Sarah Jane East

My great-great-great grandmother was Sarah Jane East born about 1840 in Alabama and married to Larry Waits.One of their daughters was my great-great grandmother, Martha Maudie Waits (born July 20, 1860) who married William Jasper Rice. It has always been said that M.M. Waits Rice was half Cherokee, but I have not been able to "prove" this.I can not find Indians connected with the Waits line except those who married into the family, so I thought maybe the Indian ancestors could be on the East side.Does anyone have any information about Sarah Jane East's ancestors?I don't know her parents, etc.