Lyncoya Jackson (also known as Lincoyer, c. 1811 – July 1, 1828) was a Creek Indian child adopted and raised by U.S. President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
and his wife,
Rachel Jackson
Rachel Jackson ( ''née'' Donelson; June 15, 1767 – December 22, 1828) was the wife of Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States. . Born to Creek (
Muscogee
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands[Red Stick
Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs), the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creeks—refers to an early 19th-century traditionalist faction of these people in the American Southeast. Made ...]
) parents, he was orphaned during the
Creek War
The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...
after the
Battle of Tallushatchee
The Battle of Tallushatchee was a battle fought during the War of 1812 and Creek War on November 3, 1813, in Alabama between Native American Red Stick Creeks and United States dragoons. A cavalry force commanded by Brigadier General John Coffee ...
. Lyncoya was brought to Jackson after the surviving women in the village refused to care for him because they were severely injured.
Jackson took pity on the orphan and wrote that he felt an "unusual sympathy" for the child, perhaps because of Jackson's own past as an orphan.
Deciding to protect him, Jackson sent him along to be raised by his wife while he continued to lead his army.
Lyncoya was brought to the Jackson home,
The Hermitage, in 1813.
He was educated along with Andrew Jackson's first adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr.,
[http://www.american-presidents.org/2008/05/lyncoya-jacksons-native-son.html] and Jackson even had aspirations to send him to the
U.S. Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
at
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
, but that proved impossible. Instead, Lyncoya was apprenticed to be a saddle maker until he died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in 1828.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Lyncoya
1810s births
1828 deaths
19th-century Native Americans
19th-century American people
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Children of presidents of the United States
American adoptees
Muscogee people
Year of birth uncertain
Andrew Jackson family
Native American people from Tennessee
Tuberculosis deaths in Tennessee