I am seeking any information regarding my great-great-grandmother, Cherokee ancestor, Zeruiah Turtlelot. If you can provide any help at all, or refer me to someone else who can help, I would be most grateful.
Pertinent information:
*Born between 1820 and 1830. Probably 1827-1828.
*Believed to have been born in Indiana. Possibly in Knox County.
*Married Robert McDoal (McDowell?) Hunter before 1859.
*1860 United States Census transcribes her name as “Zemra” Hunter, age 32, married to Robert Hunter, age 37 (estimated birth year 1823); living in Harrison Township, Knox, Indiana. One daughter, Mary E Hunter, age 1 year, born in Indiana. (Mary Ellen is my great-grandmother; she married Louis Gremore in Vincennes, Indiana and lived at that location and later in New Madrid County, Missouri; Their daughter, Sophia Iona Gremore (my grandmother) married Harold Tope.)
*1870 United States Census transcribes her name as “Zerniah” Hunter, age 43, married to “Robem” Hunter, age 45; living in Moundville, Vernon, Missouri. Two daughters: Mary E Hunter, age 11, and Margret Hunter, age 9. One Son: Robert Hunter, age 2.
• An alternate transcription of the 1870 United States Census lists her as “Zerwah” Hunter, age 43, married to “Ruben” Hunter, age 45; Living in Missouri. Two daughters: Mary E Hunter, age 11, and Margret Hunter, age 7. One Son: Robert Hunter, age 2. All born in Indiana.
Based on family oral history, Zeruiah Turtlelot is believed to have been of Cherokee ancestry.
While no information about Zeruiah’s parents seems currently to be available, this posting on Ancestry.com may help to explain why some Cherokee were living in Indiana in the early 1800’s:
“During the Indian removals a small band of Cherokee fled North to Indiana and took white surnames to hide from the government which was desperately trying to find them.
Eventually they were overlooked and forgotten about but today the descendants of this band have their own organized tribal band of the Cherokee. They are known as the Lone Wolf Band centered in Indiana. They have no official recognized status because none of their ancestors met Dawes Rolls requirements i.e. they had to live in Oklahoma.”
I haven’t been able to verify the above posting with any citations and would welcome any input as to the veracity of the statement.
In writings excerpted from “The Lone Wolf Band of Cherokee Indians”, Indiana’s Cherokee people, and expanded upon by Chief Nvya Yona, UCN, this statement appears:
“It should also be recognized that these undocumented Cherokee, might also be the descendants of the Cherokee people who fought against the white man, the Cherokee people who refused to be placed in reservations. The Cherokee people who hid out in the hills from the white man and kept themselves “free.” These Cherokee felt that they had held to their belief of freedom and did not give in or sell out to the white mans government. These were the Cherokee who felt that they were the true Cherokee, the true warriors for our freedom. These people went through a lot to keep hidden from the white man and to be safe from removal. They had to change their names and / or take on the names of non-Indians. They kept no records so that they could not be traced. All family history was by word of mouth. Soon, not even verbal history was spoken under fear of imprisonment. So our ancestors had to hide their pride. It became so bad that soon no one spoke of their heritage and unfortunately, some younger family members were not told of their heritage just so they would be kept safe. Our ancestors gave up a lot, just to be free… Today, because of that, some of their descendants cannot find a history of their family. Cannot prove, by the white man’s government standards, that they are Cherokee. Our ancestors never thought that we’d have to prove to anyone who we were.”
My grandmother, Sophia Gremore Tope, thought that her grandparents hid their background history because they were embarrassed about something, but perhaps they were silent about their history out of fear of discovery? If so, they did an excellent job of covering their tracks! A big challenge for our family today to try and uncover any information about their parentage.
Thank you for your consideration. I simply wish to honor the memory of my ancestors and welcome your help.
Beckyb
Yes this is all true, in my research over many years I have come to understand 3 things……That in the Early Years when Cherokee that had Settled all over Green Co Tn. all the way thru to Bledsoe, & Sequatchie Co. Tn and most southern & western Tn . Northern Ga, & N.C. ,S.C. had lived among the many White People that had settled there in the Frontier and got along with each other. They Married Each other and had Families, so this too is largely unknown to most people. Then Gold was Discovered in Dalonega, Ga. & North Carolina this changed everything. I have Bolling, Rolfe,Hicks/Hickson/Hixon/Hixson,,Crow/Crowe, Dobson, Ellis, Fryar, Goodrich, Long, McDaniel, McDowell, Padgett, Ransom, Randolph,Sively,, Reed, White, and others ,…but these are all from Cherokee Family links, we have every bit of this documented but when you get to the Cherokee,…they are the ones with Records that None of us have. Perhaps one day soon we can prove our Cherokee Roots and perhaps find relative by which we can meet and get to know. We want to Honor our Ancestors and Connect ourselves with them, 1. Find you Ancestors Document them. 2. Seek a Connection to them, Cherish all you achieve. 3. Be Proud of who you are, be Glad you are learning more.. C. McDowell
I’ve found a little bit of info you that you might find interesting and potentially might help with a breakthrough.
But, first let me address the claims made by those calling themselves Lone Wolf Band of Indiana, which you’ve included in your query. Frankly, these claims are totally bogus. The so-called Lone Wolf group is not a legitimate descendant organization and most individuals that claim association with this group have no Cherokee ancestry whatsoever.
There were no Cherokee GROUPS that went up into Indiana to escape or hide out! None. Nada. Zilch. There is no record of that, because it simply didn’t happen. There were certainly some that moved west of the Mississippi prior to the Trail of Tears, to various locations at different times. But, never to Indiana! And this is all attested to by actual documentation.
The notion that there was this mysterious group that migrated into Indiana to avoid being put on a “reservation,’ or to avoid removal to Indian Territory, or that this was all a master-design or based on some kind of survival strategy is really absurd on its face.
Think about the context involved here, beyond the romantic notions of family lore or the impulse to rationalize such stories (that one may have inherited).
The tribe was located here (see embedded map) from 1817 – 1838 until the forced removal:
http://cherokee1838.tripod.com/eve_of_removal_1819-1838.htm
So, basically, in this “Lone Wolf” claim they are saying a group of Cherokees moved up to Indiana, hundreds of miles away from their traditional territories, to a state that had already been in the process of removing Indians in that location as well, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_removals_in_Indiana
And in this hostile socio-political climate, where White people were clamoring for Indian Removal in the east, and Americans were settling the upper mid west (Indiana) in large numbers, a group of Cherokees is going to maintain their culture and survive by moving to Indiana and passing for White and assuming US citizenship far from other Cherokees? Their grand strategy to avoid removal or being put on a “reservation’ (as if staying your existing land base has a negative connotation) is apparently moving into he heart of this hostile society far form their fellow tribal members, and assume the identity of White people, and “hide out.” And this process somehow made them “free.”
That makes absolutely no sense. It’s totally absurd!
I’d recommend sticking with standard genealogy here. But, I digress.
As far as the specific query goes, she does show up in the the census records (as you know) with a place of birth listed as Indiana, and a birth year sometime in the early to late 1820s (depending on enumeration). So, based on that, it wouldn’t necessarily point to a Cherokee origin. But, if she has Native ancestry, you might potentially look into the tribes that had a connection to that region. The Cherokees did not have a connection there!
FYI The last name strikes my ear as potentially a French one, which may have been possibly Anglicized or might have a variety of spellings. Try alternatives such as: Tourtellotte/Tourtellot, etc.
Another possibly avenue to explore is that she went by several names. The same family unit might very well be found in Knox County, Indiana in 1850. Except, here, the couple is listed as a Robert and “Rucey” Hunter. The ages, and name of daughter Maria/Mariah seem to match up here again. But, it’s not totally confirmed yet either. See:
Robert Hunter
Age 25
Birth Year abt 1825
Birthplace Indiana
Home in 1850 District 61, Knox, Indiana, USA
Gender Male
Family Number 569
Finally, another possible lead might be to look at the Tourtellot family that moved into southwest Indiana, particularly around Pike and Knox counties in the first few decades of the 19th century.
There is a newspaper notice discussing the estate settlement of an Abraham Tourtellote, of Knox County.
Unfortunately, I can’t post the actual page grab here but, if you have access to various newspaper databases, see:
Vincennes Gazette, Volume 13, Number 31,Vincennes, Knox County, 6 January 1844
It lists his heirs, as: ZEREUGHY, Mariah, and Abraham (jr?) Tourtelott, among others with different surnames. They are found mentioned near the top of the list, with the Tourtelott surname, so we might suspect these are children of Abraham. That name Mariah might also be a clue here too. Zeruiah may have named one of her daughters after her sister. And obviously, ZEREUGHY could be another alternative spelling for this individual. It could be the same person here.
But, more research needs to be done, obviously. I just wanted to offer a bit of healthy skepticism about that Lone Wolf claim, and encourage you to simply go with standard genealogical research. Go where the provable facts take you and don’t worry about the family lore. Sometimes things get passed down that aren’t true, and genealogical research might take you in different directions, and you just have to go where that trail takes you. Lore sometimes needs to be clarified, or even corrected. That’s pretty common actually.
Anyway, check out that potential Abraham Tourtelott connection and see where that might go. Good luck with your research!
Hi Beckyb,
It’s good to know that someone else is trying to unravel the seemingly impossible to unravel ancestry of our Hunter line. You don’t know me but we are cousins. Your grandmother, Sophia Iona ….. was undoubtedly named after my grand mother, Iona Bonham Johnson. Her mother was Margaret Hunter, the younger sister of your Mary Ellen Hunter, daughters of Robert Hunter from Knox County, Indiana. I have been trying for years to find information about Margaret Hunter Bonham, my great grandmother. There essentially is almost none. I found and visited her grave in White Church, MO, so I had her birth and death dates from her tombstone, but that was all. I knew she was born in Indiana, married Simeon Bonham in Illinois and at some point moved to Parma, MO, where my grandmother, Iona Bonham Johnson was born. After years of searching, in one of the conflicting census records I found that there was a Margaret Hunter who had an older sister named Mary Ellen Hunter. Then I researched the genealogy of Mary Ellen Hunter, which is not much more informative than for Margaret Hunter, and confirmed that your Mary Ellen Hunter was in fact the sister of my Margaret Hunter, which finally helped me determine that their father was Robert Hunter, Jr. and his father was Robert Hunter, Sr. The information you presented in your query on this site is exactly the same information my research has revealed. Unfortunately we both ended up running into the same blank wall. I am convinced that there was something going on with the Hunter family that lead them to essentially not leave a trace. Maybe it was the Lone Wolf Cherokee issue or maybe not. I do know that my family lore mentions either Cherokee or Creek Indian ancestry, but I have found it impossible to confirm. The Lone Wolf Cherokee story that you found and I also found seems to be a plausible explanation, but all that JSmith wrote in her comment stating that the Lone Wolf story is fiction also makes sense. It’s not easy to leave no trail as effectively as the Hunter family did. Zema, Zerulah, Zeriah, Rucy and maybe other census names of Robert Hunter’s wife almost seem to deliberately intend to confuse people that might be looking for them. I personally believe but can’t prove that you and I have Cherokee or Creek Indian ancestry.
I’m very happy that I happened to stumble upon your query. Perhaps one day we can solve this puzzle. One thing is definite though, our Hunter line did not want to leave a trail and were very effective in reaching that goal. There has to be a reason for them being so secretive. Could it be that Zerhiah was a Cherokee Indian in hiding, as were her three children, Mary Ellen Hunter, Margaret Ann Hunter and son Robert Hunter? My first cousin, who lives in the New Madrid, MO area, is also researching the Hunter, Bonham, Tope, etc, lines. Perhaps she may soon be contacting you or one of your relatives in her quest for answers. Good luck with your research, Betty. You and I can hopefully keep in touch as we attempt to solve this seemingly unsolvable puzzle.
LarryH
Hello, LarryH –
I am so pleased to hear from you!
Sorry it’s taken me a couple of weeks to respond to your message; our daughter has been here for a visit and just left for home this past Saturday, so I’ve been rather busy.
Robert Hunter,Jr. and his wife, Zeruiah (born Turtlelot) are the ancestors I would most like to know more about.
Do you have any birth and/or death dates at all for Robert Hunter, Jr., Robert Hunter, Sr., or Zeruiah (Turtlelot) Hunter?
That information alone would be immensely helpful.
I have also been unable to find a death date for Mary Ellen and Margaret Ann’s younger brother, Robert. Perhaps he died young?
One nugget of information I recently gleaned from reading about the Gremore family is that Robert Hunter apparently married a second time after Zeruiah passed away. I have yet to discover whom he married that second time and just when the marriage occurred, but that is something else for us to research.
Perhaps your cousin in New Madrid, MO can help us to find these answers?
Again, it’s so very good to “meet” you, yet another cousin : )
Do keep in touch!
I’m happy to share anything I may discover from my end.
Becky