George Parris (1755 - abt. 1834)

Born 1755 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1834 at about age 79 in Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, United States

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Biography

George was Cherokee.

Records tell us that George Parris/Pearis was born in the Cherokee Nation about 1755, the son of a white man named Richard Pearis who came into the Cherokee Nation as a soldier and interpreter and a Cherokee woman whose name is unknown. Current dna tests between his descendants and Richard’s family indicate that George might not have been his biological son. In 1773 George received from three Cherokee chiefs a deed to 150,000 acres in South Carolina "for and in consideration of the love and affection which they bear unto the said George Pearis (He being the son of a woman of their own Nation)." Although the chiefs had no authority to sell land, the South Carolinians apparently considered the transaction legal and George promptly resold the most of the land to his father for 500 pounds. ^[1]

George had least two Cherokee wives, believed to be sisters named Baldridge, and was the father of at least three children, Moses, Robert ^[2] and Rachel Parris. George apparently divided his time between his property in South Carolina and the Cherokee Nation until 1809 when he issued a power of attorney to a lawyer named Charles Goodwin, stating that he was leaving South Carolina. His father was a Loyalist and had left the United States after the Revolutionary War. George's children attended the Moravians' school between 1805 and 1807 and in 1809 he was listed an executor of James Vann's will. ^[3]

George took a reservation "within the chartered limits of Georgia" under the Treaty of 1817, but sold his rights to the State of Georgia for $1500 in 1823. ^[4] He last appears on a list of Cherokee who emigrated to Indian Territory in 1831. ^[5] He is believed to have died by 1834.

Sources

1. ↑ Shadburn, Don & Strange,John. Upon Our Ruins, Cottonpatch Press, Cumming, GA. 2012. p. 241
2. ↑ Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. p. 952
3. ↑ "Jackson County, Georgia, Early Court Records, 1796-1831." "Wills and Estate Records 1796-1813." transcribed by Faye Stone Poss. Alpharetta, GA: W.H. Wolfe Associates Historical Publications, 1994. pp. 66-67.
4. ↑ Hampton, David K. , compiler Cherokee Reservees. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1979. pp. 13 & 15
5. ↑ Baker, Jack D., transcriber. Cherokee Emigration Rolls 1817-1835. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1977 pp. 26 & 41.