Sophia Durant facts for kids

Sophia Durant (born around 1752 – died between 1813 and 1831) was a Koasati Native American woman. She owned a large farm called a plantation. Sophia also worked as a speaker, interpreter, and translator for her brother, Alexander McGillivray. He was a powerful leader in the Muscogee Confederacy.

Sophia was born in the mid-1700s in what is now Elmore County, Alabama. Her mother was Native American, and her father was Scottish. She learned to read and write, which was unusual for women at that time. This helped her become very important in the political and economic life of her people. After helping her husband manage her father's farms in Savannah, Georgia, Sophia returned to Muscogee land. There, she started the first cattle plantation in the Tensaw District. She also managed shared lands and traded with both Native and European people. Sophia owned many enslaved people, but she often treated them like family. She was kind and shared things with them.

Sophia had 11 children, and seven or eight of them lived to be adults. Three of her children joined the Red Sticks during the Creek War. In 1813, her husband was killed in the Fort Mims massacre, and she was captured. She was taken to a Red Stick village called Econochaca. American soldiers freed her after the Battle of Holy Ground. Sophia died sometime before 1831. Because she is one of the few Native women mentioned in records from the 1700s, historians can learn a lot from her story. Her life helps us understand the roles of Native women in politics and business back then. Her relationships with the enslaved people she owned also teach us about how slavery worked in different ways.

Sophia's Early Life

Sophia McGillivray was probably born in the 1750s in a village called Little Tallasee. This village was located on the Coosa River, near where Montgomery, Alabama is today. Her mother was Sehoy Marchand, also known as Sehoy II. Her father was Lachlan McGillivray, a Scottish trader.

Historians have studied Sophia's family history carefully. Sehoy Marchand was the sister of Chief Red Shoes of the Tuskegee people. Some believe Sehoy Marchand's mother was Sehoy (Sehoy I) from the Wind Clan, and her father was Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand, a French officer. However, other experts suggest Sehoy Marchand was more likely Koasati. This idea fits with the name of the Muscogee leader at the time, the language spoken, her birthplace, and her family connections.

Lachlan McGillivray, Sophia's father, was a Scottish trader. He learned the trading business from Sehoy Marchand's first husband. Around 1750, Lachlan married Sehoy Marchand. They lived on a large farm with an apple orchard near Fort Toulouse. Their family included Sehoy's two children from her first marriage, and their three children: Alexander, Sophia, and Jeanette. Lachlan lived with his family for about twelve years. He made sure all the children learned to read and write. He often traveled to Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. He even built another farm near Augusta, Georgia.

In 1760, Lachlan McGillivray left his Native family and moved to his farm in Savannah. He took Alexander to Charleston for schooling. Lachlan never returned to his family. When he went back to Scotland 22 years later, he left his property to his cousin. He left a small amount of money to Alexander but did not mention Sophia or Jeanette. Alexander returned to his tribe in 1777. He had received a good English education and learned about accounting. He became an assistant to the British Indian Superintendent of the South, John Stuart. Alexander was also made a colonel. Because his mother was important in the Wind Clan, he became a leader. Alexander often relied on Sophia to be his speaker, interpreter, and translator. This was common at the time, especially if he had trouble with different Native languages.

Sophia's Career and Influence

In 1779, Sophia married Benjamin Durant in Little Tallassee. Benjamin was also known as Peter. A popular story says they met when Benjamin, a famous boxer, came from South Carolina for a boxing match. Benjamin's background is unclear, with some saying he was white, French, or mixed-race. However, records show that the U.S. government paid him for property losses during the Creek War. This payment was only given to Native people, suggesting he was Muscogee.

Benjamin Durant owned a farm near Selma, Alabama since 1776. But among the Muscogee, it was common for couples to live on the wife's family land. So, when they married, Sophia and Benjamin lived on a farm her father owned near the Savannah River. After the British lost the American Revolutionary War in 1782, the Durants returned to Muscogee territory. Lachlan McGillivray, Sophia's father, went back to Scotland.

In 1782, after a leader of the Upper Creeks named Emistisiguo was killed, Alexander McGillivray became the main leader for the Creek Confederacy. In 1783, the British recognized him as the main spokesperson for the Creeks. That same year, Sophia and Benjamin started a cattle farm with Alexander. It was located between the Alabama and Escambia Rivers, south of Little Tallasee, in the Tensaw district. They had 40 enslaved people working there. This was the first plantation started by Muscogee people in the Little River Community. They chose this spot for trade with Florida. It also had good land for grazing cattle and access to grains from Mobile, Alabama or Pensacola, Florida. Many families connected to Sophia's mother's family lived around their cattle farm.

In 1784, Alexander made a treaty with Spain in Pensacola. This treaty protected the Muscogee from Georgia trying to take their land. Spain agreed to recognize their land rights in Florida. The treaty also gave a British company, Panton, Leslie & Company, the only right to trade with the Creeks. Alexander was also paid by the Spanish government. This trade agreement was good for Sophia and her sister, Sehoy Weatherford. They worked as independent traders, buying and selling goods with Panton & Leslie. Alexander was a partner in this company. The women often traveled for business, separate from their husbands' affairs. By 1796, both sisters told the government Indian Agent, Benjamin Hawkins, that they were no longer trading with Panton & Leslie.

A map showing rivers, Native villages, Fort Toulouse, and farms near Little Tallasee.

By 1787, the Durants mainly lived at Hickory Ground. This was near where the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers meet. They had 11 children, and eight of them survived. These included Lachlan, John, Alexander "Sandy", Mary "Polly", Rachel, Sophia, and twins, Elizabeth "Betsy" and another child. In 1796, Benjamin Hawkins reported that Sophia owned 80 enslaved people. Among the Muscogee, property and family connections were passed down through the mother's side. This meant Sophia and her sisters controlled their wealth and family relationships. For example, when their brother Malcolm McPherson died in 1799, Chief Singer asked Sophia and Sehoy for permission to raise his nephews. He needed their approval because Malcolm was married to Singer's sister, and Jeanette had died earlier. When Malcolm's oldest son tried to take control of his father's property, his aunts stopped him. Eventually, Sehoy Weatherford, Sophia, and Jeanette took all the cattle and enslaved people belonging to their family line. Hawkins also noted that after Alexander died in 1793, Sophia and Sehoy Weatherford took over his properties. When Alexander died, Sophia had his body moved from Pensacola and buried on his own land in what is now Clarke County, Alabama.

Sophia and Benjamin paid their debts by renting out or selling enslaved people. They were not very interested in farming to grow extra crops to sell. Benjamin Hawkins tried to get Quakers to teach Native women skills like weaving and small-scale farming. He also sent tools for blacksmithing and farming. But Native people did not easily accept these attempts to make them live like Americans. The way Sophia treated enslaved people was different from American practices. For example, she refused to sell an enslaved Black man who was married to a Native woman, even to pay a debt. It's not clear why, but some historians think the Native wife's status was important. Benjamin Hawkins, with his European viewpoint, did not understand Sophia's way of sharing with her enslaved people. He thought she managed them poorly because she didn't make them work hard or be productive. Sophia had personal relationships with her enslaved people. She allowed them a lot of freedom, like letting them travel alone for business. She also held an annual Christmas celebration for them. She even refused to let Alexander control her enslaved people or remove a Black preacher she allowed on her land, even though Alexander thought he was causing trouble.

In 1789, the Constitution of the United States was adopted. This meant only the federal government could make treaties with Native peoples. In 1790, Alexander, Sophia's son Lachlan Durant, and David Tate (Sehoy Weatherford's son) went to New York. They negotiated on behalf of the Muscogee Confederacy with the Americans. About 30 representatives from the Seminoles and other Muscogee tribes were there. They created the first treaty that included leaders from both the Upper and Lower Creeks. This treaty set the boundary between Native land and American settlements. While they were away, Sophia gave birth to twins. There are different stories about how this happened, but both involve her giving birth after a diplomatic effort. In one version, Native people threatened white settlers, and Sophia rode for four days to persuade leaders to stop the attack. In another, a man named William Augustus Bowles tried to get Muscogee leaders to support him instead of Alexander. Sophia and an enslaved woman rode hard to the meeting and convinced them to stay loyal to Alexander.

Muscogee Creek War

During the War of 1812, some Native Americans wanted to return to their old ways and reject American culture. The Shawnee prophet Tenskwatawa encouraged Native cultures to become stronger by fighting against Americans taking their land. He gained followers among the Muscogee, especially the Upper Creeks. Other prophets also appeared, like Josiah Francis (Hillis Hadjo). They convinced many Muscogee to join their cause, including Peter McQueen, who married Sophia's daughter Betsy, and William Weatherford, one of Sehoy Weatherford's children.

In early 1813, the disagreements led to a civil war within the Muscogee Confederacy. Those who followed the prophets and rejected American ways were called Red Sticks. Three of Sophia's children—Betsy, John, and Sandy—sided with the Red Sticks. The Tensaw community, where Sophia lived, was a main target for the Red Sticks. It was completely destroyed during the conflict. Benjamin Durant, Sophia's husband, died during the Fort Mims massacre on August 30, 1813. Sophia was captured by the Red Sticks. On December 23, she and ten other mixed-blood people who were friendly to whites were tied to stakes with wood piled around them. However, General John Francis Hamtramck Claiborne and his troops arrived at Econochaca and saved them from being burned. Sophia was freed.

After Fort Mims, the United States Army joined the civil war. American soldiers began destroying Upper Creek towns and attacking Red Sticks. Sophia's son Sandy moved to Apalachicola, Florida during the fighting. In November 1813, his brother John wrote to him about Betsy wanting to join him there. By August 1814, the Red Sticks and their families had been pushed south into Florida. A peace treaty was signed in Muscogee territory. John and Betsy Durant, led by McQueen, were among the families who fled. In Florida, McQueen led his followers to the "head waters of Line Creek." They stayed in Florida for a few years, working for the British in Spanish territory. In November 1817, McQueen's followers attacked a U.S. Army supply boat. General Andrew Jackson's troops responded in 1818, defeating the Natives. McQueen refused to surrender and headed further south. When they reached Tampa Bay, Sandy died, and soon after, McQueen died on an island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Sophia's Legacy

Sophia died before 1831. In that year, her son Lachlan wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, Abner Smith Lipscomb. Lachlan stated he was the only surviving son of his mother and grandfather, Lachlan McGillivray. He tried to get back some of his mother's lost property as her only male heir. He spent many years writing to leaders, like President James Madison, trying to get family properties back. Lachlan lived in Baldwin County, Alabama and was alive until at least 1852.

After McQueen's death, Sophia's son John moved to Nassau, Bahamas. According to his brother Lachlan, John had died by 1831. Her daughter Mary married Muslushobie, also known as Pitcher. They had a son named Co-cha-my (Ward Coachman). His uncle Lachlan raised him after his parents died. Coachman moved to Indian Territory in 1845. He became the Principal Chief of the Muscogee Nation in 1876.

Her daughter Rachel married Billy McGirth. After he died, she married Davy Walker. She became a widow again and then married a man named Bershins. She moved to the Choctaw lands. Daughter Sophia first married John Linder Jr., and later married Dr. John McComb. He was a doctor for Andrew Jackson's troops. When McQueen died, Betsy returned to Muscogee territory and married his nephew, Willy McQueen.

Historians say that Sophia Durant's name being in historical documents shows how important she was in the 1700s and 1800s. Most Native women were not mentioned by name in records. Information about her confirms that she was a powerful and influential person. Experts also point out how important Sophia and her sisters were to the Muscogee economy. They were some of the largest slaveholders in their nation. Their treatment of enslaved people helps us understand the different forms of slavery that existed during that time.