November, 2008 - Mary Musgrove - Allegheny

Mary Musgrove Bosomworth

Mary Musgrove was born Coosaponakesee sometime around 1700, at Coweta Town on the Ockmulgee River in northern Georgia. Her father was an English trader from the South Carolina Colony and her mother was a Creek Indian of royal blood. Mary spent her first 10 years among her mother's people; despite her mixed heritage Musgrove was considered a full member of Creek society and the Wind Clan.  Colonel John Musgrove was commissioned by the Governor of South Carolina in 1716 to visit the Creeks and negotiate a peace treaty between the English and the Creek Nation. Young John Musgrove accompanied his father, fell madly in love with Mary, and immediately married her. The two of them set out to build a trading enterprise in the Georgia territory. Mary's knowledge of the Creek language and customs was an invaluable aid to their success. By 1730, the Musgroves had a prosperous trading post on the Yamacraw Bluff overlooking the Savannah River, near the place where General James Oglethorpe brought the first English colonists to Savannah in 1733. Oglethorpe employed Mary as a negotiator to secure the peaceful cooperation of the Creeks in land settlements and trade. Mary's plantation on the Savannah comprised the fairest and broadest acres in Georgia, and it supplied the struggling colonists with meat, bread, and liquor.  In 1739, John Musgrove died after contracting malaria, leaving his wife a 500-acre plantation, a large number of cattle and horses, ten indentured servants, and a deerskin trade. She was one of the wealthiest women in the colony. 

In that same year, Mary married Jacob Matthews, who had been a servant of her former husband. Jacob was a colorful figure known as a critic of English authority, a successful planter, and a heavy drinker. Apparently, he worked hard but he also set himself up as the leader of the malcontents in Georgia and the chief critic of the authorities.  In 1744, Mary married Thomas Bosomworth, a figure even more controversial than Matthews. He had come to Georgia in 1741 to clerk for William Stevens, the man who would later be governor of Georgia Colony. He decided instead to join Oglethorpe's troops on a mission to help defeat the Spanish. He soon tired of camp life and returned to England in 1743 to be ordained.  Bosomworth and Mary established a trading post at “The Forks," the confluence of the Ockmulgee and Oconee Rivers.  Bosomworth convinced Mary's brother Malatchee to have himself proclaimed Emperor of the Creek Nation, who then gave Thomas and Mary a deed to the Sea Islands of Ossabaw, Sapelo, and St. Catherine. Thomas purchased vast herds of cattle on credit in South Carolina and turned them loose on St. Catherine Island.  Thomas also talked the Creek Nation into making Mary Queen of the Creeks.  In August 1749, Mary and Thomas were arrested due to debts Thomas owed in South Carolina for the cattle. The Indian Chiefs and the council president met on several occasions to negotiate the return of lands to the Indians. Bosomworth repented of his folly, and wrote to the council president apologizing for his wanton conduct.  During this time, Thomas continually fought to secure the money owed Mary for her services when she was working for General Oglethorpe. Mary resorted to the courts in London, and in June 1760, settled her claims for 2100 pounds sterling and clear title to St. Catherine Island.  Mary Musgrove Bosomworth spent the remainder of her life on St. Catherines Island, and died there sometime after 1763.

The Drink:

Allegheny:

Stir in mixing glass with ice & strain

1 oz bourbon (3 cl, 1/4 gills)

1 oz dry vermouth (3 cl, 1/4 gills)

1/4 oz blackberry flavored brandy (6 dashes, 1/16 gills)

1/4 oz fresh lemon juice (6 dashes, 1/16 gills)

1 dash aromatic bitters

Drinkability:  3
Drunkability:  4 2/3

Taxic Diversity:   4
Accessibility:  3
Priority of Conservation:  4

Comments: "good at the start, not so good at the finish"

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