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William Alexander Davis was born about 1790, probably in
Tennessee. He married Susan Morgan, a white woman, about
1810. A daughter by his first wife is said to have disavowed
her father because he later married an Indian woman (Mary
Burns). In 1817, he signed the treaty of July 8 as Young
Davis, between Charles Hicks and Saunooka. He signed the
treaty of New Echota as William A. Davis (1835). After the
death of Chief Arthur Burns, his father-in-law, William
Alexander Davis became chief of the Cherokee in Jackson
County, inheriting the North Sauty reservation near Blowing
Cave, comprising 640 acres, an entire section of land. On
October 19, 1837, he sold this to Jesse French for $1.00 an
acre (Jackson Co., Deed Book A, p. 172). At this time, he
was a medical doctor, schoolteacher and planter, and his
property on Sand Mountain was evaluated at $3,887.00, as
printed in the Acts of Congress, p. 277. The loss was
substantial. In 1838, the family went over the Trail of
Tears to Oklahoma. They are listed on the Drennan Roll of
1851. Son John Lowrey Davis married Nancy Turkey. Son
William Henry Davis married Eliza Lowrey (Emmet Starr,
Oolootsa 1-1-1-7-1-5, p. 368). Daughter Mary Elizabeth Davis
married Robert Harrison Akin. Two other daughters married
Mayes brothers.
Davis, Davie, Dow, Davidson and their various forms
constitute one of the most common Levite names in Scotland (WSWJ).
The DNA is usually R1b.
Fields
The
progenitor of this large Sand Mountain family came from
England. In 1837, when most of the Cherokees around Creek
Path were forced into a stockade in Fort Payne, Richard
Fields’s farm was evaluated at $2611.00, as published in the
acts of Congress, p. 13 (277). He had married Susannah
Emory, a mixed blood descendant of Ludovic Grant, one of the
first Scottish traders in Cherokee country (1725). Grant’s
“morganatic” marriage to Elizabeth Tassel of the Long Hair
Clan is said to have been the first intermarriage between a
British officer and chief’s daughter. Susannah’s sister,
Elizabeth, married 1) Robert Due, 2) John Hellfire Rogers,
3) Tahlonteeski, and 4) Chief John Jolly, the adoptive
father of Gen. Samuel Houston.
Jewish-Turkish Gist Family
(from When Scotland Was Jewish)
Samuel Gist was a Virginian, partner of George Washington,
and one of the first admiralty insurance brokers in London.
He lived for nearly a hundred years, helped start Loyd’s of
London, and owned the first stud racehorse to come to
America. An “Arabian Turk” (like himself ), Bulle Rocke was
foaled about 1718, and out of him sprang some of the most
valuable of all U.S. native thoroughbred racing stock.
In The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company
(Royster 1999), Gist is called “an old Jew.” By blood or
marriage, he was related to the Smiths, Andersons, Coopers,
Ashleys, Howards (dukes of Norfolk, originally Norman
Hereward “guards of the Army”), Boleyn/Bollings (Hebrew
“bath keeper”), and Masseys (Maxey), an Edinburgh and
Aberdeen mercantile family.
The origin of this unusual name, borne by several prominent
colonial Americans, including the land agent, spy and
military guide Christopher Gist (1705-1759) and his grandson
George Guest (usually identified with the inventor of the
Cherokee syllabary Sequoyah), is most instructive. It
appears to come from Altaic Turkic GWSTŢ/Gosţaţā, Heb.
גּוֹסּטּטּאּ,
the name of a line of Khazar rulers who embraced Judaism
(Golb and Pritsak 1982, pp. 35-40). The Byzantine form was
Κώστας. The same dynasty later led the migration of the
Khazar converts to Kiev and the Ukraine, where their name
was rendered in Latin letters as Gostou-n/s as early
as the eighth century. In Spain, after the ninth century,
the family adopted the name Da Costa, which they derived
from “God’s rib.” Acosta is a variant. This became Kist in
Ashkenaz (Ger. “coast,” through a pun on costa,
which could mean “rib” or “coast” -- Daitch-Mokotoff s.v.
and “Lista…Pere Bonnin” ). From Golb and Pritsak’s
account, then, it appears likely that the Da Costa and Gist
families of Spain, Italy, the Low Lands, and the British
Isles were originally non-Semitic (Khazar Turkish) converts.
The same name occurs in the Ragusan/Croatian/Venetian Gozzi
family of traders, explorers, admirals, tax farmers and
physicians in Elizabethan London and the Ottoman Empire.
Argo: “Merchant vessel of the largest size, especially
one from Ragusa-Dubrovnk, whence the name” (Eterovich 2003,
p. 75). Many of the seamen and most of the Ottoman admirals
came from Croatia (p. 29). “In the years 1544 to 1612, nine
grand viziers came from Bosnia, and Bosnia gave to the
Empire most of the twenty-four grand viziers of Croatian
ancestry in addition to many pashas, sandiak-begs,
beger-begs, and other dignitaries” (p. 23). Moreover, “[A]
majority of the mariners and pilots on the [English] king’s
ships at this period were foreigners – Ragusans (listed
first), Venetians (Slavonians), Genovese, Normans and
Bretons…[as] noted by French Ambassador Marillac, writing in
1540” (p. 62). Many of the ship’s captains were also Jewish,
e.g. Nikola Gucetich (Gozzi, Gast, Gass, Goss, Gist,
Guest, and Guess in English -- Daitch-Mokotoff),
who came from the Sephardic Da Costa family and lived in
Tower Ward, later the home of Joseph Gist, the partner of
George Washington, and one of the first admiralty insurance
brokers in London (pp. 65ff.; see also The Great Dismal
Swamp Company). It is instructive that one of the
Templar priories in Suffolk was named Gislingham; we believe
this name is related and shows the Gists were in England
probably as early as the 12th century.
The epigrapher Gloria Farley in the forthcoming second
volume to her In Plain Sight suggests that Sequoyah
came from a Mediterranean people and his writing system
(together with some lost gold tablets) was based on the
Cypriot syllabary (personal correspondence with the authors,
Nov. 12, 2003). Contemporary references to Christopher Gist,
Deputy Indian Commissioner to Gov. Edmond Atkin in Maryland,
and agent of the Ohio Company, describe him as exceedingly
tall, dark-complexioned, and hairy, with a full beard.
George Guess’s sister, Maria Cecil Gist, married Benjamin
Gratz of Lexington, Ky. (1792-1884), a son of the frontier
merchant Michael Gratz who helped endow the Spanish and
Portuguese synagogues in Philadelphia and New York and
establish communities in Lancaster and Lexington
(Stern 1992, pp. 64-65; Birmingham 1971, p. 146; Jacobs 1973
II, pp. 12-20). The Gratz family had come to Philadelphia
from Inquisitorial Spain where their name was Gracia, or
Garcia, via Silesia (Germany). They intermarried with the
Hayses, Howards, Frankses, Ettings, and Levys. The only
portrait of George Guess, or Sequoyah (?), shows him in a
Turkish turban and distinctly Mediterranean clothing
(Panther-Yates, June 2002). He was a silversmith, a rare
occupation for an American Indian at that time. 
Sequoyah Courtesy Hargreave Library of the University of Georgia.
Some
Facts about Samuel Gist
1717: Born in place unknown, raised as an orphan until
age 15 in Bristol Hospital, where he wore the traditional
blue uniform and was hence in latter life called a “blue
boy,” (probably an indication of illegitimacy).
1739: Went to Virginia, where he was an indentured
servant, and later factor-storekeeper, on John Smith's Gold
Hill Plantation, Hanover Co.
1747: Married Smith’s widow, Sarah (or Mary) Massey,
the daughter of Thomas William Massey and Sarah Walker; see
Figure J.2 for connections.
1757: He had a large plantation in the James Valley
near Little Richmond.
1765:
British Creditor Lists: Samuel Gist, (Kellock, London debt
claimants of 1790, appendix, p. 123). Became a London
tobacco merchant and rose fast and high so that in 1773-1775
he was next to Lydes in tobacco taken from the Upper James
Naval District, and in January 1775 he was one of three men
appointed to represent Virginia trade on the committee to
draw memorials to Parliament.
1776: Although his step-daughter played the piano at
the wedding of the outspoken Patrick Henry, Gist was loyal
to the Crown. On the dawn of the American Revolution, Gist
placed his vast holdings into his step-daughter's hands
until the King could regain control. Gist proved to be a
very good business man. His investments included thousands
of acres in Virginia and even a slave ship.
1789: He valued his Virginian place at £23,000, but
the title was vested in his daughter, who had married
William Anderson of Hanover County. Gist was not counted
friendly to America in 1769. A Virginian woman then in
London complained to Thomas Jefferson in 1786 about being in
debt: maybe Gist could relieve her. Gist was still in
the tobacco trade after 1790. He left his counting house in
Savage Gardens for one in 10 America Square, and had a house
in Gower Street, Bloomsbury. He claimed a pre-war debt in
Virginia of £34,000.
1816: By his death, his holdings also included 274
slaves. In his will, Gist manumitted his slaves.
1818 Feb. 10: Will of Samuel Gist: [VSL] ...late of
Gower St; Parish of St. Giles in the Fields; Middlesex Co.,
Province of Canterbury, England. At London, before
Worshipful Samuel Pearce Parson, Doctor of Laws and Rt.
Honorable Sir John Nicholl. Will and 4 Codicils:
Admr: Martin Pearkes and Francis Greggs are 2
surviving executors. Wm. Fowke: also surviving exec. when he
shall apply. Pay just debts. Bury in vault I had built under
church at Warmington, in County of Gloucester with name and
date, age in bluestone to be placed on north wall within
chancel of the Church at Warmington. Cousin James Gist who
went to India ca. 40 years ago £100. To Thos. Darracott of
Va.; my gold watch chain and seals by Mudge and Dutton.
The manumitted slaves of Joseph Gist were granted land in
Ohio and went there en masse, becoming the so-called
Brown County Melungeons. A message on the Internet:
Looking for
former slaves of Samuel GIST of VA (formerly of England).
When Mr GIST died in 1815, his will set his slaves free. In
1819 his slaves were sent to Brown County, Ohio. Each ex
slave family was given a plot of land, a cabin and were told
to choose a surname. Some of the names chosen were HUTSON,
TOLLER, & LAWSON.
Another
Internet posting:
Subject: GIST SETTLEMENT
LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON SLAVES THAT WERE FREED IN
SAMUEL GIST WILL IN 1815. THE SLAVES WHERE IN HANOVER,
AMHERST AND GOOCHLAND COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA. BECAUSE OF THE
LAW IN VIRGINIA AT THAT TIME THE FREED SLAVES HAD TO LEAVE
OR BE PUT BACK INTO SLAVERY. THERE THE FREED SLAVES
FROM THE GIST SETTLEMENT WERE
PLACE IN HIGHLAND, ADAMS, BROWM. ERIE, NEW VIENNA COUNTIES
IN OHIO. THE NAME I'M PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN IS
ANDERSON. POSSIBLY FROM GEORGETOWN, OHIO. THE OTHER
NAMES FROM THE SLAVES OF THE GIST SETTLEMENT WERE TOLAR,
HUDSON, WALLACE, BURR, SMITH, CUMBERLAND, GIST, BAKER,
TURNER, JOHNSON. ANY INFORMATION WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED
Samuel Gist's ultimate heir was an obscure cousin, Josiah
Sellick, who adopted the style of “Samuel Gist Gist of St.
Marylebone” and inherited his city and country estates in
1827. He had married the Hon. Mary Anne Westenra, daughter
of William, Lord Rosemore, in St. George, Hanover Square,
1824. He became Samuel Gist Gist, Esq., of Dixton.
Sources:
The Fabulous History of the Dismal Swamp Company, by
Charles Royster (1999); Wills from the Burned counties of
Virginia 1670-1838, by William Lindsey Hopkins (Will of
John Smith, Jr., written 7-20-1769, proved 3-4-1773 in
Hanover Co., Va.); “Darley Arabian,” by Anne Peters,
available online at
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/DarleyArabian.html.
Note:
There is a small town on Sand Mountain named Guess.
Gunter
Guntersville and Lake Guntersville are named after this
Scottish trading family who intermarried with the Cherokee
and resided in Creek Path. Samuel Gunter married Katherine
Ghi-go-ne-li of the Paint Clan, and his brother Edward (Ned)
Gunter (died 1843, Tahlequah, I.T.) married 1) Elise McCoy,
and 2) Letitia Keys. Like the Keyses and Coopers, the family
became split between the east and the west during Indian
Removal. Augustus Gunter (1815-1894) was agent for the N.C.&
St.L. Railroad in Bridgeport. According to the Cherokee
Advocate, 19 Oct. 1844, George Washington Gunter had
erected a cotton gin at his place on the Arkansas River, 15
miles from Ft. Smith, the first in the Cherokee Nation.
Justice
One of Lookout Mountain Town's conjurors and a powerful
chief was Dick Justice. In 1788, he fought with Dragging
Canoe against the forces of Gen. Joseph Martin in the
Battle of Lookout Mountain in Tennessee. Justice, like
many of the Chickamaugan leaders, made peace with the
settlers after Dragging Canoe's death in 1792 and became
a respected businessman. In 1802, he operated the
Justice Ferry near the mouth of Lookout Creek, which he
sold in order to voluntarily relocate to Arkansas with
his people. On May 28, 1818, at the age of 65, with 10
family members, he moved to Arkansas. The new owner of
Justice's Ferry was Thomas Fox Baldridge, also a
Cherokee. He operated it until 1838 when he was forced
to move. There are family stories of Chief Dick Justice
having at least three wives and 24 children.
(--Information from Chief Rolling Thunder Justice.)
Dick Justice was associated with the Coopers, Troxells,
Black Fox, and The Glass. He signed the 1805 and 1819
treaties.
According to Old Frontiers by John P. Brown, he
was Uwenahi Tsus'ti, "he who has wealth." The word
"Justice" was a corruption of Cherokee "Tsusti" or vice
versa. According to "Romantic Arkansas" by Fred W.
Allsopp, Vol. II, "Cherokee Chiefs who were considered
priests, included High Priest Dik-Keh, the Just...lived
to be over 100 years old...had white hair.”
Some Justices, like the Coopers, stayed in the East and
their descendants still live on Sand Mountain. For
instance, John Alfred Justice, son of Abraham Justice,
was born December 06, 1874, and died April 30, 1955 in
Crossville, DeKalb Co., Ala. |
Keys
The Keys/Kee family was evidently Sephardic Jewish in
origin. Many were noted as "bright mulattoes," or "other
free" in Virginia and North Carolina records of the 18th
century. They appear to have been early mixed with Indian.
In 1817, when a choice was given to the Cherokee to settle
on a reservation in the east for life or emigrate west,
Samuel Keys and his three sons Isaac, William and Samuel
received reservations on Sand Mountain. Isaac Keys was
married to Elizabeth Riley, William, to Sally Riley, and
Samuel, to Mary Riley. The Riley sisters were all
granddaughters of Chief Doublehead (Chuqualatague) through
the two sisters Ni-go-di-ge-yu and Gu-lu-sti-yu Doublehead.
During Indian Removal, some Keyses managed to stay in
Alabama, others went on the Trail of Tears. Richard Keys
(Chapman Roll 1686) lived for a while in Fabius on Sand
Mountain before moving to Indian Territory with his large
family. He died February 6, 1892, and was buried in Paw Paw
Bottoms, Muldrow, Sequoyah, I.T. He is the Dick Keys named
as a character witness on Peter Cooper’s ECA. Richard Riley
Keys (1813-1884), a brother of Letitia Keys, who was married
to Minerva Nave, served as Judge on the Cherokee Nation
Supreme Court. Samuel Riley Keys, born 1819, Fabius, married
Mary Hannah Easter, a Choctaw.
Jackson County, AL
1680. Samuel Keys, Jr. 32
1681. Mary Keys 10 d
1682. Polina Keys 4 d
1683. William Keys 2 s
1684. Samuel Keys Sr. 64 [642]
1685. Mary Keys 25 d [1546, 642]
1686. Richard Keys 37 [642]
1687. William Keys 4 s
1688. Richard R. Keys 2 s
1689. infant not named s
1690. James M. Keys 30
1691. William Keys 2 s
1692. Eveline McCoy 35 w [8146]
1693. Leanah McCoy 8 d
1694. Mary McCoy 4 d
1695. Muzedore McCoy 2 d
(Chapman Roll, 1851, Cherokee by Blood)
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