Contact: copskid@bellsouth.netRobert Elisha (Dock)WILKINS, b abt 1857-1860 in GA was my ggrandfather. His parents, no info available, walked on the Trail of Tears and one or both were full blood Cherokee per family "rumor", nothing is documented as of yet.
He married Fannie FLOYD,b abt 1858-1863 in GA, no info available re her parents. They married abt 1873-1876 in GA and had the following children:
1.)Junius or Julius (Pete) WILKINS,b abt 1873-1876 in GA.; marr Minda E. ?? abt 1897-1899; Per 1910 Fed Census, family lived in Bossier Parish, LA with 4 of 6 children living: Grady WILKINS, age 11, b AL; Fannie WILKINS, age 6, b LA; Ella WILKINS, age 3, b LA; Roy L. WILKINS, age 1 yr 3 mos, b LA. Sometime after 1910, this family moved to the Lufkin/Nacogdoches area of TX where, for now, it appears they remained.
2.) John William WILKINS,b 1877-1879 in GA, d 1928 in Bossier Parish, LA; marr Mary Lorean LOCKEY, b 1-12-1887 in Bossier Parish LA, d 10-22-1971 in Bossier Parish, LA; marr dat! e 8-23-1903 in Bossier Parish, LA; per 1910 Fed Census, family lived in Bossier Parish LA with 3 children: Huey WILKINS, age 6 b LA, d 1980; Annie Belle WILKINS, age 3, b LA, d abt Mar, 1956; Johnnie Hall, age 2yrs 1mo, b LA, d Aug 1977; Children born after 1910 Census were Jessie Lorean WILKINS, b LA, d abt 1986, Kemp, TX; Cornealius Robert Edward WILKINS, b LA, d abt 1984; and J.W. WILKINS, b 10-22-1919 in LA, d 9-16-1999; this entire family remained in Bossier Parish, LA until death except Jessie Lorean who, on a visit to her Uncle Pete (Julius/Junius)WILKINS in E. Texas, met and later married Archie Avery CRAWFORD and the rest of her life was spent in the Dallas TX surrounding area.
3.)Ella Louise WILKINS,b 5-25-1884 in GA; d 3-31-1967 in Springhill, Webster Parish, LA; marr Asa Hoxie Matlock b 4-5-1855, d 1-25-1919 in Bossier Parish, LA; children: Jennie Lee MATLOCK b 9-1909; Theo Doshie MATLOCK b 1-26-1911 d 10-27-1999 (Theo Doshie was named after Asa's 1st wife Theo! doshia RODGERS! Ella was his 3rd wife, after Mattie BOUNDS); Robert B. MATLOCK b 12-1913, d?; Jesse Odist MATLOCK, b 1-7-1915, d ?; Emma Irene MATLOCK b 12-18-1917, d 9-7-1977; Twins who died at birth; All the children of Ella and Asa Matlock were born in the Bossier/Webster Parish, LA area;
4.) Earnest W. WILKINS,b 12-15-1887 in Cheek, AL, d abt 1962 in Bossier Parish, LA; marr Josephine HOLLAND Mar 3, 1905 in Bossier Parish, LA; children, per 1910 Fed Census for Bossier Parish, LA: Charley, b ? LA; Lizzie M b ? Bossier Parish, LA; Other known children born after 1910 census: Icy WILKINS, Martha WILKINS, Madeline WILKINS; and 5.) James Franklin WILKINS (also called "Dock"), b abt 1893-1894 in GA, d? Bossier Parish, LA; marr Hattie Newton, date/place unk; Dock and Hattie did have children, but names are not known at present; They had a cafe in Eudora, AR at some point named the Silver Dollar due to the silver dollars imbedded into the floor; Hattie is buried somewhere in ! AR (most likely Eudora area), but James Franklin WILKINS is buried at Rocky Mount Presbyterian Cemetery in Bossier Parish, LA next to his brother John William WILKINS.For nearly 3 years, my focus was on finding my WILKINS ancestors and with the information above I am in possession now of an entire missing generation. Now, I am trying to accomplish 2 major things and could really use some help. My first priority, of course, is to find the next generation back - my gggrandparents, the parents of Robert Elisha (Dock, Sr.) WILKINS who walked the Trail of Tears, and the parents of Fannie FLOYD.
My second priority is to prove what I am almost positive is Cherokee heritage. Other than the family history passed down through the generations, this is all I have to even begin to substantiate claiming Cherokee ancestry: Earnest W. Wilkins applied for a social security card on August 23, 1937 and I do have a copy of that application. Of course, it states his date of birth and that he worked for Memphis Gas Co at the time and lived in an unreadable town in AR. The bus address of Memphis Gas Co was Memphis Tenn or Memphis Drive (ag! ain, difficult to read). The town he lived in could be Wheat, AR, it could be Chreat, AR, or Ehrect, AR, none of which I can locate. However, the interesting thing is that he states on this document that on 12-15-1887 he was born in Cheek, Alabama.
I went to the GNIS Mapping Site online and searched in every possible manner the town of Cheek AL and could not get any hits for a town by that name, but I did continuously hit on Cheek Res in Alabama. So, I finally focused there and discovered that there was indeed a reservation at that time known as the Cheek Reservation, in Marshall County, AL just next to 2 other reservations, Thompson Res and Gunter Res, all 3 of which are near Guntersville, Alabama. Coincidentally, Marshall Co, AL and Chattooga Co, GA (This is the county in GA I have been unofficially told my family was all born in)are just almost across state lines from one another, which furthers my belief he was born on that reservation.
Further investigation reveal's that although the State of Alabama "belonged" primarily to the Alabama and the Choctaw Indians, it just happened that these 3 reservations were in the only part of Alabama that "belonged" to the Cherokee. Family rumors were beginning to look like a bona fide fact. This documentation also adds credence to the Trail of Tears family story and my gggrandparents walk there.
If anyone recognizes anything here or if you are a part of this family, or if you can add to what little I know PLEASE PLEASE let me know. If I can further anyone else's research in the Bossier Parish, LA area just let me know, I will certainly do what I can!
Other family surnames, in addition to WILKINS, are LOCKEY, HOOKER, FLOYD, URQUHART, METHVIN, and MURPHY - for now...... Thanks so much for any help available. Brenda Wilkins Hudson
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