She done his washing and knew the cuff of his sleeve. But about the home--it was a double-room log house with a cooling-off space between the rooms, all covered with a roof, but no porch, and the beds was made of planks, the table of pine boards, and there was never enough boxes for the chairs so the littlest children eat out of a tin pan off the floor. When night came we cut grass and put the bed clothes on top for a bed. Actually, the Assistant Principal Chief was Joseph "Tenulte" Vann, son of Avery Vann and probably a cousin of "Rich Joe" Vann. He died when the boat's boilers exploded. 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. Den I went to a subscription school for a little while, but didn't get much learning. Nails cost big money and Old Master's blacksmith wouldn't make none 'ceptin a few for old Master now an den so we used wooden dowels to put things together. Many Creeks joined the Cherokee searchers. Vann had the opportunity to enjoy his mansion for only a few years; he was fatally shot in 1809 by an unknown assailant. 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. Dey tole me some of dem was bad on negroes but I never did see none of dem night riding like some say dey did. He done already sold 'em to a man and it was dat man was waiting for de trader. 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. When Marster Jim and Missus Jennie went away, the slaves would have a big dance in the arbor. Pappy's name was Caesar Sheppard and Mammy's name was Easter. She married as her second husband, Thomas Mitchell. The women dressed in whtie, if they had a white dress to wear. Its massive walls and hand-carved woodwork show excellent workmanship, and its unique hanging staircase is a marvel that piques the interest of many visitors. 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. I had a silver dime on it, too, for along time, but I took it off and got me a box of snuff. It wasn't my Master done dat. The big House was a double log wid a big hall and a stone chimney but no porches, wid two rooms at each end, one top side of de other. They was Cherokee Indians. He wanted people to know he was able to dress his slaves in fine clothes. John Cherokee Vann (born 1740) Old Settlers (Text) . My pappy was a kind of a boss of the negroes that run the boat, and they all belong to Old Maser Joe. Chief Crazy James Vann James Clement Vann) Vann, Ii, <<Private>> Vann, Ii. 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. I'se born across the river in the plantation of old Jim Vann in Webbers Falls. We had home-made wooden beds wid rope springs, and de little ones slept on trundle beds dat was home made too. I wore loom cloth clothes, dyed in copperas what the old Negro women and the old Cherokee women made. He didn't want em to imagine he give one more than he give the other. We had a good song I remember. There was a bugler and someone callled the dances. When the war broke out, lots of Indians mustered up and went out of the territory. I went to the missionary Baptist church where Marster and Missus went. My missus name was Doublehead before she married Jim Vann. Sometimes there was high waters that spoiled the current and the steamboast could't run. They spun the cottons and wool, weaved it and made cloth. 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. The commissary was full of everything good to eat. He was a multi-millionaire and handsome. She won me lots of money, Black Hock did, and I kept it in the Savings Bank in Tahlequah. He come to our house and Mistress said for us Negroes to give him something to eat and we did. He passed awayon 21 Feb 1809in Northern Georgia, Buffington's Tavern, Spring Place. Everybody cry, everybody'd pretty nearly die. The cooks would bake hams, turkey cakes and pies and there'd be lots to eat and lots of whiskey for the men folks. He went to the war for three years wid the Union soldiers. Because I'se so little, Missus Jennie took me into the Big house and raised me. Chief James Clement Vann married Mary Margaret "Peggy" Scott and had 14 children. Old Master tell me I was borned in November 1852, at de old home place about five miles east of Webbers Falls, mebbe kind of northeast, not far from de east bank of de Illinois River. Lucinda Vann tells an unusual story of plantation life from the perspective of a house slave who was born with privileges. Again the Indian command system lost the Chickamauga their last chance to carry their colors to the Clinch River. We git three or four crops of different things out of dat farm every ear, and something growing on dat place winter and summer. One year later my sister Phyllis was born on the same place and we been together pretty much of the time ever since, and I reckon dere's only one thing that could separate us slave born children. My brothers was name Sone and Frank. But later on I got a freedman's allotment up in dat part close to Coffeyville, and I lived in Coffeyville a while but I didn't like it in Kansas. He had apparently been attending the horse races at Louisville, KY. Vann, Joseph H., Cherokee Rose: On Rivers of Golden Tears, 1st Books Library (2001), ISBN 0-75965-139-6. I slept on a sliding bed. Sometimes there was high waters that spoiled the current and the steamboats couldn't run. She won me lots of money, Black Hock did, and I kept it in the Savings Bank in Tahlequah. My mammy was a Crossland Negro before she come to belong to Master Joe and marry my pappy, and I think she come wid old Mistress and belong to her. He moved his family to this location and resided there two or three years, until he could establish himself in the west. The colored folks did most of the fiddlin'. 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. One day young Master come to the cabins and say we all free and cant' stay there lessn we want to go on working for him just like we'd been for our feed, an clothes. They make pens out in the shallow water with poles every little ways from the river banks. I dont know about Robert Lee, but I know about Lees Creek. We made money and kept it in a sack. https://web.archive.org/web/20071026072208/http://www.cherokeebyblo https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5977809/joseph-vann, Webbers Falls, Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States of America. He was a slave on the Chism plantation, but came to Vann's all the time on account of the horses. He got that message to the captain just the same. Young Master never whip his slaves, but if they dont mind good he sell them off sometimes. Pretty soon everybody commenced a singing and a prayin'. 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. My mammy was a Cherokee slave, and talked it good. She inherit about half a dozen slaves, and say dey was her own and old master can't sell one unless she give him leave to do it. I'm gonna give Lucy this black mare. They are the progenitors of the Cherokee Ward family. When crop was laid by de slaves jest work round at dis and dat and keep tol'able busy. When we wanted to go anywhere we always got a horse, we never walked. The young, single girls lived with the old folks in another big long house. There was a big dinner bell in the yard. A doctor put it in alcohol and they kept it a long time. 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. Old Master bought de cotton in Ft. Smith, because he didn't raise no cotton, but he had a few sheep and we had wool mix for winter. The comfort accorded house slaves is in stark contrast to the lives of the field slaves described in other interviews. They tell us what was happening and what to do. Up at five o'clock and back in sometimes about de middle of de evening long before sundown, unless they was a crop to git in before it rain or something like dat. When we git to Fort Gibson they was a lot of negroes there, and they had a camp meeting and I was baptized. Marster never whipped no one. When they wanted something put away they say, "Clarinda, come put this in the vault." In ever did see no money neither, until time of de War or a little before. They brought it home and my granmother knew it was Joe's. My mother saw it but the colored chillun' couldn't. "We'd say "Come on buffalo", and it would come to us. I've seen em. 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 We had about twenty calves and I would take dem out and graze-em while some grown-up negro was grazing de cows so as to keep de cows milk. There was music, fine music. 502-524. Marster had a big Christmas tree, oh great big tree, put on the porch. Florence Smith was my first wife and Ida Vann the second. Then one day one of my uncles name Wash Sheppard come and tried to git me to go live wid him. Clarinda Vann and my aunt Maria turned the keys to the vault and commissary. 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. Any information would be valuable. I'm goin' give Lucy this black mare. We was at dat place two years and made two little crops. His father John Joseph VANN is about 48 years old in 1779 - estimations) Sept. 27 1793 - Daniel SMITH Letter to Henry KNOX. Wife belong to de church and all de children too, and I think all should look after saving their souls so as to drive de nail in, and den go about de earth spreading kindness and hoeing de row clean so as to clinch dat nail and make dem safe for Glory. The Vanns were a prolific family who reused many names, so later in life he was referred to as "Rich Joe." He was one of eight children born to his father's nine wives. The spring time give us plenty of green corn and beans too. Oh the news traveled up and down the river. Pretty soon all de young Cherokee menfolks all gone off to de War, and de Pins was riding round all de time, and it ain't safe to be in dat part around Webber's Falls so old Master take us all to Fort Smith where they was a lot of Confederate soldiers. Had sacks and sacks of money. A whole half of ribs sold for twenty-five cents. The big house was made of log and stone and had big mud fireplaces. My mother was born way back in the hills of the old Flint district of the Cherokee Nation; just about where Scraper Oklahoma is now. We settled down a little ways above Fort Gibson. Im glad the wars over and I am free to meet God like anybody else, and my grandchildren can learn to read and write. Lots of bad things have come to me, but the good Father, high up, He take care of me. Old Mistress cried jest like any of de rest of us when de boat pull out with dem on it. Born on February 11, 1798, in Murray County in northwest Georgia, Vann was the son of Chief James Vann and Margaret "Peggy" Scott. 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). Publicado el sbado, 1 de abril de 2023 . a trading post, more than 1,000 peach trees, 147 apple trees, and a still. He didn't want em to imagine he give one more than he give the other. They spun the cottons and wool, weaved it and made cloth. He was married, but that din't make no difference he courted her anyhow. I got my allotment as a Cherokee Freedman, and so did Cal, but we lived here at this place because we was too old to work the land ourselves. Everybody had fine clothes everybody had plenty to eat. We went down to the river for baptizings. Everybody had fine clothes everybody had plenty to eat. Cherokee VANN Family. . De clothes wasn't no worry neither. Mistress say old Master and my pappy on the boat somewhere close to Louisville and the boiler bust and tear the boat up. After it was wove they dyed it all colors, blue, brown, purple, red, yellow. Young Joseph was his father's favorite child and primary recipient of his father's estate and wealth. He born at Spring Place, Georgia on February 11, 1798. He say he wanted to git de family all together agin. Sometims just white folks danced; sometimes just the black folks. Us Cherokee slaves seen lots of green corn shootings and de like of dat but we never had no games of our own. In 1834 Cherokee chief James Vann's son Joseph lost the family home to the state. All the colored folks lined up and the overseer he tell them what they must do that day. I was born after the War, about 1868, and what I know 'bout slave times is what my pappa told me, and maybe that not be very much. 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. Lord yes, su-er. The beautiful brick house was surrounded by kitchens, slave quarters and mills, with apple and peach orchards covering the adjacent hills. The command of the Army was shared by Doublehead and Watts. New search. Lord yes su-er. View Site The preacher took his candidate into the water. Because mamma was sick then he brought her sister Sucky Pea and her husband, Charley Pea, to help around wid him. James Vann had several other wives and children. I don't remember much about my pappy's mother; but I remember she would milk for a man named Columbus Balreade and she went to prayer meeting every Wednesday night. Tall and slim and handsome. I had on my old clothes for the wedding, and I aint had any good clothes since I was a little slave girl. I had two brothers, Silas and George, dat belong to Mr. George Holt in Webber's falls town. They had run out of food and were starving, too weak and disillusioned to offer effective resistance. Master give me over to de National Freedmen's bureau and I was bound out to a Cherokee woman name Lizzie McGee. Mammy got a wagon and we traveled around a few days to go to Fort Gibson. I wore a stripedy shirt till I was about 11 years old and den one day while we was down in the Choctaw Country old Mistress see me and nearly fall off her horse. In 1842, 35 slaves of Joseph Vann, Lewis Ross, and other wealthy Cherokees at Webbers Falls, fled in a futile attempt to escape to Mexico, but were quickly recaptured by a Cherokee possee. The city is divided into two parts: the old town, on a high hill, and the modern area, on level ground, which is fully connected to the city . Young Master Joe let us have singing and be baptised if we want to, but I wasnt baptized till after the war. The people conducting the interviews from 1936-1938 were instructed to write the material gleaned from the interviews as closely as possible to the speech patterns of the former slaves they interviewed. Some of us had money. The first time I married was to Clara Nevens, and I wore checked wool pants, and a blue striped cotton shirt. 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. We had bonnets that had long silk tassels for ties. There was big parties and dances. Correction Note: The preceding comments by the interviewer incorrectly depicts the relationship between the family members. Lots of the slave children didn't ever learn to read or write. Lord have mercy on us, yes. I don't remember old Mistress name. The band of escaping slaves came upon two white men who were fugitive slave hunters returning eight Negroes they had recaptured to their Choctaw master. They'd cut brush saplings, walk out into the stream ahead of the pen and chase the fish down to the riffle where they'd pick em up. They'd come to the door like this, "sh.." and go out quick again. After several days of pursuit, the Indians caught up with the escaped slaves and a heated battle inflicted casualties on both sides. Us slaves lived in log cabins dat only had one room and no windows so we kept de doors open most of de time. In Georgia, during the early 1800s, slaves owned by the Vann Family made the bricks and milled the lumber used to build the Vann House in Spring Place. His britches was all muddy and tore where de hounds had cut him up in de legs when he clumb a tree in de bottoms. Young Master Vann never very hard on us and he never whupped us, and ole Mistress was a widow woman and a good Christian and always kind. I remember when the steamboats went up and down the river. Mr. Reese had a big flock of peafowls dat had belonged to Mr. Scott and I had to take care of demWhitefolks. His pappy was old Captain "Rich Joe" Vann, and he had been dead ever since long before de War. Marster and missus never allowed chillun to meddle in the big folks business. He used to take us to where Hyge Park is and we'd all go fishin'. It made my Master mad, but dey didn't belong to him no more and he couldn't say nothing. At the time that the interviews were conducted, the Vanns had been gone from Georgia for more than 100 yearsconsequently none of the slaves the Vanns owned in Spring Place were still alive. Interestingly, Mrs. Vann also speaks of some time that her family spent before and during the war in Mexico. He had to work on the boat, though, and never got to come home but once in a long while. Dat was one poor negro dat never go away to de North and I was sorry for him cause I know he must have had a mean master, but none of us Sheppard negroes, I mean the grown ones, tried to get away. Joe had two wives, one was named Missus Jennie. Once they catch a catfish most as big as a man; that fish had eggs big as hen eggs, and he made a feast for twenty-five Indians on the fishing party. This valuable property became a prize for the white man when the laws of Georgia were extended over the Cherokee Nation. 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