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Welcome to the Trail of Tears. You will have the opportunity to think a few minutes upon one of the saddest events
in American history.
The Trail of Tears is not a place where you may want to linger. It was a cold and muddy miserable trip
made by people who had experienced broken treaties and broken hearts because of others' greed.
Big News--Big Event Coming Up in Illinois!!
The 15th annual conference of the National Trail of Tears Association will be held in Metropolis
on Monday through Thursday, September 20-23. National researchers and speakers will be present.
This will be a tremendous opportunity to hear native American researchers present at the many
sessions. Registration for the conference is open to all for $175 if application is postmarked by August 21. ($50
deduction for current TOTA members.) For application or questions about registration, contact Ashley Toler at TOTAadmin@arindianctr.org or at 50l.666.9032. Information about special dinners and hotel reservations will come with the reservation application.
The Illinois Chapter of TOTA will meet Wednesday night, September 22, after that day's conference
activities.
Yah Rah! Signs are up in Pope County on the largest known trail segment
of the Trail of Tears. The unveiling/celebration for this trail certification will
be on Wednesday, September 22, at the 15th Annual Conference of the National Trail of Tears Association.
Plans are being worked on for this occasion--stay tuned!!!!
Do You Have An Ancestor Who Traveled the Trail of Tears?
Anyone with a story to tell about ancestors who dropped off the
Trail of Tears is encouraged to share the story with the TOTA. The Illinois Chapter has an ongoing oral history
project trying to capture and preserve these fascinating accounts. Let us know if you have a story and we will be certain
you know the next time we have a program to collect more stories. This program is to be our first chapter
meeting in early 2011.
Note: There is a wonderful new brochure with GPS and mileage information if
you are interested in hiking, biking, or driving the original trail in Pope County. Find brochures at I-57 rest stops
and other tourism spots or phone Joe Crabb for a brochure.
The purpose of the Illinois TOTA is to discover and share information about the 1838-39 Trail of Tears through Southern
Illinois and to encourage the development and preservation of the Trail. The public is always invited
to the meetings.
Past Meetings:
Here are some of the past meetings of the Illinois Chapter of the National Trail of Tears Association for
you to browse to see if you are interested in membership in the National Trail of Tears Association:
The first and second 2010 TOTA meetings were in the Vienna library on the square in Vienna on Sunday afternoon, March
21 and at St. Mary's Church in Cobdeno on July 25. Both were sponsored by that county's historical society.
The new video of the Trail of Tears produced by the National Park Service was shown, and Dr. Herman Petersen
talked of his research to discover his Cherokee ancestry.
The Illinois Trail of Tears Association meets three times a year. However, in 2009, the third meeting was unable
to be scheduled as it was to be a celebration of new signage in Pope County and some delay made it impossible to have that
meeting.
The second meeting in 2009 was June 13 and featured a bus tour from the Ohio River to the Mississippi River
on the Trail of Tears through Southern Illinois. Two buses were used, and guides for Pope, Johnson, and Union Counties
were on each bus. A wonderful lunch was catered at the Vienna Park midway through the tour.
The first 2009 meeting of the Illinois Trail of Tears
Association was at the newly remodeled Morris Library on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale on
Sunday afternoon, April 26. Dr. Herman Peterson arranged for a program on the Special Collections section of the
library featuring materials about the TOT through Southern Illinois. Delicious refreshments were served.
The last meeting of 2008 was at the Jackson County Historical
Society building located at 1616 Edith Street, Murphysboro,
IL., on Sunday, September 28. People were encouraged to come share and hear stories by those whose ancestors
dropped off the Trail of Tears.
The purpose of the Illinois TOTA is to discover and share information about the 1838 Trail of Tears through
Southern Illinois and to encourage the development and preservation of the Trail. The public is always
invited to the meetings.
How old was Priscilla on the Trail?
We have no way of knowing, and probably neither did she. She was tiny as an adult, so her size may have been misleading.
Mrs. Lough Snider, who had seen Priscilla when she was a child, said Priscilla came to Mulkeytown around age 9. Maurice
Metzger in Illinois Magazine says she was about 9 when Silkwood first met her on a plantation. Ruby Henderson (whom
I consider the most reliable Priscilla authority we have) wrote she was "about 14" when Mr. Silkwood bought Priscilla's freedom.
Originally there was only a small sandstone marker on Priscilla's gravesite at Reid-Kirkpatrick Cemetery at
the Silkwood family plot. Two Christopher teachers, Lela Penwarden Spegal and Eloise Davis along with their students
and parents collected money and provided a new tombstone probably in 1961. Because people living at
that time knew Priscilla personally, I think the 1824 birth year used was probably as accurate as we will ever be able to
get. The inscription reads as follows:
PRISCILLA
LIVED HER LIFE
1824
1892
AT HALFWAY PLACE CALLED
SILKWOOD INN STAGECOACH LINE
NEAR MULKEYTOWN
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This web site was put up on the unlikely chance that someone reading it might know something about Priscilla Silkwood,
who was freed from slavery at Jonesboro, Illinois, on the Trail of Tears. Can you tell me anything about Priscilla?
Who originally enslaved her? Where was the plantation in the South where Brazilla Silkwood from Mulkeytown, IL, orginally
met her? (Some accounts say the plantation was in Georgia, some say in North Carolina. One story says South Carolina.)
Who was the "Cherokee chief" that the legend says owned her? Could he have been one of the two men who
with their pregnant wives were reported to have stayed at the home of Winstead Davie? One of those "chiefs" was the
Rev. Jesse Bushyhead, who led one of the detachments. He was not a chief, but was very prominent and highly respected
for his intelligence and oratorical skill. He was frequently called "Chief" and many years later,
his son Dennis was voted into the position of Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. The other chief at the Davie
home was reported to have been "Chief Nowata," and Geneva Wiggs pronounced it "Nowattee." That is confusing because
"Nowata" is a Delaware word, and I have been unable to find any Cherokee by that name.
Someone said there was a photo of Priscilla, but early researchers never found one. Do you have one in your
attic? We did find in 2009 a family photo of the Harrison family with whom Priscilla lived after the death of Brazilla
Silkwood, and family oral tradition said that one was Priscilla. We are still hoping to find a clear photo of Priscilla
by herself.
I have been unable to find Priscilla's freedom papers. John Allen thought they were at the Franklin County
court house, and they may have been when he wrote that. The papers would have only been there if they survived
the 1843 courthouse fire. When I went there, they told me no such papers are there now. I wrote the state
address the courthouse employee gave me in case the papers had been transferred to Springfield, but I did not even receive
the courtesy of a reply. If you have any information, please email me!
To read my journal, click here.
To read my Amazon.com blog, click here.
Southern Illinois Writers Guild Information:
Southern Illinois Writers Guild will meet Thursday, February 18, at John
A. Logan College in Carterville in Room 148. Special guest will be Chandra Green. The public is always
welcome.
Illinois Chapter of TOTA Information:
The Illinois Trail of Tears Association meets three times a year. The purpose is to discover and share information
about the 1838 Trail of Tears through Southern Illinois and to encourage the development and preservation of the
Trail. The public is always invited to the meetings.
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All Horrors Are Not in the Past
It would be less horrible to contemplate the plight of the Cherokee if we knew such events did not go on today.
Unfortunately, horrors continue.
While 16,000 or so Cherokee were displaced from their homes and an estimated 4000 died, 180,000 have died recently
in Danfur, Sudan, of violence, hunger, and disease. An estimated l00,000 more are in refugee camps. Man's
inhumanity to man is always astounding.
We need examples of goodness to help us survive, and the true story of the Silkwoods and Priscilla give us an example.
There are heroes right now in Sudan, and someday we may learn their stories. Even if we don't learn about them, their
kindness and their imitation of Christ is making life better for those with whom they relate.
See March 12, 2009, sad update on Darfur. Click here and keep these people in your prayers.
Speaking or Appearance Dates for Sue:
Friday, February 5, Speaking on the Trail of Tears for the Marion Women's Club.
Saturday, February 6, 2010--Fifth Annual Winter Book
Fair at Illinois Centre Mall. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sue Glasco
17354 New Dennison Road
Marion, IL 62959
email: sueglasco@hotmail.com
(618)982-2552
Click here to email me:
To find out about my book Down on the Farm: One American Family's Dream or to learn more about our lives and my writing, click
here.
For the story of another young girl named Priscilla, who was also enslaved, click here.
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