Then we all have big dinner, white folks in the big house, colored folks in their cabins. Lots of the slave children didn't ever learn to read or write. They'd sell 'em to folks at picnics and barbecues. At night dem trundles was jest all over the floor, and in de morning we shoved em back under de big beds to git dem outn' de way. But we couldn't learn to read or have a book, and the Cherokee folks was afraid to tell us about the letters because they have a law you go to jail and a big fine if you show a slave about the letters. 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. 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 wed been, for our feed and clothes. Everybody had a good time on old Jim Vann's plantation. Soon as you come out of the water you go over there and change clothes. It was "Don't Call the Roll, Jesus Because I'm Coming Home." Betty Robertson's father worked aboard Joseph Vann's steamboat, Lucy Walker. Some had been in a big run-away and had been brung back, and wasnt so good, so he keep them on the boat all the time mostly. Joseph Rich Joe Vann : Family tree by jwj424 - Geneanet Sometimes we got to ride on one, cause we belonged to Old Jim Vann. The slaves of the Creeks also joined those of the Cherokees and the band set out for Mexico. There was lots of preserves. After it was wove they dyed it all colors, blue, brown, purple, red, yellow. I had one brother and one sister sold when I was little and I dont remember the names. The second time I married a cousin, Rela Brewer. Vinita was the closeset town to where I was born; when I get older seem like they call it "the junction" on account the rails cross there, but I never ride on the trains, just stay at home. Hams cakes, pies, dresses, beads, everything. She dye with copperas and walnut and wild indigo and things like dat and made pretty cloth. They put white cloths on the shelves and laid the good on it. We was married at my home in Coffeyville, and she bore me eleven children right. The land was timbered and the oldest children clear the land, or start to do the work while Pappa go back to Tahlequah to get my sick mamma and the rest of the family. They had a big big plantation down by the river and they was rich. He had black eyes and mustache but his hair was iron gray, and everybody like him because he was so good natured and kind. Vann Name Meaning & Vann Family History at Ancestry.com Chief passed away on month day 1777, at age 68 at death place. I went to see dem lots of times and they was always glad to see me. She come up and put her nose on your just like this---nibble nibble, nibble. He sold one of my brothers and one sister because they kept running off. Dey didn't have much and couldn't make anymore and dem so old. My mother Betsy Vann, worked in the big house for the missus. Joseph 'Rich Joe' Vann (1798 - 1844) - Genealogy 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. My aunt done de carding and spinning and my mammy done de weaving and cutting and sewing , and my pappy could make cowhide shoes wid wooden pegs. Well, I'll tell you, you pull it out from the wall something like a shelf. Interestingly, Mrs. Vann also speaks of some time that her family spent before and during the war in Mexico. The grandson reported that the Vann Family lived in that house until "the War," when some 3,000 federal troops descended upon Webbers Falls. 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. They'd come to the door like this, "sh.." and go out quick again. 5. His master Daniel Nave, was Cherokee. Malone, Henry Thompson, Cherokees of the Old South: A People in Transition, University of Georgia Press, (1956), ISBN 0670034207. When crop was laid by de slaves jest work round at dis and dat and keep tol'able busy. He was a Cherokee leader who owned Diamond Hill (now known as the Chief Vann House), many slaves, taverns, and steamboats that he operated on the Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers. Chief Cornstalk - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage I dont know what he done after that. Before he was killed, James Vann was a powerful chief in the Cherokee Nation and wanted Joseph to inherit the wealth that he had built instead of his wives, but Cherokee law stipulated that the home go to his wife, Peggy, while his possessions and property were to be divided among his children. 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. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Poor old master and mistress only lived a few years after de War. James (Chief of Vann's Old Town) Vannfamily tree Parents Joseph Vann 1740- Unknown Genealogy The preacher took his candidate into the water. When they gave a party in the big house, everything was fine. Yes Lord, it was, havy mercy on me yes. There was music, fine music. Then one day one of my uncles name Wash Sheppard come and tried to git me to go live wid him. Uncle Joe tell us all to lay low and work hard and nobody'd bother us and he would look after us. My husband didn't give me nothing. We was too tired when we come in to play any games. They'd clap their hands and holler. Yes, my dear Lord yes. Lord yes su-er. And we learned some things about religion from an old colored preacher named Tom Vann. Another time his officer give him a message; he was on his way to deliver it when the enemy spy him and cry out to stop, but father said he kept on going until he was shot in the leg. There was a big church. No fusses, no bad words, no nothin like that. We had a good song I remember. Every morning the slaves would run to the commissary and get what they wanted for that day. He sure stood good with de Cherokee neighbors we had, and dey all liked him. Joseph Vann (1798-abt.1844) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree My father he say, "Now chillun, don't get smart; you just be still and listen, rich folks tryin tell us something" They come and call you, say so much money buried, tell you where it is, say it's yours, you come and get it. Our marshal made us all sign up like this; who are you, where you come from, where you go to. I remember when the steamboats went up and down the river. During their pursuit of the escaped Negroes, the Cherokee Militia discovered the bodies of the two slave bounty hunters. They was Cherokee Indians. Because I'se so little, Missus Jennie took me into the Big house and raised me. 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. Young, Mary., "The Cherokee Nation: Mirror of the Republic", (American Quarterly), Vol. 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 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. John Trader U Wa Ni Vann married Mary Wa' Li' Cherokee King-Vann and had 15 children. Den old Master get three wagons and ox teams and take us all way down on Red River in de Choctaw Nation. Old Mistress had a good cookin stove, but most Cherokees had only a big fireplace and pot hooks. Pretty soon everybody commenced a singing and a prayin'. When Marster Jim and Missus Jennie went away, the slaves would have a big dance in the arbor. He said that those troops burned the Vann home during their pillage. 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. Dey come to de house one time when he was gone to Fort Smith and us children told dem he was at Honey Springs, but they knowed better and when he got home he said somebody shot at him and bushwhacked him all the way from Wilson's Rock to dem Wildhorse Mountains, but he run his horse like de devil was sitting on his tail and dey never did hit him. Yes Lord Yes. That house was on the place my papa said he bought from Billy Jones in 1895. 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 When the Cherokees discovered that so many of their slaves had fled, they organized a search party to pursue them. Oh Lord, no. I sure did love her. 14, Born in Bertie, North Carolina, United States on 1715 to John Trader U Wa Ni Vann and Mary Wa' Li' Cherokee King-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. The following slave narratives all mention the Vanns. 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. They had run out of food and were starving, too weak and disillusioned to offer effective resistance. Chief - Wikipedia Joseph William II Vann 1810-1854. Pappy was the shoe-maker and he used wooden pegs of maple to fashion the shoes. He tell us for we start, what we must say and what to do. Pappa named Charley Nave; mamma's name was Mary Vann before she marry and her papa was Talaka Vann, one of Joe Vann's slave down around Webber's Falls. 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. When dat Civil War come along I was a pretty big boy and I remember it good as anybody. 1746, and died July 16, 1839 in Van Zant County, Texas. He had one brother and eight sisters. Then I had clean warm clothes and I had to keep them clean too! 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. She turned the key to the commissary too. Dey was both raised round Webber's Falls somewhere. But we couldnt learn to read or have a book, and the Cherokee folks was afraid to tell us about the letters and figgers because they have a law you go to jail and a big fine if you show a slave about the letters. 1710, d. 1752. Historical records and family trees related to Joseph Vann. The big house was made of log and stone and had big mud fireplaces. Pappys name was Kalet Vann, and mammys name was Sally. Joseph Vann is listed in the Cherokee census of 1835 as a resident of the Cherokee nation within the chartered limits of Hamilton County, Tennessee, his family consisting of fifteen persons. CHEROKEE Genealogy | WikiTree FREE Family Tree Phebe Vann 1798-1840. Chief Vann House - New Georgia Encyclopedia 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.