Joseph Coodey was the son of Archibald Arthur Coody Jr. b. 1740-42, d. Aug 1782, son of Archibald Arthur Coody Sr. and Eughtooie Tassel b. 1706; and Edith Vann b. 1725 in Abbeyville Dist., Edgeville Co., SC, d. 1805 in Wilkes Co., GA, daughter of Edward Vann Sr. and Charity (maiden name unkn).

He had the following siblings: James, Lewis, Esther, Edward, Zephanniah Coody.

He married on 6 Jun 1805, (Jane) Jennie Ross (buried at Holland), daughter of Daniel Ross and Mary McDonald.

**See Jennie's gravesite for their children.

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Charles Coodey, a nephew of Joseph and Jane Coodey, and the complete family of Joseph and Jane Coodey came to what we know as the Cherokee Nation. Part of these families came before the "Trail of Tears episode", but most of the family was brought to Indian Territory in the "Trail of Tears" forcible removal. Charles settled at what is known at Coodys Bluff, Okla. (Now back to Joseph and Jane Coodey's family).

Joseph and Jane Coodey became the parents of ten children, part of which were grown before the Indian Removal to Indian Territory. Their children were William Shorey Coodey, who married Susan Hensley and Elizabeth Fields; Daniel Ross Coodey, who married Amanda Drew, Sarah Ross, and Eliza Levisa Bennett; Elizabeth Coodey became the second wife of Choctaw Chief Greenwood LeFlore; Letitia Coodey married Looney Price; Maria Ross Coodey was the wife of J.G.M. Hawkins; Mary Coodey married Frederick Agustus Kerr; Flora Coodey be came the first wife of Daniel H. Ruckner, who became a general in the United States Army; Joseph McDonald Coodey married Mary Rebecca Thornberry and Mary Muskogee Hardage who was one-half Creek Indian; and Margaret Coodey who was the wife of Elijah Hicks.

The Joseph Coodey family made their home about one-half way between Fort Gibson and Tahlequah. Their home was completely destroyed during the Civil War. William Shorey and Daniel Ross lived near the Joseph Coodey home for the first few years in Indian Territory. Later they built homes east of Muskogee on the Arkansas River bank. Their homes were also destroyed during the Civil War. Joseph McDonald settled at what was known as Three Forks, and shortly after marrying Mary Muskogee Hardage moved to Eufaula and was in the business there until his death.

[Source: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CODY/2007-11/1196386198]

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Joseph Coody registered for a life reservation near Chattanooga, receiving 640 acres. He served as a delegate to the 1825 Cherokee Constitutional Convention, along with his son, William Shorey Coody, and fought U.S. efforts to displace the nation. In 1827 he was superintendent of elections for the Constitutional Coventon in the Chickamauga District. On Nov. 28, 1833, he registered to accept removal to the West.

Joseph Coody was age 50 when enduring the trip to Indian Territory. Joseph listed 13 slaves and 6 children to go on the journey. Two adult sons also went.They left March 14, 1834, even though suffering an outbreak of measles. They reached Little Rock on April 6, but the river was too shallow to proceed. Then cholera struck. Somewhere along the trail, their daughter Rosa Hortentia died and they lost four slaves. Their adult daughter Mary (Polly) Scales also died in passage to the West. They reached Ft. Gibson on May 10, and Joseph Coody settled on the Mayou Menard off the Arkansas River, east of Fort Gibson on May 16. Son William settled there, too.

Joseph operated a grist mill and trading store on the old stage road between Ft. Gibson and Talequah. After the death of Sequoyah, Joseph and William took over the salt works on Lee's Creek, which had been granted to Sequoyah as compensation for loss of his saline in Arkansas. They operated the salt spring under the name of J. Coodey & Son.

In a letter, Joseph wrote in 1837 from Indian Territory to John Ross in the east, he refers to the build up of troops in Fort Gibson apparently in preparation for receiving transported Cherokee. He refers to his wife as "the old lady." He was a Supreme Court Judge, author of the first Cherokee Constitution in 1837. Affiliated with the Treaty Party in Georgia, but moderate in the West. His brother-in-law, Andrew, who signed the infamous treaty of removal gave the name Coody to one of his sons, implying a close relationship. Information from Karen Cooperemail.

According to Indian Pioneer History, Vol. 97, Joseph and Jane are buried in the old Joseph Coodey Cemetery, now called the Holland Cemetery. The cemetery is located 2 miles west of the Woodall School, 500 yards north of Hwy 62. They are buried with square solid sandstone markers, solid slab on top. Their home was about 100 yards north of Hwy 62. According to the article, written in April 1937, there is a seven-gable house now located on the Coodey home location. During our visit to this area in April 2003, we were unable to locate this site.

According to Settlers and Intruders on Cherokee Indian Lands 1801-1816, on May 1 1803, Joseph Coody was granted permission to stay in the Cherokee Nation during his conducting himself in conformity to the laws.

[Source: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~talbotfamilyhistory/11147.htm]

This cemetery was known as the Joseph Coodey Cemetery since his house once stood there. 10 miles east of Fort Gibson, 2 miles west of Woodall School, 300 yds north of Hwy 62. Holland was the last owner of the home that was there. (Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian and Pioneer Historical Collection, 1937, page 305.)

Contributor: PStout (49465960)