Hello List: I've come across some information that I've been trying to puzzle out. It seems that Mary Elizabeth Medlock who had married Calvin Malicoat may have been of Cherokee descent (they lived in Claiborne Co for a bit). Her half sister Louisa (who stayed in Campbell Co.) had filed a Guion Miller application for benefits and Louisa had stated their grandmother had been kidnapped by Indians in the early 1800's (1800-1805 is the closest time frame) and had had a daughter named Matilda born about 1820 by an unnamed Indian. This is entirely probable based on the information I've been able to find about the Indian "depradations" that had occurred in Powell Valley during that time period. Mary and Louisa's mother then was a half-breed according to Louisa Medlock Hunters application (she was rejected by the way because, I think, she couldn't fill in all the blanks on the form!). Louisa's mother was named Matilda which we're certain of because of several different sources-- she went by the last name of Medlock for a time then by the name of Malicote, and she was found in the HH of Philip Malicoate in 1850 Campbell Co. as Matilda Malicoat. As near as we can tell, Matilda and Philip were never married (Phillip's wife, Nancy Combs Malicoate, was in Grainger Co. and still very much alive for quite a while and we've not found a divorce record as yet) and the children listed as Malicoates in that 1850 Campbell Co. census for Phillip and Matilda were apparently fathered by different men based on their probable birthdates (which means nothing because this family didn't seem to know what date was what--not an unusual condition)--except perhaps Prior Malicoate who was the youngest in the family (yes, I'm deliberately spelling the Malicoate name several different ways as the family did that for just about forever which makes research "interesting" to say the least). Louisa herself said that she had been told her father was a William Heatherly and that her mother and her father had never been married! I then came across a Campbell Co. Circuit Court record from September 1850 in which Philip Malicote and Matilda Medlock were charged with Lewdness. The charges had been made September 1850 but the actual trial did not occur until 1855--Aaron Malicoate (Philip's nephew), John Comer (business partner and neighbor), and John F. Longmire (business partner and neighbor) put up 250 dollars EACH in bond in May 1855 (circuit court record) to insure Phillip would come to trial and Philip did eventually be sentenced for lewdness and faced two months jail time (it had been four months inthe record but the four had been crossed out and the word two written above it) plus court costs plus a fine which, according to the record, he could avoid if he took the insolvency oath. Apparently he did. I could not find a trial record for Matilda Medlock. By 1860 census her children were 'scattered' in different households in Campbell Co--Louisa was listed as a pauper in Larkin Malicote's household (which meant Philip took the insolvency oath). Mary Medlock had married her Calvin Malicoate by then (1860) so apparently either Matilda had died or had run off. We are thinking she ran off and left those kids with Philip --which would explain why five years passed before he was hauled into court yet Matilda was not ...Matilda Medlock had also disappeared from the 1860 census --however Louisa claimed in her application that she had been told her mother died in 1865. The fact Louisa said she had been told this information tells me she had had no further contact with her mother. Then in the 1870 Claiborne Co. Census I found a Prior Malicote age 8 in the household of Malissa and Matilda Sweet in Claiborne Co. This Prior Lee was the only son of Prior Malicote and a Caroline (both having died during the Civil War around 1864-1865) according to Jean Brand's research on the Malicote famillies. Since Matilda Sweet's age was the same as Matilda Medlock and since she had Prior Malicoate in her household the speculation is this is one and the same woman. Also what adds "fuel" to this speculation is there is a court record in Claiborne for a Philip Malicoate --also three of his children by Nancy Combs had married in Claiborne County which ties Philip with Claiborne County as well as Grainger Co.(which is where the Malicotes had settled originally when they came from Virginia). As near as I can figure out, the Malissa Sweet who was head of the household in 1860 (actually she appeared as head of household in 1830, 1840, 1850, AND 1860 CENSUS) was Matilda's mother (Malissa had been a midwife in Claiborne county according to one court record and who NEVER married it seems and who had had children anyway but I suppose since she supported herself they didn't care what she did)--she also may have been a sister to David Sweet who had settled in Anderson County from Claiborne County. This last bit is speculation based on Malissa, David, and an Owen Sweet appearing in the Claiborne Co. census in 1830 together. Owen Sweet left this country and settled in Pulaski County Ky in case anyone is interested. David Sweet, who had married a woman named Highley, stayed in Anderson and had a bunch of children. Malissa Sweet stayed in Claiborne County. Malissa Sweet had a son named David Barton Sweet. He had married a Margaret A. Moore in 1852 and they had had several children before David Barton died. They were next door to Malissa and Matilda in 1860. Then Margaret appears by herself with her children in 1870 Claiborne Census. In 1880 she is still a widow with her children in her hh however there are several others also listed as her children who were not in the 1870 census. I'm wondering if they were married to her children and were in-laws instead. At any rate there is a Sarah Sweet FROM CLAIBORNE COUNTY who had made application to the Guion Miller rolls claiming she had married an Indian by the name of John Sweet FROM CLAIBORNE COUNTY and she had had two sons, James David and George, who also filed on the Guion Miller rolls...however this Sarah was filing on her own lineage not her husbands lineage. She was rejected as well as her sons. I also did find TVA records for this Sweet family of John and Margaret Moore Sweet. Most of them had been removed to Big Barrens Memorial Cemetery in the 1930's.... The time frame for these people was 1830 THROUGH 1880. After 1880 there is very little except that the sons of Margaret remained in Claiborne -- John Sweet in 1900 claimed he was a widower but none of his children were listed in his household and Sarah was not to be found. That 20 year gap is a real brickwall for me. If any of this makes sense to anyone, please let me know how I can connect the dots here. It seems as though there is very little information on this family which makes me think they were indeed of Indian descent and tried to hide it... Any help will be deeply appreciated! Bonnie