Surprise!! Results Are In!!

Well, the DNA results came back.  According to my current DNA profile, compared to all the millions already on file - I have 0% Native American Blood!  Yep, guess I am just a wannabe after-all.



So, there you have it... right? 

I wish it were that simple.  Just because I show no Native American blood, still does not mean my family line, is NOT Native American.  We only get so much DNA passed on through generations, and if there are no matches on file to compare with, and etc. etc. etc. 

What I do show as my genetic regions:

But, for me, for now... I'm going to be looking for history under the assumption that we are not Cherokee by blood.  I understand where my family was born and raised.  What they have always been told.  What they believe.  And, if it had been me, born and raised in Cherokee Territory, had generations of family there, I too would believe it to be fact.  However, in today's world, we don't have to accept tradition as fact.  We can find answers.  And, we will!

So....  there you have it.  Searching the rolls will be on hold as I look in new directions.

(But don't worry, I still intend to find 'Aunt Nancy' and the cousin connection to Maxwell Chambers.)

Luke Hale ~ Cousin to Maxwell Chambers

Robert M. Anderson's mother was Sarah Hale. Sarah's father was Luke Hale (Hail) from Tennessee born about 1790, who later moved to Missouri.

Robert M.'s dawes application includes testimonies that state that Luke Hale is first cousin to Maxwell Chambers. (this would have to be Maxwell Chambers b. abt. 1793, married to Elise Sanders - Oo-kilh-lul-le) Other testimony, from witnesses who were part of the Cherokee Nation in 1893, stated that they knew these families to be related, but were unsure of how... just that they had been.

We do not know for certain who Luke's parents or wife were. Since he is first cousins with Maxwell Chambers, we may be able to determine his parentage from information Maxwell's family.

One possibility for Luke's father is Simeon Hale from Isle of Wight, who moved to southern Illinois. He did have a son named Luke. However, in the information contained in the Dawes application, Luke moved from Tennessee to Missouri, and there is no mention of living in Illinois. Maybe just an oversight, maybe it didn't happen.???? Maybe Simeon and his other children stayed in Illinois along the way, and Luke just kept going. But, seeing as how the testimony was given by Sarah's sister Nancy Hale, it seems "more likely than not" that she would have mentioned that. ??????

Sarah Hale did not meet Jesse until they arrived in Missouri, where she met "Jesse and his family". (from the testimony of her sister).

So, who are Luke Hale's parents and family?

We have a photo of Sarah Hale and she was said to be full blooded Cherokee. We have no proof of that fact, but looking at her photo, and the photo of her daughter - it is very likely that she was a high percentage of Cherokee.

Since we do not know who her mother was, it is possible that her mother was a Cherokee, and her father was in fact the son of Simeon. But, if family folk-lore is correct and Sarah was a full blooded Cherokee, then Luke would probably not have been Simeon's son. UNLESS maybe Simeon's wife Elizabeth was also using an English name but was Cherokee and that there was such a high percentage of Cherokee blood in Sarah, she was just assumed to be full-blooded.

The history I have read from Isle of Wight makes this a possibility since they were surrounded by different Indian tribes, some friendly with them, some not. But, we do not know.

Maybe somebody out there has an idea of how Maxwell Chambers parents are related to Luke's parents (their mother's are sisters? Luke's mother is a Chambers? Luke's mother is a Boyd?).

Thanks for reading! : )