Biography:

Israel Folsom was born in 1802 to Nathaniel Folsom and Aiahnichih Ohoyah, who, according to Choctaw custom, was one of his father's two wives. He was also the younger brother of David Folsom, the first Choctaw chief to be elected by ballot and who was later forced to cede Choctaw lands and lead his people to the Indian Territory. He accompanied his brother on the westward migration of the Choctaws in 1831. Folsom was the father of Judge Julius Folsom and Czarina Folsom Robb.

Folsom was educated at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, Connecticut. He recognized the educational deficiencies of the Choctaws and sought the establishment of Indian mission schools. Folsom was converted to the Presbyterian faith and later became a Presbyterian minister. He preached the Gospel to the Choctaws and acquired the reputation among his people of being a spiritual man. In his will, Folsom generously bequeathed one tenth of his income and property to the Presbyterian church.

In later life, Folsom and his brother-in-law, Peter Pitchlynn, served as delegates from the Choctaw Nation to the United States government. However, the outbreak of the Civil War prevented them from settling any Indian affairs of importance. Folsom returned home in 1861 and tried unsuccessfully to persuade the Choctaws to remain neutral during the war. When the Choctaw Nation saw the imminent loss of the Confederate war effort, they organized a delegation with Folsom as its head. The delegation was to attend a combined council of the Civilized and Plains Indian tribes in the Indian Territory where they had agreed to combine their efforts in order to seek peace with the Union. Folsom died on April 24, 1870, and was buried at the Old Boggy Depot, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory.

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