Jill, It does surprise me that no one has done anything regarding the rich history of Turkey Town. I know there are some very active Historical Societies up that way, especially in the Gadsden area. We do pass the Turkey Town Church on Hwy 411 which someone else mentioned, and just past that church is a sign pointing to the left going toward Centre that says "Turkey Town." That's where we turned and drove for two hours or more. There is something called Cherokee Museum as you go through downtown Centre on 411 and we have stopped there twice, but there was note on the door that the owner would be right back. Looking in the windows it appears to be an antique store rather than a museum. Evelyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jill Rains" <blessedmomof8@bellsouth.net> To: <ALETOWAH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2005 3:35 PM Subject: Re: [ALETOWAH] Town of Ball Play > Turkey Town is still a "place" just outside of Gadsden, however, if you > ask me, it is very much under utilized as far as any type of historical > attraction or attention. Highway 411 which runs from GA into AL and > through Turkey Town was the route that many of the Cherokee had taken > back and forth before their removal. I have read a few accounts on the > travels of John Ross (who was born in Turkey Town), and the many trips > he took along that route. It's a crying shame that there aren't more > historical markers around to commemorate the fact that the place was the > first headquarters for the Cherokee Nation. There is a historical > marker for John Wisdom, who was considered "the Paul Revere of the > South," but nothing for the fact that Pathkiller had a ferry there (it's > near Murray Cross, actually) or that the whole area was filled with very > many prominent Cherokee of the early 1800s. > > The reason I know a lot about the Cherokee in the area is because my > very own Fields line (which runs from Chief Richard Fields) were > actually living at Little River (in Cherokee County) during the 1835 > Cherokee Census and many of the other Cherokee lines were found in the > area that ran along that route from GA to AL along Highway 411. From my > own research it seems as though many of the Cherokee that were in the > area, if they didn't remove in 1838-1840, either passed themselves off > as white or mulatto, or made themselves very scarce and went into the > hard to travel areas. I know that many of the Gunters, who eventually > went from Georgia into Alabama in what is now known as Guntersville, hid > in the hills and caves rather than remove. My specific Fields and > Daniel lines went to Oklahoma and were known as "First Settlers." My > 3rd Great Grandfather, George Washington Fields, fought for the Cherokee > Mounted Rifles on the Confederate side during the Civil War. That group > was formed in Oklahoma and consisted mostly of those who had removed > from North GA and Northeast AL. > > The hard part about knowing whether or not your ancestors were Cherokee > is that in order to actually "prove" anything, you have to have had a > relative on the approved Dawes rolls (as far as Cherokees are concerned, > I'm not that well versed in other tribes), and many just didn't want to > be on those rolls, so you can't be "recognized" unless they were on > them. I do know that many of the surnames from my Cherokee research > were in the Turkey Town and Marshall/DeKalb/Cherokee/Etowah /Blount > County areas of Alabama, but if they were not on the rolls, you can > basically just say you had Cherokee relatives, but you can't be > recognized formally. > > Blessings, > > Jill Watters Rains > > Delilah wrote: >> I believe Turkey Town is still there - here is the link to the Etowah County >> Gen Web site, you can go to the Gadsden Times, get a password and put the >> name in their search thing and it will bring up articles on Turker Town. >> delilah >> http://www.rootsweb.com/~aletowah/ > > > ==== ALETOWAH Mailing List ==== > Look up Surname origins > http://www.familychronicle.com/surname.htm >