Where were the Indians that died on the Trail of Tears buried?

Question

One of my ancestors, Abraham Childers died on the Trail of Tears. Could anybody help me find out where he is buried...thanks

Answer 1

That appears like a million dollar question that is mostly up to speculation according to this document

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2005-12-25/news/0512240086_1_southern-illinois-university-trail-of-tears-cherokee

However we will need much more information to come up with a better answer you could try a Speculative Date of Birth, Names of Children , Speculative Date of Death

I have found some other information that might help you

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=2655&p=localities.northam.usa.states.georgia.counties.lumpkin

You also could check out

http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/cherokee-removal.html

That's the web site for the National Archives. Additionally I would also contact the Museum of the Cherokee Indian at http://www.cherokeemuseum.org/archives/ and the Cherokee Heritage Center at http://www.cherokeeheritage.org/?page_id=370

 

 

Answer 2

Virtually all of the  Cherokee who died on the Trail were quickly buried in unmarked graves where they died.  If you haven't yet read the Journal of Daniel Buttrick  it will give you a pretty clear idea what it was like.  There are other diaries and some others records of different detachments, so it's possible one might mention your ancestor.  All my family knows is that the person died along the route in Missouri and that's pretty much par for the course. The Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa (gilcrease.org) has digitized some of the muster rolls and a number of other Cherokee records so that might be a place to search. 

Answer 3

To complicate matters, there was more than one route involved in the "Trail of Tears." (I've visited some Trail of Tears historic sites in the last few years, on multiple routes...)

Was your ancestor Cherokee? (The "Trail" isn't restricted to Cherokee. Some other tribes were also "removed.") Do you know where he would have started from? With clues like that, you may not be able to find a grave, but at least you may find some clues to the route that he likely traveled.