"M" is for Musgrove, Mary (ca. 1700-1765)

"M" is for Musgrove, Mary (ca. 1700-1765). Mediator between the Creeks and the English. Musgrove was born Coosaponakeesa in Coweta, Creek Nation (central Georgia), the daughter of a Creek woman and a Charleston Indian trader.  Her father took her to Pon Pon, South Carolina to be baptized and educated. Returning to the Creek Nation, she married Johnny Musgrove. The couple moved to Yamacraw (near the site of present day Savannah). When James Oglethorpe established the colony of Georgia, Mary Musgrove became his official interpreter and consultant on Indian affairs. In 1752 Governor James Glen of South Carolina asked Musgrove to halt a war between the Creeks and the Cherokees that threatened the colony’s welfare. She intervened and tribes made peace. Colonists in South Carolina and Georgia remained dependent on Mary Musgrove’s aid until her death.