Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Martin

Betsy was a Cherokee woman

Biography

Betsy Ward, born about 1759 in the Cherokee Nation, was the daughter of the famous Cherokee woman Nan-ye-hi/Nancy Ward and her white husband, Bryant Ward. She had children by two white men, Gen. Joseph Martin and ? Hughes. Her children were Nancy and James Martin, and Rachel Hughes. Betsy is believed to have died about 1803. [1]

In 1782 Nan-ye-hi and Betsy spent the winter with Joseph Martin and his son William, "Things were so bad in the Overhill settlement that in the fall of 1782, Joseph Martin took Nancy Ward and Oconostota back to Long Island [of Holston] to spend the winter. Scarcity of food and respect for Nancy, as well as friendship for the Old Chief, who was now almost blind, were sufficient reasons. William Martin wrote:

"These two Cherokee greats, Nancy Ward and Oconostota, spent the winter of 1782-1783 in Joseph Martin's Long Island home, where Nancy's daughter, Betsy was able to care for their needs. With the coming of spring, Oconostota asked Martin to take him home. The Old Chief must have felt that his end was near, and he wanted to spend his last days at Chota. Martin realized that the ailing Chief would be unable to make the trip on horseback, so he arranged to take the party down river by boat.” [2]
In June 1793, at the request of North Carolina Governor William Blount, a number of Cherokee leaders gathered at Chief Hanging Maw’s home to consider having peace talks with President Washington.

"Early in the morning of June 12, 1793, a party of mounted militia under Capt. John Beard, who claimed to be pursuing Indian horse thieves, made a charge upon the house. The militia killed several people, including Fool Charles, who was a chief of Running Water, and the daughter of Taken Out of the Water. Hanging Maw, his wife, and Betty [Betsy], the daughter of Nancy Ward were wounded. Only the pleading of some white men who were present prevented the militia from killing Chief Hanging Maw." [3]
In 1799 her son James met the Moravian missionaries who wrote:

"Martin, son of General Martin with whom Br. Schneider stayed formerly in Chittiko, arrived today. We asked him if he remembers the visit of Br. Schneider, sixteen years ago? He said no, that he was born in Chittiko but was only nineteen years old now, and was therefore very young at the time. He told us that his father was now in Henry County, Virginia, and that his mother was living in Wakhowee on the Hiwassee River." [4]
Research Notes

Bryant Ward, an English trader who had fought in the French and Indian War, took up residence with the Cherokees and married Nancy in the late 1750s. Ward had a wife, but since Cherokees did not consider marriage a life-long institution, the arrangement apparently presented few problems. Ward and her English husband lived in Chota for a time and became the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth (Betsy). Eventually Bryant Ward moved back to South Carolina, where he lived the remainder of his life with his white wife and family. Nancy Ward and Betsy visited his home on many occasions, where they were welcomed and treated with respect.[citation needed]

Sources

1. ↑ Hampton, David K. Cherokee Mixed-Bloods. Arc Press of Cane Hill, Lincoln, Arkansas. 2005. p. 107
2. ↑ Brown, John P. Old Frontier, quoting a letter found the in Draper Manuscript collection. Southern Publishers, Inc. Kingsport, TN. 1938, p. 203
3. ↑ Hoig, Stanley W. The Cherokees and Their Chiefs, In the Wake of Empire. The University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, AR, 1998, pg. 85.
4. ↑ Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 1, p. 121

See also
FSFTID L4BD-YF1
Stray Leaves @ https://web.archive.org/web/20170814000100/http://ericjames.org/htm...

Source: The WikiTree Native American Project @ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ward-14337

(Curator Note: provided for information only. Stray Leaves is an old site now archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20170814000100/http://ericjames.org/htm.... The author provides the following information without supporting evidence or citation of source.
Husband: Daniel Hughes

  Born:                  at:   

Married: ABT 1786 at: Cherokee Nation East, Now TN

  Died:                  at:   

Father:

Mother:

Other Spouses:

  Wife: Elizabeth "Betsy" (Cherokee) Ward

  Born: 18 SEP 1757 at: Cheroke Nation East, now McMinn, TN  

  Died: ABT 1803 at: Moss, Clay Co TN  

Father:Bryant (Immigrant) Ward

Mother:"Chigau" Nancy

Other Spouses: Joseph (Gen.) \Jr.\ Martin
CHILDREN

  Name: Rachel Hughes

  Born: 1790  at: Cheroke Nation East, now McMinn, TN  

Married: at:

  Died: ABT 1859 at: Cheroke Nation, IT, now OK  

Spouses: Charles \Sr.\ Rogers )
__________

ELIZABETH BETSY WARD (NANCY4, TAME3DOE, NANCY2MOYTOY, A-MA-DO-YA1) was born September 18, 1757 in CNE [TN], and died in Tennessee.
She married (1) JOSEPH L MARTIN, JR, BGEN 1776, son of JOSEPH MARTIN and SUSANNA CHILES. He was born September 18, 1740 in Charlotteville, Albemarle Co, VA, and died December 18, 1808 in Martinsville, Henry Co, VA.
She married (2) DANIEL HUGHES 1788 in TN. He was born Abt. 1759.

• Blood: 1/8 Cherokee (half Indian, see mother)
• Clan: Ani'-Wa'ya = Wolf Clan (Nanye'hi)
• Residence: June 1788, Chote

Notes for JOSEPH L MARTIN, JR, BGEN:

• Within Starr's biographies there is a typo in the birth year of Joseph, the text reads 1840 but should be 1740.
• Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, vol V, 1784-1792, Adelaide L Fries, The North Carolina Historical Commission, p1981:"...by signs found out from him where Colonel Martin was.The Colonel soon came creeping out of an Indian sweat-house, and welcomed me in very friendly fashion. ..He took me to his lodgings with a trader, Mr Springston, who had married an Indian wife; Colonel Martin had married their daughter."
• Early Travels in the Tennessee Country 1540-1800, Samuel Cole Williams, Watauga Press, p249: "...he explained to me by Signs in which House of the Town on the other Side which is called Sitiko, Col Martin was to be found.Having got on the other Side, I saw him soon creeping out of an Indian Hothouse, & he came to welcome me very friendly & having read Col Armstrong's Letter he said he would be at my Service in my Concern as much as possibly he could. .. He took me with him to his Lodging in the House of a Trader, Mr Springston, who has married an Indian Woman, but whose Father in Law was not at home during my Stay there."\

More About JOSEPH L MARTIN, JR, BGEN:

• Occupation 1: Fur Trader and Planter
• Occupation 2: 1777, VA Commissioner to the Cherokee
• Occupation 3: December 11, 1793, Brigadier General, VA militia
• Residence: June 1788, Chote

More About DANIEL HUGHES:

• Occupation: Trader

Children of ELIZABETH WARD and JOSEPH MARTIN are:
130. i. NANCY6 MARTIN, b. Abt. 1778, CNE [TN]; d. April 1837.

	ii.	 	JAMES MARTIN, b. 1780, Chittiko, CNE [TN]; d. 1840.

• Clan: Ani'-Wa'ya = Wolf Clan (Nanye'hi)

Child of ELIZABETH WARD and DANIEL HUGHES is:
131. iii. RACHEL6 HUGHES, b. Abt. 1790; d. Aft. 1851.

Source: Hicks, James R. “Cherokee Lineages: Register Report of Amatoya Moytoy” Genealogy.com, Sites.Rootsweb.com,, 2023, https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks-VA/BOOK-0001/0021...