My Cherokee ancestors were named, HOLT and CAMPBELL.
Our family was always told that my great-great-great grand mother’s mother and father were full blooded Indian, ELIZABETH CAMPBELL and her husband JOHN WILLIAM HOLT both Cherokee…They lived in Madisonville, Texas when they made their family.
My grandmother and I have worked on our genealogy for many years with a lot of success, but we always hit a brick wall when it comes to them. I found another person online whose great-grandfather was a sibling of my great-grandma who looked full blooded Indian! So of course we knew. I look Indian a little too, like my hair and skin!
Grandma, as we all called her, went fishing eveyday taking one of her 13 kids with her… She lived just like an Indian. Too much stuff to tell here…
This couple can be found on the 1860 and 1870 Census records in Texas. John W. was born in Mississippi about 1834. Elizabeth was born in Lousiana about 1835. They are listed as White in these records.
Elizabeth can be found living with her daughter Melissa Catherine (Holt) Means in the 1910 Census. Her place of birth is again listed as Louisiana, as are her parents. Melissa’s death certificate indicates she was perceived as White, and her mother’s name was Elizabeth Ann “Camel.” (a transcription or spelling based on the pronunciation of surname Campbell). She had married a man named Thomas Williamson, and is found on the 1900 Census, in Madison, TX. Again, her place of birth is listed as about 1835 in LA. Same place of birth for her parents: Louisiana. She can be found on a pension application from 1914. Her place of birth is specified as Landry, Louisiana, 1835.
This source seems to identify the family lineages with a bit more detail:
“My Great- Grandmother was mixed Cherokee. She was born in 1896 and always said that her mothers side of the family was Cherokee. The names were John Holt and Elizabeth Campbell. They lived in Madisonville, Madison county Texas in the mid-1800’s I think, My Grandmother and I always chase the Campbells and Holts. I do my family genealogy and I hit a wall every time I try to look for the parents of my great- Great Grandmother, Effie Ann Holt.”
Saying someone is a mixed blood Cherokee requires tracing back lineages, to known Cherokee ancestors. This is not yet the case for John and Elizabeth. So, that claimed status is either premature, or likely incorrect. In fact, what we can determine is that they were born in 1834/5 far from any Cherokee community, living in White society and listed as White in records. There is no reason to believe that they were from full blood Cherokee families based on these elements. Basically, wrong time and place to find Cherokee members, and listed as White in the Deep South at that time period? Not very likley.
If they had Cherokee lineages going back futher, you’d still have to track that down.
There is some information that might be able to get you back a little further on the Campbell line.
If you limit a census search [ancestry.com] to the “Campbell” surname, with individual born about 1835, found in the 1800 census records…you’ll get three results. Only one gets us back early enough to show a young woman that was not married yet. This was an Elizabeth Campbell.. found in St. Landry parish. That matches up to the pension file application giving Elizabeth (Campbell) Holt WIlliamson a place of brith as “Landry” Louisiana.
At the time of her birth, there were about 13,000+ people in that location. 40% were enslaved. 60% were free status citizens.
This would put the free status population at just around 8000 people. This would represent about 4,000 males, 4000 females. So, that narrows down the pool of potential ancestor we are looking at that could be born free in that location about 1835. And then we can narrow it down by surname – Campbell.
With this context in mind, you can determine that there is a very strong possibility that Elizabeth’s parents were William and Mary “Lucie” Campbell found in the 1850 Census living in St. landry Parish (family number 774). To futher give credence to this link, we can find this couple living in Madison Texas in later Census records (1860 and 70).
Marriage record:
Name:
William Campbell
Spouse:
Mary Row
Marriage Date:
13 Nov 1832
Marriage County:
St Landry
Also, there seems to be futher intermarriage with the Means family, and Mary is found on the 1880 Census in Robertson, TX, listed as “mother in law” to a John Means. Interestingly, the surname was spelled as “Cammell” in this enumeration. This resembles the spelling listed on the death certificate of Elizabath’s daughter (giving her mother’s maiden name as Camel).
My Cherokee ancestors were named, HOLT and CAMPBELL.
Our family was always told that my great-great-great grand mother’s mother and father were full blooded Indian, ELIZABETH CAMPBELL and her husband JOHN WILLIAM HOLT both Cherokee…They lived in Madisonville, Texas when they made their family.
My grandmother and I have worked on our genealogy for many years with a lot of success, but we always hit a brick wall when it comes to them. I found another person online whose great-grandfather was a sibling of my great-grandma who looked full blooded Indian! So of course we knew. I look Indian a little too, like my hair and skin!
Grandma, as we all called her, went fishing eveyday taking one of her 13 kids with her… She lived just like an Indian. Too much stuff to tell here…
This couple can be found on the 1860 and 1870 Census records in Texas. John W. was born in Mississippi about 1834. Elizabeth was born in Lousiana about 1835. They are listed as White in these records.
Elizabeth can be found living with her daughter Melissa Catherine (Holt) Means in the 1910 Census. Her place of birth is again listed as Louisiana, as are her parents. Melissa’s death certificate indicates she was perceived as White, and her mother’s name was Elizabeth Ann “Camel.” (a transcription or spelling based on the pronunciation of surname Campbell). She had married a man named Thomas Williamson, and is found on the 1900 Census, in Madison, TX. Again, her place of birth is listed as about 1835 in LA. Same place of birth for her parents: Louisiana. She can be found on a pension application from 1914. Her place of birth is specified as Landry, Louisiana, 1835.
This source seems to identify the family lineages with a bit more detail:
http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.louisiana.parishes.acadia/340/mb.ashx
**John Holt was said to have been from Jackson, MS.
It appears you’ve posted a previous query here:
https://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/trail-of-tears-roll.htm
December 12, 2016 at 5:59 am
“My Great- Grandmother was mixed Cherokee. She was born in 1896 and always said that her mothers side of the family was Cherokee. The names were John Holt and Elizabeth Campbell. They lived in Madisonville, Madison county Texas in the mid-1800’s I think, My Grandmother and I always chase the Campbells and Holts. I do my family genealogy and I hit a wall every time I try to look for the parents of my great- Great Grandmother, Effie Ann Holt.”
Saying someone is a mixed blood Cherokee requires tracing back lineages, to known Cherokee ancestors. This is not yet the case for John and Elizabeth. So, that claimed status is either premature, or likely incorrect. In fact, what we can determine is that they were born in 1834/5 far from any Cherokee community, living in White society and listed as White in records. There is no reason to believe that they were from full blood Cherokee families based on these elements. Basically, wrong time and place to find Cherokee members, and listed as White in the Deep South at that time period? Not very likley.
If they had Cherokee lineages going back futher, you’d still have to track that down.
There is some information that might be able to get you back a little further on the Campbell line.
If you limit a census search [ancestry.com] to the “Campbell” surname, with individual born about 1835, found in the 1800 census records…you’ll get three results. Only one gets us back early enough to show a young woman that was not married yet. This was an Elizabeth Campbell.. found in St. Landry parish. That matches up to the pension file application giving Elizabeth (Campbell) Holt WIlliamson a place of brith as “Landry” Louisiana.
At the time of her birth, there were about 13,000+ people in that location. 40% were enslaved. 60% were free status citizens.
http://places.mooseroots.com/l/312402/St-Landry-Parish-LA
This would put the free status population at just around 8000 people. This would represent about 4,000 males, 4000 females. So, that narrows down the pool of potential ancestor we are looking at that could be born free in that location about 1835. And then we can narrow it down by surname – Campbell.
With this context in mind, you can determine that there is a very strong possibility that Elizabeth’s parents were William and Mary “Lucie” Campbell found in the 1850 Census living in St. landry Parish (family number 774). To futher give credence to this link, we can find this couple living in Madison Texas in later Census records (1860 and 70).
Marriage record:
Name:
William Campbell
Spouse:
Mary Row
Marriage Date:
13 Nov 1832
Marriage County:
St Landry
Also, there seems to be futher intermarriage with the Means family, and Mary is found on the 1880 Census in Robertson, TX, listed as “mother in law” to a John Means. Interestingly, the surname was spelled as “Cammell” in this enumeration. This resembles the spelling listed on the death certificate of Elizabath’s daughter (giving her mother’s maiden name as Camel).