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Historical records matching William Holland Thomas, Principal Chief
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About William Holland Thomas, Principal Chief
Adopted by Chief Yonaguska Drowning Bear. Drowning Bear called him Wil-Usdi or "Little Will."
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Birth parents of William Holland Thomas were Richard Thomas and Temperance Calvert. He was adopted by Chief Drowning Bear.
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This document http://www.usgwarchives.org/nc/jackson/images/thomas02.htm names two sons, William H. Thomas Jr. and James R. Thomas, and two daughters, Mrs. Angeline Sherrill and Sarah Love Thomas:
Adoption of Demarius Angeline Sherrill into The Eastern Band Of Cherokee
The resolution is dated November 16, 1874. It can be found in NARA M234, roll 107, frames 130 through 141.
Now therefore; be it Resolved by the council of the Eastern Band of the Cherokees in General Council assembled, and it is hereby authorized by the authority of the same. Resolved, that Mrs. Angeline Sherrill, daughter of Wm. H. Thomas, with her children, and Wm. H. Thomas, Jr. and James R. Thomas sons and Sarah Love Thomas daughter of the said W. H. Thomas be and the same are hereby adopted as members of the Eastern Band of Cherokees and entitled to all of the priviliges, benefits and immunities as other individual members of the band the same as if they had been born of Indian parents, and that our confidence in the integrity and good faith of the said Thomas remains unshaken and that we cordially approve.
Cherokee Chief, entrepreneur, politician, Confederate Colonel
William Holland Thomas was the only white man ever to be a chief of the Cherokees.
http://thomaslegion.net/thomas.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Holland_Thomas
William Holland Thomas (February 5, 1805 – May 10, 1893) was Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (the only white man ever to be a chief of the Cherokee) and was elected as North Carolina state senator, serving from 1848–1860. As a youth, he worked at the trading post at Qualla Town, where he learned the Cherokee language and befriended some of the people. He was adopted into the tribe by the chief Yonaguska, learned much of the Cherokee ways, and was named by the chief as his successor.
After becoming an attorney, Thomas represented the tribe in negotiations with the federal government related to Indian Removal, preserving the right for Yonaguska and other Cherokee to stay in North Carolina after the 1830s. With his own funds and those provided by the Cherokee, he bought land in North Carolina to be used by the Cherokee, much of which is now Qualla Boundary, the territory of the federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee. Thomas served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, when he led Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders.
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William Holland Thomas, Principal Chief's Timeline
| 1805 |
February 5, 1805
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Raccoon Creek
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| 1830 |
January 16, 1830
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Macon, Warren County, North Carolina, United States
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| 1858 |
1858
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NC, United States
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| 1860 |
1860
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NC, United States
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| 1862 |
1862
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NC, United States
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| 1893 |
May 10, 1893
Age 88
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Morganton, Burke County, North Carolina, United States
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