I have a question that perhaps you could answer. My husband is native american tho he does not have a cdib card, not important to him to have one. His ancestors came from SC to TN to MO and then on to Ok and TX. We had always thought that the native american was in the great and ggreatgrandmothers and have discovered that it is the Comer 's themselves who were and are native american. I was very fortunate to acquire photos dating to 1890 . My question is this, in the state of Missouri, militia and settlers (according to some of the MO. history buffs) had eradicated the native american. This week I found out that in a small part of Mo. there are still pow wows of the lost cherokee. After receiving the pics of his family I am puzzled as to how they passed as white on the census. They are most definately listed as white tho one ancestor is listed as mulatto and then on the next census she is listed as white. Did they pay the census takers to list them as white? Did the census takers themselves have native blood and just did them a favor? We had been told that our ancestor was rescued from the trail of tears at the age of nine but no other information is forthcomming and anything before 1850 is difficult to find. My assumption is that a white family adopted this boy and named him tho I cannot prove it. I think it would be a good discussion to hear differing ideas of how indians passed as white, his family are obviously not so that makes it very interesting to me. I suspect other tribes are in the blood line but it seems that all Comer descendants of this line know that they are tied to cherokee and possibly pottowatamie and quapaw. If they are not from an adopted white family initially, then it has to be that their name was a corruption of an indian name. What do you suppose could explain the census takers listing them as white? Thanks, Evie

My assumption is that a white family adopted this boy and named him tho I cannot prove it. -- There is a DNa test that will show it if there is a trace. Jeffery Scism, IBSSG Links to my Homepages: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~scismfam/

Wow, Jeff, you must have been right on that one LOL! Can't afford one at the moment but it would be neat. I am thinking that back then, since so many people were passing as white but clearly weren't that there has to be a theory about it. Maybe a good story too! I had attended a graduation of a friend who is also native american, a fancy dancer who travels the circuit (a large one at that) and it is he who told me of the pow wow he danced at in Mo, near the ARk border. Makes sense given the fact that the Comers on the Cherokee rolls were also in that area and settled in Ark. I thought someone might have some historical trivia regarding the census takers. I also find them living at the Osage Indian Rez in Ok in the early 1900s but they are listed as white there too. Then at least three of them buried in an indian cemetery outside of Tulsa in Sand Springs.........all of them listed as white so I was puzzled by that. I can see Oklahoma doing that but not Missouri. Thanks anyway, if you have a idea about the census takers , I am all ears. Evie