Jesse Bushyhead

Jesse Bushyhead (Cherokee ᎤᎾᏚᏘ, romanized Unaduti; 1804–1844) was a Cherokee religious and political leader, and a Baptist minister. He was born near the present-day town of Cleveland, Tennessee. As a young man, he was ordained a Baptist minister.

A member of the John Ross faction of the Cherokee, he was dispatched by Ross in 1837 on a mission to the Seminole. Although Bushyhead opposed the federal policy forcing Indian Removal to west of the Mississippi River, he led a party of about 1,000 people on what is known as the Trail of Tears. On his arrival in 1839 near present-day Westville, Oklahoma, he established the Baptist Mission. He became chief justice of the Cherokee nation in 1840 and remained in that office until his death. His eldest son, Dennis Bushyhead, held several offices in the Cherokee Nation, including as Principal Chief. He served from 1879 to 1887.

Early life Jesse Bushyhead was born in September 1804 to a half-blood Cherokee woman named Nancy Foreman in a Cherokee settlement near the present city of Cleveland, Tennessee. His father was also of mixed-race Cherokee ancestry, John Bushyhead Stuart.

Career as a missionary Bushyhead was baptized as a Christian and became an avid member of the Baptist church in 1830.

Family life Jesse Bushyhead's home in Cleveland was on Mouse Creek near the present-day Cleveland High School. He married Eliza ( Wilkerson; transcribed as Wilkinson by some of her descendants), with whom he had nine children:

Jane, his oldest daughter, married Richard Drew, who served in the Cherokee Senate from 1841 to 1843.

His oldest son, Dennis, was notable for serving as Principal Chief for two terms, from 1879 to 1887.

Carrie taught in the Cherokee school system for almost forty years, training numerous tribal leaders.

Eliza Missouri, who was born on the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, the rest arrived safely at their destination on February 23, 1839.

His grave at the Baptist Mission Cemetery is marked by a marble monument. His grave is the only surviving property associated with his life, and as such is listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Adair County, Oklahoma.

One side of the monument reads: "Sacred to the memory of Rev. Jesse Bushyhead, born in the old Cherokee Nation in East Tennessee, September, 1804; died in the present Cherokee Nation, July 17, 1844. 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.'" An inscription in Cherokee is at the bottom.

The other side of the monument bears the following inscription: "Rev. Jesse Bushyhead was a man noble in person and noble in heart. His choice was to be a true and faithful minister of his Lord and Master rather than any high and worldly position. He loved his country and people, serving them from time to time in many important offices and missions. He united with the Baptist Church in his early manhood and died as he had lived, a devoted Christian."