Charles R. Hicks

Charles Renatus Hicks (December 23, 1767 – January 20, 1827) 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 mixed-race chiefs urging the tribe to acculturate to European-American ways. He supported a Moravian mission school in Cherokee territory to educate the tribe's children. Long the second chief, in 1827 he succeeded to the office of Principal Chief when his predecessor Pathkiller died in office. Hicks died two weeks later.

He was born December 23, 1767 in the town of Tomotley 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 (probably Scots) trader named Nathan Hicks. At the time, both the Cherokee people and European traders thought that such strategic alliances benefited them. Among his younger siblings was his brother William Hicks. In 1827 after Charles' death, William was selected as interim Principal Chief.

As the Cherokee were a matrilineal culture, the children of Nan-Ye-Hi belonged to her Paint Clan. They grew up within the Nation and gained status from her clan, but the boys also learned English. This gave them advantages for dealing with the European Americans and advancing politically.

Nan-Ye-Hi and her brother Gunrod were the children of a Jennie (Oconostota) Taylor, Cherokee woman and Jacob (aka Johann) Conrad, a Swiss immigrant. Gunrod married a Cherokee woman Onai, and had several children: Hair Conrad, Rattlinggourd, Terrapin Head, Young Wolf, and Quatie.

Charles Hicks married Nancy as his principal wife. She was the daughter of Chief Broom of Broomstown, 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 man, Hicks would later take other wives, a traditional practice among his people.) Nancy Anna Felicitas Broom and Chief Charles Hicks had Nathan Wolf 1795, Elijah 1797, Elizabeth (Betsy) 1797, Sarah Elizabeth 1798, Jesse Hicks 1801, Edward, and Leonard Looney 1804. Son, Elijah, married Margaret Ross, half sister of Chief John Ross. Son, Nathan, married Elsy (Alice) Shorey.

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