1. John Jolly was a leader of the Cherokee in Tennessee, the Arkansaw district of the Missouri Territory, and Indian Territory.
29 Facts About John Jolly
1. 2.
John Jolly was born around 1769, into a mixed-race family in Tennessee.
3.
John Jolly had a successful trading post on Hiwassee Island in eastern Tennessee.
4.
John Jolly was a friendly and low-key person who was dedicated to providing the Cherokee people opportunities to thrive, including the use of technology and formal education.
5.
John Jolly did not speak English, but likely understood it as well as other tribal languages and French.
6.
John Jolly led the plantation group of Cherokee originating in Tennessee after his brother Tahlonteeskee's departure for 'the west' in 1809.
7.
Sam Houston first met John Jolly when he was a teenager.
8.
John Jolly had left his family in Maryville, Tennessee and come to live with the Cherokee on Hiwassee Island in 1809.
9.
John Jolly was taken in by Jolly, who treated him like a son.
10.
John Jolly adopted him and acted as his father in the Cherokee Nation.
11.
John Jolly gave Houston the Cherokee name of Ka'lanu, meaning 'the Raven'.
12.
John Jolly was a source of refuge for Houston after his ill-fated marriage to Eliza Allen.
13.
John Jolly's brother settled with tribe members in what was then southern Missouri Territory.
14.
John Jolly saw that native tribes were being pushed west within the United States.
15.
John Jolly had a large plantation, with a network of fields and peach orchards, worked by up to twelve slaves.
16.
John Jolly was a generous host to whoever visited his large, fine house.
17.
John Jolly was popular with the planter class, who were often of Cherokee and European descent and whose lives were similar to Southern planters, as well as the full-blooded Cherokee, who did not trust whites and wanted to maintain their culture and heritage.
18.
For instance, Houston and John Jolly followed an ancient tradition among friends where they fed one another from a common spoon.
19.
John Jolly was responsible for managing the affairs of the Cherokee within the Cherokee settlements and with governmental officials over diplomatic issues, particularly the treaties between the Cherokee and the United States government.
20.
John Jolly was elected president of the Arkansas Cherokee after the tribal government was reorganized in 1824.
21.
John Jolly worked with Arkansas territorial authorities and government officials in Washington DC regarding treaty rights and security.
22.
John Jolly wrote to George Izard, the governor of Arkansas to squelch a rumor that Cherokees were interested in selling any of their land.
23.
John Jolly conveyed that the US government had not met the financial terms of the treaty of 1817.
24.
John Jolly established a plantation at the confluence of the Arkansas and Illinois Rivers, near present-day Webbers Falls, Oklahoma.
25.
John Jolly established a capital city, Tahlonteeskee, named in honor of his brother.
26.
John Jolly met Houston when the steamboat arrived at Fort Gibson with a number of his enslaved men bearing torches.
27.
John Jolly was grateful for Houston's return, both because he was happy to be a place of refuge and because the Nation could use his assistance in ensuring that the Cherokee people's voices were heard by the government.
28.
John Jolly served until his death near present-day Webbers Falls, Oklahoma in December 1838.
29.
John Jolly was succeeded by John Looney, who had been his assistant principal chief.