic scenarios. The claim of a mysterious “Cherokee baby” being adopted by a White family was usually a cover story, in other words.
In any event, the fact that you are trying to confirm family lore still requires real evidence. Without actual documents confirming adoption or parentage, the only thing you can do is find living maternal descendants and see if you can get these cousins to take a DNA test (mtDNA). Fortunately for you, this Mahala Love had many daughters and has MANY living female-line descendants. Here are just a few links to help you out. I’ve included a few public find-a-grave links, and living daughters/grandaughters are mentioned in some of these. However, you’ll need to do just a bit more digging to find your cousins addresses and phone records would. If you reach out to them and explain that you are a relative through the Mahala Love line, you might be able to get some DNA test results (if they are amenable to that research).
Mahala Melvina (Love) Lance
Birth: Jul. 6, 1855
She had 5 daughters:
Mahala Melvina Lance 1874–1954
Mary Eliza Lance 1880–1952
Alice Jane Lance 1884–1942 daughters: Vera LaRue, Pearl (twin), Preal (twin), Ada May, Melvina Jane, Wilma, Eva Alice, Charlotte
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22443358
Pearl Hanks:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=96957948
Clara Melissa Lance 1887–1985 daughter: Georgia Bosen —living maternal descendants: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33706440
Elvira Anne Lance 1892–1966 – no female descendants .
If Mahala was Cherokee through her mother, then, her straight-maternal descendants should have HG A, B, C, D, or X. If it is not, then her mother was not Cherokee. And in that case, you could possibly compare results to known Charles Love and Anne James family descendants.