Background
He was born on January 30, 1806 in Noxubee County, Mississippi, United States, the son of John Pitchlynn, a white interpreter for the federal government, and Sophia Folsom, the daughter of a Choctaw woman and a white man.
He was born on January 30, 1806 in Noxubee County, Mississippi, United States, the son of John Pitchlynn, a white interpreter for the federal government, and Sophia Folsom, the daughter of a Choctaw woman and a white man.
Eager for an education, he traveled two hundred miles, while still only a boy, to enter a school in Tennessee. He later attended the academy at Nashville.
Returning after studies to his home in Mississippi, he built a cabin and began farming. In 1828 he went to the West with a delegation sent out to select lands for his people.
After the Choctaw treaty of 1830 he removed to Indian Territory with his family, and in 1860 he was elected principal chief. At the outbreak of the Civil War he sought to induce the Choctaw to remain neutral, and he himself always remained loyal to the Union, though he owned about a hundred slaves who were set free by the war. He signed the treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 and the treaty of 1855, and he witnessed, as principal chief, the treaty of Washington in 1866. For many years he represented the tribe in Washington.
Upon his death in Washington his funeral services were conducted by Gen. Albert Pike.
Peter Perkins Pitchlynn was the principal chief of the Choctaw, represented Choctaw interests and work for concessions from the government for the Choctaw lands. He helped to stop the traffic in liquor among the Choctaw Indians. His interest in education led him to establish a school in Kentucky for Indian children, which was supported for years by funds granted by the Choctaw government.
He was a member of the Lutheran Memorial Church at Washington and was also a prominent Mason.
A gifted orator, an able statesman, he was not only a popular leader of his own people but also possessed many warm friends among the whites.
Quotes from others about the person
In American Notes Dickens described Pitchlynn as "a tall, handsome man with raven black hair, high cheek bones, and piercing black eyes, as stately and complete a gentleman of nature's making, as ever I beheld. " He also mentioned that the Indian chief spoke very good English and had read and understood such English literature as Scott's Lady of the Lake and Marmion.
He married Rhoda Folsom according to the rites of the Christian Church, and it is said that by his influence and example he caused the Choctaw to abandon the practice of polygamy.
After the death of his first wife, he was married at Washington to Caroline (Eckloff) Lombardy, the daughter of Godfrey Eckloff. They had a daughter together, Sophia, who never married and lived with her father.
