Thomas Forsyth (Indian Agent)
| Thomas Forsyth | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 5, 1771 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | October 24, 1833 (aged 81) St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Major Forsyth |
| Occupation | frontierman, spy, army officer, Indian agent, trader |
| Known for | Illinois frontiersman who served as U.S. Indian Agent to the Sauk and Fox prior to the Black Hawk War |
| Title | U.S. Indian agent to the Sauk and Fox |
| Term | 1818-1830 |
| Successor | Felix St. Vrain |
| Spouse(s) | Keziah Malotte (m. 1804–33) |
| Partner(s) | John Kinzie, Robert Forsyth (son) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | William Forsyth |
Major Thomas Forsyth (December 5, 1771 – October 29, 1833) was a 19th-century American frontiersman and trader who served as a U.S. Indian agent to the Sauk and Fox during the 1820s and was replaced by Felix St. Vrain, prior to the Black Hawk War. His writings, both prior to and while an Indian agent, provided an invaluable source of the early Native American history in the Northwest Territory. His son, Robert Forsyth, was a colonel in the United States Army and an early settler of Chicago, Illinois.
Thomas Forsyth was born in Detroit, to William Forsyth a Scots-Irish Presbyterian, who immigrated from Ireland, around 1750. A veteran of the French and Indian War, his father was twice wounded, while under General Wolfe, at the capture of Quebec in 1759. Shortly, after Thomas Forsyth was born, his father was imprisoned as a loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. Thomas Forsyth became a successful Indian trader in his youth, spending several years living with the Ottawas, on Saginaw Bay and, as early as 1798, he spent the winter on an island in the Mississippi, a short distance downstream from present-day Quincy, Illinois.
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