Indian Chief Osceola presided over the Seminole tribe in Florida from about 1803-1838. As nearly as could be learned he was the son of an English trader named Powell, his mother being a daughter of a Seminole Chief. In 1835 the wife of Chief Osceola was seized and carried away as a slave. The outraged Chief threatened revenge for which he was imprisoned six days in irons by General Thompson. Lying in wait a few days he killed the general and four others. This was the beginning of the Seminole War. By lying in ambush not long afterwards, Chief Osceola killed Major Dale and a small detachment of soldiers and then went in hiding in the impenetrable Everglades with two or three hundred of his braves. He fought for a year desperately. He was finally taken prisoner by General Jesup while holding a conference under a flag of truce, an act which has been criticized as treachery, though represented as one of retaliation. Thereafter Chief Osceola was confined in Fort Moultrie until his death.
Because of the treacherous act of the white man in seizing Chief Osceola in violation of the rules of war, many sturdy pioneers espoused his cause. Among those was a well-known pioneer of Clarke County, Dickinson Webster, Sr. Mr. Webster came to Clarke County from Ohio in 1851 and located in Franklin Township. When Clarke County was organized that year Mr. Webster was elected as one of its commissioners. He had much to do with the early history of Clarke County and it was by his suggestion that the county seat of Clarke County be named Osceola after the old Indian Chief who was unjustly treated by the white man.
Mr. Webster insisted the “S” in Osceola have the soft sound as in Oscar. There is a street in Osceola named for Mr. Webster. In the 1920’s, his daughter, Mrs. Ella Howe, was still making her home in the beloved little city her father named.