Mary (Scott) Campbell (1780 - aft. 1842)

Born 1780 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Ancestors

Wife of James Vann — married 1798 (to 1800) in Cherokee Nation (East)

Descendants

Died after 1842 after age 62 in Skin Bayou District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory

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Biography

Polly was Cherokee.

Mary (Polly) Scott was born about 1780 in the Cherokee Nation (East) . She was the daughter of Walter Scott, a white man, and Sarah Hicks a Cherokee woman. Her father died about 1796 and her mother married another white man named Robert Brown. She had three full sisters and three half-sisters and was one of nine wives of Cherokee Chief James Vann. Polly married Vann about 1798 when he was already married to her sister, Peggy. Moravian missionaries visited in 1800 and wrote, "...like most Indians Vann lives with 2 wives, sisters... ^[1] Polly and James were the parents of a son Robert (Robin). ^[2] Most of James' wives did not stay long, and he was living only with Peggy when he was murdered in 1809.

Polly married second Eliphus Holt, a white man, about 1802. ^[3] They were the parents of six children, James, William L, Elizabeth, Walter S, George Washington, and Temperance. In 1815 Eliphus claimed the right to manage enslaved people inherited by step-son Robert. ^[4] Eliphus, with a family of 5, took a reservation at Running Water Town "in right of his wife" in 1818. ^[5] they separated and Polly married another white man, William Campbell, about 1826. They were the parents of a son, Charles.

The family emigrated to Indian Territory as Old Settlers. in 1842 Polly filed claims for the property lost by Eliphus due to Removal. ^[6] Polly appears on the 1851 Old Settler Roll living in Skin Bayou district. ^[7] Her death date is unknown.

Sources

1. ↑ Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 1, pl.217
2. ↑ "... our dear Peggy ... has taken to herself a son of her deceased husband, whom he had with her sister Polly Scott, actually Holt. His name is Robin Vann." Crews & Starbuck,. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 4, p. 1675
3. ↑ "...there were present... a sister of Mrs. Vann named Polly, who at one time was a wife of James Vann and who now has a white man by the name of Holt as husband... " Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 3, p. 1269
4. ↑ Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 4, p. 1951
5. ↑ Hampton, David K. , compiler Cherokee Reservees. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1979. Images at Fold3. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 75.
6. ↑ 1842 Claims 1: FL1, pg 176, Claim# 12 by Mary Campbell (widow); 1842 Claims 2: FL1, pg 189, Claim# 18 by heirs: Mary Campbell (formerly Holt [nee Scott]), William L. Holt, & Eliza Campbell; reservation & ferry; witness Robert B Vann, step-son
7. ↑ Hampton, David K., transcriber. Cherokee Old Settlers, combined transcript of 1851 and 1896 Old Settler Payrolls. 1993. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 75, Microfilms T985 and 7RA34. Skin Bayou #175, p. 271.

• 1842 Claims: FL1, pg 176, Claim# 12 as Mary Campbell (widow of Eliphus Holt) "property given to son Walter Holt stolen"