The Colberts' Leadership Contributions
The Colbert sons were William, George, Levi, Samuel, Joseph, and Pittman (or James). For nearly a century, the Colbert men and their descendants provided critical leadership during the Chickasaw tribe's greatest challenges.
The Chickasaw allied with the United States during the War of 1812. William Colbert served with General Andrew Jackson against the Red Sticks during the Creek Wars of 1813-14, which became part of that conflict. His brothers George and Levi also served. The brothers were prominent landowners and a political force within their clan and the Chickasaw Nation. George and Levi Colbert were negotiators and interpreters during the tribe's negotiations with the US government related to Indian Removal.
Third-generation Colberts, such as Holmes and Winchester, created the governmental foundation of the Chickasaw Nation in Indian Territory (now known as Oklahoma). In the 1850s, Holmes Colbert helped write the constitution for their government.
Colbert and his wife owned about 100 acres (0.40 km2) of cleared land, with more in timber, and held numerous eight adult enslaved African Americans and several children in what is now Oklahoma.
After the American Civil War, the US required a new treaty from the Chickasaw, who had supported the Confederacy. One of the provisions required them to emancipate their slaves, as the US had done, and offer those who wanted to stay in Indian Territory citizenship as Chickasaw. They became known as the Chickasaw Freedmen and were considered members of the nation, with voting rights.
| “ | "My mother died when I was real small, and about a year after that my father died. Master Holmes told us children not to cry, that he and Miss Betsy would take good care of us. The did, too. They took us in their house with them and looked after us just as good as they could colored children. We slept in a little room clost to them and she always seen that we was covered up good before she went to bed." | ” |
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—- Polly Colbert, former slave, Interview: Polly Colbert, 1937 |
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Read more about this topic: Holmes Colbert
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