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Peter Perkins Pitchlynn ( cho, Hatchootucknee, italic=no, ) (January 30, 1806 – January 17, 1881) was a
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the bo ...
of Choctaw and
Anglo-American Anglo-Americans are people who are English-speaking inhabitants of Anglo-America. It typically refers to the nations and ethnic groups in the Americas that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who spe ...
ancestry. He was principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1864-1866 and surrendered to the Union on behalf of the nation at the end of the Civil War. Educated in Choctaw culture and American schools, in 1825 Pitchlynn helped found a school for Choctaw boys: the
Choctaw Academy Choctaw Academy was a historic Indian boarding school at Blue Spring in Scott County, Kentucky for Choctaw students. It existed from 1818 to 1842. History Baptists started an academy for Choctaws in 1818 near Georgetown, Kentucky, but it quickly f ...
in Kentucky. He also worked to reduce the sale of alcohol in their territory. After removal to Indian Territory in the 1830s, he was appointed by the National Council in 1845 as the Choctaw Delegate (akin to an ambassadorship) to Washington, D.C. At the time, the Nation was proposing to be recognized by the US Congress as a
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
. After the war, Pitchlynn returned to Washington, D.C., to represent Choctaw interests and work for concessions from the government for the Choctaw lands sold under pressure to the United States in 1830 during Indian removal. He died in Washington, D.C. and is buried there.


Early life and education

Peter P. Pitchlynn was born in Noxubee County, Mississippi, January 30, 1806 as the first son of Sophia Folsom, a
Choctaw The Choctaw (in the Choctaw language, Chahta) are a Native American people originally based in the Southeastern Woodlands, in what is now Alabama and Mississippi. Their Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choctaw people are ...
of partly Anglo-American descent; her mother ''Natika'' was Choctaw and her father was Ebenezer Folsom, an Anglo-American trader. Sophia's Choctaw name was ''Lk-lo-ha-wah'' (Loved but lost). Sophia Folsom and John Pitchlynn had married in 1804. As the Choctaw had a matrilineal kinship system of property and hereditary leadership, Peter was born into his mother's
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meanin ...
and people; through her family, he gained status in the tribe. His father was Major John Pitchlynn, a man of Scots descent. The father was raised from childhood by the Choctaw after the death of his father Isaac, a widower. John Pitchlynn served
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
as an interpreter for negotiations with the Choctaw. One of ten children born to the Pitchlynns, after several years at home, Peter was sent to a Tennessee boarding school about 200 miles from Mississippi. Later he attended an academy in
Columbia, Tennessee Columbia is a city in and the county seat of Maury County, Tennessee. The population was 41,690 as of the 2020 United States census. Columbia is included in the Nashville metropolitan area. The self-proclaimed "mule capital of the world," Colu ...
. To complete his education, he studied at and graduated from the University of Nashville, considered one of the finest institutions of the time. It started small like many colleges; its 1827 graduating class held 12 students. After he obtained his degree, Pitchlynn returned to his family home in Mississippi, where he became a farmer. The Choctaw were among the Southeast tribes that used enslaved African Americans as workers on their farms. In 1824, Peter Pitchlynn was made the head of the Lighthorse, the Choctaw Nation's mounted police, and among other duties, supervised the removal of whiskey from tribal lands.


Marriage and family

He soon married Rhoda Folsom, a first cousin. As part of changing practices, they were married by a missionary, Reverend Cyrus Kingsbury. They had several children: Lycurgus, Peter P. Jr., Leonidas, Rhoda Mary (married D.L. Kannedy), Malvinia (married Loring S.W. Folsom). After his wife's death, Pitchlynn corresponded regularly with his older children while they were away at school, trying to give them guidance. Lycurgus attended a school in Tennessee and Peter Jr. one in Oxford, Georgia. The Pitchlynn sons had difficulties as youths and adults: Lycurgus and Leonidas were convicted of assault in 1857 and sentenced to prison. The father gained a pardon for them from President James Buchanan. In 1860, Peter Jr. shot and killed his uncle, Lorenzo Harris, who was married to his father's sister Elizabeth Pitchlynn. Some said it was self-defense. After Rhoda's death, Peter married a widow, Caroline Lombardy."Peter Pitchlynn"
, ''CHAHTA - CHOCTAW GENEALOGY & RESEARCH'', Rootsweb
They had a daughter together, Sophia. She never married and continued to live with her father after her mother's death. While Pitchlynn was a slaveholder, unlike other Choctaw leaders he felt an indifference towards the institution, and following the Emancipation Proclamation, he cast it aside without protest.


Career

Pitchlynn was well educated in both Choctaw and European-American culture. He began working on ways to improve Choctaw life. He worked to ban the sale of alcohol in Choctaw territory. Believing that education was important, he persuaded the National Council to found the Choctaw Academy, located in Blue Springs, Scott County, Kentucky in 1825. It sometimes accepted students of other American Indian tribes as well as Choctaw, such as Omaha and Sioux boys. Pitchlynn stayed closely involved with the school, receiving quarterly reports. In 1830 Pitchlynn was elected to the National Council of Choctaw. Because of his education, he served as an interpreter and effective liaison between the Choctaw and the US federal government. He moved with the Choctaw to Indian Territory in the 1830s, where they resettled. Pitchlynn's widowed mother, Sophia Folsom Pitchlynn, moved with her son. After her death, she was buried there, and hers is the oldest known grave in Oklahoma. English author
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
was touring the United States when he met Pitchlynn on a steamboat on the Ohio River. He described the Choctaw leader at length: In 1840 the Council appointed Pitchlynn as a teacher and superintendent of the Choctaw Academy. The following year, they decided to relocate the school to the
Choctaw Nation The Choctaw Nation (Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Native American territory covering about , occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaw Nation is the third-largest federally recognized tribe in the United St ...
(located in Indian Territory.) Pitchlynn's correspondence shows they were also discussing the need for a girls' school. Pitchlynn continued to take on more responsibilities for the Nation; in 1845 he was appointed as the Choctaw Delegate to Washington, DC to represent the nation there. That year both the Choctaw and Cherokee proposed to the US Congress that their respective nations should be recognized as independent United States territories, but this was not supported. In 1847, he helped arrange the removal of further Choctaw from Mississippi to the Choctaw Nation by steamboat.


Civil War and Final Years

In 1861, Pitchlynn was in Washington, D.C. to address national affairs of the Choctaw when the American Civil War started, and immediately returned to the Choctaw Nation, hoping to escape the expected strife. He advocated loyalty to the Union or at the very least neutrality in the conflict, (with himself holding pro-Union sympathies) and then-Chief George Hudson sought to maintain Choctaw neutrality. Despite wanting to avoid the war, the Choctaw were not permitted to remain neutral. Following an invasion of Choctaw territory in May 1861 by Texan forces, pro-Confederate elements in the government let by
Robert McDonald Jones Robert McDonald Jones (October 1, 1808 – February 22, 1872) was a Choctaw senator and prominent Confederate politician. He was born in Mississippi and later relocated to Indian Territory. He was educated at the Choctaw Academy in Blue Spr ...
, the President Pro-Tempore of the Choctaw Senate, threatened Chief Hudson and strongarmed the tribe into an alliance with the Confederacy. The tribal populace was divided by this action: some allied with the Confederacy and others with the Union. All suffered in the aftermath of the war. Pitchlynn was elected Principal Chief of the Choctaws in 1864 and served until 1866. While in Washington in 1866 to reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States, as well as stave off government-sponsored attempts to colonize Indian Territory, Pitchlynn met with
Queen Emma of Hawaii Emma Kalanikaumakaʻamano Kaleleonālani Naʻea Rooke (January 2, 1836 – April 25, 1885) was queen of Hawaii as the wife of King Kamehameha IV from 1856 to his death in 1863. She was later a candidate for the throne but King Kalākaua was elect ...
, introduced her to his family and conducted cultural exchange. This remains, to date, the only instance of bilateral relations between the Choctaw Republic and the Hawaiian Kingdom. After he was succeeded as chief by
Allen Wright Allen Wright ( cho, Kiliahote, italic=no) (born November 1826 – December 2, 1885) was Principal Chief of the Choctaw Republic from late 1866 to 1870. He had been ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1852 after graduating from Union Theolog ...
, Pitchlynn returned to Washington, DC as the Choctaw Delegate, where he worked to press Choctaw claims for lands in Mississippi sold under pressure to the United States in 1830. He had been collecting information on this issue since the 1850s from officials involved in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. There he joined the Lutheran Church. He also became a prominent member of the Masonic Order. Pitchlynn addressed the President and several congressional committees in defense of Choctaw claims. After his death in Washington in 1881, Pitchlynn was buried there in
Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national ...
. He was the third Native American to be buried there, after his fellow Choctaw chief
Pushmataha Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...
and the Apache chief Taza. Pitchlynn was reported to have told of the origin of the Choctaw:
according to the traditions of the Choctaws, the first of their race came from the bosom of a magnificent sea. Even when they first made their appearance upon the earth they were so numerous as to cover the sloping and sandy shore of the ocean ... in the process of time, however, the multitude was visited by sickness ... their journey lay across streams, over hills and mountains, through tangled forests, and over immense prairies ... so pleased were they with all that they saw that they built
mounds A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand. Mound and Mounds may also refer to: Places * Mound, Louisiana, United States * Mound, Minnesota, United States * Mound, Texas, United States * Mound, West Virginia * ...
in all the more beautiful valleys they passed through, so the Master of Life might know that they were not an ungrateful people.


Legacy and honors

*The Choctaw Nation placed a monument at his gravesite in Congressional Cemetery in his honor. *His papers are held by the University of Oklahoma, in the Western Histories Collection."Peter P. Pitchlynn Collection"
Western Histories Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries


See also

*
Apuckshunubbee Apuckshunubbee (c. 1740 – October 18, 1824) was one of three principal chiefs of the Choctaw Native American tribe in the early nineteenth century, from before 1800. He led the western or ''Okla Falaya'' ("Long People") District of the Choctaw, ...
*
Pushmataha Pushmataha (c. 1764 – December 24, 1824; also spelled Pooshawattaha, Pooshamallaha, or Poosha Matthaw), the "Indian General", was one of the three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw in the 19th century. Many historians cons ...
*
Mosholatubbee Mushulatubbee (Choctaw ', "Determined to Kill") (born c. 1750–1770, died c. 1838) was the chief of the Choctaw ''Okla Tannap'' ("Lower Towns"), one of the three major Choctaw divisions during the early 19th century. When the Principal Chief Gre ...
*
Greenwood LeFlore Greenwood LeFlore or Greenwood Le Fleur (June 3, 1800 – August 31, 1865) served as the elected Principal Chief of the Choctaw in 1830 before removal. Before that, the nation was governed by three district chiefs and a council of chiefs. A weal ...
* List of Choctaw Treaties *
Choctaw in the American Civil War The Choctaw in the American Civil War participated in two major arenas—the Trans-Mississippi and Western Theaters. The Trans-Mississippi had the Choctaw Nation. The Western had the Mississippi Choctaw. The Choctaw Nation had been mostly remov ...


References


Further reading


W. David Baird, ''Peter Pitchlynn: Chief of the Choctaws''
Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972; reprint 1986


External links



Western Histories Collection, University of Oklahoma Libraries

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitchlynn, Peter 1806 births 1881 deaths 19th-century Native American politicians American Freemasons American people of English descent American people of Scottish descent Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma politicians Chiefs of the Choctaw Native American Christians Native American leaders Native American slave owners Native Americans in the American Civil War People from Noxubee County, Mississippi People of Indian Territory