Joe, I have been curious about this same subject for some time now. I don't have any answers for you, but here are my thoughts: It seems relevant, especially for those of us whose ancestors suddenly appear in Western TN in the 1840 census, and pass down rumors of Indian blood in a very hush-hush way, like my Caleb MORRIS/Martha A. PASCHALL line in Weakley. The family story from Caleb's dau-in-law was that one of Caleb & Martha's grandson Aubra Carl "Carl" MORRIS's grandmothers was 1/4 Indian. Carl MORRIS was my grandpa on my mom's side. (The other possibility would be Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" LARGENT who married Samuel Allison WATSON, but they didn't arrive in Weakley until ca.1867-8.) It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that some of our ancestors could have quietly slipped off a riverboat at night, or wandered away from the trail in search of a better life than what the "Great White Father" promised in AR or OK. This also seems to fit with the story that Caleb was called by another name while they were hiding in a cave or some dark place (a childhood memory of Great-grandpa Morgan Daniel MORRIS). I always assumed this had to do with Caleb being a Confederate soldier, but if they did escape from the Trail of Tears those families surely would have had to invent new identities for themselves. I just don't know if there are any resources out there that give the numbers that started on the trail and how many reached their destination. The only statistic I've ever seen cited is how many died on the way, but it seems to me it would have been to the guards' benefit to enlarge that number rather than admit how many got away in KY, IL, or TN, etc. Maybe that would make a good research project for a quiet Sunday afternoon. Just my 2-cents' worth. Peg Schorfheide Corpus Christi, TX orig. Belleville, IL ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

For those of you looking for the Trail of Tears routes. There were several, all ending in Tahlequah, Okla. For a very good route map, click on the following link, then select Trail of Tears. http://imgis.nps.gov/national_historic_trails.html Tom Johnson Oklahoma City ----- Original Message ----- From: <PugAgain@aol.com> To: <tnweakle@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 2:02 PM Subject: Re: [TNWEAKLE] Trail of Tears > Joe, > > I have been curious about this same subject for some time now. I don't > have > any answers for you, but here are my thoughts: > > It seems relevant, especially for those of us whose ancestors suddenly > appear in Western TN in the 1840 census, and pass down rumors of Indian > blood in a > very hush-hush way, like my Caleb MORRIS/Martha A. PASCHALL line in > Weakley. > The family story from Caleb's dau-in-law was that one of Caleb & > Martha's > grandson Aubra Carl "Carl" MORRIS's grandmothers was 1/4 Indian. Carl > MORRIS > was my grandpa on my mom's side. (The other possibility would be Sarah > Elizabeth "Lizzie" LARGENT who married Samuel Allison WATSON, but they > didn't > arrive in Weakley until ca.1867-8.) > > It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that some of our ancestors could have > quietly slipped off a riverboat at night, or wandered away from the trail > in > search of a better life than what the "Great White Father" promised in AR > or OK. > This also seems to fit with the story that Caleb was called by another > name > while they were hiding in a cave or some dark place (a childhood memory > of > Great-grandpa Morgan Daniel MORRIS). I always assumed this had to do > with > Caleb being a Confederate soldier, but if they did escape from the Trail > of > Tears those families surely would have had to invent new identities for > themselves. > > I just don't know if there are any resources out there that give the > numbers > that started on the trail and how many reached their destination. The > only > statistic I've ever seen cited is how many died on the way, but it seems > to > me it would have been to the guards' benefit to enlarge that number > rather > than admit how many got away in KY, IL, or TN, etc. > > Maybe that would make a good research project for a quiet Sunday > afternoon. > > Just my 2-cents' worth. > > Peg Schorfheide > Corpus Christi, TX > orig. Belleville, IL > > > > ************************************** See what's free at > http://www.aol.com. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TNWEAKLE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >