McLane

[techteach]

My uncle just shared the geneology he has collected on my family with me. It appears to confirm the statements my grandmother always made, that there is Native American blood in my family. Her great-grandmother was named Nancy Agnes McLane and was born in Beaver Co., PA somewhere around 1814. Her headstone reads "Native American" and Blackfoot. My mother said that my uncle does not know who put those statements on it. Has anyone else turned up something like this? Has anyone turned up this name? I think she cannot be of the Montana Blackfoot since she is from PA, so likely belongs here. Thanks.

[Linda]

If you can prove that she was born in PA in 1814, then I think it would be hard for anybody to suggest that she was from Montana. I've heard tales of Montana Blackfoot warriors venturing as far as Illinois, and that was surprising. Western Plains people came to PA with the Carlisle Indian school, but that didn't get started until the 1870's or so.

Very interesting that her headstone would say all that. Very unusual. When did she die? Do you think the headstone was erected later? It may be very useful to gather names from grave around her, if they may be from the same community.

[techteach]

There are additional notes in his geneology. Nancy McLane's headstone indicates a definite birth date of 1814. My uncle's notes in the geneology show a range of 1814 to 1818. Also, his notes say that the family lived several years in PA, but then moved to Iowa, probably with other brothers and families of my great...grandfather. (When visiting with my uncle at a family reunion this summer, he does not seem to know any more than what he has noted. Maybe though if we drive to a conference in DC in January, we can swing through that PA area and check out headstones.)

[techteach]

Oh, my great...grandmother whose headstone reads Blackfoot and Native American, died in 1905.

[-cr21-]

Hey there another Iowa link. My family is still here. They came here about 1870-80. Just goes to show more that what I said was true. There are more Saponi's here than just my family. Ive heard the identification by several others. What are you family surnames besides McLane? Find out what part of Iowa too if you can. My family is mostly east of Des Moines near the Meskwaki.

[Linda]

Where is this headstone? In Iowa?

[techteach]

In response to Linda, the headstone is, according to my mother, in a rattlesnake-infested cemetary that is near Canton, Iowa called Hickory Grove Cemetary. I have not seen it.

[techteach]

In response to cr21, if indeed the Native American link is Saponi, there are more Iowa folks than you can imagine. My grandmother alone had 13 children, all who had several children and the Native American link is 5 generations ago, virtually all generations living near Cedar Rapids.

[techteach]

I am fascinated by this and spent the day doing more exploring of both my uncle's geneology and the Internet. Interestedly enough, my grandmother is the second wife, the first one being named Susan MaWha (Does anyone know this name?). When searching this name, I stumbled on a history of Slippery Rock where my grandfather was apparently one of the earliest settlers. There is an online history with this information. It was his son to whom Nancy of the headstone was married. In this history, the author indicates that the natives of Butler County, the location of the family, were Delawares, Shawanese, Munceys, and Senecas. It then specifically states that the area was the property of the Cornplanter tribe and that they frequently visited the area pioneered by my grandfather's family up until 1818. Given that information and the comment on my grandmother's headstone, gives cause for speculation, does it not? I read the information on this site about the hypothesized tie to the Senecas. One presumes that my grandmother was the one who called herself Blackfoot.

[Brenda Collins Dillon]

I often wondered why Bradley COLLINS, first son of my Meredith found his way to Iowa.

About 1826[?], he (Bradley) moved to Clay Co., KY. While in Clay Co.,
Andrew, his son, married Betsy Ann Sizemore, Mar.. 31, 1838. He sold his land in
1839, and shortly afterwards, he and his family, Andrew and his wife and
son, Lewis, traveled by flat boat down the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers to
Missouri. They were in Carroll Co., MO, in 1840, but later settled
near Keytesville, Chariton Co., MO. It was here that Bradley received a
land grant in May of 1841. Bradley and Andrew raised and sold crops of
corn, cotton, and tobacco.

About 1844, Bradley and Andrew sold their land in Missouri, and moved to
Centerville, Appanoose Co., Iowa, on the Chariton River. They farmed in
addition to running a ferry across the Chariton River. Andrew (1811-ca.
1873) was living in 1850 in Appanoose Co., Iowa Census, with his family,
Betsy Ann (wife). Lewis, Samson, Archibald, and Polly Ann, and his
father Bradley, age 63, born in North Carolina.


Bradley as well as his father,Meredith, was listed 1810 & 1920 as Mullato and fpc. Meredith's common law third wife and their son were listed as a slaves however, family oral history says the Millie Johnson was full blood Indian and Meredith was mixed.




------------------
Life is a Rainbow made up of Many Different Colors.....

[techteach]

I always considered Iowa a tolerant state. BTW, I maybe ought not to have used "hypothesized" earlier. And I thinks someone asked me for other names. As far as I know, only Nancy Agnes McLane was identified as Native American in my family. She married John Ralston, Jr.in Butler County, PA around 1834.

[techteach]

Linda:
I found the explanation for the headstone on the net. I was lurking in Genforum and found this:THIS IS WHAT I PHOTO COPIED OUT OF THE BOOK "THE GOLDEN THREADS" BY WILLIAM WEGER. AUGUST 28, 1998 IN 6 YEARS OF SEARCHING AND RESEARCH
OF OUR FAMILY HISTORY I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND POSITIVE WRITTEN OR RECORDED PROOF ABOUT WHICH MEMBER OF OUR FAMLY WAS THE
NATIVE AMERICAN. THE MORMAN CHURCH RECORDS SHOW OUR GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER, NANCY AGNES MCLANE, AS SHAWNEE. BORN 1809, BEVER CO.
PA. THIS I AM POSITIVE IS IN-ACCURATE INFO. FIRST, THE BIRTH DATE IS 5 YEARS YOUNGER THAN THE OBITUARY AND FUNERAL HOME RECORDS SHOW.
SECOND THEY ASSUM SHE WAS SHAWNEE BECAUSE SHE WAS BORN IN SHAWNEE TERITORY. THEY DID NOT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THAT OUR
GOVERNMENT WAS TAKING ALL INDIAN CHILDREN AWAY FROM THEIR PARENT AND SENDING THEM HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY TO INDIAN SCHOOLS.
CARLIER INDIAN SCHOOL IN PA. WAS ONE OF THEM. NANCY'S PAENTS, OR NANCY HERSELF COULD HAVE BEEN SENT TO THIS SCHOOL. I HAVE FOUND ALL TO
OFTEN, GENEALOGISTS DO NOT GET THE FACTS AND DATES CORRECT. OFTEN MAKING PRESUMPTIONS WITHOUT GETTING THE TRUE FACTS. WITH OUR OWN
GRANDPARENTS, I'VE FOUND WRONG DATES AND MISSPELLED NAMES. I'VE COME TO BELIEVE THE ONLY TRUE RECORD IN THIS MATTER IS THE ORAL RECORD
PASSED DOWN BY OUR GRANDFATHER, WILLIAM ALFRED RALSTON. HE TOLD HIS SON, HAROLD E, WHEN HE WAS STILL YOUNG THAT HIS (WILLIAMS)
GRANDMOTHER NANCY WAS BLACKFOOT INDIAN. YEARS LATER WILLIAM ALSO MADE THIS SAME STATEMENT TO HIS GRANDSON, IVAN E RALSTON. MY
FATHER, HDROLD AND MY BROTHER IVAN REPEATED THIS INFO TO ME, ALFRED H RALSTON. GRANDPA GREW UP NEAR WHERE HIS GRANDPARENTS, JOHN AND
NANCY FARMED. WILLIAMS GRANDFATHER DIED ONE YEAR BEFORE HE WAS BORN, BUT HIS GRANDMOTHER NANCY LIVED ANOTHER 32 YEARS. WILIAM ALSO
FARMED IN THIS SAME AREA OF JACKSON CO FOR APPROXAMATELY 16 YEARS. HE SURELY KNEW HIS GRANDMOTHER NANCY WELL. MY MOTHER, ETTA,
RECALLED A CONVERSATION SHE HAD WITH GRANDPA RALSTON THAT TOOK PLACE NOT LONG AFTER SHE AND DAD (HAROLD) HAD MARRIED. SHE AND
GRANDPA RALSTON WERE TRYING TO DETERMINE WHAT PERCENTAGE INDIAN OUR DAD (HAROLD) WAS. WITH THE HELP OF ONE OF THE CEMETARY
DIRECTORS OF HICKERY GROVE CEMETARY, WE FOUND WHERE OUR GRT, GRT,GRANDMOTHER NANCY IS BURIED. HER NAME IS NOT ON ANY STONE MARKER,
NOT EVEN ON HER HUSBAND JOHNS. HER MARKER WAS JUST A SMALL LIMESTONE ONE THAT ONLY HAD ONE WORD, MOTHER, ON THE TOP EDGE OF IT. IT WAS
LEANING, NEARLY READY TO FALL OVER. I HAVE ENCOUNTERED SEVERAL DISTANT RELATIVES THAT HAD HEARD OF AN INDIAN ANCESTOR BUT HAD NO IDEA
OF WHO SHE MIGHT BE. I HAVE FELT IT NESSARY TO GET THESE FACTS IN WRITING BEFORE THEY ARE LOST ALLTOGETHER. I ALSO HAD A HEADSTONE MARKER
MADE THAT GIVE GRT,GRT, GRANDMOTHER NANCY THE RECOGNITION THAT SHE DESERVES. IT SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT HER. BURIAL RECORDS
AND NEWSPAPER RECORDS SHOW GRT GRT GRANDMOTHER NANCY AS: BORN 1814 BEVER CO PA.DIED 1905, JACKSON CO IA. BURIED HICKORY GROVE
CEMETARY, JACKSON CO. IA. HER OLDEST SON MELLON WAS 1/2 BLACKFOOT INDIAN. MELLONS 6TH CHILD WAS OUR GRANDFATHER,WILLIAM ALFRED 1/4
BLACKFOOT, WM'S. CHILDREN 1/8. AND ALL THEIR CHILDREN 1/16. LIFE WAS VERY HARD IN NANCY'S DAY AND TIME. EVERYONE WAS STRUGGLING TO MAKE A
LIVING AND JUST STAYING ALIVE. AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY, MANY PEOPLE CONSIDERED BEING INDIAN OR PART INDIAN AS DEGRADING. IT PROBABLY NEVER
OCCURED TO NANCY THAT SOME DAY, IN TIME TO COME, SOME OF HER FUTURE OFFSPRING WOULD WANT TO KNOW ABOUT HER. NO RECORDS WERE KEPT TO
SPEAK OF. SHE DIED IN OR NEAR MONMOUTH, IOWA. WITH WHOM SHE WAS LIVING AFTER HER HUSBAND DIED, I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FIND OUT. SHE
RAISED TWO STEP CHILDREN, FROM JOHNS FIRST MARRIAGE, BESIDES HER OWN 10. SHE HAD TO HAVE BEEN ONE BUSY LADY TO CONTEND WITH THE
SCOTCH/IRISH/AND INDIAN RALSTONS. MAY SHE REST IN PEACE. I MYSELF COULD NEVER GET GRANDPA RALSTON TO TALK ABOUT OUR ANCESTORS. HIS ONLY
COMMENT WAS, "THEY WERE NOTHING BUT HORSE THIEVES AND KILLERS, YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THEM". SOME WERE, -----MOST WERE NOT. GRT
GRT GRANDMOTHER NANCY'S HEADSTONE READS: RALSTON NANCY AGNES MCLANE NATIVE AMERICAN --- BLACKFOOT BORN 1814 BEVER CO. PA. DIED 1905
JACKSO CO. IA. WIFE OFJOHN RALSTON MAY OUR CREATOR KEEP YOUR SPIRIT IN PEACE
BY ALFRED H RALSTON GRT GRT GRANDSON OF NANCY AGNES MCLANE"
I also found Ralston descendents with family stories of her being from an Indian orphanage. Obviously, though, she is one of those whose family tradition calls her "Blackfoot".

[vance hawkins]

We have McLain's in our family who were in Virginia. Went from Va to NC, Illinois, to Texas, to Oklahoma.

vance hawkins

[-cr21-]

Yeah Iowa is pretty tolerant towards natives. Not so well towards other races but its alright. My family mainly lives in Jasper and Marion Co.'s east of Des Moines. About 1 1/2-2 hours from Cedar Rapids. Just before my family and others got here the state government had allowed many Meskwakis to return to that exact area. I believe Ive ran into 4-5 Saponi families here besides mine. Im sure theres a few more.. Not much though.

[techteach]

Vance,
That's interesting. I wonder how/if a connection can be followed up when the person is supposed to have grown up in an orphanage. I have bounced around queries in Genforums on the Ralston line in the last couple of days, but only turned up some querky family stories of this lady. But I did find that some information does spell her name as your McLain.

[techteach]

cr21:
I moved back to the midwest 2 years ago from the south because I find the midwest more tolerant. I only grew up on rumors of Native American blood in the family, so I don't know what those shoes are like to walk in, but the sexism I ran into down south was very difficult.

[-cr21-]

yeah its not so bad here.. i get the occasional dirty look but it doesnt bother me anymore. some day id like to move to north carolina or in the area. here suits me just fine right now.

[Linda]

I wonder if we can get corroboration from any Cornplanter Seneca on their time in that area.

Yes, this story does tie into the shreds of evidence that there were Eastern Siouan people with the Seneca.

I've got some people who up and moved to Iowa, too. I'll have to dig up the info on who that was. Of course, it could all just mean that there was some good, cheap land available in Iowa and restless souls just had to go for it.

I haven't heard of rural orphanages in the very early 19th century before, not to say they didn't exist, but my impression is that the system of bonding children out was still in effect. Does anybody know? When did the one institution/practice give way to the other?

Does William Weger give any reasons why he is so confident the Blackfoot ID in the family was the correct one?

One argument against the hypothesis I've put forward on this site (and yes, it's fine to call it an hypothesis) is that the Blackfoot ID sprang up in families following the popularity of the Wild West shows (the "regular" Blackfoot name becoming a household word). Was there anything in the information you've found about Nancy that would tend to pre-date this identification before Wild Bill?

[techteach]

Linda:
Hmmm. Good point. I doubt that there is any way of determining when/why Nancy called herself Blackfoot. (Certainly, my resources are limited to the Net and I don't even have the email of my uncle who has done all the genealogy.) I can say this, I really doubt that you can draw any conclusions about any other Native Americans moving to Iowa, based on my information. She came to Iowa most likely because my great-great-great grandfather brought her. My information indicates that he came here with his brothers. Oh, well, I find it fascinating to explore. I was hoping to find someone who ran into the name, given the PA location. But if she began calling herself Blackfoot because of Wild Bill, her lineage could be any one of several.

[techteach]

Oh, sorry, Nancy's dates are: born 1814, died 1905, born in Beaver County, PA and lived around there for several years after her marriage. Married around 1834 as John Ralston's second wife (someone said that Susan MaWha, his first wife, was Cherokee), but apparently my uncle did not surface a marriage certificate. I have found several postings on geneology sites from descendents who said that Nancy did indeed live to be 90.

[techteach]

If anyone bops back into this, I found out more possible information. I ran across another descendent of Nancy Agnes Mclane who thinks she was Shawnee and has found another McLane in Beaver County, PA who was Shawnee. Have you all run into other Blackfoot folks in Shawnee? BTW, Beaver County is not far from W. Virginia.

[Linda]

You mean with Shawnee? It would be possible. I would be surprised if there were no Eastern Siouan refugees who threw in with the Shawnee during their revolt, and they were in the same locale, Ohio, after that war was lost. The Big Sandy is a location associated with the Eastern Siouan. There's a very ancient place name of Tutelo on a creek or river there and remains of a prolonged settlement. And it's known that there were Saponi/Tutelo tributary to the League, under the direction of the Seneca for a good while.

Of course, this is all tribal history and there's a good jump to the period you're discussing.

[techteach]

Linda,
Would you recommend any sources I can go to for some of that history? I have read a good deal of Internet stuff in the last few days, but if you have any print stuff to suggest that you would recommend for the location and time I am exploring, can you suggest something?
And, I got an email from the same person who found other Beaver County, PA McLanes, saying that her father said Nancy McLane was Cherokee. She is two generations closer to Nancy than me, from a line that was a brother to mine. (Incidentally, she was raised on a reservation, while I was raised with rumors that no one believed.)I have read enough now to know that there were a group of Cherokee who called themselves Blackfoot, but is it logical that someone in western PA in 1814 would likely have been Cherokee?

[rosebud]

I do know that some of the folks around Bourbon and Fayette Counties KY (old stomping grounds of the Shawnee) claim Shawnee ancestry but indeed traceable Saponi names back to the Piedmont area. I have the Treaties between the Shawnee and the gov't at Emma's house. I'll get them this weekend and we can at least compare the dates and locations of where they were located during those times verses your McLain line Tech.

Crystal http://winwinworld.net/SaponiForum/UBB/smile.gif

[techteach]

Crystal:
That would be great! I bumped into a distant connection online doing a genealogy of the family. She hit a dead-end with Nancy and would like any information. Her side of the family acknowledged the heritage. She was raised on a reservation.
Cindy

[Linda]

techteach, it's probably time for you to be making the pilgrimage to university library stacks and researching what you can find on the history. The Bureau of Ethnology articles are old but classic. It's hard to find books devoted to the Eastern Siouan. Generally, you have to look in collected works like the above.

Another thing I should mention, there are a good deal of people with the Blackfoot Cherokee ID, which in my opinions indicates and intermarried group. There are spots in Appalachia where this occurs frequently. I think it's our eastern Siouan Blackfoot intermarried with Cherokee up in them thar hills.

[itconani]

in the above mentioned lineage, what reservation did this individual reside on?
or is that part of the mystery?
im pretty interested with the classic markers "cherokee" "blackfoot" etc for this individual. espcially since the tutelo have a stay in PA on the way to six nations with the cayuga

[techteach]

You know, you find out a lot of stuff when you realize that there is a page 2. One of those times that keeps a computer teacher humble.
Linda,
Yes, I know I need to trot to the university, but I have discovered in the last few days, that I have not entirely exhausted the Internet. Mother mentioned yet another distant ancestor of Native Am background who married one of the sons (my direct ancestor) of Nancy McLean. I have been following that ancestry online. Names: Potter, Houston,Sinkey, Green. And interestedly enough, some originated in Ohio.

[techteach]

dknicely
My information on Nancy Agnes McLane is sketchy. She was born in Beaver County, PA in 1814. One oral history has her raised in an orphanage, but my line of the family has no oral history about her. My mom always thought it was a joke when the rumors about Native American ancestry were discussed. However, she was my great..grandmother and my direct ancestor. Genforum has several questions from other people looking into her that mention that it might be spelled either McClane or McLean. How about your McLeans?

[techteach]

itconani:
If I follow the historical lines of travel of N. Americans early, couldn't my ancestor be all three, hence the mixed family traditions? Could her ancestors not have spent time with all three groups? There is no reservation that I know of, but then, my line hid the Native American blood. My family came from Butler County, PA, but her records place her in Beaver County, PA. Her husband reportedly built the first schoolhouse in Slippery Rock, PA. And her headstone is recent, put there by some descendent who wanted to "set the record straight".

[techteach]

Three Eagles, you might be relating my family history. As I have explored information sent me by my very distant cousin, descended from different sons of Nancy Agnes McLane, but she was raised on a reservation (I think because of her family's marriages.), the family followed and/or is tied to both PA and Ohio, working as farmers when I know the information. My great-great grandmother was named Potter (married name). Her mother was named Houston from Ohio, I think (Potter was born in Hartford County) while father was named Sinkey from Huntington, PA. Grandmother Houston's parents were Houston, of course, and Green. The Green family says Father Houston was rumored to be at least part Native American. Do any of these names mean anything in relationship to your McLean? Actually, they may mean nothing to mine either, except Potter is her daughter-in-law and reported to be at least part Native American. But the PA-Ohio-Iowa route seems to cover many members of this family, both the genealogy my uncle gave me that follows my line to McLane through one son and that of my cousin whose genealogy was sent to me follows another son.

[techteach]

I first posted to this web site looking for people who might have my ggggrandmother or a connection of hers on their genealogy lists and to address the issue of why some other descendent put a headstone on her grave that reads "Blackfoot" when she was from Western Pennsylvania. I have since found a person with that same surname in a signature on a Shawnee treaty from Ohio (The Mormans have my grandmother listed as Shawnee.) and perhaps an explanation of the Blackfoot designation.
Grandma was born in Beaver County, PA sometime from 1814 to 1818. I have found documents online from the University of Pittsburgh describing a joint Shawnee/Mingo village at the confluence of the Ohio and Beaver Rivers in Beaver County called Sawkunk. Since there seems to be a strong connection, according to other documents on this web site, between the Mingo and the Blackfoot tradition, I feel that this might explain the family oral history of the Blackfoot designation.