John Joseph Vann

• General Notes
  • In 1799, JOSEPH VANN was with DRAGGING CANOE and his CHICKAMAUGA WARRORS at Knoxville, Tennessee, and were defeated, they had to move thier tribes and families deep into Indian Territory. JOSEPH VANN was one of this tribe. This JOSEPH VANN could be JOSEPH DAVID VANN, one of the sons of JOHN JOSEPH VANN & WAH LI or by one of his other Indian wives. It was perfectly acceptable back then for a wealthy Indian to have more than one wife as long as he could support them without want. WAH LI (POLLY) OTTERLIFTER'S sister, NAN CI (NANNIE) OTTERLIFTER lived with them in Georgia and could have been another one of his wives. I do know that he had another wife at his Tennessee home and another in the Indian Territory in the west. Vann was a business man and owned large homes at the end of each of the trails he would travel conducting his business. JOSEPH DAVID VANN would have been 17 or 18 years old. His father, JOHN JOSEPH VANN, was about 48 years old in 1779, and this was the year that CLEM VANN came to the new "Cherokee Country, Indian Territory" in the west. I believe THOMPSON WALL worked for VANN, either by delivering goods to the west, or by being a long-hunter, probably both. The tribe and family would travel west on the "Trail of Tears" before it became known for that, THOMPSON WALL was most probably thier guide. He brought thier families to the Osage River Valley of Missouri, this was thier new home. When the rest of the family was forced to move by the great Indian removal of 1838, they would drop off on the trail in this area of Missouri as they knew that some of thier family was already there. Some of the Vann Clan refused to move and hid out in the Carolina Mountains, which were close to thier Georgia home.
    
    James Vann (ca1766-1809) was a mixed-blood minor Cherokee chief. When sober he was a very skillful businessman, but when drunk was sometimes homicidal. His mansion "Diamond Hill" is still extant (near Chattsworth, GA) and is a tourist attraction. There has been a great deal of confusion about this man, his parents, relatives, wives, and children, largely due to misinformation contained in the book Vann GENERATIONS by William Vann of Ft. Worth, TX.
    
    ohn Joseph VANN
    
    B: 1730 Scotland,  M: Wai-Li Princess of Cherokee - 1763,D: 1780 Tennessee, shot by son James (Chief Crazy James) John Vann. He was descended from Robert The Bruce, King of Scotland.  A Scottish trader came to Cherokee Territory in 1755, married Wai-Li and became a licensed trader-interpreter for the Queen of England.  After marrying Wai-Li, he became Chief of Tellico in Tennessee.  He was accused of killing a Cherokee and sentenced to death.  He was accidentally shot to death by his son Crazy James.
    
    ALEXANDER CAMERON
    ca. 1720-1781
    
    Alexander Cameron, British Indian agent among the Cherokees, was a native of Scotland who emigrated to Georgia in the 1730s and enlisted in the British army during the Seven Years' War. In 1764 the British appointed him commissary to Chota in the Cherokee territory, and he lived among the Tennessee Cherokees for the next fifteen years. In early 1776 Cameron attempted to mediate between white settlers who had moved into disputed territory at Watauga and Nolichucky and the Cherokees, who demanded their removal. When the settlers refused to leave, the Cherokees attacked, and the settlers blamed the unrest on Cameron, accusing him of inciting the Indians.
    
    Cameron denied that he had encouraged the Cherokee attack, but as the Revolutionary War commenced, British Indian agents sought the support of Native Americans throughout North America. John Stuart, head superintendent of Indian Affairs, died in early 1779, and in August Cameron was appointed superintendent for the Southwest in an attempt to gain Cherokee loyalty. Cameron also tried unsuccessfully to gain the support of the Creeks and Choctaws in Florida.
    
    During his fifteen years among the Cherokees, Cameron became influential in tribal decisions and fathered three children. In 1780 an illness prevented his plans to travel through the Indian territories, and he died in Savannah in December 1781.
    
    In 1770 Alexander cmeron appointed John Vann as official interpreter.
    
    John Joseph Vann had two wives at the same time.