There have been rumors of some Native American heritage in my family through the Brown line for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories of my grandmother (born Brown) are of her telling me and my cousin that we were part Cherokee Indian. She and her sister applied to the Echota Cherokee tribe and received membership; however I have several records of her sister’s application being denied. Grandma carried her membership card everywhere.
I can easily be classified as “ginger” complected. I’ve always looked at this as an ironic amusement. I’ll get a sunburn thinking about going outside. So I’ve always had some reservation to the validity of these Native American roots.
I have been doing research on Zealous Brown, my 5th Great Grandfather. He seems to be the link in this family to the Cherokee ancestry…