Catherine Gunter, of the Paint Clan

Catherine Ghi-go-ne-li Gunter(Oo-lootsa/Bowles)

From the English Wikipedia page for Guntersville:

Guntersville was founded by German immigrant John Gunter (1765-1835) (the great-grandfather of American humorist Will Rogers), the wealthy owner of a salt mine in the early 19th century. In order to obtain more land to mine, John struck a deal with the Cherokee tribe that inhabited the area to use in his household as servants. As part of the deal, John married the daughter (Ghe-No-He-Li, aka Katy and Cathrine) of the tribe's chief (Chief Bushyhead of the Paint Clan) [sic - unknown] and agreed to give salt to the tribe. A town sprung up next to the mine and was named after Gunter.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cherokee-242

Catherine, the Cherokee wife of John Gunter, was probably born in the early 1770's. According to Emmet Starr she was the daughter of a woman named Ghi go ne li, granddaughter of a woman by the same name, and great granddaughter of Oo-loo-tsa. [1] Her clan is uncertain; Starr says that Oo loo tsa was of the Holly clan, but later says that Katie was of the Paint clan. Researcher James Hicks suggests without documentation that Catherine's father was a man named Kenoteta or Rising Fawn. [2] Catherine married John Gunter, a white man, about 1790 (based on the estimated birth dates of their children). He took a reservation on the north side of the Tennessee River "in right of his wife" under the treaty of 1819, [3] but then they moved across the Tennessee River and lived at Creek Path (now Guntersville, Alabama). [4]

John and Catherine were the parents of:

1. Samuel Gunter
2. Aky Gunter McCoy
3. Martha Jane Gunter Blackburn
4. Edward Gunter
5. Elizabeth Hunt Gunter Scrimsher
6. John Gunter
7. Catherine Gunter Lipe
8. [5] [6]

John and Catherine are not included on the 1835 Cherokee Census although all of their living children are. [7] Catherine died at home on August 11, 1835, seventeen days before the death of her husband. Both are believed to be buried near their home. [8] A memorial plaque has been erected in Guntersville, Alabama. [9]

Research Notes

There is no connection to anyone named “Bushyhead” except for an Internet myth, the name is retained to prevent duplicates. She was not the daughter or granddaughter of John Stuart, British officer and Indian Agent. His only Cherokee known child was a son born about 1765. There was no Cherokee chief named "Bushyhead” at this time.

There is no connection between Catherine and Chief Oconostota. She could not have been his wife since she was a child when he died.

At least one online tree claims, without source, an additional child Lydia Gunter Self.

From Winter of Discontent: the Influence of Will Rogers' Indian heritage upon his life and philosophy, by S. Fred Roach, Kennesaw College:

http://archives.columbusstate.edu/GAH/1984/15-23.pdf

John Gunther married a 15-year-old full-blood (Cherokee) girl, Catherine by name, of the Paint Clan. Gunther, who owned a salt flat, acquired his wife's hand in marriage by offering salt to her Clan "white the grass grows and the rivers run." Evidently, Catherine never learned to speak English, and John Gunther would not consent to their children learning Cherokee. The result of this situation was the torturing experience of a mother being unable to communicate with her children. The bleakness of Catherine's existence imposed such pain upon her that she would visit her own people for weeks at a time. The desire to see her children tormented the distraught mother, and she would return home for short periods, during which she was virtually unnoticed by both her husband and children [25]. This type of traumatic experience, although it is obviously impossible to prove, could easily have a lasting impression on the family of John Gunther and their descendants. And just as easily, it could have planted extremely negative feelings in that family concerning its Indian heritage.

"Catherine", Ka-Ti

• Birth : ABT 1768 Cherokee Nation-East
• Death : 11 AUG 1835 Alabama
• Gender: Female
• Parents: Father: Male, Unknown Full Blood Cherokee & Mother: Ghi Go Ne Li Ghi-go-ne-li, Daughter of
• Family: Marriage: Cherokee Nation-East
• Spouse: Gunter, John Birth : ABT 1770 Wales Death : 28 AUG 1835 Gunterville, Marshall County, Alabama

       Gender: Male

Children:

1. Gunter, Ned Birth : Cherokee Nation-East Gender: Male
2. Gunter, Samuel
3. Gunter, Aky
4. Gunter, Martha J. "Patsy"
5. Gunter, Edward
6. Gunter, Elizabeth
7. Gunter, John
8. Gunter, Catherine

   ---

References

• Footnote: 25. Telephone interview with James B. Rogers (Will Rogers' son), 6 January 1985; Day, Will Rogers: A Biography, p. 3. It should be noticed that James B. Rogers does not recall his father manifesting any sense of inferiority due to his Indian ancestry.
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Apr 13 2016, 19:12:51 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 11 2017, 19:26:53 UTC
• http://www.redeaglejw.net/dat620.htm#12
• Residence: Montgomery, Alabama, United States
  • Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 8 2020, 2:53:05 UTC