Walking on graves

Today I walked on my great-grandma's grave. I didn't mean to, of course, as I was taught, as lots of us were, that walking on a grave is disrespectful. I simply did not see her there. Her grave is marked, and there is a headstone, but it's nothing fancy. Not noticeable, really. (My great-grandfather is not beside her, but not far either, and his tombstone is a bit larger.)

My great-grandmother's name was America Jane Money and she is a mystery to me. I never knew her, but I have an image of her in my mind, fashioned mostly by dates and facts and figures; the blanks filled in by my own imagination. She is not featured often in family Bible's or records...only a line here or there about her birth and her death. I found a bit more on ancestry.com about her, but not much.

As you can tell so far, today's blog is not much about chocolate. But I've always been of the belief that we should ALL know where we come from, and be thankful for the ones who came before, the adventures they lived, so that we can now have our own adventures. Now, I know this story is part of my family's story, and may not even interest anyone else, but maybe...it might inspire you to find your own story.

My grandfather was part-Indian. I grew up hearing tales of such. He was a dark-complected man, with black hair and a fiery demeanor. He spent time in prison; my grandmother raised three kids practically alone. Later in life, he gave his life to God, and changed his ways. He died when I was seven. I was inconsolable; he was a big teddy-bear to me, and to my younger brother.

Stories of Indians was all they were, no facts, until my brother and I were older and did our own research. My brother and I are weirdly drawn to "dream-catchers," and have them in our homes, but don't really know why. My brother carves and plays Indian flutes, and the music is soothing in its familiarity, though we don't really know why. It seems to be calling from another world, a world we couldn't possibly remember, but to quote Stevie Nicks is "hauntingly familiar." We believe we are Cherokee, and think we know where the Cherokee comes into the family tree, but cannot directly prove it. We, my brother and I, think it has to do with our great-grandmother.

First of all, our thinking is that her name is 1. pretty cool and 2. a bit made-up-sounding, don't you think? (But, I admit, LOTS of these old names sound "made-up.") America Jane Money. She was born February 14, 1895 here in North Carolina. Her parents were Bud Money and Almetta Bell. Researching these two has been difficult, as around the time of the Trail of Tears, almost all information dries up. There are a few names to be found and a few birthdates, but nothing substantial and nothing that can be verified.

Another curioisty about Ms. America, as I'm fond of calling her now, is that she married a man whose mother's last name was Money. I can't quite wrap my head around this one. If my husband's mother's name and my father's name are the same, wouldn't they be brother and sister? America (my great-grandmother) married Reason Brown, my great-grandfather, and Reason's mother's name was Rebecca Money...I can trace this line all the way back to a name-change to "Moon" and the late 1600's. I find it odd that I can trace this name all that way back but cannot trace back even a few generations on America's side. So, timewise, the info dries up around the time of the forced removal of the Cherokee from North Carolina(1838-9).

I don't know if you all know this but there are were basically three ways the Eastern Band of Cherokees escaped the "trail of tears." About 600 of them found help in becoming citizens, 400 or so hid in the woods and moved around so as not to be found, and another 300-400 married-in. (These were mostly Cherokee women of course, who then had a different name.) I truly think my great-grandmother is a descendant of someone who "married-in." Time-wise, it fits...America's father, Bud, was born in 1870. His parents were the generation living during this time in history.

Here's another interestng piece of information: America's father, Bud, has a father named Henry EMERSON Money. Why is this curious? Ralph Waldo Emerson was opposed to the forced removal of the Cherokee from their lands,and was quite verbal about it. He even wrote a letter to President Martin Van Buren, urging him not to inflict "so vast an outrage upon the Cherokee nation." Date of letter? April 23, 1938. Date of Henry Emerson Money's birth? As far as I can tell, 1838. May be just a coincidence, but I think it isn't.

So, what does this all mean to me? Probably, I will never be able to prove any Indian legacy. Some have suggested to me, that if I could prove this legacy, my children might be in line for scholarships. But this doesn't appeal to me at all; I'm not interested in "being Indian" for any monetary gain. Let someone else who really deserves that help have it. I only want to know that world, and to know the members of my family, living or dead, and the adventures they lived in their short time on this planet. They are responsible for my being here, and I'd simply like to tell their stories.

I sincerely hope you read this part of MY story and it sparks you to find your own.