PERKINS TRIAL JOHNSON COUNTY TENN.

[DARRELL WARD]

mY FATHERS FAMILY IS WARD HCKS PRESNELLS HARMAN TESTERS/TEASTERS. MARRIED INTO THIS FAMILY IS SOME PEOPLE WHO LAST NAMES ARE GUY.BANNER TRIVETTE CHURCH. 1N 1856 IN JOHNSON COUNTY TN THEY HAD THE PERKINS TRIAL. IN THAT TRIAL THEY WAS TRYING TO SAY THAT JOSHUA PERKINS WAS A BLACK MAN BUT HE SAID HE WAS PORTYGHEE.

HIS GGGFATHER JOC PERKINS WAS THE CENTER OF THE TRIAL EVEN THOUGH HE HAD BEEN DEAD MANY YEARS. THEY WERE TRYING TO PROVE THAT OLD JOCK WAS A NEGRO. JOSHU PERKINS FATHER WAS JOSHUA PERKINS WHO MARRIED NANCY GRAVES..
NANCY GRAVES FATHER WAS JOHN GRAVES FROM SC.
IN THE TRIAL SEVERAL PEOPLE TESTIFED THAT THE GRAVES AND PERKINS WERE MIX BLOOD INDIANS
CALL GUINEAS AND PORTYGHEE. SOME SAID THE GRAVES WERE RED LIKE CHEROKEE. MY GGGGFATHER
DAVID HICKS HAD TWO SONS JOHN WESLEY AND HIRAM HICKS.IN THE TRIAL IT WAS SAID THAT HIRAM HICKS MOTHER WAS A GRAVES.
HARMON HICKS ALSO TESTIFIED IN THE TRIAL THAT HIS BROTHER MARRIED A PEGGY GRAVES.HARMONS BROTHER GOULDER ALSO TESTIFIED IN THE TRIAL THAT THE GRAVES AND PERKINS WERE OF THE MIX RACE. MY QUESTION IS
ARE THESE GRAVES/PERKINS SAPONI LUMBEE CATAWABA CHEROKEE OR WHAT? ALSO MY FATHERS'
MOTHER WAS MARY ANN PRESENLL SHE SAID THAT MY GRANDFATHER JOHN WESLEY WARD WAS BLACK DUTCH, HEARD ALL MY LIFE NEVER KNEW WHAT IT MEANT UNTIL STARTING GENEOLOGY.MOST MY PEOPLE ARE A DARK SKIN PEOPLE SOME HAVE SLEEPY EYES OR ASIAN EYESFOLD .NYBODY HAVE ANY LEADS
THANKS DARRELL

[Linda]

First of all, you're very lucky to have this court testimony. I've heard of plenty of people basing their own heritage off of being distantly related to someone who had documentation like this. I don't think you'll have any trouble stumbling onto some really experienced researchers who will take an interest in your family.

The name Hicks is the only one I recognize as having Saponi possibilities. Harmon is listed as a possible Creek name. I don't know much about TN surnames, though. Your court case alone likely establishes Native ancestry to a large degree though. Somebody else who knows more about these things would be able to comment better about that.

Keep digging. You've got a treasure there. It won't just help you understand your background, but will likely be useful to a whole community of people.

As to your question about which tribe these people were descended from, could be all of the above. Tennessee was a haven for refugees from all over. Good luck and keep us posted.

[mrspatino]

Hi Linda Hi Darrell!
I dont know if this helps but might be some clue down some line but while doing my research I have ran across Wards and Hicks in the Upper Sandusky Ohio Cemetary, Old Mission Cemetary, I am going to try to go down there this weekend if I have the funds I will make copies if I run across those names! Dont feel bad Darrell I am going throught the same thing, Lumbee/Saponi/Cherokee/Blackfoot/Black Irish same stories in my family too, Linda is right you very Lucky to have that Document. I'll see what I can dig up too Tennesee is not that far from Ohio.

[DARRELL WARD]

THANKS. FOR YOUR HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
I LIVE IN TENNNESSEE, AND THE PERKINS TRIAL WAS IN TENNESSEEE BUT THE WARDS HICKS PRENELL ALL LIVED IN ASHE/WATAUGA COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA. THE PERKINS AND GRAVES BOTH WAS IN THE AREA OF SC/NC PRIOR TO THE 18OO'S.THE GRAVES/PERKINS WENT ON TO CARTER COUNTY TN IN EARLY 18OO'S,JOHNSON COUNTY WAS BIRTH OUT OF CARTER COUNTY. BENJAMIN GRAVES WHO WAS MENTIONED IN THE TRIAL ,WAS ON THE 1850 MONROE COUNTY TENN CENSUS HIS OCCUPATION WAS LISTED AS A BASKET MAKER? I BELIEVE MY PEGGY GRAVES IS EITHER A SISTER TO BENJAMIN AND NANCY OR A NIECE
SOME OF THE PERKINS AND GRAVES NEIGBORS IN ANNSON/BLADDEN/ROBESON COUNTY NC/SC WERE JEFFERIES CHAVIS SWETT SEVETT TANN DIAL. MOST THESE PEOPLE WERE LISTED AS FREE PERSONS OF COLOR.
DARRELL

[mrspatino]

Hey I am bundles of encouragment and when I am not I e-mail Linda for Pep talks hahaha!
I am just happy that I can go somewhere where people have the same kind of family history I have, for a long time nobody had a clue of what I was talking about. I came to Saponi town and it was like coming home to old Auties and Uncles.

[mrspatino]

Oh and it is realy interesting that you have basket makers in your family mine made furniture and were painters. On my NDN side that is.

[Linda]

Those free person of color neighbors of your family that you listed all have names associated with SE Indian families, did you know? But then Robeson county is predominantly NDN families to this day.

Hey, Christina, I'm not THAT old. 8-)

[mrspatino]

HA! you know what I mean ; ) hehehe silly
I respect & love you in that way as an Auntie.
Thats my Clarification and I am sticken too it heheheheh.

[Jeff Beard]

I'm descended from the Hicks, Harmon, Oakes, Perry, and Whitehead families . The Hicks, Oakes, and whitehead families are mentioned in the Perkins trial. I believe the Sarah Oakes mentioned was Sarah Hicks Oakes ( daughter of Big Sammy Hicks ) who married Barnabus Oakes.
I believe that Hicks is possibly Saponi, while Harmon is Gingaskin, Perkins is either Gingaskin or Chowan, and Sweat is i think Lumbee.
more than likely the Perkins & Graves as well as some of the other families were probably a mixture of Coastal algonquian, Siouan, and possibly some Tuscarora mixed in as well...
My Maternal Grandfather was Charlie Thomas who was born in Carter co. Tn, and was descended from the Whitehead, Perry, Ellis, Hicks, Oakes, and Harmon families. My grandfather was a dark complexioned man and was said to be mixed-blooded, and some of the Perkins family actually were neighbors to the Oakes and perry families on Shell creek in Carter Co Tn.
I believe that the Perkins & Graves as well as their neigbors were mixed-blooded, and what bought trouble for the Perkins family is that they were a little more prosperous than their neighbors, which caused envy and jealousy among some of their neighbors, and given the time period what better way to wreak havoc on the Perkins family than question their color/ancestry.
Jeff Beard

[BlondeyeLaurie]

Hello all...Darrell...*waves*...this is a very interesting lien of Perkins...and they connect prevalently to my maternal lines...I too have heard much about the Perkins Trial but do not have any data that shows a wife named Nancy Graves for Joshua. My descendancy shows Joshua "Old Jock" Perkins (b: 1730 St. George's Parish, MD; d: 10 Apr 1801 Washington Co, TN) who MD: Mary "Polly" Black and had CH: George, Jacob, Joshua, Lewis, Mary Polly & Isaac. I show that Jacob, their son Married Nancy Ann Graves...they having had 10 Children. I show Joshua's son Joshua Jr. as marrying Mary Mixon. Also perhaps worth mentioning is that Old Jock's children wee born in the Pee Dee Valley in Bladen County. I have 3 Perkins cousins who are also attempting to sort thru all of our Perkisn info along side me....soem further source/notes that we have include the following:
""Possibly of Melugeon orgin (Native American/Portugese/

The Perkins family was described as Mulatto, Indian, and Portuguese. They were dark skinned, olive complexion, and straight dark hair. I believe they were a little of all three described above.

The earliest Perkins family member that has been found to date is Joshua "Old Jock" Perkins. He was born circa 1732 in Accomac Co., Virginia. He is said to be the son of a mulatto father and his mother, Esther Perkins was said to be white.
Mulatto back in those days described anyone of dark skin.

"Old Jock" Perkins was said to operate a ferry, owned an iron forge, school and also he owned race horses. They were considered a wealthy family. The Perkins family migrated with other families considered dark skinned. They traveled from North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

There was a trial, Perkins vs. White, filed in Johnson Co., Tennessee in 1858. The great grandson of "Old Jock", Joshua F. Perkins filed suit against a neighbor who had said the perkins family were negro and should be legally prosecuted for
marrying white women and other things. The trial transcripts are very interesting because they include a great deal of information concerning "Old Jock" Perkins and his descendants. It tells of his children, and other important genealogical
information. Please select from the list below and read the abstracts of the trial.

The Perkins and Ashworths families are members of an unusual people of unknown origin who originally resided in the Southeastern United States known as "Redbones". The Redbones are similar to the better known Melungeons who lived in western
Virginia and eastern Tennessee and the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina. The Redbones are often called "Louisiana Melungeons." The Redbones are probably closely related to the Lumbee, who also inhabited the Pee Dee region from
whence the Ashworths and related families came. Keziah Dial, wife of James Ashworth, is thought by
some to have been a Lumbee."

(Source Authors: self, Alice Meade Perkins, Janice Perkins LeFountain. )

I find it very interesting that the Lumbee are potentially the tribale origins of this family...in as much as they (the Lumbee) connect with the Saponi. It appears most likely that most of these ancestors of ours truly were a mixed race of various Saponi/Sioux peoples. ...the crux of it all being how to discern exactly which clan/tribe or tribes they were specifically members of. *throws hands in the air* There is no recognition for them now is there? Frustratingly I'll hush...thank you for the posts. Blessings~~~~Laurie

[Pat Ash]

I am directly related to the Perkins Family of the Perkins Trial, and would be glad to share, and discuss, what information I have researched.

My g-g-grandfather, Amos, and my g-g-g-grandfather, Joseph, were both the sons of Jacob Perkins, and grandsons of Joshua "Old Jock" Perkins whose etlhnic, and racial, identifies were the point of the litigation in the 1858 trial.

Most of the develped information comes from the trial work of Thomas A. R. Nelson who was the attorney for the Perkins family, as well as some family letters, and public sources.

Anyone researching this information, is more than welcome to contact me.

Pat Ash

[Wachinika]

I find it very interesting that the Lumbee are potentially the tribal origins of this family...in as much as they (the Lumbee) connect with the Saponi. It appears most likely that most of these ancestors of ours truly were a mixed race of various Saponi/Sioux peoples. ...the crux of it all being how to discern exactly which clan/tribe or tribes they were specifically members of. *throws hands in the air* There is no recognition for them now is there? Frustratingly I'll hush...thank you for the posts. Blessings~~~~Laurie
Yes, Laurie, here is the information regarding their recognition from their site at:

http://www.lumbeetribe.com/index2.htm (http://www.lumbeetribe.com/index2.htm)



The 40,000+ members of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina reside primarily in Robeson (http://www.robesoncountyoed.org/), Hoke (http://www.hokecounty.org/index.html),Cumberland (http://www.co.cumberland.nc.us/)and Scotland (http://www.laurinburgchamber.org/) counties. The Lumbee Tribe is the largest tribe in North Carolina, the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the nation. The Lumbee take their name from the Lumbee River (http://www.ils.unc.edu/parkproject/visit/luri/home.html) which winds its way through Robeson County. Pembroke, North Carolina (http://www.pembrokenc.com/) is the economic, cultural and political center of the tribe.
The ancestors of the Lumbee were mainly Cheraw and related Siouan-speaking Indians who have lived in the area of what is now Robeson County since the 1700s. The Lumbee people have been recognized by the state of North Carolina since 1885, and at the same time established a separate school system that would benefit tribal members. In 1887, the state established the Croatan Normal Indian School, which is today The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (http://www.uncp.edu/). In 1956 a bill was passed by the United States Congress which recognized the Lumbee as Indian, but denied the tribe full status as a federally recognized Indian tribe. Federal recognition for the tribe is currently being sought through federal legislation. For more information regarding Lumbee Federal Recognition, click here (http://www.lumbeetribe.com/recognition/index.htm)

And don't miss how to apply for membership here:

http://www.lumbeetribe.com/faq/index.htm (http://www.lumbeetribe.com/faq/index.htm)

Aaaannnd, did you know the beautiful actress Heather Locklear is a member of the Lumbee Tribe? (Luv her!) I could see a resemblance between you two.;) :

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/locklear.html

I'm sorry about the loss of your cousin, Aubrey G. Cole.:( This post is in memory of him as I some how or other got lost here looking for posts between you two that were always so informational. Luv you too! :) <O:p</O:p

[Wachinika]

Laurie,
Maybe you knew all that about the Lumbee. But I think you're absolutley right about the inter-tribal marriages. I don't recall if you have the Blackfoot family ID story too, but for me, I'm looking for all names that might link to known colonial Indians. I guess it would be informative to find a link to a southeast modern tribal family but that certainly is not my goal...just seeking knowledge. If I found a direct line linking to the Lumbee, I'd have a goal of visiting them and learning of their ways.

[Jeff Beard]

Darrell,
It appears that we are related as I'm descended from Sarah Hicks Oakes who was a sister to Goulder Hicks, both being children of Samuel ( Big Sammy ) Hicks and Nancy Harmon Hicks.
I think Nancy Harmon Hicks father was Samuel Harmon , Do you have any information on the Harmon family ?
I know that our ancestors were neighbors to the Perkins Family and that some of the perkin descendants married into the Ellis, and Oakes Families in Carter Co. Tn.

[Jeff Beard]

Pat,
Since some of my surnames are listed in the testimony/notes of the Perkins trial . I'm interested in what information you have. My surnames include Hicks, Oakes, Harmons, Perry, Ellis, Whitehead. Some of my ancestors lived in Carter co. Tn at Shell creek, as well as other communities in Carter Co. Tn.