robertmackayclan

Later, this afternoon I will read through the Fairfax Land Suit, to try to answer my own question. I remember that our Robert Mackay did have some dealings with Native Americans in the 1740's.

What was the name of the tribe or tribes of Native Americans who lived in the area of present day Warren Co. VA ? How far back into time would we have to go to find a group of Indians existing as a separate group ?

I have been contacted by people looking to see if they have mixed ancestry between "red" & "white" and I really do not have an answer for them.

We are also interest in the present day area of Fauquier Co. VA. I have been contacted by two researchers who are of African-American background--surname Jackson--who believe they are a mix of "black", "white" & "red". I can see they might be a mix of the first two, but I really think Native Americans by the middle of the 1700's no longer existed in this part of VA. What do you think ?

Can you help us with this problem ?

From the historical accounts I've read about Frederick County I believe that there weren't any permanent Indian nations residing in the lower valley.

Most tribes were said to use the region as hunting grounds and there were trails that existed which I believe the modern highways we have here followed.

However, Abraham Hollingsworth was said to have paid the Indians (with what I can't remember at the moment) for the land that came to be called "Abr(ah)am's Delight". I believe this may have been the Iroquois Confederacy which wielded considerable influence among the different tribes in the Northeast.

Another possibility are the Shawnee who were also active in this area. They were the ones who led the war against the settlers along the Valley which I guess was "Lord Dumore's War".

According to his author, Indians were divided as to their language patterns.

Algonquian: Cree, Montagnais, Naskapi (found in eastern Canada), Abnaki, Chickahominy (VA), Delaware (MD & DE), Lumbee, Malecite, Massachuset, Mattapony (VA), Micmac, Mohegan, Nanticoke (MD & DE), Narraganset, Nipmuc, Pamlico, Pamunkey, Passamaquoddy, Pennacook, Penobscot, Pequot, Powhatan (VA), Shawnee, Wampanoag, Wappinger--assigned to Social Grouping of Indians as Eastern Woodlands found from Nova Scotia to the Carolinas.

That may not reflect the relationships between the various tribes. Intermarriage is certainly possible between groups living close together even if the languages may not be closely related.

I think there were at least three language groups spoken in the Northeast. Siouan, Algonkian & Iroquoian.

I don't believe it had any significance as to how well they got along with each other. The Cherokee and Tuscarora were bitter enemies before the Europeans came but they were both part of the same language group.

It's probably quite difficult to accurately determine the exact Indian population in Virginia alone. Some tribes disappeared during early colonization, either wiped out by disease or warfare.

(P.S. How do you like the new style for the forums?)

From the historical accounts I've read about Frederick County I believe that there weren't any permanent Indian nations residing in the lower valley.

Most tribes were said to use the region as hunting grounds and there were trails that existed which I believe the modern highways we have here followed.

However, Abraham Hollingsworth was said to have paid the Indians (with what I can't remember at the moment) for the land that came to be called "Abr(ah)am's Delight". I believe this may have been the Iroquois Confederacy which wielded considerable influence among the different tribes in the Northeast.

Another possibility are the Shawnee who were also active in this area. They were the ones who led the war against the settlers along the Valley which I guess was "Lord Dumore's War".

The two well known books about the area of Lower Shenandoah Valley by Cartmell & Kercheval has information about the first people who lived in Frederick Co. VA area.

Recorded in Cartmell is the statement by Kercheval

"In the spring of 1754, the Indians suddenly and unexpectedly moved off and entirely left the Valley."

1. Cartmell wrote of the Shawnee: "claimed all the hunting ground between the Blue Ridge and the Alleganies and as far South and West as the Mississippi. They had three large villages in this section: one near where Winchester now stands, one of the North River, now Shenandoah County and one on the South Branch below the present site of Moorefield.

2. Tuscaroras, their village were near the Cohongoroota--now Berkley County. The Creek and Church bear the name of this tribe to this day.

3. Senedos, who occupied the village on the river in Shenandoah County, was an offshoot from the Shawanese, one of the young chiefs having colonized at that point. In 1732 the Cherokees from the South exterminated them.

4. Catawbas, were SC Indians having several villages on the Catawba River.

5. Delawares had their villages on the Susquehanna River, PA.

6. Susquenoughs who have been confounded with the Susquehanna River tribes, was a large and friendly tribe. They were first found along the Chesapeake Bay; but the warlike Cenela tribe drove them from the tidewater section. They finally settled along the Upper Potomac.

7. Cenelas also moved westward; and they too started villages on the upper Potomac.

8. Pascataway remained on the head waters of the Chesapeake.

9. Cherokees who had villages on the Tennessee River and in certain sections of Carolina, Georgia and Alabama were noted for their great stature, in complexion resembling the white race. This tribe made annual forays to the upper Valley. They were part of the Six Nations of the South, having for their central tribe the "Muscogulges", the Seminoles, Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks forming the Nation, as the organization was called.

The nine tribes mentioned were regular visitors to the Valley country up to 1740.

information found on page 79 of Cartmell's book.

The Tuscarora weren't originally from the region described in Cartmell's book.

I'm familiar with that section having visited it myself.

The Tuscaroras originally were from eastern North Carolina. A lot of this is covered in my "Maverick's Corner" website http://www.geocities.com/mckyrbnsn/inlinks.html

A war was fought against the British and other Indians hired by them to help defeat the Tuscaroras. As a result some of them sought petitions to take refuge among the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy).

When this was granted those who wanted to go migrated up to New York passing through the Shenandoah Valley on into Pennsylvania and finally New York.

I believe some didn't complete the trip and in addition to other tribes probably contribute to the Indian ancestry claimed by many people in Virginia.

You've probably heard the "my grandmother was a Cherokee" story a few times from some folks.

It appears that wherever the Tuscarora went places would end up being named after them. In addition to the section of Berkeley County there are parts of Pennsylvania & New York that have Tuscarora as part of some of the placenames. Even Chambersburg is claimed by some to be named after the Chambers family which is said to be of Tuscarora origin.

Chambers is a common surname among different southern VIrginia & North Carolina Am. Indian families.