Indian Connection

Most families in the South have a story about someone being part Indian. I've found most I researched were not true.

My wife's great grandmother was reported to be Cherokee. Her maiden name was Nancy Pittman and she married Eli Lawrence. Nancy's mother was named Comfort Hatfield and she married Daniel Pittman. With a first name like Comfort the Indian connection certainly seemed possible. Comfort was born in Kentucky about 1810.

Another Lawrence family researcher recently found a Guion Miller application that was submitted by Nancy's nephew in 1907. The application was denied because he didn't have any written proof but in it he said Nancy's grandmother was named Annie Ross and she was one quarter Cherokee.

I came across this photo of Nancy taken about 1918. Compare it to my daughter Kristen's picture taken 70 years later and you can surely see the Cherokee family resemblance.