Born in Maine in 1819 to Capt. Chandler Rackleff and Harriet (Dyer) Rackleff of Woodfords, Portland, Edward Rackleff grew up to speak French, Latin and Greek, as well as practice medicine for 50 years and die in 1892 “a man esteemed by all who knew him,” according to an obituary held by the Maine Historical Society.
Dr. Rackleff died in Arkansas, leaving numerous descendants, among them members of Cherokee and Sioux tribes. One of his Caucasian children was even adopted by the Cherokee Nation as an adult.
This fascinating article, “Dr. Edward Rackleff of Portland, Maine, Missouri, Arkansas, and His Cherokee Descendants of Oklahoma,” was written for the November 2015 issue of The Maine Genealogist by Cynthia Cook Winterhalter, a genealogist and graduate of Radcliffe College whose great-great-grandmother, Antonette Jane, was a first cousin of Dr. Edward Radcliffe.
A student at Gorham Academy and Teacher’s Seminary in 1837, Rackleff went west to study at the Medical Department of Kemper College in St. Louis, later known as Missouri Medical College. He was living in Millersburg by 1863, and also practiced in Arkansas.
In 1846 Edward married Minerva (Sims) and they had three children, with Edward William and Louisa Emma reaching adulthood. Edward and Minerva later divorced and both remarried by about 1879. Edward married Emily Catherine (?) and they had a daughter, Emily.
The Native American genes came into the family when Dr. Edward’s firstborn, Edward William Rackleff, who was born about 1850, married a Cherokee, Lizzy Sunday, in 1877. He and Lizzy were granted a marriage license on Sept. 24, and the marriage record states:
“I have this day solemnized the rights (sic) of matrimony between Edward Rackliff and Miss Lizzy Sunday. T.M. Rights. Pastor of Moravian Church Springplace Going Snake District Cherokee Nation. Johnathan Webber. Witness, David X (his mark) Ridge.”
Winterhalter points out that in 1852 the Drennen Roll listed eight people or families named Sunday in the Saline District and two in the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation. “This roll listed the names and compensation of $92.83 for each individual who moved west from Georgia after the Treaty of Echota in 1835.”
The Drennen Roll is also known as the first enumeration after the Trail of Tears, the route the Cherokees took on being moved to Oklahoma as part of Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policies. More generally well-known is the Dawes Rolls.
The Oklahoma Historical Society, according to Winterhalter’s article, describes the Dawes Rolls: “Officially known as The Final Rolls of the Citizens of Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory, the Dawes Rolls lists individuals who chose to enroll and were approved for membership in the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole). Enrollment for the Dawes Rolls began in 1898 and ended in 1906.”
In the 1880 Census for the Cherokee Nation, we find E.W. Rackleff listed as A for Adopted, W for White, 30, Male.
Elizabeth Rackleff is N for Native, Cher for Cherokee, 22, Female, Dead (stamped later).
Children listed are Nelly, N, Cher, 2, Female; and Lena, N, Cher, 4, Dead (stamped later.)
The Dawes Commission allotment for 1893 giving land in trade for dissolving tribal government lists George, John, Edward W., William P. and Louisa Emma, the last two marked (dead).
And, on Aug. 21, 1896, Edward W. Rackleff was actually adopted as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.
Edward William and Lizzy Sunday had a total of six children: Nellie, who married Lamech Smith, a Cherokee, and had 10 children; Lena; William; Louisa; George William, who married Lena Thompson, second Helen (?), and third Mattie Tosh; and John Rackleff, who married Nancy Tail, a Cherokee, and had eight children.
Edward William was married second in 1904 to Katie (Neugin) Cochram, a Cherokee. Their children were: Eddie; Linnie, who married Fred Monroe Huddleston; Patsy, who married Edmond Allen Baine, a Sioux from Montana, and had four children; Zeke; Della Mable, who married Claude Curry, Ralph Clark, a Liebfried, a Webb, a Barnes, and possibly one other.
There are many other points I would share if space permitted, so do check a library that carries The Maine Genealogist, the quarterly journal of the Maine Genealogical Society.
Other features I recommend in this issue are Deborah Kimball Nowers’ “The Family of Aaron Seekins of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Augusta, Windsor and Swanville, Maine”; and editor Joseph C. Anderson II’s “William R. Bartlett Family Summary” which accompanies the “William R. Bartlett Bible Record: Newburgh and Orono, Maine,” contributed by George D. Martin.
On its own, The Maine Genealogist is well worth the $25 dues per year for membership to the Maine Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 2602, Waterville, ME 04903.
Current members would certainly appreciate a renewal membership as a Christmas gift, which you could send right in to that address (especially older folks and others on a fixed income). Add $5 for the journal and the quarterly newsletter to be sent first class. Membership to Canadian addresses is $34 a year, and $39 outside the U.S. and Canada.
Don’t forget yourself. Join for a year and see how much you enjoy it, especially when you realize that membership allows you to buy MGS special publications such as vital records books at discount. And how about this? You could send in dues for 2015 as well as 2016, and thus receive all of this year’s quarterlies and newsletters as well.
I hope you have a Merry Christmas and love in your holidays. Thank you for reading Family Ties since 1984.
For information on researching family history in Maine, see Genealogy Resources under Family Ties at bangordailynews.com/browse/family-ties. Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402, or email familyti@bangordailynews.com.