Lewis Downing

Lewis Downing (1823 – November 9, 1872), also known by his Cherokee name Lewie-za-wau-na-skie served as Chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1867 to 1872. After the death of John Ross, he was a compromise candidate who was elected to a full term as Principal Chief. Downing worked to heal divisions in the tribe following removal to the Indian Territory and the American Civil War. He was elected to a second term in 1871, but died in 1872, after a two-week battle with pneumonia. The Cherokee Council chose William P. Ross as his successor.

Downing was born in eastern Tennessee in 1823 to Samuel Downing and his wife Susan Daugherty, who were both Cherokee with mixed European ancestry, as were many among the leaders of the Nation in those years. The young Downing attended school at the Valley Town Mission in North Carolina. When he was a young man, Downing and his family went west during the forced removal of the Cherokee and their slaves, now known as the Trail of Tears. The family was part of the emigration group led by Jesse Bushyhead.

In 1839, the Downings arrived in what is now Adair County, Oklahoma. They settled near the site where Reverend Evan Jones had reorganized the Baptist Mission after its removal from North Carolina. Lewis Downing continued his education at Baptist Mission.

Early in life, Downing became a convert of the Mission through the efforts of Reverend Jones. Downing subsequently was ordained as a Baptist minister. The historian John Bartlett Meserve wrote, "Reports of his [Downing's] spiritual activities reach back to 1842 when he was but nineteen years of age. On August 3, 1844, he was unanimously chosen pastor of the Flint Baptist Church, succeeding the Reverend Jesse Bushyhead who had died shortly before."

The young minister was a strong participant in Cherokee Nation politics and as such was elected senator from Goingsnake District on August 4, 1845. He later removed to a farm on what is today the southeast corner of Mayes County, Oklahoma, where he was elected to the senate on August 4, 1851, and again on August 1, 1859. In 1851, Downing served as a delegate from the Cherokee tribe to Washington, D.C.

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