Before going into this our Tribal Historian - the last time we really talked about this subject - wanted me to acknowledge that this story was considered by her largely hearsay. So far we have found very little information on my great-aunt Hattie other than what was mentioned by our Tribal Matriarch or whatever was said by my grandmother Gurtine Howard.
It causes me to wonder if Aunt Lucy actually saw her cousin Elizabeth - not Hattie - back in 1990. If Hattie was still alive at that point was she able to travel to Cornelius Brown's funeral in Chicago?
Hattie was the sister of my great-grandfather and our Tribal Chief James Lee Burns. She was the product of a relationship between Aggie Andrews and an unknown father. She's also said to be biracial and was able to pass for white during the most difficult time for race relations of the 20th Century.
 |
| Aunt Hattie??? |
The only noted sighting of Hattie was at the funeral for her nephew Cornelius Brown which through research took place in 1990. I'd be very curious to know how old she was at that time, our Tribal Chief at that point had passed away about two years earlier. Unless there were other children out there we didn't know about Hattie could be the last of that generation still alive at that point.
One part of our Tribal Historian's notes about this suggested that Hattie stayed in touch with the family of Aunt James Etta aka Jeanette Brown - Cornelius' mother. Or at the very least Hattie remained in touch with her sister James Etta until her passing in 1963.
 |
| Cornelius Brown (1929-1990) |
Of course I may want to add a wrinkle here, something I learned through a descendent of Aunt James Etta. One of James Etta's children was Elizabeth Sivels who had a similar story to aunt Hattie. In her case though reportedly she was also light-skinned and passed for white during the most difficult times for race relations.
Also we know that Hattie left her home in Mississippi and lived in California for many years. So did cousin Elizabeth, and she died in California in 2001. Just like Hattie nothing much is known about Elizabeth other than she was born in Mississippi during the early 1920s and died in California in 2001. I have yet to uncover if she was ever married or had any children, however, there is a obituary for her which was published in a local California newspaper. That obituary has yet to be uncovered at this time.
Now this revelation causes me to ask some questions. Unfortunately I never had the chance to discuss this with our Tribal Historian, however, I did discuss this with James Etta's descendant. I mentioned Hattie to her and noted that the stories were similar.
It causes me to wonder if Aunt Lucy actually saw her cousin Elizabeth - not Hattie - back in 1990. If Hattie was still alive at that point was she able to travel to Cornelius Brown's funeral in Chicago?
And how did my late grandmother Gurtine know about her biracial aunt? I could ask a lot of questions of those older children of James and Emma Burns who unfortunately have passed away with regards to what they know about their paternal family. Also how did they came across their paternal aunts, uncles, and cousins.
It also amazes me the connections relatives make, while making the assumption that there was little contact between our Tribal Chief and his family (brothers & sisters). Of course all of this is only speculation, our Tribal Historian would let me know it's speculation. She had surmised there was a lot more contact than we realize.