We know, from the 1850 Ohio Federal Census
for Coshocton County, that Joe's parents are
William and Mary Poland,

He and Susan Deeds Poland's youngest
daughter, Nora Belle Poland Mitchell, left
the family information regarding his
mother's maiden name. She said that her
grandmother was "Polly Stephens" "Polly
was frequently a nickname for "Mary."
(Other family members have referred to
Mary as "Molly.")

Their ninth child, Marion Poland, was
known in his immediate family as being
a drinker. The family referred to him
as frequently being "in his cups."

One of his grandsons, at age 14, had
been told by Marion, when he was "in his
cups," that he had had a grandmother
who was Native American. Although she
was listed as being "white" in the 1850
Census, I think that it is possible that it
was Polly Stephens Poland who was the
Native Grandmother. The other alternative
was Susan's mother, Elizabeth "Betsy"
Rousch. I don't think it was she.

Around the time that Mary was born,
most Native people were not allowed, by
law, to be identified as being Native. Many
of us alive today, have lost that Native
connection to our ancestors which was
the purpose of the law. The folks making
the law did not know that eventually DNA
would establish our connection, but in the
meantime, we have lost the significant data
linking us to these ancestors.

Susan and Joe had fourteen children,
nine of whom they raised to adulthood.
These children ranged in appearance
from light red hair with pink skin and
blue eyes to light tan skin and brown
hair with dark brown eyes.

Marion's daughters were ashamed of this
heritage. We were never told about this
until all three of them had died. One of
the granddaughters did the DNA testing
for Native heritage and was finally able to
substantiate this story. DNA does not tell us
which tribe we belong to.

There is one more known child, Ira H.
Poland, who lived in Topeka, Kansas.
As a toddler, he was known as Harry.
He was married to a woman named
Lydia. This is all that is known for the
nonce.