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Mary Musgrove (ca. 1700–1765): Maligned Mediator or Mischievous Malefactor?
- University of Georgia Press
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11 Mary Musgrove (ca. 1700–1765) Maligned Mediator or Mischievous Malefactor? julie anne sweet Coosaponakeesa, also known as Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth, represents one of the few women from colonial Georgia about whom any records survive.1 Unfortunately, the documents of her bitter and constant battles with British officials at home and abroad paint her as a discontented and bothersome female who incessantly pestered the authorities with her petitions for land and financial compensation. In these accounts, she comes across as a selfish Indian trader who epitomized the stereotypically negative attributes of that occupation . In late twentieth-century scholarship, however, sympathetic scholars portray her as a mixed-blood woman maligned by white English aristocrats and exploited for her interpretive skills without receiving any form of gratitude. Her gender and racial heritage combined to make her an apparent victim in a world dominated by white men. Both of these interpretations have a grain of truth to them, and both point to similar conclusions: Mary stood up for herself and suffered the consequences of her assertiveness. That tenacity should receive applause instead of jeers, and she should be remembered for her diplomatic contributions that helped make Georgia a success. Mary was truly a friend to the early colony and worked to protect its security and advance its status, yet when she applied the same resolve to her personal circumstances, she reaped scorn instead of praise. The simplest explanation is that Mary fought the law and, for the most part, the law won. She happened to be in the right place at the right time when James Oglethorpe arrived with the first settlers of Georgia, and she made the most of the opportunity both as a trader and a translator. She benefited from this partnership for years as Oglethorpe came to rely upon her services more and mary musgrove Detail from “The Bosomworths Invade Savannah,” Georgia Historical Society collection of etchings, silhouettes, and other prints, 1800s–1900s, ms 1361-pr, Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, Georgia. [44.222.104.49] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 01:23 GMT) Mary Musgrove 13 more. But when she expected the Trustees to make exceptions to their regulations regarding land transactions and ownership and they refused, she overestimated her importance and crossed the line from friend to foe. Neither gender nor race played a role in the Trustees’ stance against her; they simply upheld the law despite her previous contributions to their colony. Mary only made her situation worse by calling upon her Creek relatives to support her claim and causing a scene that has made her infamous and that continues to attract the most attention. Few look past this episode and realize that Mary learned an important lesson from this incident. She changed tactics again, returned to the good graces of colonial authorities, and persisted with her fight to obtain what she believed was rightfully hers. After over twenty years of appeals, she finally reached a compromise and withdrew from public life. Although her inability to acquire all of her demands may technically constitute a failure, her perseverance as well as her diplomatic efforts should earn her a prominent place in the history books. Because of her gender and race, little documentation exists about Mary’s early life. Born around 1708 in Coweta, a leading Creek town near present-day Columbus, Georgia, she received the name Coosaponakeesa, meaning “little fawn.”2 Her father, Edward Griffin, served as an Indian trader for South Carolina , and her mother remains unnamed, although it is known that she was a Tuckabatchee Creek woman with ties to the native hierarchy. Supposedly, Mary’s mother was the sister of Chekilli, the older brother of Brims, one of the most significant Creek chiefs of the early eighteenth century. Since women occupied a prominent place in the matrilineal Creek society, this association with leadership usually resulted in special privileges. Kinship terms did not necessarily reflect bloodlines, however, so the family connection appears vague.3 Mary’s upbringing included exposure to both Creek and British customs. At a young age she moved to Ponpon, South Carolina, where she received baptism into the Anglican faith and the name “Mary” by which she was more commonly known. She also obtained a basic education, which provided her with the language skills that would make her so valuable to the Georgia colony. Mary was among the South Carolinians when the Yamasee War broke out in 1715, but she returned to Coweta, possibly to avoid hostility from white British settlers who...