Johnny Sequoyah
Sequoyah in 2014, pic by www.prphotos.com
Birth Name: Johnny Sequoyah Friedenberg
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Date of Birth: October 25, 2002
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish (paternal grandfather), English, small amounts of Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, and French
Johnny Sequoyah is an American actress.
She is the daughter of producer, director, and actress Heather Rae (Heather Rae Bybee) and actor Russell Friedenberg (Bertrand Russell Friedenberg). Johnny’s father is of half Ashkenazi Jewish and half English descent. Her mother has English, Scottish, Welsh, Dutch, and French ancestry, and has also stated that she is of part Cherokee Native American descent. It is not clear if this Cherokee Native American ancestry has been verified/documented. The Chickamauga Nation has stated that Johnny’s mother is descended through her Lassiter line from Sarah Bushyhead, who was Chickamauga.
Johnny’s paternal grandfather was Daniel Meyer Friedenberg (the son of Samuel Friedenberg and Rose Abravanel Klein). Daniel was born in New York, and was a financier, collector, historian, and philanthropist. Samuel was born in Poland, and was Jewish. Rose was born in New Jersey, to Hungarian Jewish parents.
Johnny’s paternal grandmother is June Meredith Daniels (the daughter of Joseph Gideon Daniels and Kansas Hooper). June was born in North Carolina. Joseph was the son of Charles Bailey Daniels and Alexena Ella Mann. Kansas was the daughter of Andrew Shanklin Hooper and Louisa/Lousia P. Midgett.
Johnny’s maternal grandfather was Vernon Ray Bybee (the son of Clenden Thompson Bybee and Ethel Harper). Vernon was born in Idaho, to a Mormon family, and had English, and some Welsh, Dutch, and French, ancestry. Clenden was the son of Walter Ray Bybee and Laura May Thompson, whose father and maternal grandmother were English. Ethel was the daughter of Thomas Ephraim Harper III, whose paternal grandparents were English and Welsh, and Geneva Barrett, whose parents were English.
Johnny’s maternal grandmother was Barbara Jane Riggs (the daughter of Bob Dean Riggs and Hester Jane Curtis). Barbara was born in California. Bob was the son of William Oscar/A. Riggs and Bertha May Adkins. Hester was the daughter of William A. Curtis and Nora Violet Ferguson.
Sources: Johnny’s paternal grandfather, Daniel Meyer Friedenberg, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Johnny’s paternal grandfather, Daniel Meyer Friedenberg – https://www.legacy.com
Johnny’s paternal great-grandparents, Samuel Friedenberg and Rose Abravanel Klein, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Marriage record of Johnny’s paternal great-grandparents, Joseph Gideon Daniels and Kansas Hooper – https://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Johnny’s maternal grandfather, Vernon Ray Bybee – https://www.familysearch.org
She and her mother Heather Rae are not Cherokee. The only “American Indian” ancestor in familysearch which is under the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints…well, a Benjamin Lasseter/Lassiter. In 1907, in the Guion Miller roll, Rae and Sequoyah’s ancestor attempted to get money for being “Cherokee descent” to only find they were rejected, but there was some similarly named man on the Nottoway tribe in 1700? Virginia next to North Carolina where the family lived and would this make them 1/1000 or 1/2000 Cherokee or American Indian??? The genealogists stated there’s no direct lineal evidence either and what mother and daughter did (I heard they were Idaho Mormons) is stole that very ancestor as their own and the family has faked their Indigenity in OK, similar to Liz Warren and Danielle Smith, and even these 2’s own families said it’s just tall tales to promote their political careers. Rae as an “ally”, Warren as an “educated Liberal” is on the same side of the “racist” spectrum like ultra-conservative Smith in Alberta, Canada.
Thomas Ephraim Harper III’ s mother, Ellen Van Orden, had also Dutch and remote French ancestry (alongside English).
https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/KWD6-QMV
There is also an ancestor with an Ukrainian surname: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GS92-J2X
”Rae identifies as Cherokee but is not an enrolled member of a tribal system”
In short, she’s likely full of it.
We don’t know her maternal grandmother’s background though.
Cherokees are one of the most permissive tribes when it comes to enrollment. If she had a 3rd great-grandparent that was Cherokee, she’d likely be enrolled.
She’s somehow related to this woman, but I don’t know exactly how.
I suspect she is Barbara’s mother
I don’t think this is her grandfather since Barbara isn’t mentioned in the obituary and he married Hester when Barbara was 14:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25508418
This looks to be that woman. Looks like she was married to Ray Means once in Missouri and then later in Idaho (it’s a bit confusing since no children are mentioned in Ray’s obituary):
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2442&h=91055598&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Dnf1714&_phstart=successSource
How did you conclude that they are related?
She and Barbara shared an address. And Heather was saying happy birthday to grandma Jane on facebook on the same date Hester Jane was born. I said I suspect she’s her mother, but I’m not sure.
I’ve solved it.
Johnny’s maternal grandmother was Barbara Jane Riggs (the daughter of Bob Dean Riggs and Hester Jane Curtis). Bob was the son of William Oscar Riggs and Bertha May Adkins. Hester was the daughter of William A. Curtis and Nora Violet Ferguson.
This is Johnny’s grandmother:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VGDK-YMX
Her own parents:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K86Y-HDJ
@madman
Great solve. I knew Barbara also went by the last name Riggs but I thought it was a married name.
I though so to, but since it didn’t add up I tried searching for her with that name and found the birth certificate.
To the moderators, this means that Johnny has no documented Native American ancestry.
C. B. Daniels and Ella —> Charles Bailey Daniels and Alexena Ella Mann
Shanklin Hooper and Lousia —> Andrew Shanklin Hooper and Louisa P. Midgett
Picture of Johnny’s maternal grandmother:
https://scontent.fbma2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18425263_10155300871978669_3142788798192239275_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent.fbma2-1.fna&oh=de7faa8d18c3ce18e3d3e12fd3a45379&oe=5D2DC4DB
Could anyone find out anything about her? Was she Cherokee?