Mary Musgrove
Mary Musgrove
Who was Mary Musgrove?
She was born in the small settlement of Coweta near the present day Macon, Georgia in 1700 to the prestigious Wind Clan of the Creek tribe and her original Creek name was Cousaponokeesa. She got her name, Mary, from when her father read the bible to her and the name Mary popped up talking about a woman that was royale. She was the daughter of the English trader Edward Griffin and a Creek Indian mother. She spoke the Creek language and English. Married to a British trader John Musgrove from South Carolina 1st husband died in 1735. Mary was an interpreter (she helped them talk to each other) for General Oglethorpe and Tomochichi.
She was born in the small settlement of Coweta near the present day Macon, Georgia in 1700 to the prestigious Wind Clan of the Creek tribe and her original Creek name was Cousaponokeesa. She got her name, Mary, from when her father read the bible to her and the name Mary popped up talking about a woman that was royale. She was the daughter of the English trader Edward Griffin and a Creek Indian mother. She spoke the Creek language and English. Married to a British trader John Musgrove from South Carolina 1st husband died in 1735. Mary was an interpreter (she helped them talk to each other) for General Oglethorpe and Tomochichi.
What did she do?
Mary Musgrove, James Oglethorpe, and Tomochichi
Mary helped Oglethorpe find Savannah and helped Georgia become a strong colony. She was an important person in the colony. She was very helpful in helping General Oglethorpe keep peace with the Indians. She got a great deal of land. Mary supplied Georgia’s colonists with meat, bread, and other supplies. Musgrove was Oglethorpe’s main translator for 10 years. She helped them to make a treaty with Tomochichi to settle Yamacraw Bluff. She even allowed Oglethorpe to use her workers as his assistants.
Background Information:
Mary Musgrove facilitated in the Founding Development of Colonial Georgia and became an important intermediary between Creek Native Americans and the English colonists. She bridged the gap between two distinctly different societies and became a cultural mediator, who not only translated, but also was a counselor to those who acknowledged her capabilities. She attempted to carve out a life that merged both cultures and fought for her rights in both worlds. Mary was the daughter of a Tuckabachhee lower Creek Indian woman and Edward Griffin, a Carolina trader. Her mother died when Mary was nine years old, and soon after, she was taken into custody of her father. She later became known by her Christian and married names, Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth. She decided that she would be named Mary by having her father read her a story of a woman who was royal from the bible.
Her Marriage:
Mary Musgrove married Jacob Matthews in 1737. Her husband died in 1742. She married for a third time to the Reverend Thomas Bosomworth. She increased her power with this marriage. She had married a very respectable person and this raised her status in society. She and her husband were a powerful pair in the dealings between the Indians and the English. Moved to her trading post to Yamacrow Bluff. She owned St. Catherine’s Island
Sources
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rootsweb.ancestry.com%2F~nwa%2Fmusgrove.html&rct=j&q=mary%20musgrove&ei=UXV6TufsJsTq0gGE-oHLAg&usg=AFQjCNFH72eVOTbUgZ0ah3UsL-K89LohbA&sig2=_6_dscQmfdOhd7ljwGra7Q&cad=rja
http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-688
