James Vann - Legacy

Legacy

Vann was a shrewd tribal leader and businessman, but he had trouble with alcohol. He owned taverns, ferry boats, grist mills, and livestock. His business activities included a cattle drive to Pennsylvania and a pack train of goods to South Carolina. Vann brought European-American education into the Cherokee Nation with his support of the Moravian mission school. He urged adoption of European-style "civilization" for the positive aspects he observed.

He was noted as having problems with alcohol, which became increasingly severe.

Vann fought a notable duel with his brother-in-law John Falling, with both armed with muskets and on horseback (Falling died). Vann was generous with his money to those in need, but ruthless to those who crossed him. He ordered a slave Isaac, caught stealing, to be burned alive. In the same incident, Vann had a teenaged girl slave hung by her thumbs to tell about the theft; the Moravian missionaries rescued her and tried to dissuade him from the murder of Isaac.

In his will, Vann left nearly all his property to his Joseph Vann, his eldest son by Nannie Brown. This followed the law of Europeans but differed from the traditional Cherokee matrilineal practice of having property passed on through the maternal line. Joseph inherited the Spring Place plantation (Diamond Hill), and the property on the Tennessee River later known as Vann's Town. He became known as "Rich Joe" Vann. Because Vann had gone against tradition, the National Cherokee Council recognized the other children of Vann's nine wives or consorts as minor heirs, and they shared in the inheritance of lesser amounts of property.