I am looking for information on my great, great, great grandmother Sarah E. Jenks, believed to be married to Joseph Long. She was born in 1831, and it has been told in the family that she was full-blooded Cherokee Indian. Her child, Cyrus P. Long and grandchild Sarah Sally Eveline Long were also believed to be either full-blooded Cherokee as well, possibly half. Cyrus and Sarah Sally lived in Lawrence County, MO, Sarah is believed to be from somewhere up north, possibly Ohio or Pennsylvania, but I can’t find anything else to be sure on this.
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Cyrus P. Long grave:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=LON&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=26&GScntry=4&GSsr=1641&GRid=29179050&
This family moved between Ohio Indiana and Illinois between the 1850s and early 1860s. They then moved into MO sometime after the late 1880s and before 1900.
Here is her movement through different enumerations:
Sarah and Joseph long can be found on the 1850 Census living in Ohio. Her birth is listed as about 1828, also in Ohio.
She is found on the 1880 Census as a widow, then living in Illinois. Her birth is listed as about 1831, Ohio. And her parent’s places of birth are given as VA and KY. The family is listed as White in these records.
She is then found on the 1900 Census in Missouri, living with her daughter Dora, who had married a John Gates. Her birth is given as 1839, Ohio. Her parents are listed as being born in Virginia. The family is listed as White.
It is rather unlikely that she was Cherokee, based on her birth location and historical time frame, and almost certainly not a full-blood Cherokee.. There were no known full blood Cherokees living in Ohio in the late 1820s. Her parents being from either VA or KY roots does not illustrate a link to Cherokee people, and they also lived their entire lives very far from Cherokee communities.. Cyrus and his siblings appear White in photographs and are enumerated as White, and lived in White communities, etc. However, I’d caution against blindly accepting the trees posted online, some are confusing a Joseph Long who married a Lydia (and mixing up these two different ladies). I can’t find a document confirming her maiden name either. So, you may want to take that with a grain of salt too, until it is confirmed. Sorry I couldn’t provide too much specific info. But, hopefully this helps a little bit. Good luck with your search!
Yes, I’ve been looking into this as well. My grandma’s mother Is Dora Long Gates. I’m wondering if it’s possible that Sarah Jenks remarried and Dora was born in 1872. Not sure if Sarah was still married to Joseph in 1872 because I read where she in the 1880’s census was widowed and living in Illinois. The photos of Cyrus and even Walter Bose Long look Caucasian but the photos of my grandma Nellie Opal Gates Pryor) and her mother’s (Dora Long Gates) sister Amelia Jane Long Wilson look of Native American. My family has been told that they were Seminole. My grandma was born in 1911-1989.
I’ve just found the information that’s most likely the case. The Native American ancestry does not most likely originate from Sarah Jenks, it’s her husband Joesph Long. Joseph Long left very few tracks during his like. He can only be found in one census and one marriage record which would be Sarah Jenks. Several conflicting family stories exist about his Long family. Some state that his father came from Scotland and some say he was from Germany. The Ohio Long descendants state the Long’s were Seminole Indians and they were originally named Longknife, but later dropped the “knife” and went by Long. No proof can be found for any of these folklores
Cyrus is my great grandpa and I was curious if you had any other information on him and Sarah his mother.