Table 4
Analysis of Swanton Birth Records Cited in Petition Appendix E
Name: Clarence Brow
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: marriage
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Leonard James Brow
Clearly marked as White: Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: birth, and birth of daughter
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Raymond Brow
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: marriage, death
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: William Brow
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Delia Genevin Hoague
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Marion Alice Janes
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Violet May Perry
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Fred Harry Vincellette
Clearly marked as White: X (yes)
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Clarence A. Bohannon
All or none crossed out: X
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: (Henry) Harrison Brow
All or none crossed out: X
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: marriage
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Loretta Brow
All or none crossed out: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Mary Eva Goodreau
All or none crossed out: X
Not in the Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Henry Mitchell Hakey
All or none crossed out: X
Vital Records shows as White: marriage, father's birth
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: (male) Grignon
Ambiguous: X (yes)
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: (female) Curtis
Appears marked as white and Indian: X
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Appears marked as white and Indian: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: birth, death, and mother's death
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: X
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Leonard Brow
Appears marked as white and Indian: X (yes)
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: birth, marriage, death
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: No
Name: Blanche Brow
Appears marked as white and Indian: X (yes)
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: birth, marriage
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Chart's: No
Name: Olive Frances Cota
Appears marked as white and Indian: X (yes)
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Chart's: No
Name: Emma St. Francis
Appears marked as white and Indian: X (yes)
Siblings clearly White: X (yes)
Vital Records shows as White: birth
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Chart's: No
TOTALS:
Clearly marked as White: 8
All or none crossed out: 5
Ambiguous: 1
Appears marked as white and Indian: 6
Siblings clearly White: 8
Vital Records shows as White: 9
Not in Family Descendancy Charts: 7
Possible Indian in Petitioner's Family Charts: 0
In the petitioner's discussion of these twenty birth records, it declared these children were identified as Indian-white in the records (which was inaccurate) and said this was partly due to the influence of midwife Cordelia Brow. The petitioner claims she was "by all reports proud of her Abenaki heritage" (Petition: 211). On closer examination, this assertion does not hold up. Not only are most of the twenty individuals listed in petitioner's Appendix E indisputably identified as White in the records, but five of the seven grandchildren of Cordelia Brow who appear on that list are not recorded as Indian-White. Because of the petitioner's reliance on this evidence and the large number of descendants in the petitioner's lists who come through this line, this issue is worth looking at in detail.
Cordelia Brow is individual #20 on the petitioner's St. Laurent Family Descendancy Chart. Petitioner assigns her a prominent place in the early twentieth century history of the petitioning group (Petition: 74-75, 211). There are three children of Cordelia's son Henry (#92 on the St. Laurent Family Descendancy Chart) in the list in Appendix E: Leonard
James, William, and Harrison (Henry) Brow. The records for Leonard James and William indicate they are White. The record for Harrison has all colors or races crossed out, indicating nothing. In addition, the record for Eleanor, another child of Henry born during this time period, but omitted from petitioner's list, indicates she is White. All four of these birth records list the father Henry as the informant. His name appears on the signature line certifying the accuracy of the records. While petitioner may claim that Cordelia Brow was proud of her Abenaki heritage, and that she raised her children with an Indian identity, there is no indication in these birth records that her son Henry identified as Indian in any way (Petition:74). These four birth records, which he signed, do not list his children as Indian (Swanton, Vermont, Town Clerk 1904-1920).
Two children of Cordelia's son Edward (individual #90 on the St. Laurent Family Descendancy Chart) are included in the list of twenty in Appendix E: Clarence and Leonard. Their father was the informant for both of their births. One indicates the child is White; the other appears as Indian-White. However, a third child, Lain (Lillian) was born to Edward during this time period, and her record lists her as White (Swanton, Vermont, Town Clerk 1904-1920). She is not included on petitioner's Appendix E.A third set of grandchildren of Cordelia appears on Appendix E. These are the children of Cordelia's son James (individual #93 on the St. Laurent Family Descendancy Chart)—Blanche and Raymond Brow. Both of their records indicate their father was the informant, and his name appears in the signature line. One clearly indicates the child is White; the other appears as Indian-White. Again, these erratic, and sometimes ambiguous, notations on birth records are weak evidence of Indian Identity (Swanton, Vermont, Town
Clerk 1904-1920). They are not consistent with the petitioner's account of a family that strongly maintained its Indian heritage (Petition: 74-75).
Individual Family Genealogies Contain Unproven Assumptions of Abenaki Heritage
It is also worthwhile to examine a couple of families in more detail to assess the strength of their claims of Abenaki heritage and the clarity of their family genealogies. According to the Family Descendancy Charts Chief Leonard "Blackie" Lampman is part of the Flavien Hoague and John Morits lines. His ancestry, as extracted from the petitioner's Family Descendancy Charts, is shown below. The progenitors are shown in bold.
John Morits and Elizabeth Salisbury
William Morits and (his wife) Mary Jane Martin
(their son)
John Walter Lampman and (his wife) Martha Morits
(their son)
Herbert John Lampman and (his wife) Josephine Hoague
(their son)
Leonard "Blackie" Miles Lampman
Flavien Hoague and (his wife) Adele Bellaire
(their son)
Napolean "Nep" Hoague and (his wife) Joseph "Jessie" Sharkey
(their daughter)
Josephine Hoague and (her husband) Herbert John Lampman
(their son)
Leonard "Blackie" Miles Lampman
In order to establish Abenaki tribal ancestry, there needs to be, at a minimum, one ancestor who is a member of the historic Abenaki tribe that resided in the Missisquoi area. An examination of each line leading to Leonard "Blackie" Miles Lampman undermines petitioner's claims. John Morits is listed as one progenitor, but there is no evidence that he is Abenaki. Further even if he were Abenaki, there needs to be a clear line from him to Leonard Lampman. However, the John Morits line turns cloudy with his son William Morits. There are records that suggest there were at least two men named William Morits living in northwestern Vermont at that time.
One of them was born in Highgate in 1820 and married Mary Jane Martin at age 50 on September 1, 1870 (State of Vermont, Public Records Division 1760-1870: Marriage-Groom card). His father was John Morits and his mother was Betsy Salisbury, as indicated on petitioner's charts. The federal census for Highgate appears to show this William Morits and his wife Mary Jane in 1880 with four children. In the census, his birthplace is given as Vermont. However, the age of the man shown in the census (age 45 in 1880) does not
correspond with the age of the one in the marriage record (age 50 in 1870). There is also a death record for a William Morits born in Canada, who was a basketmaker. He died in 1885 in Swanton at age 56 (State of Vermont, Public Records Division 1871-1908:Death card). The age of the man in this death record does not match either of the two previous records. These three records give three birth dates-1820, 1829, and 1835—and two places of birth—Highgate, Vt., and Canada. The petitioner's charts assume there was only one William Morits. It is not at all clear that all three of these records describe the same person.
In addition, according to the Family Descendancy Charts, William Morits and his wife Mary Jane Martin are the parents of Martha Morits, the next link in the family tree down to Chief Leonard "Blackie" Miles Lampman. However, Martha was born in 1865, five years before Mary Jane and William were married (State of Vermont, Public Records Division 1871-1908: Marriage - Bridecard). She seems to be a child of a previous marriage. The possibility that William Morits had been married before he wed Mary Jane Martin is strengthened by additional evidence regarding his children. Information about a prior marriage is not included in the petitioner's Family Descendancy Charts though.The list of William Morits's children in the Family Descendancy Chart includes George, born in 1862. According to his marriage record, however, he was actually born in 1858 (State of Vermont, Public Records Division 1871-1908:Marriage-Groom card). Either way, he too was born before William and Mary Jane were married in 1870. George's marriage record lists his mother as Betsey, not Mary Jane Martin. This adds weight to the theory that William Morits had been previously married when he married Mary Jane Martin in 1870. When you consider that William was age 50 when he married her, this inference seems reasonable.
It is also possible that the William L. Moretts shown in the house next to William H. Moretts on the 1880 census is another child of William's first marriage. William L. is shown as age 26 in 1880. There is a marriage record that seems to roughly correspond with this individual, though it raises more questions. It shows this younger William Morits marrying for the second time at age 35 in 1892. The confusing thing is that while his father is listed as William, his mother is listed as Matilda not Betsey and not Mary Jane. This again raises the question of whether there were two older William Moritses. The confusion in this second generation is increased by the fact that there is another Willie Morits, much younger than William L. Morits. Willie Morits is clearly the son of William and Mary Jane, according to his marriage record in 1901 when he wed Mary Hoag at age 21. The Family Descendancy Charts do not resolve this confusion.
The Family Descendancy Charts revise a statement made in the Petition that Leonard "Blackie" Lampman's parents were first cousins. The petition had declared that their mothers were both daughters of William Morits (Petition:77). This account was changed in the 1995 submission where Leonard's mother is shown as descending from the Hoagues, not the Moritses.Examining the Flavien Hoague line next, one looks again for evidence that progenitor Flavien Hoague was Abenaki, but the records do not provide it. The marriage record of Flavien and his wife Adele Bellaire can be found on the Drouin microfilms 83. for St. Rosalie parish, County of Bagot, Quebec, for 1855 (Drouin Genealogical Institute 1989). This Catholic French Canadian marriage record indicates that Flavien Hogue was a day laborer,
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FOOTNOTE:
83. These microfilms were created by the Drouin Genealogical Institute in the 1940's. The collection contains 2,366 microfilms of French Canadian vital records organized by church. They can be found at the Bibliotheque Centrale de Montreal, among other places.
living in that parish. He was the minor son of Frangois Hogue and Marie Plante of that parish, and married to Adele Vetu dit [known as] Bellaire, minor daughter of Joseph Vetu dit Bellaire and of Genevieve Cadieux. The bride's father was also a day laborer of that parish. There is nothing in that record that gives any hint of Indian ancestry. The individuals all appear to be French Canadian.
The fact that Flavien's grandfather was listed as a farmer suggests they were not transient; instead it indicates they were settled in that area. So, there were two generations of Hogues living in Quebec before Flavien's birth. Several years after Flavien married in 1855, he moved to Vermont, as the record of his children's births in Swanton in the late 1850's demonstrate. Nothing in the Flavien Hogue line gives any indication of Abenaki ancestry.
An examination of the genealogy of another well-known member of the contemporary Abenaki community is in order. The genealogy of Homer St. Francis is provided in the St. Francis family line in the Family Descendancy Charts. His genealogy, according to those charts, goes back to several ofthe progenitors: Mitchell St. Francis,
Flavien Hoague, Joseph Colomb, Hippolyte St. Laurent, and Eli Hakey. For ease of reference, his genealogy is extracted here, with progenitors shown in bold:
Joseph Colomb
(his son)
Lewis Colomb and (his wife) Sophie St. Laurent, (dau. of Hippolyte St. Laurent and Elizabeth LaFrance)
(Lewis and Sophie's daugher)
Cordelia Colomb Flavien and (her husband) Mitchell St. Francis and
(their son)
Nazaire St.. Francis and (his wife) Clara Hoague, (dau. of Flavien Hoague and Adele Bellaire)
(Nazaire and Clara's son)
Nazaire St. Francis Jr. and (his wife) Florence Ethier Ethier Hakey
(their son)
Homer Walter St. Francis, Sr.
Before tracing back to the progenitors, some observations about the records related to recent generations are in order. Homer St. Francis was one of thirteen children, according to the petitioner's Family Descendancy Charts. Although he was born in 1935, some of his eldest siblings were born between 1904 and 1920 the time period during which petitioner claimed midwife Cordelia Brow was exercising her influence to ensure that Abenaki children were indicated as Indian in birth records (Petition: 74-75, 211). None of Homer's three siblings who were born in Swanton during that time period is designated as Indian in the original records. 84.
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FOOTNOTE:
84. The records for Dorothy St. Francis 1914, unnamed female child 1917, and John Alfred St. Francis 1920 are included in the State's Exhibits (Swanton, Vermont, Town Clerk 1904-1920).
In the previous generation of Nazaire St. Francis, Jr., the father of Homer Walter St. Francis Sr., there are also two Swanton births recorded during the first two decades of the 1900's. One is for Nazaire's younger sister Ida Zelda St. Francis, born in July 19, 1908. The informant on her birth record is her father Nazaire (Sr.). Her birth record states she is White. The 1910 birth record for Nazaire Jr.'s brother Clarence (Leo) also indicates his color as White. These records are included in the State's Exhibits (Swanton, Vermont, Town Clerk 1904-1920).
One way to trace Homer's ancestry is through his mother Florence Hakey. According to the Family Descendancy Charts she was the daughter of Eli Hakey. There is no indication that Eli Hakey was part of any Abenaki community in Swanton in the nineteenth century. He was born in Massachusetts and the 1900 census records indicate that his parents were born in Canada (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1900e). His family did not move to the northwest Vermont area until about 1890.Tracing the line from Nazaire St. Francis, Jr., to his grandfather Mitchell St. Francis one looks again in vain for evidence of Abenaki ancestry. Although it is tempting to draw the conclusion that the St. Francis surname comes from the St. Francis Abenakis of Quebec, there are absolutely no individuals with that surname in any of the historic censuses, or rolls, of Indians at Odanak/St. Francis. The petitioner's Family Descendancy Charts for this line states that Mitchell St. Francis was born in Vermont in 1841. This gives the impression that this family was always resident in northwestern Vermont. However, the 1900 Federal Census records state that Mitchell was born in Quebec in 1835, that he immigrated to the United States in 1850, and that his parents were both born in Canada (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1900e). Other evidence from Canada confirms that the St. Francis family was a late arrival to Vermont.
The Canadian marriage records for two of Mitchell's sisters are available on the Drouin microfilms (Drouin Genealogical Institute 1989). These two sisters were married in Quebec in January 1851, just around the time Mitchell apparently migrated to the U.S. The records are both from the parish of Ste. Brigide, in Iberville County. The church marriage records describe the girls as minor daughters of the late Francois St. Francis and Charlotte Lacombe of St. Gregoire. 85. They are not described as Indian; they are not described as transients; they are described as local residents.
Examining the line through Nazaire Jr.'s mother, Clara Hoague, leads to Flavien Hoague. As discussed in the Lampman analysis, Flavien appears to be French Canadian, not Indian. The records for Clara Hoague are somewhat confusing, since she does not appear on the 1880 census with the rest of her siblings. She also appears to be called Persis Hoague at certain times and was married previously to John Brow (State of Vermont, Public Records Division 1871-1908).If the line to an Abenaki goes back through Nazaire St. Francis's mother, Cordelia Colomb, then we need to check for Abenaki heritage in her grandfathers Joseph Colomb and Hippolyte St. Laurent. Both these men were born in Canada. In fact, according to the Family Descendancy Charts, all of Joseph Colomb's children were also born in Quebec. Gordon Day, the expert on Canadian Abenaki, did not believe either the Colomb or St. Laurent names were Abenaki. He said they were both French (Day 8/2/1977). In sum, there is no evidence of any Abenaki heritage in the genealogical records for Homer St. Francis. Even Gordon Day commented on this lack of documentation (Day 8/1988).
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FOOTNOTE:
85. These names match those of Mitchell St. Francis's parents as listed in the Petition and in Moody (Petition:222, Moody 1979:58, n.36).
