Notes for Rachel Harriet Hopkins: She was on the 1880 Census of Collin Co., TX. Her husband had passed away by 1876 and she took her family to Collin Co., TX. On the census, she is Wheeler, Rachel TX COLLIN CO. E. D. 23 179 1880.
She did not apply for Cherokee Indian status, but added her own recollections to add as a witness to an Indian application by her cousin, according to the book "Cherokee by Blood". She is a cousin to Hattie E. Cole Stepp. She is being placed with the Hopkins family with a connection to the Clouse family as we know she was related. She stated that her aunt was married to Israel Cole. Her aunt must have been Elizabeth Clouse. We simply don't know the correct connection. Rachel stated that Hattie E. Cole Stepp's grandmother and Rachel Harriet Hopkins' mother where sisters. Hattie's grandmother's were Nancy Hopkins Anderson and Martha Baker Cole. One of Hattie's great grandmother's was Rachel McFarland. The Hopkins family that Rachel Wheelis is being placed with also went from Hancock/Claiborne Co, TN and on to Decatur Co, IA, as Rachel and William Wheelis did. William Wheelis' parents also lived in Claiborne Co, TN. and are buried there.
Her headstone reads:
Rachel Harriet Wheelis May 19, 1830 Feb 22, 1909 Wife of William _____________________________
From Nancy McDonald's personal notes: Rachel Hopkins Wheelis could not read or write, according to all census. Also, to date, no evidence has been found that any of the Cole's had any Indian connection. Nancy Cole was head of her family and had five son's, according to the 1840 Census of Hancock Co, TN., but no husband has been found to date.
Rachel Harriet Wheelis is buried at Bethel Cemetery, Decatur, Texas.
1880 Census Collin County as Rachel Harriet Hopkins
The following information is from a book titled
Cherokee by Blood
21280. Mary Cole, RFD # 1, Box 38, Erick, Oklahoma. Rejected. Grandmother of 21282, and claims thru same source. Misc. Test. P. 2741. App #21280 - Mary Cole: "My name is Mary Cole. I live at Erick, Oklahoma. I am 57 years old and I was born near Mulberry Gap, Tennessee. I claim my Indian blood through my father, Lewis Anderson, who died in 1895 or 1896 and he was 76 years old when he died. He was born near Mulberry Gap, Tennessee. He got his Indian blood from his father, Abraham Anderson. I never knew him for he died before I was born. He died in Tennessee. Near Mulberry Gap. They say I am one eighth Cherokee. Abraham Anderson got his Indian blood from his father, Jacob Anderson. They say that he was a warrior. I think he lived in the same place. I understand that Jacob Anderson was captured by the whites in Tennessee on a creek. My father moved to Iowa when I was a small child and I married in Iowa. He died in Texas. He moved there from Iowa. The first time I ever filed a claim as an Indian is now. My father filed a claim before the Dawes Commission, but he never received anything. My father never received any money or land from the Government on account of his Indian blood. I never heard of my grandfather having an Indian name. Rachel Wheelis, whose post office address is Chico, Texas, knew my father in Tennessee." Signed: Mary Cole, Grove, Oklahoma - September 10, 1908.
21282. Hattie E. Stepp and 1 child, Wise, Texas. Rejected. Ancestors not on any roll. Were not parties to the treaties of 1835-6-46, and show no real connection with Eastern Cherokees.
Misc. Test. P. 1988. In re # 21282 - Rachel Wheelis: "My name is Rachel Wheelis, and I am 87 years old. I live at Alvord, Texas. I know Hattie E. Stepp, I am a cousin of hers, her grandmother, and my mother were own sisters. I remember George Cole, the grandfather of Mrs. Stepp very well. George Cole died in Iowa about 20 years ago. He was a very old man at the time of his death, close on 80 (? Blurred). He was born in Hancock County, Tennessee. I moved to Iowa in 1850, and it was after I went there that George Cole came out to that part of the country. I never heard him say anything about having Indian blood, but I know he had it because Isreal Cole, George Cole's grandfather married my aunt, and he was mighty nigh a full blood Indian. He lived and died in Hancock County, Tennessee. George Cole did not to my knowledge take any part in the Indian councils though he lived in that section. His mother was Nancy Cole. She was the daughter of Isreal Cole and never married. I never heard George Cole say why he did not receive any money in 1851. I have seen old Isreal Cole many a time. He did not live with the Indians, but with the whites. I do not know if he got any money from the Government on account of his Indian blood. I do not know anything about the Anderson side of Mrs. Stepp's ancestry." Signed: (X) Rachel Wheelis, Bridgeport, Texas - September 15, 1908
Misc. Test. P. 1989. 21282 - Hattie E. Stepp: "My name is Hattie E. Stepp, and I live in Alvord, Texas. I am 28 years old. I get my Indian blood through my father and mother both. My father, William Cole, died in Grier County, Oklahoma. He was 56 years old at the time of his death. My father was born in Hancock County, Tennessee. He was ¼ Cherokee Indian. I never heard my father talk much about his Indian blood. But I have often heard my mother talk Indian blood. My father never applied for lands or money in the Territory. My father was a grown man when he left Tennessee. My father got his Indian blood through his father, George Cole. George Cole, my grandfather, was about 70 years old when he died. I never heard of his getting any money from the Government. He must have been ½ Cherokee. Grandfather Cole did not associate with the Indians, but his father, my great grandfather, Isreal Cole, did mix with the Indians. I do not know where he lived and died. My mother, Mary Cole, got her Indian blood through her father, Lewis Anderson. My mother is living now at Erick, Oklahoma. She applied to participate in this fund." Signed: Hattie E. Stepp, Bridgeport, Texas - September 15, 1908 Exception Case. 21282. Hattie E. Stepp and 1 child, Rt. # 1, Box, Alvord, Texas. Rejected.
More About Rachel Harriet Hopkins: Burial: Unknown, Bethel Cemetery, Decatur, Texas.
More About Rachel Harriet Hopkins and William Wheelis: Marriage: 08 Jun 1848, Tennessee.
Children of Rachel Harriet Hopkins and William Wheelis are:
+Mary Elizabeth Wheelis, b. 16 Apr 1849, Hancock County, Tennessee, d. 12 Apr 1923, Grand River, Decatur County, Iowa.
Ruben Wheelis, b. 06 Apr 1852, Iowa, d. 01 Jan 1881, Washington County, Arkansas.
Frances Wheelis, b. 23 Feb 1854, Iowa, d. Jun 1910, Arkansas.
+Columbus Calloway Wheelis, b. 11 Aug 1855, Williams, Iowa - Decatur Co., d. 23 Nov 1906, Pike, Collin Co., Texas - Pike Cemetery.
Rachel Harriet Hopkins (b. 19 May 1830, d. 22 Feb 1909)
Notes for Rachel Harriet Hopkins: