Turner Brashear

Turner Brashear is a 6th great uncle.  He was a brother to my 5th great grandfather, Tobias Brashear, who also settled in the Mississippi Territory.  This is my descent from Tobias...

Turner's story is interesting and integral to the development of Mississippi as a State.  He was witness to many of the foundational moments.

Shortly after control of the Mississippi Territory was loosed from the hands of the Spanish, the American gov’t sought to encourage overland travel, communication and commerce between the southern extremity of the territory (the Natchez district) and the burgeoning east coast. At the time, that meant making improvements to the Columbian Road or the “Natchez Trace” as it is known today.  This path linked Natchez with the growing settlement of Nashville in Tennessee.

The government sought to encourage proprietors to open Stands or Inns every so often along the route to make passage through the wilderness between Natchez and Nashville more hospitable and less dangerous. An Indian Agent and later Representative from Alabama, John McKee, noted in a diary entry of August 1, 1804-- “Mr. [Silas] Dinsmoor & Mr. Mitchell went out towards Natchez in order to look out for 3 or 4 places on the road suitable for stands or public houses.”

As the road meandered through the Choctaw Nation, use of any site chosen for the Stands required an agreement with the Choctaw. An 1805 treaty with the Choctaw allowed for the use of the property that was to become Brashear’s Stand. The following year a public house was advertised in the Natchez newspapers. One of Turner Brashear’s advertisements read, “The subscriber has opened a House of Entertainment and a Blacksmith Shop, on the Columbian road, 120 miles from Natchez, where travellers may rely on finding accommodations and supplies.” Turner was banking on the fact that a traveler four or five days out of Natchez would welcome the protection of a dry clean room in lieu of another night in the forest under an oilcloth.

By that time, Turner Brashear had been in the Mississippi Territory for nearly 25 years but he was a son of Maryland. Of French Huguenot descent, Turner was born a 5th generation American colonist. He and his 9 brothers and sisters were baptized at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The 243 year old church building and even older baptismal font in which they were baptized are still there today. 

In 1773 Turner’s father moved the whole family to the outskirts of civilization on the Monongahela River. A few years later they followed the troops of General George Rogers Clark down the Ohio River to Bullitt County Kentucky and then on to the settlements of Cahokia and Kaskaskia in the Illinois territory during the Northwest campaign of the Revolutionary War. Two of Turner’s older brothers served under Clark in that campaign. By 1785, the family moved down the Mississippi and settled in the Natchez District. 

One family member stayed in Bullitt County. Turner’s oldest brother, Marsham Brashear, and a cousin, William Brashear, opened a Stand on the Old Wilderness Road near the falls of the Ohio River. This Stand was not unlike the one Turner would open a few years later. In a gruesome testament to the persistent danger found in the wilderness of the territories, William’s body would be found scalped and mutilated not far from their Stand. Marsham stayed on and operated the Stand for many years.

Turner was a long time acquaintance of John McKee. Both had been agents for the Panton and Leslie Company of Pensacola in their younger years. Trading with native americans all over the wilderness of what is Mississippi, Alabama and Florida today, McKee and Brashear made contacts and developed relationships with many tribes. Eventually, Turner settled among the Choctaw. About 1787 a 23 year old Turner married Jane Hotitoka Apuckshunnubbee, daughter of the Choctaw Chief Apuckshunnubbee. Their union produced 5 children and provided Turner an influential place in Choctaw politics. 

This is a letter dated Sep 5 1813 from Turner Brashears, Choctaw Agency, to Governor Holmes asking that he provide the Cherokees, Chickasaws and Choctaws with ammunition as they have declared war on the encroaching war parties of the Creeks.

His unique position made him sought after by the powers at hand. He served in the employ of the Spanish Government as interpreter during negotiations with the Choctaw. In 1792 the Spanish Governor, Carondelet, wrote of Turner, 

“Of all the white traders in this Nation [Choctaw], the one I met most ardent to our interests is Mr. Turner Brashears with whom I have consulted from time to time on matters relative to my mission, and I have always found him a man of truth and influence in this Nation; he is also an intimate friend of Franchimastabe and in whom he places his greatest confidence, the reason why he sent him [Turner] to Natchez to confer with the Governor." 

In 1799 the Americans also recognised his standing. Turner’s friend John McKee wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of War James McHenry,

"...There ought to be an assistant agent- and an interpreter appointed in addition to John Pitchlyn. I would beg leave to recommend Turner Brashears providing he would accept as the additional interpreter- he is well qualified for the duties of Linguister, is a sober young man- has for some years past been an agent for Panton & Leslie Co. and has much influence with the Choctaws- his family lives in the Natchez district and is respected."

Turner did serve the American government as Choctaw interpreter for a number of years. He was paid an annual salary of $400. Turner’s signature is found on several important documents from the era including the 1816 Choctaw Treaty of Fort Stephens. 

His establishment on the Natchez Trace that became known widely as Brashears’ Stand played an important role in the early history of the area. While the original structure is long gone, it’s general location is now highlighted by the Natchez Trace Parkway as an historic site at milepost 104.5 at Ridgeland, Mississippi.

1807 Newspaper Ad out of Natchez

The Stand included a large farm, Blacksmith shop and open fields where race horses were likely housed during transit between race events held on both ends of the road and points beyond. As horse racing was very popular among gentlemen of the early 1800’s it can be expected that handlers would require board and provision for prize animals making the circuit at Brashear’s Stand.

With threats of an English invasion on the Gulf in 1813, Turner played host to the increased military traffic along the road outside his front door. We know that John Coffee stayed at Brashear’s Stand long enough to convene a courts martial there in 1814. After the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Andrew Jackson’s returning troops used the Stand as a hospital. Brashear rented his rooms to six doctors (one to a room) who attended 300 or so of the sick and wounded encamped about the Stand. 

Turner and at least one son served in the Choctaw Regiment during the War of 1812. Turner held the rank of Major under Colonel John McKee in Andrew Jackson’s command.

General Index card for Turner Brashear

Turner is also frequently found among the records of the Choctaw Agency which was located about 4 miles west of Brashear’s Stand. He served as interim Agent between Silas Dinsmoor’s departure in 1816 and when John McKee resumed the role. A letter Turner wrote John McKee was found among the papers of William Clark, Governor of the Missouri Territory. Turner warned McKee about some effort to reinstate Dinsmoor as Agent. Turner refers to Dinsmoor or those who were seeking to reinstate him as a “snake in the grass” hinting at some strained relationships.

Turner Brashear, operated his Stand from 1805 until some time in the early 1820’s. His wife of 35 years passed away in 1822. A year later, Turner married another Choctaw that some believe was the sister of his first wife. She was Ocayemitta and they produced another three children. No evidence is found of him after the Census of 1830. It is assumed he passed away about 1831 near his daughter in Yazoo County, Mississippi. Some of his half-blood children remained in Mississippi while others made the trek west to Oklahoma. His descendants are scattered around the country.

National Park Service sign as it used to appear at Brashears Stand