The "Cherokee Princess" and Other Family Legends: How to Test a Family Story

Royal ancestors, three brothers who came over, a famous relative, a Native American great-grandmother. How to respectfully test family legends, and what the records usually show.

3 min read

Almost every family has a legend. "We're descended from royalty." "Three brothers came over, and one went north, one went south and one went west." "We're related to Daniel Boone." "Great-grandma was a Cherokee princess." Some of these stories are true, many are partly true, and some can't be true. Testing them is one of the most interesting parts of family history.

A method for any family story

1. Write down the story exactly, as it was told, and who told it, and who told them.
2. Break it into testable claims. "Great-grandma was Cherokee" is one claim; "she was a princess" is another; "she lived in Tennessee" is a third.
3. Research the family normally, generation by generation, without assuming the story is true. Let the records lead.
4. Look for the kernel of truth. Most legends grow from something real: a famous person who was a neighbor, an ancestor who served under a well-known general, a family that lived near a reservation.

The "Cherokee princess" story

A great many American families, especially in the South and Appalachia, have a story about a Cherokee great-grandmother, often described as a princess. There are a few things to know:

• There were no princesses. The Cherokee and other Native nations didn't have royalty in the European sense. The "princess" detail usually signals a story that grew over time.
• Some stories are true. Many Americans do have Native American ancestors, and records sometimes confirm them.
• Some stories covered something else. Historians have noted that some families used a claimed Native ancestor to explain features or family history at a time when acknowledging African ancestry carried severe legal and social consequences. Others came from a romantic idea popular in the 1800s and early 1900s.

How to test it

• Research the specific ancestor in census, land, court and church records. Check how the person was described in every census.
• Check the records created for Native people, such as the Dawes Rolls (1898–1914) for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole nations, and the Guion Miller Roll (1906–1909) of Eastern Cherokee claimants. The Guion Miller applications are valuable even when rejected, because applicants described their families in detail. See Native American Ancestors.
• Understand what DNA can and can't show. Ethnicity estimates may show Indigenous American ancestry, but they can't identify a tribe, and a small or missing percentage doesn't settle the question for an ancestor several generations back.

Approach this research with respect. Membership in a tribal nation is determined by each nation according to its own rules, not by DNA tests or family stories, and Native communities have long dealt with outsiders claiming their heritage.

Other common legends

"Three brothers came over"

This is one of the most common immigrant stories, and usually a simplification. Often it began when a family found several men of their surname in early records and assumed they were brothers. Research each man's records separately before accepting the relationship.

"We're related to someone famous"

Sharing a surname with a famous person doesn't make you related. If the connection is real, you should be able to trace your line to a known relative of the famous person, generation by generation. Sometimes the truth is "we're descended from his cousin" or "our ancestor served with him."

"Our ancestor came on the Mayflower" or "descended from royalty"

Both are possible, and both have been thoroughly researched by others. The General Society of Mayflower Descendants has documented the descendants of Mayflower passengers for several generations, and published "royal descent" lines exist for many colonial immigrants. If your tree connects to one, compare your line with these published works, and be skeptical of connections that lack sources. See Lineage Societies.

"Our name was changed at Ellis Island"

Almost certainly not, though the name may well have changed. See Was Our Name Changed at Ellis Island?

"The family lost everything in the Civil War" or "the courthouse burned"

Sometimes true! Check for record losses before giving up on a county. See When the Courthouse Burned.

When the story turns out to be false

Disproving a cherished story can be awkward. Share what you found gently, with the evidence, and acknowledge what was true. A great-grandmother who wasn't a Cherokee princess was still a real woman with her own remarkable story, and finding that story is the point.