Ellis, Wright, Finch, Bliss & Dutcher

[Matsane]

My father has always told us that we had Blackfoot Indian blood. His story is that a trapper by the last name of DUTCHER took up with a Blackfoot woman and had a family. I always assumed this meant the plains Blackfeet tribe until I started researching my family history. Nothing I have found places any of my dad's ancestors in that area of the country. The Dutchers came from New York and ended up in Illinois. I haven't been able to find which Dutcher had the Blackfoot family. However, I have found an Indian line on my dad's side that eventually ties into the Dutcher line. I am descended from two women who were daughters of Thomas ELLIS and Judah WRIGHT. One of them was named Judah and she married a man by the name of James Henry FINCH. The other was named Jane and she married Anson Henry BLISS. Judah and James daughter, Amelia (called Kate) married Frank Thomas DUTCHER. Jane and Anson had a daughter, also named Judah. Judah was very proud of her Indian blood and told her children that she was 1/4 Indian. I know this came from her mother, Jane, because the Bliss family goes back to England. I believe it was from Judah Bliss that the Blackfoot story was passed down. Judah Bliss was b. in 1841 in Quincy, Ill. and d. in 1885 in Osborne Co., KS. She was married to William MILLIGAN.

My problem is that I don't know if it was Thomas Ellis or Judah Wright that was Indian. Perhaps they were both half. Through a series of dreams I had come to believe that Thomas was part Cherokee and that Judah was part Creek. But after finding this site I find myself wondering because neither of those fit the Blackfoot part.

So basically I'm throwing out my names and the following dates just for consideration.

Thomas Ellis was b. abt 1784 in S. Carolina. Judah Wright was b. abt 1786 in N. Carolina. They had eight daughters, four of whom I don't have names for. Judah, the eldest daughter was born in 1813 in Spencer Co., Ind. Jane was 1823, somewhere in Indiana. Amanda was b. abt 1845 and Sarahan was b. abt 1847, both in Illinois. I don't know what happened to Amanda and Sarahan but both Judah and Jane and their families ended up in Kansas. Their descendants eventually migrated to Colorado. I believe Thomas and Judah probably died in Brown Co., Illinois - sometime after 1850 - but I haven't been able to find any record of their death or burial.

I have pictures of both Jane and Judah. The Indian is easy to see in Jane, not so easy in Judah.

Judah
http://www.saponitown.com/images/judaells.jpg

Jane
http://www.saponitown.com/images/janells1.jpg

My mother's side of the family also has an Indian story. I have located a Wampanoag/Narragansitt ancestor but wonder if there might be more. My older sister swears we have Black blood in us somewhere but I have found no evidence of that - yet. It wouldn't surprise me though because my mother and most of her siblings have coarse, black, kinky hair. I have no idea what surname I am looking for on my mother's side - possibly Baker or Bourne but I'm not sure.


[This message has been edited by Linda (edited 06-12-2002).]

[Linda]

Both the Ellis and Wright names occur in Indian families in the southeast. More than that I don't know. You can mail the images at attachments to me and I can put them into your posts. You're the third or fourth person I've heard from this month with Blackfoot in Illinois. Check the "Other Blackfoot" yahoogroup at www.yahoogroups.com (http://www.yahoogroups.com)

[collins]

Linda may I send you some of my family pictures to be posted to my postings?

[Matsane]

My father's story about the Dutcher trapper marrying a Blackfoot woman has been disproved. I have traced my Dutcher line back to Holland and found no evidence of any of them being trappers in the southeast. They settled in New York and lived there for several generations before moving west to Michigan and Illinois. I have the names of all their wives and none of them appear to be Indian. So if there is a connection between the Dutchers and an Indian woman it would have to be the marriage of Frank Thomas Dutcher to Amelia (Kate) Anna Finch. Kate was the daughter of Judah Ellis and James Henry Finch. Judah Ellis is the sister of Jane Ellis, whose daughter claimed to be 1/4 Indian.

[Linda]

Thanks for getting back to us after five years with that update. Keep in mind that many Virginia Blackfoot descendants migrated out into the Midwest. Your Dutchers may well have intermarried with some on the way through those states. Many of our families were thereabouts.