This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: McCann Sykes Prince Leggett Sheffield Allen Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/QOz.2ACEB/742 Message Board Post: This is a copy of an email written to another McCann researcher ref: Martin McCann and family. Anyone have any thoughts, theories, facts (wouldn't THAT be fantastic), input? Martin and the War of 1812 - I think I know why they can't find him ... but I'm sure; very sure, he was there. Martin would have been about 13 when the War of 1812 started. He certainly could have been in it; but I don't think so. The problem is that the info for the War of 1812 and the assorted "Indian Wars" in the southern states is all grouped together I am told. They spanned 30 or so years. I'm sure he was in the Indian Wars and I don't think they're looking there carefully enuf. I received an email which I cannot find right now that listed some general info on Martin and family that had been taken from an older family member re: the 1830 census, etc. but which stated that Martin fought in the "Creek Indian Wars". Many, many years ago (probably 15 or 20) I was reading a book and I have NO idea what the book was that mentioned a Martin McCann in the Indian Wars. I'm still looking to try to figure out what book that was. At the time I was aware of the name and m! entally noted it but wasn't into the genealogy and didn't think any more about it. I also have a note to myself that he was a veteran of the Seminole Indian Wars in FL. (Same thing as the Creek Wars I believe). I have no idea where that note came from. Perhaps I noted it from the book. I may have gotten it from some of the McCann's or Kings that I spoke with up in Sarepta, LA years ago. I just don't know. At any rate; for reasons beyond me all of the records of the Indian Wars were grouped together with the War of 1812. I also know that many of the men who fought in those wars came back with "slaves" and "wives". Long before I ever heard of Polly Sykes I had wondered if the "unknown" wife of Martin might have been a woman he met or captured or whatever during that time. I have also found 160.4 acre tract in MS granted to a Martin McCann that needs to be checked out. Land was given to the veterans of 1812 and Indian Wars for services rendered and it could be located! anywhere the govt. chose to grant it. Again; long, long ago in a conversation with one of the folks at Sarepta the lady I was speaking with made the comment in a very brusque fashion (referring to the McCanns and Leggetts) ... "Well I know one thing for sure. They was all jest a bunch of Indins". I asked her how she knew this and all I could get from her was "Well, anyone can tell and everybody knows it". No confirmation. My mom has always said that the family was Indian; but she seemed to think it was Cherokee and on the Leggett side. I suspect it was all through the family. All the folks I talked to in Sarepta are now dead tho. Native American history in general may end up giving us our connections in the long run. For example, Jackson County, GA and all of North Carolina were smack in the middle of Cherokee lands prior to the Indian removal to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). It is interesting that we find Martin there in 1830. The removal began around 1831 I think. I'd have to check the exact dates. Prior to that no white's were to be on that land at all and they were; in fact, run off at gun point. There were many bloody incidents of whites trying to settle on that land. The soon to be "Georgian's" were determined to have that land at all cost but had been put off until the discovery of small amounts of gold. Then the Govt. agreed with the soon to be Georgian's and the dirty deal was on. If Martin was white with a white wife ...the land there was free for the taking during and after the removal (right when he was there). Why would he of left? Even if we assume his conscious wouldn't let hi! m take an already developed Cherokee homestead ... there was tons of gorgeous undeveloped land. All he had to do was move on it and say it was his. That included all the homes and farms that had already been improved by the Cherokee. They were rounded up at gun point and herded into compounds, their property left vacant for any white folks to just move on to and claim. It would be wonderful if we could figure out when he actually left there. We need the 1840 census. But we know he went to Early County which is interesting for several reasons. That area was ALL Creek/Choctaw/Seminole. It was the same scenario as the Cherokee lands but that area was not being as heavily assaulted by the whites yet. There is actually; (I was taught) no such thing as a Seminole. The Seminole's are the portion of the Muskogeeans that escaped to Florida rather than suffer the Indian Removal. Seminole is a name that the Spanish in Florida at that time called the refugees. The Creek I! ndians of Southern Georgia were named so by white settlers and referred to the Upper and Lower Creeks ...based on which side of a creek that ran through the area they lived on. They were actually the Muscogeeans and were comprised of many tribes. The Seminole Wars were fought to prevent the Indians from joining with the Spanish in Florida and allowing them to gain sufficient strength to not only hold Florida but to prevent them from taking Georgia. Many, many Indians fought against the Creeks and Spanish in this war. The whites could make no headway against the Indians in the marshes and Everglades which well suited Indian warfare. The Indians had been trading with the Spanish for many, many years and knew their way around the area. The whites were "dead in the water" ... literally. The whites only recourse was to bring in other Indians. Enter Martin McCann. Maybe he was Indian. Maybe he was white. . . but one thing is for sure .... he was THERE. The white's that! fought in that war were given land in Georgia and North Carolina. The Indians; and the whites with Indian wives, were given land "to the West". Perhaps 160 acres in Mississippi??? Perhaps Arkansas Territory (soon to be Arkansas, Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and Northern Louisiana? Many, many Natives moved West well before the Indian Removal. Guess they saw the writing on the wall. They settled in what was then Arkansas Territory. It included the area around Sarepta. Long before the actual removal began the Govt. set aside general boundaries to be "promised" to different tribes for future settlement. I'm not positive but I believe that the SW corner of OK and what is now northern LA were Choctaw. Due West of that was Creek lands. This later changed but I think that's about right for the early 1800's. Then there is the Sarepta, LA situation. Indian removal of the Choctaws took them across the Southern states, across the northern part of Louisiana and to Ft. Towson in what is now southern OK. This would have been in the 1830's ish. (Gotta get the dates straight on this!) In the book Choctaw Removal by Grant Foreman a written report from one of the officers refers to their (the Choctaw's) encampment enroute to Ft. Towson "by the McCann place". If you look on the map you will see that Ft. Towson is not very far from Sarepta. Which McCann is this? I've always wondered why on earth the family stopped at Sarepta. Was that their destination? What would bring them to that point? Algerine and family did not get there until 20 or so years later. Apparently there were already McCann's there. Could it have been Martin? Martin's dad? Martin certainly could have returned to GA later but we have no clue where he was the 20 years from 1830 to 1850 do we?. Algerine came to ! LA in about 1860. Did he come to take over the place from Martin (or?) and Martin returned to GA where he apparently died in 1863? (about 3 years later?) Lots of conjecture and no facts. Food for thought tho. There are a number of McCann's on the Choctaw rolls. I believe I may have also found McCann's and McCan's on the Chickasaw or Creek rolls. I find none on the Cherokee rolls. Choctaw Lands, Choctaw Rolls ..... hmmmmmmm. What are the chances our connection is Choctaw? Which leads us to the Choctaw rolls. On the Choctaw rolls we have numbered consecutively Sam, Sallie (not your Sarah but maybe a Sarah), Wallace and Willie (maybe a William?). I wonder if that is your Sam. We also have a William B. I don't have an initial for the father William in your line and the initial I show for the son William is D. Sam etc. would have enrolled together since they had consecutive numbers but they could have been any combination of family members or even neighbors. They are 4481, 82, 83 and 84. William B. is 8699 which would probably mean that he would have enrolled later; but doesn't have any bearing on whether he was older, younger, whatever. Which brings us to the problem of the rolls themselves. Many of the Native's did everything in their power to avoid those rolls ......; actually, to avoid whites altogether. Many of the names on the rolls are the Indian names. Many gave false names. Those taking the names weren't particularly careful about spelling and many were written down based on what they "sounded like" ... phonetically. If an enrollee was visiting family or friends and had to enroll; they just enrolled under the family name of whoever they were visiting. Many had fled and were intermingled with other Indian Nations. The Chickasaw and Choctaw took in many as I understand it. They just enrolled wherever they were forced to. They could be on any rolls. I've read that even after arrival in OK where their enrollment supposedly "guaranteed" their rights, privledges and payments from the Govt; that many absolutely refused to enroll. This was supposedly most true of the Creeks. The rolls are "iffy! " at best as far as accuracy. If someone is searching for Indian ancestry related to folks in the South; they have to check the rolls of ALL the southern tribes. Not easy. Early County, GA: Why were they there? What brought them there? In a conversation I had with the Head Librarian (a wonderful lady) at the Library in Blakely; GA .... Blakely was the doorway to the west from Georgia. Many folks came there to provision up (and stayed because this might take several years) or to wait for word from relatives that had gone ahead that a site had been found and secured. This put them at the "jumping off place" for when it came time to depart. This obviously had to do with travel routes and water ways, etc. Don't know if that applies to our folks but that's what she told me. re: Sarah ....... There are no McMillan's or McCann's on the Cherokee rolls that I have. There are; however, 5 Sarah Millers. Sarah (no initial), Sarah A., Sarah E. and (2) Sarah F's. This is from the Dawes/Guion-Miller Rolls, Western Band (Oklahoma) 1898-1914. This may be wayyyyyyyy more information than you wanted but I feel that it will help us in the long run to have some idea what was going on in the area. It certainly raises some questions that I personally consider most interesting; but may be of no interest to others at all. The fact is that what is now Georgia and North Carolina from as far back as we have history to around 1835 ish was NOT a good place for white folks unless they had Native connections. Whites were banging on the door and raiding the borders but few were actually "in" and settled and lived to tell about it until after the Removal. Jackson Cty. GA was not on the fringes. It was way, deep in the heart of Cherokee Lands and not at all far from the Cherokee Capital. What was our boy doin' there? Good question. I find no Sykes or Sikes on the early Cherokee rolls. There are several with Indian names that start Sic .. then a space and more name. There are; however, 7 Sykes on the DGM Western Band Rolls 1898-1914. This would have been too late for our Polly ... but could surely have been descendents. The Sykes on the rolls are Alexander, Bertha I., Bertie Anderson, Delilah, Frederick, Leander, and Nora. No bells for me ....... yet. At any rate; you may not appreciate my rambling on and doing so much thinking out loud with my fingers but this has been milling around in my head forever and maybe it will jog something you've heard or read or something. I think I'll post it and maybe it will prompt something that someone else has.