Person:John Ratcliff (18)

Advisory on John Ratcliff

Some sources claim that this John Ratcliff was a son William Ratliff and Elizabeth Harrison, but based upon other sources, that appears to be a different John Ratcliff. This John Ratcliff is generally thought to be a son of Reuben Ratcliff and Frances (Unknown).

Information on John Ratcliff

Unfortunately, I don't have any info on the Ratliff line you mention. It may bethat if your Ratliffs have dark coloring, they may indeed have some Native American (Cherokee?) ancestry.

None of my Ratliff ancestors actually had dark skin, as far as I know. You may not want to exclude the possibility that the dark coloring comes from another line that married into your Ratliffs. What race was listed for these Ratliffs in the earliest censuses on which they appear? People of mixed ancestry sometimes would be listed as 'mulatto,' 'FPC', 'black' &'white' on different censuses.

As mentioned, the Ratliff surname does appearon the tribal rolls (see the 2-Vol book "Cherokee by Blood," for example) - there was a John Ratliff & a Richard Ratliff among the Cherokees (both white men)in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. By that time, the Cherokee core area had moved southwest to the area where the states TN, GA & SC meet. If your ancestor was born in VA in the 19th century, you may want to explore both Cherokee &other possibilities, such as Monacan Indian (especially if from Amherst Co VA or Wyoming Co (West) VA Steve Williamson