Narcissa Chisholm Owen
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Narcissa Clark Owen ( Chisholm; October 3, 1831 – July 11, 1911) was a
Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...
educator, memoirist, and artist of the late 19th and early 20th century. She was the daughter of Old Settler Cherokee Chief Thomas Chisholm, wife of Virginia state senator Robert L. Owen Sr. and mother of U.S. Senator Robert Latham Owen Jr. and Major William Otway Owen. Narcissa Owen is most recognized for her ''Memoirs'' written in 1907, where she narrates accounts of her life along with the stories and culture of her Cherokee relatives.


Early life and family background

Narcissa Clark Chisholm was born on October 3, 1831, in a log cabin near Webbers Falls (in what was then
Arkansas Territory The Arkansas Territory was a organized incorporated territory of the United States, territory of the United States from July 4, 1819, to June 15, 1836, when the final extent of Arkansas Territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the ...
, to become
Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...
and later
Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
) to Cherokee sub-chief Thomas H. Chisholm (1790–1834) and his Virginia-born wife Malinda Wharton (1803–1864) (great-granddaughter of British Jacobite politician
Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton Privy Council of Ireland, PC (21 December 1698 – 31 May 1731) was an English peer and Jacobitism, Jacobite politician who was one of the few people in the history of England, and the first since the 15th c ...
). Narcissa was the youngest of four siblings. Her sister Jane Elizabeth married Caswell Wright Bruton and became Jane Bruton. Neither of her brothers, Alfred Finney Chisholm (1830–1862), who married Margaret Harper, and William Wharton Chisholm (1830–1862), who married Susie Pindar, survived the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. Her paternal grandparents were John D. Chisholm, a Scotsman, and Martha Holmes, a Cherokee. Her paternal great-grandfather, John Beamor, emigrated from England to the Carolinas to missionize Cherokees. In 1699, the 23-year-old colonist married 16-year-old Quatsis (Cherokee), sister of Chief Caulunna. Rev. Beamor joined South Carolina's House of Burgesses and owned a plantation and at least 10 enslaved Black people. Around 1730 Beamor traveled with a group of Cherokees to England, where he signed a treaty that was opposed by a Cherokee group led by
Oconostota Oconostota (c. 1707–1783) was a Cherokee '' skiagusta'' (war chief) of Chota, which was for nearly four decades the primary town in the Overhill territory, and within what is now Monroe County, Tennessee. He served as the First Beloved Man o ...
(Cherokee, – 1783), a war chief prior to the Revolutionary War and an ancestor to Narcissa. One of Beamor's grandsons, Rev.
Jesse Bushyhead Jesse Bushyhead (Cherokee ᎤᎾᏚᏘ, romanized ''Unaduti''; 1804–1844) was a Cherokee religious and political leader, and a Baptist minister. He was born near the present-day town of Cleveland, Tennessee.
(1804–1844), became a noted Baptist preacher, as well as a schoolmaster. By 1812,
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
initiated efforts to forcibly removed Cherokees into Arkansas territory within the Louisiana Purchase. From 1814 to 1817, the Old Settler Cherokees worked to secure title to land in northwestern Arkansas. In 1819, the Old Settlers or Western Cherokees moved westward with enslaved peoples and settled on the Spada and
Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...
s. By 1819, the Cherokee people included about 15,000 warriors, of which a third (including the Chisholm family) lived west of the Mississippi River. In 1827 the Cherokee Nation held a general convention and adopted a national constitution, at a convention led by John Ross and which elected Charles R. Hicks Principal Chief. Narcissa Owen's father, Thomas Chisholm, a landowner and slave owner, moved his family to Beattie's Prairie (near present-day
Jay, Oklahoma Jay is a city and county seat of Delaware County, Oklahoma, Delaware County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,448 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, compared to 2,482 at the United States Census, 2000, 2000 census, a de ...
) in 1828. In 1834 he is elected as third chief, which Narcissa described in her ''Memoirs'' as the last hereditary war chief. While at a gathering between Cherokees and Plains Indians in
Tahlequah Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as par ...
, he caught
typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...
. His wife brought him back home, but he did not recover and died in 1834, when Narcissa was only three years old. Narcissa's mother remarried a widower and future judge William Wilson (1811–1897). His first wife was Ruth Drumgould, whose mother was Kah-ta-yah, whom young Narcissa met in 1836 when the grandmother was nearing 100. Young Narcissa also learned about her Cherokee heritage from "Granny Jenny," her father's former nurse and the daughter of enslaved Black people. In 1838, US federal government forced the majority of Cherokee into Indian Territory along the
Trail of Tears The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...
. Owen witnessed Cherokees, supervised by the US Army, camp on her mother's farm in January 1839. In her memoir, she noted the cruelty of herding human beings accustomed to warm winters through the cold and wind. She described how many refugees were sick, dozens died, and were buried in what had been the family graveyard.


Education and family life

Having lost her father early, Narcissa Chisholm was transferred between family members during her youth. Initially, her elder sister and brothers were educated at Dwight Mission School while her mother raised her. Narcissa attended Rev. Bushyhead's mission school . Consistent with her later focus on Cherokee civilization and assimilation, Narcissa's memoirs also related how his son
Dennis Bushyhead Dennis Wolf Bushyhead (March 18, 1826 – February 4, 1898) was a leader in the Cherokee Nation (19th century), Cherokee Nation after they had removed to Indian Territory. Born into the Wolf Clan, he was elected as Principal Chief of the Cherokee N ...
was educated at
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
before being elected Principal Chief of the Cherokees, and that his son Jessy Bushyhead became a physician in Claremore, Indian Territory. Narcissa Chisholm moved to
Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...
, in 1846 to live with her decade-older sister Jane and attended an academy there run by Melvin Lynde. She then moved to southern Indiana where she attended a school run by John Byers Anderson. She returned to Fort Smith in 1848 and attended a female academy, Mrs. Sawyer's School, in
Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Arkansas, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, Arkansas, Washington County, and the most populous city in Northwest Arkansas. The city ...
. After graduating with a degree in music and art in 1850, she replaced her music teacher for a year. She also served as a bridesmaid at the wedding of prominent Cherokee Wash Mayes. She then accepted a position teaching music in east
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
. While teaching in Masonic High School in Jonesborough,
Washington County, Tennessee Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,001. Its county seat is Jonesborough. The county's largest city and a regional educational, medical and commercial center is ...
, she met Virginia-born civil engineer Robert L. Owen Sr., who was surveying a railroad route over the Appalachian Mountains from
Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...
, toward
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
. They married on October 4, 1853. They moved near the
Clinch River The Clinch River is a river that flows southwest for more than through the Great Appalachian Valley in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee, gathering various tributaries, including the Powell River, before joining the Tennessee River in ...
while her husband continued his survey work, and then to Lynchburg, where Owen became President of the
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...
. Narcissa bore two sons: the future U.S. Army Dr. William Otway Owen, born 1854 in Broylesville, Tennessee and future U.S. Senator Robert Latham Owen Jr. born 1856 in Lynchburg, Virginia. She later spent many pages of her ''Memoirs'' describing her Scots-Irish heritage, as well as labeling her Cherokee heritage as "royal," explaining in part the native names she had given her sons: Caulunna (William) and Oconosta (Robert Jr). In Lynchburg, the Owen family and their slaves lived at
Point of Honor Point of Honor is an historic home, now a city museum, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The property has commanding views of the city and the James River. Its name originated due to the land on which it is built being used as a clandestine dueli ...
, a mansion overlooking the
James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...
and various railroad lines serving the city. Through his mother and grandmother Betty Lewis, George Washington's niece, Robert Owen inherited several relics of the first President.


Career


Virginia

During the American Civil War, Robert Owen ran the railroad (a crucial supply and troop line for the
Confederacy A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
) and his wife and Mrs. Thomas J. Kirkpatrick led the women of St. Paul's Episcopal Church who sewed uniforms and otherwise assisted the same cause. Their sons were too young to fight, but Robert Owen's brother, Dr. William Owen, ran 30 hospitals in the city (a major hospital center for the Confederacy). Lynchburg never fell to Union forces, which withdrew after false reports (for some of which Narcissa Owen later took credit) of Confederate troop strength in the town. Shortly after the war ended, Robert Owen resigned as president of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, after losing a fight against merging the railroad with several owned by former Confederate General
William Mahone William Mahone (December 1, 1826October 8, 1895) was a Confederate States Army general, civil engineer, railroad executive, prominent Virginia Readjuster Party, Readjuster and ardent supporter of former slaves. He later represented Virginia in th ...
. Robert Owen served a term in the
Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...
, then purchased a plantation near
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
, from a former surveyor buddy, where he died unexpectedly shortly before the
Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...
. Her husband's death left Narcissa Owen with young children to raise, and what little financial security remained after Robert Owen's death soon vanished. Narcissa Owen returned to teaching to send her sons to college.


Indian Territory

In 1880, Narcissa Owen moved to the Cherokee Nation to teach music at the
Cherokee Female Seminary The Cherokee Female Seminary was built by the Cherokee Nation in 1889 near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Tahlequah, Indian Territory. It replaced their original girls' seminary, the First Cherokee Female Seminary Site, first Cherokee Female Seminary, that ...
, the first institution of higher learning for women west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
. Her younger son Robert L. Owen Jr. had graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1887, and had already moved to Okhahoma to continue a teaching career as orphanage principal, as well as to read law and begin a legal career. Robert Owen became Indian Agent (1885–1889) during the presidency of Democrat
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
, then organized the First National Bank of Muskogee in 1890 (and served as its president as well as practiced law for the next decade). In 1895, the 62-year old Narcissa Owen retired from teaching, devoting herself to art and refuting misconceptions of Native Americans as primitive and uncouth. She studied at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
and the
Corcoran Gallery The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corcoran ...
, and painted landscapes, portraits, and miniatures using oil paint, as well as used the more traditional women's medium of needlework. Her self-portrait of 1896 displayed above indicates her Victorian-era respectability and wealth. Owen also displayed tapestries at the Oklahoma Territory's pavilion, for she did not believe in hierarchies of artistic medium. Her painting "Thomas Jefferson and His Descendants" won a medal at the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...
in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, in 1904. Displayed in the Indian Territory Building throughout the exposition, Narcissa's portraits showcased six generations of Jefferson's descendants: Thomas Jefferson himself, his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph, his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph, his great-granddaughter Mrs. R. G. H. Kean, his other great-granddaughter Mrs. John S. Morris, and Adelaide and Pattie Morris. Narcissa's interest in honoring Thomas Jefferson comes from her family's history and friendship with him. In 1808, Owen's father Thomas Chisholm receives the Silver Peace and Friendship Medal from Jefferson for his efforts to unite the Eastern and Western Cherokees. The medal became lost to the family for some time after the passing of Alfred Chisholm in 1862. It wasn't until 1905 that the medal was recovered by a prospector in Wichita Mountains. As a sign of further admiration, Owen later named her ranch near the Little Caney River "Monticello," after Jefferson's home in Virginia. In 1900, her son Robert L. Owen began a six-year legal battle in Oklahoma and Washington, D.C., which ultimately led to a judgment for the balance due the Cherokee from the 1835 treaty ($5 million including interest from 1838). This catapulted him into prominence, and he was elected one of Oklahoma's first two U.S. Senators after the territory achieved statehood on November 17, 1907. Although some Native American leaders disagreed with Robert Owen and had opposed statehood (and some would later disagree with the disbursement of the funds obtained), the
Sequoyah Constitutional Convention The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention was an American Indian-led attempt to secure statehood for Indian Territory as an Indian-controlled jurisdiction, separate from the Oklahoma Territory. The proposed state was to be called the State of Sequo ...
(which met in Muskogee in 1905) proved a precursor of the statehood convention.


Washington, DC

Narcissa Owen moved to
Washington, D. C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where she acted as her son's hostess, and continued working to refute misconceptions of Native Americans. On October 3, 1907, Owen privately published her ''Memoirs'', probably in Washington, D.C., although another copy was found at the multi-ethnic, library-friendly Tuesday Club of
Bartlesville, Oklahoma Bartlesville is a city mostly in Washington County and Osage County, Oklahoma. The population was 37,290 at the 2020 census. Bartlesville is north of Tulsa and south of the Kansas border. It is the county seat of Washington County. The Cane ...
, which had gathered at her Oklahoma home "Monticello" in honor of her 75th birthday the previous May 1, as mentioned at the Memoir's conclusion. As Owen's modern editor has noted, the ''Memoirs'' combine traditional storytelling modes (and humor, including trickster imagery) and Native perspectives deriving back to
Sarah Winnemucca Sarah (née Winnemucca) Hopkins ( – October 17, 1891) was a Northern Paiute writer, activist, lecturer, teacher, and school organizer. Her Northern Paiute name was Thocmentony, also spelled Tocmetone, which translates as " Shell Flower." Sara ...
's ''
Life Among the Piutes ''Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims'' is a book that was written by Sarah Winnemucca in 1883. It is both an autobiographic memoir and a history of the Paiute people during their first forty years of contact with European Americans. I ...
'' (1883) and Lucinda Lowery Hoyt Keys' ''Historical Sketches of the Cherokees'' (1889).


Death and legacy

Owen died in
Guthrie, Oklahoma Guthrie is a city and county seat in Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. Its population was 10,191 at the 2010 census, a 2.7% increase from 9,925 in the 2000 census. First known as a railroad st ...
, on July 12, 1911, aged 79 (far from her ranch as well as Bartlesville). Her remains were returned to
Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner and Abolitionism, abolitionist John Lynch (1740–1820), J ...
, for a funeral at St. Paul's Church, and burial beside her husband at Spring Hill cemetery (where her son Robert would later also be buried). Her former home,
Point of Honor Point of Honor is an historic home, now a city museum, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The property has commanding views of the city and the James River. Its name originated due to the land on which it is built being used as a clandestine dueli ...
is on the National Register of Historic Places, as is the
Cherokee Female Seminary The Cherokee Female Seminary was built by the Cherokee Nation in 1889 near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Tahlequah, Indian Territory. It replaced their original girls' seminary, the First Cherokee Female Seminary Site, first Cherokee Female Seminary, that ...
. The former is now a city museum for Lynchburg; the latter is a coeducational state university. Her painting of Thomas Jefferson is now in the collection of the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. Her painting of
Sequoyah Sequoyah ( ; , , or , , ; 1770 – August 1843), also known as George Gist or George Guess, was a Native American polymath and Constructed script, neographer of the Cherokee Nation. In 1821, Sequoyah completed his Cherokee syllabary, enabl ...
(a copy of a painting by
Charles Bird King Charles Bird King (September 26, 1785 – March 18, 1862) was an American portrait artist, best known for his portrayals of significant Native American leaders and tribesmen. His style incorporated Dutch influences, which can be seen most promi ...
) is owned by the
Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...
, which allows its display at the Oklahoma Judicial Center; the Society also has her self-portrait of 1896 depicted above and gold medal. Several of her other paintings are in the collection of the Oklahoma Museum of Art and
Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gr ...
.


See also

*
List of Native American artists This is a list of visual artists who are Native Americans in the United States. The Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 defines "Native American" as being enrolled in either federally recognized tribes or state recognized tribes or "an individu ...
*
Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas The visual arts of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which in ...


References


Further reading

*
Pdf.
* * United States, Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission. Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission, 1906. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1906. * * Starr, Emmet
''History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lore''.
Oklahoma City, OK: The Warden Company, 1921, available at * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Narcissa Chisholm 1831 births 1902 deaths 20th-century American painters Cherokee Nation women artists Cherokee Nation artists Cherokee people on the Dawes Rolls Native American painters Native American textile artists Painters from Oklahoma People from Muskogee County, Oklahoma 20th-century American women painters 19th-century American women textile artists 19th-century American textile artists 19th-century Native American artists 19th-century Native American women artists 19th-century American women educators 19th-century American educators Native American memoirists Native American women memoirists American women memoirists Native American women textile artists 20th-century Native American women writers 20th-century Native American writers