BROWN-BEN-1807-L Archives

From: jktechau <>
Subject: Re: [BROWN-BEN-1807] Browns in Indian Territory
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:57:42 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <d14.138a2130.341849e7@aol.com>

You are right, it is Indiana, not Indians. Sorry for the false reading. That explains why I did not notice it before. Thanks for the correction. As far as Ben being Native American, your are right, there certainly is no proof. However, the description in his civil war pension file, certainly sounds like he was something besides white. I think it was 5' 7", dark hair, grey eyes, but it is all speculative
Karyn
wrote: Karyn:

I took a quick look at that page and several before and afterward in the files, and it's "Indiana", not "Indian".

This is an interesting topic, however. I wonder how many people on the list have heard of a family heritage of Indian blood in these lines. Descendants in both the Spears and the Casteel lines report anecdotal family tradition of Native American blood and culture.

Personally (and not everyone agrees with me), I believe that Elizabeth Spears was probably heavily mixed-blood Indian, if not full-blooded, but there's no way as yet to draw any conclusions about the father or fathers of her kids. It would be grand to find a straight-line descendant of all females in that line for an mtDNA analysis. I've never found any indication that there was Indian blood in Ben Brown or those surrounding him, other than Elizabeth Spears. Certainly, photos of the daughters, Sibba and Nancy, look Indian, and their descendants have confirmed this impression.

We have good mtDNA evidence that Elizabeth Jane Casteel was not full-blooded Indian, but that doesn't mean that she could not have been 95% Indian. It only shows that her mother nor her grandmother, nor her female ancestors were not full-blooded Indians. Certainly, Alexander Casteel could have been full-blood Indian, and it wouldn't show up in Elizabeth Jane Casteel's mtDNA, because that only comes from mother to child.

Among populations in Eastern Tennessee in the mid-1820s, it might be expected to find lots of mixed-blood people. The Hiwassee Purchase document was signed by three men, representing the Cherokee, with the surname of "Brown" but I've never, ever found anyone who could place who they are or whom they were related to. Personally, I don't think that they have any relationship to Benjamin Brown, since the major Brown lines of that area seem to be represented in the Y-DNA database, and there's not even a close relationship.

Best regards,
Jim Patrick
List Administrator





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