James Logan COLBERT Levi Ittawamba Mingo COLBERT Samuel COLBERT George Tootemastubbe COLBERT Sopha Minta HOYA Mini tree diagram
William Cooshemataha COLBERT

William Cooshemataha COLBERT1,2,3

8th Aug 17421,2 - 30th May 18241,2

Life History

8th Aug 1742

Born in now Mississippi.1,2

30th May 1824

Died in Tockshish, Pontotoc, Mississippi.1,2

after 30th May 1824

Buried in Pontotoc City Cemetery, Pontotoc, Pontotoc County, Mississippi.2

Notes

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    William Colbert

    William Colbert was born in Chickasaw Nation about 1742; he was the eldest son of James Logan Colbert and an older brother of George Colbert.  He was also called "Chooshemataha", "Pyaheggo" and "Billy Colbert".  William Colbert was the friend, follower, and successor of Piomingo, Chief of the Chickasaw Nation.  He was a celebrated fighter and was an ally of the Americans not only against hostile Indians, but also when a struggle against Spain for the possession of the Mississippi Territory seemed imminent.

    William married twice with his first marriage to a Creek woman known as Jessie "Wayther" Moniac in Chickasaw Nation before 1780.  Jessie was the daughter of the Creek Indian William Dixon “Dick” Jacob Moniac and Sehoy III, daughter of Creek Chief Tuckabatche.  Since Jessie Moniac Colbert was not listed on the 1818 Chickasaw Roll, she was either dead or no longer the wife of William Colbert.  Jesse was a sister to Elise Moniac who was the wife of Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray; therefore, William Colbert and Alexander McGillivray were brother-in-laws.  William’s second marriage was to Ishtanaha "Mimey" in Chickasaw Nation before 1824; she died after 1839 in Indian Territory.  She was baptized at the Monroe Mission in Pontotoc County, Mississippi on June 5, 1830.  She migrated from Mississippi to Indian Territory on board the steamboat Fox and arrived on November 21, 1837.

    On one occasion, William feared that the Cherokees had killed Piomingo and all his party; therefore, William and George Colbert organized a party of Chickasaws on either side of the Tennessee River to cut off six canoes of Cherokees.  Levi Colbert asked William to wait until they could confirm that these Cherokees had actually killed Piomingo.  William Colbert tried to get the canoes to stop and come to shore.  The Cherokees disregarded his order and kept on their way; William considered they were guilty and chased the canoes down.  One canoe paddled to the shore and the Cherokee man jumped out and hid himself in bushes; William Colbert found the man, killed him, and took his scalp.

    In June of 1794, George and William Colbert accompanied Piomingo to Philadelphia, where the chiefs received a certificate from President George Washington on July 21, 1794; the certificate guaranteed to the tribe all Chickasaw lands claimed by Piomingo at the Nashville Indian Conference that included all of western Kentucky, central and western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and northwestern Alabama.  They also received a $3000.00 annuity for their aid to St. Clair in 1791.

    At the solicitation of President George Washington, Major General William Colbert, who succeeded Piomingo as the principal chief of the Chickasaw Nation, journeyed to the Ohio country and served under General Mad Anthony Wayne against the Indians of the Northwest.  On August 20, 1794, William Colbert led a contingent of Chickasaw warriors in support of General Anthony Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers, Ohio, against Little Turtle and the Northwestern Confederation of Indians.

    In January 1795, William Colbert and a band of Chickasaw warriors took five Creek scalps on the Duck River in the Chickasaw country, perhaps in retaliation for raids by the Creeks against the Cumberland settlers and Chickasaw hunters during the previous four months.  On January 13, 1795, William Colbert and a party of 100 Chickasaws that included his Creek wife Jessie Moniac Colbert and several of his children carried the scalps to General James Robertson at Nashville.

    Since William Colbert did not get guns and supplies from General James Robertson or Governor William Blount of Southwest Territory in his war against the Creeks, he left his wife Jessie Moniac Colbert in Knoxville, and rounded up Chiefs William McGillivray, John Brown, Piomingo, and interpreter Malcolm McGee and set out for Philadelphia.  The delegation received an audience with President George Washington on August 22, 1795, but again received no help or encouragement in the prosecution of a new war with the Creeks.

    When the Creek war broke out in 1813, Major William Colbert quickly joined and served nine months in the third regiment of United States Infantry for service against the Creek enemies of the Chickasaw Nation.  William served five months in the regular infantry; he returned to the Chickasaw Nation and raised an independent force which he led against the hostile Creeks.  William pursued the Creeks from Pensacola almost to Apalachicola; he and the Chickasaws killed many Creeks and brought back eighty-five prisoners to Montgomery.  William completed his service with the United States Army at the end of the Creek Indian War.

    On numerous occasions, William Colbert represented his people at Washington, DC, and in the very early days, was received by President George Washington, in Philadelphia.  William also made a trip with his half-brother George Colbert and Wolf’s Friend to meet with President John Adams in Philadelphia in 1798.  In June 1816, William headed a Chickasaw delegation to Washington, and in the treaty that followed he was made a Major General; he was granted an annuity of $100 for the rest of his life.

    Half-blood William Mizle, a Chickasaw interpreter who married a daughter of Piomingo, wrote in his journal that to accommodate his trade, he stored whiskey at the great Holly Springs some miles south of Chickasaw Bluffs in Spring Hollow.  A traveler stated that he spent several days at the home of General William Colbert who lived near the Federal Agency located about two miles south of the present village of Old Houlka in Chickasaw County.  He stated that, “William Colbert was a great drinker and, having run out of whiskey, walked to Mizle's post at the holly springs and bought seven kegs of whiskey; Colbert then started home and, just after arriving there, drank the last of the seventh keg, having consumed three days upon the trip."

    Major General William Colbert died May 30, 1824, in Tockshish, Pontotoc County, Mississippi at 81 years of age.  The best evidence of General William Colbert's death is found in some old Chickasaw Agency records.  One is a receipt from Ishtanaha (William’s second wife) to Chickasaw Agent Benjamin F. Smith for the pension of General Colbert.  The receipt is dated July 15, 1824, for $40 in full for the amount settled on my husband General William Colbert by the Government of the United States up to May 30, 1824, at which time he deceased.  Additionally, in Smith's Chickasaw Agency expenditure accounting on September 27, 1824, he list a payment to, "Ishtanaha Colbert for the Pension of General William Colbert."  Again in his accounts accepted by United States auditor William Stuart on December 4, 1824, Smith states that $40 was paid, "to the wife of General William Colbert in full to May 30, 1824."  His body was interred in Pontotoc City Cemetery, Pontotoc County, Mississippi.

    --  Lynn, Morning Hawk, "The Great Chiefs." Native Spirits Tribal Community, December 26, 2017, http://www.nativespiritstribalcommunity.com/group/thegreatchiefs/forum/topic/show?id=1407349%3ATopic%3A1586017&xg_source=msg
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    "Colbert, William.  A Chickasaw chief.  During the Revolutionary war he aided the Americans, and in the army of Gen. Arthur St Clair led the Chickasaw allies against the hostile tribes and was known as the great war-chief of his nation.  In the war of 1812 he served 9 months in the regular infantry, then returned to lead his warriors against the hostile Creeks, whom he pursued from Pensacola almost to Apalachicola, killing many and bringing back 85 prisoners to Montgomery, Ala.  He was styled a general when he visited Washington at the head of a Chickasaw delegation in 1816.  In the treaties ceding Chickasaw lands to the United States the name of Gen. Colbert appears, except in the ones to which was signed the name Piomingo, which also was borne by a captain of the Chickasaw in the St Clair expedition, and was the pseudonym under which John Robertson, 'a headman and warrior of the Muscogulee nation,' wrote The Savage (Phila., 1810)."
    --  Great Chiefs, http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/ViewStory.aspx?tid=2021785&pid=-1869007320&did=efe54986-069a-464b-b584-8f30b52cf4df&src=search

    Historical Monument for Maj William Colbert, Cooshemataha Pyaheggo
    Burial Pontotoc, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, USA
    Birth August 08, 1742 Pontotoc, Mississippi Territory, New France (now Mississippi)
    Death 1836 Tockshish, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, USA
    (Info from Genealogy where the monument photo was posted)
    Photo by Erin Ishimoticha, posted on Geni 11 March 2013, accessed 2 January 2019

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    Gen William Cooshemataha Pyaheggo Colbert
    Birth 8 Aug 1742 Pontotoc County, Mississippi, USA
    Death 1836 (aged 93-94) Pontotoc, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, USA
    Burial Pontotoc City Cemetery, Pontotoc, Pontotoc County, Mississippi

    Military Figure. Major General William Cooshemataha Pyaheggo Colbert was born about 1742. He was the eldest son of James Logan Colbert, a Scot who came to the eastern coast and settled in Charleston, South Carolina in the early 1700s.  William's mother was a full blooded Chickasaw Indian.

    In 1784 James Logan Colbert was killed in a horse accident. William relocated and settled in Toxish in the southeastern part of the present day Pontotoc County Mississippi. This was the beginning of his eventful life. William Colbert led one band of the Chickasaws in their campaigns against Little Turtle, commanding the Northwestern confederation of Indians.

    They went there at the solicitation of President Washington to aid General St. Clair, and afterwards General Wayne. William Colbert was in the party of Chickasaws that visited President George Washington when our national government was in Philadelphia. It was on this occasion that he was given the title of General, because of his services to the American people. He was a celebrated fighter, and an ally of the Americans, not only against hostile Indians, but also Spain when trying to take possession of Mississippi, and later, the British invaders, during the War of 1812.

    He fought for his own people and assisted Andrew Jackson against the Creeks. Andrew Jackson presented William with a military coat, which he wore on important occasions until his death. On September 20, 1816, at the signing of the Chickasaw treaty, William earned the name Major General William Colbert.

    For his long services and his faithfulness to the United States government, William Colbert received an annuity of one hundred dollars for the remainder his life. William Colbert died during the winter of 1836, and his place of burial is in the Pontotoc City Cemetery.

    Bio by Brad

    Father James Logan Colbert 1721-1784

    Siblings:
    George Colbert 1744-1839
    Levi Itawamba Minco (Bench Chef) Colbert 1759-1834
    James Colbert 1768-1842

    Son Elisha Colbert Rackley 1775 - unknown

    Maintained by Find A Grave, Originally Created by NatalieMaynor 20 Sep 2005
    --  Find A Grave Memorial 11787222, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11787222/william-cooshemataha_pyaheggo-colbert
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Sources

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