People, Locations, Episodes

Abraham, Black Seminole Leader born

Abraham

This date in 1787 is celebrated as the birth date of Black Seminole warrior Abraham, who was an African and Native American soldier and politician.

Abraham was born in Georgia, and for a time, he lived in Pensacola, FL, where he worked as a servant for a physician, Doctor Sierra.  Abraham joined the British army under Major Edward Nichols during the War of 1812, who promised freedom to any slave who joined him.  Abraham had fled the military of Andrew Jackson and helped build the fort at Prospect Bluff in Florida.   In 1813, he also founded Pilaklikaha, Florida.  When Nichols and Upper Creek Chief Joseph Francis set sail for England in 1815, Abraham stayed behind in the Fort, a haven for Africans who escaped slavery.

The fort was attacked and destroyed during the First Seminole War (1817-1818); Abraham was one of the few survivors. He made his way to a Suwannee River Town in Florida.  Abraham continued fighting during the First Seminole War and became known as "Sauanaffe Tustunnagee" (Suwannee Warrior).  He lived in an African town in Florida called Pilaklinkaha, or Many Ponds, and was adopted as a member of the Seminole Nation.   His nephew was Osceola, another Seminole leader.  He became the Prime Minister of the Cowkeeper Dynasty and a chief adviser to Micanopy, the principal chief of the Alachua Seminole.

Abraham even served as an interpreter for Micanopy in 1826 when a delegation of Seminole Chiefs visited Washington D.C.  Later in life, Abraham married Hagan, the widow of Chief Bowlegs. No details of Abraham’s death are known.

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