Similar name, different man: Devereaux Jarratt Bell vs Deveraux J. Bell

“If taken at face value, records and their “facts” can deceive, mislead, or confuse us.” - Elizabeth Shown Mills 

 

Anyone who has done genealogical research very long is aware of the “mischievous facts” that can sneak into our work and throw us off track. Recently while doing my reasonably exhaustive search for information on a Cherokee man named Devereaux “Jarratt Bell”, I encountered some “facts” that could have misled me if I hadn’t evaluated those “facts” through the lens of their time as well as in comparison with other established facts about Jarratt Bell.

Similar name, but not the same man 

Jarratt Bell, an Indian and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was well documented throughout his life. Between the years 1837 and 1842, he was found on twenty-two documents. He was an interpreter for U. S. Indian agents before removing from Georgia to Indian Territory in the detachment led by his older brother, John A. Bell. Upon his arrival in Indian Territory, he carried mail for the detachment. Later, he was recorded as working as a blacksmith assistant; writing letters and documents as a clerk for the National Committee of the Cherokee Nation; witnessing claims filed by his father and brother; and acting as a claim’s agent in Flint district.

In a plethora of documents, records, family correspondence, and newspaper articles, Jarratt Bell is never found in the Republic of Texas or the state of Texas. Many in his family settled in the state of Texas shortly before and during the U. S. Civil War. While those relatives are documented as being there, Jarratt is not.

Despite the absence of records of Jarratt Bell in the Republic of Texas and the state of Texas, a different man named Deveraux J. Bell was found on a clerk’s list of those receiving land grant certificates between December 5, 1839 and January 11, 1840. That same man, Deveraux J. Bell, was also listed on the 1840 Tax Roll of Nacogdoches County. He owned one horse and one watch. He was not found in any other records in the Republic of Texas after a reasonably exhaustive search of those records.

While a novice researcher or someone cherry picking “facts” might argue “the name’s the same, so they are the same person”, they are not the same man. First, the names are similar, not the same. We have no indication for what the J in the name of Deveraux J. Bell represents. Second, even if it was an exact match on the name, it doesn’t mean it was the same man. Same name is not always the same person.

During the analysis of the numerous records found on Jarratt Bell, he is never recorded as using the name Devereaux on any document created during his lifetime. As a child, a young man, and to his family, he was “Jarratt.” In his legal and professional life which started in 1837, he was D. J. Bell. This is a key factor in his identity. His given name appears to have been Devereaux, but he was never known by that name, and he never used it on documents. “Devereaux” does not appear in records as his name until forty years after his death when his siblings, nieces, and nephews filed Eastern Cherokee applications and claimed through him. The two records in the Republic of Texas for a man named “Deveraux J. Bell” do not match the well-established identity of Jarratt Bell.

Some might believe the name “Devereaux” is too unique to belong to two different men, but it wasn’t unusual or rare in the early 1800s. A highly respected minister throughout Virginia and North Carolina was named Devereux Jarratt. He died in 1801 and some devout parents may have named their sons after him. An examination of the U. S. censuses of 1830-1850 on Family Search revealed over 100 men named Devereux (various spellings.) Because Bell* is a common surname, it would not be beyond the realm of possibilities to find other men with the same or a similar name to the Cherokee man named Devereaux “Jarratt Bell”.

Though one might be tempted to stop the evaluation of evidence after establishing the differences in the identities of Jarratt Bell and Deveraux J. Bell, it’s not enough to review only “facts” attached to names. We must also analyze “facts” within the context of the place and time they occurred. When comparing the two men, it is important to remember the bitter climate that existed in the Republic of Texas toward Cherokees in 1839. The Bowl and his followers were nearly annihilated by the Texans in July that year. Those that survived either fled to the Cherokee Nation or they tried to get to Mexico for safety. Cherokees were not trying to get into the Republic of Texas that year. They were trying to get out. It was not safe for them there.

To reiterate that point, in December 1839, soldiers encountered the Cherokee remnant trying to get to Mexico. They killed John Bowles, son of The Bowl, and captured other Bowles family members. The few remaining survivors of that attack managed to escape and cross into Mexico where they remained until 1843 when Sequoyah found them.

In stark contrast, while Cherokees were fleeing from the Republic of Texas in 1839, white settlers were flooding into the area chasing free land. The Republic was awarding land grants to those who qualified. A single man named Deveraux J. Bell arrived December 16, 1839 and was granted a certificate for 320 acres by the Board of Land Commission Office. He received a third-class headright grant. Only free white men were eligible for those land grants.

Clearly there were two men, one Indian and one white, with similar names. Only one was eligible for the land grant in the Republic of Texas. It was not the Cherokee man named Devereaux “Jarratt Bell”. Inept analysis of the “facts” on one man or the other could deceive a researcher, leading them to believe all the “facts” apply to only one man. Unfortunately, in research involving Cherokees, there are also some people who carelessly or intentionally combine “facts” from more than one person to create the ancestor they want. Whether accidental or deliberate, playing with “facts” in such a way would be an injustice to the legacy of both men.

We, as genealogists and researchers, are the only voice people from the past have today. They are not characters in a fictional story we want to tell, but instead, real people who lived upon this Earth and left their mark in some way or another. If we are going to tell their story, the least we can do is tell it correctly. It’s important to be aware that “facts” can mislead us if we don’t carefully examine and evaluate each piece of data we find, ensuring those “facts” belong in the narrative of another person’s life.

Those are my thoughts for today,

Polly’s Granddaughter 

 

*Bell is the 67th most common surname in the United States

Tweet

The Orphan Tree: The Lineage of a Cherokee Family Pt 4

When a parent dies, it is not uncommon for a child to lose contact with that side of their family. When multiple generations repeatedly lose the parent from that same lineage, a disconnect from that side of the family is not surprising. Big Dollar's descendant tree could easily be described as an orphan tree. While we may never know why his descendants were forgotten by nearly everyone outside his family, it's possible the high percentage of orphans descending from him could be the reason.

Sequoyah Guess (b. 1890) was an orphan. We know that from a previous post but he was far from being the only descendant of Big Dollar who was either left an orphan or who lost their Guess parent early in their lives.

Big Dollar died when his four children were eleven years old or younger. While those children were raised by their mother, Tianna, at least one, Nancy, became an orphan before reaching adulthood. It's possible the others were completely orphaned as well. Records aren't available to conclusively determine when their mother died. It is also not known how much information about their ancestry from their father's side had been shared with them.

Nancy, daughter of Big Dollar, lived long enough to raise her son, Peter Dennis, to the age of majority. Her brothers were not so fortunate. Robert died, leaving his two daughters, Nancy Nolen and Betsy Ketcher, orphans at very young ages. William died leaving at least two, possibly all of his children, Dave Guess, Nancy Sticks, and Alice Beamer, without their father before they were adults. Moses raised his son, Nelson, to adulthood, but left two other children, George Guess and Martha/Sa ke Boney, as orphans.

Over 75% of Big Dollar's children and grandchildren lost their parental connection with their Guess family before becoming adults. Sadly, the trend continued into the generation of great grandchildren. Dave Guess, son of William, left four orphans when he died, and Nelson Guess, son of Moses, left three orphans (plus one "too late" baby - to be discussed later), at the time of his death.

The image below identifies the descendants of Big Dollar, who as minors, lost their Guess parent. 

Click to enlarge

The tragedy is not just that they were orphans, but also that they were forgotten, not only by their extended Guess family, but also by Emmet Starr and some 'researchers' of today. As genealogists, it is our responsibility to ensure we have done a reasonably exhaustive search of records before we declare anything as fact. This is especially important before we proclaim that a person had no descendants. Each person in the diagram above has a story waiting to be told. It is our job to tell that story, not erase them from history by alleging they did not exist.

While time does not allow for extensive writing about all of Big Dollar's descendants, records of their lives indicate that most were taken in by extended family and raised by Cherokees who looked out for them and their best interest. Sadly, that was not the case for all.

There is one heartbreaking story that must be told. Not only does it serve as an example of how easily an orphaned Cherokee child could be exploited by unscrupulous people, it also exposes several instances of fraud either attempted or perpetuated against the Cherokee Nation by a deceitful, non-Indian couple.

Stay tuned for more of The Lineage of a Cherokee Family where the sad story of one sibling group, the orphans of Nelson Guess, will be told.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

copyright 2015, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

Tweet

Big Dollar and Tianna - The Lineage of a Cherokee Family Pt 3

George Big Money Guess Jr., son of Sequoyah, was known by a variety of English names. According to the Eastern Cherokee applications of his grandchildren, he was called George Guess, Sequoyah Guess, and Big Money. Additional research provided yet another name for him - Big Dollar. That same research also provided the name of his wife - Tianna. While the spelling varied from document to document, like Big Dollar's Cherokee name, Tianna's name, too, was almost always phonetically the same, despite the spelling variances.

Not much is known about Tianna's ancestry, but according to one document, a claim filed about the time of the Trail of Tears, she was the step daughter of Knight Killer. Nellie, her mother (and wife of Knight Killer), was a sister to Nancy, the wife of Rev. John Spirit Huss (his second wife with the name Nancy.) Records indicated that Tianna always lived in close proximity to her mother and extended family.

Big Dollar and Tianna lived in Wills Valley in what is now the state of Alabama. While not found on the 1835 census of the Cherokee Nation, Big Dollar's name was listed on the resolution of the National Council that was held at Red Clay on October 24, 1835. That same year, he and Tianna had household goods and farm tools stolen by a U.S. citizen. Tianna filed a claim for their lost property and Knight Killer was the witness for that claim.

Spoliation claim,/Private collection

Sometime between October and November 1836, Big Dollar's improvements were valuated by Rice and McCoy. He was described as an Indian with a family of eight that would remove in the fall. His family was listed immediately after Tesee Guess, his brother, who was also notated as planning to remove in the fall.

Rice and McCoy Valuations/Private collection

Sometime during the year that followed the valuation, Big Dollar died.

In 1837 and 1839, Tianna received two payments, one for the spoliation claim on household goods and the other for her late husband's improvements. Her name was recorded respectively as Tianna Big Dollar and Tianah (Wife of Big Dollar Gass).

Payment register/Private Collection

November 11, 1837, Tianna voluntarily removed to the west with several of her extended family members. Rev. John Spirit Huss led the detachment which included Tesee Guess and Knight Killer (nine in family).

Tianna was listed on the detachment muster roll as Widow Big Dollar; family of 6; with 2 males 10 and under; 2 females 10 and under; one male 11-25; and one female 26-50. It's probable that the family group listed for Tianna included her four known children, Robert, William, Moses and Nancy. In 1907, Peter Woodall testified that Robert "Bob" Big Dollar Guess was 25 in 1851. That would put Robert's birth year about 1826. If correct, that would have made him 11 years old in 1837. That would indicate the other three children, plus an unidentified female, would have all been ten years old or younger.

In the first quarter of 1838, Tianna, received a transportation and subsistence payment under the name of "Widow - Big Dollars." She received another in the first quarter of 1839 under the name "Widow Big Dollar."

Tianna was not found on any ration lists in the west from 1838-1840. Knight Killer, her step father, was found on one list from Beattie's Depot, the area where the family settled, in 1840. He collected rations for 15. When Knight Killer removed from the old nation, his family only included nine people. Tianna's family included six. Combined households would have totaled fifteen, so while it is possible that Tianna and her children were living in Knight Killer's household, there is not enough information available to conclusively determine that.

In 1842, Tianna filed another claim for lost property in the east. Knight Killer was again the witness for her claim.

Sometime between her filing the claim in 1842 and the enumeration for the Drennen Roll in 1851, Tianna died. Each of her four known children were listed individually on the Drennen Roll. Nancy was listed as an orphan and directly under the listing for the family of Rev. John Huss. Huss was the signatory for Nancy, so she may have been living in his household.

Additionally, there was another girl, Ellen Guess, listed on the Drennen Roll as an orphan. She was listed immediately after Knight Killer's household and Caty Knight Killer was the signatory. It's possible Ellen was the daughter of Big Dollar and Tianna, but without more information, it is impossible to determine it with any degree of certainty.

What we do know is that Big Dollar (aka George Guess Jr.) had a wife named Tianna and together, they were the parents of at least four children who reached the age of maturity and went on to have families of their own. Despite Starr's genealogies and despite what some other "researchers" have said, George Guess Jr., the son of Sequoyah, had children and he has living descendants today. Hopefully, they will never be "forgotten" again.

Stay tuned for more on the descendants of George Guess Jr/Big Dollar. We aren't finished with this yet.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Part 1 of this series

Part 2 of this series

*Note - there were two men named Big Dollar prior to the Trail of Tears. One lived in Tennessee. He is not the same man as George Big Dollar Guess Jr.

copyright 2015, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

Tweet

From Sequoyah to Sequoyah: The Lineage of a Cherokee Family Pt 2

In Part 1 of From Sequoyah to Sequoyah: The Lineage of a Cherokee Family, the ancestry of Sequoyah Guess, born c. 1890, was traced back through his father, David Guess; to his grandfather, William Big Money Guess; and to his great grandfather, Big Money Guess. In part 2, the ancestry from William back to his grandfather will be traced.

William Big Money Guess had two children living at the time of the Eastern Cherokee applications as well as several grandchildren. He also had numerous living nieces and nephews who were children of his three siblings; Robert, Moses and Nancy. A review of their applications offered additional information on Big Money Guess, the father of William and his siblings.

Click to enlarge

In English, the name given for the father of William (and his siblings) varied greatly. At least one person in each family group reported the name Guess as an English name used by their grandfather. Three of the four family groups also reported the name Sequoyah as an English name used by their grandfather. Furthermore, two of the four family groups reported the name Big Money as an English name used by their grandfather which means that name was not exclusive to Alice Beamer's knowledge.

Though there were many similar answers given in the reporting of the English name used by William's father, the results of the research were too inconsistent to make a sound conclusion. Fortunately, many of the descendants included the Cherokee name used by William's father - Ah de le quah. Though the spelling varied from application to application, it's the same name. Because most of the descendants did not read or write in English, someone else filled out the applications from the verbal answers given to the questions. Those people wrote what they heard, therefore, while the English spelling of the name varied slightly from application to application, phonetically, when pronounced, the Cherokee names reported were nearly identical. 

In their own language, encompassing the entire family, the name reported for William's father was remarkably consistent. It was only when the descendants were asked to report the name used in English, a language some didn't speak, that the inconsistency occurred. Evaluations of both the English and Cherokee names were required to conclusively determine all the descendants were connected through their grandfather and that the grandfather, Ah de le quah, was also known by a variety of names in English, including George Guess, Sequoyah Guess, and Big Money.

The names George Guess and Sequoyah are the same names used by the Cherokee who invented the syllabary, a way of writing the Cherokee language. The father of William Big Money Guess cannot be that George Guess or Sequoyah. William's father was considered an Emigrant Cherokee while the famous George Guess or Sequoyah, inventor of the syllabary, was an Old Settler Cherokee. 

However, the famous Sequoyah or George Guess did have a son with the name George who was documented by Emmet Starr as George Guess. Though Starr stated the son, George (Jr), had no descendants, that belief appears to have been flawed. 

Nancy Nolen, niece of William Big Money Guess, said her grandfather's name in English was George Guess. Nancy's sister, Betsy Ketcher, said the same grandfather's name was Big Money in English. That information connected the two names George Guess and Big Money, conclusively, to the same man. In addition to Nancy's report of her grandfather's name, she offered another piece of vital information in her Eastern Cherokee application. On line 21, where applicants were asked to name their ancestors back to 1835, Nancy said,"George Guess or Sequoyah  Old Settler."

Fold3.com/Eastern Cherokee applications

There was only one George Guess or Sequoyah who was an Old Settler. That was the famous Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee syllabary. Documentation indicates he was Nancy Nolen's great grandfather, therefore, her Uncle William's grandfather.

Sometimes, to go forward, you have to go backward. This was the case in the research of this family. Though we had the names of all but the final generation, it would have been impossible to have conclusively connected this family to the famous Sequoyah without going back to the Eastern Cherokee applications and looking for additional information provided by other members of the family. By doing an exhaustive search, we were able to learn that William's father, George Big Money Guess, was the same man recorded by Starr as George Guess (Jr.), and therefore, that William's grandfather was the famous Cherokee known as Sequoyah.

The line from the young Sequoyah on Dawes to his famous ancestor, Sequoyah, inventor of the syllabary is:

Child - Sequoyah Guess (born c. 1890)

Father - David Guess

Grandfather - William "Big Money" Guess

Great-Grandfather - George "Big Money" Guess Jr.

Great-Great-Grandfather - George Guess or Sequoyah

This is a highly condensed version of the research that went into this family. There are numerous documents available on the descendants of George "Big Money" Guess Jr. Like many other Cherokee families, this one had both triumphs and tragedies. Though descended from a famous ancestor, the stories of this family are similar to the stories of many other Cherokee families. 

Stay tuned for a glimpse into the lives of George "Big Money" Guess Jr. and some of his descendants. Their stories are our stories and those stories need to be told.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Part One of this Series

*There were two Cherokee men who used the name William Guess during the same time frame. One sometimes went by William Big Money while the other sometimes went by William Coon. William Big Money is the William Guess from the George Guess Jr family. William Coon will be discussed later, in the branch of the Guess family that descends from Richard Guess, brother to George Guess Jr.

copyright 2015, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

Tweet

From Sequoyah to Sequoyah: The Lineage of a Cherokee Family - Pt 1

Sequoyah Guess was about 10 years old when his father died in 1900. His father's death left him an orphan because his mother died the previous year. He was too young to enroll himself on Dawes, but that didn't mean he wasn't enrolled. As was common for those who couldn't or wouldn't enroll themselves, an informant who knew the family gave their information. 

Per the testimony of Tom Smith in Dawes Packet 8338, Sequoyah was the son of Dave and Nancy (Ooskoony Young Pig) Guess.

Fold3.com/Dawes Packets

The accuracy of that testimony was validated by information found on the rolls taken in the Cherokee Nation during the years 1890, 1893, and 1896, where Sequoyah is listed with David/Dave and Nancy Guess.

Sequoyah in 1890, 3 months old. - Ancestry.com/Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Census Rolls, 1851-1959

Sequoyah in 1893, 3 years old. - Ancestry.com/Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Census Rolls, 1851-1959

Sequoyah in 1896, 6 years old. - Ancestry.com/Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Census Rolls, 1851-1959

After a reasonably exhaustive search, it was not difficult to conclude that David and Nancy Guess were the parents of Sequoyah. All the documentation found supported that determination, including the Eastern Cherokee Application filed for Sequoyah (17322) by his aunt, Alice Beamer. Though the application listed his English name as Tom Guess, his Indian name was listed as Sequoyah. His parents were listed as Dave Guess and Oo sgoo ne, which matched the names given for his parents in his Dawes application.

Fold3.com/Eastern Cherokee applications

The second page of Sequoyah's Eastern Cherokee application listed the names of his grandparents. While written in the opposite sections, his grandfathers were listed as Will Bigmoney aka Guess and Runabout Youngpig.

Fold3.com/Eastern Cherokee applications

Sequoyah's aunt, Alice, likely spoke little to no English because she gave additional testimony through an interpreter. Maybe Alice had the names put in the wrong columns or there was a clerical error, but later, in her testimony, she made it clear that Will Big Money was the paternal grandfather of Sequoyah. She also said Ah-del-a-guah was Will Big Money's father. (Note the name Dah-ya-nih listed as her father's "mother mother". That is likely a typo and should probably be "mother" meaning Will Big Money's mother was Dah-ya-nih.)

Fold3.com/Eastern Cherokee applications

Because Alice Beamer was Sequoyah's paternal aunt, her paternal grandparents were Sequoyah's paternal great-grandparents. On the first page of her Eastern Cherokee application (8045), Alice reported that her father was Bill Big Money and that his father (described as her father's father) was Big Money Guess.

Fold3.com/Eastern Cherokee applications

The second page of Alice's Eastern Cherokee application included the names of her paternal grandparents (and Sequoyah's paternal great-grandparents) as Big Money Guess or Ah-de-le-gua and Da-ye-ni. (Similar to Dah-ya-nih from above, isn't it? Remember that name. It's important.)

Fold3.com/Eastern Cherokee applications

At this point in this research, the names of Sequoyah's parents, paternal grandparents and paternal great-grandparents have been discovered. The lineage is:

Child - Sequoyah Guess
Father - David/Dave Guess
Paternal Grandfather - Will/Bill Big Money aka Guess
Paternal Great-Grandfather - Big Money Guess or  Ah-de-le-gua/Ah-del-a-guah
Paternal Great-Grandmother -  Da-ye-ni/Dah-ya-nih


All those names are important in the next installment of this series where we will explore the older Cherokee records, including some from the pre-removal era. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the variety of records available on Cherokees during that time period.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2015, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

Tweet