George Golden Hawk Sizemore is an ancestor of my aunt by narriage, Dorothy Hughey. Scribd offers the following biography:
George was the 4th of 9 children born toGeorge "All" Sizemore(1750-1822) andAgnes "Aggie" Cornett Shepherd(1753-1833)[edit] Kentucky Pioneer Several statues were erected in his honor. The latest was in 1999 in Magoffin County, Kentucky.He has three markers at his gravesite near the old R.C. Salyer and Finley Arnett home. He livedin the meadows section of Magoffin County, KYnear the mouth of Oakley Creek. GeorgeSizemore and his sonWilliam "Blackhawk" Sizemorewere both reported to be legendary
figures in the region of Kentucky in which they resided.
[1]
George was a Cherokee later amember of the Whitetop Laurel Band of Cherokees. He escaped Trail of Tears. His family had to avoid the Indian census to avoid having their lands stolen. DNA links him to the Melungeon Indians.
[2]
From Thousandsticks a Leslie County, KY newspaper "The family history of the Sizemore family, among the first settlers of Leslie County, is taken from our files of February 1938. It was written by Judge L. D. Lewis, deceased. 'John "Rockhouse" Sizemore was the first man thatever had a residence at the mouth of Rockhouse Creek of the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River where the town of Hyden is now. He came here….about 1817, his wife was Nancy Bowling. He had a sister that married William Begley…..John Sizemore died about 1850. His wife …died about the year 1870. John Sizemore was related to George Golden Hawk Sizemore.. George Golden Hawk lived and died somewhere in or near the Floyd County line. John Sizemore the ancestor of all these people was perhaps half Cherokee born in North Carolina ca.1781; died in KY on 6 May 1864; married first Sallie Anderson who reportedly died ca. 1842.Researcher Judy Salyer has reported on the Magoffin Co, KY Sizemore genealogy website that Perry Co, KY records show the marriage of a George Golden Hawk Sizemore to Mary Ann Womack on 15 May 1826. George is reported to have fathered 13 children by Polly Womack, but Eastern Cherokee Applications indicate that he and wife Sallie Anderson had children as late as ca. 1837. He also was the father of at least six Sizemore children by Alethia (Richardson)Goodman, and in one court case is reputed to have said that he was the father of a total of 55children. He is referred to in different records as "Gulden", "Golden", "Goulden", "Golden" and "Goldenhawk". I am not aware of the source of his nickname Goldenhawk or Golden, nor have I determined the source of the nickname of his son William "Blackhawk" Sizemore. This George Sizemore and his son Blackhawk were both reported to be legendary figures in the region of KY in which they resided."
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[edit] Sizemore Indians struggle for survival and acceptance. A group of Indians escaped the Trail of Tears. They were taken in by a family named Sizemore in the Whitetop Mountain area of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. They took the last name of Sizemore. The Indians now known as Sizemore intermarried with the Cherokee Indians in the area. Sixty years after the Trail of Tears they became known as the Whitetop Laurel Band of Cherokees. They were never registered in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Census. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians denied the applications of 2175 Whitetop Sizemores to apply for Cherokee Nation funds. Some said they belonged in the Muscogee (Creek)Indian nation. They avoided the Indian census both to avoid having their farms stolen and because they were passing for white in Kentucky. [2] Other Sizemores joined the Metis and the Melungeon. Many Sizemores applied for government funds with Eastern Cherokee enrollment applications ECAs. Most were denied because they were not on previous a census. More detail is on ECA#10133, #12477, #5113The last name Sizemore comes from the English name Sismore [edit] Wives and Children George was 1/4 Cherokee and fathered 52 children.
[4]
Brought before a Floyd County, Kentucky circuit court for having too many wives, told the judge "If I was as pretty a man as you I'd of had more."
