Snowpepsi wrote:On my dad's side, we had a gggggggggrandfather who was a Dr. in Belguim, he even wrote a book in the 1500's (of which a cousin has a photocopy) He moved to England in the late 1500's and eventually his decendants moved to America. My dad's paternal grandfather was one of those decendants.
Still on my dad's side, I had a full blooded Cherokee great,great, great grandmother. Her family had a plantation in either North Carolina or Georgia. The white man wanted the land because gold was found there. The Cherokee nation took it to court to fight for the land and they won their case. President Andrew Jackson refused to uphold the decision and my ancestors were forced to relocate to Indian Territory, (kansas and Oklahoma) on the Trail of Tears. My great great grandmother married a dutchman sometime after arriving in Indian Territory. They had a daughter, my great, great grandmother. She married an Irishman, a Mitchell. They had my great grandmother and she married my English great grandfather above.
My dad's mother is bellieved to be a decendant of a French Immigrant.
My mother's maternal granfather was German (Krigbaum) and her maternal grandmother was a Cherokee. I don't know what my mom's dad's side is.
So that makes me: English, Cherokee, Irish, Dutch, and German. Anything missing is probably more English.
Damn... we could actually be cousins! lol
Part of my family, my mom's side, was relocated on The Trail of Tears too.
My Dad's side became what they called "renegades", moving high into The Appalacians when Jackson started rounding up the Cherokee for transport to Oklahoma.
A side note here about the Trail of Tears... They put them on open-decked boats and used the rivers during the winter and over half of them died of exposure and disease.
Then, following their arrival to Oklahoma, which they were promised would be theirs "as long as the grass grew and sky was blue", the U.S. Government opened Oklahoma to settlers and the Cherokee were once again screwed-over.