Re: Catawba Cheif "King Hagler"
-
In reply to:
Catawba Cheif "King Hagler"
Nanci Price 2/13/01
Issac Oxford, a great-grandson of Jonathon Barrett, is the author of the earliest known history of the Oxford family. In it, Issac Oxford states his grandfather, Samuel Oxford Jr., married "a Barrett". In a rather rambling account, he states the said Barrettmarried "a Jarman", and Oxford's wife was "a daughter of "the first marriage". This is the only information he gives about the Barrets.
To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't until the 1930's that a legend of Jonathon Barrett having married a Catawba Indian came to light, and it was limited to only one of the many lines of descendents from Jonathon's daughter, Batsheba Barrett Oxford.
The legend appeared in an Oxford family newsletter in the early 1990's, and has since been reported by many Oxford-Barrett descendents, and in many places, as fact. There are no proofs of the legend though, and no supporting evidence which is factually based.
Neither Catawba records, nor North Carolina records, give any proof of, or supporting evidence in support of, any contention that Jonathon Barrett was, as has been reported, "a mountain man", lived among the Indians, or was married to an Indian. There is, in fact, no proof, or evidence, to show there was ever even such a person as Jarfly Jarmin.
The legend, which is exclusive to only one branch of the family, and which has a single source, is supported only by assumption, speculation, and error.
I can only advise you to do what all genealogists are urged to do - accept nothing as certain until you've proven it yourself. Circumstantial evidence can be used, but must be strong enough to constitute proof in a court of law. By all known rules of genealogical research, the legend of Jonathon Barrett having married Jarfly Jarmin fails to meet the standards required to establish the story as fact.
More Replies:
-
Re: Catawba Cheif "King Hagler"
Nanci Price 2/18/01
-
Re: Catawba Cheif "King Hagler"
2/19/01
-
Re: Catawba Cheif "King Hagler"