The Children of Nelson Guess - Part 2

Sometimes it's best to let the documents tell the story. In The Children of Nelson Guess - Part 2, that's what I've decided to do. A lot of words aren't needed to explain how tragic and sad this was.

June 20, 1908, Albert Guess, the teenage son of Nelson Guess, died in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

July 9, 1908, Clarence Haggard, white stepfather and guardian of Albert, was appointed as administrator of Albert's estate.

August 6, 1908, Despite the fact she was purportedly the child of Nelson Guess and received an allotment because of it, Lena was listed as "Lena Haggard" and as the 1/2 sister of Albert in the estate papers listing his heirs. We know Albert and Lena had the same mother, so obviously Lena was not the child of Nelson Guess. (See Part 1 for more.)

June 22, 1909, Clarence was cited and summonsed to court for failure to follow through with the legal requirements in his role as guardian of the children of Nelson Guess.

March 2, 1910, another citation was issued commanding Clarence to appear in court on March 30, 1910, to face a complaint from the surety company that he had absconded with the estates of the children of Nelson Guess (as guardian) and had not complied with the requirements of guardianship for more than a year.

April 16, 1910, on the 1910 US Census, Lena was listed as Lena Haggard and Susie was listed as Susie Guess. Clarence was not listed in the household.

May 12, 1910, in Susie's estate, Lena was listed as Lena Haggard and as the 1/2 sister of Susie. That same day, Clarence signed for Lena in Susie's estate papers and signed her name as Lena Haggard.

July 9, 1910, Frances reported that Clarence was squandering the estates of her children (as guardian.) Clarence was therefore ordered to appear in court to answer to Frances' allegations against him. The court date was set for July 25, 1910.

October 10, 1910, the the court ordered that Clarence appear in court to answer the accusation that he absconded with Albert's estate (as administrator.) Later, the sheriff reported he could not find Clarence in his jurisdiction to serve him with the order to appear.

March 23, 1911, Clarence was again ordered to appear in court to answer to charges of absconding with the estates of the children of Nelson Guess (Albert, Eliza, and Susie.)

April 11, 1911, Clarence was removed as guardian of the estates the children of Nelson Guess; Albert, Eliza, and Susie; as well as removed as guardian for the estate of his own daughter, Lena Haggard, alias Guess.

 

After all those documents, it should be clear that Clarence Haggard took advantage of his role as guardian to Cherokee children and basically stole their estates. Though I didn't include the documents in this post, he did request and receive approval to sell at least part of the allotments received by Albert and Susie. After he sold the land, he then absconded with the money received from the sale.

In Part 3 of The Children of Nelson Guess, I'll summarize the facts surrounding the tragic story of theft perpetuated by Clarance and Frances Haggard against these three Cherokee children and the Cherokee Nation as a whole.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

Part One

*All probate documents above can be found on Ancestry.com: Oklahoma Wills and Probate Records of Albert Guess, Susie Guess and Lena Guess 

Copyright 2016, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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The Children of Nelson Guess - Part 1

Like Sequoyah Guess (b. 1890), Albert Guess was only a little boy when his father died and he was dependent on others to make sure he and his siblings were enrolled by the Dawes Commission. Sadly, Albert did not have adult Cherokees looking out for his best interest (or the interest of his sisters) so things didn't go as well for him as they did for Sequoyah Guess.

After Nelson Guess, Albert's father, died in 1896, his white wife, Frances, remarried. Available documentation from 1900 to 1913 indicates Frances and her new husband, a white man named Clarence Haggard, were more interested in what they could get from the Cherokee Nation and Nelson's Cherokee children than they were in taking care of those children and looking out for their best interests.

June 1900, the family was found on the U.S. Census. Clarence was listed as head of household with Frances as his wife; Dorcas Damon (child of Frances before her marriage to Nelson Guess) as his step daughter; Albert, Eliza, and Susie Guess as his step children; and Lena Haggard as his daughter. Lena was listed as born April 1899 and one year old.

Later that year, in October 1900, Frances applied to the Dawes Commission for herself as an intermarried white and for Nelson's three children, Albert, Eliza, and Susie, as Cherokees by blood. She said Nelson Guess died three years prior (1897) and that she had not remarried since his death.

Technically, she was honest because she and Clarence didn't marry legally until September 1901.  

To make that clear, Frances Guess, widow of Nelson Guess, legally remarried in 1901 though she'd already been living with the man prior to the marriage based on information from the 1900 U.S. Census.

In September 1902, WC Rogers, a store owner, wrote a letter to the Dawes Commission reporting Frances as a fraud, saying she had a new man, Clarence "Haggar", and had two children by him. He said she only had three children who were Cherokees, Albert, Eliza, and Susie.
 

October 1902, Frances gave additional testimony to the Dawes Commission. She said Nelson had been dead about 6 years (1896) and that she was still a widow (unmarried) on September 1, 1902. That same day, Mary "Katie" Flemming Pruett, a daughter Frances had from a marriage previous to her marriage to Nelson Guess, gave testimony that her mother had not remarried. Clearly, Frances and Katie lied.

In March 1903, Frances was again questioned by the Dawes Commission and said she did not know Clarence "Hagar" and that she was not married. She also said Susie was her youngest child and that she'd had no children since Nelson's death. Frances lied again.

May 5, 1904, JC Starr testified before the Dawes Commission and reported that Frances tried to bribe him, first with $100, then $200, to not report that she was married. She told him that she gave false testimony to the Dawes Commission and that if asked again, she'd repeat what she said even though she knew it was not true.

Finally June 1, 1904, Frances testified before the Dawes Commission as Frances Haggard. She admitted she had remarried and that she could no longer claim rights as an Intermarried White.

Three days later, on June 4, 1904, Clarence Haggard sought guardianship of Nelson's three children. He said each was entitled to $975 from the Cherokee Nation (with inflation, this calculates to approximately $25,000 each as of 2014) and needed someone to oversee their estates for them. Clarence was granted guardianship.

Two years later, on May 8, 1906, Frances applied to the Dawes Commission for her daughter, Lena. She testified Lena was the child of Nelson Guess and born after his death. When questioned about why she had never tried to enroll Lena previously when she had enrolled the other children, she said she just never did. She said Lena was her youngest child (though she actually had a son younger named Icem/Isom.)

Later that year, on December 26, 1906, Frances filed an Eastern Cherokee application for Albert, Eliza, and Susie. She did not mention Lena. Four times she said Nelson Guess died in 1896. She said she married Clarence Haggard in 1898.

While it's clear, based on the documentation, that Lena was the biological child of Clarence Haggard, and it is clear that Frances lied about Lena's paternity, on February 19, 1907, Lena was approved for enrollment on Dawes as the child of Nelson Guess. The Cherokee Nation lawyers did not challenge the enrollment despite the conflicting testimonies and lies Frances told in her previous attempt to get herself enrolled.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. Stay tuned for the part two of  The Children of Nelson Guess where more of this sad tale of lies and deceit will be continued.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.

copyright 2015, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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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

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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

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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

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