My grandmother Carrie C. Whitsett told me her mother walked the Trail of Tears as a child. Her name was Kalley Turner and her mothers name was Hawkins. I am trying to see if we are on the registry to become part of the nation and to find any info on my family from Tennessee.
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Her maternal line is completely traced and they were not Cherokee. Her father’s roots are not known at this point, but he was listed as White in records and lived in a White community during his lifetime. There is no indication of Cherokee affiliation for these families.
She was born in 1856 in Tennessee. This means that she could not have been on the Trail of Tears. That event was over by 1839, and it represented the movement of Cherokees from eastern communities, including southeast Tennessee, moving to Indian Territory. Her ancestors were moving into Marshall County Tennessee and living in White communities. She did not have a connection to the Cherokee people, in other words.
Here is her grave:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=81621550
Her parents were married in 1845, in Marshall County, TN.
Name: John Hawkins
Gender: Male
Marriage Date: 16 Sep 1845
Marriage Place: Marshall, Tennessee, USA
Spouse: Nancy H Bills
Caldora “Callie” Hawkins can be found living with her parents and siblings on the 1860 Census, residing in Marshall County, near the Lewisburg post office.
Nancy Bills was born in 1817, in TN, and was the daughter of Daniel Gersham Bills and Rachel Summers. They were White settlers that moved to what is now Marshall County, TN. They founded the town of Lewisburg, in fact. They were affiliated with churches that kept good records.
See here:
https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/7447171
They are also profiled in this book. Just do a keyword search for “Daniel Gersham.”
https://books.google.com/books?id=AelJ0jRvc5AC&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176&dq=%22daniel+gersham+bills%22+summers&source=bl&ots=PMprQ38-lN&sig=PoDLwNn3Tamc_BxCh28nMTDsLn4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBWoVChMI_cji26OTxwIVidkeCh1m4wh3#v=onepage&q=%22daniel%20gersham%20bills%22%20summers&f=false
Also, this family is well-researched here:
http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/b/i/l/Ralph-F-Bills-1/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0799.html
John Daniel Hawkins was born about 1822, birthplace may have been in TN. However, his parentage is unknown at this point. There is a site that is working on a potential DNA project:
http://hawkinsdna.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html
He may have also served in the Confederate army, if this is the same John Daniel Hawkins (you’d still need to verify this by tracking down more detailed military records for this individual).
Name: John D. Hawkins
Side: Confederate
Regiment State/Origin: Tennesee
Regiment Name: 18 Tennessee Infantry.
Regiment Name Expanded: 18th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry
Company: A
Rank In: Private
Rank In Expanded: Private
Rank Out: Corporal
Rank Out Expanded: Corporal
Film Number: M231 roll 19