Half our families have "Indian" in them. I have not found one in any line which made me wonder if many families would like to have Indians in their line. I have a few untraced people in some of the lines who may have been an Indian, but others with this claim that both side are traced very well with nothing showing up. -----Original Message----- From: Floyd Bailey [mailto:fbsb@earthlink.net] Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2006 9:43 AM To: NYGREENE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [GREENE COUNTY] Hi Elaine, For those of us with a tradition/rumor of an Indian in our family, do you have any tips or clues how to discover who that might have been? My husband has just such a tradition. His dad had dark brown eyes and coal black hair, as do many of his cousins although he (my husband) is hazel eyed and was blond (grey now). The family homesteaded on the Michigan/Ohio boarder where a friendly tribe of Powtawatomie Indians made the difference between life and death for all the settlers that first winter. But, you are right, just who the Indian was is a very tight secret (that has now gone to the grave) and unfortunately, I don't have 50 years left to unravel this. Thanks, Sally Bailey > [Original Message] > From: <elainedecker@frontiernet.net> > To: <NYGREENE-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: 1/8/2006 2:19:04 AM > Subject: Re: [GREENE COUNTY] Re: Roll Call-Athens-Brooks, Joshua > > Hi Jim, > What you say is true. > I am a member of the Wiquapaug Eastern Pequot Tribe of RI and CT. I go > there to be with the tribe often. It took me 50 years to find my father's > people as Indians would marry white and try to "pass". I grew up in New > Berlin, Chenango County, which is about 10 miles from the old Brotherton > Reservation. I get a kick when I read old census images where my cousins > all the sudden are written down as white if they moved off the reservation > and married white. My father was the only one of six children to be told of > his Indian blood. It was hard to hide his Indian blood as he had coal black > straight hair, dark skin and all the features. You kept it hidden and > denied, denied, denied. Indians are still discriminated against. If you > were Indian the government would come and take your children and send them > to boarding schools to beat the Indian out of them. The Carlisle school in > PA. is one of those schools. That was in this century. Woops. I should > say the 1900s. Their clothing and medicine bags, etc., were thrown away and > their hair was cut and they had to learn how to run a sewing machine or > become a blacksmith. The saying was that you killed the Indian to save the > child. The children commited suicide, ran away or families were lost > forever. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves but did NOT free > the Indians. Indians were not made citizens until 1923 or 24, can't > remember the exact year. They could not inherit land or personal property > and ended up on the street if their white spouse died. I could go on and > on. If there are rumors of an Indian in your family it is probably true but > you will not find out who, when or where unless you spend 50 years searching > like I did. It is usually a very tight secret. > Elaine, a red haired, blue eyed member of an Indian tribe. I am so proud > they accepted me. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "James Brady" <brady.j@att.net> > To: <NYGREENE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2006 11:28 PM > Subject: RE: [GREENE COUNTY] Re: Roll Call-Athens-Brooks, Joshua > > > > Don't forget the Indians that stayed and married the whites. > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > <<<After the Revolutionary War, land on the western reaches of Greene > > County > > would have been cleared of hostile Indians who importunely sided with > > the>>> > > British. ----- Original Message ----- > > ---- > > Hi Elaine, > > > > Well, yes, but those would have been the VERY friendly indians. Not the > > hostile ones. > > > > I've got a Van Slyck line of descent that takes me back to a Mohawk > > maiden. > > Jan Bronk's brother Peter is said to have taken an indian wife and > > disappeared from society's records. > > > > Some of the indian descent stories are false, but if you go back early > > enough in New York's history some of them prove out. If your people were > > here early enough, all kinds of things are possible. > > > > If you look through the early Athens Lutheran records you will find the > > marriage of Peter Christiaanse, a Madagascar slave of Jan Van Loon, to > > Elisabeth Brandemoes, a white Palatine woman whose husband had died. They > > baptized six children. > > > > I just meant that the indians were no longer dragging Abeels and Snyders > > off > > into the woods on their way to Canada. [see pgs. 103-5 of History of > > Greene > > County(Sylvia may have the story on her website)] > > > > Jim > > > > > > ==== NYGREENE Mailing List ==== > > Over 1400 pages of Greene County information, fully indexed, to help you > > find your lost link! > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygreen2 > > > > ============================== > > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > > New content added every business day. Learn more: > > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > > > > > > > ==== NYGREENE Mailing List ==== > Greene County Tax Assessment going on line now! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygreen2 > > ============================== > Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. > New content added every business day. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx > ==== NYGREENE Mailing List ==== Greene County Tax Assessment going on line now! http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygreen2 ============================== View and search Historical Newspapers. Read about your ancestors, find marriage announcements and more. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13969/rd.ashx