> I don't know where you got your information about your ancestor, > Mary M. being "a half-blood Indian", but she is not shown on any > Cherokee rolls or applications, and since she was 6 years old, all > of the census shows both she, her siblings, parent and grandparents > as "white". Her place of birth (Lincoln Co TN) is not within any > area that was inhabited by an Indian tribe. > > Best of luck in tracing your ancestry. > > Jerri Chasteen Hello fellow researchers, I don't wish to get into a "war of keyboards" with any one of this list, but I do want to correct the erroneous statement above. Lincoln Co., TN was indeed an area inhabited by Indian tribes. If you will read the history of Lincoln County, you will find that the Cherokees and Chickasaws ceded the land that comprises Lincoln County in 1806. (For clarification ... the word "ceded" is defined as assigning, transferring, withdrawing, yielding or granting, typically by treaty.) I didn't want any one on this list to be misled into thinking that Lincoln County, TN, and indeed the whole state of Tennessee (almost every county) isn't rich with the history of Indian inhabitants. Speaking for myself alone, I am honored to have "native bloodlines" originating in TN, KY and NC. As for "a half-blood Indian" being listed on the census records as "white", I feel sure that there were many such indiscretion s on the census, my own Gr-Gr-Gr-Grandmother included. Also, for further clarification, the history of The United States would show that traditionally the Cherokees had lived in villages in the southern Appalachians - present-day Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, western North Carolina, and South Carolina, northern Georgia, and northeastern Alabama. As I said, I don't wish to get into "keyboard antics" with any one of the list. After all, isn't the purpose of the list to help each of us find leads to our heritage? And to help each other, as much a possible, to uncover the bits of information that will aid our searches in a positive way? I didn't join any mail list I'm on to have to filter through the "keyboard antics" of a few. It seems to me that if we are to uncover the truth of our heritage, then we must also be willing to research "history" as well as surnames. Nan

On the Trail of Tears none of the wagon leaders kept a roster of names of people on their train. They kept numbers of how many started and how many there were at the end of the Trail. Also how many died, were born or are missing. I know that I have been looking for to find out which of mine were on what Train. The government passed out transportaion and subsistance money at the end of the trail. These lists were reproduced in a series of booklets put out by Marybelle Chase in the Cherokee Tracer. They were scattered thoughout the series. She is no longer publishing this series. You cans order back issues from her. The series ran from 1991-2005 four times a year. The series also covered orther subjects other than the above. But there is a book called Cherokee Claims by Dawn C. Stricklin and she does the same thing but does not give as much info as Marybell does is her series. She does give the Microfilm number so you can orger the film and then you can look up your ancestor and see is he or she recieved transportation and subsistance money. I found the book on the net. It is not expensive and is a soft cover book. In my opinion that is is an important tool for those looking for their ancestors to made the t rip west on the Trail of Tears. It has an index in the back so people are not hard to find. I cannot do lookups because I have poor eyesight. Putting this message on in hope that it will help someone who is looking for this kind of info. Glee