Edward Gunter Agreement with James W. McClung
This contract, made between Edward Gunter (agent of John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee nation) and James W. McClung, binds McClung to represent any Cherokee in any suit brought in several Alabama counties, the district court in Huntsville, or the Supreme Court of the United States. This agreement was made preparatory to the Cherokee testing the constitutionality of Alabama extending jurisdiction over Cherokee territory. McClung is to be paid $500 per annum for his services. An additional agreement binding Silas Parsons to assist McClung is also present.
Dates
- 1834 December 12
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Extent
1.8 Linear Feet (1 oversize folder)
Abstract
This contract, made between Edward Gunter (agent of John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee nation) and James W. McClung, binds McClung to represent any Cherokee in any suit brought in several Alabama counties, the district court in Huntsville, or the Supreme Court of the United States. This agreement was made preparatory to the Cherokee testing the constitutionality of Alabama extending jurisdiction over Cherokee territory. McClung is to be paid $500 per annum for his services. An additional agreement binding Silas Parsons to assist McClung is also present.
Biographical/Historical Note
Edward Gunter was born to John and Ghe-go-he-li (renamed Katherine by her husband) Gunter in Alabama in 1803. He was a chief of the Eastern Cherokees, and as such signed the Act of Union between the Eastern and Western Cherokees in July 1839 and then participated in drawing up their new constitution. He ran a ferry across the Tennessee River, owned many acres of land and enslaved people, and served as a Methodist minister. He married Elsie McCoy and then Letitia Keys, and had seven children at the time he wrote his will in 1842. The family migrated to Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears in 1838. Gunter died in the Tahlequah District of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma in 1843.
James White McClung was born on June 6, 1798 in Knoxville, Tennessee to Charles and Margaret (White) McClung. He attended Blount College and the University of North Carolina. McClung began practicing law just before moving to Huntsville, Alabama. By 1822, he was active in Alabama state politics, serving in the House of Representatives and later in the Senate. McClung was married three times: first to Sarah Elizabeth Mitchell (with whom he had six children) in 1823, second to Elizabeth F. Spottswood (with whom he had two children) in 1834, and finally to Margaret Patrick (with whom he had five children) in 1839. McClung died on May 31, 1848 in Huntsville, Alabama.
Silas Parsons was born in Kentucky in about 1800. He moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 1831 and served on the Alabama Supreme Court from July 1849 to June 1851. After leaving the Supreme Court, he moved to Travis, Texas. Parsons died in November 1860 during a visit to Huntsville.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single folder.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository