The living relatives of “Gardner Green”

The non-profit groups in Missouri known as the Northern Cherokee Nation of the Old Louisiana Territory and the Northern Cherokee Nation both claim descent from a Cherokee man who was listed as “Gardner Green” on the 1835 Census of the Cherokee Nation. That claim was debunked earlier in this series in a post titled “Young Wolf, son of The Mouse.”

Since publishing that post, many have wondered about the actual Cherokee family of Young Wolf, aka Gardiner Green. At this time, though no living direct descendants have been identified, many living nieces and nephews of varying degrees have been found.

Young Wolf had at least seven siblings through his father, The Mouse. One of those siblings was named Ool-stoo or Leaves on a Tree. There is an abundance of information that supports the conclusion that The Mouse was the father of both Young Wolf and Ool-stoo. Most of that documentation will be shared later in the biographies of The Mouse and Ool-stoo.

Ool-stoo’s daughter, Peggie Redbird, recorded her father’s name in her Eastern Cherokee application.

Peggie Redbird, Eastern Cherokee Application #4605, Fold3.com

She also said her paternal grandfather was Rat. (The same word can be used to describe both mouse and rat in Cherokee.)

Peggie Redbird, Eastern Cherokee Application #4605, Fold3.com

Peggie had several siblings, including a sister named Too-nah-ye and a brother named Stephen, both dead.

Peggie Redbird, Eastern Cherokee Application #4605, Fold3.com

Because Too-nah-ye died in 1904, she did not live long enough to file an Eastern Cherokee application but her daughter did.

John and Jennie Cornsilk

Jennie Cornsilk nee Walker listed her mother as Too-nah-ye Ool-stoo but did not state the name of her maternal grandfather on her first application.

Jennie Cornsilk, Eastern Cherokee Application #2271, Fold3.com

She did list both Peggie Redbird, living, and Steve Ool-stoo, dead, as her aunt and uncle though.

Jennie Cornsilk, Eastern Cherokee Application #2271, Fold3.com

Later, Jennie filed another application. Though difficult to read, she listed her maternal grandfather as Oo-loo-stoo.

Jennie Cornsilk, Eastern Cherokee Application #12540, Fold3.com

At the time of the Eastern Cherokee applications, Jennie Cornsilk nee Walker was the widow of a man named John Cornsilk. Their son, William Cornsilk, filed his own Eastern Cherokee application. He listed his mother as Jennie Cornsilk, and grandmother as Too-nah-ye. While this information seems redundant, it’s important because it links the generations together.

William Cornsilk, Eastern Cherokee Application #12543, Fold3.com

One of the relatives William claimed through was his great grandfather on his mother’s side, Oo-loo-stoo.

William Cornsilk, Eastern Cherokee Application #12543, Fold3.com

William also listed his wife as “Kattie Cornsilk”, 30 years old.

William Cornsilk, Eastern Cherokee Application #12543, Fold3.com

In 1910, William and Katie Cornsilk were living in Stillwell, Adair County, Oklahoma. William was 25 and Katie was 33. It was his first marriage and her second. They had two children together at that time, a son named Jesse and a daughter named Cora.

Ancestry.com

In 1920, William and Katie were still living in Stillwell, Adair County, Oklahoma. They had two sons, Jesse and Henry, and three daughters, Cora, Ruth, and Kate, at that time.

Ancestry.com

In 1930, William and Katie were living in Baron, Adair County, Oklahoma. They had an additional child born to them since the previous census. That child was a little girl named Josephine.

Ancestry.com

Josephine

Josephine Cornsilk grew up and first married Millard Tidwell. Later she married Ray Moreland. She was the mother of twelve children.

Josephine and family

She is the grandmother of Jeannie Tidwell who represents the Cooweescoowee District as one of nine United Keetoowah Band District Councilors.

Jeannie Tidwell

Josephine is also the grandmother of my dear friends, Jo Ann Tidwell and Sandee Tidwell Lovato, as well as many others.

Jo Ann Tidwell

Additionally, Josephine’s brother, Jesse Cornsilk, is the grandfather of David Cornsilk who is well known for his activism against fraudulent Cherokees and tribes.

William & Sandee Tidwell, descendants of The Mouse

This means The Mouse is the 5^th great grandfather of Jeannie, Jo Ann, and Sandee Tidwell and David Cornsilk. Young Wolf, the son of Mouse, also known as “Gardner Green”, is their 5^th great-uncle. 

To be clear, Jeannie, Jo Ann, Sandee, and David are four of the legitimate living nieces and nephews of the Cherokee man (re)named Gardner Green who was listed on the 1835 Census of the Cherokee Nation. 

Those are my thoughts for today.

Polly's Granddaughter

copyright 2019, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

A special 'Thank You' to Jo Ann Tidwell for sharing family pictures and allowing them to be used in this post.

**Other living nieces and nephews of Young Wolf, aka Gardiner Green, descend from Cherokee families with the surnames Rat, Rider, Swimmer, Tincup, Hogner, Wolfe, Spade, Manus, Scraper, and many more. Those lineages from The Mouse will be explored later in this blog.**

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Elizabeth Warren's Ancestry - Part 2

We continue comparing Elizabeth Warren's ancestry with that of Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Bill John Baker. The pattern continues to clearly show the difference in how a white family is found in the records compared to how an Indian family is listed.

The Great Great Grandparents

Preston H. Crawford, the great great grandfather of Ms. Warren, was the purported son of Jonathon Crawford and O.C. Smith. He was born about 1824 in Tennessee. On the 1850 US Census, he is found as Preston H. Crawfford, living in Eastern District, Bledsoe County, Tennessee with his wife, children and Margaret Graham, 6 years old, relationship unknown; race listed as white.*  He was found on the 1860 US Census as Preston H. Crauford, living in Hooker, Laclede County, Missouri, with his wife and children; race listed as white.* He had two land patents issued to him in 1862, in Laclede County, Missouri. He was found on the US Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863 - 1865, living in Laclede County, Missouri; race listed as white.He was found on the 1870 US Census living in Hooker, Laclede County, Missouri, with his children; race listed as white. His wife Edith died in 1871. He married Sarah S. Rice on October 12, 1875.

Sarah Harlin, the great great grandmother of Chief Baker, was the daughter of Eli Harlin and Delilah Alberty. She was born about 1824. In 1851, she was listed on the Cherokee Old Settler Roll, Flint 23. In 1880, she was listed on the Authenticated roll of the Cherokee Nation under the name of Sarah Tacket, page 329, number 2707, Native Cherokee. In 1896, she was found on the Cherokee Census roll under the name Sarah Tackett, page 1255, number 3400. In 1896, she was also found in the Cherokee Old Settler roll, page 460. In 1902-06, she was found on the Final Dawes Roll as Cherokee by Blood, 1/2, census card 6402, roll number 15325. She was found on the 1910 US Census listed as Sarah Tocket, living in Crittenden, Cherokee County, Oklahoma with her son-in-law, her daughter, her grandchildren and her grand daughter-in-law; race listed as Indian.

Ebenezer B. Walker, great great grandfather of Chief Baker, was the son of Jack Walker and Nancy Bushyhead. He was born in Cherokee Nation East and in 1851 was listed on the Drennen Roll, Tahlequah 260. He died January 1871.


Now we are seeing a very clear pattern develop. We are back to the great great grandparent generation, and Ms. Warren's ancestors are still only being found as white in the documents. On the other hand, Chief Baker's ancestors are found as Cherokee Indians. And notice that even though Sarah Harlin was born in 1834 and Indian, there are plenty of records to document both her existence and the fact she was Cherokee. We have 6 sources for her and all verify she is Cherokee even though many people wrongly assume records are harder to find if your ancestor was Indian/Cherokee.

Since the forced removal of the Cherokees was in 1838, we have gotten back to that time with both families. Preston H. Crawford was born approximately fourteen years before the forced removal and Sarah Harlin was born about four years before the removal. 

The Crawford family was always listed as white in the records and remained in the east after the forced removal of the Cherokees. The Harlin family was always living among Cherokees and always listed as Indians. These two families are clearly found listed differently in the records. 

In Elizabeth Warren's family, we have gotten to approximately 1824, fourteen years prior to the removal of the Cherokees from the east and there is no indication of Indian blood or association with the Cherokees through her Crawford line, the line she claims to be Cherokee through. That means we have gone back about 188 years and still not found a Cherokee.

Stay tuned for Part 3, where we discuss more about Ms. Warren's ancestry.

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.





*Often when the race was white, the race section was left blank.

copyright 2012, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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Elizabeth Warren's Ancestry - Part 1

For a few weeks, it has been pretty big news that US Senate hopeful from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, has claimed to be Native American, Cherokee to be specific, in the past and she is still clinging to that story now. Several times, I have either read or heard her compared to the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Bill John Baker, because some give her the benefit of the doubt and say Warren might have the same blood quantum as Baker. IF, and I capitalized that on purpose, because we are talking "big if" here, she actually had a Cherokee ancestor, and IF it was the ancestor she claims through, that might be true, but it isn't.

I think there must be a lot of people who either don't understand genealogy and the records available or there are a lot of people who haven't had the time to look. Whatever the reason, it seems people need to see for themselves that Warren's ancestry shows NO indication of Cherokee ancestry or heritage.

Because she has been compared to Chief Baker so much, I thought I would compare their genealogies and show how we can clearly see a difference between a real Cherokee and a fake one.

Like I have said before, there are numerous rolls of the Cherokee people plus many other records. If one can't find an ancestor on any of those rolls or in any of the records of the Cherokee people, then there is only one logical conclusion - they aren't Cherokee and they don't have a Cherokee ancestor.

Indian or Pretendian?

Elizabeth Herring Warren, who claims to be Cherokee through her mother's line of the Crawford family, is the child of Donald Herring and Pauline Louise Reed. She was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 22, 1949.

Bill John Baker, a Cherokee through his father's line of the Dubios family, is the child of Tim Baker and Isabell Louise Keith. He was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, on February 9, 1952. As most people who know anything about Cherokees know, Tahlequah is the capital of the Cherokee Nation.

If we stopped here, we wouldn't know the rest of the story. Long before the allotment of the Cherokee land and the statehood of Oklahoma, non-Cherokees were being born in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory and some Cherokees had been born outside the Cherokee Nation. Because of this, we can't base heritage on birthplace alone.

The Parents

Pauline Louise Reed, the mother of Ms. Warren, was the child of Harry G. Reed and Bethania "Hannie" Crawford. She was born in Hughes County, Oklahoma, on February 14, 1912. She was found on the 1920 US Census living in Hickory Ridge, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma with her parents and siblings, race listed as white. She was found on the 1930 US Census living in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma with her parents, race listed as white. She married Don Herring on January 2, 1932 in Hughes County, Oklahoma. She was found on the 1940 US Census living in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma with her husband and children, race listed as white. She died July 18, 1995.

Tim Baker, the father of Chief Baker, was the child of Lloyd Baker and Audey DuBois. He was born on January 27, 1926 in Oklahoma. He was found on the 1930 US Census as Jimmie, living in Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, with his parents, brother, uncle and grandmother; race listed as Indian, with a notation in the state column "Mixed blood Cherokee." He died May 5, 2005.

If we stopped here, we wouldn't know anything other than Ms. Warren's family was recorded as white in recent records and Chief Baker's family was recorded as Indian.

The Grandparents

Bethania "Hannie" Crawford, the grandmother of Ms. Warren, was the child of John Houston Crawford and Plina/Paulina Ann Bowen. She was born in Laclede County, Missouri, on October 29, 1875. She was found on the 1880 US Census as Bethena, living in Johnson County, Arkansas with her parents and siblings; race listed as white. She married Harry G. Reed in Sebastian County, Arkansas, on June 2, 1893. She was found on the 1910 US Census living in Muskogee County, Oklahoma with her husband and children; race listed as white. She was found on the 1920 US census living in Hickory Ridge, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma with her husband and children; race listed as white. She was found on the 1930 US Census living in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma, with her husband and daughter, Pauline; race listed as white. She was found on the 1940 US Census living in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma, with her husband; race listed as white. She died November 11, 1969 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Audey Nazarene DuBois, the grandmother of Chief Baker, was the child of FM Dubois and Nancy Walker. She was born in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory on June 11, 1906. She was found on the 1910 US Census as Andie, living in Crittenden, Cherokee County, Oklahoma with her step-father, mother, siblings, grandmother and sister-in-law; race listed as Indian; listed as Cherokee on the Special Schedule. She was found on the 1930 US Census as Audie, living in Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, with her husband, children, brother and mother; race listed as Indian, with a notation in the state column "Mixed blood Cherokee." She was also found on her mother's Eastern Cherokee application (#5532), but her name was crossed over and labeled "out" due to her being born about two weeks past the eligibility date.

Now we are starting to see the difference between a white family and a Cherokee family. Four times we see Ms. Warren's grandmother listed as white. We never see her listed as Indian. And, on the flip side, we only see Chief Baker's grandmother listed as Indian, three times, and never as white. But, that isn't enough. We need to get far enough back into the history to reach the old Cherokee Nation records to see what we can find on these two families in them.

The Great Grandparents

John Houston Crawford, the great grandfather of Ms. Warren, was the son of Preston H. Crawford and Edith May "Ede" Marsh. He was born in Laclede County, Missouri, on March 26, 1858. He was found on the 1860 US Census as John H. Crauford, living in Hooker, Laclede County, Missouri, with his parents and siblings; race listed as white. He was found on the 1870 US Census living in Hooker, Laclede County, Missouri, with his father and siblings; race listed as white. He was found on the 1880 US Census as JH Crawford, living in Grant, Johnson County, Arkansas with his wife, children and a farm laboror; race listed as white. He was found on the 1900 US Census as John H. Crofford, living in Township 12, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory with his children- RENTS; race listed as white, found on the regular census schedule, not the Special Schedule for Indians. He married Sarah E. Smith on September 2, 1904 in Laclede County, Missouri. He was found on the 1910 US Census listed as JH Crowford, living in Wetumka Ward 4, Hughes County, Oklahoma with his wife, two of his children and a step-daughter; race listed as white. He died January 23, 1924 and was buried in Wetumka Cemetery in Wetumka, Hughes County, Oklahoma. 

Nancy Jane Walker, the great grandmother of Chief Baker, was the daughter of Ebenezer B. Walker and Sarah Harlin. She was born August 25, 1866 in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory.  In 1880, she was found on the Authenticated roll of the Cherokee Nation under the name Nancy J. Walker. In 1890, she was found on the Census of the Cherokee Nation under the name Nancy J. Osage, Native Cherokee. She was found on the 1896 Cherokee Census under the name Nancy Osage. She was found on the 1900 US Census living in Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory with her husband, Phillip Osage; race listed as Indian, listed on Special Schedule for Indians. In 1902, she is found on the Final Dawes Roll as Cherokee by Blood, as Nancy J. Osage, 3/4, census card 6594, roll number 15787. In 1906-09, she is found on the Guion Miller Roll, Admitted, as Nancy J. DuBois, Tahlequah, OK, application 5532, roll 10168. She was found on the 1910 US Census listed as Nancy Cary, living in Crittenden, Cherokee County, Oklahoma with her husband B? C. Carey, her children, her mother and her daughter-in-law; race listed as Indian. She was found on the 1930 US Census as Nancy J. Carey, living in Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma with her son-in-law, daughter, grandchildren, and son; race listed as Indian, with a notation in the state column "Mixed blood Cherokee."


Now we are starting to see a very big difference in the two families. Ms. Warren's is showing a very distinct pattern of living as whites while Chief Baker's is showing a very distinct pattern of living as Indians. We find Ms. Warren's great grandfather listed as white on five different documents. We find Chief Baker's great grandmother listed as Indian and/or Cherokee numerous times on many different documents. The pieces of the genealogical puzzles of these two very different families are starting to come together, but we aren't finished yet.

Stay tuned for the next post where we trace these families back to before the Trail of Tears. We still have a lot more to look at! And you thought Cherokee genealogy was hard........ :)

Those are my thoughts for today.
Thanks for reading.






Note - The links in the post are important. They take you to either an off site source for the information we found or they take you to a different page on my blog where the supporting documentation can be viewed.

*Often times, when the race was white, the race column was left blank by the US Census enumerators.

*Census images from ancestry.com

*Dawes and Guion Miller Roll images from fold3

Elizabeth Warren Genealogy - Crawford line

*Updated July 2, 2012 to add 1940 US Census information

copyright 2012, Polly's Granddaughter - TCB

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