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Now looking for information/family ties to father of James Helton and which Peter Helton son/grandson or brother was James' father.

Helton's and Indian Ancestry

Numerous Helton's are being identified as having Native American ancestry every week through the use of the Helton DNA Genetic Testing Project. Some branches have Indian blood; some do not. It depends on which branch of the tree you hang from and how high your branch begins--at least we didn't all marry cousins, and I guess this is proof positive.

The simplest way to determine (and the only definitive way) whether you have Native American ancestors is to participate in the Helton DNA Project. You will have specific Q and Q3 markers if you have Native American Ancestry.

Without these test results, you can only suggest that some Helton's have Indian Ancestry. It matters little if you are of native American ancestry or not. The Helton family has a proud history and was one of the earliest settlers of the United States. Helton's have fought with George Washington, Robert E. Lee, and George Patton.

The majority of Helton Native American Ancestry appears to descend from maternal links. A White Helton took a native American wife, but this is not necessarily always true. Some Helton's are Native Americans. 120 Cherokee applications from the family say they were. A court hearing in NC said they were and many other bits and pieces. Daniel Smith Hilton (Silas Helton's brother) went west with the Treaty Party of Cherokee's in the spring of 1829. On the quarterly report to the Office of Indian affairs he was listed under full blood or mixed. Others were noted as White or mixed. Daniel was not, at least in proving he was considered a full blood. His father Peter was living in Cherokee Territory in McMinn Co TN in 1830

The location and time they may have been mixed with another tribe, then joined the Cherokee Nation is unknown. We hope to find much more information to determine exactly who they were. According to the Family Tree DNA site this branch of the Helton family had been around the Eastern United States for about 5,000 years.

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