May 16th Rare Autograph Auction
ALS Peter Pitchlynn to his father, “Maj. John Pitchlynn / Choctaw Agency / Mississippi,” partially visible Nashville cancellation: “NASH[…] / FEB / 12” with period ink notation, “PP Pitchlynn / letter Febry / 10 1828” and collector pencil notation. The letter opens: “I received an invitation from Genl. Jackson to visit him, which I shall certainly do, but not before the vacation…” Pitchlynn’s diplomatic abilities are also on display later: “I have many friends here and no enemies.” In fine condition. Minor stains and losses, affecting only the word “Chemistry” in his discussion of classes.
This is the only letter from Pitchlynn we found to have come to market in the last 50 years.
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.
Pitchlynn’s father had been raised among the Choctaw after the death of his widowed father, a trader with the tribe, a later acted as translator in dealing with the U.S.
With One of a Kind Collectibles LOA. With Full JSA LOA.
Rare-Choctaw Chief, Friend of Lincoln Peter Pitchlynn ALS
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