Appendix 1 Thomas Jefferson’s Excavation of a Monacan Mound
This link really spoke to me. Here are a few excerpts from it. Go to the link for further details.
In 1780, the secretary of the French legation in Philadelphia, François Marbois, submitted to various members of the Continental Congress a list of questions concerning the thirteen American states.1 Joseph Jones, a member of the Virginia delegation, believed Thomas Jefferson the most capable person to answer these queries for the state of Virginia and put Marbois's questionnaire in his hands. The answers composed by Jefferson to twenty-three queries make up his Notes on the State of Virginia, which has been called the "most important scientific and political book written by an American before 1785." Among the queries submitted by Marbois was one asking for a description of the Indians in the state (Query XI). Jefferson long had an interest in the Indian population of his native Virginia and his response to Query XI constitutes an impressive description of Indian tribes, their number, history, and geographical location, as well as their languages. As part of this response, Jefferson described in detail his exploration of an Indian burial mound in the "neighbourhood" of Monticello. He stated that it was "situated on the low grounds of the Rivanna, about two miles above its principal fork, and opposite to some hills, on which had been an Indian town."
This section tells us how Jefferson’s report came to be. It was just by accident, really, so we are fortunate to have it. I have never seen the original – now I’d like to see it. 😊 But mention is made of an Indian village that once stood at the location of the mound. It would be nice to hear more about it. Now back to excerpts from the website.
He records Jefferson’s excavation of the mounds, and records, “He observed several strata of bones with those nearest the surface the least decayed and "conjectured that in this barrow might have been a thousand skeletons."
. . . Jefferson added that "about thirty years ago" he observed a party of Indians visiting the barrow [Vance’s note: in this report, the author records that Jefferson called the mounds “barrows”.]. They "went through the woods directly to it, without any instructions or enquiry, and having staid about it some time, with expressions which were construed to be those of sorrow, they returned to the high road, which they had left about a dozen miles to pay this visit, and pursued their journey."9 Jefferson submitted a draft of the Notes to Marbois in 1781, and it has been suggested that Jefferson's sighting of the Indians at the barrow "about thirty years ago" would have been, therefore, when he was about eight years old . . . given Jefferson was born in 1743 . . .
Knowing what we know today, vast numbers of Native Americans died in several catastrophes we now know were epidemics of small pox. These survivors of this holocaust knew exactly where this graveyard was located, implying this was a recently used graveyard. The sadness of the people tells us the dead were their relatives. Continuing with the narrative;
. . . scholars agree that the "Indian Town" mentioned by Jefferson was the Monacan village of Monasukapanough, which probably occupied both banks of the South Fork at this point.21 Research at this site is ongoing.
If some of these were small pox deaths, does Jefferson’s excavation correspond to any known small pox epidemic? It is known the Catawba had one last small pox epidemic about 1780. Was this a result of Jefferson opening up the graveyard and exposing the people to the disease once again? It was said the entire Catawba Nation moved to Virginia during the Revolution, for far of what the British would do to them as they treated the Revolutionary soldiers with great brutality in the Carolinas.
In the next few years, many of the Catawba and associated bands became Christians. There were but a few survivors. But the Saponi and Monacan in southern Virginia remained. They mixed with local Whites and Negros, and some of them started to forget their Saponi, Monacan, and Catawban roots. Local Whites NEVER recalled their Native roots, and started calling them “Cherokee’s”. A French Huguenot term dating to the mass migration of French protestants to the Carolinas and Virginia called these mixed race folks, “Melungeon”, meaning “we mix”, and for some reason, the Saponi and Monacan people started being called “Melangeons”. These mixed-race folks had adopted a way of burial that was popular with other eastern woodland tribes of the southeast. They abandoned the idea of burial mounds, and gave their people Christian burials.
Appendix 2 -- A Melungeon Cemetery
I found the following article online -- “The Malungeons” by Will Allen Dromgoole (1891 article) The Arena; dated March 1891. I have stored a copy here -- https://vhawkins1952.wixsite.com/catawbaresearch/post/dromgoole-2-the-melungeons-mar-1891
Will Allen Dromgoole wrote some devastating fabrications about the Melungeons. To be fair to her, she makes a lot of assumptions and lets her imagination run wild. But her assumptions and guess work are probably part of the reason why the Western Catawba were never federally recognized as a tribe. But she also told interesting facts about us. Here is an interesting story that she told about us.
she reported –
I tracked them to Newman’s Ridge in Hancock County, where within four miles of one of the prettiest county towns in Tennessee, may be found all that remains of that outcast race whose descent is a riddle the historian has never solved. In appearance they bear a striking resemblance to the Cherokees.
Here Dromgoole, after claiming we descended from Portuguese and others who NEVER immigrated to Virginia or the Carolinas, bear a striking resemblance to the Cherokees.
Further in this same writing, she gives an accurate description of a later day Southeastern Native American cemetery. The earlier cemetery was pre-Christian cemetery was described in some of its aspects in Jefferson’s mound. After Christianity, this described the Native view or burial. Note the similarity of a Melungeon burial to a Native American burial of a Creek Nation citizen.
This is the final resting place of an artist and actor, Will Sampson. He was a Creek Nation citizen, you might recall from “One Flew Over the Coocoo’s Nest and other films.
The same link says of him, “Actor. Born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, he was a Native American of the Creek Nation most noted for his role as ‘Chief' opposite actor Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975). At 6'5" tall, he also appeared in "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976), "Orca" (1977), "The White Buffalo" (1977), "Standing Tall" (1978), "Fish Hawk" (1979), "Poltergeist II" (1986) and "Firewalker" (1986). He was also an accomplished artist and founder of the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts.”
I’d like to mention that I too, was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. I am just looking for a photo of an Indian cemetery to show the similarity of an 1890 description of a Melungeon cemetery and a modern photo of a Native American cemetery today. Public figures are saying we descend from Gypsies or Portuguese. They are diluting out REAL ancestry more than is necessary. Yes, today, we are of mixed race, but our original settlements were Saponi and Monacan. We mixed with Caucasians and Negros mostly. If there was a Portuguese or Gypsy mixture, and there might have been – it was MINOR, and not a major contributing factor in our genealogy.
Now notice what Ms. Will Allen says of Melungeon cemeteries in the above-mentioned article’
Near the schoolhouse is a Malungeon grave-yard. The Malungeons are very careful for their dead. They build a kind of floorless house above each separate grave, many of the homes of the dead being far better than the dwellings of the living. The grave-yard presents the appearance of a diminutive town, or settlement, and is kept with great nicety and care. They mourn their dead for years, and every friend and acquaintance is expected to join in the funeral arrangements. They follow the body to the grave, sometimes families, afoot, in single file. Their burial ceremonies are exceedingly interesting and peculiar.
Here is the marker. Doesn’t this resemble the type of a grave marker Ms. Drumgoole describes as is found in a Melungeon cemetery over 130 years ago? But this is found in a Creek Indian Cemetery in Oklahoma.
Appendix 3 – Was My Family a Member of the Western Catawba Indian Association?
I have long wondered if my family was part of this “Western Catawba Indian Association”. Were we? I don’t know. They were an organization that came out of the Allotment Act. Catawba’s had been asked to come to Oklahoma since 1848. They were told at different times they could live with the Cherokee, the Choctaw, the Chickasaw, and even on the Comanche/Kiowa/Apache lands of southwestern Oklahoma.
I used to email with Dr. Thomas Blumer. He told me some Catawba lived in what is now Leflore County, on the Oklahoma/Arkansas border in the Choctaw Nation. My great Uncle Oscar Taylor Richey wrote in Indian Pioneer Papers that his parents once lived in either Leflore or Sequoyah Counties, saying he didn’t know on which side of the river they lived. So they must have lived near the Arkansas River. He spoke us us moving to North Texas for a while, then returning to the Chickasaw Nation in south central Oklahoma. Several writers spoke of hearing, without divulging the source, of Catawba who lived in the Chickasaw Nation. And according to that last 1897 Congressional document, they sought to live in the Comanche/Kiowa/Apache lands. My great grandpa Jeff Richey (it was his family that had lived in the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations) leased lands about 1900 (approx.) from the Kiowa Agency for raising cattle. So we lived in all the places it was said that the western Catawba had lived in Oklahoma.
Dad had a million stories he told. One was about his cousin Eunice. He said he was told she knew something about our Indian ancestry that others didn’t know. So he asked her about it. He said her reply was, “Oh, you just want that Indian money.” Of course, there was no such thing as “that Indian money”. Dad said they had been close when growing up, but after that conversation, they never were close again. She’d hurt his feelings, and he kept his distance from her after that. She was a daughter of grandma’s sister, Aunt Bea. Aunt Bea had married a Texan named Travis Hankins. Dad also said Travis was a bad man and his grandpa, Jeff Richey, chased him off with a shot gun. He left her and never returned. Travis was Eunice’s father.
That’s the family background. Now more about the Western Catawba Indian Association. I found them mentioned in three short newspaper clippings from the newspaper, the Fort Smith Elevation, and a fourth from the Vinita Chieftain. Vinita is a small town in the Cherokee Nation. At one time, it stated that they had 4,000 members. Later is says they’d whittled their numbers down to 257. However even though Muriel Hazel Wright in her book “A Guide to the Indian Tribes of Oklahoma” wrote that the Catawba Tribe in Oklahoma were last enumerated in a roll in 1897 -- I’m paraphrasing. In that 1897 document it calls these 257 individuals were “former members” of the Catawba tribe. However I can find nowhere there any mention of these 257 people. There are only two surnames mentioned – Bain/Bane and Williamson. In two Arkansas census reports there are persons surnamed “Bunch” and “Minor” living in the household of the future President of the Western Catawba Indian Association. These are known Saponi/Cheraw surnames. The Vice President of this organization was a man surnamed “Williamson”. There was a White man with that surname living on the Catawba lands of South Carolina in the 19th century. Perhaps a descendant of his married a Catawba Remember, the government document called these men “former” members of the Catawba tribe.
Since I know none of my ancestors were surnamed Bain/Bane or Williamson, I had thought it would be impossible to tie my ancestors to this organization.
Then I found the following newspaper clipping from the “Frederick Leader”, a local newspaper in Tillman County, Oklahoma, dated 1922..
The first part reads; The Frederick Leader; Friday, December 29, 1922; page 2 of 4; 2nd column
Deep Red
Deep Red, December 27. [A few paragraph’s down]
Mr. & Mrs. Swaney Richey, Mrs. Holton Richey and daughter, Juanita of Cement spent the holidays at the J. H. Richey home. Miss Willie Bell Wiley spent Sunday with Miss Eunice Hawkins.
And the last part that mentions my family goes; . . . several paragraph’s down . . .
Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, and daughter Maurine, spent Tuesday at the J. H. Richey home.
Uncle Swan was grandma’s brother. Part of it was cut off. Someone spent Sundays with Miss Eunice “Hawkins”. This was written over Christmas, 1922. This was a newspaper that was just put out once a week. Now dad was just a child, his cousin Eunice was quite a bit older tan him. Dad grew up on a farm that bordered his grandparents, the Richey’s, farm. Dad was a “Hawkins” and Eunice was a “Hankins”. They probably got the names mixed up. I mention her here because she was n the neighborhood when those Williamson’s visited my great grandparents, and dad said she knew something about our Indian blood, that’s all. I know this is just “circumstantial evidence”, and not proof of anything. Maybe a future generation can discover if thee Williamson’s my great Grandparents knew are from the same Williamson’s called “former members of the Catawba Tribe” in that 1897 Congressional document that I transcribed.
Other names mentioned are “Holton Richey” -- that’s grandma’s brother, too, but his name is misspelled. Great Grandpa’s name was Jeffrey Hoten Richey”. He had a son also named “Jeffrey Hoten Richey”. He was called “Hoten” to distinguish him from his father.
They lived along Deep Red Creek (also called Deep Red Run). Mama used to say the pecan trees that grew along the Creek saved their farm from being taken over by the bank during the worst part of the Dust Bowl. The bank did take Dad’s family’s farm during the Dust Bowl – but that’s another story. Pecan trees grew all up and down the creek. On years when the rain failed and very little winter wheat or summer cotton grew, they always had plenty of native pecans – the native pecan trees had always grown along that creek, and had always known occasional droughts in this part of the country. They could handle it far better that wheat and cotton. Cotton needs a lot of water.
That reminds me, I almost forgot. Mama’s family grew up on the other side of dad’s grandparents house, and her family were good friends with both the Richey and Hawkins families. I remember her saying she remembered her parents and the Richey’s talking, and she said the Richey’s had said they’d gone to see the Dawes Commission people to sign up for it, but they left the meeting upset and just walking away, so we are not on any rejected lists, either.
Back to the newspaper article. Notice on the second image -- the lower image - it mentions a Williamson’s family visiting my great grandparents over the Christmas Holidays! This was I 1922/23. The last Williamson family I have found that was associated with the Western Catawba Indian Association was 1897. I know this is a long shot. I've walked down 100 blind canyons for everyone that has an exit. It might be wort it, I don't know.
And there is this -- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGRL-S5ZT
Notice the name “Maureen” is also mentioned in the Newspaper article. In 1922/23 she would have been about 13 years old. Unfortunately, I can’t get any further with them. Perhaps another generation can. Hence I mention them. Her parent or guardian was named BT or BJ Williamson. They must have been close to my great grandparents to spend the Christmas holidays together. I know this is probably a dead end. But one of every fifty quests isn't a dead end, so I keep searching, just in dase.
About the Author
Howdy.
I am Vance Hawkins. I was born in 1952 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. I was probably about 60 or 65 when this photo was taken. I’ll be 70 .this December (2022)
I obtained a BS in Mathematics with a Physics Minor from Cameron University located in Lawton, Oklahoma, in 1985, at the age of 33.
My first traceable ancestors (who were mixed-blood Catawba) arrived in Oklahoma in 1832 as soldiers at Fort Gibson. They were members of “Beans Rangers”, which became known as 1st Dragoons. They in turn, became “1st Cavalry” during the Civil War. They were with the first expedition the United States to make contact with the Comanche, Kiowa and Wichita in what is now southwestern Oklahoma. I presently live just 20 miles south of where that first meeting took place. In 1846-7, my great-great grandpa also served at Fort Gibson.
Writing about events of centuries past has been a pleasure.
In Conclusion:
Cherokee warrior Dragging Canoe once said; ". . . Whole Indian nations have melted away like snowballs in the sun before the white man's advance. They leave scarcely a name of our people except those wrongly recorded by their destroyers . . .” This happened to us, called “former” members of the Catawba Tribe” in that 1897 Congressional document. Just a few years before that 1897 congressional document came into existence, a Paiute man named Wewoka prophesied one day the “missing” Native people would return with the “Ghost Dance”.
This time, I think some of us might look a little more European than Native. But I’m not delusional. Our culture is lost and no one wrote it down. I was hoping to stir an interest in it, knowing my own thoughts on the subject are subject to my own experiences, research and biases.
When the snow falls again,
Will we recognize it?
When the snow falls again,
Will it recognize us?
Links
About my family. In the upper right-hand corner of this page, you will see the word "blog". Click on it and you will see 70 or so blog entries on many topics.
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