Eviction of Rich Joe and Seizure of Vann House
After the Georgia Gold Rush Rich Joe hired a white man, a Mr.Howel, to run Vann House. Although the man never actuallworked for Vann, the Cherokee had unknowingly violated a new Georgia law forbidding whites from working for Cherokees without a permit. Leading up to the Cherokee Trail of Tears, Rich Joe, and his family were caught in the midst of the struggle between two opposing claims for the house.Colonel William Bishop and the infamous Georgia Guard tried to take over the house on the grounds of hiring a white man without a permit.. A man, Spencer Riley, who claimed to have won the house in the Land Lottery of 1832, known as the Sixth Georgia Land Lottery, made a claim for the house at the same time. Rich Joe was then evicted by Colonel Bishop.
Colonel Bishop used the house as his local headquarters and permitted his brother, Absalom Bishop, to live there. Riley at the point took action on his claim and settled in the house. In order to get rid of Riley, Bishop took a smoldering log and threw it on the cantilevered steps to smoke him out, causing some damage to the house. This had its intended effect, and Bishop's brother returned to the house. Although Vann and his family lost their home and property, he later sued for the loss and was awarded $19,605 by the government as compensation (It is worth noting that the house alone was valued at $10,000, so the compensation was far from the actual property value.). In November of that year Colonel Bishop imprisoned John Howard Payne for 13 days on the grounds of the house. Payne, noted as composer of "Home, Sweet Home", had been charged with sedition for supporting the claims of the Cherokee over the state of Georgia.
Read more about this topic: Chief Vann House Historic Site
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