Who was Vannie Welch?

How can fictional people have a child? There are ZERO records of any Cherokee families before the Revolution, just a very occasional mention of a father, son, brother or other relative in historical documents. Any one who says they have a record of a couple and their children from the first half of the 1700's is making it up. The first mention of James Welch in the Cherokee Nation is a letter from James Beamer in 1752 describing an attack on the traders by a group of Creek Indians. By 1756 James Welch had his own trade establishment, so very likely had a Cherokee "wife." He was still engaged in the Cherokee trade in 1765.

I'm not aware of anything to connect later Cherokee Welch's with that early James Welch. There were other white Welch's who married into the Cherokee (David Welch who married Peggy McSwain for example). The family of the Cherokee John Welch, b. abt. 1785 and his white wife Betty Blythe is well-documented.

Here is the excerpt from the letter, which does not name Welch's daughter:

On the 21st ult. Old Welsh, daughter (whom Mr Wilkinson keeps) & grand child were going to. Tugooloo, and were met by six Norward Indians; Welsh had his grandchild in his arms, and his daughter coming behind he shook hands with the Indians, & asked what Country, but he finding them seizing of him, and making up to his daughter, knew they were enemy, and called to her to make her escape: upon which, she turned her horse about and gave him the whip, the enemy flung two spears at her, and wounded her in the side, and arm; Welch, and Wilkinson's child, were both killed, and their brains knocked out with a war club, which was left by them with shame signs upon it; No Trader will venture into this Nation, if the enemy are permitted to kill white People, as well as red.

Although the young woman in the incident is described as Welch's daughter, that doesn't seem to gibe with the dates since she would have been at most 14 years old, very young to be married with a child. These people are from an earlier generation than the Wilkerson's in Starr's book. Edward Wilkerson died about 1783. Eliza Wilkerson, listed by Starr as the daughter of Edward Wilkerson and a Cherokee woman named Coo-ta-ya was born about 1805, so her father was a different man, perhaps a son of the earlier man.

The person whose web post is linked above supplies another set of children who exist nowhere else for this daughter of Welch born some 20-25 years later which also seems most unlikely.

As far as John Welch, born c.1790, he and his family are very well documented. He married a white woman named Elizabeth "Betty" Blythe. She was not Cherokee. She is a big part of the reason that John Welch was able to protect a large number of his friends and neighbors from being Removed and was able to keep his home. No evidence that he had any other wives, his children are also well-documented. No clue where "Oguma" which means "badger" comes from I think that's part of a myth trying to connect him to a bunch of fictional people. If he is connected to James Welch who was killed in 1766 I don't know how.

There is plenty of information on the Cherokee John Welch married to Betty Blythe and their life in the 19th century, particularly during and after Removal, but I don't think that includes his parents. His granddaughter gave his name as John Ocuma, on her Eastern app so that is where that came from. None of John and Betty's children lived into the 20th century but more than one grandchild filed an Eastern app and listed all their aunts and uncles so we have a good list of his children. Lance Green has written whole books about John and Betty. There may be a connection with the trader who was killed in 1766, but he would be at least a grandfather and that would be speculation.

I also don't think we know anything about the children of Packhorseman Welch except that he seems to have had a daughter who was alive in 1766 and living with the Edward Wilkinson who died in 1783. I don't see anything that says her name was "Mollie." Someone is trying to make her the mother of the white Edward and John Wilkerson who had children with Coo-ta-yah. Same thing with Mary Rains, the white wife of Edmond (Benge) Duncan.