Life History

Notes

• Some genealogies list this individual as Lucinda, and others as Lucresa or some variation.  One or two have Lucinda Lucresa.  Her name is spelled various ways in the census, of course.  In an official court document where she was a  witness, it is spelled Lucretia.  One genealogy spells it Lucresia, which appears to represent the same pronunciation as Lucretia.  Usually she is listed as Lucresa, which is the form on her grave, and how we refer to her.
  
  I will start her story with a transcription of that court document.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  The State of South Carolina Anderson District
  
  Before me came and appeared Isaac Campbell now in the common gaol [jail] of the said District, who being first sworn in due form of the Land upon his oath, deposeth and saith that Lucretia Campbell, wife of Adam Campbell, Rachel Campbell, Robert Campbell, Daniel Horton, accompany him for being necessary and material witnesses to his defense in a prosecution which is established against him in this court of sessions for said District on a charge of hog stealing.
  his
  Isaac  X  Campbell
  Mark
  
  Sworn to & subscribed before me this 8th day of September 1829
  John P Lewis
  CC of 2 W Ex Off
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Several genealogies have quite complete information on Lucinda/Lucresa Green.  She is reported consistently by all these genealogies as born in North Carolina, which seems odd, since all the other children were born in South Carolina.  I have no information to account for the movements of the family.
  
  Here is  quite a full report:
  
  Lucresa Green
  Birth 09 MAY 1804 [6 May 1804] in North Carolina
  Death 13 SEP 1862 in Smith Lake, Walker, Alabama
  Parents John Green b 1784, Charlotte Green 1782-1860
  Marriage 1832 in Charleston, South Carolina to Adam Campbell
  Birth 09 May 1804 in North Carolina
  Death 13 Sep 1862 in Smith Lake, Walker, Alabama
  --  Lynn Tyler, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/8800640/person/-717434451
  
  I notice that Lynn has the marriage date as 1832.  But in the court document above, in 1829 she is described as the wife of Adam Campbell, so they were married before 8 September 1829.  A later, clearer photo by Marlin Pulliam, and a Find a Grave memorial also clarify that the birth date in the genealogy above and some others were incorrect.  Birth date on the stone is actually May 6, 1804 and death is Sept 13, 1862.  (See Find a Grave memorial below.)
  
  Lynn comments on one of her genealogy sites:
  "Lucresa Green the wife of Adam Campbell was full blooded Cherokee Indian. She is my third Great Grandmother."
  --  Lynn Tyler, http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/t/y/l/Royce-Tyler-Alabama/index.html
  
  Note that for Lucresa to be "full blooded" Cherokee, BOTH her parents, John Green and Charlotte Brown, and her grandparents Meshack Green and Lucretia (Creasy) Franklin, as well as BOTH Carlotte's parents and all the way back on BOTH sides, had also be full blooded.  This seems unlikely.  Some family sources report that Meshack on the one side or Lucretia on the other was "part Cherokee."
  
  A cousin, Sheri Horton, reports that she did find Meshack and Lucretia isted as ancestors qualifying descendants for registration in the Missouri Cherokee tribe.  She got her card based on this and her relationship to others registered with that heritage on file.  The details of their Cherokee heritage is uncertanm.  Attempts to confrim links to othe Cherokee Green lineages, notably Gardner Green's family, have been inconclusive.
  
  One of my distant cousins working with us has shared info with me for this lineage.
  
  "I am a descendant of Lucressa and Adam Campbell. Cressa is what some call her. Her father was John Green from the Carolina's. She was of Native heritage, but I am not sure how much. Adam and Lucressa settled in Jasper Alabama and owned land near Smith Lake. This was before the Civil War. They had at least two sons who fought for the Union Army. They both died of sickness during the war. Adam and Lucressa were common law husband and wife because she was considered a woman of color by law, due to her Native heritage. I understand that John Green's father was a Meshach, but have no evidence. Lucressa and Adam are both buried near Smith Lake."
  --  P J Martin, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 12 May  2014
  
  For a long time the Cherokee information was not definitive.  Neither Lynn Tyler above nor any of the other genealogists I have found actually give details or provide documentation.  So we are dealing with family tradition.  Though unconfirmed from an analytical research point of view, I had no reason from any evidence to doubt this.  Documentation of Native American origins is notoriously difficult to come by, as many records that did exist were destroyed or modified by the government.  The whole process of reigstration under the Dawes Commission and the early removal processes were fraught with corruption and ineptitude. Federal authorities were the final deciding force.  So there we are.
  
  Information did not exist in writing in the oral culture formats of Native peoples, and there was much that was not reduced to writing the European era.  The problem would be mainly that the percentages of native genetic ancestry and specific connections with European origins or lineage is not consistently attested in these various family traditions.
  
  In May 2014, the claimed Cherokee status of Meshack and Lucretia came closer to confirmation with a finding by Sheri Horton, one of the other descendants I have worked with on this lineage.
  
  "I just got my card from the Northern Cherokee Nation for proving John Horton, wife Nancy Anne Green daughter of Meshack Green(e) . I found therm on the Emigration rolls of 1817-1835 That Meshack, Creasy, and Nancy Anne were full Cherokee!  ... They are recognized by the state of Missouri and are working on Federal recognition."
  --  Sheri Horton, Ancestry Message to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 10 May 2014
  
  There remain problems in the specific family connections, time line, and names, as there are some impossibilities claimed in the traditional connections in older genealogies.  Repeated requests to for a citation of copy of the document, however, have not been answered.  So no documentation has yet been produiced that we can reference.  We likewise do not know the formal blood requirments or documentation requiired by the Missouri Cherokee tribe (state registered).
  
  Clint Norwood left a note on my genealogy reporting that he was a descendant of Lucinda and providing further information.
  
  "Charlotte had a daughter named Lucretia aka Lucressa aka Lucinda, aka Cressy.  She married a man named Adam Campbell.  They are buried on property off of Lake Smith Dam Road in Walker County Alabama.  Lucretia is my GG Grandmother."
  --  Clint Norwood, comment on this genealogy on Our Family Tree, 1 July 2011, http://www.gurganus.org/ourfamily/browse.cfm?pid=268580
  
  No formal burial information was found, until in 2015, a memorial came up in a search on Find a Grave.  Though the memorial was dated in 2009, it had not previously come up in searches.  Find a Grave made improvements in their indexing in 2013 and 2014 that have greatly assisted searches on Find a Grave and general Internet searches that now bring up links to FAG memorials.
  
  Consistent with that, another genealogy reports that her name was Lucinda Lucretia, and includes a gravestone with the name Lucresa Campbell.  The dates match those reported by other sources for Lucinda, daughter of John and Charlotte.  Several report her mother's maiden name as Brown, and at least one reports the nickname Lottie for her mother.
  
  These genealogies appear to be reporting family information, especially since they each have similar but different little bits of information about Charlotte and her daughter.  But as so many, they do not state where they got their information, or how they know this gravestone is the right one for this Lucinda Green.
  
  Here is one that provides more detail and includes the gravestone in the name of Lucresa.
  
  John Green
  Birth 1784 in Rocky River, Pendleton Dist, South Carolina
  Death 8 Apr 1857 in Hall, Georgia
  Spouse Charlotte Brown
  Birth 1782 in South Carolina
  Death 1860 in Gordon, Georgia
  Daughter Lucinda Lucresa Green
  Birth 09 May 1804 in North Carolina
  Death 13 Sep 1862 in Smith Lake, Walker, Alabama
  --  Rosenbaum/Driscoll, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/26471681/person/1969545353?ssrc=&ftm=1
  
  Rocky River was the name of an old settlement on the railroad in Pendleton District, South Carolina.  The area is now in Anderson County, one of the several divisions of old Pendleton in the 1800s.  Rocky River community was near the Rocky River, a few miles south of the city of Anderson.
  
  The Rosenbaum/Driscoll genealogy gives some information about Lucresa's marriage to Adam Campbell.  A Campbell genealogy reports that their marriage was not recorded as a legal white marriage.
  
  Lucinda Lucresa Green
  Birth 09 May 1804 [6 May 1804] in North Carolina
  Death 13 Sep 1862 in Smith Lake, Walker, Alabama
  Parents:  John Green 1784 - 1857
  Charlotte Brown 1782 - 1860
  Marriage to Adam Camel Campbell 1832 Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina
  --  Rosenbaum/Driscoll, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/26471681/person/1910841992
  
  The Campbell genealogy says that Lucresa's land was taken away from her by the US government for the Cherokee Removal, but she never received compensation for it.  Her husband Adam was a partner with her father John Green in a gold mine, also.  The genealogy says Adam hid her and her child from the authorities when they were rounding up Cherokees for the Removal.
  
  Adam was not required to go because he was white.  This is one of the situations that led to many Eastern Cherokees being left there when the Removal occurred, leading to the current Eastern Cherokee Nation now recognized by the US Government.  The genealogy tells how they, like many other Carolina Cherokees, moved on to Georgia.  The original Cherokee Removal also included lands in Northeastern Georgia, where other ancestors of mine moved in to take the newly available land.  Other members of this Green clan lived in Pickens and Gilmer Counties before moving on to the western frontier on their own.
  
  "They were not legally married according to white men's laws. They made their way to Georgia and lived with Cherokee people there, then traveled to Walker County Alabama and had several children. They were buried there on their own property because Lucresa wasn't allowed to be buried in a white man's cemetery due to her Cherokee heritage. The family never received government reimbursement for the lands that the government took from Lucresa during the Indian removal. This is due to the fact the marriage could not be proven. Adam was a preacher at one time and a Union sympathizer during the civil war."
  --  Geni, http://www.geni.com/people/ADAM-CAMPBELL/6000000007442497367
  
  They are enumerated in Cass County, Georgia, in 1850.  They are in DeKalb County, in eastern Alabama, in 1852, when Adam registers a 40-acre plot of land he has bought form land alloted by the US government out of the Cherokee Territories.  But they apparently sold the land soon after, because they are farther west in Walker County, Alabama, from about 1853, according to Adam's 1872 affidavit  to Union officials about his Civil War status.  The family is recorded in the 1860 census in Walker County.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Cass County, Georgia, 23 September, Division 12, p 320-21 (scan 160-61), Hse #860, Fam #870
  Adam Camel [sic] 45 M [No statement of occupation] $No Real Estate b North Carolina [born abt 1805]
  Lucinda Camel 44 F North Carolina [born abt 1806]
  Alexr Camel 22 M b North Carolina [born abt 1828]
  John Camel 16 M b North Carolina [born abt 1834]
  Jackson Camel 14 M b North Carolina [born abt 1836]
  Katherine Camel 6 F North Carolina [born abt 1844]
  Julia Camel 3 F North Carolina [born abt 1847]
  -- page 321 --
  General T Camel 1 M b Georgia [born abt 1849]
  Milly Camel 17 F Georgia [born abt 1833]
  Thomas I Camel 4mo M b Georgia [born abt May 1850]
  
  1860 Federal Census, Walker County, Alabama, 6 June, Eastern Division, PO Jasper, Page 7 (869), House #40, Family #37
  Adam Camel [sic] 52 M Farmer $160 Real estate $440 Personal b SC Cannot read or write [born abt 1808]
  Lucrissa C Camel 54 F Domestic SC Cannot read or write [born abt 1806]
  Catherine Camel 16 F Domestic GA [born abt 1844]
  July A Camel 13 F GA [born abt 1847]
  General T Camel 10 M GA Attended School
  Burd Camel 6 M Ala Attended School
  
  ------------------------
  It's not a direct link to the Lucresa we are talking about, but it may be a link to one of her relatives. This is part of a collection on the Eastern Band of Cherokee applications, I believe. Even without knowing if this woman is related to me, I felt a surge of emotion when I read the testimony of a 23 year old Cherokee woman in 1908, especially when she sounds out her mother's name. Her mother's Cherokee name translates to "Little Squirrel" and is pronounced "So-lol-o-neet."
  
  She mentions that her mother died 23 years ago (in childbirth?). She said that her mother's sister's name was Lucinda Green.
  
  She states, "I was enrolled by the Dawes Commission, Roll no. 12122. Certificate No. 35114"
  
  She explains that she knew very little of her lineage because she was orphaned as a baby, but that her father was a witness (to her documentation on the roll?). She states that her mother was "a full blood" and her father "was a white man." The woman who gave this testimony was named Lucinda Green.
  
  She may have been named for both Lucresa Green and Lucretia Franklin by people who knew her family well?
  --  Mary Kent, Ancestry Messaging to Orville Boyd Jeknins, referencing document on Fold3, https://www.fold3.com/document/228469285/
  ------------------------
  
  According to her grave dates, Lucresa died on 13 September 1862.  Adam was enumerated in 1870 still in the same location, with what appears to be his 30-year-old second wife Rebecca, and children still in the home.  One young son James is 8 years old, so born about 1862.  It may be that Rebecca died in childbirth with him or soon after.  If his age is actually correct, he was born before June 1862, while Lucresa died in September 1862.
  
  The youngest child in Adam's home was a daughter Salina age 7, and thus born in about 1863, after the death of Lucresa.  So this would be Rebecca's daughter.  Lucresa's memorial on Find a Grave also links to the known memorials of her children.
  
  Lucresa Green Campbell
  Birth May 6, 1804
  Death Sep. 13, 1862
  Spouse Adam Campbell (1802 - 1873)
  Children:
  Alexander Campbell (1832 - 1862)
  Juleyan Campbell Blevins (1844 - 1921)
  General Taylor Campbell (1846 - 1922)
  Kate Campbell Light (1848 - 1896)
  Byrd Campbell (1850 - 1912)
  Inscription:  "Blessed are the Dead, That die in the Lord."
  Burial Adam & Lucresa Campbell Cemetery, Walker County, Alabama
  Created by LaShane Marlow Aug 03, 2009
  --  Find  A Grave Memorial #40239621, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=40239621
  
  "Their graves are located off Old Smith Lake Dam Road in Walker County, AL. My husband, parents and I built a fence around the graves to keep them from being destroyed, as they lie on land that once was their home place, and now is property of AL Power Company. There was quite a bit of clear-cutting going on in 2000 when we built the fence and we were afraid that they would be plowed over."
  --  Deborah Thompson, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 5 July 2015

Sources

• 1. Clint Norwood, Note left on genealogy site, 1 July 2011
• 2. Gravestone of Lucresa (Green) Campbell, Private plot, near Smith Lake, Walker County, Alabama
• 3. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 4. Email Sources
• 5. 1850 Federal Census, Cass County, Georgia
  • 23 September, Division 12, p 320-21 (scan 160-61), Hse #860, Fam #870
• 6. Ancestry Trees
  • Lynn Tyler, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/12303814/person/-292664567?ssrc=&ftm=1
• 7. 1860 Federal Census, Walker County, Alabama
  • 6 June, Eastern Division, PO Jasper, Page 7 (869), House #40, Family #37
• 8. Ancestry Trees
• 9. Ancestry Trees
  • Rosenbaum/Driscoll, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/26471681/person/1969545353?ssrc=&ftm=1
• 10. Court Documents, Anderson District, South Carolina
• 11. Geni Trees
• 12. 1880 Federal Census, Blount County, Alabama
  • 16 June, District 13, page 11, Hse/Fam #61
• 13. 1920 Federal Census, Cullman County, Alabama
  • 25 January, Antioch Precinct, District 171, pages 3B-4A, Sunnyville & Jasper Rd, Hse/Fam #59
• 14. Ancestry Trees
  • Rosenbaum/Driscoll, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/26471681/person/1910841992