When an Ancestor Fabricated their Lineage.... A Hundred Years of Lies

I am probably going to receive some negative feed back from those who are hard core believers in what they feel is the true story. But none the less, this issue needs to be discussed. Sometimes our ancestor's lied.

Why did they do it? Many reasons, money, shame, family feuds, murder, or just because there were things they were trying to hide or cover up. In my family's case it had to do with money. Choctaw settlement money to be exact. You can guess just from that pretty much how this story is going to go. Someone wanted to get the money the government was handing out to those with Choctaw blood. So began the tale of fabricated relations to the Choctaw tribe.

My great great grandfather was an upstanding citizen, a Civil War Veteran, a lawyer, a college professor, a newspaper owner as well as an author. He was also a fabricator of a Choctaw heritage that has fooled so many and still does today. People have included his information in books and swear they have seen documented proof that it is true. They indicate that since he started the Mississippi Society of Choctaws he must have been telling the truth. He was questioned by an agent from Washington and he claimed that he was the Captain and the recognized leader of all Choctaw outside of Oklahoma, and that it was his influence on Senator Pat Harrison that had the Choctaw Cases reopened in the State of Mississippi. He himself was a Choctaw claimant as well as being employed by  Crews and Cantwell in writing claims for other Choctaw claimants and receiving payment for. He challenged the legitimacy of blood as a marker of Choctaw identity to discredit the full blood rule. He was ordered to appear in the hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Indian Affairs due to his association with Crew and Cantwell.

But what they fail to see is the many flaws in his story.

1.In the book he wrote, he gave his lineage thoroughly, and not once did he mention a Choctaw line.

2. His family came from North Carolina to Mississippi in the early 1820's. How can they be Choctaw? If they were from North Carolina they would be Cherokee.

 3. Dawes testimonies show there was no lineage as does the Court of Indian Affairs.



No Turner Ward; No Socretia. People today are still just as hungry to claim a descent from the Choctaws, but for different reasons, that they overlook all the evidence that sits plainly before them.
Sometimes our ancestors lied, it is up to a good family detective to discern the truth.

Juan de Cuevas tomb restoration project

We are lucky here on the Gulf Coast to have many historic cemeteries where we can visit the ancestors who built the Coast. From the ancient vaults in New Orleans to the historic cemeteries of Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, there are many very old and decrepit tombs and vaults. New Orleans has a committee called Save Our Cemeteries that helps with the restoration and upkeep of many of the tombs. While we here on the Ms Coast do not have such a committee, a group of concerned descendants of Juan de Cuevas have gotten together to restore his tomb. As a founding father of  one of the leading families in South Ms, he deserves to be remembered and honored as such. Restoring a tomb isn't easy nor is it cheap and these  concerned descendants are asking for help in funding this project. As my husband and children are descended from Juan de Cuevas and his wife Marie Helene Ladner several times over, this is a project near and dear to my own heart. After all if we do not stop and preserve today a historic relic from 1849, how can we expect our future generations to follow our example and continue to hold sacred those who have gone before us. Please consider donating to this fund Restoration of Juan de Cuevas and Marie Ladner Tomb  
Any contribution would be greatly appreciated and I will update the progress of the restoration project as it happens.

Photo Credits to Ravyn Blue

Read more about Juan de Cuevas and Cat Island here Cat Island Remembered
Or buy this awesome book by John Cuevas on Amazon Cat Island the History of a Mississippi Gulf Coast Barrier Island  or Discovering Cat Island: Photographs and History

On a historical note, here is an advertisment for Franklin J.  Cuevas book about Juan de Cuevas.

Sun Herald page 3 November 13. 1986