Life History

Notes

• Hannah Horton's parentage was not reported in any of the Terry related genealogies reporting her as the wife of Miles Terry, son of William Terry, or Botetourt County, Virginia.  I found one or maybe two genealogies that report her parents.  It seemed likely that she was part of the Horton clan related to the Meshack Green line in our genealogy.  All signs point to Meshack and his wife Lucretia Franklin were Cherokee.  But initial investigations suggest it is a different Horton line.
  
  One of the daughters of Meshack W Green, Nancy Anne, married John (Brissel) Horton.  These Hortons were from Pennsylvania, where they had been Quakers, and they were attached to the same New Garden Annual Meeting of Friends in Guilford County, North Carolina, that is reported among members of this Terry clan.
  
  John Horton, husband of Nancy Anne Green, daughter of Meshack W Green, was one of the signatories of the original 1817 treaty of the Cherokees with the US government to ceded their lands in North and South Carolina in exchange for lands in the west.
  
  Meshack's first wife, whose name is not known, was the mother of Nancy Anne Green who married John Horton.  Since John was white, he would have been signing the treaty on of Nancy as Cherokee.  Nancy being accepted as Cherokee indicates her mother likely was also, since tribal membership was generally matrilineal.  John and Nancy moved west with the first Cherokee removal and settled and died in Missouri.
  
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  I am the great-granddaughter of Mary Jane Terry Jett 1877-1897. Her  family goes back to parents Miles and Luraney Johnson Terry, grandparents Isaac and Barbara Gabbard Terry, and then great-grandparents Thomas Miles Terry 1797-1852 who was married to Martha Jane or Patsy Johnson in Breathitt County.  This Thomas Miles was child of Miles B. or Devil Jet and Hannah Horton. Siblings were Rachel, Annie, Leonard, and Susanna Elizabeth.
  
  It is the story that this Thomas Miles left Patsy and children and took off and remarried and had a different family up in Floyd County.  I was just trying to be sure I had right person.  I was also wondering about the name Devil Jett as I am a Jett but not sure why or what Devil Jett means.   No insult but my Grandmother said we were not that old bad Curt Jett's bunch and I know she meant the feuding and killing Curtis Jett. I do not think he was related (well, not any more closely than us) to Devil Jet.
  --  Gwendolyn Andrews, Geneanet Messaging to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 19 January 2019
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  Hannah Horton
  
  A Rumor is that Hannah's mother is to have been of Cherokee Indian descent. To date no proof can be found on this statement, but their daughter Annie Terry married a "Casebolt" and their son latter applied for a government payment as reparations to the Cherokee Indians in early 1900's.
  
  See information under Annie Terry Casebolt (Miles Terry).  This claim was denied but also serves to substantiate other rumors that Hannah was from Indian bloodlines.  Given the temperament and resentment for Indians in that day, it would make sense why Miles would move from an area that is still historically a Terry basin of Roanoke VA.
  
  The following claims further add credence to the Indian bloodline.
  
  Lane Shannon Branham, a grandson on Cornelius and Annie Terry Estep, replied to correspondence regarding his Eastern Cherokee Application No. 31011, dated July 25, 1907, under the 1835-1836 and 1846 treaties, as transcribed below
  Application No. 31011
  Pound Gap WV 6/5/1908
  
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  To Hon. Guion Miller
  Special Commission Court Claims
  Washington DC
  
  Dear Sir:
  
  In reply to within questions will say that I think the removal of my parents and grandparents from Kentucky to Virginia may have been the cause of not being enrolled (if they were not).  I claim Annie Terry Estep, who was a niece of John Ross, as my ancestor.  I think John Ross was a party to the treaties of 1835 and 1846.  We pass as white and none of our ancestors were slaves that we know of.
  
  The physical signs on the Indian are distinctly noticeable in our people.  My father and mother were living in Kanawha Co. VA (now W Va) near where   I live.  For further evidence in this, see affidavits of Loring D Hill and others filed with the claim of Joseph R Hill (My nephew) of Lockwood, Nicholas Co, W Va.  I was born in 1832 and remember my grandmother, Annie Terry and remember her resemblance to the Indians.
  
  Yours Truly,
  Lane S Branham
  (we moved from KY about the years 1826-1838)
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  In the remark section of his claim, Lane Branham stated: "I have frequently
  heard my mother and grandmother on my mothers side(whose maiden name was Annie Terry) say that they were blood related to the Cherokee Indians as these Indians frequently camped near them when passing through that country.
  
  Other excerpts from other claims of relatives
  
  Cornelius T Estep
  Claim No. 44239
  My grandmother Terry was said to be 1/2 Indian Cherokee.
  
  Wilson McGraw
  Claim No. 44207
  Miles Terry, Annie Terry Estep's father's father was Miles Terry Sr., who was called Devil Jet and belonged to Chief John Ross Tribe of Cherokee Indians.
  
  Ruby McGraw Vencill
  Claim no. 44159
  "My great grandparents was Cornelius Estep and Annie (Terry) Estep's
  father's father was Miles Terry Sr., who was called Devil Jet and belonged
  to Chief John Ross Tribe of Cherokee Indians."
  
  Also in 1907 a Jesse Terry who was at this time seventy-four years old stated in an affidavit that Annie Terry Estep was a Cherokee Indian. This was the same Annie Terry who was Miles and Hannah's Daughter.  The paper also stated that some Terrys had changed their last names prior to this to avoid being connected to the Cherokee Indians.
  
  Note:Records indicate there was a Miles Terry Jr., son of Miles and Hannah Horton Terry, but he was a brother to Annie Terry.  No research has yet revealed if Annie Terry was in fact a niece to Chief John Ross.
  
  Ross's father was Scottish and his mother part Cherokee.Ross's first wife was Cherokee.If there was a kinship, likely Annie Terry may have been the niece of Ross by marriage.
  
  ALL EASTERN CHEROKEE CLAIMS FILED BY VARIOUS ESTEP, BRANHAM, HILL, MCGRAW AND O'DELL ANCESTORS WERE REJECTED.In addition to "REJECTED," it was filed too late.  The enrolling agent wrote "It does not appear that any ancestor ever enrolled but it does appear that applicants ancestors came from Kentucky to W VA in about 1835.  They were therefore not living anywhere near the Cherokee domain and were not parties to the treaties of 1835-6 and 1846.  Show no connection with the Cherokee tribe.
  
  Most of our ancestor's claim forms stated that "Devil Jet" belonged to Principle Chief, John Ross of the Eastern Branch of the Cherokee.Ross was born October 3, 1790 and died in 1866.From 1819 to 1826,  Ross served as president of the National Council of the Cherokee and assumed his position as Principle Chief of the Eastern Cherokee in 1828.  His Cherokee name was GU'WISGUWI'and in boyhood was known as TSAN'USDI, "LITTLE JOHN".
  
  Continuing research has revealed Hannah Horton Terry was most likely Cherokee.  The Eastern Cherokee Claims that were filed no doubt represent a tradition that passed word of mouth for several generations. The claims, in part were somewhat contradictory.  In reviewing the copies of the claims, it appears they were incorrectly filed through the descent of Miles "Devil Jet," as they should have been filed through the descent of Hannah Horton Terry.  After her marriage, Hannah Horton, lived in the white mans world and was never enrolled on any Indian census or lived on any designated Indian lands.
  --  "Miles Terry-Married Hannah Horton," Genealogy archives, http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/terry/6268/
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Sources

• 1. Millennium Files, Ancestry.com
• 2. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
• 3. Geneanet Messaging
• 4. Family Data Collection - Births
• 5. Ancestry Trees
• 6. Email Sources
• 7. Legacy NFS Government record
• 8. 1850 Federal Census, Floyd County, Kentucky
  • 10 August, My District, page 863, Hse/Fam #302
• 9. West Virginia Deaths, 1804-1999
• 10. Kentucky, Death Records, 1852-1965
• 11. 1850 Federal Census, Breathitt County, Kentucky
  • 23 August, District 1, page 32-33, Hse/Fam #244