Cabin “Big Cabin” Smith, Chief

Cabin was a Cherokee man

Biography

Cabin Smith was born in the Cherokee Nation, probably in the 1760's. He married a woman possibly named Jennie. They were the parents of six children, Hominy, Oo-du-ski, Tiania, Go-li-si, Gu-er-tsa, and Archilla. [1] Cabin and his son (listed in the muster roll as "Cabbin" and "Cabbin's Son,") served in the Cherokee Regiment under Gideon Morgan in the War of 1812. [2] [3] He was a headman and a signatory of the Treaty of 1817. [4] The 1835 census shows a family of three living on the Coosa River in what is now Georgia. [5] His date of death is unknown.

Research Notes

This is not the Cabin Smith who died in 1869. That is Cabin "Samuel" Smith.

See: Monroe County, Tn. - Deed book B - Cabin Smith sells to Gideon Morgan Jr....5th of March 1819...Blairs ferry (Nicholsons)...640 acre "treaty" track.

Sources

1. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. p. 452. Digitized edition at Starr
2. ↑ National Park Service, Horseshoe Bend Muster Roll digitized at Cabbin
3. ↑ United States War of 1812 Index to Service Records, 1812-1815, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29K-TCNH : 8 March 2021), Cabbin Smith, 1812-1815; citing NARA microfilm publication M602 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); roll 192; FHL microfilm 882,710.
4. ↑ Digitized treat at Treaty
5. ↑ 1835 Cherokee Census, transcription published by the Oklahoma Chapter, Trail of Tears Association, Park Hill, OK. 2002. Original records: National Archives and Records Administration, Microfilm publication T496, Census Roll, 1835, of Cherokee Indians East of the Mississippi with Index.
http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/cabin-smith-24-2822k9t

Source: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-106221

(Curator note: regarding the nickname “Big Cabin” seems that it might have two origins. 1) south of the Cherokee town on Vinta, Craig County, OK is a small town named Big Cabin. 2) in the upper northeast of the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory is a location where the battle of Cabin Creek took place on September 19, 1864 where confederate forces captured federal wagons, mules and supplies near Big Cabin Creek. Both these hypotheses are in addition to the reference by Joe Scraper of “ Cabin Smith Creek, in northern Georgia close to the Alabama border”)
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1 ______Smith

1 Cabin Smith
2 McCoy Smith*

1. Hominy Simth. Aky Fields and Peggy
2 Oo-du-ski Smith. Tiger
3 Tiania Smith. Scraper
4 Go-li-si Smith. Turtle
5 Gu-er-tsa Smith. SixkilIer
6 Archilla Smith. Agnes Fields

11121814 Ta-cha-gi-si Smith*
11122314 Ta-chi-chi Tiger
2 Redbird Tiger
3 Messenger Tiger. Celia Love
4 Pelican Tiger
5 Mark Tiger Mary Thompson and Stidham nee Trott
6 Ti-ca-no-hi-la Tiger
7 Dirtthower Tiger
8 Ka-hi-ta Tiger
9 Wa-li-a Tiger
10 Lucretia Tiger. Tony R. Gourd
11123314 George W. Scraper. Louisa McIntosh
2 Archibald Scraper. Malinda McIntosh
3 Charles Scraper
4 Otter Scraper
5 Sallie Scraper. Watie Cummings
11125314 Cricket Sixkliler. Deborah Whaley and Elizabeth Foreman
2 Redbird Sixkiller. Pamelia Whaley, Nannie Foster nee Foreman and Elizabeth Proctor nee Foreman*
3 Tail Sixkiller. Alie Keath
4 Soldier Sixkiller. Katie
5 Frog Sixkiller
6 Delaware Sixkiller. Jennie Walker
7 Blackhaw Sixkiller
8 Susan Sixkiiler* Yellowhammer
9 Peacheater Sixkiller. Sallie Foreman nee Rattlinggourd
10 Lucinda Sixkiller. Samuel Cloud
11126314 John Smith* Margaret Hendricks
2 Rachel Smith. John Rider
3 Charles Smith*
4 Elizabeth Smith. John McFerran Fields, Thomas Adkins and, George Drum
5 Samuel Houston Smith*
6 Eliza Smith. David Grayson, Jackson Cozens and Francis Marion Seabolt

Source: Starr, Emmett. History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: The Warden Company. 1921
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(Curator Note: unknown author, unknown source)
Cabin Smith was a full-blood Cherokee, of the Paint clan.

Under the treaty of 27 February 1819, he was granted a reservation (other than where he lived) of 640 acres, to be laid off in equal parts, on both sides of his ferry at Tellico (on the Tennessee River), commonly called Blair's ferry, in southeastern Tennessee.

Cabin Smith Creek, in northern Georgia close to the Alabama border, seems to be named after him.

Notes

Emmet Starr lists a brother to Cabin on page 451 of his History of the Cherokee Indians (McCoy Smith).  Indications are that Cabin also had a brother named Ca-nee-quah-yah-gi (Samuel Smith), who was the father of Flea Smith and others.

The following is taken from Joe Scraper's notes on his Scraper family website, "Cabin Smith - an in-progress report of his family," dated 30 Aug 2008.  http://scraperhistory.com/reports/Cabin_Smith.htm (now dead link)

Who was the father of Cabin Smith?

I think a couple of likely candidates were Richard Smith and his brother Abraham Smith.  Richard and Abe were both licensed traders from Virginia and both lived with the Cherokee at Keowee operating a trading post during the time period when Cabin Smith was born.

Another possibility was Samuel Smith who was known as a trader among the Cherokee as early as 1730. Sam was said to have worked for a Mr. Celley (Kelley) at Tennessee Town during Sir Alexander Cuming’s visit.  As the names Samuel Smith and Samuel Cabin Smith show up in the family line, this trader Samuel Smith is especially intriguing.

Other traders like Cornelius Daugherty, Ludavic Grant, Nathanial Gist, and James Adair also traded with the Cherokee at that time, and all are believed to have taken Cherokee wives and fathered children.
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Curator note: James Hicks, a usual source for Cherokee lineage, identifies Cabin Smith only through his children, ie. AGNES6 FIELDS (JOHN FOX5, SUSANNA4EMORY, MARY3GRANT, LUDOVIC2, JOHN1GRAUNT) was born Abt. 1800.She married ARCHILLA SMITH, son of CABIN SMITH.