Finding Indian Heritage

Comments

1. jsmith says

   November 7, 2015 at 12:17 am

   You can trace back the lines pretty far on most of the branches here. I can pass on info that will be getting you back to your GGG grandparents, and dates of birth going back to the eawrly 1800s. This will be helpful to methodically review if any of them had a connection to the Cherokee people in their lifetimes.

   Here is you lineage going back two generations from Arminta (Taylor) Miller, starting from the bottom:

   Ransom Traylor
   1804 – 1882
   Elizabeth Treadwell
   1832 – 1915

   John Perrin Joyce
   1809 – 1885
   Arminty Rayburn
   1816 – 1883

   Caleb Lafayette Taylor
   1851 – 1901
   Martha Ann Joyce
   1851 – 1930

   Arminta Taylor
   1878 – 1962

   However, it is also important to clarify one thing up front. Cherokees did not force marriages. It was traditionally a matriarchal society, where women were highly valued, and this scenario would be practically unheard of in a Cherokee family or community. You probably couldn’t find one corroborated or historical example of this kind of “forced marriage” anywhere in written records or in Cherokee tribal (oral) accounts. I’ve never come across this scenario in my years of research anyway. The claim doesn’t jive with history or culture of the tribe.

   But, the real issue is trying establishing lineage. So, let’s get to down to the documents and the nitty-gritty of genealogical research, shall we? To say someone was a Cherokee, and especially a full blood Cherokee, is a specific thing. It means they come from known and recognized Cherokee families. These represent a rather small or finite number of family clusters associated with the Eastern Band community around what is now Qualla rez. However, simply living in the general area doesn’t indicate Cherokee ancestry. Even today, there are more non-Cherokees living in the area around Qualla, in several surrounding counties. Connection to the tribe and status as a Cherokee means having established lineage and tribal affiliation. There are no mysterious full blood families out there that are not known to the wider Cherokee community. So, if you can’t establish your lineage back to these families, then the full blood claim is almost assuredly not accurate. In most cases, it can be definitively proven or disproven by establishing a detailed and corroborated family tree, supported by records and other concrete verification.

   Arminta Elizabeth Taylor can be found living with her parents in the 1880 Census in Buncombe County, NC. They were listed as White. She is listed in the 1900 Census, married to Robert Miller, and living in Haywood County, NC. She is again listed as White. This racial enumeration is subjective, but it’s good to include it for context. She was not considered an Indian by those specific federal enumerators at that time period anyway.

   Her death certificate also confirms parentage as follows:

   Name Armintha Elizabeth Miller
   Gender Female
   Race White
   Age 86
   Birth Date 10 Oct 1875
   Birth Place Buncombe
   Death Date 22 Sep 1962
   Death Location Canton, Haywood, North Carolina
   Spouse’s Name Robert Lee Miller
   Father’s Name Fate Taylor
   Mother’s Name Mattie Joyce
   Residence Canton, Haywood, North Carolina

   The next step is to look at whether or not the family was connected to the tribal community. There are a number of rolls and also BIA records that enumerated recognized Eastern Band Cherokees in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. If they were tribally affiliated they should be showing up in these records.

   Caleb Lafayette Taylor and Mattie Joyce are are buried here:

   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=TAYL&GSfn=L&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=29&GScntry=4&GSsr=1&GRid=38915422&
   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=taylor&GSiman=1&GScid=48578&GRid=38916167&

   Here is there wedding certificate (summary):

   Name: C L Taylor
   Gender: Male
   Race: White
   Age: 23
   Birth Year: abt 1851
   Marriage Date: 31 Dec 1874
   Marriage Place: Buncombe, North Carolina, USA
   Spouse: Martha M Joyce
   Spouse Gender: Female
   Spouse Race: White
   Spouse Age: 23
   Event Type: Marriage

   Caleb can be found with his parents, Ransom and Elizabeth (Treadwell) Taylor, in the 1870 Census, living in Mills River, Henderson County, NC.
   His parents can be found here:
   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=TAYL&GSfn=R&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=29&GScntry=4&GSsr=81&GRid=71073581&

   Martha “Mattie” can be found wither her parents John Perrin and Arminty (Rayburn) Joyce in the 1870 Census, living in Hominy, Haywood County, NC.

   Here is Mattie’s death cert:

   Name: Martha M Taylor
   [Martha M Joyce]
   Gender: Female
   Race: White
   Age: 81
   Birth Date: abt 1849
   Birth Place: Buncombe
   Death Date: 30 Sep 1930
   Death Location: Upper Hominy, Buncombe, North Carolina
   Spouse’s Name: Widow
   Father’s name: J P Joyce
   Mother’s name: Arminty Raborn (Rayburn)

   These families were not Cherokee. They came from older colonial (European roots). Some lines are traced back quite far:

   http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/RAYBURN/2000-07/0962768472

   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=37194832

   Arminta Elizabeth was not found on the Baker Roll in the 20s, nor was her mother because they were not part of that community or recognized Cherokee lineage. They also do not show up in other Cherokee communities or BIA records, or the early 1900s rolls (e.g. Churchill) for the same reason. This Taylor family was also not found on the 1884 Hester Roll. Actually, they came into the location from parts further east, from non-Cherokee lineages.

   For context, consider that in 1870, Mattie Joyce (Arminta’s mother) was living with her parents about 45 miles away from Qualla Boundary, just outside of Ashville, NC. Her father, John Perrin Joyce, had moved to Buncombe County in the late 1820s from Rockingham, NC with his family. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockingham_County,_North_Carolina. Her mother. Arminta Rayburn (various spellings) was born in Burke County, NC and came to Buncombe County, NC with her family. By 1880, Mattie and Lafayett had married and were living in Upper Hominy, Buncombe, NC. Just east of Candler and in the same vicinity as the 1870 residence. This is on highway 151, just west of Ashville, about 45 miles east of Qualla. The reality is these families just happened to move into an area that had traditionally been Cherokee lands, and they were in the general proximity to the Eastern Band tribal communities in Qualla. However, they themselves had not connection to the tribe, were not from Cherokee families. They were living in White communities just west of Ashville, and they were White. The Cherokee community in the 1880s through the 1920s represented just a few thousand people. The full blood families number just a few dozen. It is a very distinct community to tie back to ancestrally. It is a very small ancestral pool, in other words.

   Log in to Reply

2. jjsparky says

   May 30, 2017 at 3:20 pm

   A cousin asked me about Cherokee lineage in this family a few years ago. My computer is in the shop now and I do not have access to my tree, but if memory serves me this was through Zoie or a similar name who migrated to Maryland to live with her daughter. I like it ones for something then.
   Ransom Powell Taylor ,father of Caleb Lafayette, was the brother of my GG gran Mary Taylor who married Joseph Taylor of Henderson Co NC DNA proved.
   My GG Joseph was the blood uncle of Elizabeth Libby Treadway who was the second wife of Uncle Ransom. Her parents were Arthur Treadway and Lucretia Taylor DNA proved sister of my Joseph. Both the Taylors and Treadways go back to Colonial America and fought in the Revolutionary War.
   Based on DNA of Ransom Powell’s child’s line by his first wife Mary Harris my Gg Joseph and Ransom were not related. Ransom Powell, My GG Mary, and Rev Jeremiah were children of John and Mary Taylor of Sycamore Buncombe Nc based on family records. They had a half brother John Jr. Also of Buncombe. Several are buried at Whitaker Cemetery Buncombe.
   I have a huge data base on these lines and we have many YDNA and Autosomal DNA matches and cross matches for the Taylor and related lines. The only connection to Cherokees that I can remotely think of is possibly My Mary, Ransom, and Jeremiah were adopted by John ,but I have never heard anything to indicate this and my Aunt Myrtle kept up on genealogy from the early teens to the 70s. Feel free to contact me for further info about your Taylors if needed. Sparks10@bellsouth.net

   Log in to Reply