John G. Burnett


John G. Burnett is the purported author of the 1890 Private John G. Burnett Letter, documenting the Trail of Tears forced displacement of minorities in the US.

Personal history

John Greenberry Burnett was born, raised, and died in Sullivan County, Tennessee and spent his life working as a farmer.
He was mustered into Captain Abraham McClellan's Company, 2nd Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the Tennessee Mounted Volunteer Militia, Commanded by Major John R. Delaney, and served from the 8th of July, 1836 through the 7th of July 1837.
McClellan's Company served in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama in preparation for the upcoming Cherokee Removal of any Cherokees who remained beyond the terms of the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. Burnett did serve honorably and his whole Company was discharged... a year before the Trail of Tears started.
Burnett’s first wife, Letitia died in 1861, and he married his second wife, Rebecca in 1864. Rebecca died in 1915. John had two daughters and seven sons with Letitia. E.H. Burnett was John G's grandson.
Burnett died on January 21, 1893, and is buried in the Weaver Cemetery, Sullivan County, TN

Private John G. Burnett Letter

Classified for years as a “primary source” artifact relating the Trail of Tears, this previously unverified document has been proven to be a forgery containing fictitious stories. The early 1950's claims of authenticity were carelessly accepted and went unchallenged by most historians. Historical researchers, Serial Thompson in his, The Cherokee Cross Egypt, William Higginbotham in his, Trail of Tears, Death Toll Myths Dispelled, Lathel Duffield in his, Cherokee Emigration: Reconstructing Reality, and Larry Vogt in his, Myth, Legend, Hoax, and History: The John G. Burnett Letter and Trail of Tears have since presented, documented, and established that the letter and its contents are fabrications.
Burnett did not create the artifact, write the Letter, or live the Trail stories attributed to him. Evidence points to his grandson being the fabricator. Burnett did not accompany the Cherokee Indians to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears, as cited in some publications.
Chief John Ross, his brother, Lewis, and Cherokee conductors were, completely and exclusively, in charge of the entire Cherokee, overland, Trail of Tears emigration. There were, in fact, no soldiers escorting any of Chief John Ross’ overland emigration detachments on the Trail of Tears.