Mary Musgrove was the daughter of Edward Griffin, an English-born trader from Charles Town in the Province of Carolina, and a Muscogee Creek mother.
22 Facts About Mary Musgrove
1.
2.
Fluent in local Creek languages as well as English, Mary became an important intermediary between Muscogee Creek Natives and the early colonists.
3.
Mary Musgrove carved out a life that merged both cultures, making a significant contribution to the development of colonial Georgia.
4.
Mary Musgrove was born in the Creek Indian "Wind Clan" with the Creek name Coosaponakeesa in Coweta Town along the Ockmulgee River.
5.
Mary Musgrove was the daughter of a Creek Native American woman and Edward Griffin, a trader from Charles Town in the Province of Carolina, of English descent.
6.
Mary Musgrove's mother died when Mary was three years old and, soon after, she was taken into the custody of her grandmother.
7.
Mary Musgrove later became known by her Christian and married names, Mary Griffin Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth.
8.
Mary Musgrove continued to live in Pon Pon until the Yamasee War of 1715 broke out.
9.
Mary Musgrove then returned to Coweta and her Creek family there.
10.
Mary Musgrove was employed by the Carolina Assembly to arrange peace between the Creeks and the Carolina colonists.
11.
John Mary Musgrove met with the Coweta headman Brims, whom the colonists had earlier designated as "Emperor" so Brims could speak for the other Chiefs or headmen.
12.
Colonel Mary Musgrove was married to a Creek woman and, therefore, his son John Mary Musgrove Jr.
13.
John Mary Musgrove traveled as the interpreter for Tomochichi, his wife, and other Creeks who sailed with Oglethorpe to England to meet King George II in 1734.
14.
Mary Musgrove filed actions against Watson, who was fined, but in the end he had to be jailed for his own protection.
15.
Mary Musgrove married her former English indentured servant Jacob Matthews who was several years her junior in the spring of 1737.
16.
Between 1737 and 1738 Mary Musgrove assisted Oglethorpe in securing land cessions from the Creeks.
17.
Mary Musgrove can read and write, and is a well-civilized women.
18.
Mary Musgrove is likewise to teach us the Indian tongue.
19.
Mary Musgrove had attended as his interpreter, but she was there as recipient of lands from the Yamacraws.
20.
Malatchi and others arrived in the summer of 1749, but Mary Musgrove was ignored as a translator and had to wait outside of the conference.
21.
Mary Musgrove's behavior estranged her from her male kin, and she spent the next year in the Creek Nation trying to restore her standing.
22.
Mary Musgrove was a Lower Creek who stated she was born along the Oakmulgee River.