USA > Alabama > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period. v. 2 > Part 15
USA > Georgia > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period. v. 2 > Part 15
USA > Mississippi > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period. v. 2 > Part 15
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When the prisoner fled from the Natchez settlements, he assumed a disguise-dress. He was still attired in it. It con- sisted of coarse pantaloons, made of homespun, of a copperas dye, and a round-about, of inferior drab cloth, while his hat was a flapping, wide-brimmed beaver, which had, in times past, been white, but now presented a variety of dingy colors. When the guard was ready to depart, he mounted the same elegant horse which he rode when arrested. He bestrode him most gracefully, flashed his large dark eyes upon the many bystanders, audibly bade them farewell, and departed .* Perkins and his men were well provided with large pistols, which they carried in holsters, while the two soldiers had muskets. They left the Boat Yard, a quarter of a mile from which the terrible massacre of Fort Mims afterwards occurred, and, pursuing the Indian path, encamped the first night in the lower part of the present county of Monroe. The only tent taken along was pitched for Burr, and under it he lay the first night, by large fires, which threw a glare over the dismal woods. All night, his ears were saluted with the
* Many persons, who saw Burr in Al: bama, have told me that his eyes were peculiarly brilliant, and, to use the comparison of Malone, " they looked like stars."
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CHAPTER XXIX.
fierce and disagreeable howling of wolves. In the wilds of Alabama. in a small tent, reposed this remarkable man, sur- rounded by a guard, and without a solitary friend or conge- nial spirit. He was a prisoner of the United States, for whose liberties he had fought, and an exile from New-York, whose statutes and institutions bore the impress of his mind. Death had deprived him of his accomplished wife, his only child was on the distant coast of Carolina, his professional pursuits were abandoned, his fortune swept from him, the magnificent scheme of the conquest of Mexico defeated, and he was harassed from one end of the Union to the other. All these things were sufficient to weigh down an ordinary being, and hurry him to the grave. Burr, however, was no common man. In the morning he rose, with a cheerful face, and fell into travelling order, along with the taciturn and watchful persons who had charge of him.
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1807 March
Although guarded with vigilance, he was treated with respect and kindness, and his few wants were gratified. The trail, like all Indian highways, was narrow, which required the guard to march in single file, with Burr in the middle of the line. The route lay about eight miles south of the present city of Montgomery, then an Indian town, called Econchate .* Passing by the residence of " Old Milly," who, as we have seen, lived upon the creek in Montgomery county, which still bears her name, Perkins employed her husband, a mulatto, named Evans, to conduct the guard across Line
Econchate means Red Ground.
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Creek, Cubahatchee and Calabee, all of which they were CHAPTER forced to swim. It was a perilous and fatiguing march, and, XXIX. for days, the rain descended, in chilling torrents, upon these unsheltered horsemen, collecting in deep and rapid rivulets at every point. Hundreds of Indians, too, thronged the trail, and the party might have been killed in one moment. But the fearless Perkins bore on his distinguished prisoner, amid angry elements and human foes. In the journey through Alabama, the guard always slept in the woods, near swamps of reed, upon which the belled and hobbled horses fed during the night. After breakfast, it was their custom again to mount their horses and march on, with a silence which was sometimes broken by a remark about the weather, the creeks or the Indians. Burr sat firmly in the saddle, was always on the alert, and was a most excellent rider. Although drenched for hours with cold and clammy rain, and at night extended 1807 March upon a thin pallet, on the bare ground, after having accom- plished a ride of forty miles each day, yet, in the whole dis- tance to Richmond, this remarkable man was never heard to complain that he was sick, or even fatigued. At the Chat- tahoochie was a crossing-place, owned by an Indian named Marshall, where the effects of the expedition were carried over the river in canoes, by the sides of which the horses swam. In this manner they passed the Flint and Ockmulgee. Arriving at Fort Wilkinson, on the Oconee, Perkins entered the first ferry-boat which he had seen upon the whole route, and, a few miles beyond the river, was sheltered by the first roof-a house of entertainment, kept by one Bevin.
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While breakfast was in a state of preparation, and the guard were quietly sitting before a large fire, the publican began a series of questions; and learning that the party were from the " Bigby settlement," he immediately fell upon the fruitful theme of " Aaron Burr, the traitor." He asked if he had not been arrested-if he was not a very bad man-and if every one was not afraid of him. Perkins and the rest of the guard, much annoyed and embarrassed, hung down their heads, and made no reply. Burr, who was sitting in a corner near the fire, majestically raised his head, and flashing his fiery eye upon Bevin, said,
1807 March
" I am Aaron Burr :- what is it you want with me ?"
Struck with the keenness of his look, the solemnity of his voice and the dignity of his manner, Bevin stood aghast, and trembled like a leaf. He asked not another question of the guard, but quietly moved about the house, offering the most obsequious attentions.
When Perkins reached the confines of South-Carolina, he watched the prisoner more closely than ever; for, in this State lived Colonel Joseph Alston-a man of talents and influence, afterwards governor-who had married the only daughter, and, indeed, the only child of Burr. Afraid that the prisoner would be rescued at some point in this State, he exhorted his men to renewed vigilance. Before entering the town, in which is situated the Court House of Chester Dis- triet, South-Carolina, he made a halt, and placed two men in front of Burr, two Iw.hind, and two on either side of him. In this manner they passed near a tavern, at the Court House,
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where many persons were standing in front of the portico, while music and dancing were heard in the house. Seeing the collection of men so near him, Burr threw himself from his horse, and exclaimed, in a loud voice, "I AM AARON BURR, UNDER MILITARY ARREST, AND CLAIM THE PROTECTION OF THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES !" Perkins, with several of the guard, immediately dismounted, and the former ordered the prisoner to re-mount. Burr, in a most defiant manner, said,
" I WILL NOT !" Being unwilling to shoot him, Perkins threw down his pistols-both of which he held in his hands- and seizing Burr around the waist, with the grasp of a tiger, threw him into his saddle. Thomas Malone caught the reins of the prisoner's horse, slipped them over his head, and led the animal rapidly on, while others whipped him up from behind. The astonished citizens saw a party enter their village with a prisoner, heard him appeal to them for protection in the most audible and imploring manner, saw armed men immediately surround him and thrust him again into his saddle, and then the whole party vanish from their presence, before they could recover from their confusion. The least timidity or hesitation on the part of Perkins, would have lost him his prisoner, for the latter was still popular in South-Carolina.
Far in the outskirts of the town the party halted. Burr was in a high state of excitement, and burst into a flood of tears. The kind-hearted Malone also wept, at seeing the low condition to which this conspicuous man was now reduced. The bold attempt to escape, and the irresolution of the people to whom he appealed, suddenly inmanned him. Perkins held
12*
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CHAPTER XXIX.
1807 March 30
a short consultation with some of his men, and sending Burr on the route in charge of the guard, with Malone in command, he went back to the village, and purchasing a gig, overtook the party before night. Burr was placed in this vehicle, and driven by Malone, escorted by the guard. Without further incident, they arrived at Fredericksburg, where despatches from Jefferson caused them to take Burr to Richmond. The ladies of the latter place vied with each other in contributing to the comforts of the distinguished ex-Vice-President, sending him fruits, wine, and a variety of fine apparel. Perkins and his men repaired to Washington, reported to the President, and returned to Alabama by the distant route of Tennessee.
Aaron Burr was arraigned for treason, and was tried and . acquitted. He was then arraigned for misdemeanor, and was tried and acquitted. Thus ended the most expensive and extraordinary trial known to the country. A part of the time that he was in Richmond, the Federal Government caused him to be contined in the upper story of the penitentiary, where he was permitted to enjoy the company of his daughter.
Sailing to Europe, Burr was, at first, treated with great dis- tinction in England. The winter of 1809 found him in Edin- burg. Residing some time in Sweden and Germany, he, at length, arrived in France, where Bonaparte, influenced by let- ters from America, conceived a prejudice again him so im- movable, that he refused him passports to leave the country. At length, the Duke de Bassano procured him the necessary documents, when he sailed for America, and arrived at New- York on the 8th of June, 1812. Here he engaged again in the
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lucrative practice of the law, living in dignified obscurity, if CHAPTER such a position could be assigned to a man of his notoriety. XXIX. He died, at Staten Island, on the 11th of September, 1836, at the advanced age of eighty. His body, attended by his rela- tions and friends, was taken to Princeton, New-Jersey, and inter- red among the graves of his ancestors.
With the private character of Burr, we conceive we have nothing to do, except to add that we believe him to have been a most profligate and licentious man. When the world put him down-when he received nothing but abuse and ingrati- tude from those who once sycophantically surrounded him, and whom he had helped to offices of honor and profit-when he was shunned by his old companions in arms, not invited into the society of the refined, but was pointed at, in walking Broadway, as the murderer and the traitor-he became dis- heartened and soured; and, being without those religious feelings which sustain the most unfortunate, he threw off every restraint, and gave a loose rein to sentiments always unprin- cipled, and to passions always strong .*
* In relation to Burr's arrest in Alabama, and his journey through the wilderness, I conversed with Mr. Thomas Malone, one of his guard with Mrs. Hinson, now Mrs. Sturdevant, at whose house Burr passed the night when he was discovered ; with Mr. George S. Gaines, who was at Fort Stoddart when he was brought there ; and with Mrs. Howse, who saw him when they were conducting him up Lake Tensaw. I also corresponded with Major-General Gaines, and have his testimony. All these witnesses are as reputable and as respectable as any persons in Alabama.
On the subject of Burr's eafty life, and of his operations in the
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CHAPTER XXIX.
One of the gravest facts proved against Burr, at his trial, at Richmond, upon the evidence of General Wilkinson, was that the prisoner, in a letter written to him in cypher, "avowed his design of seizing upon Baton Rouge, as a preliminary measure, and, afterwards, extending his conquests into the Spanish prov- inces." Admitting this to be true, it did not prove that he intended to dismember the Union. Our readers have already seen that the Federal Government, and the people of the South-West, desired the expulsion of the Spaniards from the Baton Rouge district, which was a part of the purchase from Napoleon, when he sold us Louisiana ; and hereafter, it will be seen, that these Spaniards were driven from the Baton Rouge district only three years after Burr's trial, when the governor of it, Colonel Grandpre, was killed. In the citizens of the South-West, who accomplished this end, it was not held to be treason -- but Burr, for merely contemplating it, was tried for that crime. It was not considered treason, when President Jackson allowed hundreds of people of the South- West to be shipped from Mobile and New-Orleans, with arms in their hands, who presently landed upon the coast of Texas, and took that country from the Spaniards-but, for similar designs, Aaron Burr was hunted down, thrown into prison, and tried for treason. The impartial reader must arrive at
Western country, I consulted Memoirs of Aaron Burr, by M. L. Davis ; the various American State Papers; Clarke's Proofs of the Corruption of Wilkinson ; Memoirs of Wilkinson, by himself; Familiar Letters upon Public Characters, and many other works.
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the conclusion, that the faul's of Burr, in a political and public capacity, were not such as ought really to have placed that odium upon him which still attaches to his name. One of the great secrets of his political misfortunes, lay in the prejudices and malevolence of politicians and fanatics. Somebody heard General Washington say, that "Burr was a dangerous man ;" thereupon, the world set him down as a "dangerous man." He killed Hamilton in a duel, because Hamilton abused him ; thereupon the world said he was a "murderer." He was a formidable rival of Jefferson, in the contest for the Presidency ; thereupon, a majority of the republican party said he was a political scoundrel. He had always opposed the federal party ; for that reason, the federal party hated him with ex- ceeding bitterness. A blundering, extravagant man, named Herman Blannerhassett, sought Burr, while he was in the West, eagerly enlisted in his schemes, and invited him to his house ; thereupon, William Wirt said, in his prosecuting speech, that Burr " was the serpent who entered the garden of Eden."
We do not wish to be considered as the defender of Aaron Burr. We do not admire his character, or that of many of his distinguished contemporaries, who assailed him. But, as a historian, we are expected to write the truth, even if that truth is unpalatable to the prejudices of the age.
CHAPTER XXIX.
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CHAPTER XXX.
ST. STEPHENS-HUNTSVILLE-INDIAN COM- MERCE-KEMPER EXPEDITIONS.
CHAPTER XXX.
1807 December 7
THE military movements of Burr increased the population and wealth of the Mississippi Territory, for hundreds of his followers became permanent citizens. About this time the cultivation of indigo was much abandoned for that of cotton, and some salutary laws were enacted in relation to the toll for ginning the latter staple. The cotton receipts obtained from the owner of a gin were also made a legal tender, and passed as domestic bills of exchange. St. Stephens was laid off into town lots. A road was cut out from thence to the city of Natchez. Notwithstanding the revenue exactions upon the settlers, which now subjected them, by means of the Span- · ish custom-house at Mobile, and the American at Fort Stoddart, to a duty of from forty-two to forty-seven per cent. ad valorem, for articles essential to family comfort, while, at the same time, their fellow-citizens about Natchez were entirely free from such exactions, paying only four dollars per barrel for Kentucky flour, when the Tombigby planter paid sixteen-yet they remained loyal to the Federal Government;
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and both whigs and tories participated in an animated pub- CHAPTER lic meeting at Wakefield, pledging their support to the United xxx. 1807 September 8 States, to avenge the wanton attack of the British upon the American ship Chesapeake, in a string of eloquent and patri- otic resolutions, drafted by James McGoffin.
The little town of Huntsville, north of the Tennessee, con- tinuedto receive around it many wealthy emigrants from seve- ral of the Atlantic and Western States. Governor Williams issued a proclamation, forming a county, of which this became the court house. The new county of Madison, where it joined the Tennessee line, was about twenty-five miles wide, and approached the Tennessee river in the shape of a triangle, not exceeding three miles wide at Ditto's Landing. It em- braced all the territory that fell within Alabama, to which the Indian title was extinguished by the treaty with the Chicka- saws, in 1805.
The Mississippi Territory continued to improve. The forests began to be extensively felled; houses were reared as if by magic ; the preacher was zealous in the discharge of his di- vine mission ; the " schoolmaster was abroad;" the medical and legal professions flourished ; the merchants drove a good business ; the mechanics received constant employment and high wages-while the farmer worked for them all, and re- ceived his due reward. These remarks apply more particu- larly to the section upon the Mississippi. A stock bank, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, was established at Natchez.
The factory of the United States, located at St. Stephens,
1808 December 13
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1809 December 23
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CHAPTER
XXX. continued to be managed with advantage, so far as the friend- ship of the Choctaws depended, which was the chief aim of the government. When quite a young man, Mr. George S. Gaines, a native of Virginia, and then a resident of Gallatin, Tennessee, received the appointment of assistant factor, and arrived at St. Stephens in the spring of 1805. The parson- age of the old Spanish church was used as a skin-house, and the old block-house served the purpose of the government store. In 1807, Gaines was made principal factor. He re- ceived a good salary, as also did the assistant clerk, the skins- man, and the interpreter. To this establishment the Indians- principally Choctaws-and sometimes the American settlers, brought bear's oil, honey in kegs, beeswax, bacon, groundnuts, tobacco in kegs, and all kinds of skins and peltries. To pay for which, the Federal Government usually kept a stock of coarse Indian merchandize, besides all kinds of iron tools, ploughs, arms and ammunition. In the summer the furs and hides, often overhauled by the skins-man for the purpose of keeping out the worms, were assorted. In the fall they were packed up in bales, and shipped to the Indian Agent at Phila- delphia. Mr. Gaines, at first, came often in collision with the revenue authorities of Mobile, who exacted duties-delayed his vessels-and, upon one occasion, came near putting him in the calaboose of that place, for venturing to remonstrate. The Federal Government, to avoid the payment of these duties, and to prevent delays, instructed the factor to obtain the consent of the Chickasaws for a road from Colbert's Ferry to St. Stephens. . The government resolved to send supplies
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down the Ohio and up the Tennessee, to the former point. The faithful and enterprising Gaines was unable to procure the privilege of a road, but was allowed the use of a horse path. Upon the backs of horses he was accustomed to trans- port goods, hardware, and even lead, from Colbert's Ferry to Peachland's, upon the Tombigby. There, boats being con- structed, the merchandize was floated down to St. Stephens. It is singular that our Ministers, in forming the treaty with Spain in 1795, by which we acquired all of West Florida above the line of 31º, and the right of free navigation of the Mississippi, neglected to insert an article for the free naviga- tion of the bays and rivers of Mobile and Pearl .*
The Spaniards continued to occupy the Baton Rouge dis- trict and that of Mobile, and the daring Kempers, who had received such cruel treatment at their hands, together with many other persons, impatient at the irresolution of the Fede- ral Government, resolved to expel them. They were assisted by the people of Bayou Sara, and others below Ellicott's line. Organizing at St. Francisville, the patriots, as they styled themselves, marched upon Baton Rouge-took it by surprise, after a small skirmish, in which Governor Grandpre was killed. The town and other posts fell into their hands, and the Span- iards retired to Pensacola. As the Americans at this period, and for a long time previous, were fruitful in plans to form governments independent of the Union, so the patriots, many of whom were old Spanish subjects, now resolved to have one
CHAPTER XXX.
1810
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August
1
* Conversations with Mr. George S. Gaines.
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CHAPTER of their own. A convention assembled, which adopted a decla- XXX. ration of independence, very similar in tone and sentiment to 1810
September 26 that drawn up by Jefferson. They declared their right and intention to form treaties, and to establish commerce with foreign nations. Afterwards, however, this new republic was October 27 annexed to Louisiana, with the approbation of the inhabitants.
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The Kempers, apart from mercenary motives for engaging in this rebellion, desired to gratify a feeling of revenge. Reu- ben and Samuel captured Kneeland, one of the kidnappers, and inflicted upon his naked back one hundred lashes, then one hundred more for their brother Nathan, who was absent, cut off his ears with a dull knife, and permitted him to retire. These trophies of resentment were long preserved in spirits of wine, and hung up in one of the Kemper's parlor. Reuben caught another of these wretches named Horton, and chas- tised him as long as the latter could receive it, and live. Barker, seized by the Kempers at the court house at Fort Adams, under the nose of the Judge, was dragged forth, and flayed till they were content. Captain Alston, who received the Kempers at the line, with a Spanish guard, and conducted them to Bayou Tunica, died of the dropsy, contracted in lying in an open boat, at anchor, every night, to avoid the attacks of the injured brothers .*
However, before the new republic was annexed to Louisi-
* MS. notes in the possession of Mr. E. T. Wood, of Mobile. Mo- nette, vol. 2, pp. 486-490. American State Papers, Boston edition, vol. 7, pp. 482-184-479.
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ana, the convention dispatch.ed its colonel, Reuben Kemper, CHAPTER to the Tombigby river, to enlist an army for the purpose of XXX. expelling the Spaniards from the Mobile district. The hatred of all these people for the Spaniards, facilitated the move- ments of Kemper, who operated in conjunction with Colonel James Caller, a man of wealth and considerable frontier in- fluence, at whose house he lodged. Troops were secretly raised. Flat-boats, with provisions, were despatched down the Tensaw river, to Smith's plantation. Major Kennedy and Colonel Kemper crossed over to the Boat Yard, where they 1810 November were joined by Dr. Thomas G. Holmes and other fearless and ardent spirits, together with a company of horse under Cap- tain Bernard. Arriving at the White House, one mile above the present Blakeley, Kemper despatched young Cyrus Sibley with a letter to Governor Folch-who had just taken com- mand of Mobile-demanding the surrender of that place. A party, under Dr. Holmes, was also despatched to scour the surrounding country for arins, ammunition and provisions, which the inhabitants generally secreted and withheld, be- cause, being Spanish subjects, they were not dissatisfied with that government, which exacted no onerous duties of them. The command dropped down to the old fields of Minette Bay, opposite Mobile, where they appropriated to themselves, with- out scruple, forage and provisions, the property of Charles Conway, Sr. Captain Goss arrived with a keel-boat, laden with whiskey, corn, flour and bacon, which had been sent by the Baton Rouge Convention down the Mississippi, through the lakes. The whiskey put the whole expedition in good
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CHAPTER XXX. spirits. Glowing speeches were made by Kennedy, who point- ed them to the ancient Mobile, which, he said, they would shortly capture. But cold, rainy weather, which the troops were forced to encounter without tents or covering of any kind, now sat in. This circumstance, together with a per- sonal difficulty which arose between Dr. Holmes and Dr. Pollard, in which the former was compelled, in self-defence, to severely wound the latter with a pistol, influenced Kemper to conduct the campaign on the other side of the bay. With a portion of the party, Major Hargrove proceeded in the boat to Saw-mill creek, on the west side of Mobile river, twelve miles above the town. With an abundance of whiskey and several fiddles, a frolic was there kept up, which was intended to last until Kemper and the horse company could go around by the Cut-Off, and join them. An evil old man in the neigh- borhood, who often drank with them, went one night to Mo- bile, and assured Governor Folch how easily they might be captured. The latter sent Parades, with two hundred regu- lars and citizens in boats, up the river, late one evening, who entered Saw-mill creek, ascended it to the American camp, and while the poor fellows were dancing and shouting, at 11 o'clock at night, fired upon them. Many of them fled in all 1810 directions. Four were killed, and others were wounded. November Major Hargrove rallied a few of his men and fought, but was overpowered. He and nine more were loaded with irons- carried to Mobile, thrown into the calaboose, and from thence conveyed to Havana and immured in the dungeons of Moro Castle. Cyrus Sibley, afterwards recognized as the bearer of
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