While working on the Krieger family earlier this year, I realized that I had only written about Frederick Alberty, his first wife, Elizabeth Krieger, and their family in any great detail. That’s probably because my husband is descended from Frederick’s and Elizabeth’s son, John Henry Alberty.

In spite of years of research, there is still one mystery about John Henry Alberty – the maiden name of his wife, Rebecca. My mother-in-law’s family, from Oklahoma, had the common lore of Cherokee blood. I’ve never been able to prove it, but it is possible that Rebecca is the link to the Cherokee Nation.

Why would I believe that? Well, it’s because of today’s family sketch about Frederick Alberty and his second unknown wife, who, like Elizabeth Krieger, died young. I’ve seen a supposed name for her, but not for decades, and don’t want to get any rumors started, so she will remain anonymous.

Frederick married for the second time after May 1781. With one year’s mourning considered respectable, he likely married c1782 or 1783.

His third wife, Elizabeth Raper, applied for a widow’s pension after Frederick died. One statement in that file corroborates the fact that Moses was born from Frederick’s second marriage:

North Carolina Surry County September the 22nd 1846
We Matthew Laffoon & Sarah Laffoon his wife do certify that we have heard Frederick Alberity [sic] and Elizabeth Alberty [sic] said to be his 3rd wife and Matthew Laffoon says that he has seen one of said Alberty sons that he said of his first wife by the name of Henery one other son of his second wife by the name of Moses & some other of his children that I do not recollect their names and said Matthew Laffoon do also say that he has heard Elizabeth Alberty say that she was said Frederick Alberty 3rd wife.
S/ Matthew Laffoon

Frederick’s second wife may have died giving birth to the only known child of this marriage – Moses.

Moses is the reason that I think the wife of my husband’s ancestor, John Henry Alberty, might be Cherokee.

The remainder of this post is a bit of a sticky wicket, as there are few-to-no records to document any of this information.

Frederick and the mysterious second Mrs. Alberty were the parents of one known child:

1. Moses, said to have been born about April 1788, but I believe he was slightly older than that because his father married wife #3, Elizabeth Raper, after a bond was posted on 29 March 1788. The most accurate statement that can be made is that Moses was born between 1782 and 1787 – probably closer to 1787.

Moses married Sallie Wright, a Cherokee woman, c1811, possibly in North Carolina, but more probably in today’s Floyd County, Georgia. At the time it was called “Etowah” and anglicized to ‘Hightower.”

Moses Alberty’s descendants are documented members of the Cherokee Nation.

Furthermore, Moses’s ‘brother” John, who was actually his half brother, born to Frederick Alberty and third wife Elizabeth Raper, married Mary Wright, c1814, reportedly in Georgia.

[My husband’s Henry Alberty married Rebecca c1811 and while Henry appears in the 1820 and 1830 censuses of North Carolina and the 1840 and 1850 censuses of Washington County, Arkansas, he is nowhere to be found in 1800 or 1810. He might well have been with his half brothers in Georgia and it’s been suggested that his wife Rebecca might have been a Wright, sister to Sally and Mary.]

Moses Alberty appears in very few records. The earliest mention of him, aside from his father’s pension application, is in Cherokee records and the Treaty of 1817. He was granted “a reservation” in Georgia in the right of his wife for 640 acres of land in lieu of moving to Arkansas; there were four people in his family, presumably Moses, his wife and two children.

The next record of Moses is his gravestone, which is original to the time period and somewhat illegible and not of much help.

I hesitate to share the list of his (purported) children because I have no documents to support it. However, if you are descended from Moses Alberty and Sally Wright, I believe that you might have success with the Cherokee Heritage Center.

However, some of the children are called “Old Settlers,” meaning they voluntarily moved to Indian Territory so did not take part in the terrible forced removal on the Trail of Tears.

Several of these children have gravestones, which is where most of these dates originate.

Purported Children of Moses Alberty & Sallie Wright:

1. Nancy, born 27 July 1811; died 12 February 1894, Claremore, Rogers, Oklahoma; married (1) Bluford West (2) James Markham. The Old Settlers Roll lists her as Nancy Marcum.
2. Levi, born c1813; no further record.
3. John D., born c1817; married Jennie Buffington
4. Amelia, born 2 July 1824; died 5 March 1892, Sportsmen Acres, Mayes, Oklahoma; married Thomas Lewis Rider
5. William W., born 2 July 1824; died 8 February 1867, Wagoner, Wagoner, Oklahoma; married (1) Musidora Rogers (2) Nancy Buffington
6. Jacob T., born 21 January 1826; died 21 March 1872, Sportsmen Acres, Mayes, Oklahoma
7. Bluford West, born August 1829; died November 1889, Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma; married (1) Nancy Martin (2) Eliza Missouri Bushyhead

I first researched the Alberty family in pre-internet days. As I remember, some of this information may originally have come from Buffington family members.

Because the Alberty name is just about one where almost everyone Alberty today can be traced back to Frederick and given the birth years of Moses’ children, this list seems reasonable.

In closing, I do want to repeat that there is NO document created in their lifetimes accessible today that verifies much of this information.