There are two family legends I grew up hearing. The first was that our family came west with Daniel Boone. The second was that someone in the family killed the last Native American in southern Illinois. One to be proud of and one not so much. Through the years I've kept these two legends in the back of my mind, wondering if there was truth to either one.
It turns out that there are nuggets of truth in the Daniel Boone rumor. First, there may have been confusion about a man named John Rains, an early Tennessee settler and comrade of Daniel. There are several John Rains in my family who settled in Tennessee and it's possible there is some distant relationship. However, my John Rains was not the famous John Rains.
Some of my family followed Daniel Boone's trail as they moved wast. There are several places where they could have been in the same place around the same time. My daughter-in-law has a closer connection. Her family was at Strode's Station. Built by John Strode who was related to Daniel Boone's wife, the station was about 10 miles from Fort Boonesborough. It turns out my son married into the legend.
The second family legend has no basis in truth that I can find. I do have family who moved into southern Illinois very early but most of the Native Americans had moved on by the time they got there. The Trail of Tears came near their homes but there is no evidence of any incident. This is such an odd family legend that I wonder how it got started? Did it start a long time ago when people in the area still feared and hated Native Americans? Was it some boast made in jest or over one too many drinks? This is one family legend that I am happy to discard.
Sometimes family legends can be true or partially true. But family legends can be like the game of telephone. They start out as one thing and by the time they get to the end, they have morphed into something entirely different.
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