YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS

Been researching this one tiG: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/ HTH Sis'

go_vols...not all the Cherokee were forced...because as many as possible hid. Other tribes and nations did the same. Often times these people are proud of the fact they didnt go to the reservation. At one time, and now still in some places the NA people were looked down upon. That is why many never said it. I am proud of my heritage. I do not live in an area full of NA people though. So I dont see the racial discrimination as do many who live in those areas. I am horrified that there is still such blatant racial discrimination going on though.
Many people died going to the reservations. The government has done the NA people wrong from day one. It is a national disgrace. I dont believe I have enough Cherokee blood to get a card. I asked about it years ago but never got a full answer. My great great grandma was full blood.... is that 1/30, or 1/60th? I cannot remember. I even wrote a Cherokee lady a long time ago to get her to help. No such luck. It seems if you have that small amount of Cherokee....many dont want to help you.

Aimee, wish I could help you with finding your Grandmother. Were you able to get her death certificate? John

John, thanks! I will have to go in person to get it, since she died in La. and they are funny about releasing records. I'm not sure of her name. She was either Sarah Lettie or Lettie Sarah, and I have found her with one or the other but not both names at different times in different indexes. If I had more information, the very information I am trying to get, I could write for it, but without it they require me to present identification in New Orleans or hire an attorney to get it for me. When I tried to call, it was the typical scene of phone tag leading to nowhere. Also, I need to know exactly where she died, and no one seems to know that. As an example of how apathetic my family can be, I didn't know she had died until almost 15 years later. Of course, I assumed she had, since she died at age 93 if we can believe the records I have located. I am the one who moved away, didn't hang onto the apron strings or ask for help, and I pay for it by not having knowledge. (I also don't have certain problems on a day to day basis.) I continue to try, because someday I will turn one more key and it will all be there. Some cousin is bound to be on here looking. Eventually, rather than going to all the states possibly involved, I will be forced to pay to join something like Ancestry.com to gain access to more records, and maybe that will yield more useful info. Like the Mormons, I believe this is a duty we owe to our children.

Mornin' Aimee' From reading your stories we seem to have a lot in common' I'm with tiG and guess you and me can be "cuz"too,lol'

Wow, this just gets better! If I keep getting adopted cousins, I might not have time for my documentable ones. Anyway, Daddy was a ramblin man, so I don't rule out anything.

Yours too,lol???

A good point Aimee and Sis. Now here's a rambling man. When searching for family everything won't be good. I found my dad was married 6 times. I knew he was married three times. I have a half brother and sister and then I knew he was married to the person he was married to before my mother. My mother was the last wife. I tell everyone I don't care how many times he was married I'm just glad he married the last time. That's where I came in. LOL

My 3 boys are 1/8 chippewa-all the 1/4 chips are reieving a weekly check for 900.00 Their share of casino revenue! I hope someday the boys recieve this too!! ;]So they can take care of me. ;]

I wanta be a 1/4 chippewa.

lol me too!

Aimee, it is difficult enough when you know the facts. My own father was unable to obtain his birth certificate in his lifetime. About 5 years after his death I found it, they had the wrong birth day recorded (off by 3 days), and had his last name spelled wrong (COU, instead of CU), as well as his father's name was wrong (gave him a middle name he did not have). If you have a clerk that only goes through the motions, they look no farther than the facts you give them.

Important note: remember that whoever recorded the information did not necessarily spell the name correctly. I have often 'argued' with people who say 'our family ALWAYS spelled it this way'. They couldn't be more wrong. The Census takers spelled it however they wanted... I have seen birth and death records with two or more spelling of the same person's name on the same page! One of my surnames of interest is ZEARFOSS. This began correctly as ZERFASS. My Great-grandmother spelled it ZEARFOSS, her brother preferred SEARFOSS. THese people appear in various records as SURFACE and even CERFERS among endless variations.

John

John me to. My grandmother was granted a pension from the state of Tn. for my Grandfather serving in the Civil War. On the document that I received from the State of Tn. it had her name spelled different on the same page. Paty and Patty. I have traced down a cousin and he goes by Paty and he says that he doesn't know which is right. On her tombstone it has Paty. So we decided that must be right. Another point is also that a lot of our ancestors couldn't read and write and othres filled out the forms for them. The document has her making a mark on it and someone else signing it. A lot of inormation can be obtained from Tn. I also obtaoined from them a copy of the letters that my Grandfather submitted in order to get a pension. It did cost a little. sSomething like $5.

GRC,Same here on the marriage remark,lol'
Well,I have to thank GRC for getting me going on this journey,learning so much' I'm keeping(hand written) notes on everything' Also dh is helping as our memories so far are in tact,lol' He's going to the library for some books for us today,more reading' Being NA on mom's side and researching is tough,to say the least,going from photos/stories that were told me as a child'Our family cemeteries are in Ok.so gonna take a road trip soon too' Still having probs finding my ggpaws,still have enlistment papers but no records have surfaced yet'Sure wish I could find our Family Bible but ggpaws 2nd wife stole it and then stole our "rights"with it too' My grandmother's(siblings) share was sold to what is now Phillips Petroleum Co.' Looks too like alot of Boones in our tree, ggpaw did raise/sell Tennessee Walkers,the journey continues,lol' Happy Trails,Sis'
PS,John,our family had some good feuds and changed their spellings of their last names,lol'

John, it sounds like we might have the same lusty men in our ancestry. But Daddy didn't marry them, so I can't claim but us four and the other six I know about. I basically write off his family as too complex to try to trace.

Can someone tell me how to use the Ancestry.com links some of you have provided above? I go through all kinds of gyrations, because someone here said they found it helpful, but invariably the trail ends at "Join now" just as I might get to the actual records. I joined that thing once about three years ago, and everything I wanted to see required another fee or wasn't online yet. Now when I try to use the name I used then, it isn't accepted. But when I tried to rejoin using the same name, I was informed that the name was taken. And it seems every other site dealing with ancestry is connected with them. Do all of you who are using those links effectively have a current membership?

Hey SIS! Welcome to the RedClay Clan...Boones?? Fueding?? BOUND to be our kin!! What do you say, Cousin Jim? Cousin Jo

Aimee, Ancestry.com is mostly for pay only. There are usually a few new free items, but you must join for most. I have used them when they run free specials now and then when everything is free, but they don't seem to do that anymore. Any records they have can be ordered at the LDS/Mormon Family History Centers, about $3.50 a roll of microfilm, which can be viewed at the center. Copies can be printed from the films at the Centers for 25c a page.

BTW, I may be from the North, but we had our share of feuds too. There was a rumble once at a funeral in recent years about something from 75 years ago, by the grandchildren of the original feuding parties... Happens every generation, usually disputes about someone's will and their 'estate'. Such as it is... John

Aimee rootsweb.com IS FREE'''

Thanks, John and Sis. I will try the rootsweb link, Sis, wish me luck. I did find a possible connection on the message boards of ancestry, and have been corresponding with him. If he isn't kin, he sure is missing a good chance, but not to Grandma. It is my hope that through his research, I will learn enough to backtrack or side track to find Grandma's origins. He goes to Ark. and physically views the graves and records. John, I am glad you cleared up the ancestry.com mystery for me. I thought I had gone much further with ancestry.com some few years ago, and the fee I sent in was about $15, after considerable good experience. Shortly after I sent it, the site became almost impossible for me to access. Then it forgot who I was or rejected my password. I guess success isn't always a good thing, as it seems they lost some of their original purpose. Back then, I had located some lines but failed to copy it. Didn't have a printer, so I took a few handwritten notes, but not enough, and the e-mails I had aren't good now. With this new effort, I hope to build on what I thought I knew. This is such a great thing, being able to come to my garden friends and find kinfolks.