Joseph Vann
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Joseph Vann | |
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Chief Vann House Owner, Cherokee Leader | |
Spouse(s) | Jennie Springston, Polly Blackburn |
Joseph H. Vann (11 February 1798 – 23 October 1844) was a
Early life and education
Joseph H. Vann was born at Spring Place,
Joseph's paternal grandparents were Joseph Vann, a Scottish trader who came from the Province of South Carolina, and Mary Christiana (Wah-Li or Wa-wli Vann), a Cherokee. Young Joseph was his father's favorite child and was the major heir of his estate and wealth.
At age 11, Joseph was in the room when his father James was murdered in Buffington's Tavern in 1809 in present-day Forsyth County, GA, about 70 miles from the family home, Diamond Hill, at Spring Place, Murray County.[1] James Vann had tried to plan to have Joseph to inherit his wealth, but Cherokee law stipulated that the home go to his wife Peggy, while his possessions and property were to be divided among his children.
Eventually the Cherokee Council granted Joseph the inheritance in line with his father's wish; this included 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land, trading posts, river ferries, and the Vann House in Spring Place, Georgia. Joseph also inherited his father's gold and deposited over $200,000 in gold in a bank in Tennessee.
Indian Removal
President
Vann established a large plantation on the Tennessee River near the mouth of Wolftever Creek, which became the center of a settlement called Vann's Town (later the site of Harrison, Tennessee, and much later, Harrison Bay State Park, Tennessee's first state park). He became known as 'Rich Joe' Vann.
Removal to Indian Territory
In 1837 prior to the main Cherokee Removal, Vann transported a few hundred Cherokee men, women, children, their African-American slaves (including 200 of his own) and horses aboard a flotilla of flat boats to Webbers Falls at the falls of the Arkansas River in Indian Territory. There Vann developed a plantation and directed slaves to construct a replica of his lost Georgia mansion. This building was later destroyed during the American Civil War. Vann also built up his steamboat business, sending his boats throughout the Mississippi tributaries and to New Orleans.
In 1842, 20–25 slaves of Joseph Vann, Lewis Ross, and other wealthy Cherokee at Webbers Falls revolted and fled with guns and horses in an attempt to escape from Indian Territory to Mexico. They picked up 10 more fugitives in Creek territory. A total of 14 slaves were killed or captured in a conflict with a small party of pursuers, who turned back for reinforcements. The other fugitives continued to the south.
They were soon recaptured by a 100-man armed militia of Cherokee
On October 23, 1844, the steamboat Lucy Walker departed Louisville, Kentucky, bound for New Orleans. Below New Albany, Indiana, the vessel was destroyed when one or more boilers blew up. The majority of the passengers, including owner and captain that day, Joseph Vann, were killed.
See also
- James Vann
- Chief Vann House
- Lucy Walker steamboat disaster
References
- 1839 Cherokee Constitution
- Vann, Joseph H., Cherokee Rose: On Rivers of Golden Tears, 1st Books Library (2001), ISBN 0-7596-5139-6.
- Malone, Henry Thompson, Cherokees of the Old South: A People in Transition, ISBN 0-670-03420-7.
- McFadden, Marguerite, "The Saga of 'Rich Joe' Vann", Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 61 (Spring, 1983).
- ISBN 0-691-04741-3.
- Perdue, Theda, "The Conflict Within: The Cherokee Power Structure and Removal," Georgia Historical Quarterly, 73 (Fall, 1989), pp. 467–91.
- Young, Mary., "The Cherokee Nation: Mirror of the Republic", (American Quarterly), Vol. 33, No. 5, Special Issue: American Culture and the American Frontier (Winter, 1981), pp. 502–524
External links
- "'Rich Joe' Vann" Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Our Georgia History]
- Cherokee By Blood
- New Georgia Encyclopedia Archived 2011-07-11 at the Wayback Machine