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| Birth: | 10 May 1781 in prob. Creek Territory AL |
| Death: | 22 Mar 1828 in Crawford Co, GA |
| Sex: | F |
| Father: | Downs |
| Mother: | |
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Individual:
Notes for [Unknown] Downs:
Lavinia Downs is reported to have been the "Queen of Tuckabatchie" in the book "True Women" by Janice Woods Windle. Records maintained by her Indian descendants show that she was the wife of Chief Long Side of Tuckabatchie and had a son, Silas Downs. Tuckabatchie was a Creek village across the Chatahoochie River, some sixty miles distant from Fort Hawkins. Her husband was killed in a raid, leaving her and her young son in peril. She approached Col. Hawkins and proposed marriage. There is no confirmation that this is the same woman he married, but her prayer shawl, of calf skin and beads, and definitely of Creek origin, has been handed down to the women descendants of her family and is shown regularly at family reunions.
Her father has been reported to be either Silas Downs or Isaac Downs, and a descendant was named William Downs Carr. It is claimed by some descendants that her father was a Revolutionary War Hero. According to information from a Creek source, it is likely that her name was taken from a white family, but that her parents were likely full-blood Indians. We may never know.
"Lavinia Downs was probably a white woman, the daughter of Isaac Downs of Hancock Co., GA" according to "The Southern Indians and Benjamin Hawkins" by Florette Henri, p 334 (note 50). It was necessary to descendants to pass as white, for inheritance and to avoid a stigma.
Crawford Downs is mentioned in "Letters, Journals and Writings of Benjamin Hawkins Vol. II - 1802-1816" on page 775, and footnote reads "probably a relative of Lavinia Downs." A Crawford Downs shows up in the marriage and census records of Alabama at ages that may make him a brother. Crawford Downs also purchased from the estate of Benjamin Hawkins, as did Silas Downs. A Crawford Downs married Mary Ann Butler, daughter of Jesse Butler and a descendant of a Beale family of Pennsylvania, may of which were Quaker. Jesse Butler died 1827 in Morgan Co., GA; Mary Ann Butler was born c 1811 and had sister Epsey B. Butler. Mary Downs named her first daughter Epsey B. Carr in 1801.
Note: A Silas Downs was born bef 1794 and was "of Harris, GA" and married Nancy Bridges 21 Dec 1819 in Warren, GA. His son was shown as Crawford Downs, who married Elizabeth Downs 10 Jul 1810 in Randolph Co., GA, and he is shown therefore born about 1785 and "of Harris, GA." (LDS). Obviously these dates don't work, and these men may be brothers or cousins. [I think that one Crawford Downs was the brother of Lavinia Downs and Mary Downs.]
Family stories indicate that Mary Downs (who married Henry Carr) was the sister of Lavinia Downs. The family reports exact birthdates for both women. It is possible that they were not "natural" sisters, and it is possible that Mary Downs' father (or both of their fathers) was in fact one of the Downs from Maryland who was a revolutionary war hero. Both may be half Creek.
Other Downs Family information:
William Downs married Elsey Barrett in Georgia around 1780, and had children who are "known" after 1800. Since Epsey B. Carr and Epsie B. Carr are names of descendants, as is William Downs Carr, I wonder if this may be the right family of our ancestors. This man WAS a revolutionary soldier, and his family DID have Maryland connections!
See:
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/d/o/n/Sharlotte--N-Donnelly/
sixth generation of Manie Kathleen Bell by donnelly@mail.one.net
http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/m/i/l/Marilyn-B-Millwe/index.html
is the Barrett family of Georgia and Maryland, though this "branch" of the family is not listed, and the author Marilyn Millwe does not see a connection.
Children of [Unknown] Downs are:
i. Lavinia Downs, born 10 May 1781 in Prob. Creek Territory in present-day AL; died 22 Mar 1828 in Crawford Co., GA; married (1) Chief Long Side Abt. 1792; born Bef. 1777; died Bef. 25 Nov 1797 in prob. Creek Nation, eastern AL; married (2) Col. Benjamin Hawkins 09 Jan 1812 in Ft. Hawkins, Jones, GA; born 15 Aug 1754 in Bute Co., NC; died 06 Jun 1816 in Roberta, GA.
Notes for Lavinia Downs:
Lavinia Downs was of the Lower Ocmulgee Creek Nation, and was first the wife of Chief Long Side of Tuckabatchie (Tookautchee). He was killed in a raid, and she was widowed with a young son, Silas. He is said to have been born in 1792 but was more likely after 1794. Her reported birthdate was 10 May 1781.
White men had been trading with the Indians of Alabama and Georgia from before 1730, and it was the custom that Indian maidens would take white husbands without much hesitation. It was common that all children of a Creek woman were considered part of the Creek community. It is possible that Lavinia was full, half, or less Creek, but was considered Creek and was married to a chief, or town leader.
Lavinia passed to her daughter, Cherokee (Hawkins) Lawshee, her Creek prayer shawl which was passed on later to her daughter, etc., and is still owned by a descendant (in 2000).
Lavinia lived at the Creek agency (in Crawford Co., GA) with her husband, Col. Benjamin Hawkins until his death. At her death, over a decade later, she was still living in Crawford County. One of her daughters was buried in Roberta, the county seat, and records from a lawsuit / complaint indicate that that daughter, Jeffersonia, lived with Lavinia. She was buried at Ft. Hawkins, and her grave is not marked. Her obituary was carried in the Milledgeville paper, as that was (then) a major center and one-time state capital.
Page 60 of the Crawford County Guardian Bonds Book "A" states that Richard W. Ellis was appointed adminsitrator of her estate on March 3, 1834. Hiram Troutman and Bryan Bateman acted as security and a bond of $500 was posted. The minimal bond indicates that Pound was correct in stating that she lost most of her inheritance from Benjamin. Hiram Troutman was the father of Joanna Troutman who sewed the famous flag carried into the Texas Revolution by the Georgia volunteers.
The Tuckabatchie tribe was Ocmulgee, part of the Mississippian Indians known to have inhabited the southeastern United States and known for the building of ceremonial and funereal mounds. Adjacent to Fort Hawkins is one of the better known sites of Ocmulgee heritage, Ocmulgee National Monument.
http://www.nps.gov/ocmu/
The Tuckabatchie community (all males of fighting age) was wiped out (at the same battle as were many others) by a force led by Andrew Jackson, probably shortly after the War of 1812. Two of Lavinia's sons-in-law participated in the War of 1812 under Jackson but no family stories exist of any involvement against the Indians.
That Lavinia was Creek was kept secret throughout the part of the family that remained in Water Valley, Mississippi after 1850. The part of the family that moved to San Marcos was aware of the secret and kept the history alive. Her heritage is commemorated by the book "True Women" by Janice Woods Windle, which has been made into a mini-series (and slightly fictionalized by screen-writers).
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