Like many in the United States, I was told I had Native American ancestry passed down to me by an elusive Native American “Princess” in my maternal line -- Cherokee to be more specific. My maternal grandmother, Helen Duncan, recounted that my great, great grandmother whose name was never mentioned was a full blooded “Indian Princess.” As it was iterated to me, my 2X great grandmother’s daughter, Anibell Thorn, was said to be half Native American. This information was taken at face value as truth throughout the family. I did not know at that young age that Cherokees did not have princesses. Further, when I did ask for further information, my grandmother would say she did not know much about Anibell Thorne and her parents as her husband did not speak much of his mother. He had passed well before I was alive to ask questions.
After the results of DNA tests taken by me and my mother, it became apparent that we did not inherit Native American ancestry. While this was not a definitive indicator that there was no Native American ancestor, it did indicate that there was not a recent Native American ancestor.
Who was this elusive woman and why might it be thought that she was an Indian Princess? My research brought me first to Annie Thorn as I had limited credible information to work with in regards to finding definitive evidence of her existence. I knew she was married to my Great Grandfather, Vasper Wright, and I knew they had the following children together: Percy, George, and Leo. I knew she resided in Rock, Mercer County, West Virginia and heard stories about her admittance into an insane asylum thought to have been brought on by the abusive antics of her husband but that story is for another day. It took a lot of patience and digging to find any concrete information about “Annibell Thorn.”
I was able to first conclusively find her in the 1930 US Federal Census living with her husband and child, and her brother and his family. She was reportedly 20 years old at the time of this census, meaning she would have been born around 1910. Her husband was twenty-two years old and they had a one year old son, Leo. At this time they lived on Piedmont Road in Rock, Mercer County, WV. From this information, I was then able to look up Thorn households that included an Annie born around this time as well as a Clarence who was born around 1903.
I was able to find her in the 1920 US Federal Census where she resided with her mother, Bessie age 35. Bessie had no husband listed and was a dressmaker. Based on the recorded information Annie was born around 1914 with her mother being from West Virginia and her father being from Virginia. Her 16 year old brother Clarence is listed as a coal miner, which was the occupation I knew both my Great Grandfather Vasper Wright and Grandfather Percy Wright had. There were conflicting dates of birth but that was normal to a degree, and I was well aware the formal education level of many of my ancestors from this area was limited.
The next bit of information I received was from an Ancestry.com Index of West Virginia, U.S., Marriages Index, 1785-1971 [database on-line].
According to the record above, Annie married Vasper in 1927, making her either 13 or 17. The family story is that she was 15 when she married Vasper. I could not locate Annie in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census but did locate her family by way of location, last name, brother’s name and mother’s name. According to the 1910 US Federal Census, the Thorn family resided in Mercer County, East River, WV on Princeton Ave. The head of household was listed as David M. Thorn, age 27. His wife, C. Bessie, is listed as being 26. It was at this point that I was able to pursue Bessie Thorn and find out more about her and her parentage. I did not have a last name at this point but hoped West Virginia records house her marriage record, which would hopefully include her surname.
First, I ran a standard search on Ancestry.com for a marriage record for “David Thorn.” An indexed marriage record for a Davis McBride Thorn caught my eye. His spouse’s name was Mary Bessie.
Blankenship, and they were married in West Virginia in 1901. The names were not exact but this was at least a place to begin finding further evidence to either substantiate or rule out this couple as my Bessie and David Thorn. Now that I had her husband’s name, Annie’s father’s name, I could seek out further information about the household and ascertain if there was any evidence of Native American ancestry.
The Census Information below is what I gathered on Mary Bessie Blankenship who seems to have went by Clara. This was common on my mother's side in Appalachia as many went by a nickname.
Now it was time to seek out any familial or possible kinship patterns that may have resulted in deep ties between Mary Bessie Blankenship and the Cherokees, to the extent she would feel a part of this community. The next blog will discuss how I went about seeking such information.
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