The cooks would bake hams, turkey cakes and pies and there'd be lots to eat and lots of whiskey for the men folks. It had no windows, but it had a wood floor that was kept clean with plenty of brushings, and a fireplace where mammy'd cook the turnip greens and peas and corn--I still likes the cornbread with fingerprints baked on it like in the old days when it was cooked on a skillet over the hot wood ashes. 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. We settled down a little ways above Fort Gibson. 33, No. Chief passed away on month day 1777, at age 68 at death place. It was in the Grand River close to the ford, and winter time. Chief James Clement Vann married Mary Margaret "Peggy" Scott and had 14 children. Had to sign up all over again and tell who we was. Marster never whipped no one. Of course, all slaves were officially freed during the Civil War. James (Chief of Vann's Old Town) Vannfamily tree Parents Joseph Vann 1740- Unknown Charles Thompson Susie Taylor. 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. You see, I'se one of them sudden cases. I never did see my daddy excepting when I was a baby and I only know what my mammy told me about him. Many Creeks joined the Cherokee searchers. In one month you have to get back. I'se born right in my master and missus bed. The spring time give us plenty of green corn and beans too. See other search results for Chief Joseph David VANN Ready to discover your family story? Sometimes Joe bring other wife to visit Missus Jennie. 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. When the Vanns were forced from their Spring Place home in 1834, they took many slaves with them when they fled to safety in Tennessee. Somehow or other they all took a liking to me, all through the family. 3. 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. 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. Then we all have big dinner, white folks in the big house, colored folks in their cabins. We went down to the river for baptizings. 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. Pappy's name was Caesar Sheppard and Mammy's name was Easter. She done his washing and knew the cuff of his sleeve. Although Joseph Vann's body was never found, slave Lucinda Vann revealed that one of his arms had been found, positively identified, and taken to Vann's home at Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, where it was preserved for many years. Then we all have big dinner, white folks in the big house, colored folks in their cabins. There was seats all around for folks to watch them dance. John Trader U Wa Ni Vann married Mary Wa' Li' Cherokee King-Vann and had 15 children. I thought it was mighty big and fine. Lord yes, su-er. Sometimes just white folks danced; sometimes just the black folks. 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. 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. It was Dont Call the Roll, Jesus, Because Im Coming Home. The only song I remember from the soldiers was: Hang Jeff Davis to a Sour Apple Tree, and I remember that because they said he used to be at Fort Gibson one time. My husband was a Cherokee born Negro, too, and when he got mad he forgit all the English he knowed. Dey didn't have much and couldn't make anymore and dem so old. Lord yes, su-er. 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. He would tell em plain before hand, "Now no trouble." Oh they was good. There was a house yonder where was dry clothes, blankets, everything. Smoeone call our names and everybody get a present. Because mamma was sick then he brought her sister Sucky Pea and her husband, Charley Pea, to help around wid him. I got a pass and went to see dem sometimes, and dey was both treated mighty fine. John Trader U Wa Ni Vann family tree Parents Holesqua Chief Cornstalk Vann 1628 - 1740 Sarah Ann Champion 1665 - Unknown Spouse (s) Mary Wa' Li' Cherokee King-vann 1690 - 1770 When they wanted something put away they say, "Clarinda, come put this in the vault." This was before the war. Johnson Thompson's father had been owned by "Rich Joe" Vann. In 1829 Clement Vann told General Coffee that he was 83 years old and had been in the Cherokee nation for fifty years.Therefore it is highly unlikely that he could have been the father of the Cherokee Chief, James Vann b 1766, well before Clement Vann entered the Cherokee nation. 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 had a good song I remember. F Keziah Vann Family Tree Born in 1763 - Yancey Co., NC. Mistress say old Master and my pappy on the boat somewhere close to Louisville and the boiler bust and tear the boat up. Doublehead's last wife was Nancy Drumgoole. Joseph died about 1780. When night came we cut grass and put the bed clothes on top for a bed. Vann's mother was a Cherokee woman named Wah-Li and his father a Scot named either James or Clement Vann. The slaves who worked in the big house was the first class. 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. I slept on a sliding bed. I'm glad the War's over and I am free to meet God like anybody else, and my grandchildren can learn to read and write. I've seen em. We take a big pot to fry fish in and we'd all eat till we nearly bust. Missus Jenni lived in a big house in Webbers Fall.s Don't know where the other one lived. They taken some of their slaves with them. Cynthia Ann Vann 1812-1885. My mother died when I'se small and my father married Delia Vann. Young Master Joe let us have singing and be baptized if we want to, but I wasn't baptized till after the War. The women dressed in white, if they had a white dress to wear. Someone rattled the bones. He said that those troops burned the Vann home during their pillage. Although Lucinda Vann was owned by Jim Vann, she told about the death of "Rich Joe" Vann and the recovery of one of his arms, following the deadly explosion on his steamboat, the Lucy Walker. Do you know what I am going to do? Lord have mercy on us, yes. Joseph Vann married a Cherokee woman called Wah-li about 1765. Everybody, white folks and colored folks, having good itme. This valuable property became a prize for the white man when the laws of Georgia were extended over the Cherokee Nation. Everything was cheap. They wanted everybody to know we was Marster Vann's slaves. Clement Vann possibly Joseph's younger half-brother arrived in the Cherokee Nation about 1780. 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). They put white cloths on the shelves and laid the good on it. Next came the carpenters, yard men, blacksmiths, race-horse men, steamboat men and like that. The colored folks did most of the fiddlin'. Robert and Mary Hicks were the parents of Nathaniel Hicks. Everybody had plenty to eat and plenty to throw away. sse Vann, James Clement Jr. Vann, Mary Vann, Delila Copeland (born Vann), John Vann, John Vann, Joseph H Vann, John Vann, Mary Vann, Robe Chief James Clement Ii Vann, Elizabeth (Go-sa-du-i-sga) Vann (born Thornton), Sarah "sallie" Vann Nicholson Or Buzzard Trapper (born Vann), Feb 11 1798 - Spring Place, Georgia, Old Cherokee Nation East, United States, Oct 23 1844 - Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, United States, Chief James Vann, Ii, Nannie Vann (born Brown), Feb 11 1798 - Spring Place, Murray, Georgia, United States. 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. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. My mother Betsy Vann, worked in the big house for the missus. 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. He was married, but that din't make no difference he courted her anyhow. Seem like it take a powerful lot of fighting to rid the country of them Rebs. Those included in this collection all mention the Vanns. There wasn't nothing left. They was Cherokee Indians. He had black eyes and mustache but his hair was iron gray, and everybody like him because he was so good natured and kind. Joseph H. Vann, (11 February 1798 - 23 October 1844). Chief Joseph David VANN passed awayon 1844in in boat race on Ohio River, Indiana. Well, I'll tell you, you pull it out from the wall something like a shelf. He didn't want em to imagine he give one more than he give the other. People all a visitin'. 4. The slaves of the Creeks also joined those of the Cherokees and the band set out for Mexico. Sometimes they fish in the Illinois river, sometimes in the Grand, but they always fish the same way. There was five hundred slaves on that plantation and nobdy ever lacked for nothing. That was sort of vault, where the family valuables was kept. They wasnt very big either, but one day two Cherokees rode up and talked a long time, then young Master came to the cabin and said they were sold because mammy couldnt make them mind him. They get something they need too. In summer when it was hot, the slaves would sit in the shade evenings and make wooden spoons out of maple. My mother saw it but the colored chillun' couldn't. 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. Martha was born on September 18 1812, in near Conasauga, Old Cherokee Nation, Tennessee, USA. The slaves had a pretty easy time I think. Some of us had money. Dey kept after me about a year, but I didn't go anyways. He didn't want em to imagine he give one more than he give the other.