Cherokee kisses sweeter than wine — “white man fashion” (1936 folklore)
I’ve written about Ulrich Keener and his brother Joe, and their connections to the Cherokee in North Carolina after the Trail of Tears, both here and in my eBook. But one of Ulrich’s sons, John Soule Keener, Sr, apparently had a Cherokee connection (through his father-in-law) that went back to the days of their forced removal — along with their black slaves — from Western North Carolina — and to one of the first Cherokee families that came back.
John Soule Keener, Sr. married Harriet Admonia “Ad” Hayes (click link for photos), and Ad’s father was George Washington (G.W.) Hayes — a state legislator and “one of the pioneers of Western North Carolina, coming to Cherokee county to reside in 1835 and establishing his home near old Fort Butler, the site of which is now the town limits of Murphy” (The Cherokee Scout, June 18, 1936).
G.W. Hayes apparently assisted the federal government in the removal of the Cherokee and their slaves from Cherokee and surrounding counties in 1839. Yet according to this 1936 article about his daughter’s 92nd birthday celebration, he was also a close advisor and friend of the Cherokee who helped one family come home, with U.S. government assistance:
“One interesting event that took place while the Indians were being removed concerned a family of Indians who had been taken in custody in Jackson county by Federal troops and taken as far as Copperhill, Tenn. The Indian father of this large family complained to Mr. Hayes that they were ill and he didn’t believe that he or his family would ever live to make the trip to Indian territory.
Mr. Hayes, who spoke the Indian tongue and had the confidence of the Indians, advised this old Indian to save out of each days rations issued him by the troops enough to last him and his family for the number of days it would take them to tramp back to Jackson county, and when he secured enough to take care of them for the long hike back, to slip out of camp in the night with his family and go back to their native home.
This old Indian did, and many years later Mr. Hayes happened to be back in Jackson county and ran into this old Indian, who ran up to him and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him ‘white man fashion.’ From that time on until the death of Mr. Hayes he was the close advisor and friend of the Indians, who came to him with all their troubles.” — The Cherokee Scout (1936)
So, take that Andrew Jackson!
Addendum: John Soule Keener, Sr. served as a Confederate Sergeant at the “tactically inconclusive” Battle of Glendale (June 30, 1862) in Henrico County, Virginia. He apparently had to take command of his company after both the Captain and Lieutenant were among the 638 Confederate and 297 Union soldiers killed in the battle (Benjamin Cathey) — 2,814 Confederate and 1,696 Union soldiers were injured and 221 Confederates went missing that day, with 1,804 missing or captured on the Union side (Wikipedia).
The Cherokee also participated in the Civil War on the Confederate side, led by William “Little Will” Holland Thomas — another N.C. legislator and the only white man ever to be a chief of the Cherokee. One regiment, the 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles, “left an enduring mark in the history of the American Civil War as the only Confederate regiment to have almost its entire membership desert into Union service” (Gains, 1991). Apparently expecting to fight invading Yankees, these Cherokee had instead been assigned to battles with the Creek (Muscogee) — the first of the “Five Civilized Tribes” (Wikipedia).
If you enjoyed this post, please recommend it. You might also like my narrative about Casper Kühner (Keener), a German immigrant and early pioneer settler of the Catawba River Valley in N.C., and his descendants — including both Ulrich and yours truly!
