Theory on Frances Anne Shiflett

Okay, so all this discussion on John Allen's land purchase in 1900 brings me to thinking about where in the world Frances Anne Shifflet (his mother) came from.  I'm going to try to coherently express my current theory below.  Your comments/thoughts/questions would be appreciated.

To me...it all seems to be coming together, little by little.  We don't have proof of a lot of things, but I can't help but fall back on what I would say are our "best bets".  If we always waited on proof for everything, we'd never get anywhere.  We have to use our "gut instinct" and our imagination at times.  So here goes...

The Allen family story says Frances Shiflett was 1/2 Cherokee.  Until recently, I've largely discounted this theory.  But at this point, I'm coming to believe it.  Here's my theory:

From John William Allen's deed, and what we've discovered through it, I have no doubt that he knew of the availability of the Martin Collier Home Place through his neighbor on the hill, Solomon Shiflett...Martin Collier's son-in-law (husband to Frances Collier, daughter of Martin Collier).  That is so cool.

So my "gut" is now telling me that Frances Shiflett was the daughter of a female Native American (Wendell Allen insists that his Dad, Russell, told him that his Grandmother Shiflett was 1/2 Cherokee) and a white mountain man.

Her dad was very possibly Stephen Shiflett, father of Solomon Shiflett (mentioned above), who had a propensity of siring many children, and is known to have done so through at least two different woman.  As I mentioned above, we know that Stephen, and later his son Solomon, were neighbors of Frances Shiflett when she lived on her 66 acre property between 1866 and her death in 1898.  Stephen was close to 50 years old when Frances was born.  Stephen's oldest son (in our records), Edmund Shiflett was around 22 at the time of her birth, so it is quite possible that one of Stephen's kids (another son, Thomas Shiflett, would have been about 18 at the time of her birth) could have sired Frances, making Stephen her Grandfather (and Solomon her Uncle, only about 5 years older than she was).

The Native American idea helps to explain why Frances was so much further south--living with Carr and Temple Allen in Carroll County, VA, as the family story goes--when she became pregnant.  This may also explain why she ended up essentially buried alone...not claimed by the Cherokees and never fully claimed by the white side of her 'family'.

The Cherokees are known to have lived largely in the mountains of Tennessee, western North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia and other areas in the south.  There's not much mention of Cherokees in Virginia, but it wouldn't be surprising at all to find a few in the western mountains of Virginia by the early 1800's.

So let's say Frances' Cherokee mother was impregnated by Stephen Shiflett (or one of his older sons) around 1823 (the year it is believed that Frances was born).  This white man wouldn't have stuck around to have anything to do with her.  So the mother probably did all she could to raise the girl on her own.  Things were extremely difficult at the time for the Cherokee.  The white settlers wanted them off what they felt was their land.  President Andrew Jackson implemented the removal of the Native Americans with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830.  The mother would most likely have stayed with her tribe to raise the young girl, for the support they would have provided.  But her tribe was probably being pushed out...eventually pushed to the barren lands of Oklahoma.

But at some point, for whatever reason, Frances ended up being separated from her mother.  Perhaps it occurred when the Cherokees were finally 'herded off' in 1838 (when Frances was a young  teenage girl) in what is known today as the "Trail of Tears".  But for some reason (perhaps because she was half white) Frances stayed behind in Virginia.

Perhaps people like the Allens of Carroll County, showed sympathy for her and took her in?  Now the family story says that she worked for the "wealthy" Carr and Temple Allen as a maid.  But this part of the story doesn't hold-up real well, due to the fact that records shows that Carr and Temple Allen of Carroll County, VA were far from people of means.  But she could certainly have done more than her share of work around the house, feeling as though she owed it to the Allens for giving her a place to stay.

But what is very interesting is that, through my research efforts, I have discovered that Carr and Temple Allen's youngest son was named Andrew Jackson Allen (and, according to U.S. Census records, he occasionally went simply by "Jackson").  This boy was roughly 18 when it is believed that John William Allen was conceived (Frances would have been about 20 at the time).  I believe, with confidence, that this boy is the "Jackson Allen" that, according to family story, Frances Shiflett told her son, little Johnnie Shiflett, was his father (whether it actually was his father is still up for debate, and will hopefully be proven through DNA testing some day).

According to family story, Frances Allen went north to Rockingham County, Virginia after becoming pregnant around 1848 to 1850.  I suspect that the Allen family forced her to leave, after discovering that she was pregnant with their son's baby. The family story even suggests that she was paid-off and told to get out (but again, this doesn't hold-up real well when one realizes that the Allens had very little at that time). Or maybe she just chose to leave to escape the embarrassment of being an unwed mother.  Either way, I suggest that she decided to head north to find her "father"...hoping that he might support her in her difficult situation.

I then believe that she ends-up working for Stephen Shiflett (and maybe even living with him) on his mountain side farm for roughly 16 years, before finally having enough money to put a deposit on the 66 acres she purchased for $80 1866 (keep in mind that we know it took her roughly 20 years to finally pay-off that purchase).

So that's my current theory.  Until I find evidence to the contrary, I think I'll be sticking to it.  I kinda like the way it flows anyway.  How about you?  What do you think?  It might make a nice little novel, wouldn't you say?