Amanda was the daughter of John Benton Huitt, the first Sheriff of Dallas County Texas, and her mother Nancy. Amanda was born in 1833 at Cane Hill, Washington County, Arkansas. Her mother Nancy died about 5-3-1835 and is mentioned in the Arkansas Gazette. Nancy is also mentioned for the same date of death in the Little Rock Times, which also mentioned she left behind a husband and 3 small children. Amanda's other sisters were Charlotte, the oldest, and Elizabeth, also her older sister. They all moved from Washington County Arkansas near Summers and Cane Hill, to Texas in 1843. By 1843 Charlotte and Elizabeth were already married, and went to Texas with their husbands. John had 3 land patents which can be viewed at www.glorecords.com, the BLM website. There you can find his patents in 1839, and 2 in 1843 before they left for Texas. They lived in Arkansas next door to the Ambrose Harnage and Nancy nee Sanders family. Ambrose Harnage ran a meeting house (tavern) in Georgia; his wife Nancy Sanders was Cherokee, and they moved to Arkansas as part of the 1817 Cherokee Emigration. The Harnage family were friends of Major Ridge, a Cherokee Chief of the Treaty Party, which contributed to the Trail of Tears. In 1839, while our Huitts were living next door to the Harnage place, Major Ridge was assassinated by the anti-treaty party as he left the Harnage home. It is unknown where Nancy Huitt was buried, and unknown what her maiden name was, but she was Cherokee. John Huitt remarried in Arkansas a Martha Hyde, who went with him to Texas. John Huitt died on 1-7-1848 in Dallas County, Texas. Amanda was 15, and was appointed a guardian, John Cole. John Cole had also lived in Arkansas near the Huitts, and John Cole was the local doctor, and also the Probate Judge for John Huitt's estate. Amanda probably took the name of "Cole" until she married in 1850 to William Charles Lowe, and together they raised a family. Old records indicate that she was a Cope, and has even been added mistakenly to another pioneer "Cope" family in the Dallas area as their daughter, but with the information of her Guardian as John Cole, it is thought there has been misspellings of the information; she was not a part of the Cope family. Family stories handed down have stated that many referred to our Amanda as "that old Indian woman," and that William Charles Lowe also referred to her as his "Squaw", which she hated, but he meant it fondly. You see, William Charles Lowe was a descendant of Jacob Gardner (Catawba Indian) and Mary Bartlett (Miami Indian). So the history goes. Please feel free to contact me with any info. you might add to the biography of this wonderful Grandmother. Any pictures would surely be appreciated.