Little Nancy

It is very likely that the camp where the Expedition party encountered Old Nancy near Fort Shackleford was the camp of Little Nancy and her husband, Little Billy. Little Nancy and Little Billy had about twelve children, including future tribal leader, Josie Billie, and their daughter who was called Lee in the Expedition record. It is also very likely that the baby boy who was named to honor J.E. Ingraham is their son Ingraham Billie (or Ingram Billie), who also grew up to become a tribal leader. The Expedition party also met Little Nancy's mother, Old Nancy Osceola, and her sister, Lucy.

Note about confidence of this information:

It is very difficult to provide contextual information about many of the Native Americans mentioned in the Expedition texts. One difficulty is that names are often spelled multiples ways in various sources, and information in those sources is often conflicting. Another difficulty is the Seminole practice of reusing names within families. The difficulty increases dramatically when trying to gather information about women. While there is good evidence that the Little Nancy mentioned in the texts is the same individual as the Little Nancy described here, it is impossible to determine how much of the information provided here is accurate or applicable.

Name Variations:

Sources:

References in the Texts:

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For other topics referenced in the Expedition texts, please refer to the Index to Subjects and Names.
1892 Everglades Exploration Expedition : Three Digital Texts, 2015