Cultural Bridge: Mary Musgrove of the Creek

History is full of narratives of mixed race men who bridged both Native and White worlds, becoming successful in both.  There were women, too, who did the same.  One such was Mary Musgrove (c 1700-1767).  She was not only a successful interpreter, but also a businesswoman and landowner who managed her own assets.  Though never acknowledged as a "queen" by the Creek Nation, she was still an important figure in her own right, though not without controversy.

Mary was born Coosaponakeesa, the daughter of a Creek woman and an English trader, Edward Griffin.  Her heritage is sometimes given as Yamacraw, meaning that she may have had mixed Creek and Yamasee descent or later allied with off-splits from both tribes who temporarily formed a band of her own after the Yamasee War.  She, though, gave her ancestry as Creek and some Creek historians do not acknowledge the Yamacraw off-split.  Coosaponkeesa's mother died when she was 3 and she was taken into the custody of her Native grandmother.  In keeping with Creek custom, she was raised by her mother's family, with her father staying in contact but doing little more.  He decided to take a more active role when she was 7 and brought her to live with him.  As they were discussing a suitable baptismal name, Mary asked for the name of a queen in the Bible.  At her young age, she was already conscious of her mother's high status in Creek society and wanted a suitable name.  Griffin chose Mary, the name of Jesus mother and his daughter agreed.

Mary lived with her father until the outbreak of the Yamasee War, and returned to her mother's people.  There she lived with a maternal uncle, called Brims by the Whites, an important local Creek leader.  The Creek had frequent dealings with Captain John Musgrove, a local trader and planter who was well liked by them.  He had himself married a Creek woman.  To cement the treaty by which the Creeks agreed to end their participation in the Yamasee War, Brims offered his niece Mary in marriage to Musgrove's son.  All parties agreed to the union.  As both the bride and groom were matrilineal Creeks they were considered by the Creek to be full-blooded.  There was no discussion of them being mixed-race or half-breed. 

Johnny and Mary experienced several tragedies in their otherwise close marriage as none of their four sons survived childhood.  In 1732, they were asked by the Governor of South Carolina and the Creek to start a trading post on the Savannah River.  They were on hand to greet James Oglethorpe and his party of Settlers in 1733.  The local Yamasee-Creek chieftain was Tomochichi, who may have been another relative of Mary.  Oglethorpe quickly came to appreciate Mary's skill as an interpreter.  As a female from a leading family in a senior Creek clan, she would've taken precedence of her husband, who was content to let her deal with the rounds of talks between Oglethorpe and Tomochici. He
agreed to allow Oglethorpe's colonists to settle around the area that would become Savannah, Georgia.  Johnny Musgrove would get his chance in 1734, when he sailed with Tomochichi and other Creeks to London on an embassy to the royal court.

Johnny left Mary in charge of his share of the trading post back in Savannah.  His English partner drank heavily, began bragging that he helped an Indian drink himself to death, slandered Mary as dishonest and a witch, then pulled a gun on her.  Mary took the matter to court.  The man was fined and later jailed for his own protection as his sanity deteriorated.  Johnny died in 1735 and Mary remarried two years later, Jacob Matthews, a White indentured servant who was several years younger than her.  He stayed in the background as Mary worked with Oglethorpe and the Creek, arranging further land concessions and avoiding misunderstandings between the two cultures.  Mary was widowed again in 1742 and, in 1743, Oglethorpe left Georgia, which meant that Mary lost both her husband and her benefactor, a serious blow to her usefulness in White society. 

The remaining trustees of the Georgia Colony excluded Mary from negotiating with Native tribes.  She married again in 1744, Thomas Bosomworth, a preacher by trade who gave up his ministerial duties to help his wife maintain her trading post and other business concerns.  Mary had been promised land by her Creek relatives, but had never received it, because it had been taken over by White owners who didn't believe a woman had any business owning land.  She petitioned Colonial leaders, but to no avail.  The Creeks instead rewarded her with three islands, St. Catherine's, Sapelo and Ossabow.  Mary began to improve her land on St. Catherine's, building a farm and raising cattle. 

Malachi, Brims' successor as Creek leader, met with Colonial leaders in 1749.  Mary was present at the meeting, but because she was not being used as a translator, she had to wait outside the building with other petitioners.  Fed up after several hours, she barged into the room and interrupted the meeting.  White witnesses to her outburst described her as under the influence, making grandiose claims about her influence with her Creek kindred.  English officials had her arrested and her husband had to make a public apology and promise to control her behavior in future before she was released.  Her Creek relatives were likewise embarrassed and offended by her behavior and it would take her some time to repair her standing with them.  In 1752, the Governor of South Carolina called on her services again, when he needed a peace emissary between the Creek and the Cherokee.

The land issue was solved when a new Governor of Georgia, in 1757, granted Mary St. Catherine's Island in return for her giving up her claims to the other two islands and any other land in Georgia.  She later received a large cash settlement for her many years' service as a translator and intermediary.  She was used a few more times as a translator before dying in 1765.