Marcellus Duval

The southern grip on the Black Seminoles tightened irreversibly in 1844 with the appointment of subagent Marcellus Duval. An ardent slaveholder from South Carolina, Duval clashed continually with the officers at Fort Gibson. When he learned that a colonel was leading Sunday school classes and teaching Black Seminoles to read, he said simply, "Every sensible man can see the evil of it."