Blue Sky "Mary" Cornstalk - DNA conflicts with Bluesky and Charity Adkins

Noah, Very interesting, enlightening article. Well researched and appears very thorough. Erica Howton and I work many of the Eastern tribe tree's, guess this will fall into our "realm" if you will. We are discussing what to do as far as how to address etc. Will let you know. Blue Sky is my link to the Cornstalk lineage, the same as many, many on here. It will be controversial to say the least.

Private User thank you very much for this posting.

I'm sharing a snippet from the blog:

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https://parkeradkins.wordpress.com

Parker Adkins’s parents, William Atkinson (Adkins) and Elizabeth Parker were married on January 17, 1716 at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.

One branch of Parker’s descendants has embraced the story that, in addition to the children he had with his wife, Mary, he had two children by a daughter of Chief Cornstalk named Blue Sky and when Blue Sky died, Parker took his two half-Shawnee children, Littleberry and Charity, home to his wife, Mary, who raised them along with their other children.

No proof existed, one way or another, until 2016 when a direct female descendant of Charity Adkins was located and agreed to have her mitochondrial DNA analyzed. Mitochondrial DNA traces a female’s maternal ancestry, mother-to-mother-to-mother, back through time. The DNA came back as Haplogroup H, meaning Charity’s mother was a white woman with mostly English and Irish ancestry. Many other women match this DNA kit, all of them with the same basic ancestry.

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Can anyone find the DNA study documents?

The Geni tree has been conformed according to DNA test results, disproving native American ancestry for Littleberry Adkins and Charity Adkins

Other Profiles affected are their father, Parker Adkins and his wife Mary "Polly" Adkins

Show me a copy of the dna results. Parker Adkins was married "3" times. Mary Fry, Mary Jones, and Blue Sky.

I think we can take the word on the Blog for the DNA test results for Charity Atkins to exclude her line from native ancestry.

Any dna results for descendants of Littleberry?

I don't know. Not my family. But it sounds like there is plenty of Adkins DNA research going on, and I look forward to those reports here.

I have been seeing things that say Parker Adkins was with the VA Militia in the Ohio Valley (my neck of the woods) between the years 1765 and 1769. I wonder if that was when he was with Blue Sky. Maybe Charity doesn't even belong to Parker Adkins.

That wouldn’t affect the maternal results, even if she had a different father from the other Adkins children.

There is a long list of citations in the Parker Adkins profile on https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adkins-431

There is disagreement on Littleberry’s estimated birth date

Yes, I realize that. I just really meant that Littleberry MAY be the son of Blue Sky. If not, from what little I have seen about the partner or wife of Parker by the name of Mary Jones, she was supposed to be Hopia. And one site mentioned they didn't know where the name Jones came from....her name was Mary Little Berry. So Littleberry may belong to her, if that is the case. I'll let it rest for now and hope for more dna to pop up.

Ok....I lied.... just one more thing to copy and post here that I saw.....and then I promise to shut up...

Researchers and some documents refer to Millitan/Millington Adkins as Parker Millington Adkins. In a small college library I found records of Virginia marriages that clearly showed Millitan/Millington as the husband of Mary Fry. Noted researcher and author, Ronnie Adkins, also posted response on GenForum that Parker Adkins Sr. was not Mary Fry’s husband, and that Mary Fry was Millitan/Millington’s wife.

Can you post links?

I found a good tree and here Parker's wife is indeed listed as Mary Polly Jones (1730 to 1777)

Obviously this post is from before the DNA evidence

https://adkinsmetcalffamily.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/parker-vincent...

I am getting ready to leave to go to Raleigh. I will be gone all day. I will find things and post this evening when I get back.

You all make great point what should we do now

I am effected by this the same as many of us are. This is exactly why this discussion was started. I know all of you embrace your NA heritage, but at the same time as genealogy/history professionals or "buffs", we also want to bring the facts to light. I am sure as time goes on, more of this type "mis-merges" will come to light especially with DNA coming out. Let's hope that the opposite will also happen on many NA profiles that escaped the eradication as the Euros continued to push them west. I truly believe there are many women and men of NA heritage that are still to be proven that intermarried and assimilated into history as "white" or "mulatto" depending on how fair their complexion was. We all just need to remain focused on the facts, no matter how hard it becomes. That is why we do what we do..... Thanks to you all for your dedication to the truth and history!

Jason, that's a great point: if you spend your life fighting Shawnee, why would you marry Shawnee?

Or in my family in East Tennesee, it was the Cherokee, especially Dragging Canoe, who was the supposed father.

I think it was descendants who come up with this to be honest, and from the name they know (thats in books).

But if you look at "documented" intermarriages like the Choteau's of St Louis, it didn't happen like that at all! Marriage was for the usual reason: there was benefit to both families.

We as Americans have lived through many wars, from the days of battle with the NA, British, French, and then between ourselves where brothers fought brothers. We have hated and then embraced the NA, Yankee's and Rebel's, Germans and Japanese, Vietnamese (my era) now the Muslims. Our stock comes from fighters, conquerors and warriors from centuries of battle, proud Native Americans, Vikings, Romans, and the brave Knights of the British Isles to name a few. It has always been death before dishonor for us...

That is what we do my brother G.J, we hate and kill each other, then embrace and become companions. All of our ancestors have all been "brutal murderous butchers" in our past. It is our heritage as Americans to keep moving forward and honor those warriors that have given their all for their beliefs.

I believe much of what is said in this article, but at the same time I know of the murder and butchering that the white man bestowed on the native. Entire villages of women and children massacred, read Chief Logan's speech sometime about how his entire family had been wiped from the earth by the white man. Cornstalk may have performed many atrocities in his lifetime but think of the devastation of his race by the white man that he experienced in his lifetime. I choose to also believe he was an honorable man that did what he had to do as a warrior and leader of his people.

Parker Vincent Adkins is my 8th great uncle, his great grandparents were Pekowi Shawnee, Chief Meaurroway Straight Tail,

Straight Tail Meaurroway Opessa

So Parker is only 1/8 NA. Chief Meaurroway is my 10th great gradnfather.

Where does Mitha Straight Tail fit it? I'm looking for more on Mary, Parker Adkins wife, and I'm not sure I follow this posting:

http://basotho-qwaqwa.rssing.com/browser.php?indx=1222156&item=183

Dear Goldie, The Frye is a huge mistake, according to the Shawnee, Parker Vincent Adkins son of William & Elizabeth married Mary Polly Jones. Then he married Mary Blue Sky Cornstalk. Niehter women were Fry's - Frye's. Mary has always been of Surname Cornstalk. Daughter of Keigh-taugh-quah Hokoleskwa Cornstalk see: http://adkinsmetcalffamily.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/cornstalk/. She married Parker after the death of his first wife Mitha, Mitha being the daughter of Chief Straight Tail. I have: Mary Polly Alexander-Fry (Born: 1730-1777) - this is wrong. I need to fix it. Mary Fry (1755-1786) married Millington Militan. Mary Fry (1788-1850) was the daughter of George Fry & Keziah Adkins Fry. Mary Polly Fry (1836) was the daughter of David Daniel Fry & Christena Adkins. Mary Fry (1881) d/o Berry Fry & Arnetta Johnson. There may be more, just not on my tree. Hope this helps, Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf

(dropping off another Adkins tree)

http://littlecalamity.tripod.com/Genealogy/AdkinsFamily.html

Re: was Blue Sky a real Person?

I believe so. Shawnee Heritage Books have her married 1) John Swift about 1760 "adopted white" 2) Parker Adkins, mother of Littleberry & Charity.

As we now know, it is impossible she was the mother of Charity, or that any other native woman was, in fact. The article that started this discussion lays out the improbability that Parker Adkins encountered the Cornstalk family at all.

I googled for a John Swift married Blue Sky Cornstalk and not finding anything as yet.

The evidence for Mitha Straight Tail (Parker's grandmother) as Native American seems very unlikely. The notes on her profile say that Richard Parker's first wife (and mother of his children) had the surname Ballard. This is supported by John Ballard's will. The evidence for Mitha, his second wife, comes from Richard Parker's will where he leaves property to "Mitha Parker". See discussion here: https://adkinsmetcalffamily.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/mitha-1660-1754/. There doesn't seem to be any other evidence about her other than her name. It seems people leaped from the name Mitha to assigning her a Native American identity. A note on the Geni profile also makes a good case that Mitha is Myra Parker, the wife of Richard Parker Jr, son of Richard Parker and ? Ballard. In this case it would still make sense for her to be recognized in the will.

So perhaps we have a mistake in the tree where we are currently showing Mitha Parker as grandmother of Parker Vincent. I have read the Adkins Metcalf info before http://adkinsmetcalffamily.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/cornstalk/ Will need to ross reference the ages as there are two generations separating what we have and what they are saying. We have Mitha born 1699, Nimeetha “Mitha” Parker, Piqua Shawnee

Here's a revised Master profile for the wife of Parker Adkins.

Mary Adkins

I'd appreciate it if it could be reviewed and perhaps more sources added before we move children over.

UNLESS the consensus is that she was indeed a Frye. But Ronnie Adkins has her as "parents unknown"

Reference:

Adkins, Ronnie. The Adkins Family of Wayne County, West Virginia, Also Cabell, Lincoln, and Boone, The Descendants of William and Elizabeth (Parker) Adkins of Henrico County, Virginia from 1690 to 1990. Published 1990, Montgomery, Alabama. p 5-6

This will be my closing words on this matter. First thing I want to say is, how much faith can we put in a "blog". I myself put very little in it. How do we know for sure that the person that had the dna test is a descendant of Parker Adkins and Mary Fry. Every day trees are being edited because new information comes along. What if I were to figure out someone's tree, contact a person that I believe is a descendant of them, convince them to get a dna test stressing to them how important it is....maybe even paying for it, and use that as proof of the ethnicity of that profile. Only problem is....what if I'm wrong? What if the tree is totally inaccurate...intentionally or not. Now my blog is on the internet and I have convinced everyone that my word is the gospel. Let me give you another example of something that happened just a couple of days ago. I should mention names, but I won't. I contacted someone because I realized something was inaccurate. The person has a profile for someone whose descendant matches dna for someone else on geni and has them connected on a tree. Well, I FOUND those results and posted them as a source on the profile. Then I contacted the manager to inform her that she had the right name for the other profile, problem was, it was the WRONG person. The dna was for someone else with the exact name. Erica, if you want me to, I can forward the messages to you....it actually involves a tree that I know you were a manager of a different profile on that tree, just can't remember which one was yours now. Anyways, people need to keep faith in what they believe. I think the emphasis should be put on gathered opinions and found documents much, much more than a "blog". That's just my opinion.

It’s a very long blog, but the exact details of descent from Charity is published. Do a “find” on the name Goldie

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https://parkeradkins.wordpress.com/

n addition to the paper trail discussed, here is the unbroken female line from Charity Adkins to the present:

Charity Adkins & Randolph Adkins
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Rhoda Adkins & Merritt Johnson
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Ancerilda (Serilda) Johnson & Enoch Adkins
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Betsy Adkins & Calvin Dillon
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Ella Dillon & Walter Adkins
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Goldie Adkins & Russell Mays
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Living daughter of Goldie Adkins. This is the person who submitted DNA

There are private profiles for Sarah ”Betsy” Dillon and Calvin Dillon, their profile managers could be contacted to find out if they are the same as mentioned on the blog

Here is Enoch Adkins & Zerilda Johnson, it is a “custodial” profile & if you request management it will be given

Ancestor report shows him descending from Hezekiah Adkins, Sr.