Joseph Vann

Joseph Vann
Joseph "Rich Joe" Vann
Born	(1798-02-11)February 11, 1798 Spring Place, Georgia
Died	October 23, 1844(1844-10-23) near Louisville, Kentucky
Occupation	Chief Vann House Owner, Cherokee Leader
Spouse(s)	Jennie Springston, Polly Blackburn

Joseph H. Vann (11 February 1798 – 23 October 1844) was a Cherokee leader of mixed-race ancestry, a businessman and planter in Georgia, Tennessee and Indian Territory. He owned plantations, many slaves, taverns, and steamboats. In 1837, he moved with several hundred Cherokee to Indian Territory, as he realized they had no choice under the government's Indian Removal policy. He built up his businesses along the major waterways, operating his steamboats on the Tennessee, Ohio, Mississippi, and Arkansas rivers.

Joseph H. Vann was born at Spring Place, Georgia on February 11, 1798. Joseph and his sister Mary were children of James Vann and Nannie Brown, both Cherokee of mixed-blood, with partial European ancestry. James Vann was a powerful chief in the Cherokee Nation and had several other wives and children. The people were considered one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast, because they had adopted some European-American ways, often from traders who intermarried with the Cherokee.

Joseph's paternal grandparents were Joseph Vann, a Scottish trader who came from the Province of South Carolina, and Mary Christiana (Wah-Li or Wa-wli Vann), a Cherokee. Young Joseph was his father's favorite child and was the major heir of his estate and wealth.

At age 11, Joseph was in the room when his father James was murdered in Buffington’s Tavern in 1809 near the site of the family-owned ferry at Spring Place. James Vann had tried to plan to have Joseph to inherit his wealth, but Cherokee law stipulated that the home go to his wife Peggy, while his possessions and property were to be divided among his children.