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A genealogist's quest
By Brian J.
Evans One man, inspired to learn about the famous Shawnee War Chief Blue Jacket, a.k.a. Wayapiersenwah, went so far as to have DNA tests done to support the claim that the chief and Marmaduke Van Swearingen were not the same person. After spending decades researching the topic, Robert Van Trees believes there is no controversy about Blue Jacket - he wasn't Marmaduke Swearingen. Mr. Van Trees, 82, of suburban Fairborn, has spent decades researching information about Blue Jacket and Marmaduke Van Swearingen. His writings include Ordinance of Freedom in 1985, about the ordinance of 1787; Sometimes the Dragon Wins in 1994, about the Indian victories during the time; Banks of the Wabash in 1984, with a revised edition in printed in 1996; and Decade of Digging in 1983. "I really got serious about it in 1978," said Mr. Van Trees. He mentioned that he has researched Blue Jacket with the late Ray Crane, who died about 1997; Donna Spencer of Huntsville; the late George Chadwick, who died about 1997; and the late Julie Overton of Xenia, who died in 2000; and dozens of other historians and genealogists. He is mentioned in Dr. John Sugden's book Blue Jacket Warrior of the Shawnees and Richard Pangburn's Indian Blood series. Many say he knows more about Blue Jacket than any man alive. "I have met several hundred Swearingen descendants during my many presentations and as a result of my research or some contact's conviction they were related to Chief Blue Jacket," said Mr. Van Trees. "I have met and talked with perhaps 50 descendants of Chief Blue Jacket, some still above ground. My primary interest in the Blue Jacket story stemmed from my 1946 contact with Master Sgt. Donald Eugene Bluejacket, who bummed a ride in the C-47 I was flying from Olmsted Air Base near Harrisburg, Pa., to Dayton." Mr. Van Trees explained he advised Mr. Bluejacket, who was a native of Kansas, that he was remaining at Wright Patterson Air Force Base overnight to visit his parents in Fort Recovery. After hearing this, Mr. Bluejacket surprised Mr. Van Trees by saying he had heard of the village - it was where his ancestor fought against General St. Clair. "Donald told me in 1946 the story by John Bennett in 1943 was not true and the book by William Horn published in 1945, The Horn Papers, had an untrue story - saying his ancestor was a white man named Swearingen. "Donald died at Wright Pat of cancer July 16, 1963, and is buried in the cemetery in Fairborn," Mr. Van Trees continued. After hearing Mr. Bluejacket's story, and later retiring from the military in 1961, Mr. Van Trees spent decades researching Blue Jacket. It was in 1986 that his research led him to believe Blue Jacket couldn't have been a white man. Prior to that he had no reason to question the previous publications. In 1999, Mr. Van Trees spent an entire summer tracking down descendants of the Swearingen family and Blue Jacket. He went around the country, visiting their homes, collecting saliva samples, which he later submitted for a DNA test. The DNA project was completed by Dr. Dan Krane of Wright State University's biology department in 2000. It compared both Blue Jacket and Swearingen descendants. Mr. Van Trees explained that one of Dr. Krane's students, Scott Roush, was a descendant of Swearingen. Mr. Roush introduced the historian to his teacher who expressed an interest in the Blue Jacket research. "He also provided the test tubes and a salt water solution which I carried when I contacted bona fide male descendants gleaned from the information on my genealogical chartings of 7,500 Swearingens and about 1,500 descendants of Blue Jacket," Mr. Van Trees added. Traveling around Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Oklahoma and Alabama, he collected a half dozen DNA samples from "willing" donors in each lineage and submitted them to Dr. Krane whose research conclusions were publicized by several newspapers last year. The test agreed with Mr. Van Trees' research - there was no common ancestor. "Unfortunately, this DNA effort was an unfunded project and to date I have not been able to obtain a paper from Dr. Krane," he added. Aside from the DNA tests, Mr. Van Trees noted he found no evidence that a man named Marmaduke Van Swearingen even existed. However, he said there was a Marmaduke Swearingen, born in 1763 in western Pennsylvania, who disappeared one day and his family never saw him again. Today, Mr. Van Trees is still very active. He is in the process of sending a letter to 20 U.S. Senators and 38 members of Congress who represent areas formerly in the Northwest Territory. He is working to have Captain Van Swearingen canceled from the "local legacy" in the Library of Congress. Mr. Van Trees reported that Captain Van Swearingen was born in Virginia in 1791. He was the son of Major Thomas Swearingen IV of Berkeley County. In his letter to the representatives, he argues that Charles Swearingen (1767-1848), the brother of Marmaduke Swearingen who according to Allan Eckert was supposedly killed by his brother on the battlefield, was never in the Army. Captain Van Swearingen was a distant cousin of Marmaduke Swearingen, Mr. Van Trees said. "The tale created by Eckert for The Frontiersmen in 1967 was not a fact, it was fiction. It not only erases the military record of a veteran who died in the service of our country, it robs the descendants of Charles Swearingen of their birthright. And that is the crux of the controversy ... Red, black, white, or yellow - what is the difference? - fact is, no Shawnee named Blue Jacket killed and scalped his own brother, Charles Van Swearingen," commented Mr. Van Trees. He, along with others, want the "local legacy" file canceled from the archives of the Library of Congress. Tomorrow's article will examine the possibility that there was more than one man who went by the name Blue Jacket. |
