1 Reply Latest reply on May 1, 2019 2:53 PM by Rebecca Collier

Looking for any records of my 4th great grandmother Mahala West

Jessie Richardson Apr 29, 2019 4:52 PM

I am currently working on a family tree and have came across my 4th great grandmother whose name was Mahala West. Knowing I have some Native American DNA in my family I would assume maybe Mahala West may have been Native American. I have what states she was possibly born in, her birthdate, death date, and place where she died. I also have who she was married too. All I know of her parents are that they both lived in Maryland, and Mahala may or may have not been born in either Pennsylvania, or Maryland. I do know she died in Pennsylvania. So my question is where could I go in hopes of finding out more information on Mahala too see if she indeed is Native American? I'm hoping I can dive deeper into my search of seeing who our Native American DNA comes from and learning more about that.

Re: Looking for any records of my 4th great grandmother Mahala West

Rebecca Collier May 1, 2019 2:53 PM (in response to Jessie Richardson)

Dear Ms. Richardson,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

Records in the custody of the National Archives pertaining to Native Americans is available at https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans. Tribal census and other records are limited to those individuals that were associated with a tribe either in the southeastern or mid-western sections of the United States.

Maryland Native American tribes either left the area or were decimated early in the colonial era after years of skirmishings. Similar results happened to tribes in Pennsylvania by about the mid-1700’s. For more information about this period and/or about possible remaining Native Americans, please contact the Pennsylvania State Archives and the Maryland State Archives.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!

3 people found this helpful
Like (0)

Actions

Legend

Correct Answers - 10 points