Chief Vann was a controversial figure. Born in the 1760s, the half Scotsman/half Cherokee, grew to become a wealthy businessman, plantation owner, and slaveowner. He took advantage of the rules set by the United States government in regard to the Old Federal Road. He constructed a beautiful brick mansion near Spring Place, Georgia, and operated several ferries (One near the former Oscarsville, near the Chattahoochee River - relocated to New Echota) across the state. He owned several taverns, plantations, public houses, a mill, a trading post, and a stagecoach stop in Eton, Georgia.
Known for his violent temper and drinking habits, he had a reputation for whipping criminals and punishing people. Folklore claims he even burned one at the stake. In 1807 Vann killed his brother-in-law in a duel. He also stabbed one white man and shot another. His behavior had become so erratic, that the United States Government locked him up in a Garrison. Shortly thereafter, Chief Vann was executed at Buffington's Tavern near the border of Cherokee and Forsyth County. The stories vary as to what happened, but in short, he was inside the tavern and someone (It is believed to be Alexander Sanders) shot him in the heart through an open door in front of his eleven-year-old son Joe. He died immediately and was buried in the woods near the road.
Across the street from the present-day Sherill House, is the private plot known as Blackburn's Cemetery.
In 1962, the body of what was purportedly Chief Vann was exhumed by archaeologist Wayne Yeager and Fairmount archaeologist John Wear and taken to a local parlor. The exhumation took seven hours. Based on the location of the grave, the type of buttons on the clothing, and a fracture in the upper right arm bone, Mr. Yeager concluded that the body did indeed belong to Chief Vann.
The gravemarker at the alleged site of Vann's grave.
However, the Georgia Historical Commission wasn't willing to make a determination of the veracity of the claims of Yeager alone. They sent their own archaeologist, Franklin Fenega to
examine the remains in Dalton, Georgia. Based on the age of the nails of the coffin, the canine teeth of the exhumed, and the age of the hardware of the clothing, it was determined that the body was of an African American and from a period of at least 90 years after James Vann was murdered. Vann may be very well buried at or near Blackburn's Cemetery, but he's certainly not the person that was exhumed.
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