Hi, I think I kniw what you are talking about. Bonny Kate was quiet different from Sevier's first Wife, Sarah Hawkins. Sarah was 15 when they married. She was my lineage. Now, nancy Madden doubts that Sarah Hawkins Clark, dau. of Elizabeth Sevier and Major Clark , ever lived with her grandad Sevier because of Bonny Kate. I have a copy of 2 letters - one written by Ben Franklin Wyly of Stephenville then Mineola Cotton yard, then buried Comanche, Texas. Another letter from his niece, Florence underwiid Eastman, also says that Sarah lived with her grandad SevieBen even said Kate and Col. Sevier adopted Sarah- I not sure about that. Her mom Elizabeth died at age 7 and we do have on =record in Clevbeland Geneaology and others that she and James R. Wyly married in Knoxville and lived in Watauga area and Blount co. Tennessee before he built the Unicoi Turnpike and they moved back to her Clarkesville , Ga. family home and to Traverller's Rest Inn. Seems the Seviers and kin ran a lot of Inns, from Virgina then Tenn& Ga. Since Bonny Kate had a daughter Sarah Hawkins Sevier, it could have been confusing unless they called one Sally or something. Seen any Sevier noses lately? Just kidding. That was a contest in Gatlainburg at the Sevier Family Reunion Banquet in 1989. Take care, Charles A. Wyly On Mon, 18 Jun 2001 10:49:01 -0400 Harold Miller <hlm@qtm.net> writes: > > >Indian Agent Gen. Joseph Martin had 2 Anglo and 3 or more Cherokee > wives > >at one time or another. Polygamy was allowed but not common in the > >Cherokee Nation. Some Anglo women would overlook the husband's > Indian > >wife as it guaranteed her and her family's safety from Indian > attack and > >they were not in the same community at the same time. > > I could not let this one pass me by....maybe the wives kept quite > cause > women had so little to say about what their husbands did. If a man > wanted > to beat his wife, in many places that was his right. If he wanted a > mistress, that was his right. Often the "law" on things such as > this was > the woman's own male relatives. I have heard stories about one > family, the > wife was beaten by her husband who did a lot of drinking and > gambling....the > woman's male relatives got a hold of the husband and worked him > over, put > him in a wagon (guess he was unable to walk) and threw him out at > the county > line and said he was a dead man if they ever saw him in their county > again. > They must have thought it was better than going to court for a > divorce..... > > That is probably why it was so important who your mother's family > was.....kind of like in Scotland. When you were in trouble, you > could > depend on your whole family - both sides - helping you out. Orphan > children > were often raised by grandparents or aunts and uncles from the > mother's > side. Maybe why so often the mother's maiden name, or even the > grandmothers > were used as middle names for sons - or even first names. I have > found > strange first or middle names as a clue to female line. I am still > working > on one named either Garman or Jarman born 1820s in Tennessee. > Looking at > the area the family was living then, I find both a Jarman and a > Garman > family....and even a Germany one. Old census records on this man, > it is > something different ever time so that is why I am not sure what it > really was. > > Anyway, women often kept their mouths shut (yes it is possible) > regarding > what their husbands did. How many women do you think were real > happy about > packing up and moving off to the wilderness? Having babies while > moving > from place to place, being left at home so much while the husbands > ran > around saving the world? Not much is said about the women, and yet > they > were the ones who made the homes, kept the children, often educated > the > children....their lives were centered around not exploration but > perserving > the future generation. I have found in my research that the family > which > had an educated mother, did much better each generation. So much of > how the > family progressed depended on if the mother lived, and if she had > some > education. If she could read and write, the next generation seemed > to leap > ahead. If she died when the children were young, it was much harder > on them. > > I love the stories about the pioneer women - anyone got one? My > favorite I > think is the one about Sevier's second wife....Bonny Kate. I know > Charles > can tell that one. > > Mary > > > ============================== > Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the > #1 > Source for Family History Online. Go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB >