Joseph Vann, the son of Chief James Vann and his wife Margaret Scott Vann, was a lad of 12 when his father was killed, in 1809. We had fine satin dresses, great big combs for our hair, great big gold locket, double earrings we never wore cotton except when we worked. There'd be a whole wagon-load of things come and be put on the tree. Snow on the ground and the water was muddy and all full of pieces of ice. Lord it was terible. Owned by the Cherokee Chief James Vann, the Vann House is a Georgia Historic Site on the National Register of Historic Places and one of the oldest remaining structures in the northern third of the state of Georgia. Lord, Yes! Clarinda Vann and my aunt Maria turned the keys to the vault and commissary. Everybody had a good time. My mother saw it but the colored chillun' couldn't. When the Indians decided to return home for reinforcements, the slaves started moving again toward Mexico. In slavery time the Cherokee Negroes do like anybody else when they is a death, jest listen to a chapter in the Bible and all cry. Us Cherokee slaves seen lots of green corn shootings and de like of dat but we never had no games of our own. Old Master Joe was a big man in the Cherokees, I hear, and was good to his Negroes before I was born. Some 70 years after "the War," during America's Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration assigned numerous people to interview former slaves and record their recollections of slavery. After it was wove they dyed it all colors, blue, brown, purple, red, yellow. Well, I go ahead, and make me a crop of corn all by myself and then I don't know what to do wid it. Do you know what I am going to do? Everybody cry, everybody'd pretty nearly die. He went to the war for three years wid the Union soldiers. De clothes wasn't no worry neither. I slept on a sliding bed. Yes Lord Yes. I don't know how old I is; some folks ay I'se ninety-two and some say I must be a hundred. When father was young he would go hunting the fox with his master, and fishing in the streams for the big fish. He was married, but that din't make no difference he courted her anyhow. I've seen em. A doctor put it in alcohol and they kept it a long time. After being evicted from his father's mansion home "Diamond Hill" in 1834, Joseph moved his large family (he had two wives) and business operations to Tennessee, where he established a large plantation on the Tennessee River near the mouth of Ooltewah Creek that became the center of a settlement called Vann's Town (later the site of Harrison, Tennessee). The commissary was full of everything good to eat. Chief Born (05 Mar 1746/47) - Chowan, North Carolina Deceased 21 February 1809 - Buffington S Tavern, Georgia, United States Parents Edward Sr Vann ca 1693-1752 Mary Barnes ca 1696-1748 Spouses and children With Margaret Scott 1783-1845 Married about 1765, Spring Place, IT., GA., to Mary Wah-Li Christiana, Princess 1750-ca 1835 with Lord yes su-er. Joseph Lewis "Rooster Crowing". Cal Robertson was eighty-nine years old when I married him forty years ago, right on this porch. We told him bout de Pins coming for him and he just laughed. He tell us for we start, what we must say and what to do. Sometimes there was high waters that spoiled the current and the steamboats couldn't run. The commissary was full of everyting good to eat. Master Joe was sure a good provider, and we always had plenty of corn pone, sow belly and greens, sweet potatoes, cowpeas and cane molasses. Lord yes, su-er. The cooks would bake hams, turkey cakes and pies and there'd be lots to eat and lots of whiskey for the men folks. They'd bring whole wagon loads of hams, chickens and cake and pie. The Chief Vann House is the first brick residence in the Cherokee Nation, and has been called the "Showplace of the Cherokee Nation ". We stayed here till everything got fixed up, then we went back to Mexico. De furniture is all gone, and some said de soldiers burned it up for firewood. It was in the Grand River close to the ford, and winter time. This valuable property became a prize for the white man when the laws of Georgia were extended over the Cherokee Nation. There was a bugler and someone called the dances. One and a half years after the war we all come back to the old plantation. The impressive house reportedly stood on a plantation of nearly 600 acres which was tended by some 400 black slaves "Rich Joe" Vann owned. This was before the war. Maybe old Master Joe Vann was harder. He made a deal with Dave Mounts, a white man, who was moving into the Indian country to drive for him. He done already sold 'em to a man and it was dat man was waiting for de trader. Those included in this collection all mention the Vanns. He wanted people to know he was able to dress his slaves in fine clothes. Everybody had a good time on old Jim Vann's plantation. The preacher took his candidate into the water. Joseph H. Vann, (11 February 1798 - 23 October 1844). I'm gonna give Lucy this black mare. Mammy had the wagon and two oxen, and we worked a good size patch there until she died, and then I git married to Cal Robertson to have somebody to take care of me. The following year, Joseph Vann and several of his black rebels died in the explosion of his steamboat Lucy Walker during a race on the Ohio River. Of course I hear about Abraham Lincoln and he was a great man, but I was told mostly by my children when dey come home from school about him. Joseph was the son of a Chief of the Cherokees James Vann, and Nancy Brown Vann. Joseph Vann, son of Chief Joseph Vann and his wife Margaret Scott Vann, married first, Jennie Springton, born December 23, 1804, died August 4, 1863. Although he was born after slavery had ended, Nave's remembrances of what his father had told him about slavery days include some interesting details. Master Thompson brought us from Texas when I was too little to remember about it, and I din't know how long it was before we was all sold to John Harnage, "Marse John" was his pet name and he liked to be called that-a-way. Everything was kept covered and every hogshead had a lock. I had me a good blaze-faced horse for dat. When they wanted something put away they say, "Clarinda, come put this in the vault." I never did have much of a job, jest tending de calves mostly. In summer when it was hot, the slaves would sit in the shade evening's and make wooden spoons out of maple. We left de furniture and only took grub and tools and bedding and clothes, cause they wasn't very big wagons and was only single-yoke. That was sort of vault, where the family valuables was kept. That was where all the food was kept. They'd sell 'em to folks at picnics and barbecues. Little hog, big hog, didn't make no difference. In 1834 Cherokee chief James Vann's son Joseph lost the family home to the state. By 1800 slavery had become firmly entrenched in the Five Civilized Tribes. The married folks lived in little houses and there was big long houses for all the single men. We was at dat place two years and made two little crops. "We'd say "Come on buffalo", and it would come to us. Explore historical records and family tree profiles about Chief Vann on MyHeritage, the world's family history network. My uncle used to baptize 'em. I'se born right in my master and missus bed. They'd clap their hands and holler. I always pick a whole passel of muscadines for old Master and he make up sour wine, and dat helps out when we git the bowel complaint from eating dat fresh pork. Dat just about lasted em through until dey died, I reckon. They make pens out in the shallow water with poles every little ways from the river banks. That sure was a tough time for the soldiers, for father said they fought and fought before the "Seesesh" soldiers finally took off to the south and the northern troops went back to Fort Gibson. He was a British interpreter for the Cherokees at Fort Loudoun (S.C.) in 1758 and at Augusta in 1763, and continued to fill that position at the 1770 treaty negotiations. They get something they need too. In ever did see no money neither, until time of de War or a little before. After the Removal, Joseph Vann was chosen the first Assistant Chief of the united Cherokee Nation under the new 1839 Constitution that was created in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), serving with Principal Chief John Ross. I don't know how old I is; some folks say I'se ninety-two and some say I must be a hundred. Master give me over to de National Freedmen's bureau and I was bound out to a Cherokee woman name Lizzie McGee. Chief Joseph David VANN passed awayon 1844in in boat race on Ohio River, Indiana. After the old time rich folks die, them that had their money buried, they com back and haunt the places where it is. Birth 04 Oct 1852 - New Hope, Ok. Death 24 Sep 1879 - Saline District, Cherokee Nation, I.T. The low class work in the fields. He would tell em plain before hand, "Now no trouble." When they get it they take it back to their cabin. Don't know where the other one lived. And we learned some things about religion from an old colored preacher named Tom Vann. Joseph H. Vann was born on February 11, 1798, at Spring Place in Georgia. One of the Six Killer women was mighty good to us and we called her "mammy", that a long time after my mammy die though. When dat Civil War come along I was a pretty big boy and I remember it good as anybody. There was a big dinner bell in the yard. Sometimes the sleep was too deep and somebody would be late, but the master never punish anybody, and I never see anybody whipped and only one slave sold. She won me lots of money, Black Hock did, and I kept it in the Savings Bank in Tahlequah. After everything quiet down and everything was just right, we come back to territory second time. He jest kept him and he was a good negro after that. Marster had a little race horse called "Black Hock" She was all jet black, excepting three white feet and her stump of a tail. The women dressed in whtie, if they had a white dress to wear. There was seats all around for folks to watch them dance. I remember Chief John Ross. Some of the old chief's names was Gopher John, John Hawk and Wild Cat. Old mistress was small and mighty pretty too, and she was only half Cherokee. Chief James Clement Vann Birth 11 Feb 1765 - Spring Place, Murray, Georgia, United States Death 21 Feb 1809 - Shot at Buffington Tavern, GA, USA Mother WahLi Wa-Wli aka Polly Otterlifter Mary Christiana Otterlifter Wolf Clan Father John Joseph 'Indian Trader' Cherokee Vann Quick access Family tree New search Chief James Clement Vann family tree Johnson Thompson's father had been owned by "Rich Joe" Vann. Everybody laugh and was happy. Run it to the bank!" There was Mr. Jim Collins, and Mr. Bell, and Mr. Dave Franklin . Numerous others had previously gone to Oklahoma when their masters voluntarily relocated. There was music, fine music. The slave cabins was in a row, and we lived in one of them. It wasn't my Master done dat. The colored folks did most of the fiddlin'. A few days later they caught up with the slaves, still in Indian Territory. Dere was a sister named Patsy; she died at Wagoner, Oklahoma. Pappy worked around the farms and fiddled for the Cherokee dances. Christmas lasted a whole month. Now I'se just old forgotten woman. We had to have a pass to go any place to have signing or praying, and den they was always a bunch of patrollers around to watch everything we done. He never seen them neither. He come from across the water when he was a little boy, and was grown when old Master Joseph Vann bought him, so he never did learn to talk much Cherokee. Marster had a big Christmas tree, oh great big tree, put on the porch. I wouldn't go, so he sent Isaac and Joe Vann dat had been two of Old Captain Joe's negroes to talk to me. In 1840 the town of Harrison was developed on an adjoining property, and the county seat of Hamilton County was moved south to the Tennessee River to this location. By and by I married Nancy Holdebrand what lived on Greenleaf Creek, bout four miles northwest of Gore. Their slaves also helped build the nearby Moravian mission and school in Spring Place. We was too tired when we come in to play any games. John Cherokee Vann (born 1740) Old Settlers (Text) . Mistress try to get de man to tell her who de negro belong to so she can buy him, but de man say he can't sell him and he take him on back to Texas wid a chain around his two ankles. Marster and missus never allowed chillun to meddle in the big folks business. Betty Robertson's father worked aboard Joseph Vann's steamboat, Lucy Walker. 5. Someone rattled the bones. He jest kept him and he was a good Negro after that. If somebody bad sick he git de doctor right quick, and he don't let no negroes mess around wid no poultices and teas and sech things, like cupping-horns neither! When the last of the Cherokees were forcibly moved west in 1838, government records indicate that 1,592 black slaves were moved to Indian Territory with their owners. When the Cherokees discovered that so many of their slaves had fled, they organized a search party to pursue them. Its got a buckeye and a lead bullet in it. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Indians wouldn't allow their slaves to take their husband's name. Black Hock was awful attached to the kitchen. a trading post, more than 1,000 peach trees, 147 apple trees, and a still. A four mule team was hitched to the wagon and for five weeks we was on the road from Texas finally getting to grandma Brewer's at Fort Gibson. Every morning the slaves would run to the commissary and get what they wanted for that day. Birth 1798 - Spring Place, Murray County, Georgia, United States of America Death 26 Oct. 1844 - Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, USA Mother Nancy Agnes Brown Timberlake Father Chief James Clement Vann Quick access Family tree New search Joseph "Rich Joe" Vann family tree Family tree Explore more family trees Parents Chief James Clement Vann We camp at dat place a while and old Mistress stay in de town wid some kinfolks. He born at Spring Place, Georgia on February 11, 1798. Sometimes just white folks danced; sometimes just the black folks. I eat from a big pan set on the floor---there was no chairs--and I slept in a trundle bed that was pushed under the big bed in the daytime. One time we sold one hundred hogs on the foot. He say he wanted to git de family all together agin. There was a house yonder where was dry clothes, blankets, everything. Seneca Chism was my father. Mammy was the house girl and she weaved the cloth and my Aunt Tilda dyed the cloth with indigo, leaving her hands blue looking most of the time. Young, Mary., "The Cherokee Nation: Mirror of the Republic", (American Quarterly), Vol. The master had a bell to ring every morning at four o'clock for the folks to turn out. I found your family in the 1880/1900 census. They brought it home and my granmother knew it was Joe's. We didn't suffer, we had plenty to eat. I was afraid I would get cheated out of it cause I can't figure and read, so I tell old Master about it and he bought it off'n me. Vann. Sometime Young Master Joe and the other boys give me a piece of money and say I worked for it, and I reckon I did for I have to cook five or six times a day. Brown sugar, molasses, flour, corn-meal, dried beans, peas, fruits butter lard, was all kept in big wooden hogsheads; look something like a tub. Two pounds of hog meat sold for a nickel. I dunno her other name. I had one brother and one sister sold when I was little and I dont remember the names. Then he hide in the bushes along the creek and got away. Young Master Joe let us have singing and be baptized if we want to, but I wasn't baptized till after the War. Of course, all slaves were officially freed during the Civil War. It made my Master mad, but dey didn't belong to him no more and he couldn't say nothing. In de second year of de War he sold my mammy and my aunt dat was Uncle Joe's wife and my two brothers and my little sister. That mean't she want a biscuit with a little butter on it. The following slave narratives all mention the Vanns. Vann had the opportunity to enjoy his mansion for only a few years; he was fatally shot in 1809 by an unknown assailant. I know he is right, too. After the war I married Paul Alexander, but I never took his name. I always think of my old Master as de one dat freed me, and anyways Abraham Lincoln and none of his North people didn't look after me and buy my crop right after I was free like old Master did. Meanwhile, the Cherokees had presented their news of the slave revolt to the Cherokee National Council at the capital, Tahlequah, and gained approval for a Cherokee Militia unit to pursue, arrest, and deliver the fugitive slaves to Fort Gibson. Mammy work late in the night, and I hear the loom making noises while I try to sleep in the cabin. They was so many of us for dat little field we never did have to work hard. He had run off after he was sold and joined de North army and discharged at Fort Scoot in Kansas, and he said lots of freedmen was living close to each other up by Coffeyville in the Coo-ee-scoo-wee District. Mammy and pappy belong to W.P. Old Master Joe had a big steam boat he called the Lucy Walker, and he run it up and down the Arkansas and the Mississippi and the Ohio river, old Mistress say. He and Master took race horses down the river, away off and they'd come back with sacks of money that them horses won in the races. Dey only had two families of slaves wid about twenty in all, and dey only worked about fifty acres, so we sure did work every foot of it good. Lord have mercy I'll say they was. Unfortunately, this building was later destroyed during the American Civil War. Pappys name was Kalet Vann, and mammys name was Sally. They had run out of food and were starving, too weak and disillusioned to offer effective resistance. Joseph H. Vann, (11 February 1798 23 October 1844). . I dunno her other name. Mammy say they was lots of excitement on old Masters place and all the Negroes mighty scared, but he didnt sell my pappy off. Indians made us keep our master's name. Yes Lord yes. Some 3,500 interviews were conducted. Any information would be valuable. In writing of him the Reverend John Gamble, a Moravian missionary said: "Mrs. Gamble and I love him as our own child and have not a complaint against him. Below New Albany, the vessel blew up when one or more boilers blew up, killing the majority of the passengers and among them the owner and captain. Everything was fine, Lord have mercy on me, yes. His grandfather was Clement Vann, a Scottish trader who moved from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Cherokee lands in northwest Georgia and married Wa-wli, a Cherokee Indian. I go to this house, you come to my house. My names' Lucinda Vann, I've been married twice but that don't make no difference. He tell us for we start, what we must say and what to do. His master Daniel Nave, was Cherokee. Joseph also inherited his father's gold and deposited over $200,000 in gold in a bank in Tennessee. Pappa got the soldier fever from being in the War; no, I don't mean like the chills and fever, but just a fever to be in the army, I guess for he joined the regular U.S. Army after a while, serving five years in the 10th Cavalry at Fort Sill during the same time John Adair of Tahelquah and John Gallagher of Muskogee was in the army. Joseph Vann, the husband of Wah li was probably born 1735-1740. Chief Joseph David VANNfamily tree Parents John Joseph 'Indian Trader' Cherokee Vann 1735- 1815 Waw Li Otterlifter 1750- 1835 Wrong Chief Joseph David VANN? He had a sister called Mary and several other stepsiblings. He sure stood good with de Cherokee neighbors we had, and dey all liked him. Missus Jenni lived in a big house in Webbers Falls. We had a good song I remember. My parents are both dead now--seems like fifty, maybe sixty year ago. The women dressed in white, if they had a white dress to wear. There was Mr. Jim Collins, and Mr. Bell, and Mr. Dave Franklin, and Mr. Jim Sutton and Mr. Blackburn that lived around close to us and dey all had slaves.