What a fun question!
So many choices and so many stories I'd want to hear! Each era would have a special moment!
BUT....if I had to choose only one, I would choose my 7x G Grandmother ~ Elizabeth Cockerum
You will see why in a moment~
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| Original 13 States |
In 1780 , when she was born, the United States of America had just become a 'thing', a going concern and had begun it's journey to be the Greatest Nation on Earth. But though it has been through the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 is still looming on the horizon. The Native Americans are still holding an uneasy truce with the settlers and explorers now coming for free land and the promise of a better future. The land looks vast and empty but it is inhabited with people of many tribes. Cherokee people are friendly to many settlers, and if a man was brave and strong and clever, he married into a tribe to assure his passage through their lands and to have a help mate in his endeavors.
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| Shallow Ford. Did Elizabeth and John Y cross the River here? |
Such a union was undoubtedly the reason behind my 7x Great Grandmothers marriage to John Y (Jessee) Cockerham. I am quite certain she had a name given to her by her parents, but in 1780 tribal births were not recorded. The name that I have found for her is Elizabeth. (And as side note they may have called her Alice). She and John Y lived on the banks of the Chattahoochee River and ran a Ferry service.
I found them in ECHOS(publication) 1982, Volume 27, a reprint. The Cherokee Treaty , July 18, 1817
" John Cockram (sic) in right of WIFE, southside of Chattahoochee River, near Shallow Ford, (Nov. 10) with Six in family.
But in another weird twist- I found that the family moved in 1808! BEFORE the Treaty was signed.
John Y must have felt the tensions rising. How astute must he have been to set off earlier !
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| Original Territory of the Cherokee Nation |
The Cherokee Treaty, in 1817 agreement gave the Cherokee an equal amount of land in Arkansas. The Cherokee ceded lands in northwest Georgia and southwest Carolina for this Treaty. A minority of Cherokee agreed to the swap, most did not. The intent of the Treaty was to extinguish all Cherokee claims in North Carolina, (but another Treaty was needed for that 2 years later).
A little more research and I found that the Treaty gave the emigrants a flat bottom boat, one rifle gun, ammunition, one blanket and one brass kettle and a beaver trap, which was considered full compensation for the improved land they left behind.
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| Louisiana Purchase Territory map |
The opening of the Louisiana Purchase lands in 1804 made all this possible, and the President of the United States was also trying to settle the land West of the Mississippi , the Arkansas River and the White River with people who were hearty, and loyal to the USA.
The way I found Elizabeth and John Y was their son- Henry Clay Cockrum- born in 1809. He must have been one of the six that were noted. Henry Clay became a Judge for Randolph County in Arkansas.
Henry Clay also had a Native American name, given to him by his mother- Au Nuk Ka Tah.
Can you imagine- a half breed man as a Judge in Arkansas in 1820? What an incredible man he must have been and what an incredible woman Elizabeth must have been to name him with a famous American name as well as her Native name? How extraordinary she must have been, encouraging him to be better than a Ferryman or Farmer.
Elizabeth holds a lot of the answers to my questions.
What was the land like in 1790's and beyond?
What induced her to marry a Scot?
What was her parents name? Where did they live? Who were they?
Did you receive any compensation for your lands?
I could add to that list all day!
I may never have the answers to any of those questions. I may never find her grave, or the grave of her husband John Y. But in my research I have learned about American History, I have reached out to many new cousins, and who knows? Maybe they have some answers for me.
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| My father, Thural D Berry. Thick black hair, and a hawk like gaze. |
I was always told that we have Native American blood. I wanted to believe it, but the chances of it being true were slim. When I found Elizabeth in the Census, and in the publication, when I traced her blood through my generations, I was so excited. The amount of NA blood is very diluted now- but I am proud of it just the same.
It showed itself in various members of my family, my father had jet black hair and a muscled body. His Grandmother, Senia Mae Cockrum also had jet black hair and high cheekbones. Dad said she still lived in a family cabin as an old woman, on the banks of the Current River in Arkansas. He said she smoked a corn cob pipe and he was a little bit afraid of her.
