I just finished this wonderful book, Independence Lost. Like the rest of America, I’m used to reading and hearing about the American Revolution in terms of people in New England and Virginia. Events elsewhere are just part of an unimportant periphery. I read somewhere that we forget only 13 of the 22 British colonies in America rebelled. Cool fact, but it doesn’t add much.
The summary of this book at Goodreads says, “In the Gulf of Mexico, Spanish forces clashed with Britain’s strained army to carve up the Gulf Coast, as both sides competed for allegiances with the powerful Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek nations who inhabited the region. Meanwhile, African American slaves had little control over their own lives, but some individuals found opportunities to expand their freedoms during the war.“
Cool stuff.
One of the recurring characters in the drama was Alexander McGillivray (1750-1793), a Creek leader. One of McGillivray’s wives was Elise Moniac, daughter of the Jacob Moniac. Here, I perked up. Moniac, that’s a familiar name.
Years ago, when I was looking for the ancestry of Elizabeth Lomax (1813/14-1895), I surveyed Lomax families throughout the South looking for her parents.
In those days before I had good dates for Elizabeth, one likely possibility seemed to be Sydney Lomax (1813-1877) and his wife Matilda Moniac (1830-1915). Matilda was a Creek, and said to be a descendant of that same Moniac family. It seemed like a good lead. Elizabeth married Rufus Roberson in 1841 in Platte County, Missouri. Probably I would find her parents in northwestern Missouri. One of my correspondents said Sydney Lomax was a stage driver who lived briefly in Clay County, Missouri, apparently some time between 1836 and 1851. I never did find out her source for that information.
It didn’t work out. Eventually I settled on Sydney Lomax’s cousin Asahel Lomax as the probable father of Elizabeth, and that meant there would be no Moniac connection.
One thing I learned in my brief foray into the Moniacs is how horribly tortured the various Moniac genealogies are. The Jacob who was father of Elise was not the same person as William, although they are almost universally conflated. Then too, dates for the early generations are all over the board.
I thought I might contribute some notes on Geni.com that would help other researchers. I opened my old contributions. Jacob is now disconnected, his wife is married to William, and the whole area is mangled beyond recognition. I don’t have the patience for this. I did some light merging and some gentle pruning, then quietly closed the window and walked away. I’ll wait for someone who wants to do serious work.
Some Leads
Nothing special here. These are just some pages I had open when I decided to stop.
More Information
- Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost: Lives on the edge of the American Revolution (2015).
Rev. Apr. 10, 2021 to remove broken links.