Pennsylvanie Blackfeet

[Benue]

Emma Elizabeth Frazier, b. May 20 1874.
Said to be "part" Blackfeet".
Married:
Mallery Martin Meeker, b. Sept 30, 1870

The first child of this union was born in Mountaintop, Luzerne County, PA. It is just southwest of Wilkes-Barre, PA. Albert Ellsworth Meeker was born May 18, 1893. He is who my children descended from. He had 7 siblings. Emma's grandchildren remember her smoking a clay pipe. Other recalls say that she had a half-sister in Davenport, PA (County yet unknown)by the name of Gussie or Sussie.
There were Frazier's at the Carlisle School of Indians, but I can't find an Emma. The school began a few years after she was born. There were, if memory serves me correctly, about 188 Blackfeet children who attended the school from it's inception to 1914 (unsure of year, but close enough for now.) I wonder if it is possible for a "part blackfoot indian" to be living on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana in 1874? This leaves me to suspect that that she was a part of the Eastern Blackfeet. I haven't read all the history posts, but it rings quite true to me.

There are still older grandchildren living and I hope their memory is good! Their humor is in fine shape cause the one brother told me that if I find any ancestors that were hung for stealing horses, he wanted to know about it! Hope to visit the nursing home this week. Till then I would be happy to hear from any Blackfeet ancestrial connections in PA .

Thanks for being "out there"!

Benue

[Bill Childs]

Greetings, Benue,
I personally can't answer your prime question, maybe others can.
Here's some census data to get you started.
1910 Columbia Co., Pa., ED 38, West Berwick Burough - Ward 2, p. 21 A, dated 16 May, Renting a house on Spring Garden St., Dwelling # 330, Family # 360 :
Meeker, Mallory M., Laborer-Car Works, 37.
" , Emma E., Wife, 36.
" , Albert E., son, 16.
" , George E., son, 14.
" , Ralph E., son, 12.
" , William M., son, 9.
" , Muriel M., son, 6.
" , Lester K., son, 4.
" , Mabel E., dau, 1
Frazier, Mary M., Mother-in-Law, 59, Widowed.
......................................
Columbia County is the next county west of Luzerne County.
The accuracy of census info depends upon who is giving the information, but all the above people are listed as born in Pa. as are their mothers and fathers.
Mallory and Emma have been marr'd 17 years. Emma has had 8 children, 7 are still living.
Mary Frazier has had 10 children, 7 are still living.
=================
1880 Luzerne Co., Pa., ED # 111 Nanticoke Burough, p. 497 B, dated 9 June, at 24 Peperage (Pesserage?) St., family # 14 :
Fracer, Edward, 25, miner.
" , Mary, 29, Wife.
" , Emma, 6, dau.*******
" , Elen A., 4, dau.
" , Mary, 4 months, dau.
......................................
Surname was misspelled by census taker.
All were born in Pa.
Edward's father was born in New York, his mother in Pa.
Mary's father is listed as born in Germany, her mother in Pa.
......................................
Edward Frazier/Fracer was not in Luzerne County in 1870.
More later, when/if I can find him.
Bill

[Linda]

Wilkes-Barre rings a bell as a documented location for the (generic) Tutelo (or NC/VA Siouan), tying into what we've theorized here about the origins of the eastern Blackfoot ID. It looks like it would be very handy to track down the maiden names in this line. There were also settlements of these people in NY, so its possible the Frazier line is involved, though I don't think I've heard that name before.

[Benue]

Bill,

You have found them where I could not. Bless you. Here is the matchup from what was typed to me by John Meeker over 20 years ago.

Mallory Martin Meeker, born September 30, 1870
Emma Elizabeth Frazier, born May 20, 1874

Children:

Albert Ellsworth Meeker, born May 18, 1893 in Mountaintop, Luzerne Co., PA
Mary Viola Meeker, born June 19, 1894 ~ died September 7, 1894
George Earl Meeker, born July 21, 1895
Ralph Edward Meeker, born October 2, 1897
William McKinley Meeker, born September 18, 1905
Merle Mallory Meeker, born March 22, 1904
Lester John Meeker, born September 9, 1905
Mable Elvira Meeker, born August 22, 1908


Albert Ellsworth married:
Josephine Bubeck, born February 17, 1895

Children were all born in Greenville, Mercer Co., PA:

Mary Bubeck, born February 10, 1915, m. George Lucaric, d.
Albert Ellsworth Meeker, Jr., born April 14, 1916, m. Dottie ?
Margaret Elizabeth Meeker, born January 17, 1918; m. Swinson, d.
Charles Edward Meeker, born August 14, 1919, never married; d.
John Earl Meeker, born November 28, 1920, never married;
William Robert Meeker, born June 20, 1923,
Lawrence Joseph Meeker, born, June 20, 1929; never married, called “Bud”
Thomas Oliver Meeker, born August 21, 1931; m. Betty ?
Lewis Eugene Meeker, born October 13, 1932; m. Joanne ?
Richard Paul Meeker, born March 6, 1935, never married, school teacher
Marie Josephine Meeker, born November 10, 1938; m. Clair Dixon Riley

How can I ever repay you? Do you need any pictures of tombstones in PA?

I'm so delighted to find Emma's Mother's first name, if not her last.

John's brother, Bill told me the family moved a lot. Some of the places before they finally settled here in Greenville, Mercer County are: Latrobe, Greensburg, Lockhaven. I think I will try to find the NY connection too.

Thank you for your kindness!
Diane Junk Riley (alias, Benue) .

[Benue]

Linda,

After the post from Bill, I'm more convinced than ever that Emma was Tutelo or Siouan. And if you could phonecically spell how to pronounce both, I would be most appreciative.

I need to read, read, read! I will let you know what I dig up, both in print and from the living family members.

From a list of Frontier Forts in PA , I found a Fraser, William as being at a Bedford-Raystown Fort, also a Captain Meeker at Penn's Fort in Stroudsburg, Monore County.

Thanks for replying to my post,
Diane Junk Riley (alias, Benue)

[Bill Childs]

Benue,
Living further along the road to the S.W. of Mt.Top, in Penobscot Village on 19 June, 1880 Census, ED 108 Wright Twp, Luzerne Co., Pa, p. 458, at 110, 131 : (all were born in Pa., as were everyone's mother & father)
Meeker, Andrew J., m, 51, Car Inspector.
" , Pheobe, f, 43, wife.
" , Mary, f, 15, dau.
" , Alantha U. G., m, 14, son.
" , Anna M., f, 11, dau.
" , MALLORY M., m, 9, son.**********
Dietrick, Frances, f, 23, Servant.
" , Harry A., m, 5, son.
" , John W., m, 4, son.
.....................................
I think Harry and John may both be the "son" of Andrew J. & Pheobe Meeker, not of Frances Dietrick.
.....................................
Coming out of Wilkes-Barre on the road up the hill to Mt.Top, you would come first to the village of Ashley. The next village passed Mt. Top is Penobscot with a road to Fairview cutting off before you get to Penobscot (all of these are fairly close together).
In 1880 Fairview Census for Luzerne Co., ED 108 Wright Twp, 16 June, p. 454C, at 49, 57, the residence of Henry K. Hoover, 31, Brakeman on R.R., is :
Meeker, Jane, 18, f, Servant, (born) Pa.
.....................................
Jane may be an older dau of Andrew & Pheobe Meeker.
.....................................
Also on the 1880 Luzerne Co., Pa Census, ED 161 Ashley Burough, 15 June, p. 700B, is another possible child of Andrew and Pheobe Meeker :
(all born Pa., as were their parents)
Meeker, Albert J., m, 28, Sawyer.
" , Francis, f, 25, wife.
" , Lizzie M., f, 3, dau.
" , Edith, f, 1, dau.
......................................
Andrew J. Meeker (Sr.) served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, in Company A, 52nd Penn. Infantry, per a widow's pension that Phebe E. Meeker applied for on 23 July 1890.
......................................
I'm Still looking for Fraziers and marriage info.
Bill

[Bill Childs]

Benue,
I also ran across Josephine Bubecks parents & family as well as Albert E and Josephine Meeker's family and George & Mabel Meeker's family in 1910, 1920 & 1930 Mercer Co. if you don't already have that info, let me know. Also found a T. R. Junk and a D. Riley family in 1920 Mercer; are these yours?
Bill

[Bill Childs]

Benue,
Strike the civil war info for Andrew Meeker.
Looking at a copy of the original pension record, the former soldier is ALBERT, not Andrew. The index was incorrect.
Bill

[Bess]

Greetings,
I have been tied up with work and unable to do much posting for a while. But I hope I can squeeze a few things in during the coming months.

Benue, Bill, Linda, there is a possibility that the Frazer line could be part Saponi/Tutelo on the basis of a geographic congruence of the Frazier’s with known Tutelo populations. Bill has presented info revealing that three of Emma Frazier’s grandparents were born in areas where Tutelo were generally known to exist in the 18th century (NY, PA). We know that Edward and Emma Frazier lived along the Susquehanna River for several decades, so it is reasonable to assume that those three grandparents of Emma’s also lived along the Susquehanna River at an earlier time around the beginning of the 1800s. As Linda has pointed out, Tutelo populations have lived on the Susquehanna watershed along its northward course in PA and its headwaters in NY. There are too many places to mention, I will only comment on a few that have bearing on the Frazier line and the maiden names associated with it.
In 1748, Tutelos were living in Northumberland County at the Indian village named Shamokin, now known as the town Sunbury (ca 50 miles downriver from Wilkes Barre). That same year (1748) a group of Tutelos left Shamokin and moved further up the river about 15 miles to at a village named Skogari. David Zeisberger visited Skogari in 1748 and described is as “the only town on the whole continent inhabited by Tuteloes” exclusively. (1) This village became enclosed within the boundaries of Columbia County when Columbia County was cut off from the eastern part of Northumberland in 1812. The Tutelos at Skogari lived at the mouth of Catawissa creek, which today runs through the center of the town of Catawissa, PA, on the south bank of the river. Thus, the ancient Indian town of Skogari and the contemporary town of Catawissa are one and the same place. I estimate that Catawissa is about 15 miles downriver from Berwick borough (the home of the family of Emma Frazer Meeker in 1910) and 35 miles down river from Wilkes Barre (the home of the Frazer’s in 1880).
Also, there were remnants of the Nanticoke, Tutelos, Shawnee, Delaware, and Conoy living within multitribal villages all along the Susquehanna River in the 18th and 19th century. In fact, the current town of Wilkes Barre and the nearby city of Nanticoke, PA, grew out of Nanticoke villages planted there in 1747. (2) These indian villages were composed of ostensible “Naticoke” refugees who came from Canoy Town in Lancaster County, PA. But in fact, Canoy town was a mixed village of Conoy, Tutelo (Totra), Nanticoke, Shawnee and Seneca. (3) Therefore, it is a good guess that in the later days in Wilkes Barre and Naticoke borough there were people with part Tutelo ancestry who descended from the Tutelos formerly resident of Lancaster County, PA. These people could also have been connected with the Frazer line of Wilkes Barre, Luzerne County.

The official accounts suggest that the Tutelo left this area (from Shamokin to Wilkes Barre) by the 1780s. But we should not accept this since these ethnologists (whose ancestors had a hand in stealing the native lands) offer no sound documentation for this claim. Surely some people with part Tutelo ancestry stayed around this area up until the 20th century and were wrongly classified as “Black”, “White”, “Seneca”, “Shawnee”, “Delaware”, etc.
Benue, it will take a great deal of time and work with local records to establish firm ties with the Tutelos. Given the terrible lack of order in keeping the records at the most courthouses you may never find a documented tie. There are very, very few good indexes and in most courthouses there was a willful destruction of records pertaining to Native Americans. However, there is the remote possibility that cryptic references may have survived. You must try and build on what you already have. You never know what may come up.
This area along the Susquehanna is of interest to me, also, in relation to my Veney line. In the 1900 census for Luzerne County, Silas Vieney (Veney) and his family resided in Salem Twp. This was on the north side of the river on the border with Columbia County and. adjacent to Berwick borough, the location of the Frazier Meeker family in 1910.
Silas Veney was born in Augusta/Harrison County, VA, in 1851 and was of mixed ancestry--Native and African American. Silas Veney had come to PA between 1870 and 1880. He was the son of Jerome Bonaparte Veney (ca 1820-1893) who was a native of Albemarle and August counties, VA. I don’t have much on this line only that some of the descendants of Silas’ brother are today connected with the Cherokee Nation-West, through the Blair family. Two lines of Veneys, one from VA, and another from Kentucky (including my great grandmother from Bourbon County, KY) have the tradition of Blackfoot ancestry.

(1) Edmund De Schweinitz, The Life and Times of David Zeisberger. J.B. Lippincott. Philadelphia. (1871):149.
(2) C. A. Weslager, The Nanticoke Indians: Past and Present. Newark, University of Delaware Press. (1983):157
(3) George Herzog in Frank G. Speck, The Tutelo Spirit Adoption Ceremony, Pennsylvania Historical Commission. Harrisburg (1942): xii

I will have to check my records, but I was under the impression that the first Blackfeet (Siksika-Algonquin) did not come east to the Carlisle School until ca. 1912.

Bess Veney

[Linda]

Always great to see you on board, Bess, great info as usual. Between you and Bill we've got some big guns blasting. Doesn't Vance also have Veneys?

I'm sure my Thomas Harrises were Indian, but my grandma wasn't specific which lines the "Blackfoot" ID came from. They were in Chambersburg, PA, 1810-1830 along the Tuscarora Path. Severance was the wife's name and I've heard from another person who had the Blackfoot ID with that name.

[vance hawkins]

Bess -- you really helped me a lot. Thanks.

Linda, I've been seeing some people don't have electricity back yet. Hope yall are okay.

I saw some Harrises in Catawba records. Also thre wre Harrises living near my Richeys near Duncan, Ok in the Chickasaw Nation. It's a common name tho and might just be a coincidence. They attended the same church the Richey's attended in the 1890s and since there were no cars, they were close neighbors in order to attend the same church.

vance

ps -- no sorry, I don't have any Veney's that I know of.

[Linda]

Our lights were only off 24 hours. We're back to normal, well, that's assuming we ever WERE normal.

My husband totalled his truck yesterday. I told him it was his bad karma for fussing me out earlier that day because I sent a kid out to the deck to empty a bucket full of water and putty knives, it was left there and some of them rusted. All he's doing is looking forward to his next truck. I think it will take another lifetime before any karma catches him.

It looks like Baltimore was worst hit, besides the immediate coastline.

[Benue]

The other day I sent an update on the PA Blackfeet to Bill. I wanted to send it to all. I had to post it sections as the post was too long. How do I go about posting a lengthy entry without having to subdivide it?

[Linda]

I'd just send a link with a few words on what it's about.