George (Lowery) Lowrey (1770 - 1852)

Born 1770 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Ancestors

Husband of Annie (Fields) Bigfeather — married 1820 in Cherokee Nation (East)

Descendants

Died 20 Oct 1852 at about age 82 in Tahlequah District, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory, United States

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Biography

George was Cherokee.

George Lowrey was the son of George Lowrey, a white man, and his Cherokee wife, Nannie.. The family lived along Battle Creek in the area where Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama come together. Author John Howard Payne, who gathered information on the Cherokees in the 1830's, recorded George's Cherokee name as "Tsi tsa Lawili" or "Agili." ^[1] He may have been the "boy" who traveled to Philadelphia with a Cherokee delegation in 1792. ^[2] George was a frequent correspondent to Indian Agent Return Meigs, writing from "Lowryvill." As a local chief, his letters dealt with white intruders, stolen horses, and the need for corn and other supplies. ^[3] In 1819 George took a reservation of land under the Treaty of 1819. ^[4]

George married Lucy Benge about 1790. They were the parents of seven children, James, Susan, George, Lydia, Rachel, John, and Anderson. He also fathered three sons, Archibald, Washington, and Charles by three other women. ^[5] The 1835 Cherokee census shows George, his wife, and twenty enslaved people living at Will's Valley (now Alabama). ^[6] The family was Removed to Indian Territory in 1838 in the Benge/Lowrey detachment and settled in the Delaware District.

George Lowrey and his son-in-law, David Brown, translated portions of the New Testament into the Cherokee syllabary. Their translation of the Book of Matthew was printed in the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper between April and July of 1828. ^[7]

George died in 1852. His tombstone records his numerous roles in the Cherokee Nation:

George Lowrey, Born at Tahskeegee on the Tennessee River about 1770.

Died Oct 20, 1852, age 82 years.

Erected by order of the National Council.

Many years a member of the Church of Christ.

Ruling Elder of the Church at Willstown.

Deacon of the Church at Park Hill.

He fulfilled the duties of every office well.

An Honest Man.A Spotless Patriot. A Devoted Christian.

Visited President Washington as Delegate from the Cherokee Nation 1791-1792.

Captain of the Lighthorse 1810.

Member of First National Committee of 1814.

One of the Delegation who negotiated the Treaty of 1819.

Member of the Convention who formed the Constitution in 1827.

Also that of 1839.

Elected Assistant Principal Chief 1828 and often afterwards.

At his death a Member of Executive Council.

Filled various other public offices.

^[8]

Research Notes

Emmet Starr stated that George assisted his son-in-law, David Brown, with creation of a Cherokee spelling book using transliterations with English letters. Starr was incorrect; Brown assisted John Arch, a fellow student of the Brainerd Mission with the book.

Although numerous biographies state that he was a Major in the War of 1812, he does not appear on the muster roll for the Cherokee regiment under Gideon Morgan. His brother John did serve as a Major. ^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson, Brown, Rogers, eds., The Payne-Butrick Papers. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2010. Vol. 2, p. 89
2. ↑ To George Washington from Henry Knox, 17 January 1792,” Founders Online, National Archives, image at Philadelphia. Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 9, 23 September 1791 – 29 February 1792, ed. Mark A. Mastromarino. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 447–448.
3. ↑ Records of the Cherokee Agency at Tennessee, 1801-1835, images at Fold3. Example letter
4. ↑ Hampton, David K. , compiler Cherokee Reservees. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1979. Images at Fold3. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 75. p. 13
5. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. p. 367. Digitized edition at Starr
6. ↑ 1835 Cherokee Census, transcription published by the Oklahoma Chapter, Trail of Tears Association, Park Hill, OK. 2002. Original records: National Archives and Records Administration, Microfilm publication T496, Census Roll, 1835, of Cherokee Indians East of the Mississippi with Index. p. 12
7. ↑ Example images at Phoenix
8. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 05 March 2021), memorial page for George Lowrey (1770–20 Oct 1852), Find a Grave Memorial no. 22293678, citing Tahlequah Cemetery, Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
9. ↑ National Park Service, Horseshoe Bend muster rolls digitized at Horseshoe

See also:

• National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee, 1801-1835, Record Group 75. Microfilm M208. Digitized at Fold3, numerous contemporaneous records

• Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. Genealogy pp. 366-367, historical references pp. 51, 110-111, 244 and others. Digitized edition at Starr

• Hampton, David K. and Baker, Jack D., eds. Old Cherokee Families Notes of Dr. Emmet Starr. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1987. Vol. 1, p. 119, Note C640.

• Hoig, Stanley W. The Cherokees and Their Chiefs. University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville. 1998

• https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/22138/bae_bulletin_196_1966_77_175-214.pdf (starting on page 196; see p 199 and on for more details about George's life; hismarriage to Lucy is mentioned on page 200, including a claim that she was also a Cherokee of Scottish descent)