History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 6

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724

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REFERENCES .- Pickett's History of Alabama (Owen's Edition, 1900), pp. 425, 512, 519; American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. i, p. 487; Woodward's Reminiscences of the Creek or Muscogee Indians (1859), pp. 36, 37.

JIM BOY, OR TUSTENAGGEE EMATHLA, was born about 1790 in the Creek Nation, the birth-place not known. Tustenuggee is the Creek term for "warrior;" Emathla is a war title, corresponding nearly to "disciplin- arian." Nothing is known of Jim Boy's life prior to the outbreak of the Creek War of 1813, where Pickett calls him High Head Jim. He was chief of the Atossees, and com- manded the hostile Creeks at the battle of Burnt Corn, fought March 27, 1813. It is not known in what other battles he was en- gaged during the war. After its close, he settled near Polecat Spring, and there built

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a little town called Thlopthlocco. In 1818 he served under General McIntosh against the Seminoles in Florida. During the Creek troubles of 1836, he attached himself to the friendly party. At the close of these trou- bles he was solicited by General Jessup to raise warriors for service against the Sem- inoles in Florida. He and Paddy Carr ac- cordingly raised nine hundred and fifty war- riors, and with them reached the seat of war in September. Here the Creeks were organized into a regiment and placed under the command of Major David Moniac. Jim Boy was with his regiment in two battles and in a number of skirmishes in the Sem- inole war. The battles were the second bat- tle of Wahoo Swamp, fought in November, 1836, and the battle of Lake Monroe, fought February 8, 1837. The Creeks fought cour- ageously in both these engagements.

On his return from Florida, he found that his family had been removed west in the emigration of the Creeks, and that all his property in the nation had been destroyed. He had joined the army in Florida under a promise of the commanding general that his family and property should be cared for, and that he should be remunerated for any loss he might sustain during his absence. This promise was not kept. But all this was a slight trouble compared to the death of four out of his nine children, who were of the two hundred and thirty-six Creeks that were lost in the striking of the emigration steam- boat, Monmouth.

Jim Boy's home in the Creek Nation west, was near Wetumpka, where he died in 1851. The name of his wife was Nihethoye. Rev. William Jim Boy, a well known Methodist minister in the Creek nation, is a grandson.

Jim Boy is described as a remarkably handsome man, full six feet high, perfectly formed and with a commanding air. The late Rev. John Brown of Daleville, Missis- sippi, who served in the Seminole War, states that on one occasion, at General Jessup's headquarters, he saw Jim Boy, clad in his full war dress, engaged in conversation with the general; that he was struck with Jim Boy's appearance, and with the fact that he was by far a finer looking man than General Jessup.

REFERENCES .- McKenney and Hall's Indian Tribes of North America (1842), vol. iii, 95, 96; Pickett's History of Alabama (Owen's Edition, 1900), pp. 521-524; Woodward's Rem- iniscences of the Creek or Muscogee Indians, pp. 91, 97, 98; Halbert and Ball's Creek War, pp. 125-132, 300, 301; Drake's Indians, fifteenth edition, pp. 474, 476, 477, 479.

LAW, JOHN, financier, born in Edinburg, Scotland, in 1671, and died in Venice, Italy, March 21, 1729. He was the son of a wealthy goldsmith and banker and was well edu- cated. Becoming an orphan at the age of fourteen he fell heir to his father's estates of Lauriston and Randleston. Young Law devoted much of his early life to the study of finance, at the same time becoming an expert in games of chance. In 1694 he went

to London, where he became a gambler, and soon got rid of his inherited estates. From gambling to duelling was an easy transition; and to escape the consequences of having killed his antagonist, Law fled to France. Here he studied the financial methods of Col- bert; afterwards he lived in Holland and studied the commercial methods of that coun- try. He then for years rambled over various parts of Europe, vainly broaching financial schemes to different governments and about the time of the death of Louis the Fourteenth returned to France with a fortune of half a million dollars, made by gambling. Through the favor of the regent, Philip, Duke of Or- leans, Law now established a private bank which was chartered in 1716 and did a vast business. The bank was abolished in Decem- ber, 1718, and was succeeded by the royal bank. of which Law was the director-general.

The West India Company was formed in 1717. Law was appointed its director-gen- eral, and received a large concession on Ar- kansas River, with the title of Duke. In 1719, the company obtained the exclusive trade with the East Indies, China and the South Seas, and the name was changed to the India Company, and existed until 1731.

In 1720, in consequence of a large issue of paper money, Law's bank collapsed and he became a fugitive from France. The re- . gent, however, remained loyal to him and appointed him minister at the court of Bava- ria, a post he held until the death of the regent. He visited England in 1721, re- turned to the continent in 1722, and retired to Venice where he died in obscurity. He was survived by a daughter, his presumable wife, his only son having died some years previously.

LITTLE PRINCE, OR TUSTENUGGEE HOPOIE, Creek chief. History and tradi- tion are both utterly silent as to the early life of this chief, who lived at Broken Ar- row and was for many years speaker of the Lower Creeks. The first notice of him is in 1780. In the spring or summer of this year, the Indian Agent, John Tate, who was sta- tioned at the Hickory Ground, raised a large number of warriors, for the British service from all the Upper Creek towns, except from the Tallassees and the Natchez, and with them marched to the Creek towns on the Chattahoochee. Here he was reinforced by a band of Lower Creeks under Little Prince. The combined Indian forces, all under the command of Tate, began their march to Augusta to the aid of Colonel Thomas Brown, in command of that post. Near the head springs of Upatoy creek, Tate became de- ranged, was brought back to Coweta, where he died and was buried. After his death, all the Upper Creeks returned except the Tuckabachees .under Efa Tustenuggee, or Davy Cornells. He and Little Prince resumed the march with their warriors, numbering two hundred and fifty, arrived at Augusta and were there when the place was besieged by Colonel Elijah Clarke. In the fighting that ensued, the Creeks lost seventy men,-

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a loss showing the high grade of their fight- ing qualities. After the abandonment of the siege and the retreat of the Americans, Colo- nel Brown first hung some of the most prominent Americans and then delivered the remainder Into the hands of the Indians, who, in revenge for their slain warriors, put them to the most torturing and protracted deaths, by cuts, blows, scalpings and burnings. The memories of Colonels Brown and Grierson, the commanding officers of the post, justly deserve to be held in eternal opprobrium for these enormous atrocities. Those familiar with Indian character and history know that the chief has but little real control over his warriors. What he accomplishes is mainly by dint of persuasion. How much Little Prince favored or disapproved of the actions of his warriors at Augusta cannot be known. But one can indulge in no charitable conjec- ture in regard to his colleague, Efa Tuste- nuggee, who is described by General Wood- ward as being "the most hostile and bitter enemy the white people ever had."

So far as known, the Augusta campaign was the only military service ever performed by Little Prince. He was one of the signers of the treaty of Coleraine in 1796. He ever after continued friendly to the American government. He was too old for military service during the Creek War of 1813, but was active in sending his warriors into the field. And for his share in the execution of Little Warrior and his party in the spring of 1813, he was one of the seven chiefs for- mally condemned to death by the war party. He continued to be the head chief of the nation and speaker of the lower towns until his death in 1832. His grave is yet pointed out on Broken Arrow creek.

REFERENCES .- American State Papers, In- dian Affairs, vol. i, pp. 845, 849, 857; Ameri- can State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. ii, pp. 839, 840; Pickett's History of Alabama (Owen's Edition, 1900), pp. 519; Woodward's Remi- niscences of the Creek or Muscogee Indians, pp. 35, 59; McCrady's History of South Caro- lina, 1775-1780, pp. 734-739; Jones' History of Georgia, vol. 2, pp. 455-459.

MALATCHEE, MALAHCHEE OR MALA- CHI, Creek chief, born about 1711, as in May, 1740, he claimed to be nearly thirty years old, was the son of Bream of Coweta, the head chief of the Muscogees. Bream had an elder son, named Auletta, who, in July, 1721, went to Charleston to hold a talk with Governor Nicholson, and to make up their differences. Malatchee was still a youth at the time of the death of Bream, his father. The chief power was then put into the hands of Chigillie, Chickeley or Chikilee, apparent- ly a brother of Bream, until Malatchee should arrive at years of maturity. In 1736 a school for the instruction of Creek chil- dren, under the charge of the Rev. Benja- min Ingham, was established on the Savan- nah River, near the town of Tomochichi. Chikelee and Malatchee visited the school, and became much interested in it, Malatchee saying that if he had twenty children he

would have them all taught. This was a remarkable statement for an untutored In- dian chief of that day, and shows that Ma- latchee was a man of very advanced Ideas, far beyond most of his contemporaries. In the meantime, the young Malatchee had so signalized himself as a warrior, that he was looked upon as the greatest man in the Creek Nation. He was one of the party that con- cluded a treaty with General Oglethorpe, August 1, 1739, his uncle, Chigillie, heing the principal. Ever after this treaty, Ma- latchee enjoyed the favor of General Ogle- thorpe, for just prior to his Florida Cam- paign, he ordered a number of presents to be given to him, among these a scarlet coat. Malatchee, in May, 1740, joined General Oglethorpe in his expedition against the Span- iards, and, it seems, was present at the siege of San Augustine. A contemporary has left a sketch of him as he appeared at this period of his life: "His ability, as well as his good will to the English, is not to be questioned; so his person is very engaging; his stature is but little short of six feet, his make clean, and perfectly shaped from head to foot, as he appears when naked to the skin; and when he puts on a coat and hat, his be- havior is such, that one would rather image from his complaisance, he had been bred in some European court. than among barba- rians. At the same time, though the features of his face are interesting, and show tokens of good nature, yet there is something in his aspect which demands awe." In December, 1747, Malatchee, with sixteen chiefs of vari- ous towns of the Creek Confederacy, chanced to be on a visit to Frederica. He was then and there persuaded hy the notorious Bosom- worth to have himself acknowledged as the head or emperor of the Creek Nation, with full power to cede land, conclude treaties, and transact any other business connected with the royal administration of the affairs of his people. Malatchee was at once pro- claimed and saluted Supreme Chief of the Creek Nation. A document setting fortn this act was immediately prepared by Bosom- worth, signed by the chiefs and attested by some Englishmen present. Malatchee re- quested that a copy should be sent to the King of England and that due record should be made of the original. Bosomworth's ob- ject in this matter, and its unpleasant re- sults, are fully given by Colonel C. C. Jones in his History of Georgia. In 1752 the Creeks had a quarrel with the Cherokees, in which the former committed some outrages, among others scalping an English trader. On Governor Glen's demand for satisfaction, Malatchee with a hundred warriors visited Charleston. After a talk by the Governor, Malatchee made a talk in which he apolo- gized for the conduct of the Creeks, and the whole affair was satisfactorily adjusted. Malatchee's talk has been preserved by Hewatt, the South Carolina historian. On the fifth day of November, 1754, six days after he was inducted into office as Captain- General and Governor in Chief of the Prov- ince of Georgia, Governor John Reynolds sent

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a talk to Malatchee in which he assured him that he would use every means to preserve the good understanding that then existed be- tween the King's subjects of Georgia and the Creek Nation. That it would be a very great pleasure to him to have an opportunity of shaking hands with him, and talking with him face to face. That he would notify him when it would be proper for him to come to Savannah, where he would be able to give him a further testimony of his love and friendship. "In the meantime, I wish you, your wives and children health and prosper- ity, assuring you that I am your loving friend and brother."

Malatchee died in 1755. This date is based upon a statement made by his son Togoulki or Thougoulskie (the Young Twin), at the Augusta Congress of 1763, that his father had been dead eight years. This fixes 1755 as the year of his death. The American Indians, from time immemorial, universally held to the custom of burying all movable property in the grave with the deceased. After long persuasion by the traders, the Cherokees, by the middle of the eighteenth century, had, in a great measure, given up this custom. Malatchee, whether influenced by white people, or whether it was the result of his own thinking, certainly had advanced ideas on this subject. Adair writes: '"Ex- cept the Cherokee, only one instance of de- viation, from this ancient and general Indian custom occurs to me: which was that of Malahche, the late famous chieftain of the Kowwetah war-town of the lower part of the Muskohge country, who bequeathed all he possessed to his real, and adopted rela- tions,-being sensible they would be much more useful to his living friends, than to him- self during his long sleep: he displayed a genius far superior to the crowd." Malatchee was succeeded in the chieftainship by his son, Tougulki. or as frequently known, "Young Twin." For a few years before actually assuming the office, Tougoulki's uncle, Sampiaffi. acted as his guardian.

REFERENCES .- Year Book of Charleston, S. C. (1894), p. 339; The Colonial Records of Georgia, vol. 4, pp. 565, 566, 567; Adair's American Indians (1775), p. 178; Hewett's History of South Carolina, vol. i, pp. 173-178; Jones' History of Georgia, vol. i, pp. 327-331, 392, 399; The Colonial Records of Georgia, vol. 7, p. 24; Ibid, vol. 21, p. 22.

McINTOSH, WILLIAM, Creek chief, born at Corvata, Creek nation, probably about 1775, was the son of Captain William Mc- Intosh, of the British army and a full blood Creek woman. Nothing is known of his ear- ly life, only it may be inferred from the fair education which he had acquired and his proficiency in the English language that he must have passed much of it in associa- tion with white people. A tradition states that he could even speak some Gaelic, an evidence of his mingling in boyhood or youth with Scotch Highlanders somewhere in Geor- gia. He first appears in history as one of the signers of the treaty of Washington,

November 14, 1805. After this, nothing is known of his history until April, 1813, when he sent a band of warriors to Tuckahatchie to assist the Upper Creek authorities in ar- resting Little Warrior and his associates, who had committed some murders at the mouth of the Ohio in February, 1813. The murderers were all put to death. For this action, and on account of his sympathy for the Americans, sentence of death was passed upon him by the hostile Creeks. At the same time six other chiefs were condemned to death. In the fall of that year he appears as the leader of a band of Cowetas in the army of General John Floyd. He was at the battle of Atossee, November 14, 1813, and General Floyd in his report states that Mc- Intosh and his braves fought in this battle "with an intrepidity worthy of any troops." He also distinguished himself at the battle of the Horseshoe, where General Jackson in his report speaks of him as "Major McIn- tosh."

His name appears as one of the signers of the treaty of Fort Jackson, August 9, 1814. He was also a signer of the treaty of the Creek Agency, Georgia, January 22, 1818. After this, at the head of a force of Creek Warriors he joined General Jackson in Florida for service against the Seminoles. He was commissioned general and placed in command of all the Indian troops, together with a company of Tennessee cavalry. In this short Seminole war, "he signalized him- self by various acts of gallantry." General Jackson, in his report of the fight at Econa- finnah, says: "On the morning of the 12th (April, 1818), near Econfinnah, or Natural Bridge, a party of Indians were discovered on the margin of a swamp, and attacked by General McIntosh, and about fifty Tennessee volunteers, who routed them, killing thirty- seven warriors, and capturing six men and ninety-seven women and children; also re- capturing a white woman who had been taken at the massacre of Scott. The friendly In- dians also took some horses, and about five hundred head of cattle from the enemy, who proved to be McQueen's party."

Another official report states that General McIntosh in this fight killed with his own hand three of the enemy and captured one. General Thomas Woodward with five other white men was with General McIntosh in this fight, in which the white woman, Mrs. Stuart, was rescued. She had been a cap- tive since November 30, 1817. General Woodward thus describes this affair, gener- ally known as "McIntosh's fight."

"Shortly after the firing commenced, we could hear a female voice in the English lan- guage calling for help, but she was concealed from our view. The hostile Indians, though greatly inferior in number to our whole force, had the advantage of the ground, it being a dense thicket, and kept the party that first attacked at bay until General McIntosh ar- rived with the main force. McIntosh, though raised among savages, was a General; yes, he was one of God's make of Generals. I could hear his voice above the din of fire-

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arms-'Save the white woman! Save the In- dian women and children!' All this time Mrs. Stuart was between the fires of the com- batants. McIntosh said to me, 'Chulataria Emathla, you, Brown and Mitchell, go to that woman.' (Chulataria Emathla was the name I was known by among the Indians.) Mitchell was a good soldier and a bad crip- ple from rheumatism. He dismounted from his horse and said, 'Boys, let me lead the way.' We made the charge with some Uchees and Creeks but Mitchell, poor fellow, was soon left behind, in consequence of his inability to travel on foot. I can see her now, squatted in the saw-palmetto, among a few dwarf cabbage trees, surrounded by a group of Indian women. There I saw Brown kill an Indian, and I got my rifle-stock shot off just back of the lock. Old Jack Carter came up with my horse shortly after we cut off the woman from the warriors. I got his musket and used it until the fight ended."

General McIntosh was mainly instrumental In negotiating the treaty of January 8, 1821. This treaty was certainly illegal, for it was made by a party representing only one-tenth of the nation, and to be legal It should have had the consent of the whole nation, assem- bled in public council. While the Creeks submitted to it, they became alarmed at this cession of their domain. As far back as 1811, in a council held at Broken Arrow, they had enacted a law, forbidding, under the penalty of death, the cession of land, except by the chiefs of the nation and rati- fied in full council. Rendered uneasy by this and other acts of General McIntosh, this law was formally re-enacted at Polecat Springs in 1824.

In their progress in agriculture and edu- cation the Creeks were becoming more and more appreciative of the value of their lands, and consequently were more and more re- luctant to part with them. The treaty of Indian Springs of February 12, 1825, made In defiance of the national law, was the fatal mistake of General McIntosh, and he had to pay the penalty. The Creek nation was great- ly excited by this treaty, and in due time, a secret council of the Upper Creeks convened, and at it one hundred and seventy men were appointed to take the life of McIntosh. They received minute instructions as to their marching, place of camping, and the manner of the execution, and ere long were on their way to the Chattahoochee River, on the west bank of which, near Coweta, stood the house of McIntosh. There are several ver- sions, differing in details, as to the manner in which General McIntosh was killed in the early morning of April 30, 1825.

Pickett's version is undoubtedly the most trustworthy, and with the omission of such circumstances as the escape of Chilly McIn- tosh and the burning of an outhouse, which occurred before the attack on the main house, it is here given:

"In the meantime, the principal body of the assailants had surrounded the main build- ing, and the lightwood being immediately kindled, torches were applied to the sides,

and under it. The flames threw a bright light over the yard, and exhibited to the aston- ished family of McIntosh the approaching conflagration of the houses, and the hideous forms of those who were to murder them. They frequently shouted with much exulta- tion, 'McIntosh, we have come, we have come. We told you, if you sold the land to the Georgians, we would come.'

"McIntosh, upon the first discovery of the assailants, had barricaded his front door, and stood near it when it was forced. He fired on them, and, at that moment, one of his steadfast friends, Toma Tustinugee, fell life- less upon the threshold. His body was rid- dled with balls. McIntosh then retreated to the second story, with four guns in his hand, which he continued to discharge from a win- dow. ' He fought with great courage, and, aware that his end was near, determined to sell his life as dear as possible. He was at this time the only occupant of the burning house, for his two wives, Peggy and Susan- nah, who had been dragged into the yard, were heard imploring the savages not to burn him up, but to get him out of the house, and shoot him., as he was a brave man, and an Indian like themselves. McIntosh now came down to the first story, and was received with salutes of the rifle, until, being pierced with many balls, he fell to the floor, was seized by the legs, and dragged down the steps to the ground. While lying in the yard, and while the blood was gushing from his wounds, he raised himself on one arm, and surveyed his murderers with looks of defiance. At that moment, an Ocfuskee In- dian plunged a long knife, to the hilt, in the direction of his heart. He brought a long breath, and expired. The party, after this, plundered the houses, killed the stock, and committed other depredations, as described in the public papers of that day."

It may be added that on the same day and very soon after General McIntosh's death, his son-in-law, Sam Hawkins, was killed at his own residence by a party of warriors de- tailed for that purpose.

The best and most charitable commentary upon the inducements which prompted Gen- eral McIntosh to defy the law of his nation and thus incur its deadly penalty, was writ- ten by Colonel Thomas L. McKenney, who says:

"He probably foresaw that his people would have no rest within the limits of Geor- gia, and perhaps acted with an honest view to their interests. The intercourse he had enjoyed with the Army of the United States, and the triumph of their arms over the des- perate valour of the Indians, which he had witnessed at Autossee, the Horseshoe, and in Florida, induced him to believe he would be safe under the shadow of their protection, even from the vengeance of his tribe. But there were, besides, strong appeals to his cupidity, in the provisions of the treaty of the Indian Springs, and in its supple- ments. By one of these, the Indian Spring reservation was secured to him; and by an- other it was agreed to pay him for it twenty-

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five thousand dollars. Moreover, the second article of the treaty provided for the payment to the Creek Nation, of four hundred thou- sand dollars. Of this sum he would of course have received his share. Such inducements might have been sufficiently powerful to shake a virtue based upon a surer foundation than the education of a heathen Indian could af- ford. Besides this, he was flattered and ca- ressed by the Commissioners, who were ex- tremely eager to complete the treaty, and taught to believe he was consulting the ulti- mate advantage of the nation. These consid- erations, in some measure, remove the odium from his memory. But it must still bear the stain which Indian justice affixes to the repu- tation of the chief who sells, under such cir- cumstances, the graves of his fathers."

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 6

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 724

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 724