Lyncoya Jackson | |
|---|---|
 Letter from Lincoya to Andrew Jackson, dated December 29, 1823 According to the Tennessee Virtual Archive catalog, the "authenticity of this letter has come under scrutiny." The editors of The Letters of Andrew Jackson, Volume V: 1821–1824 (published 1996) annotated a letter from Jackson to Rachel on December 7, 1823, in which Jackson asked for letters from the children ("I would be delighted to receive a letter from our son, little Hutchings, & even Lyncoya") that "Lyncoya wrote Jackson on December 29." | |
| Born | c. 1812 Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | July 1, 1828 (aged 15–16) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Occupation | Saddler |
Lyncoya Jackson (c. 1812 – July 1, 1828), also known as Lincoyer or Lincoya, was an Indigenous American born into a Muscogee family that was part of the Upper Creek tribal-geographical grouping and more than likely affiliated with Red Stick political party. The family lived in the tribal town near Tallasseehatchee Creek in present-day eastern Alabama. Lyncoya's parents were killed on November 3, 1813, by troops led by John Coffee at the Battle of Tallusahatchee, an engagement of the Creek War and the larger War of 1812. Lyncoya survived the massacre and the burning of the settlement and was found lying on the ground next to the body of his dead mother. He was one of two Creek children from the village who were taken in by militiamen from Nashville, Tennessee. Lyncoya was raised in the household of slave trader and former U.S. Senator Andrew Jackson. Lyncoya was the third of three Indian war orphans who were transported to Andrew Jackson's Hermitage in 1813–14.
Lyncoya was initially termed a "pett" for Jackson's white male wards. Jackson later included Lyncoya in the catalog of wards whom he considered to be his sons, inquiring about his health and educational progress in letters home to his wife Rachel. He was educated alongside Jackson's white wards in the local school, and at one time Jackson wanted Lyncoya to attend West Point, which he considered the most prestigious educational opportunity in the United States. Lyncoya was ultimately apprenticed to a saddler in Nashville. Lyncoya contracted a respiratory infection and returned home to the Hermitage in his sickness. Despite nursing and healthcare provided by Rachel Jackson and the enslaved labor force of the Hermitage, Lyncoya died of tuberculosis at approximately 16 years old. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere near the Hermitage within Davidson County.
As early as 1815, and certainly by 1824, Jackson's political allies framed Lyncoya's survival and presence in Jackson's household as a defense against charges that Jackson was a bloodthirsty killer of Indians. Lyncoya's obituary, published during the bitter 1828 U.S. presidential contest between Jackson and John Quincy Adams, also served as a form of political messaging. Jackson was presented as the hero of Lyncoya's story in 19th-century biographies of the seventh U.S. president, and his life continues to be used in the 21st century as a defense against charges that racial animus was the motive for Jackson's 25-year-long effort to ethnically cleanse the Old Southwest of Native Americans.