Famous Ancestor – Pocahontas?

Brown-Mannin-Fugate-Martin-Pettus-Native American Line
By Don Taylor

Having an account with Family Search and paying attention to the various notifications they generate can be fun. Every once in a while, I’ll receive a notice from FamilySearch and learn something fascinating. In this case, they suggested that Pocahontas is my 12^th great-grandmother. “Oh really,” I said.

I have followed these notifications in the past and found breaks in what FamilySearch has in their Family Tree and my research, so I didn’t hold much hope this connection is correct. Still, I figured I’d look carefully at what they are suggesting.

The supposed connection is on my mother’s father’s line.

• 00003[i] – My mother – Correct.[ii]
• 00006 – Clifford (aka Richard Earl) Brown (1903-1990) – Correct
• 00013 – Mary Elizabeth Manning  (1878-1983) – Correct.
• 00026 – John William Manning (1846-1888) – Agree.[iii]
• 00052 – Enoch Mannin (1823-1907) – Agree.
• 00105 – Rachel Fugate (1803-1870) – Agree.
• 00210 – Reuben Fugate (c. 1783-1833) – Tentative.[iv]
• 00420 – Josiah Fugate (1740-1830) – Tentative.
• 00840 – Randolph Fugate (1715-1776) – Tentative.
• 01681 – Martha (or Mary) Martin (1692-c. 1757) – Tentative.
• 03362 – Francis Martin (1657-1699) – Proposed.[v]
• 06725 – Christian Pettus (1636-1701) – Proposed.
• 13451 – Ka-Okee (1611-1641) – Proposed.
• 26903 – Pocahontas Matoaka Amonute Powhatan (c. 1859-1617) – Proposed.

This is only a four-generation stretch from what I tentatively had before and only an eight-generation extension from what I had previously researched. If correct, Pocahontas would be the most distant, known ancestor on my Brown-Montran line. Do I believe it? Yes, I think it is possible, and it puts me on a path for my future research to verify this relationship for my future Brown research.

Follow-up Action

In my Brown Research, I should focus on my Fugate-Martin-Pettis Line to prove or disprove this relationship.

Endnotes

[i] The numbers are Ahnentafel numbers.
[ii] Correct means that I know this is a correct person based upon personal knowledge and known DNA matches.
[iii] Agree means that I have researched this person, written about him or her, and that I agree with the relationship.
[iv] Tentative means that I have cursorily looked that this relationship and have not found anything to refute it.
[v] Proposed means this is an entirely new relationship and I have not researched it at all.