Native Ancestry Notes

3rd Great Grandmother Mary Ann Jones, 2nd Great Grandmother Nancy Jones Wright,
Great Grandmother Maggie Lenoa Wright Weaver, Grandmother Lillian Mae Weaver Somers
with oldest daughter Mamie Irene. Taken in the 1920's, Clay Co, Arkansas

By Angela Wittman

Some of my earliest memories are of my parents talking about our native ancestry, and I grew up with stories of being part Cherokee and how my Grandfather lied about his native ancestry to avoid discrimination. It was always taken for granted by my cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. on the Somers side that we are part Native American. So, when a cousin (now deceased) and I began looking for a “paper trail” of the Cherokee ancestry approximately 25 years ago and we couldn’t find documentation, I continued the research. I believe there is evidence that will lead to our native ancestry and I hope to present some of that evidence here.

Henry Francis Somers

I’ll begin with physical appearance: My Great Grandfather, Henry Francis Somers, clearly had the high cheekbones, dark hair and dark eyes of Native Americans. His wife Cotna Lisbeth (Cole) also had these characteristics. My Grandfather, William Henry Somers, had the same physical characteristics and while his draft notice for WWI states his race as white, he is described as having a “dark complexion.” Grandfather was 5’9” and of a medium build. My father has the same physical features as his father and grandparents; I remember his complexion as always being a reddish dark tan with coal black hair and dark brown eyes in his youth. Another feature that might point to physical characteristics of our native ancestry besides the high cheekbones are our hands (it’s amazing to look at family photos and see the distinct shape of Grandfather’s and father’s hands.

William Henry Somers

Family Stories: These are some of the stories I grew up hearing:

Great Grandfather was half Indian and had to hide his race due to discrimination. 

Unproven: Henry Francis was born in 1860 in Gainsboro, Jackson County, Tennessee to Abraham and Darcus (or Dorcas) Somers. Abraham was the oldest son of John Somers Jr. who had migrated to Tennessee (early 1800’s) from Caswell County, NC after his father passed away. John Somers Sr. was a veteran of the War for Independence and received 4000 acres in Tennessee for his service and this was passed on to his sons. In all the US Census reports I’ve found Henry listed in, he’s always been identified as “white” as has his parents.

Twin Cherokee boys were adopted by a white family (Somers) on the Trail of Tears when they became orphaned.

Unproven. I cannot find any documentation to support this story and do not think it was Henry Francis because he was born in 1860 and the Cherokee removal (Trail of Tears) took place in 1836. However, I am open to the idea that it was a different ancestor and that there probably is an element of truth in this account which might have been changed down through the years.

The adopted Cherokee twins grew up to be ministers of the Gospel and had a falling out over “religion.” I’m told they were Baptist and one brother changed the spelling of his last name to separate totally from the other brother. 

Unproven. However, reliable first hand knowledge supports the family story that Henry Francis Somers was a traveling evangelist who preached at “revivals” in the Southern Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma region during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. 

Lillian Mae and William Henry Somers

Grandmother Lillian Mae (Weaver) Somers, the wife of William Henry, told me as a child, that we were “Blackfoot Indian” and “Black Welsh.” When I asked her what a “Black Welsh” is, she replied, “It means we have dark hair and eyes.” So, I went through most of my life believing we had family connections with Wales and the Blackfeet Indians in the Northwest. I’m still researching this and while I can find no ancestry in Wales or the Blackfeet of the Northwest, I have come across information on the Saponi Tribe which is commonly referred to as the Blackfeet of the Northeast. They were located near Caswell County, NC at one time and eventually integrated with the Cherokee. I’ve also read in several accounts of assimilation of the Cherokee and other natives that in order to hide their race and blend in with the white settlers, they would tell folks they were of “Black Dutch” or other exotic ancestry. This could also explain why a cousin reports her mother, Aunt Mamie, always said she was “Blackfoot” and Dutch. And while there is a family connection to the Dutch Reformed of the Netherlands (1600s), it isn’t a prominent family line. Also, I’ve found that Grandma Somers was accurate in recording family history in her Bible and believe she was telling me the truth as a child. 

So, while proving our native ancestry won’t change who my cousins and I are, it will give us a deeper connection to each other and our common past. 

It helps to put life in proper perspective when one begins looking through the corridors of time and can see the hand of God ordering events and appointing our lives according to His good purpose. Amen.

Helpful Resources:

• Access Genealogy/Native Americans
• Appalachian Mixed Blood Notes
• Cherokee By Blood (Blog)
• Cherokee/Chickasaw/Choctow/Creek/Seminole Indian Removal Timeline (Digital History)
• Coastal Carolina Indian Center
• Do You Have Hidden Native American Ancestry? Here's How to Find Out (Family History Daily)
• My Blackfeet Ancestors (Climbing the Family Tree)
• Native American Roots
• Native Heritage Project
• Person County Indians (Jack Goins' Melungeon and Appalachian Research)
• Sappony.org
• Searching for Saponi Town
• The Five Civilized Tribes in the Civil War (Shiloh Museum of Ozark History - YouTube)

Update 2.29.2016

Much gratitude goes to Richard Thornton of People of One Fire for pointing me in a direction that is proving to bear much fruit in my research for our Native American ancestry:

Richard Thornton

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 AT 2:01 PM

Caswell County, NC is a Saponi area. They were also known as the Eastern Blackfeet. However, to the northwest in Southwestern Virginia were the Tamahiti, who were Creek, but returned to Georgia in the 1720s. 

Jackson County, TN was Chickasaw country. The Chickasaws were first cousins of the Creeks and were actually members of the original Creek confederacy. The Georgia Chickasaw town of Ustanauli relocated to Jackson County when NW Georgia was given to the Cherokees. The Ustanauli had intermarried with Jewish miners in their aboriginal region. The famous trader and historian, James Adair, married a woman who was half Ustanauli Chickasaw and half Jewish. 

Another possibility is that you had a Creek slave in your heritage. I can trace my Creek ancestry back to Creek slave named Mary, who was in Fredericksburg, VA when freed. King George II freed all Native American slaves in 1752. Mary returned to her homeland in South Carolina with a Scottish husband a couple of years later, but most of their children married other Creeks.

Link: http://peopleofonefire.com/cherokee-renegade-sour-mush-and-the-last-battle-of-the-american-revolution.html#comments

Update 7.17. 2019:

Dad took a 23andMe DNA test a few months ago and I've had a couple of 3rd or 4th cousins of Dad's from 23andMe ask to connect with dad. It's surprising because both are from the western United States and both have Native American DNA. 

A possibility for the native connection between Dad and these DNA cousins might be John Jr. the oldest son of Capt. John and Catherine Arden. He was born around the end of the 18th century and was married twice  - once to Rebecca Wright and then to Margaret Dill. John Jr. settled in Jackson County TN which had been Chickasaw and then Cherokee land. It's possible Rebecca might have been part or all native American. 

The next logical step for me is to research Rebecca Wright. I checked on a reliable genealogy site (Access Genealogy) and Wright is a common native surname listed in the Dawes Roll (Final Roll). 

This type of work is slow - but I think Rebecca is our missing link.

The Chickasaw and Cherokee were part of the "5 Civilized Tribes" who dressed in European clothing, owned plantations and even practiced slavery.

John Jr inherited land in Smith/Jackson County, TN which had been used as payment to John Sr. for serving in the Continental Army.

So, our mystery of who is the Somers Native American link might soon become solved! 

May the good Lord bless this effort to learn more of our ancestry and use it for His glory. In Lord Jesus Name, I pray, amen.