Hi Folks! Richard Pence is a well known genealogist who has instructed many a beginner and experts as well on the ins and outs of genealogical research. His reply to a question about finding American Indian ancestry is worth reading on several levels. -- Robert W. King I'm an ingenieur, NOT a bloody locomotive driver! SnailNet: 19023 TV Tower Rd, Winslow, Arkansas 72959 BellNet: 479-634-2086 InterNet: [email protected] Web site: http://www.wildweasel.net -----Original Message----- From: Richard A. Pence [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, 25 February 2003 09:49 To: [email protected] Subject: [GM] Re: finding Indian blood before 1880 "Dena" <[email protected]> wrote: > Any help on determining a half or full Indian on census or was that > unheard of? Any other clues to finding an Indian before 1880? > Would have to be possibly in 1850s 1860s generations. gggrp. > dena > (I KNOW there was one there somewhere in our family, but can't find > them ANYWHERE!!!!) Dena: If you can't find "them" ANYWHERE, how do you KNOW "there was one there somewhere"? Aside from "the three brothers" and "the name was changed at Ellis Island," the most commonly believed (and rarely true) family tradition in American genealogy is the one about Indian (aka "Native American") ancestry. Like most other genealogical puzzles, the solution likely lies in carefully tracing each generation back. If you then encounter a person whose background might lead you to believe the person could be an Indian, then this is the time and the place to try to determine the details. Starting out by looking for (to put the quest as it is most commonly expressed terms) the "Cherokee princess" is almost certain to leave your genealogical vehicle spinning its wheels. If you are asking if there are census records which state that persons were "Indian," the answer is yes. If you asking if all of them who were full or part Indian are so recorded, the answer is no. Even if the answer were yes, this wouldn't provide you with any shortcuts - you still will want to check the census records for each family in your tree. In the final analysis, that is probably the only way you will be able to answer your question. Somewhere in the archives of this newsgroup I believe there are a number of discussions about Native American family traditions as well as some of the other commonly believed - but seldom true - ones. The essence of these discussions is that it is usually a losing strategy in genealogy to set out trying to prove your are related to some specific person - be he or she rich, famous, an Indian or a horse thief. There are simply too many blind alleys in this approach. Having preached that sermon, I have no doubt you will disregard most of it because you KNOW what you know. Worse, if your belief turns out not to be true, it will be my fault! That's what happened to me a couple of years ago when I proved with a stack of documents that a certain lady's "full-blooded Osage Indian" great grandmother was a nice German girl born in Indiana far in both distance and time from any Osage Indians. Her response was, "Why are you trying to destroy my heritage?" Beats me. What I thought I was doing was supplying the facts. <g> Regards, Richard Pence Fairfax, Virginia "Richard A. Pence" <[email protected]>