This Day in Georgia History
January 26, 1838
Osceola Died
Seminole chief Osceola died while in prison at Fort Moultrie near Charleston, S.C. He was born as Billy Powell in 1804 in the Creek Nation in an area that until 1802 had been part of Georgia’s western territory (and would later become eastern Alabama). Powell later took the name Osceola and with other Creeks migrated into Florida after the Creek War to join the Seminoles. Osceola was a leader in the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). In 1837, he came under a flag of truce to discuss peace, but on command of Gen. Thomas Jesup, U.S. military authorities arrested Osceola and sent him to prison at Fort Moultrie, where he died.
