Whew – what a ride. I am a descended of Parker V through Elijah. I have tried to work through some of this complicated history, and would appreciate any information that others might have.
Elijah Adkins (Parker V’s son) was born in 1765, in Montgomery County Virginia. This would have been just before (or possibly shortly after) Parker went to Fort Pitt. Although I could be wrong, I think Elijah was Parkers last child by Mary Polly (gee, I wonder why?)
According to Don Greene’s Shawnee Heritage II, Elijah Adkins married White Wing, aka “Big Nancy” Cornstalk in 1784. White Wing was the son of “Young Peter” Cornstalk and Catherine Elizabeth See. Young Peter was the son of Chief Cornstalk. If this is true, White Wing was the granddaughter of Chief Cornstalk, and Blue Sky would have been her aunt.
Elijah and White Wing had 4 children. (Lewis b-1874, Elijah Jr. b-1786, Richard b-1788 and Nancy/aka “Little Nancy” b-1890). I am descended through Richard.
In 1790, White Wing left Elijah and took “Little Nancy” to join the Indian resistance movement of Tecumseh. This is all interesting history because early in 1789 Tecumseh travelled south with Shawnee forces to Tennessee to aid the Cherokee fight against western expansion of the settlers. In 1790, Tecumseh returned to Ohio, where White Wing probably joined him as he traveled through western Virginia. White Wing first became Tecumseh’s translator, and later his 3rd wife, as they were married in 1793. My understanding was that when they were married, Little Nancy was left in the care of the Cornstalk tribe. According to Shawnee Heritage II, White Wing and Tecumseh had 3 children.
On Feb 28th, 1790 (shortly after White Wing left), Elijah, paid 50 pounds to apply for a marriage license to marry a Nancy Hunter (his brother Millington was a witness). Later in 1790, Elijah, his new wife and children took the long trek over the Cumberland Gap to settle in Granger County Tennessee.
Although we will probably never know everything that happened, but obviously 1790 was an eventful year for Elijah. We could speculate many things – White Wing leaving with their newly born daughter to join Tecumseh, Elijah getting re-married so quick after White Wing leaves, and of all things, moving to Tennessee, the very place where Tecumseh was fighting against settlers.
Would appreciate any comments or corrections from those who probably know far more than myself on this complicated history.
Michael Adkins
