Searching for great grandmother (known to be full blooded Cherokee) Name is spelled Lellee on marriage list but was spelled Lily on her son’s birth certificate. I’ve also seen family members spell it Lillian and Lillie. She has one son, named Edgar Nando Parris. She married Charles or Charlie Edgeburt Parris November 17, 1906. I believe she was 16 years old. I don’t know where she was born. They married in Fayette, Alabama.
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How is it known she was a full blooded Cherokee if her parentage or lineage isn’t yet established?
She doesn’t show up in many records, unfortunately. However, from what is out there it appears she may have been born in AL and her maiden name was Bailey. She died young because Charlie can be found on the 1910 Census listed as widower. Edgar is two years old at that enumeration.
If she was about 16 at time of marriage, that would give her a DOB of about 1890. With this in mind, you can look at the larger contex, or begin to ask certain questions.
For example, what full blood Cherokee family or community would be found in Fayette County, Alabama from 1890 to early 1900s, or anywhere in the state of Alabama for that matter? There were a small number of mixed blood families that stayed behind during the Trail of Tears in the late 1830s. But, there were no known full blood families or communities that persisted in that area after 1839. Most of these mixed blood families lived in the former Cherokee lands in the northeast part of the state. Obviously, a few full blood Cherokee families may have been moving around the US looking for work at that time period, but the numbers would be rather small and the full blood Cherokee population was finite and less likely to be moving about and living in White communities, outside of their tribal communities. So, the real quesiton is this: what is the liklihood of a full blood Cherokee family randomly moving around and ending up in Fayette County, AL by 1890 or 1900 (where a 16 year old would be getting married)? The county only had about 10,000 residents in 1890. In 1900, there were 12,000.
Then compare that demographic reality to the Cherokee population at that time period. There were under 10,000 full bloods enumerated on the Final Dawes Roll in 1907 and they were uniformly concentrated in what is now northeast Oklahoma. The other group would be found in Eastern Band communities around what is not called Qualla Boundary. There were just over 3,000 members enumerated on the Baker Roll in 1924. Although, this included members of various blood degrees the full blood population would be found within this total number. They were also less likely to be moving around US at that time and ending up in far flung places, living as ethnic outliers in a larger White community.
The surname Bailey is not really associated with full blood Cherokee families. There were a small number of 4/4 Cherokees unumerated on Dawes with this name, but these represented intermarriage with White male spouses with this name, or there was one family cluster where a full blood female married a halfblood Bailey male and so the kids were 3/4. But, again, this name was from an earlier intermarriage. The surname doesn’t show up at all on the Baker Roll, in the Eastern Band communities.
Because she didn’t live long, there isn’t a large paper trail. You may have to dig around in Fayette County specifically, See if you can find birth/death records in that location. The death date might be anywhere from 1908 to 1910. I’d also focus on the Bailey families living in that area at that time. Keep in mind too that Lilly could be a nickname, which would make researching even more difficult.