February 13th 2025 Auction
ALS Peter Pitchlynn to his nephew W. B. Pitchlynn. Dated May 19, 1871. In fine condition. This is one of only two letters from Pitchlynn we found to have come to market in the last 50 years.
William B. Pitchlynn (Nephew of Peter Pitchlynn) Autograph Note.
Peter Pitchlynn (1806-1881), a member of the Choctaw tribe by matrilinear kinship and descent from his mother’s mother, was an influential orator, tribal emissary in negotiations with the U.S. and with other tribes, proponent of education, leader of tribal police, and later principal chief. An 1870 Atlantic Monthly article notes he was pro-Union when the Civil War broke out, talked with Lincoln, but was unable to prevent the tribe signing treaties with and supplying troops to the Confederacy. The letter may allude to an incident recorded in the same article, where Pitchlynn, who had snubbed Andrew Jackson during treaty negotiations, reconciled with him to some degree while at the University of Nashville, where Jackson was trustee.
William B. Pitchlynn was politically active in the tribe and a lot of history is in his family. Pitchlynn and Elsie were the parents of Melvina Pitchlynn Sittel. In some way Sittel and William B Pitchlynn were involved in founding the town of McAlester and one of their oldest residents, Peter P. Pitchlynn served as Chief of the Choctaw from 1864 to 1866.
With One of a Kind Collectibles LOA.
Rare-Choctaw Chief, Friend of Lincoln Peter Pitchlynn ALS & William B. Pitchlynn (Nephew of Peter Pitchlynn) Autograph Note
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