Hi Trisha, I am a PHELPS researcher and descendant. And would be happy to help you, if I can. The PHELPSes of Butler Co., KY all came from one progenitor. That was William PHELPS, b: ca. 1726 in Henrico Co., Virginia, and his wife, Sarah. (Family folk lore had his wife as Nancy NAIL.) William and Sarah PHELPS had 12 children, and they all came to KY, to Logan's Fort, then Green & Nelson Co., then Logan Co. (which became Warren Co.), and ended up mainly in Butler, although some moved out into Edmonson, Grayson and Warren Counties. I descend from their son Nicholas. They came to Kentucky in 1778 or 1779, from Buckingham Co., VA. They had only lived in Buckingham Co. for about a decade. William actually grew up in Goochland Co., VA where his father, John, died in 1747. That area of Goochland Co. then became Cumberland Co., VA two years later, in 1749. John owned a number of plantations (farms) that he passed on to his three sons. John, Jr., Samuel and William. As for the Indian heritage.... as you mentioned, tells of them having Indian blood goes back a long time. A lot of the Phelpses, and their descendants, were darker skinned with dark hair and eyes, especially those lines that inter-married cousins. And there are a number of them. PITMAN, LACEFIELD, CHANDLER, JOHNSON, etc. They lived together in the same area and there were tons of cousins. After many years of studying the PHELPSes I have come to know, through my research, that William PHELPS was not Indian, but rather mulatto. I understand there will be some who don't want to know or acknowledge this truth. But it is true. There are a number of documents naming him as such. And thus the dark coloring in some lines. Now, as for your Mary "Polly" Ann PHELPS.... The name Mary is pretty common. Her middle name could have been Polly, but Polly was often used as a nick name for Mary. I don't have a Mary Ann PHELPS with her birth year in "my" database. But there were tons of PHELPSes and I probably don't even have half of them. There is a Mary Ann PHELPS in the 1860 Census shown as the daughter of Jesse PHELPS and his wife, Nancy PITMAN. In that census she is listed as being born in 1840. Could or could not be true. I do not know who this Mary Ann married. But the interesting thing is that this family has a JOHNSON connection. In 1860, Mary Ann PHELPS' father is dead and she is living with her mother and siblings. Now her mother, Nancy PITMAN (also a PHELPS descendant), had a sister, Sara "Sally" PITMAN, who was married to Joseph JOHNSON. Most often, when children were orphaned, or farmed out, they were taken in by family...if not Grandparents, usually Aunts and Uncles. A second JOHNSON connection is that Sara "Sally" PITMAN and Joseph JOHNSON had a son named, William Peyton JOHNSON, b: Aug. 11, 1821. There is a record in the Marraiges of Butler Co., KY that William married Sarah Ann PHELPS on Aug. 3, 1842 in Butler Co., KY. That would be a couple of years before your Mary Ann was born. A child from this marriage would have at least 2 or more PHELPS lines. These are just some clues. Question - Was your HAMILL related to Quintus M. Hamill or his father James M. Hamill? Quintus married Etna A. PHELPS. I see that your Jeanette 'Nettie' BASHAM was born in Richardsville, Warren Co., KY. I also descend from the REEVES and HUDNALLs of Richardsville. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like. Mary Vacaville, CA In a message dated 11/16/2003 7:00:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > X-Message: #1 > Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 14:24:11 -0600 > From: "Trish Carden" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Subject: Indian census > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" > > Hi, > > I'm new to the list and would like to ask a question. > > MY QUESTION: > Does Butler County Kentucky has a separate census for 1860 that would sho= > w > Indian race? If not how do you check for Indian heritage in Butler county= > ? > > I have reason to believe my great great grandmother, Mary "Polly" Ann PHE= > LPS > born about 1846 in Butler Co., KY was Indian. My 95 year old grandmother > told this to me. I've been in genealogy a number of years and realize th= > e > "Indian in the family tree" story is rampant and could also signify > Melungeon or other dark skin races. Family legend is Mary "Polly" Ann > PHELPS was Indian and adopted or raised by a family named Johnson in the > Butler Co. KY area. If you can help with this mystery please contact me.= > I > have heard this story for over 40 years. > > Any suggestions on research in this area would be appreciated. > > I have a photo of Mary "Polly" Ann PHELPS BASHAM. You can see the photo = > by > visiting one of my WebPages, address below. > http://www.tcarden.com/tree/ensor/Phelps.html > > > > Trisha Swallows Carden > Nashville, Tennessee > [email protected] > > > ___ _/ /\____ > /__/ _/\_ /___/\ > | | | | | | | || |l=B1=B1=B1=B1 > ,.-=B7=B0 ,.-=B7~=B7~=B7-., > As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. >