Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Mayes, Joel Bryan

MAYES, Joel Bryan, b. in the Cherokee reservation, Ga., 2 Oct., 1833; d. in Indian territory, 14 Dec., 1891. His mother was of mixed blood and descended on the paternal side from James Adair, an Indian agent under George III. Joel was removed in his youth to the Cherokee reservation in Indian territory, was graduated at the Cherokee male seminary in 1856, and taught until the beginning of the civil war, through which he served as quartermaster in the Confederate army. He returned to his farm on Grande river in 1865, was county commissioner and chief clerk of the Cherokee court for many years, and county judge for two terms. While holding the latter office he was chosen associate and subsequently chief justice of the supreme court. In August, 1887, he became chief of the Cherokee nation.