Thomas Simpson Woodward (February 22, 1797 – 1859) was a U.S. Army general who settled and named the area that developed into

Tuskegee, Alabama Tuskegee ( ) is a city in Macon County, Alabama, Macon County, Alabama, United States. General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, laid out the city and founded it in 1833. It became the county seat in the same y ...

. Late in life, he wrote letters about his experiences with and beliefs about American Indians. Woodward was born in

Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samue ...

around 1794 and was orphaned at a young age. He was raised by his mother and her brother. He became a brigadier general in the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

militia and fought alongside

Creek Indians The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCamden, Arkansas Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County, Arkansas, Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state portals, U.S. state of Arkansas. The city is located about 100 miles south of Little Rock. Situated on bluffs overlo ...

, a town he named. He later moved to Wheeling in

Winn Parish, Louisiana Winn Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,755. The parish seat and largest city is Winnfield. The parish was founded in 1852. It is last in alphabetical order of Louisiana's s ...

and established a 16,000-acre plantation, which he named Montgomery after the capital city of Alabama. With James Dent he plotted land he owned and named it Tuskegee. A collection of his letters was published in 1859 as ''Woodward's Reminiscences of the Creek, or Muscogee Indians, Contained in Letters to Friends in Georgia and Alabama'', in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. According to an introduction to his book he had a daughter with one of his slaves and moved to Louisiana. He had a son named Thomas Woodward who was a colonel in Louisiana. A painted portrait of Woodward is preserved by the

Alabama Department of Archives and History The Alabama Department of Archives and History is the official repository of archival records for the U.S. state of Alabama. Under the direction of Thomas M. Owen its founder, the agency received state funding by an act of the Alabama Legislatu ...

References

1797 births 1859 deaths 19th-century United States Army personnel People from Elbert County, Georgia People from Camden, Arkansas 19th-century American planters United States Army generals Tuskegee, Alabama People from Winn Parish, Louisiana People from Tuskegee, Alabama People of the Creek War {{Alabama-politician-stub