In our family we have a story of a white child, William Vale,
supposedly "taken" by the Catawba Indians in or around York or
Lancaster County S.C. sometime in the late 1700s. He went on
to marry a Catawba woman who bore him twin sons, Jeremiah and
John Michael Vail about 1790 (we have no definite explanation
for why the spelling of the last name was changed at this point).
Shortly after this event William apparently left the Catawba
village in somewhat of a hurry for reasons unknown, and was joined
later by his wife and sons. There was also said to have been
a third son, probably named Hiram, but records of his life have
not been found. One or more daughters were said to have stayed
with the Catawba.

Jeremiah Vail (1790 -1870) eventually married a German girl,
Mary Funderburk (1794- 1870), and they had a son, also
named Jeremiah (1818 - 1882). Jeremiah's twin brother, John Michael,
married Mary's sister Rachel. The second Jeremiah
married Mary Bradley (June 10, 1824 - November 12, 1867), a half-breed
woman whose mother Annie (died 1841) was said to
be Creek.

After a time in Pickens County, Alabama, the Vail brothers and
their families eventually ended up in Bienville Parish, La. where
the line thrives today.

Source= Three Vail Brothers And Their Descendants, 1790-1900
by Lida E. Logan

I would very much appreciate any information anyone has on any
of these people. I am particularly seeking to get in touch with
any relatives who may remain within the Catawba Nation.

Tom Scott


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