Talk:John Ridge

Year of birth
Both links provided at the end of the article list John Ridge's year of birth as 1802. Is there some other evidence for his being born in 1792? Commonlaw504 (talk) 19:57, 12 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, his first child, Clarinda, was born 2/21/1825, which would have made him 13 at the time if he were born in 1802. So I think it's a fair bet that the earlier date is closer to the truth. Chuck Hamilton (talk) 05:46, 13 January 2011 (UTC)


 * No, if he were born in 1802, he would have been 23 in 1825. That's not independenct evidence of the 1792 date, either.  Commonlaw504 (talk) 19:07, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

John Ridge and the Cherokee clan system
John Ridge grew up and lived in the household of his father, Major Ridge. He was educated in missionary schools for all his scholastic career, and when not in school lived on his father's plantation as a member of his father's household at Oothcaloga. When he did seperate from Major Ridge's household, it was not to live with his wife's clan--Sarah Bird Northrup was not at all Cherokee--it was to establish his own plantation called Running Waters, near the new Cherokee capital of New Echota, close to the town of Ustanali. Although he is sometimes assigned to the Deer Clan, this is a result of the confusion of his actual mother Susannah Wickett, daughter of a Scots-Irish trader, with his grandmother, the wife of his grandfather Aganstata (not the famous Oconostota, it being a common name), who is listed in records as Susannah of the Deer Clan. The one and only reason to mention the clan system is not because it is in any way relevant to John Ridge but because one is attempting to push an idea that really is not valid. Chuck Hamilton (talk) 18:08, 11 December 2011 (UTC)
 * Under the Cherokee clan system, John Ridge could not have been a member of the Deer Clan. Since his father was as the son of Susannah of the Deer Clan, for him to have married another member of the clan would have been incest. Chuck Hamilton (talk) 05:36, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 20:21, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Assassination or Execution?
The killing of John Ridge and others are referred to as an assassination in this article. In the article about his father, Major Ridge, it is called an execution:

"In June 1839, Major Ridge, his son John, and nephew Elias Boudinot, were executed in accordance with the Cherokee Blood Law by Cherokee of the Ross faction."

How should it be described? The John Ross or Emigrant Party undoubtedly regarded it as an execution, while the Treaty Party saw it as an assassination. Does any scholarly consensus exist? Creuzbourg (talk) 12:37, 3 August 2020 (UTC)