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The Broyhill Indians |
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In 1968, my
grandmother, Nell Broyhill, gave each of her children a family Bible
for Christmas. She had written the names of my ancestors in it
and that started my interest in the family history. A day of
two later, I spent many hours in the nearby Federal Achieves
searching for additional records. I made many notes. However,
I didn't find any answers, only a great many questions. High
on the list was the "Broyhill Indians." Two of them,
Paul Broyhill and James Broyhill served in the 2nd Cherokee Mounted
Rifles during the Civil War. Except for the officers, it was
an all-Indian outfit. Who were these guys? Within a
short period of time, I was able to establish that they were the
sons of a Nathan Broyhill who lived in Ashe County, NC in 1830.
The extreme rarity of the Broyhill name and the close proximity of
Ashe and Wilkes County suggested he was related to James, the first
Broyhill.
In 1827, James Broyhill
and Nathan Broyhill gave testimony regarding the hunting accident which
resulted in the death of William W. Wellborn in Wilkes County. The fact that the two men went
hunting together certainly proves that they knew one another.
At the time of Nathan's 1804 birth,
there were only four other Broyhills in the entire United States - James
and his three sons. The extreme rarity of the Broyhill name, the
fact that both the Bray and Broyhill names were used by both James and
Nathan, the fact that they knew one another, as proved by the hunting
accident, makes it almost certain that they were somehow related. He
was the right age to have been James' youngest son, but yet is never
mentioned in family records. This author has been unable to locate the
records of James Broyhill's estate, but one Illinois Broyhill wrote that
he had found it and it named sons John, William and James Jr. If Nathan
was a son, why wasn't he named? Was Nathan a nephew? If so, who
was his father? And how did his children obtain so much Indian Blood? |
In the fall of 2004, I received an email
from Irene Coon,
rene41136@webtv.net, who was researching the Broyhill Indians. In
subsequent correspondence, she sent me a copy of the April 18, 1896
application of Paul Broyhill for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation.
[National Archives, Fort Worth, Tx.; RG 075l Entry # 1896] In it, Paul
wrote, “I herewith make this my application for citizen ship in the
Cherokee Nation. I am a Cherokee Indian by Blood. I am a Grand Son
of Norman Broyhill and a son of Nathan Broyhill and also Connected
with the Dawes family of North Carolina Who’s names is said to appear on
the Rolls of 1835 and 1836. I herewith send in my Evidence of the
witnesses hoping that you will try my case and let me hear from you as
Early as possibly. All I ask is honesty and justice. Yours Very
Respectively. Paul Broyhill.” He goes on to give the names and
birthdates of his children.
The application is accompanied by a statement from Pricie
Capps, who wrote: |
| I am a Cherokee
Indian by blood. I reside in Going Snake Dist. Cherokee Nation. I am
86 years of age. I was borned and raised in the old Cherokee Nation
now the State of North Carolina. I was acquainted with a great many
of the Cherokees. I was well acquainted with one Nathan Broyhill who
was a Cherokee Indian by blood. He and I was children together and I
know him to be a Cherokee Indian by
(entire line is illegible where the page has been folded).
Married a woman by the name of Dass and they had a son by
the name of Paul Broyhill whom I have not seen since a small boy but
he is entitled to Cherokee citizen ship in the Cherokee Nation..
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A second statement was provided by
Watt Christie. He wrote: |
| I am a Cherokee
Indian by blood. I live in Going Snake Dist, Cherokee Nation. I am
about 80 years of age. I was borned and raised in the State of North
Carolina in the old Cherokee Nation. I came to this country at the
time of the large emigration. I was acquainted with a great many of
the Cherokee people in the old nation, among whom was one Nathan
Broyhill whom I was personally acquainted with and knew him to be a
Cherokee Indian by blood. He had a son Paul Broyhill who was also a
Cherokee Indian deserving (? word unclear)
the same from his Father Nathan Broyhill. I have not seen the said
Paul Broyhill since he was a small boy but I am creditably informed
that he resides in Benton Co. Ark and I know the said Paul Broyhill
to be entitled to citizen ship in the Cherokee Nation |
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| S. H. MAYES, Principal Chief Cherokee
Nation., did not share their opinion. He wrote, “…Nathan
Broyhill through whom the petitioner (blank) claim to derive (blank)
right to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation, is not now and has not
been a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, since the removal of said
Nation, west to the Indian Territory as at present located and
defined; that his name does not appear on any of the authenticated
rolls of said Nation; that neither he nor any of his ancestors now
reside, or ever have resided in the Cherokee Nation and Indian
Territory, as citizen |
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Paul claims that his father was Nathan,
which is well documented from other sources, but he also names his
grandfather as Norman, and we certainly know that James, the first
Broyhill, had a son named John Norman who was living at that time.
The accompanying statements both say that Nathan was a “Cherokee
Indian by blood.”
James Broyhill and Rebecca Bailey married in 1785. Census
records indicate that Nathan was born in 1804. If Norman was born
the year after his parent's marriage, 1786, he would have been only 18
years old when Nathan was born. Wilkes County, NC records show that
John Norman Broyhill married Polly Davis in 1810. Obviously he was
earlier married to an Indian woman. Who was she? Paul sheds
little light on the matter, but does state that he was “also Connected
with the Dawes family of North Carolina who’s names is said to appear on
the Rolls of 1835 and 1836.”
John Norman Broyhill has always been one of more elusive
ancestors. It has been extremely difficult to learn anything about him.
I assume he was born in Halifax or Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and
migrated with his father James to Wilkes County, NC around 1804. After
his 1810 marriage, he disappears from Wilkes County records, but family
records state that his son Thomas was born October 17, 1816 at Moravian
Falls, NC, but that his son, John, was born in Tennessee in 1820. John
Norman Broyhill appears on the 1820 Census of Tennessee as John N.
Brawhill. The family was back in Wilkes in 1821. The following year, his
younger brother William left for Tennessee, perhaps inspired by John's
stories of new land. His other brother, James Jr., left a few years
later.
Dewey Broyhill of Moravian Falls, NC told me that family
tradition maintains that his wife and children came home from Church one
Sunday to find John's new shoes sitting on the kitchen table. In them was
a note stating, "Norman is gone." And indeed he was because he completely
disappears from Wilkes County records. His wife Mary is listed as Head of
Household on the 1830 Wilkes Census. The youngest child, William, was
then four years old, thus born about 1826. From this, we can conclude
that John remained in Wilkes as least long enough to get his wife
pregnant.
John Norman Broyhill was somewhat of an adventurer and
perhaps somewhat of a wanderlust as he was the first member of his
family to take off for the wilderness of Tennessee. It would
seem he migrated there between the 1816 and 1820. Apparently he
was not successful in achieving his goals, because he didn’t stay
long. He was soon back in North Carolina and his dad tried to
help him get established. The farmer’s life apparently didn’t
appeal to him because he remained only a few years. Dewey
Broyhill of Moravian Falls, NC told me that family tradition
maintains that his wife and children came home from Church one Sunday
to find John's new shoes sitting on the kitchen table. In them
was a note stating, "Norman is gone." Another family legend is
that he ran off with an Indian woman.
And indeed Norman was gone because he completely
disappears from Wilkes County records. His wife Mary is listed
as Head of Household on the 1830 Wilkes Census. The youngest child, William, was
then four years old, thus born about 1826. From this, we can conclude
that John remained in Wilkes as least long enough to get his wife
pregnant.
Today all 19th century census records are indexed. An
extensive search of all records do not reveal any hint as to where
Norman may have gone. |
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Broyhill Family Tree
Introduction |
Organization |
Starts
with James | Index |
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