how do I find out who the wife of John McCain, bo 1806 in Waxhaw settlements was?

Question

John was supposedly married to a Cherokee woman, possibly from Tennessee; also he had two wives, but as neither has her name listed, it is probably that both were Indian. His children claimed to be Indian.

Answer 1

Hey Julie C.,

Try Dawes and other Cherokee sites here.

Answer 2

I have found that when you get back to the ancestors born around 1800, they become much more difficult to make a connection to the previous generation. This is partly because of less records being available but also because of the mass migration taking place after the American revolution. If you know where they were or may have been married you could search any available marriage records, unfortunately many marriage records for that area are not extant. Genealogy libraries or societies for those areas should be knowledgeable of what records are available. If John served in the military and his wife lived longer she may have applied for a widow's pension, if so it should have some kind of proof of marriage. Another source would be her father's probate records. If she was living and married at the time of her fathers death she would be listed by her married name. That can be difficult to find even if the family stayed in the same area. With the migration issue it can be nearly impossible to make the connection unless you have clue on where her family originated.