This legend is evidenced by the fact that many of our family stories and trees trace back to a 2,000 member "Whitetop Laurel Band of Cherokees", which existed for at least a decade. The band was founded sixty years after the Trail of Tears, and nine years before the Eastern Band of Cherokees in 1905. The same number of Sizemores, 2,000, applied en masse for membership in the Eastern Band of Cherokees in the early 1900's but were denied for various reasons. Those who made the decision to reject the Sizemore claims were clear in their statement that Sizemores were Indians, but since none of their ancestors had willingly registered in any Cherokee census, they were not accepted.

The multi-volume book series, Cherokee By Blood documents this story which appears to be the primary source of the "White Top Cherokee" oral tradition in our family. Vol 1 page 171 bears the testimony of Whitetop Chief William H. Blevins:

"The word 'Chief' in my application, means that I am chief of the White Top Band of Cherokee Indians, an organization of the principal Cherokee Indians living about White Top, and was perfected about ten years ago. We organized so as to demand our rights in a body. We thought we had not been getting them before. In 1896, we wanted to go to the Indian Territory, and organized for that purpose. When the band was first organized there were about 2175, I believe. They were all Sizemore descendants. No one else was allowed to become a member if it was known. I have read the Decree of the Supreme Court of the United States referred to in my application, and have it at home. My father, Armstrong Blevins, I do not think was a party to the treaty of 1836 and 1846. I am putting my own interpretation on the decree."

(Thanks to our relation Bill Fields, editor of Under One Sky, the Melungeon information magazine for contributing this)

This documentation does not however, explain the later infusion of the word "Laurel" into our modern Sizemore family trees. But we do know that the Whitetop Laurel Creek runs off of Whitetop Mountain, and is a favorite recreational spot of fly fishermen and kayakers.

One claim for membership in the Eastern Band of Cherokees stated that Sizemores were their own tribe in and of themselves, known as "Sixemore" - probably due to the Whitetop membership requirement that one should be of Sizemore relation. Another said that "Old Ned" Sizemore came from the Catawba Nation, a claim that would not preclude his descendants from later becoming Cherokees, as Cherokees took in the remnants of many defeated bands and tribes.

Another family tradition in one of our lines says that the surname was created due to poor translation (or anglicization)of the Cherokee word "Esiyah", which means literally "large child". The name was given to a Cherokee man who was very good with children, and is reportedly found on the Dawes Rolls. The same family line is related to Sizemores in South-Central Ohio, near the town of Pedro, that still speak fluent Cherokee and take part in the traditional corn dance.

Some family trees indicate Whitetop Cherokee roots as early as the time of Cheif Redbird (whom Redbird Creek and the Redbird Mission is named after), George "All" Sizemore, Aggy Shepherd, Rhoda Sizemore, and "Old Ned" Edward Sizemore, all of who lived in the 1800's in Leslie, Maggofin and Clay County, Kentucky. These Sizemores migrated from Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina prior to this time, and many lived in the Whitetop Mountain border area of Virginia/North Carolina. But for the most part the time period in which they lived does not coincide with the stated lifespan of the Whitetop band.

Following is an excerpt from an article on the George All Sizemore and Aggy Shepard connection to the Creeks and the Whitetop Laurel Band of Cherokees.

"The marriage of George "ALL" Sizemore to Aggy Shepard originated from a raid of Indiams on the white mans camp where they captured a white girl. In retaliation, the white men followed and rescued the girl and captured an Indian girl who was later given to a white family to raise (Aggy). Aggy is thought to have been a Creek Indian. George lived in both the white man's world, and the Whitetop Cherokee tribe throughout his life."

"The Indian Chief for whom Red Bird Creek in Clay County was named is known as member of the Whitetop Laurel Band of Cherokees from North Carolina. He was a great hunter and allured by the game in this remote region. He finally took up residence on the creek that bears his name at the mouth of Jacks Creek in this county. He came to his death by the abarice of the "pale face". There lived with him a crippled Indian named Willie. This man dressed the skins which Red Bird brought to their wigwam and looked after the culinary department of their house. Some hunters from North Carolina, greedy and unscrupulous, came to the wigwam and murdered Willie. Then they secreted themselves and awaited the return of the brave chief who had long before buried his tomahawk and for years had been living in peace with the white man, and as he approached his crude castle the bullet of an assasin laid him in the dust. They threw his body into a hole of water nearby which is still called "Willie Hole", and from which John Gilbert and others took him and buried him. One tradition is that he was sitting on the bank of a creek fishing when he was shot and that he fell into the creek."

(Reprinted in Kentucky Explorer, Volume 11, March 1997. Recorded in the 1870s.)

THE METIS HERITAGE
OF THE SIZEMORES

why we consider ourselves metis

This variability could mean many things, but given the simultaneous movement of Sizemores, and intermarriage with Melungeon communities around Sneedville, TN; Hyden, Kentucky; and Wise, Virginia I would guess it meant they had been labeled Melungeons in the past by census takers, had self-sufficient, prosperous farms stolen as a result and therefore avoided censuses.

Sizemore descendants consider ourselves Metis because we are tired of being what we are not: white. We don't wannabe anything, just what we actually are and that is mixed, or Metis. We see alot of potential possibilities in being a citizen of a sovereign nation. The biggest possibility is that we will have a greater degree of self-determination for ourselves and our descendants as a result. If you are a Sizemore descendant, or any person of mixed ancestry that includes an Indigenous component, I would encourage you to reconnect with your Metis roots. You can maintain citizenship in one of the many Metis Nations simultaneously with any other citizenship you may have. If you like, you can join one online at the on the following page.

Another good group of folks that Sizemore descendants would want to hook up with are the Melungeons. Personally, I see Melungeons as the southern Appalachian version of the Metis, a story that played itself out througout the Americas. The Melungeons hold a national gathering bi-annually in Wise, Virginia on the campus of the University of Virginia at Wise. When I attended in May 2000, I met dozens of Sizemore descendants looking to recconect with their ancestry. The Melungeon websites are also linked on the next page.

From the old geocities pages of  Jason Adams
 ringfingers@yahoo.com.

History of Kentucky -
by William Elsey Connelley, Ellis Merton Coulter - 1912 -

John S1zemore, M. D. The community of Prestonsburg has had the services of Doctor Sizemore, a competent physician and surgeon, for the past ten years, and the name has been identified with the medical profession in this part of Eastern Kentucky for upwards of half a century.

Dr. John Sizemore was born in the Big Sandy Valley on Bull Creek two miles above its mouth February 8, 1871, son of Doctor Faries and Mourning (Clark) Sizemore. His great-grandfather was George G. Sizemore, a quarter blood Cherokee Indian who came from the Cherokee Reservation in Eastern Tennessee and spent his last years in Magoffin County. The grandfather of Doctor Sizemore was also named John and was a Union soldier in Company F of the Thirty-nmth Mounted Infantry during the Civil war. His death was the result of an accident in Magoffin County, though his home was on Beaver Creek.

Dr. Faries Sizemore was born on Turkey Creek, a tributary of the Beaver, in 1846. He was a youthful soldier in Company F of the Thirty-ninth Kentucky Mounted Infantry and with this command was in the fighting at Mount Sterling, Cynthiana and Kings Saltworks. He had a cousin, a noted rebel spy, known as Rebel Hawk, and this cousin effected the capture of Faries Sizemore, and the latter remained a prisoner of war for only a few days. Following the war Faries Sizemore studied medicine and all the rest of his life was a deep and devoted student of the science and enjoyed a very high and deserved reputation for his skill in practice. He practiced in Floyd and Carter counties, and finally retired and lived at Paintsville, where he died September 16, 1900. He was a member of the Grand Army Post, also voted as a .republican, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The wife of Dr. Faries Sizemore, Mourning Sizemore, is now eighty-five
years of age and lives with her son John. She was born in Kentucky of an old Virginia family. There is one other child, Minnie, wife of M. H. Blivens.

Dr. John Sizemore acquired his early education in the common schools of Floyd and Carter counties, began the study of medicine in his father's office, and subsequently entered the Starling Medical College of Columbus, Ohio, and from there transferred to the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati. He was graduated April 9, 1896. Doctor Sizemore has been in active

practice for a quarter of a century, begmnmg his professional work at South Portsmouth, Kentucky, later at Ashland, and since 1911 at Prestonsburg. 4ie enjoys a large general practice and is a member of the various medical societies.

In 1889 he married Miss Emma Akers, daughter ot S K. Akers of Van Lear. Their only son Faries Palmer died in childhood. Doctor Sizemore is a Methodist while Mrs. Sizemore belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Maccabees and the Red Men and is a republican voter.

Descendants of John Asher