One of the most persistent rumors of Indian ancestry in Stanly County is of the Cherokee ancestry of Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton (b. 1775, d. 1856). Elizabeth Brumbelow was probably the daughter of Edward Brumbelow and his wife, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Brumbelow married Ezekiel Morton ca 1798. Some people have claimed that Edward Brumbelow was a full Cherokee Chief Judge and that Elizabeth was a Cherokee "princess".

Note: The name Brumbelow had numerous spelling variations: Brumbalow, Brumblow, Brumbello, etc. in the various records. I have chosen to use Brumbelow throughout the section for consistency.

The Brumbelows were listed as white on all North Carolina and Virginia records. The founder of the family, Edward Brumbelow, a carpenter, first appears in Richmond Co., VA records in 1706. He had three known children listed in the church records of Richmond Co. and a presumed fourth, Isaac. The maiden names of Edward's wife and his presumed son Isaac's wife are unknown.

Edward Brumbelow, Sr. d. 1717 married Mary ?

Edward's presumed son Isaac Brumbelow, Sr. b. ?, d. ? married Mary ? Isaac had five sons and one daughter. Isaac's children were all born in Richmond Co., VA (from the records of the North Farnham Church, Richmond Co., VA):

1. Jesse Brumbelow (b. November 2, 1742). Probably the Jesse Brumbelow who is listed in Brunswick Co., VA records.

2. Isaac Brumbelow (b. Jan 13, 1744) married Elizabeth ?

3. Edward Brumbelow (b. September 13, 1747) married Elizabeth ? (This Elizabeth signed a deed with Edward in 1786 so she may or may not be the mother of Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton who was born eleven years earlier.)

4. David Brumbelow (b. December 15, 1750) married Amy Medcalf.

5. Solomon Brumbelow (b. June 18, 1753).

6. Elizabeth Brumbelow (b. January 7, 1755).

One of the NC Brumbelow men, either Edward or Isaac, was married to Lydia Medcalf, the sister of Amy Medcalf.

Various county records in the 1780s place Edward, David, and Isaac Brumbelow in North Carolina. Edward and Isaac Brumbelow were listed on the 1790 Anson Co. NC census as white men. David Brumbelow had moved to Chatham Co. by 1782 when he bought 220 acres from Bias Rogers (Chatham Co., NC Deeds 1770-1788, volume 1-3, volume 1, page 80). David Brumbelow was in Anson Co. in 1790, even though he was not listed on the 1790 NC census, since he and wife Amy, witnessed the will of Thomas Finny in Anson Co. on December 3, 1790 (D.A.R. Elizabeth Maxwell Steele Chapter, Anson Co., NC Abstracts of Will Book A, 1790-1830, p. 2). Edward and Isaac Brumbelow with several other Brumbelow men, but not David Brumbelow, were listed on the 1800 NC census, again as white men. These three men can be found on various records in Anson Co., Mecklenburg Co, and Chatham Co. Interestingly Isaac Brumbelow was a witness to a 1787 purchase of land in Anson Co. by Joel Morton, who was from Orange Co., NC. Joel Morton and wife "Suanna" (probably Susannah) sold the land two years later (Pruitt, Abstracts of Deeds, Anson Co., NC, Books 4, 7, & B, p 72). Could there be a connection between Joel Morton and Ezekiel Morton?

Brumbelows were never listed as anything other than white on these early records. (When Cyrus Brumbelow, b. ca 1818, was wanted for murder in GA in 1838, he was described as of "fair complexion with blue eyes".) Most of the Brumbelows moved to GA and TN with Edward and Isaac going to Gwinnett Co., GA. The Brumbelow families who moved to Georgia entered claims on land that had been recently taken away from the Cherokees and the Creeks. David Brumbelow stayed in NC and lived in Mecklenburg Co.

Certainly the odds are against either Edward Brumbelow, Sr. or Isaac Brumbelow, Sr. having married Cherokees in Richmond Co., VA, which was well over a hundred miles away from Cherokee territory. For a map of Cherokee territory ca 1700 see William McLoughlin, Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic, 1986. Since Edward Brumbelow was a carpenter by trade and was listed as the builder of the Richmond Co. courthouse, it is more likely that he was a former indentured servant, not an Indian. Isaac Brumbelow, Sr. was a cooper who made hogsheads for the transportation of tobacco.

During this time Indians living in Richmond Co. were clearly identified as Indians in the Richmond Co. written records. However, in the numerous Richmond Co., VA records of the Brumbelow family, there are no notations that would indicate that the Brumbelow family was of Indian origin.

Furthermore, Isaac Brumbelow, Sr. (the father of Isaac, Edward, and David) voted in a Richmond Co., Virginia election in 1741. A law was passed in 1723 which had disfranchised free blacks and Indians in Virginia (Kolp, John G. Gentlemen and Freeholders: Electoral Politics in Colonial Virginia. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998, p 41). This is further evidence that the Brumbelow family were not considered Indians by their neighbors. Since Isaac was allowed to vote, he must have been considered white.

All of the sources who claim that Edward and Elizabeth Brumbelow were Cherokee were not contemporary with those two individuals, but instead are from the late 19th and early 20th century, well after Edward and Elizabeth were dead.

Here is some of the evidence that people cite in support of Elizabeth's theoretical Indian ancestry:

1. There is a letter from Susannah Morton Whitley, one of Elizabeth and Ezekiel's daughters, who stated that her grandfather, Edward Brumbelow, "was said to be half Indian" and that he was "known by the name of Judge Brumbelow" (Copy of Letter located at the Stanly Co. Genealogical Room). Susannah also noted that Edward Brumbelow had lived in Chatham Co. and then Anson Co. and that he had moved to Georgia. Susannah also stated that Edward had a sister named Elizabeth. These statements are all correct. It is telling that Susannah doesn't say that he was half Indian, but that "he was said to be about half Indian". Nor did she name a tribe. If Susannah was certain about Edward's ancestry and had personal knowledge of it herself, wouldn't she have said "he was Indian", instead of saying "he was said to be"? The rest of her statements in the letter do not show such an ambivalent sentence construction. Only her sentence about Edward's purported half-Indian ancestry shows any factual ambivalence. I believe that Susannah is more credible than the other sources below, since these facts regarding Edward's migration have been substantiated by corroborating evidence. Susannah's sons were the earliest applicants to Cherokee rolls based on the Brumbelow family, and they listed their great-grandfather as Judge Edward Brumbelow. How is it that Susannah's sons have more information about Edward Brumbelow's purported Indian heritage than Susannah herself?

2. There is another letter from one of Elizabeth and Ezekiel Morton's children, L. C. Morton, about the Brumbelow family. (Copy of Letter located in the Genealogy Room at the Stanly County Library). L. C. Morton claimed that Elizabeth's father was David Brumbelow, that David's father was David Brumbelow, and that they were full Cherokee. Both statements are incorrect. David Brumbelow's father was Isaac, not David Brumbelow, and the Brumbelow family could not have been full Cherokee, given what is known to be true about the family history from other, more credible sources (see above). L. C. might have been confused since it appears that David Brumbelow (b. 1750) probably had a son who was also named David Brumbelow and who was a soldier in the War of 1812 and lived in Mecklenburg County. L. C. Morton might have known or heard about those two David Brumbelows.

3. A story about Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton's presumed granddaughter, Mary Morton Dawson (b. 6/25/1833, d.5/23/1915), daughter of William Morton and Rebecca Whitley, was included in a county history. Her father, William Morton, was probably the William Morton who was a son of Ezekiel and Elizabeth Brumbalow. According to the author, Mary Morton Dawson believed that she had inherited psychic abilities because of her "Cherokee blood" and had forseen her husband's murder by Indians. She also claimed to be descended from Chief Judge Brumbelow.

According to the historical record, Edward Brumbelow lived as a white man, not with an Indian tribe, and nowhere near Cherokee territory. Consequently, it is extremely unlikely that he was a "Chief Judge" of any tribe. As Edward's granddaughter Susannah indicated, Judge was his nickname--not a title (see above). Mary Morton Dawson's exaggeration about her great-grandfather being a Cherokee Chief Judge, as well as her claim of Indian psychic ability, mark her as an unreliable source. It might be that Mary Morton Dawson heard about the early 20th century Cherokee claims of the Stanly Co. Mortons and incorporated the Cherokee information into her family stories.

4. Many people in Stanly Co. applied to the Guion Miller Commission, hoping to receive Cherokee money from the Federal government at the turn of the 20th century, based on their descent from Elizabeth Brumbelow. I have a Stanly Co. newspaper story from the early 1900s that was probably placed by the law firm handling the Brumbelow/Morton claims to encourage the application of any Elizabeth Brumbelow descendents.

"Descendants of Indians in Stanly. Attorney J. R. Price spent a few days in Washington this week. He carried with him a dozen or more claims from clients in this county who hope to receive a part of the judgment recently rendered by the Court of Claims against the Government, in the interest of descendants of the Eastern Cherokee Nation. This judgment, it seems, is to be distributed among the several descendant individuals of that tribe or nation. There are quite a number in this county. Several years ago a family of Cherokees by the name of Brombelo lived in this county. All immigrated to the West, except one woman, who married one Ezekiel Morton. From this marriage extended lineal and collateral descendents related in various degrees to the family stock, all of whom are no doubt now interested in proving their nearness of kin to the Indian great-grandparent." (The Stanly Enterprise, August 22, 1907)

It is quite clear from this story that the basis for the Stanly Co. Brumbelow Indian claims was purely financial. Almost all the Stanly Co. applications were prepared by these lawyers. These applications are written in the same handwriting and use the same sentences about Elizabeth Brumbelow. Thus the applicants might not be acting on family stories about Elizabeth Brumbelow, but instead might know nothing about Elizabeth Brumbelow other than what they read in the newspaper or what the lawyer told them.

The economy of the Piedmont South was extremely weak in the early 1900s. Many people were unable to afford land, and lived as tenants or worked in textile mills for low wages. The Guion Miller Commission was given monies that eventually amounted to $5 million, to be disbursed to people eligible for membership in the Eastern Cherokee band. People who were successful in becoming listed on the Miller rolls eventually received $133.18 per person--a significant amount of money for Stanly Countians at that time (about $2,400 in current dollars). There was no cost to apply to the rolls, so there was no reason not to apply. Applying for Cherokee money was like going to a slot machine and pulling the handle without putting in a coin. You had a free chance at the jackpot.

Thousands of fradulent Cherokee claims were submitted to the Miller Commission. Most claimants told the Commission what they thought it wanted to hear, in order to maximize their chances. However, a few, such as George Carroll, answered honestly:

"I don't know that I claim any Indian blood. All I know about my Indian blood is that in April 1907, a man calling himself G.R. Foote came to see me and my brothers and asked us if we had ever been taught that we had Indian blood. He wanted to know if we were descended from Daniel Carroll and that if we were there was a fortune for you out in Indian Territory. Before that we did not know of any blood in the family. He did not say what kind of Indian we were. He said that my grandfather Daniel Carroll had been on the roll out there 82 years. He got $75.00 out of me and my son and my brother" (Witness George R. Carroll, p. 661. Miller Roll case #22715. The claims officers wrote "Rejected. Ancestors were never enrolled. Establish no connection with Cherokee tribe. This application was secured by fraud.").

Genealogists have to look at people's motives for their actions, to see if those motives might have influenced their statements about their ancestors. Money is a strong motivator for making a false claim. There seems to have been a domino effect, in which one believer makes up or elaborates a story about the ancestor in order to justify a claim to Cherokee money, and then others, not having any information, start to believe this story. I can see people reading that newspaper notice and thinking "well, it might be true and if there is money to be had, maybe I deserve a share too." We often see on the Internet that one or a few people can spread a story of false Indian ancestry to unsuspecting and trusting people, so we can assume this also happened in the past (see the Hathcock or Lambert sections for examples).

Here is what the claims officers on the Guion Miller Commission had to say about the applications of Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton's descendants:

"Application #2356. Margaret Hartsell, Sanders, Ark. Rejected. See report on Brumbello case below: There are quite a number of persons who have filed application for participation in the Eastern Cherokee fund who base their claim solely on their relationship to one Elizabeth Brumbello, who they allege, was a full blood Cherokee Indian. The name Brumbello does not appear on the roll of 1835 or on the Roll or 1851 nor do the names of any of these applicants appear on the Hester or any other subsequent roll. The number of affidavits all to the same effect have been filed with these applications. These affidavits are sworn to by William E. Furr, a man 80 years old and George Washington Huneycutt, a man 75 years old, both residents of North Carolina, and the latter now dead. These affidavits state that the affiants were both personally acquainted with Elizabeth Brumbello, who married a white man by the name of Ezekiel Morton. They further allege that Elizabeth Brumbello was a full blood Cherokee Indian and that she lived in Stanly County, North Carolina. Stanly Co., is fully 200 miles from the Cherokee domain and there is nothing whatever to show that this Elizabeth Brumbello ever affiliated with the Cherokee tribe or in fact that she was a Cherokee at all. The evidence shows that she married Morton, who was a white man prior to 1835, and there is no evidence that she lived with the Cherokee tribe thereafter. In fact, there is no evidence whatever, that she ever lived with the Cherokee tribe. On the contrary, the only evidence there is shows that she was living at least 200 miles away from the Cherokee domain. There seems to be no merit in these cases, as no ancestor of any of the applicants was ever enrolled, nor was any ancestor parties to the treaties of 1835-6 and 1846, nor is it shown that any ancestor ever lived with the tribe and it is shown that Elizabeth Brumbello, through whom all these applicants claim never lived within the Cherokee domain. For these reasons all of the applicants who base their claims upon Elizabeth Brumbello and her descendants are rejected. EXCEPTION CASE. William A. Tucker (App #33330), Albemarle, N.C. Rejected. Total number of exceptions filed in this group -- 23. Original recommendation renewed."

The Brumbelow family's Miller Roll applications are pointed to by some contemporary descendants as evidence of Indian ancestry. However, note that the commission said that "there seems to be no merit in these cases". Witnesses on the original applications, William E. Furr and George Washington Huneycutt, both said that Elizabeth Brumbelow was a "full blood Cherokee". However, as the data presented so far demonstrates, there is no possibility that Elizabeth Brumbelow was a full-blood Cherokee. The most reliable source in this case, Elizabeth's own daughter, Susannah, stated that her grandfather "was said to be half Indian" and thus Elizabeth could have been only 1/4 Indian at most, based on Susannah's statement. William E. Furr and George Washington Huneycutt's incorrect assertion about Elizabeth's "full" Cherokee ancestry demonstrates that their testimony and knowledge about Elizabeth's ancestry was faulty and unreliable.

One of the witnesses who testified before the Miller Commission as to Elizabeth Brumbelow's purported Indian ancestry had a clear conflict of interest. William E. Furr, one of the two witnesses for Elizabeth Brumbelow's Cherokee ancestry, was related by marriage to people who would benefit monetarily from proving that Elizabeth Brumbelow was a Cherokee. Three of his children were married to Elizabeth Brumbelow descendants. (Eli Furr married to Lucy J. Hartsell, a great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Brumbelow, Marshall F. Furr married to Laura J. Morton, great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Brumbelow, and Emma Furr married to B. Marshall Rogers, a grandson of Adam C. Burris [one of the applicants] and 3rd great-grandson of Elizabeth Brumbalow.) It is likely that George Washington Huneycutt had similar family or social ties to the Morton family in Stanly Co.

Of course, all of the Brumbelow applications were rejected, but people today use the applications as "evidence" of Cherokee ancestry. But no other Brumbelows--other than the descendants of Elizabeth Brumbelow Morton--applied to be considered Cherokee.

If the Brumbelow line from Edward was Cherokee, why didn't other Brumbelows apply? Why only Elizabeth's descendants? If Edward and his family were Cherokees, why weren't they removed from Georgia and Tennessee and sent to Indian Territory on the Trail of Tears with the rest of the Cherokees? If they were Cherokees, why did they enter land claims in Georgia like the other white settlers, after the land in Georgia was ceded by the Cherokees? Why do no Brumbelows appear in any Cherokee community, ever? Why did the Brumbelows live in Tidewater Virginia in the 18th century if they were Cherokees? How could Edward Brumbelow have been a chief in the Cherokee tribe if he lived so far from the tribe? Was he an early superhero who lived as white man but then transformed himself into a full Cherokee as he walked or rode the hundred or more miles west to perform his tribal duties? Why was every member of the family consistently listed as white from the earliest recorded history of the family, beginning well back into the 1700s?

Given the total lack of credible evidence for Elizabeth's supposed Cherokee ancestry, and given the monetary incentives for claiming Cherokee ancestry, it seems that the story of Brumbelow Cherokee ancestry is most likely mythical.

Copyright Leah C. Sims 2000