John Pitchlynn served as the official U.S. Interpreter at the Choctaw Agency during the early federal period. Of

Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, d ...

descent, he had been raised among the

Choctaw people 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 ...

. He facilitated relations between the government of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the Choctaw Nation. He was appointed by President

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 ...

after the United States achieved independence, and served through the administration of

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 ...

. He built a fortified home on the west bank of the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

in present-day Mississippi. The village of Plymouth developed near it at a landing site, but it was frequently flooded and ultimately abandoned. Part of this area is now within the Plymouth Bluff Environmental Center.

Biography

John Pitchlynn was near Charleston, South Carolina, then a British colony. He was the son of Isaac, a Scots immigrant, and his wife Jemima Hickman Pitchlynn, who died young. After his father also died, Pitchlynn was raised by the

, with whom his father had worked as a trader. He was fluent in Choctaw and English. He first served as an interpreter at the

Treaty of Hopewell Three agreements, each known as the Treaty of Hopewell, were signed between representatives of the Congress of the United States and the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw peoples, were negotiated and signed at the Hopewell plantation in South Car ...

. Under

, he was appointed as an interpreter and head of the Choctaw Agency after approval by

Benjamin Hawkins Benjamin Hawkins (August 15, 1754June 6, 1816) was an American planter, statesman and a U.S. Indian agent He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senator from North Carolina, having grown up among the planter elite ...

. He continued to serve under President

. Pitchlynn served as an interpreter at the

Treaty of Fort Confederation The Treaty of Fort Confederation was signed on October 17, 1802 between the Choctaw (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. The treaty ceded about of Choctaw land, including the site of Fort Tombecbe, also known as Fort Co ...

and the

Treaty of Mount Dexter The Treaty of Mount Dexter was signed between the United States and the Choctaws. The treaty was signed November 16, 1805. The area ceded was from the Natchez District to the Tombigbee Alabama River watershed, mostly in present-day Mississip ...

and was present at the signings of the

Treaty of Doak's Stand The Treaty of Doak's Stand (7 Stat. 210, also known as Treaty with the Choctaw) was signed on October 18, 1820 (proclaimed on January 8, 1821) between the United States and the Choctaw Indian tribe. Based on the terms of the accord, the Chocta ...

and

Treaty of Washington City The Treaty of Washington City was a treaty signed on January 20, 1825 (proclaimed on February 19, 1825) between the Choctaw (an American Indian tribe) and the United States Government. Overview Apuckshunubbee, Pushmataha, and Mosholatubbee, ...

. Pitchlynn married twice. About 1780 he married Rhoda Folsom, an Anglo-American. Due to his work, they lived within the Choctaw Nation. He later married Sophia Folsom, a

mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-eth ...

Choctaw of partly Anglo-American descent. Her father was Ebenezer Folsom, and her mother ''Natika'' was Choctaw. Sophia's Choctaw name was ''Lk-lo-ha-wah'' (loved but lost). The couple married in 1804. The Choctaw had a

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

kinship system, so their children were considered born to Natika's clan and were raised in Choctaw culture. Pitchlynn had ten children. The most notable of these was their son

Peter Pitchlynn Peter Perkins Pitchlynn ( cho, Hatchootucknee, italic=no, ) (January 30, 1806 – January 17, 1881) was a Choctaw chief of Choctaw and Anglo-American ancestry. He was principal chief of the Choctaw Republic from 1864-1866 and surrendered to the ...

, who in 1864 became principal chief of the

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma 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 ...

. This was decades after their removal from the Southeast under the 1831

Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was a treaty which was signed on September 27, 1830, and proclaimed on February 24, 1831, between the Choctaw American Indian tribe and the United States Government. This treaty was the first removal treaty wh ...

. The senior Pitchlynn had ensured that his son Peter was educated in Anglo-American classical tradition, as well as in Choctaw culture. Pitchlynn diet on his plantation at

Waverly, Mississippi Waverly (also Mullens Bluff, Waverley, Waverley Plantation) is an unincorporated community in Clay County, Mississippi, United States. Waverly is located on the former Southern Railway. Waverly was once home to a church, saw mill, and grist mill ...

on May 20, 1835.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitchlynn, John British emigrants to the United States American translators People from Lowndes County, Mississippi Washington administration personnel Year of birth missing 19th-century deaths Year of death missing Choctaw 1764 births 1835 deaths People from Clay County, Mississippi