Charles R. Hicks
Encyclopedia
Charles Renatus Hicks was one of the most important Cherokee
leaders in the early 19th century; together with James Vann
and Major Ridge
, he was one of a triumvirate of younger chiefs urging the tribe to acculturate to European-American ways and supported a Moravian
mission school
to educate the Cherokee. In 1827 the National Council chose him as Principal Chief, the first man selected to have any European ancestry. He died two weeks later.
near the Hiwassee River
at its confluence with the Tennessee River
in present-day eastern Tennessee. Hicks was the son of Nan-Ye-Hi, a half-blood Cherokee woman, and a white trader named Nathan Hicks. As the Cherokee were a matrilineal culture, the children of Nan-Ye-Hi gained their status from her clan
. They were fully assimilated, as they grew up within the Nation. At the time, both the Cherokee and European traders thought that such strategic alliances benefited them.
Nan-Ye-Hi and her brother Gunrod were the children of a Cherokee woman and a Swiss immigrant, Jacob Conrad. Gunrod married a Cherokee woman and had several children: Hair Conrad, Rattlinggourd, Terrapin Head, Young Wolf, and Quatie.
, located on the northeastern border of present-day Alabama, where the Cherokee had moved under pressure from the Creek and British. The village was later abandoned. (As a successful Cherokee, Hicks would take other wives, according to tribal tradition.)
Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr. (1740-1823), who was agent for more than two decades to the Cherokee in Tennessee/western North Carolina, from 1801 to his death. Hicks also acted as treasurer for the Cherokee Nation
.
When the Creek, traditional enemies, became divided over acculturation and land issues, he fought with United States troops and southern militia
under General Andrew Jackson
against the Creek Red Sticks
in the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend
. Allied with the other former warriors James Vann
and Major Ridge
, Hicks was one of the most influential younger leaders in the Nation (one of the triumvirate) during the period after the Chickamauga wars
to just past the first quarter of the 19th century. They supported acculturation and adoption of some European-American ways.
When Hicks accepted Christianity
, he was baptized on April 8, 1813 by Moravian
missionaries as Charles Renatus ("Born Again") Hicks. Extremely well-read and acculturated, he had one of the largest personal libraries in North America at the time, public or private. In an 1826 letter to John Ross
, who was being groomed as a future Principal Chief, Charles Hicks told about the history of the Cherokee tribe, relating events from his youth, including his encounters with the chiefs Attacullaculla
and Oconostota
, and the early European trader Cornelius Dougherty, as well as stories of traditions.
In 1817, Hicks was elected Second Principal Chief under Pathkiller
. After the "revolt of the young chiefs" two years later, partly over land deals, Hicks became the de facto head of government, with Pathkiller serving as a figurehead. When Pathkiller died in January 1827, the Cherokee National Council elected Hicks as Principal Chief, the first man with any European ancestry to be chosen for that position.
He died on January 20, 1827, two weeks after assuming office. His younger brother William Abraham Hicks
served as interim Principal Chief, but John Ross
, as President of the National Committee, and Major Ridge, as Speaker of the National Council, were more powerful at the time. In 1828 John Ross was elected as the new Principal Chief and served in this capacity until his death in 1867.
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
leaders in the early 19th century; together with James Vann
James Vann
James Vann was an influential Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia. He was the son of Wah-Li Vann, a mixed-race Cherokee woman, and a Scots fur trader...
and Major Ridge
Major Ridge
Major Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee Indian member of the tribal council, a lawmaker, and a leader. He was a veteran of the Chickamauga Wars, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War.Along with Charles R...
, he was one of a triumvirate of younger chiefs urging the tribe to acculturate to European-American ways and supported a Moravian
Moravian
Moravian refers to:* a person or thing from Moravia * Moravians * Moravian language, disputed language or dialect of the Czech language* a member or adherent of the Moravian Church...
mission school
Mission School
The Mission School is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.-History and characteristics:...
to educate the Cherokee. In 1827 the National Council chose him as Principal Chief, the first man selected to have any European ancestry. He died two weeks later.
Early life and education
He was born December 23, 1767 in the town of TomotleyTomotley
Tomotley is a prehistoric and historic Native American site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Occupied as early as the Archaic period, the Tomotley site had the most substantial periods of habitation during the Mississippian period, likely when the earthwork mounds...
near the Hiwassee River
Hiwassee River
The Hiwassee River has its headwaters on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in northern Georgia and flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee River a few miles west of State Route 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee...
at its confluence with the Tennessee River
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
in present-day eastern Tennessee. Hicks was the son of Nan-Ye-Hi, a half-blood Cherokee woman, and a white trader named Nathan Hicks. As the Cherokee were a matrilineal culture, the children of Nan-Ye-Hi gained their status from her clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
. They were fully assimilated, as they grew up within the Nation. At the time, both the Cherokee and European traders thought that such strategic alliances benefited them.
Nan-Ye-Hi and her brother Gunrod were the children of a Cherokee woman and a Swiss immigrant, Jacob Conrad. Gunrod married a Cherokee woman and had several children: Hair Conrad, Rattlinggourd, Terrapin Head, Young Wolf, and Quatie.
Marriage and children
Charles Hicks married Nancy as his principal wife. She was the daughter of Chief Broom of BroomstownBroomtown, Alabama
Broomtown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Cherokee County, Alabama. As of the 2010 census, its population was 182. It was named after Chief Broom of the Cherokee Nation, who occupied the area from the late eighteenth century into the 1830s...
, located on the northeastern border of present-day Alabama, where the Cherokee had moved under pressure from the Creek and British. The village was later abandoned. (As a successful Cherokee, Hicks would take other wives, according to tribal tradition.)
Career
Bilingual, Hicks served as interpreter to U.S. Indian AgentIndian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr. (1740-1823), who was agent for more than two decades to the Cherokee in Tennessee/western North Carolina, from 1801 to his death. Hicks also acted as treasurer for the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation (19th century)
The Cherokee Nation of the 19th century —an historic entity —was a legal, autonomous, tribal government in North America existing from 1794–1906. Often referred to simply as The Nation by its inhabitants, it should not be confused with what is known today as the "modern" Cherokee Nation...
.
When the Creek, traditional enemies, became divided over acculturation and land issues, he fought with United States troops and southern militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
under General Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
against the Creek Red Sticks
Red Sticks
Red Sticks is the English term for a traditionalist faction of Creek Indians who led a resistance movement which culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813....
in the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend , was fought during the War of 1812 in central Alabama...
. Allied with the other former warriors James Vann
James Vann
James Vann was an influential Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia. He was the son of Wah-Li Vann, a mixed-race Cherokee woman, and a Scots fur trader...
and Major Ridge
Major Ridge
Major Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee Indian member of the tribal council, a lawmaker, and a leader. He was a veteran of the Chickamauga Wars, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War.Along with Charles R...
, Hicks was one of the most influential younger leaders in the Nation (one of the triumvirate) during the period after the Chickamauga wars
Chickamauga wars
The Chickamauga Wars were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles which were a continuation of the Cherokee struggle against encroachment by American frontiersmen from the former British colonies...
to just past the first quarter of the 19th century. They supported acculturation and adoption of some European-American ways.
When Hicks accepted Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, he was baptized on April 8, 1813 by Moravian
Moravian
Moravian refers to:* a person or thing from Moravia * Moravians * Moravian language, disputed language or dialect of the Czech language* a member or adherent of the Moravian Church...
missionaries as Charles Renatus ("Born Again") Hicks. Extremely well-read and acculturated, he had one of the largest personal libraries in North America at the time, public or private. In an 1826 letter to John Ross
John Ross (Cherokee chief)
John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828–1866...
, who was being groomed as a future Principal Chief, Charles Hicks told about the history of the Cherokee tribe, relating events from his youth, including his encounters with the chiefs Attacullaculla
Attacullaculla
Attakullakulla or Atagulkalu , adopted as an infant into the Cherokee tribe, became their First Beloved Man, serving from 1761 to around 1775...
and Oconostota
Oconostota
Oconostota was the Warrior of Chota and the First Beloved Man of the Cherokee from 1775 to 1781.-Meaning of the name:...
, and the early European trader Cornelius Dougherty, as well as stories of traditions.
In 1817, Hicks was elected Second Principal Chief under Pathkiller
Pathkiller
Pathkiller, , fought in the Revolutionary War for Britain, then in the Chickamauga Wars against American frontiersmen . He was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1811-1827. Pathkiller, a fullblood, "unacculturated" Cherokee, was the last individual from a conservative background to...
. After the "revolt of the young chiefs" two years later, partly over land deals, Hicks became the de facto head of government, with Pathkiller serving as a figurehead. When Pathkiller died in January 1827, the Cherokee National Council elected Hicks as Principal Chief, the first man with any European ancestry to be chosen for that position.
He died on January 20, 1827, two weeks after assuming office. His younger brother William Abraham Hicks
William Hicks (Cherokee chief)
William Abraham Hicks became Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1827 after being elected to succeed his older brother, Charles R. Hicks, the longtime Second Principal Chief who died on 20 January 1827, just two weeks after assuming office as Principal Chief...
served as interim Principal Chief, but John Ross
John Ross (Cherokee chief)
John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828–1866...
, as President of the National Committee, and Major Ridge, as Speaker of the National Council, were more powerful at the time. In 1828 John Ross was elected as the new Principal Chief and served in this capacity until his death in 1867.
See also
- James VannJames VannJames Vann was an influential Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia. He was the son of Wah-Li Vann, a mixed-race Cherokee woman, and a Scots fur trader...
- Major RidgeMajor RidgeMajor Ridge, The Ridge was a Cherokee Indian member of the tribal council, a lawmaker, and a leader. He was a veteran of the Chickamauga Wars, the Creek War, and the First Seminole War.Along with Charles R...
- PathkillerPathkillerPathkiller, , fought in the Revolutionary War for Britain, then in the Chickamauga Wars against American frontiersmen . He was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1811-1827. Pathkiller, a fullblood, "unacculturated" Cherokee, was the last individual from a conservative background to...
Cherokee chief - William Hicks (Cherokee chief)William Hicks (Cherokee chief)William Abraham Hicks became Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1827 after being elected to succeed his older brother, Charles R. Hicks, the longtime Second Principal Chief who died on 20 January 1827, just two weeks after assuming office as Principal Chief...
- John Ross (Cherokee chief)John Ross (Cherokee chief)John Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828–1866...
Sources
- Brown, John P. Old Frontiers: The Story of the Cherokee Indians from Earliest Times to the Date of Their Removal to the West, 1838 . (Kingsport, TN: Southern Publishers, 1938 / Arno Press Reprint, New York, 1971).
- Hicks, Charles R., Memoirs of Charles Renatus ( United Bretherin (Moravian) Archives, Winston-Salem, NC).
- McClinton, Rowena. The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees, 1805-1821. (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2007, 2 volumes).
- McClinton, Rowena Ruff. "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Charles Hicks.". (Journal of Cherokee Studies 17 (1996): 16-27).
- Moulton, Gary E.(editor), The Papers of Chief John Ross,(Norman, OK, University Of Oklahoma Press, 1985), Vol. I.
- William G. McLoughlin|McLoughlin, William G., Cherokee Renascence in the New Republic. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).
- Wilkins, Thurman. Cherokee Tragedy: The Ridge Family and the Decimation of a People. (New York: Macmillan Company, 1970).