Sullivan's Island Magazine Spring/Summer 2019

8 www.SullivansIslandMagazine.com | www.SullivansIslandHomes.com Where Mystery, Intrigue and Legacy Lie: By Mary Coy P erhaps some visitors and island residents have scratched their heads and wondered, “Why is there a Seminole warrior buried at Fort Moultrie? Weren’t the Seminoles in Florida?” The answer is quite simple: Osceola and many members of his tribe were captured in Florida in October 1837 when Native Americans were being forced westward by the federal government. Because Fort Marion in St. Augustine became overcrowded, 237 of these prisoners were transferred to Fort Moultrie a few months later. Osceola died of complications from a throat infection within weeks of being brought here. But the story has an air of mystery. Army surgeon Dr. Frederick Weedon removed Osceola’s head from his corpse before burial. Perhaps this was done in the interest of science, but the doctor’s brother-in-law had been killed by Osceola in Florida, so the question of motive lingers. Preserved in a glass jar, Dr. Weedon gave the head to his son-in-law, and it was eventually sent to the Fourth Street Medical College in New York City where it was displayed in the school’s museum. The building, and its contents, presumably including Osceola’s head, were destroyed in a fire in 1866. Osceola was a celebrity during his brief captivity at Fort Moultrie. Residents from the city were known to visit the fort to see the prisoner who was given a great deal of freedom of movement within the fort’s parameters. Some of the visitors even interacted with Osceola, and he sat for more than one painting. The famous portrait by George Catlin hangs in the Charleston Museum. Osceola’s Fort Moultrie Gravesite Photo by Mary Coy.