page_title: Chief Vann House Historic Site
section_title: Eviction of Rich Joe and seizure of Vann House
hierarchical_section_title: Chief Vann House Historic Site / Eviction of Rich Joe and seizure of Vann House
caption_attribution_description: English: Vann House burn marks
context_page_description: The Chief Vann House is the first brick residence in the Cherokee Nation, and has been called the "Showplace of the Cherokee Nation". Owned by the Cherokee Chief James Vann, the Vann House is a Georgia Historic Site on the National Register of Historic Places and one of the oldest remaining structures in the northern third of the state of Georgia. It is located in Murray County, on the outskirts of Chatsworth in northwest Georgia, which has a commanding view of the land around it and of the Cohutta Mountains, about 10 miles to the east.
context_section_description: After the Georgia Gold Rush, Rich Joe hired a white man, a Mr. Howel, to run Vann House. Although he never actually worked 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 amid 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 his hiring a white man without a permit. Spencer Riley, who claimed to have won the house in the Land Lottery of 1832, known as the Sixth Georgia Land Lottery, claimed the house at the same time. Colonel Bishop then evicted Rich Joe.
  Colonel Bishop used the house as his local headquarters and permitted his brother, Absalom Bishop, to live there. Riley then took action on his claim and settled in the house. 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 action had its intended effect, and Bishop's brother returned to the home.
  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. Which was nearly double it's the value of $10,000 at the time. 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 a composer of "Home, Sweet Home", had been charged with sedition for supporting the claims of the Cherokee over the state of Georgia.
caption: Burn marks on the Vann House's stairs where Colonel Bishop placed a smoldering log in an attempt to smoke out Spencer Riley.
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