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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
L
7 ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 02401 8258
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofgeorgia01jone
189
TJIE
HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
BY CHARLES C. JONES, JR., LL. D. C
V.1
VOLUME I. ABORIGINAL AND COLONIAL EPOCHS.
BOSTON: HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. New York: 11 East Seventeenth Street. The Riverside Press, Cambridge. 1883.
1917158
-:
Finch
GEN' OGLETHORPE.
Kem at sind Unglazing. in the hassain of The Moholy han
7
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Copyright, 1SS3, By CHARLES C. JONES, JR.
All rights reserved.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge : Electrotyped and Printed by HI. O. Houghton & Co.
To THE MEMORY OF My Father, CHARLES COLCOCK JONES, D. D.
1
PREFACE.
MY purpose is to write a history of Georgia from the earliest times down to a period within the memory of the living. In the execution of this design two volumes are now offered to the pub- lic. They embrace the aboriginal epoch, a narrative of discovery and primal exploration, schemes of colonization, the settlement under Oglethorpe, and the life of the Province under the guid- ance of the Trustees, under the control of a President and Assist- ants, under the supervision of Royal Governors, and during the Revolutionary War. They conclude with the erection of Georgia into an independent State. All available sources of information have been utilized. That the relation should respond to the gen- nine circumstance and true philosophy of the action has been the author's care. Wherever the faithful record and a lively recital of facts could best be presented in the language of contempora- neous documents of admitted authenticity, they have been re- produced. The two concluding volumes, which will deal with Georgia as a commonwealth, are in course of preparation.
A historian, says Lord Macaulay, must possess an imagination sufficiently powerful to make his narrative affecting and pictur- esque. Yet he must control it so absolutely as to content him- self with the materials which he finds, and to refrain from sup- plying deficiencies by additions of his own. He must exercise a self-command which will enable him to abstain from casting his facts in the mould of his hypothesis.
Whether the author has succeeded in his honest effort to ob- serve these injunctions, let the candid reader decide.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, October, 1883.
---
----. .
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
-
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
ABORIGINAL POPULATION. - THIE MANNERS, MANUFACTURES, AMUSE- MENTS, EMPLOYMENTS, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTHERN IN- DIANS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 1
CHAPTER II.
EARLY VOYAGES. - EXPEDITION OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 34
CHAPTER III.
GRANT TO THE LORDS PROPRIETORS OF CAROLINA. - EARLY POSTS SOUTH OF THE SAVANNAH RIVER. - SPANISH MINING OPERATIONS IN THE APALATCY MOUNTAINS. - MARGRAVATE OF AZILIA. - Gov- ERNOR MOORE'S EXPEDITION. - MISSION OF SIR ALEXANDER CUM- ING. - SALE AND SURRENDER BY THE LORDS PROPRIETORS 67
CHAPTER IV.
JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE. - ENGLISH PRISONS. - MISERIES OF IN- SOLVENT DEBTORS. - SCHEME FOR THE COLONIZATION OF GEORGIA. - . ROYAL CHARTER GRANTED TO OGLETHORPE AND HIS ASSOCIATES. - ANALYSIS OF THAT CHARTER 82
CHAPTER V.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHARTER BY THE CORPORATORS. - THEIR ORGAN- IZATION PERFECTED. - THE CORPORATE SEAL. - SUBSCRIPTIONS SO- LICITED. - THE SCHEME OF COLONIZATION AS UNFOLDED BY THE TRUSTEES. - OGLETHORPE'S APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC. - MARTYN'S REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING THE COLONY OF GEORGIA
96
viii
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTER VI.
REGULATIONS ESTABLISHED BY THE TRUSTEES. - GRANTS IN TAIL MALE DETERMINED UPON. - NEGRO SLAVERY AND THE IMPORTATION OF RUM PROHIBITED 106
CHAPTER VII.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE FIRST EMBARKATION. - OGLETHORPE LEADS THE COLONISTS. - DEPARTURE IN THE GALLEY ANNE. - ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT CHARLESTOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA. - OGLETHORPE VISITS YAMACRAW BLUFF. - HIS FIRST INTERVIEW WITH TOMO-CIII- CHI. - THE COLONISTS LAND AT SAVANNAH . 113
CHAPTER VIII.
EARLY LABORS OF THE COLONISTS AT SAVANNAH. - OGLETHORPE'S LET- TERS TO THE TRUSTEES. - COMMUNICATION AND RESOLUTIONS OF TIIE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. - ASSISTANCE FROM PRI- VATE PARTIES IN CAROLINA. - ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS OF THE COLONIZATION WRITTEN BY A GENTLEMAN FROM CHARLESTOWN. - OGLETHORPE VISITS CHARLESTOWN AND ADDRESSES THE GENERAL AS- SEMBLY. - CONGRATULATIONS FROM PENNSYLVANIA AND MASSACHU- SETTS . 121
CHAPTER IX.
OGLETHORPE'S CONCILIATORY CONDUCT TOWARD THE INDIANS. - CHAR- ACTER AND INFLUENCE OF TOMO-CHI-CHI. - GEORGIA'S DEBT OF GRAT- ITUDE TO TIIIS MICO. - CONVENTION OF CHIEFS. - ARTICLES OF FRIENDSHIP AND COMMERCE PROPOSED AND RATIFIED . 132
CHAPTER X.
ARRIVAL OF THE SHIP JAMES. - FORT ARGYLE BUILT AND GARRISONED. - THE VILLAGES OF HIGH GATE AND HAMPSTEAD LOCATED AND PEO- PLED. - FORTS AT THUNDERBOLT AND SKIDOWAY ISLAND. - JOSEPII'S TOWN. - ABERCORN. - IRENE. - THE HORSE-QUARTER. - EARLY PLANTATIONS. - MANCHECOLAS FORT AT SKIDOWAY NARROWS. - TYBEE LIGHTHOUSE. - PLAN OF SAVANNAH. - ITS SQUARES, STREETS, WARDS, AND TITHINGS. - ARRIVAL OF HEBREW IMMIGRANTS. - DEED SHOWING FIRST ALLOTMENT OF TOWN LOTS, GARDEN LOTS, AND FARMS IN SAVANNAH, AND CONTAINING THE NAMES OF THE ORIGINAL GRANTEES
. 146
ix
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTER XI.
OGLETHORPE MAKES A RECONNOISSANCE OF THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER OF THE PROVINCE. -- HE INSPECTS FORT ARGYLE. - INDUCEMENTS OFFERED TO THE SALZBURGERS TO EMIGRATE TO GEORGIA. -- THEIR SETTLEMENT AT EBENEZER. - VON RECK'S DESCRIPTION OF SAVAN- NAH. - HIS TRIBUTE TO OGLETHORPE. -- PALACHOCOLAS. -- RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES ON BEHALF OF THE TRUST. - OGLETHORPE DE- PARTS FOR ENGLAND . . 163
CHAPTER XII.
TOMO-CHI-CHI AND RETINUE ACCOMPANY OGLETHORPE TO ENGLAND. - ODE TO THE MICO. - ENTERTAINMENT OF THE INDIANS IN LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS. - RETURN TO GEORGIA. -- HAPPY INFLUENCES EXERTED BY TIIIS VISIT . 174
CHAPTER XIII.
RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF THE COLONISTS AND THE INDIANS. - FRED- ERICA NAMED, AND ITS SETTLEMENT AUTHORIZED BY THE TRUSTEES. - OGLETHORPE RESUMES TEMPORARILY HIS SEAT IN PARLIAMENT. -- INTRODUCTION OF RUM AND SLAVES INTO GEORGIA PROHIBITED BY SPECIAL ENACTMENT. - CAUSTON IN CHARGE OF THE COLONY. - SILK CULTURE. - STALWART COLONISTS SELECTED FOR THE SOUTHERN FRONTIERS. - RULES OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR 1735. - AR- RIVAL OF THE MORAVIANS. - THEIR HISTORY IN GEORGIA. - SCOTCH IMMIGRATION FROM INVERNESS. - THE DARIEN SETTLEMENT FORMED ON THE ALATAMAIIA 187
CHAPTER XIV.
REV. JOHN WESLEY ENGAGED AS A MISSIONARY. - DR. BURTON'S ADVICE TO HIM. - THE GREAT EMBARKATION. - ANECDOTES OF OGLETHORPE DURING HIS RETURN VOYAGE TO GEORGIA. - ARRIVAL OF THE SYMOND AND THE LONDON MERCHANT AT TYBEE ROADS. - ACCESSIONS TO THE POPULATIONS OF EBENEZER AND IRENE. - THIE SALZBURGERS DESIRE A CHANGE OF LOCATION. - THEIR REMOVAL TO NEW EBENEZER ON THE SAVANNAH RIVER. - MARTYN'S ACCOUNT OF THE NEW SETTLEMENT . 202
CHIAPTER XV.
ANECDOTE OF TOMO-CHI-CHI. - OGLETHORPE ACCOMMODATES DISPUTES BETWEEN THE INDIANS AND CERTAIN TRESPASSERS FROM CAROLINA. - AUGUSTA LOCATED AND SETTLED. - FRANCIS MOORE'S DESCRIPTION
x
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
OF SAVANNAHI. - OGLETHORPE PROCEEDS TO ST. SIMON'S ISLAND AND DESIGNATES A PLAN FOR FREDERICA. - HE VISITS NEW INVERNESS, AND THEN, RETURNING TO TYBEE ROADS, CONDUCTS THE NEWLY AR- RIVED IMMIGRANTS TO ST. SIMON'S ISLAND. - DESCRIPTION OF FRED- ERICA. - FORTS ST. ANDREW, ST. SIMON, AND GEORGE. - OGLETHORPE ASCERTAINS THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN GEORGIA AND FLORIDA. - INDIAN DANCE
. 215
CHAPTER XVI.
FREDERICA A MILITARY TOWN. - MISSION OF MR. DEMPSEY AND MAJOR RICHARDS. - AMICABLE RELATIONS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN GEORGIA AND FLORIDA. - OGLETHORPE'S INTERVIEW WITH THE SPANISH OF- FICIALS. - SUBSEQUENTLY THE SPANIARDS CALL UPON THE ENGLISH TO EVACUATE ALL TERRITORY LYING SOUTH OF ST. HELENA SOUND. - CONFERENCE WITH SOUTH CAROLINA COMMISSIONERS IN REGARD TO THE INDIAN TRADE. - OGLETHORPE DEPARTS A SECOND TIME FOR ENGLAND . . 238
CHAPTER XVII.
DISPUTE BETWEEN GEORGIA AND CAROLINA WITH REGARD TO THE NAVI- GATION OF THE SAVANNAH RIVER. - DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE SALZBURGERS, SOME CAROLINIANS, AND THE UCHEE INDIANS. - THE HOME GOVERNMENT MEMORIALIZED BY THE TRUSTEES TO FURNISH TROOPS AND MUNITIONS OF WAR FOR THE PROTECTION OF GEORGIA AGAINST THE SPANIARDS. - OGLETHORPE EMPOWERED TO RAISE A REGIMENT, AND PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF COLONEL. - APPOINTED GENERAL, AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF HIS MAJESTY'S FORCES IN CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. - RETURNS TO GEORGIA WITH HIS REGI- MENT. - MILITARY OPERATIONS AT FREDERICA. - SPIES IN CAMP. - OGLETHORPE'S RESOLUTION AND ENERGY. - CONFERENCE AT SAVAN- NAH WITH THE INDIANS. - CAUSTON'S DEFALCATION AND REMOVAL. - WILLIAM STEPHENS. - DEPRESSED CONDITION OF THE FINANCES OF THE COLONY. - OGLETHORPE'S GENEROSITY , 256
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE BROTHERS JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY IN GEORGIA . 275
CHAPTER XIX.
MUTINY IN OGLETHORPE'S REGIMENT. - ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE THE GENERAL. - NEGRO INSURRECTION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. - OGLE- THORPE DENIES CAUSTON'S INSINUATIONS. - REV. MR. NORRIS. - GRANT OF £20,000 BY PARLIAMENT. - MAGISTRATES AND FREEHOLD-
xi
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
ERS OF SAVANNAH APPLY TO THE TRUSTEES FOR FEE SIMPLE TITLES TO LAND, AND FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF INTRODUCING NEGRO SLAVES. --- THE HIGHLANDERS AT DARIEN AND THE SALZBURGERS AT EBENEZER PROTEST AGAINST THE ADMISSION OF SLAVERY. -- OGLETHORPE COUN- SELS AGAINST THE PROPOSED CHANGES. - HE IS ATTACKED BY MAL- CONTENTS. - DEPRESSED CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. - THE TRUS- TEES REFUSE TO PERMIT THE INTRODUCTION OF NEGRO SLAVES, AND DECLINE TO ENLARGE THE TENURE OF LANDS
. 297
CHAPTER XX.
DISSENSIONS AMONG THE OFFICERS OF OGLETHORPE'S REGIMENT. -- OGLETHORPE VISITS CHARLESTOWN AND EXHIBITS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF CAROLINA HIS COMMISSION AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. - REPORT OF THE CONDITION OF THE COLONY IN 1739. - OGLETHORPE VISITS COWETA TOWN. - CONFERENCE AND TREATY WITH THE IN- DIANS. - OGLETHORPE AT SAVANNAH. - LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH OF TOMO-CIN-CHI. -- IMPENDING WAR WITH SPAIN. - THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER STRENGTHENED. - SPANISH OUTRAGE ON AMELIA ISLAND. - OGLETHORPE RETALIATES, BURNS FORT PICOLATA, AND CAPTURES AND GARRISONS FORT FRANCIS DE PAPA. --- HE APPLIES FOR ADDI- . 314
TIONAL BOATS, ARTILLERY, AND MUNITIONS
CHAPTER XXI.
OGLETHORPE PREPARES FOR AN ADVANCE UPON ST. AUGUSTINE. - AID INVOKED AND RECEIVED FROM SOUTH CAROLINA. - SIEGE OF ST. AUGUSTINE. - OGLETHORPE'S COTTAGE NEAR FREDERICA. - DESCRIP- TION OF FREDERICA IN 1740. - VILLAGE OF ST. SIMON. - MILITARY POSTS ON THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER. - VILLAGE OF BARRIMACKE. - EFFICIENT SERVICES RENDERED BY INDIAN ALLIES 326
CHAPTER XXII
OGLETHORPE RENEWS HIS DEMAND FOR MEN-OF-WAR AND MILITARY STORES. - SCURRILOUS ATTACKS UPON OGLETHORPE AND THE TRUS- TEES' SERVANTS. - SPANISHI FORCES CONCENTRATED FOR TIIE SUBJU- GATION OF GEORGIA. - ATTACK UPON ST. SIMON'S ISLAND, AND ITS HEROIC DEFENSE CONDUCTED BY OGLETHORPE. - NARRATIVES OF THIS IMPORTANT AFFAIR. - OGLETHORPE'S COUNTER BLOW DELIVERED 1 AGAINST FLORIDA. - DESCRIPTIONS OF FREDERICA IN 1743. - OGLE- THORPE'S DEPARTURE FOR ENGLAND. - HIS CHARACTER, SUBSEQUENT CAREER, AND DEATH . 341
CHAPTER XXIII.
MR. WILLIAM STEPHENS APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF THE PROVINCE. - CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT AT FREDERICA. - STATE OF THE COLONY. -
xii
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
SILK CULTURE. - INCREASE AND THRIFT OF THE GERMAN POPULATION. - AFFAIRS AT NEW EBENEZER. - GRAPE CULTURE . . 370
CHAPTER XXIV.
OGLETHORPE'S INTERCOURSE WITH AND INFLUENCE OVER THE INDIAN NATIONS. - PLOT OF CHRISTIAN PRIBER. - EXPLOSION OF THE BOMB- MAGAZINE AT FREDERICA. - MARY MUSGROVE. - THOMAS BOSOM- WORTH. - MEMORIAL OF MARY BOSOMWORTII. - MALATCHIE OPIYA PROCLAIMED KING. - HOSTILE DEMONSTRATION ON THE PART OF MARY BOSOMWORTH, HER HUSBAND, AND A LARGE RETINUE OF INDIANS. - ADJUSTMENT OF THE BOSOMWORTHI CLAIM . . 380
CHAPTER XXV.
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD. - HON. JAMES HABERSHAM. - BE- THESDA ORPHAN HOUSE. - WHITEFIELD'S EXERTIONS IN ITS BEHALF. - ANECDOTE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. -- PLAN TO CONVERT THE ORPHAN HOUSE INTO A SEMINARY OF LEARNING. - WHITEFIELD'S MEMORIAL. -- ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - GOVERNOR WRIGHT'S RESPONSE. - BARTRAM'S DESCRIPTION OF BETHESDA. - FATE OF THIS ELEEMOSYNARY SCHEME . 400
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE COLONY UNDER PRESIDENT STEPHENS. - PRACTICAL EVASION OF THE REGULATION PROHIBITING THE INTRODUCTION OF NEGRO SLAVES. - THE PRESIDENT, ASSISTANTS, AND PEOPLE REPEAT THEIR PRAYER FOR THE ALLOWANCE OF SLAVERY. - RESPONSE OF THE TRUSTEES. - SLAVERY PERMITTED. - PROPOSITION TO SUBORDINATE GEORGIA TO SOUTH CAROLINA. - CASE OF CAPTAIN DEMETREE. - ABROGATION OF THE ACT FORBIDDING THE IMPORTATION AND MANUFACTURE OF RUM AND OTHER DISTILLED LIQUORS. - LAND TENURES ENLARGED. - SOLA BILLS. - FIDELITY OF THE TRUSTEES. - COMMERCIAL HOUSE OF HARRIS & HABERSHAM . 416
CHAPTER XXVII.
MISSION OF PICKERING ROBINSON AND JAMES HABERSHAM. - FILATURE ERECTED IN SAVANNAII. - ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE SILK CULTURE. - A PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY AUTHORIZED AND CONVENED. -- ITS FIRST SESSION, ITS COMPOSITION, AND ITS PROCEEDINGS. - THE TRUSTEES PROTEST AGAINST THE ANNEXATION OF GEORGIA TO SOUTH CAROLINA. - ORGANIZATION OF THE COLONIAL MILITIA. - FIRST GENERAL MUS- TER. - CONSERVATORS OF THE PEACE NAMED. - THEIR POWERS. - MARY BOSOMWORTH'S DEMAND. - RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. - RU- MORED UPRISING OF THE CHEROKEES. - REVIEW OF THE POLICY OF THE TRUSTEES. - THEIR NAMES, OCCUPATIONS, AND CONDUCT. - CLER- GYMEN. - CHURCHES. -- RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS
. 432
xiii
.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE TRUSTEES SURRENDER THEIR CHARTER AND GEORGIA PASSES INTO THE HANDS OF THE CROWN. - DEED OF SURRENDER. - SERVANTS OF THE TRUSTEES CONTINUED IN OFFICE PENDING THIE ERECTION OF A ROYAL GOVERNMENT. - PATRICK GRAHAM SUCCEEDS MR. PARKER AS PRESIDENT. - POPULATION AND CONDITION OF GEORGIA IN 1753. - ROYAL PLAN FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIVIL GOVERNMENT. - CAPTAIN JOHN REYNOLDS APPOINTED AS FIRST ROYAL GOVERNOR. - HIS POWERS AND DUTIES. - PUBLIC SEAL. - GEORGIA DURING THE INTERREGNUM. - THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. - THE COUNCIL. - QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS AND OF REPRESENTATIVES. - THE COM- MONS HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. - THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - THE COURTS. - THE CHIEF JUSTICE AND ASSOCIATE JUSTICES. - THE PROVOST MARSHAL . 450
CHAPTER XXIX.
GOVERNOR REYNOLDS' ADMINISTRATION. - REPORT TO THE LORDS COM- MISSIONERS OF TRADE AND PLANTATIONS OF THE CONDITION OF THE COLONY. - HARDWICKE SUGGESTED AS THE CAPITAL OF GEORGIA. - ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GENERAL COURT, THE COURT OF CHANCERY, THE COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER, THE COURT OF ADMIRALTY, MAGISTRATES' COURTS, AND SPECIAL COURTS FOR THE TRIAL OF SLAVES. - CONVOCATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - GOVERNOR REYNOLDS' INAUGURAL ADDRESS, AND RESPONSES OF BOTH HOUSES. - LEGISLATIVE ACTS. - MILITIA AND SLAVE LAWS. - EDMUND GREY. - SURRENDER OF FORMER GRANTS, AND SUBSTITUTION OF NEW CON- VEYANCES FROM THE CROWN . . 468
CHAPTER XXX.
MIDWAY DISTRICT. - THE DORCHESTER SOCIETY. - ITS REMOVAL FROM DORCHESTER AND BEECH ISLAND IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND SETTLE- MENT IN THE MIDWAY DISTRICT. - THE TOWN OF SUNBURY . . . 491
CHAPTER XXXI.
INDIAN PRESENTS DISTRIBUTED AT AUGUSTA. - ARRIVAL OF ACADIANS. - DEBRAHIM'S COLONY AT BETHANY. - MILITARY CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. - GOVERNOR REYNOLDS' AND CAPTAIN DEBRAHIM'S REP- RESENTATION OF THE FORTS AND GARRISONS NECESSARY FOR THE DEFENSE OF GEORGIA. - SUGGESTION TO PURCHASE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NEGRO SLAVES WITH WIIICH TO CONSTRUCT THIE REQUI- SITE FORTIFICATIONS. - DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - DR. WILLIAM LITTLE. - REYNOLDS' ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS CRITICISED. - HE IS RECALLED, AND HENRY ELLIS IS NAMED AS LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR. - GOVERNOR REYNOLDS RESIGNS, AND RESUMES ILIS STATION IN THE BRITISH NAVY 502
xiv
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTER XXXII.
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR ELLIS ARRIVES IN GEORGIA AND IS HEARTILY WELCOMED. - TEMPER OF THE COLONY. - PRUDENCE AND IMPARTIAL- ITY OF THE NEW CHIEF MAGISTRATE. - HE VISITS THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER AND RECOMMENDS THE REMOVAL OF THE SEAT OF GOVERN- MENT FROM SAVANNAH TO HARDWICKE. - COURTESIES EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. - GEORGIA DIVIDED INTO EIGHT PARISHES. - LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS. - PRO- VISION FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT, INCORPORATION, AND SUPPORT OF CHURCHIES. - ELLIS' REPORT ON THE CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE IN 1758. -- ELLIS COMMISSIONED GOVERNOR. -- GEORGIA UNABLE TO AS- SIST IN THE WAR AGAINST THE FRENCH IN AMERICA. - CONFERENCE AND TREATY WITH THE INDIANS AT SAVANNAH. - EDMUND GREY AND HIS ADHERENTS. - HEAT AT SAVANNAH. - GOVERNOR ELLIS IN ILL HEALTH SOLICITS A RECALL. - JAMES WRIGHT APPOINTED HIS SUC-
CESSOR. - DEPARTURE OF GOVERNOR ELLIS
. 515
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PORTRAIT OF GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE
. To face title-page.
PORTRAIT OF HERNANDO DE SOTO
.
34
A PLAN OF THE MARGRAVATE OF AZILIA.
·
72
A VIEW OF THE TOWN OF SAVANNAH IN THE COLONY OF GEORGIA
121
PORTRAIT OF TOMO-CHA-CHI, MICO, ETC.
·
134
A MAP OF THE COUNTY OF SAVANNAH .
148
A PLAN OF THE TOWN OF EBENEZER
212
PORTRAIT OF JAMES HABERSHAM
402
A PLAN OF THE TOWN OF SUNBURY
.
499
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
-
CHAPTER I.
ABORIGINAL POPULATION. - THE MANNERS, MANUFACTURES, AMUSEMENTS, EMPLOYMENTS, AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTHERN INDIANS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
WHEN the colony of Georgia was founded, the ceded lands lying between the Savannah and the Alatamaha rivers and extending from their head-waters indefinitely toward the west were occupied by Indians whose principal settlements were es- tablished in the vicinity of streams, in rich valleys, and upon the sea-islands. The middle and lower portions of this and the ad- jacent territory were claimed by the Muskhogees, or Creeks, con- sisting of many tribes and associated together in a strong con- federacy. North of them dwelt the Cherokees, - a brave and comely race, - numbering some six thousand warriors, inhabit- ing the hilly and mountainous parts of the country, and exer- cising dominion even beyond the Tennessee River where they were confronted by the Shawnees. The entire region permeated by the sources and upper tributaries of the Coosa, the Chatta- hoochee, the Savannah, the Santee, and the Yadkin was held by them. Between the Cherokees and the Muskhogees the di- vision line followed Broad River and, generally, the thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude.
East of these nations resided the Yemassees, the Stonoes, the Edistoes, the Westoes, the Savannahs, and the Catawbas ; while, on the west, stretching away even to the Mississippi River, were domiciled the Alibamons, the Choctaws, the Natchez, and the Chicasaws.
The population of the Upper and Lower Creeks dwelling within the territorial limits of the Province of Georgia at the date of its settlement was estimated at fifteen thousand men, women, and children. When, however, we remember that thic
2
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
lands possessed by the Muskhogee confederacy - comprehending the seats of the Seminoles in Florida - were bounded on the west by Mobile River and by the ridge which separates the wa- ters of the Tombigbee from those of the Alabama, on the north by the Cherokees, on the north and east by the Savannah River, and otherwise by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, the aggregate number of inhabitants acknowledging allegiance to that confederation must have been much greater.
The Muskhogees constituted the prevailing nation, and are said to have furnished rather more than seven eighths of the peo-
- ples composing the confederacy. The Hitchittees, residing on the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, although originally a dis- tinct people, spoke the Muskhogee dialect and formed a com- ponent tribe of the Creek confederation.
The Seminoles, or Isty Semoles (wild men), were pure Musk- hogees, and received that name because they subsisted chiefly by hunting and were little given to agricultural pursuits. They inhabited the peninsula of Florida. Both the Muskhogees and the Hitchittees claimed to be autochthonous : the former assert- ing that their nation in the beginning issued out of a cave near the Alabama River, and the latter boasting that their ancestors had fallen from the sky.
By the Choctaws was Captain Romans informed that in the olden time they walked forth in great numbers from a hole in the ground, situated between their territory and that of the Chi- casaws.
The Uchees and Natchez both yielded obedience to the Musk- hogee confederacy. Of the former the original seats are sup- posed to have been east of the Coosa. They proclaimed them- selves the most ancient inhabitants of the country, and it has been suggested that they were the peoples called Appalaches by the historians of De Soto's expedition. Their land abounded in towns and in subsistence. Early in the eighteenth century they dwelt upon the western bank of the Savannah River, and as late as 1736 elaimed the country above and below the town of Augusta. The name of a creek in Columbia County perpetuates to the present day their memory and the fact of their former occupancy of this region.
Forsaking their old habitat on the left bank of the Mississippi River, and journeying eastward, the Natchez associated them- selves with the Creeks not very many years prior to the advent of Oglethorpe.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUTHIERN INDIANS. 3
Among the principal towns of the Creeks may be mentioned Cussetah, Cowetalı, Tukawbatchie, and Oscoochee. The Musk- hogee, the Hitchittee, the Uchee, the Natchez, and the Alibamon or Coosada, were the languages generally spoken by the various tribes composing the Creek confederacy. Captain Romans enu- merates remnants of the Cawittas, Talepoosas, Coosas, Apalachias, Conshacs or Coosades, Oakmulgis, Oconis, Okchoys, Alibamons, Natchez, Weetumkus, Pakanas, Tačnsas, Chacsihoomas, Abékas, and of other tribes whose names he did not recollect, all calling themselves Muskokees and constituting what was known as the Creek Confederation.
On the 12th of March, 1733, Oglethorpe reported the Upper and Lower Creeks and the Uchees as the three most powerful Indian nations in Georgia dwelling between the coast and the mountains. The Lower Creeks possessed nine towns or can- tons, and their warriors were estimated by him at one thousand. The military strength of the Upper Creeks he reckons at eleven hundred men capable of bearing arms ; while the Uchees were, at that time, supposed to be incapable of bringing into the field more than two hundred bowmen. This computation of the pop- ulation of these peoples, vaguely formed, was manifestly inade- quate.
In perpetuating his impressions of the physical characteristics of these Southern Indians, Mr. Bartram writes : " The males of the Cherokees, Muscogulgees, Siminoles, Chicasaws, Chactaws, and confederate tribes of the Creeks are tall, erect, and moder- ately robust ; their limbs are well shaped, so as generally to form a perfect human figure ; their features regular and countenance open, dignified, and placid, yet the forehead and brow so formed as to strike you instantly with heroism and bravery ; the eye, though rather small, active and full of fire; the iris always black, and the nose commonly inclining to the aquiline. Their coun- tenance and actions exhibit an air of magnanimity, superiority, and independence. Their complexion of a reddish-brown or cop- per color ; their hair long, lank, coarse, and black as a raven, and reflecting the like lustre at different exposures to the light. The women of the Cherokees are tall, slender, erect, and of a delicate frame; their features formed with perfect symmetry, their countenance cheerful and friendly ; and they move with a becoming grace and dignity.
"The Muscogulgee women, though remarkably short of stature, are well formed ; their visage round, features regular and beau-
4
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
tiful, the brow high and arched, the eye large, black, and lan- guishing, expressive of modesty, diffidence, and bashfulness. These charms are their defensive and offensive weapons, and they know very well how to play them off ; and under cover of these alluring graces are concealed the most subtle artifices ; ^they are, however, loving and affectionate. They are, I believe, the smallest race of women yet known, seldom above five feet high, and I believe the greater number never arrive to that stature ; their hands and feet not larger than those of Europeans of nine or ten years of age : yet the men are of gigantic stature, a full size larger than Europeans ; many of them above six feet, and few under that, or five feet eight or ten inches. Their com- plexion much darker than any of the tribes to the north of them that I have seen. This description will, I believe, comprehend the Muscogulges, their confederates the Chactaws, and, I believe, the Chicasaws (though I have never seen their women), except- ing some bands of the Siminoles, Uches, and Savaunucas, who are rather taller and slenderer, and their complexion brighter. The Cherokees are yet taller and more robust than the Muscogulges, and by far the largest race of men I have seen ; their com- plexions brighter and somewhat of the olive cast, especially the adults ; and some of their young women are nearly as fair and blooming as Europeans.
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