John Brown

John Frippo Brown (October 23, 1842 – October 21, 1919) was a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War. He was elected by the tribal council as the last principal chief of the Seminole Nation, serving 1885–1901 and 1905–1906.

Early life and education John Brown was born into the Tiger Clan of his Seminole mother, Lucy Nancy Greybeard, on October 23, 1842, near Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. He was of mixed race and was the eldest child of seven; their father was Dr. John Frippo Brown, Sr., a physician from Scotland. He had six siblings, including Alice Brown Davis, who in 1922 was appointed as the Seminoles' first woman chief. A brother was Andrew Jackson Brown, who later served the tribe as treasurer. They were raised in both their parents' cultures but lived among and identified as Seminole. He is listed as 1/2nd Seminole by Blood on the Dawes Rolls.

Brown served in the Confederate Army as an officer under the Seminole chief John Jumper. He represented the Seminole Nation in postwar negotiations as a Southern Treaty Commission Delegate and signed the Reconstruction Treaty of 1866. His younger brother Andrew Jackson Brown served as treasurer.

Brown served as "governor" of the tribe from 1885 to 1901, when Hulputta Micco defeated him. Following Micco's death in 1905, Brown was re-elected and served until tribal government was abolished in 1906 in preparation for admitting the Indian and Oklahoma territories as the state of Oklahoma.

Personal life Brown owned a ranch southeast of Wewoka and ran the Wewoka Trading Company with his brother Andrew. Ordained as a minister, he was the pastor of the Spring Baptist Church from 1894 until his death.

He married Lizzie Jumper, whose father served as chief of the Seminole shortly after the Civil War. After her death, Brown married twice more. He had at least 12 known children.

Death John Frippo Brown died at Sasakwa, Oklahoma on October 21, 1919.