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Bushyhead (Stuart) Cherokee (1765 - abt. 1800)

Bushyhead "Oo na da tu" Cherokee formerly Stuart
Born in Cherokee Nation (East)map
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died about at about age 35 [location unknown]
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Profile last modified | Created 7 Feb 2022
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Bushyhead was Cherokee.
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Biography

According to Emmet Starr, a Cherokee woman, Susannah Emory, and British Indian Agent John Stuart were the parents of a son known as "Bushyhead." [1]

Research Notes

Susannah Emory's birth year is unknown, but likely between 1748-1752. John Stuart was in the Cherokee Nation between 1755 and 1776. If they had a child he could have been born no earlier that 1765 and no later than 1776. Starr appears to have erred in stating that this son was the father of a man known as John Bushyhead, a full-blood Cherokee born about 1780.

A persistent Internet myth states that "A Cherokee by the name of Chief Bushyhead, head of the Paint Clan, brought his beautiful 15 year old daughter, Ghe-go-he-li, to trade for salt with a white man named John Gunter. Gunter accepted the bargain and changed his bride's name to Katherine. Chief Bushyhead and Gunter signed a treaty stating "as long as the grass grows and the waters flow the Indians can have salt."

This is complete fiction. There was no "Chief Bushyhead" in the 18th century and biological fathers were not even considered blood relatives by the Cherokee. The Cherokee were matrilineal and Cherokee women chose their own spouses. John Gunter's wife Catherine was the daughter of a Cherokee woman named Ghi-go-ne-li.

Sources

  1. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. p. 306. Digitized edition at Starr




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Comments: 7

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Audrey Farmer
Bushyhead was the son of Capt. John Stuart (Superintendent of Indian Affairs) who was a Scot and a Direct Descendant of King Robert the II through his son Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan (Y-DNA proven) and Susannah Emory, Daughter of Col. William Fowling Emory and Mary Susannah Grant. Mary Susannah Grant was the daughter of Ludovic Grant and Elizabeth Tassel. Susannah Emory was rather young, about 15 or 16 when she gave birth to Bushyhead (or Bushyhead Stuart if it's easier to follow). Capt. John Stuart was called Bushyhead because of his curly reddish blond hair. Susannah Emory was 3/4 Scot as well. Their son had his father's hair which is where the name Bushyhead comes from. There is a bit of confusion about WHEN Susannah Emory was born (between 1746-1751) which would have Bushyhead Stuart being born between 1761 and 1766. I will have to FIND the resources I have regarding Nannie Foreman. I BELIEVE that Nannie Foreman's birthdate is early 1770's. Bushyhead and Nannie Foreman had a son named Jesse Bushyhead (who became a Baptist minister) and Jesse's son was Chief Dennis Bushyhead. I'd be happy to upload the information that I have if I can figure out how.
posted by Audrey Farmer
Parks-2399 Kathie (Parks) Forbes
Susannah Emory may have been the mother of someone called “Bushyhead,” although most modern researchers believe that is one of Starr’s many errors. If she did, that man was NOT the father of John Bushyhead who married Nannie Foreman.
posted by Kathie (Parks) Forbes
Audrey Farmer
I can tell you that I descend from both Capt John Stuart as well as Elizabeth Tassel through separate lines. Through MANY MANY MANY DNA matches and records we know that John Stuart did have a son with Susannah Emory. They called the Child Bushyhead for the reason I previously stated and the child only went by his Cherokee name. I don't know if there is a direct male descendant of this Bushyhead/Stuart line that can do a Y-DNA test. If there IS, it would easily prove what I have stated. If you do any research at all on John Stuart, you will find mention of his son with Susannah Emory. Likewise, any research at all on Ludovic Grant, Susannah Emory's maternal Grandfather, you will find mention of the child of John Stuart and Susannah Emory as being the start of the Bushyhead line. There's been quite a bit of research done on this. I have found that a lot of people have referred to Capt. John Stuart as John Bushyhead. Yes he was called Bushyhead by the Cherokee but his name was not John Bushyhead. John "Bushyhead" Stuart has been used quite a bit as well but at least his surname is attached. I believe that the son "Bushyhead" is being mixed up with the father John Stuart. What research or resource makes you believe with this Bushyhead is NOT the man who married Nannie Foreman? I have found Dr Starr's research incredibly helpful but none of the information that I have gathered includes his work.
posted by Audrey Farmer
Parks-2399 Kathie (Parks) Forbes
I am a descendant of Susannah Emory and John Martin. Starr had many errors in his book, some because of transcription or printing errors (the book was printed from unedited proofs), some because people’s memories were flawed. Starr wrote that Susannah had children by Joseph Martin, but documents not available in Oklahoma prove that was incorrect. It’s possible, although unlikely, that Stuart and Susannah had a son. Stuart may have fathered a son with a different Susannah who was confused in the memory. They may have had a son who dropped from history. Susannah’s other children show up in all kinds of records during their lifetimes, but not Bushyhead. There are other suggestions that John Foreman was the son of a Cherokee woman named Nancy and a man called Chikashatihi or that he himself was originally called Chkashatihi.
posted by Kathie (Parks) Forbes
Parks-2399 Kathie (Parks) Forbes
Detached Nannie Foreman as spouse. She was married to John Bushyhead who was born about 1780, not the supposed son of Susannah Emory and John Stuart. If they had a son he was born between 1765 and 1776. Susannah was at most 9 years old in 1758.
posted by Kathie (Parks) Forbes
Parks-2399 Kathie (Parks) Forbes
This profile is mostly fiction. The Cherokee John Bushyhead did not have a daughter named Nancy Blackwell. His daughter Nancy married John Walker and Lewis Bushyhead. None of the Cherokee Bushyheads ever lived in Missouri. They lived in the Cherokee Nation until they were Removed to Indian Territory. Ghi-go-ne-li has no connection to anyone named Bushyhead; Cherokee women selected their own husbands and no Cherokee man would have been able to trade a daughter to anyone for anything - biological fathers weren't even considered blood relatives. Nancy Foreman was the wife of Bushyhead-11.
posted by Kathie (Parks) Forbes
edited by Kathie (Parks) Forbes
Flowers-1488 R. D. Flowers
No sources? There should be sources for all of this, or it should at most be reflected in Biography, with a suitable disclaimerk, not in any links.

BTW, there are Bushyheads still in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, so the siurname is VERY unlikely to have originated in this way. I can't parse the name you gave to "John Bushyhead", but I'm pretty suire that it does not translate to Bushyhead. Wa-do.

Also, you have that narrative under Biography, and then again it is repeated where sources should be. The second should be removed.

posted by R. D. Flowers
edited by R. D. Flowers

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