The Cherokee and the Newsman
Kinsmen in Words
 
In 1828, as part of a Cherokee Delegation to Washington City, Sequoyah stopped in Kentucky to search for his father, Nathaniel Gist.  There, he met his 4 year old half-nephew, Henry Howard Gratz, foreshadowing a literacy bond between them.  Sequoyah, through his syllabary, gave the first written language to an indigenous American tribe.  For his part, Gratz published editorials and news for 37 years from Reconstruction through the Gilded Age. 
 
The stories of these two men linked by blood, span 7 states, 3 centuries and 4 wars.  Sequoyah, Gratz and their famous relatives were the forefront of American history, interacting with Washington, Jackson and Lincoln.