Biography
George Tassels, also called George Tassel or Corn Tassel, was a Cherokee man taken from Cherokee territory into Georgia custody in summer 1830. His murder prosecution became a test of Georgia’s assertion of jurisdiction over the Cherokee Nation. Contemporary Cherokee reporting describes his jailing, a postponed hearing, a November 22 trial and conviction, and execution on December 24, 1830 despite a U.S. Supreme Court writ of error. Exact custody endpoints and completed detention duration are not established.
The January 8, 1831 Cherokee Phoenix reports that the Hall County sheriff took Tassel across the territorial boundary and committed him to jail. It dates the trial to November 22 after postponement for a jurisdiction ruling. The 1994 historical study instead places trial proceedings in September; no exact sentencing day or admission day is recorded here. The execution date is independently supported by the contemporary account.
Sources: Cherokee Phoenix, January 8, 1831; Jill Norgren, The Cherokee Nation Cases of the 1830s, 1994, printed page 70.