Back in 2018, I started the 52 Ancestors Project, where you are given a weekly prompt, and you write about it. Needless to say, I wasn't very diligent in keeping it up, so I am going to try to give it another go this year.
Week 1's Prompt is "Family Lore"
The first story that popped into my head is the story about my paternal great-grandmother, Dora Donahue Thomas (1884 - 1951).
Dora was my father's maternal grandmother.
As it goes, when Dora was very young, her parents, who were both \Indigenous People (some say Cherokee and some say Seminole, so it is unsure). They had to leave their land were made to go to the Oklahoma Indian Territory, at the time. They wanted Dora to have a good life so they asked a local doctor to take her.
The doctor, E.P. Webb and his wife agreed. Dora lived with them the rest of her life and never saw any of her biological family again.
I never knew how much of this was true but my research shows me that it does appear to indeed be the case and several other relatives (who've I only met through my research and were on different family lines) had told me the same story.
I've never been able to find any birth records for her but that isn't entirely uncommon in 1884 and certainly isn't uncommon for Indigenous People.
My dad remembered that she had very long hair that went to her ankles and she wore it back in a bun.
I do wish I could find out more about her, but sadly, I think I found the end of the family line when it comes to here.
She is buried, along with my great-grandfather, James William Thomas, in Campground Cemetery in Holmes County, Florida
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