The purpose of this book is to explain our Cherokee Ancestry which derives from Pauline McClanahan Cooper’s (my grandmother) matrilineal line to Susan and William Reed.
Susan Reed and William Reed
- Nancy (Reed) Davis
- Isabella Texas (Davis) Alton
- Leona (Alton) McClanahan
- Pauline (McClanahan) Cooper
DNA Profile
Based on DNA testing provided by Pauline’s daughter, Peggy (Cooper) Cox, Pauline’s DNA profile should have been approximately:
- 76% English & Northwestern European
- 12% Welsh
- 8% Irish
- 4% Indigenous Americas/North American Indian
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) follows your matrilineal line of descent. All humans descend in a direct female line from Mitochondrial Eve, a female who lived probably around 150,000 years ago in Africa. Different branches of her descendants have been assigned different haplogroups. In other words, this test allows us to trace Peggy's mother’s (Pauline McClanahan), mother’s (Leona Alton), mother’s (Isabella Texas Davis), etc. ancestral line going back approximately 50 generations.
Peggy's mtDNA happlogroups are L - L3 - M - C. Haplogroup C is our most recent group and it is one of just 5 haplogroups shared by the indigenous people of the Americas. You can click here if you are interested in learning more about this haplogroup.
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| Flag of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation |
1st Generation - William and Susan Reed
William and Susan Reed were Pauline’s 2nd great-grandparents.
The first people in our Cherokee ancestry that we have any records for is William and Susan Reed, and they were said to have been of mixed blood. There is no record of Susan’s maiden name. In some anecdotal accounts she is referred to as “Old Nannie.” They lived in the Cherokee town of Hightower, in what is today Cartersville, GA. They also possibly lived in Tennessee.
There is a William Reed listed in the 1817 Cherokee Reservation census, who was requesting 640 acre plot of land instead of moving West. However, according to the treaty that granted this land, it would be temporary and the rights for this land would revert back to the state after the persons death, which is why many chose to emigrate to the west.
William and Susan Reed had the following children:
- Nellie (1818-1853) m. John Wesley Davis
- Cynthia (1839-1914)
- Jane T. (1840-1894)
- LaFayette (1846-1910)
- William M. (1849-1905)
- Ellender “Ellen” (1851-1868)
- John W. (1853-)
- Nancy (1822-1864) m. Barney Davis
- Eliza (1839-)
- James (1843-1895)
- Newton (1845-1896)
- Wesley (1847-1880)
- Sara Ann (1849-)
- Tennessee “Tennie” (1857-1909)
- Isabella Texas (1859-1919)
- Barney Jr.
- Eliza (?)
- David (?)
- Johnson (?)
William and Susan Reed are listed in their grandson, Lafayette Davis’s (son of Nellie and Wesley Davis), in his application for the Eastern Cherokee Nation in 1906. William and Susan are also listed as grandparents on Tennessee Davis Gillespie’s application. Their granddaughter, Isabella Texas (Davis) Alton, lists them as simply “Reed.”
It is worth noting that there is a Revolutionary War veteran named William Reed listed in the 1840 census of Hamilton County. But this Reed only recently moved to the area, had lived many other places, and his family’s names do not match up.
In several documents it is mentioned that William and Susan both died before 1851.
2nd Generation - Nancy (Reed) Davis
Nancy (Reed) Davis is Pauline’s great-grandmother.
The two sisters, Nancy Reed and Nellie Reed, married half-brothers, Barney Davis and John Wesley Davis. The two brothers were the sons of James Davis. James was a decorated soldier of the Revolutionary War.
Nancy (1822-1864) m. Barney Davis
- Eliza (1839-)
- James (1843-1895)
- Newton (1845-1896)
- Wesley (1847-1880)
- Sara Ann (1849-)
- Tennessee “Tennie” (1857-1909)
- Isabella Texas (1859-1919)
- Barney Jr.
Our first evidence of Nancy and Barney, comes from the papers of William Holland Thomas. Thomas was a merchant, lawyer, and a representative of the Eastern Cherokee, who remained in the East, after the forced removal of 1838. From 1835 to 1844, he worked to enforce the 1835 New Echota Treaty and to have the remaining Cherokee recognized as citizens. Eventually, in 1866, the Eastern Band of the Cherokee were recognized as a distinct tribe and given a reservation in North Carolina.
In 1840, he was trying to document all the Cherokee families in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina and where they were living in 1835 when the Treaty of New Echota was signed. According to his notes, in 1840, he was in Cleveland, Tennessee on some business and travelled 15 miles to visit the families of Eastridge [Barney Davis’s family] and Wesley Davis. (The city of Ootlewah in Hamilton County, where Barney and Wesley’s families were living, is approximately 15 miles south of Cleveland.)
In his notes, he lists Barney Eastridge as the head of a family consisting of 2 people (Barney and Nancy). He also notes that Barney’s wife was part Cherokee, the daughter of William Reed, and that in 1835, she was living in Hightower, Georgia.
The Cherokee town of Hightower was once located near what is today Rome, GA, but the people relocated to what is today Cartersville, GA, in 1792, after attacks by whites.
He notes that Wesley Davis was the head of a family of 4 (Wesley, Nellie, Eliza, and Cynthia). He also notes that Wesley’s wife was part Cherokee, the daughter of Susana Reed, and that in 1835, she was living in Hightower, Georgia.
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| Typical 1800s Cherokee Home |
The families of Nancy and Nelly are listed in the 1851 Silas and Chapman Rolls for Hamilton County, Tennessee. The Silas roll was a listing of those Eastern Cherokee entitled to a per capita payment based on the 1835 Treaty. The Chapman roll was a listing of all those that were approved for payment based on the Silas roll. These payments were made in December of 1851 and January of 1852 to 2,134 individuals.
Nancy’s listing:
Silas Chapman Name Age Relation Sex Blood
1555 1609 Nancy Davis 28 wife female mixed
1556 1610 Eliza Davis 11 dau female mixed
1557 1611 James Davis 9 son male mixed
1558 1612 Newton Davis 7 son male mixed
1559 1613 Wesley Davis 3 son male mixed
1560 1614 Sarah Ann Davis 2 dau female mixed
* Isabella Texas (1859) and Tennesse (1857) would not have been born yet.
Nelly’s listing:
Silas Chapman Name Age Relation Sex Blood
1561 1615 Nelly Davis 28 wife female mixed
1562 1617 Eliza Ann Davis 15 dau female mixed
1563 1618 Cynthia Davis 13 dau female mixed
1564 1619 Jane Davis 10 dau female mixed
1565 1620 Lafayette Davis 6 son male mixed
1566 1621 William Davis 4 son male mixed
1567 1616 Eleanor Davis 1 dau female mixed
3rd Generation - Isabella Texas (Davis) Alton
Isabella Texas (Davis) Alton is Pauline’s grandmother.
The youngest daughter of Barney Eastridge Davis and Nancy Reed Davis is Isabella Texas (b. 1859).
Isabella Texas Alton (1859-1919) m. Robert H. Alton (1857-1921)
In 1864, during the Civil War, Isabella was 3 years old and living with her family in Hamilton County, TN. Her father was a staunch Unionist and two of her brother’s were Union soldiers. In late January, a group of Rebel Guerrillas arrested her father, along with two other men, and shot them in the back of the head. This incident is covered more in the profile of Barney and Nancy Davis. Isabella’s mother, Nancy, died the next year.
In the 1870 census, Isabella is living with her grandmother, Sarah Eastridge Davis. Isabella and all of her siblings are listed as “Indian (Native American).”
In 1883, Joseph G Hester began compiling a roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, those Cherokee who remained east after the Trail of Tears. Enrollees lived primarily in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Below is the listing for Nancy and Barney’s children:
And here is the listing for Nancy’s sister’s family:
In 1909, the Guion Miller roll documented all Eastern Cherokee. Nancy’s children Isabella Texas (Davis) Alton and Tennessee Davis, as well as Isabella Texas’s daughter, Ona (Leona) McClanahan, filled out detailed applications. Also, Nellie’s son Lafayette Davis applied. They were all accepted. Their full applications and sworn testimonies are in the appendix.
4th Generation - Leona Alton McClanahan
Leona "Onar" Alton McClanahan was Pauline’s mother.
The oldest daughter of Robert H. Alton and Isabella Texas Davis Alton is Leona Alton. Leona was born on July 11th 1880 in James County, TN. In 1900, she marries George Alexander McClanahan (1874-1963).
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| Leona (Alton) McClanahan |
Leona Alton McClanahan (1880-1952) m. George Alexander McClanahan (1874-1963)
In 1909, Ona (Leona) McClanahan applied for the Guion Miller roll of the Eastern Cherokee and was accepted, along with 2 of her children (Nellie and Earl). Her mother (Texas Alton) and 6 of her underage siblings (James, John, Kate, Liney, McKinley, and Claude) are also admitted, as is her brother (Burduir), who applied on his own.
See their full applications in the appendix.
Percentage of Blood
In 1909, in testimony for his cousin, Tennessee Davis, Lafayette Davis says that her mother (Nancy Davis) was said to be 1/4 Indian. We also know, from another witness for Tennessee Davis, that the community considered Nancy and parents, William and Susan Reed, to be mixed blood Indians. If Nancy is 25% then that would mean Isabella Texas would be 12%, Leona 6%, Pauline 3% and Pauline’s children would be approximately 1.5%. But these percentages are not exact. While you do get 50% of your DNA from each parent, you do not necessarily get an even 25% from each grandparent. For example, you could get 23% from your mother’s mother, and 27% from your mother’s father. So, while we do descend from Cherokee ancestry, the Indian DNA might or might not show up at this point in a DNA test.
Appendix:
Leona "Ona" (Alton) McClanahan's 1907 Guion Miller Roll Application (pdf)
Texas (Davis) Alton 1906 Guion Miller Roll Application (pdf)
Burduir Alton 1906 Guion Miller Roll Application (pdf)
Lafayette Davis 1906 Guion Miller Roll Application (pdf)
Tennessee "Tennie" Davis 1906 Guion Miller Roll Application (pdf)
