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Chief John Lawrence Feathers (Cherokee Bird Clan), Cherokee - Not a Cherokee? Not a Chief?

Started by Dan Cornett on Saturday, December 11, 2021
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Dan Cornett C
12/11/2021 at 2:36 PM

Heather McPhie wrote:

"I am trying to find documentation about this Chief John Lawrence Feathers. I'm a little worried that there might be [no] documentation for him. I found that there was a man named John Lawrence Feathers who lived in Lee, VIrignia, and served in the War of 1812, but he was definitely a US Citizen, and was not an Indian. Supposedly there was a woman named Ellender Feathers whose family thought she was an Indian, and since John Lawrence Feathers appeared on the US censuses and tax lists, they connected her to him and decided that he had to be an Indian (but the records do not support that he was an Indian) and they changed his name to Chief John Lawrence Feathers. Other than that, I cannot find any "Chief John Lawrence Feathers." The problem did get a little messy when a John Silk and Nellie Feathers were found in the Cherokee nation records. John's mother was Aggie. The similarity in names makes me think that these records have been confused. The Silks in the Cherokee nation were later in history than the individuals [represented] here in this profile."

"I'm wondering if [anyone can explain] the existence of "Chief John Lawrence Feathers"? Is he a different person than the John Lawrence Feathers who served in the war of 1812 and resided for a time in Lee, Virginia?"
Dan Cornett C
12/11/2021 at 2:54 PM

The revisions show this profile with a previous display name of "Big Chief Turkey Feathers" ... which may be more consistent with the attributed father's name.

In any case, if the other family members are close to correct, this person was not involved in the War of 1812 (he died some 25-50 years earlier).

The linked FamilySearch profile does not currently have any sources cited.
Erica Howton C
12/11/2021 at 4:02 PM

Take a look here:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Feathers-145
Erica Howton C
12/11/2021 at 4:06 PM

From Kathryn Forbes

Dawes card 7311 is for the family of a man named John Silk. His wife, Nellie, was born in 1878, the daughter of Ben and Nellie Bigfeather. Ben was born about 1850, the son of George and Jennie Bigfeather. This was a fullblood family who had only Cherokee names prior to 1880. The Cherokee census of 1835 is the first to record the Cherokee. No Cherokee lived in Indian Territory before 1827, it didn’t exist.

Kathryn Forbes
12/11/2021 at 4:19 PM

John Lawrence Feathers was a white man, well documented as noted above. Born in Virginia, lived in Tennessee. Nothing to do with any Cherokee people. The Internet has combined him with an actual Cherokee man (not a chief) named Bigfeather. Bigfeather was born about 1790 in the Cherokee Nation. He married Annie Fields about 1825. The family appears on the 1835 Cherokee Census living in what is now Jackson County, Alabama. They were Removed to Indian Territory and settled in the Flint District. Bigfeather and Annie were the parents of four children, George, Annie, Hawk, and Cloud. His death date is unknown, but he does not appear on the 1851 Drennan Roll with the family. John Silk married Nellie Bigfeather, great-granddaughter of the man born in 1790.
Dan Cornett C
12/11/2021 at 4:35 PM

So, is there a "Turkey Feather" b. ~1707 of the Bird Clan? (look at the surrounding family ... is there a person who "fits"?)
Erica Howton C
12/11/2021 at 4:52 PM

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/794132/john-feathers-ellender-feathers...

John Feathers, Ellender Feathers and a big Feather myth

+4
votes
517 views
A former member left behind a family that seems to be a combination of mythical and real people in an effort to give Cherokee ancestors to a white family from Virginia.

The following profiles appear to be for people who never existed:

Feathers-145 Chief John Lawrence Feathers – no such Cherokee person in any record. Appears to be a corruption of the record of a white man from Virginia, John Lawrence Feather(s). …
Erica Howton C
12/11/2021 at 4:54 PM

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Feathers-175

Chief John Lawrence (Gah-Nah-La-Nuh) Feathers
Born about 1707 [location unknown]
Son of Turkey Big Feathers

John only seems to exist on the Internet and in unsourced family trees. There are no Cherokee records this early. No one by this name is mentioned in any existing historical document or other record.

Kathryn Forbes
12/11/2021 at 5:52 PM

No “Turkey Feather” of the Bird Clan. There was a Cherokee Chief named “Standing Turkey” also known as Kanagatoga or “Old Hop,” abt. 1690-1761. There is no one recorded with any name like “Feather” in the 18th century.
Dan Cornett C
12/11/2021 at 11:14 PM

So, the next questions might be:

If we mark this profile as fictional ... how much of the connected branch is also fictional? (In both directions ...). Another way to ask: where do we 'break' the connections?

WikiTree suggests this John, father, and a son Tontee Feather (b. c.1730) are all fictional. Nothing mentioned about other connections.

One 'child' in particular has conflicting parents:
Nancy Crum with (other) parents Oconastota Moytoy & Do Yo Sti Moytoy
Is that branch valid?

The other two children, and at least one "grandson" is commented on (in Discussions) as being fictional.

This branch all pre-dates the ability for Curators to mark an entire branch as "fictional" (which will also prevent future merging), but we need to identify the breaks between real & fictional profiles in order to do that.
Erica Howton C
12/11/2021 at 11:32 PM

Everything Moytoy is fictional. That name is an internet fantasy.

Dan Cornett C
12/16/2021 at 11:33 AM

Separated branch and isolated as fictional.
Erica Howton C
12/16/2021 at 12:06 PM

Well done, Dan Cornett

Glad you got that mess of feathers clarified.

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