John Ross (1790 - 1866)

Born 3 Oct 1790 in Turkeytown, Cherokee Nation (East)

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Brown) Ross — married 1813 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Husband of Mary Brian (Stapler) Ross — married 1844 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 1 Aug 1866 at age 75 in Washington DC

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Biography

John Ross was a member of the Cherokee Bird Clan.

John Ross is Notable.

John Ross was born October 3, 1790, at Turkeytown in the Cherokee Nation, the son of a Scots immigrant named Daniel Ross and Mary McDonald, a Cherokee. He married Elizabeth "Quatie" Brown, also Cherokee in 1813. They were the parents of five children, James, Allen, Jane, Silas, and George. ^[1]

Privately educated, he began his rise to prominence in 1812. He fought with Gideon Morgan's regiment in the Creek War ^[2] and was a signer of the treaties of 1816 and 1819. He was President of the [Cherokee] National Committee, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1827, and was elected Principal Chief if 1828. ^[3] He convinced the U.S. Government to allow the Cherokee to manage the Removal in 1838. His wife Quatie died on the Trail of Tears in February, 1839. After arrival in Indian Territory, Ross was a signer of the 1839 Act of Union which re-joined the eastern and western Cherokee, and was elected Principal Chief of the unified tribe. ^[4]

In 1844 he married Mary Brian Stapler at Philadelphia. They were the parents of two children, Anna and John. ^[5] John died in Washington, D.C. on August 1, 1866. Originally buried in Delaware, his remains were returned to the Cherokee Nation in June, 1867 and reburied at the Ross Cemetery, Park Hill, Oklahoma. ^[6]

Letter written by John Ross

John Ross, who was known in Cherokee as Guwisguwi, (pronounced Cooweescoowee, the Cherokee name for a large heron-like bird), was elected principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1828 and held the position until his death 1866. Ross led the resistance to Cherokee Removal, and when it became inevitable negotiated with the United States to allow the Cherokee to Remove themselves. When the Cherokee were reunited in Indian Territory he was elected chief of the newly combined nation. At the beginning of the Civil War he was pressured to support the Confederacy, but soon reversed course and supported the Union. He remained Chief of the Union-supporting Cherokee while the Confederate-supporting Cherokee elected Stand Watie as their chief. When the war ended he traveled to Washington D.C. to negotiate a post-war treaty.

Read a transcription of John Ross's letter Our hearts are sickened...

Memoriam

Death of John Ross.--The well known Indian Chief, John Ross, died in Washington on the 1st of August. His age is not stated, but it is judged to have been about 70 years. He was an influential and active Chief upwards of thirty years ago; and strenuously exerted himself to prevent the removal of his tribe (the Cherokees) from Georgia; but corruption and might prevailed over right, and the deed was done. See Drake's Book of the Indians, Book IV. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Hampton, David K. Cherokee Mixed-Bloods. Arc Press of Cane Hill, Lincoln, Arkansas. 2005. pp: 262-264, 272-272.
2. ↑ https://www.nps.gov/hobe/learn/historyculture/upload/cherokee.pdf
3. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. Digitized edition at https://archive.org/details/historyofcheroke00lcstar/page/n5
4. ↑ Cherokee Nation website
5. ↑ Hampton, David K. and Baker, Jack D., eds. Old Cherokee Families Notes of Dr. Emmet Starr. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1987. Vol. I, note D112
6. ↑ FindAGrave.com memorial #5786493 in Ross Cemetery , Park Hill, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
7. ↑ The New England Historical & Genealogical Register. Vol. XXI. Boston: Society, 13 Bromfield Street, 1867. 131

See Also:

• Wikipedia: John Ross

• Wikidata: Item Q984347

• Find A Grave: Memorial #5786493

• FamilySearch Person: LHJ4-L5R

• The Papers of Chief John Ross, vol 1, 1807-1839, Norman OK Gary E. Moulton, ed. University of Oklahoma Press, 1985
• Moulton, Gary E. John Ross, Cherokee Chief. University of Georgia Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8203-2367-1
• "Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine" (The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sept. 1923) Vol. 57, No. 9, Whole No. 373, Page 558
• Space:Native Americans: Cherokee
• Cherokee Registry John Ross
• Cherokee Nation website
• *Source: Penelope Johnson Allen, "Leaves from the Family Tree: Ross," Chattanooga Times, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Date Unknown, pp. 220.