Week 28 – Random

 

This was a really hard week to decide what to write about. Random – could be just about anything. Fortunately, I have the list of each week’s topics, so this story is one that doesn’t fit into any others, but one I wanted tell. Just about every family tree has legends. Three brothers came on a ship…  Immigrant ancestor was a stowaway…  and of course, the famous footrace for the hand of an Indian Princess.  In the case of the Indian Princess, it is almost always a Cherokee princess. This is likely the reason that my great-grandfather Ditmore attempted to prove the legend of our Native American lineage by filing an Eastern Cherokee claim.

Between 1830 and 1850, members of the “Five Civilized Tribes” were forcibly removed from the deep south in what would later be known as the “Trail of Tears.” This displacement of around 60,000 Native Americans would see disease, starvation and exposure inflicted on them during their journey to Indian Territory, in present day Oklahoma. In 1838, the Cherokee were removed from North Carolina and northern Georgia. The U.S. Court of Claims was established in 1855 to hear claims against the United States. Then in 1863, authority was expanded to allow them to render judgement and granting awards.  On 18 May 1905, the U.S. Court of Claims decided in favor of the Eastern Cherokees and authorized the Secretary of the Interior to identify eligible participants for the distribution of claims. The funds were to be distributed to all Eastern and Western Cherokee Indians who were alive on 28 May 1906, who could prove that they were members of the Eastern Cherokee Tribe or were descendants. By 1909, more than 45,000 applications had been filed representing more than 90,000 individuals.

My great-grandfather, John Henry Ditmore was born in Hayesville, Clay County, North Carolina in 1866. He married Malora Jane Ayers in Habersham County, Georgia (just south of Clay County) in 1890. He brought his family from North Carolina to western Oklahoma in 1907. “Henry” as he was known grew up amongst the stories of the Trail of Tears that forced the Cherokee from North Carolina and many Native Americans that managed to pass as white in order to stay in their homes. John Henry was the son of Henry M. Ditmore and his wife, Elizabeth Hampton. It was through his mother that Henry believed he descended from the Cherokee.

Elizabeth Hampton was born on 28 July 1835 in North Carolina. Both of her parents were also born in North Carolina – her father, George Washington Hampton in 1802; and her mother, Mary Ann Blythe in 1808. George was a farmer and lived his entire life in and around Cherokee County. Mary Ann was the daughter of Jonathan Blythe and Annie/Nancy Barnes. Jonathan and Annie were both reportedly born in South Carolina, likely in the Pickens area. By 1820, Jonathan had moved his family to North Carolina, but they didn’t stay there long. They moved often between North and South Carolina, and northern Georgia over the next forty years. Annie died sometime prior to 1840. She is the subject of the Eastern Cherokee Application which my great-grandfather submitted.

Stories abound about Annie/Nancy Barnes and her origins. Her bloodline became the basis of what is known as the “Blythe Case” among the numerous claims submitted by her descendants. It is no secret that Jonathan Blythe’s subsequent wives were of Native American heritage, so it might be presumed that Annie/Nancy was, as well. The fact that a Nancy Blythe did appear on page 28 of the Eastern Cherokee census of 1835 lends credence to this, however she is shown as residing on Shooting Creek in North Carolina, and has a minor child over sixteen years of age. Two of her adult children are also listed on the roll as of 1851 – James Blythe and Betsey Blythe Welch, which also gives additional “proof” of her origins.

Debunking these claims are a number of testimonies given by individuals with first hand knowledge of the family. Among them is the response from Martha Ann Maroney, who at the age of 73, gave a deposition in which she stated she was the “daughter of John Welch, who was a half-blood Cherokee Indian and his wife, Elizabeth Blythe, a white woman.” Elizabeth was the daughter of Jonathan Blythe and Annie/Nancy Barnes. She goes on to explain that her mother had one brother and five sisters, including Mary Ann who married a Hampton, and all were “full white blood.” She further states that it was well-known among her family that Annie/Nancy Barnes was born in Scotland and came to South Carolina as a young girl.

The testimony of James Lewis McDonald, who was 87 years of age and a grandson of Annie/Nancy Blythe, shows conclusively that she must have been an old woman in 1835. He says, “In 1835 she was living with Jonathan Blythe, her husband. No one else was living in the house with them at that time as far as I recollect. At that time all her children were married or had left. She had no grandchildren living in the house with her. I never heard of Nancy Blythe, my grandmother, drawing any money as an Indian. I never heard her say she was enrolled as an Indian. I have heard her say that her mother was an Indian. I will not state that I heard her say what tribe of Indians she belonged to. The first I heard of her being enrolled was 6 or 8 or 10 years ago. Jim Taylor told me then. He was acting for Belva Lockwood. In 1835 it was well known where my mother lived. She was well known in this county at that time. I never heard of her getting any money as an Indian. The reason my mother was not enrolled in 1835 was because they held their heads up and were sort of biggish and did not have sense enough. I can give no reason why mother’s brothers and sisters were all of age at that time and living this locality. In 1851 I was living on Hanging Dog. I do not remember anything about a payment in 1851. Did hear that the Cherokees were drawing some money then. I did not apply because I did not have sense enough. We have always had the privileged of white people but recognized as having Indian blood. I do not claim Indian blood through any source other than Annie Blythe.”

Edmond A. Dewese, a white man 87 years old, testifying on behalf of the claimants, stated that he “first knew Annie Blythe in Macon County, North Carolina, in 1836 or 1837, and that she was living somewhere near Franklin, on the Tennessee River.” Other witnesses testified that Annie/Nancy was living in 1835 and 1836 in Macon or Jackson Counties, but it does not appear anywhere that this Nancy Blythe ever lived at Shooting Creek, and which point the Nancy Blythe enrolled in 1835 was living.

Testimony further discloses the fact that James Blythe and Betsey Welch, the two children of Annie/Nancy Blythe who were enrolled in 1851, had married Eastern Cherokee Indians prior to the Treaty of 1835. Joseph G. Hester, Special Agent, who made a roll of Eastern Cherokees in 1884, enrolled James Blythe as No. 1177, and under the names of ancestors on previous rolls wrote, --“white”, and under remarks added, “White on Mullay Roll – adopted before the Treaty.” Agent Hester also enrolled Betsey or Elizabeth Welch as No. 1421. Likewise inserting in a column of names of ancestors on previous rolls, --“White”, and adding under remarks, “Married to a Cherokee before Treaty.”

Needless to say, the testimony presented gave no credence to the fact that Annie/Nancy Barnes was truly of Cherokee descent. Conflicting “evidence” denied all the claims in the Blythe case, including the claim of John Henry Ditmore. Furthermore, DNA evidence shows no Native American blood in those descendants that have been tested. 

In regards to the race for the hand of the Indian Princess, I have found the origins of that tall tale.  John H. Sutherland, a white man 71 years of age gave testimony in the claim for the Blythe case. He states, “I was born in Spartansburg, South Carolina, and lived there until 1859, and then moved to Madison County, North Carolina. I know James L. McDonald, and I have known him since coming to this county. I did not know him or any of his family prior to that time. All I know about Annie or Nancy Blythe’s Indian blood is what I heard my mother tell a neighbor woman one day. My mother’s name was Martha Sutherland. My mother said that when she was first married there came to their home near Greenville, South Carolina, a very fine looking Cherokee Indian – the finest she had ever seen – and they had a lady there by the name of Annie Barnes, who was a quadroon or half blood Cherokee Indian, and the prettiest woman she ever saw. That big Indian fell in love with Annie Barnes and there was a man there by the name of Jonathan Blythe who was a little man but a swift runner [I guess I could have used this story the week the topic was Fast], and this Annie Barnes was an interpreter. The Chief of the Indians was a man by the name of Oo-sta-alle, and Annie Barnes acted as his interpreter, and he adopted Annie Barnes. A big Indian wanted to fight for her but the Chief said it wouldn’t be fair, but that if he could outrun Jonathan Blythe, he could have her, - and they had a race and Jonathan beat and so married Annie Barnes. This happened after my mother was married. My mother died in 1880 and she was then about 80 years of age. My mother said that this Chief Oo-sta-alle, was a Cherokee Indian. My mother said that the Indians left Greenville after Annie Barnes marriage and moved to Toxoway and then to the little Tennessee river.”

Oftentimes, family lore all boils down to a fanciful story that was handed down through generations.