USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 69
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Georgia warmly supported Mr. Crawford in the presidential contest of 1824. Her choice for vice president was Martin Van Buren, of New York. The electors chosen at this time were nine in number, to wit: from the state at large, Elias Beall and William Matthews; district electors, Thomas Cumming, John McIntosh, John Floyd, John Rutherford, John Harden, William Terrell and Warren Jordan .*
To succeed John Elliott whose term of office as United States senator expired on March 4, 1825, the General Assembly elected John MacPher- son Berrien, of Savannah, whose eloquence in this high forum caused him in after years to be styled "the American Cicero." Judge Berrien was a native of New Jersey. It was at the old Berrien homestead, near Prince- ton, that Washington had issued his farewell address to the American Army in 1783. Judge Berrien's father-the gallant Maj. John Berrien -had been a soldier of the Revolution and, after coming to Georgia, had filled the office of state treasurer. On his mother's side, Judge Berrien was a MacPherson; and an uncle for whom he was named, Col. John MacPherson, had served on General Montgomery's staff at Quebec.
Georgia's delegation in the Nineteenth Congress (1825-1827) was as
* Lanman's "Biog. Annals of the U. S. Govt., " pp. 521-522.
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follows: George Carey, Alfred Cuthbert, John Forsyth, Charles E. Haynes, James Meriwether, Edward F. Tattnall, and Wiley Thompson.
We now return to the Indian problem. Due to the unfriendly atti- tude of the Indians, both Creeks and Cherokees, all negotiations for two years had been fruitless. At a council of the Creeks held at Broken Arrow, in 1824, the Indians had refused to listen to any proposition from the Federal Government. But President Monroe, before retiring from office, decided to make one more effort toward settling this vexed ques- tion. Accordingly he invited the chiefs of the Creek Nation to a con- ference at Indian Springs, there to meet with commissioners from the United States Government, on Monday, February 7, 1825. These com- missioners were : Duncan G. Campbell and James Meriwether, both Georgians.
But the hostile Alabama Creeks refused to attend in any large num- bers; and while there were many chiefs, head-men and warriors present these came chiefly from the southeastern area of the Creek Nation, an area included within the borders of Georgia. These Lower Creeks were led by Gen. William McIntosh, a man of the highest character, and a cousin to Governor Troup, whose mother was a McIntosh. Opposition by the Alabama Creeks to any cession of the Georgia lands was based upon the contention that these lands formed a part of the Creek Nation as a whole and the consent of the entire nation was needed to make any cession of land, however fractional, perfectly valid. On the other hand, the Georgia Creeks, recognizing the inevitability of a final surrender to the whites, were willing to treat with the Government for a relinquish- ment of lands within the borders of Georgia; and since they were the ones chiefly concerned they saw no reason for hostile interference on the part of the Alabama Creeks.
General McIntosh, chief of the Cowetas or Lower Creeks, was the principal actor in this historic drama at Indian Springs. His warm friendship for the people of Georgia had been evinced in more than one crisis of affairs but within the next few months it was destined to cost him the forfeiture of his life, at the hands of savage foes. With the clear foresight of a statesman, General McIntosh realized only too well how the bitter warfare between the two races in Georgia was to end. Consequently he urged upon his people the course which was finally adopted. It not only meant peace but it meant an exchange of land, in fair equivalent, acre for acre, with an additional sum of $400,000. Be- sides, it meant the avoidance of unnecessary bloodshed; and the new home west of the Mississippi River was to be an undisturbed possession. To the arguments of McIntosh, the Lower Creeks listened; but the Upper Creeks, who resided chiefly in Alabama, demurred. They per- sisted in looking upon McIntosh as a traitor to the nation, and in criminal league with the whites. But the counsels of the latter pre- vailed; and at Indian Springs, on February 12, 1825, occurred the final deliberations which resulted in the formal relinquishment of the Geor- gia lands by the Creek Indians.
But, in affixing his signature to the treaty, William McIntosh signed his own death warrant! *
* See Death of MeIntosh, in section on Georgia in the Realm of Anecdote, etc.
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Judge Lumpkin, of the Supreme Court of Georgia, thus narrates what occurred at this eventful meeting: * "O-poth-le-yoholo, as speaker of the nation, on behalf of Big Warrior, head chief, made an impassioned speech in reply to the commissioners, declaring that no treaty could be made for a cession of the lands, and inviting them to meet at Broken Arrow (the seat of the general council) three months later. He and his followers then went home. On February 12th a treaty was signed by the MeIntosh party, dealing, however, only with the lands in Georgia. The government agent for Indian affairs witnessed the treaty aud attested it, but the very next day wrote to the Secretary of War a letter severely criticising it. Charges were freely made that he was actuated by personal and political hostility to Governor Troup. Nevertheless, the treaty was ratified. It provided for an exchange of the remaining Creek lands in Georgia for a like quantity of land of equal quality west of the Mississippi river, and that the time of the re- moval of the Indians should not 'extend beyond the first of September of the next year.' Great excitement arose among the Indians opposed to the treaty, and it was declared by them to be void, on the ground that McIntosh and his followers had no authority to make it. Charges and counter-charges were made. McIntosh and his party, were threatened with death."
"As soon as the treaty was ratified, Governor Troup wrote a letter to McIntosh, as head chief of the Cowetas, asking permission to survey the ceded territory. McIntosh summoned his chiefs, and permission was given to make the survey. The Indians who opposed the sale were greatly enraged. A general council condemned McIntosh to death. A body of men undertook to carry out the sentence. They went to his house, in what is now Carroll county, and about three o'clock in the morning of April 30 (or some say May 1) 1825, set fire to it. They shot him and another Indiau (though he defended himself as best he could), and dragged him and his comrade out and scalped them. The scalp of MeIntosh was suspened on a pole in a public square of Ocfuskee. They also killed his son-in-law Hawkins.
"Feeling ran high. The legislature ordered the survey of the ceded territory to proceed. John Quincy Adams, who had become President, directed Governor Troup to stop the survey, because of the hostile atti- tude of the Indians. Governor Troup refused, declaring that 'Georgia owned the soil, and had a right to survey it.' The President threat- ened to have the surveyors arrested, but the governor ordered them to proceed, indicating a purpose to protect them from interference. Finally the President proposed to refer the treaty to Congress, and the survey was suspended, not as admitting any right of the President or Congress to stop it, but as a matter of comity, as Governor Troup said.
"In 1826 the Federal Government, desiring to pacify the Indians, entered into a treaty with thirteen chiefs of the Creek nation, declaring the treaty of 1825 canceled, and making a new treaty, the result of which was to leave in possession of the Indians a large tract of the land (amounting to about 300,000 acres) which had been ceded under the
* Extract from an address delivered at Indian Springs on February 12, 1912, when a tablet was unveiled by Piedmont Continental Chapter, Daughters of the Revolution.
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treaty of 1825, postponing the giving up of possession of the lands ceded, and allowing twenty-four months for the removal of the Indians. The representatives in Congress from Georgia entered a protest, and Gover- nor Troup refused to recognize the new treaty, and ordered the sur- veyors to proceed. He declared that the vested rights of Georgia could not be thus taken from her. The Indians complained. Correspondence followed, and finally the Secretary of War informed the Governor that the surveyors must be kept off the lands, and threatened that, if the Governor refused to stop them, military force would be used. This brought from the doughty Governor a vigorous answer, in which he said: 'From the first decisive act of hostility, you will be considered as a public enemy, and with less repugnance, because you, to whom we might constitutionally have appealed for protection against invasion are yourselves the invaders, and, what is more, the unblushing allies of savages whose cause you have adopted.' Strong words from a Governor to a Secretary of War. But that was not all. The Governor promptly ordered the Generals of the Sixth and Seventh. Division of the Georgia militia to hold these commands in readiness to repel any invasion of the state. Matters were reaching an acute stage when Congress was guided by conservative counsels and recommended the acquirement of all the lands held by the Creeks in Georgia. The chiefs and the head men agreed. Whereupon the Creeks were paid about $28,000 in money and given a lot of blankets; and it was agreed that certain sums should be expended for schools. Thus was the danger of an armed clash between Georgia and the United States averted."
Seventy-five years after the dramatic incident above narrated, the members of Piedmont Continental Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution performed an act of belated justice to the memory of the brave chieftain. On the well-known rock, near the Varner House, which marks the site of the famous compact of agreement, they unveiled on July 1, 1911, a tablet of bronze which bears the following inscription :
"Here on February 12, 1825, William McIntosh, a chief of the Creek Nation, signed the treaty which ceded to the State of Georgia all the Creek lands west of the Flint river. For this act he was savagely murdered by a band of Indians who opposed the treaty. Placed by the Piedmont Continental Chapter of the D. A. R., A. D. 1911."
Judge Joseph Henry Lumpkin, of the Supreme Court of Georgia, delivered the principal address.
To the foregoing summary of facts by Judge Lumpkin, it may be added that two officers of the United States Government were dispatched to Georgia by the Federal authorities in Washington: Maj. T. P. An- drews, to inquire into the charges made against Crowell; and Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, to represent the military arm of the administration. Both came with preconceived opinions and proceeded to work hand in
-
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VARNER HOUSE
Where the Famous Treaty of Indian Springs Was Signed in 1825
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glove with the Indian agent. But Governor Troup was not intimidated. It was in the controversy which ensued that Georgia's rock-ribbed chief- magistrate sounded the famous note of defiance: "The argument is ex- hausted. We must stand by our arms!" The final treaty to which Judge Lumpkin refers was concluded at the old Agency on the Flint, where, on November 15, 1827, the disaffected Upper Creeks, for the sum of $27,491, agreed to relinquish the remaining Creek lands within the state limits. Eighty-four chiefs and head men were parties to this sur- render. John Cromwell and Thomas L. Mckinney signed the compact on behalf of the United States Government; and one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of Georgia was brought to an end. Out of the land acquired by the state, under the treaty of Indian Springs, which in the last analysis proved final, the Legislature of Geor- gia created five great counties, viz., Carroll, Coweta, Lee, Muscogee and Troup from each of which others were subsequently formed.
Hop-o-eth-le-yo-ho-lo, the the representative of Big Warrior, the chief of the Upper Creeks, attended the council meeting at Indian Springs. He was the silver-tongued orator of the tribe, and, on this occasion, was aroused to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, in opposition to the proposed relinquishment of the Creek lands. Several speeches were made by him in the course of the proceedings; and, when the treaty was finally signed, he leaped upon the large rock to the south of the Varner House, and gave vent to his indignation in the following fiery outburst. Said he :
"Brothers-The Great Spirit has met here with his painted children of the woods and with our palefaced brethren. I see his golden locks in the sunbeams. He fans the warrior's brow with his wings and whispers sweet music in the winds. The beetle joins his hymn and the mocking- bird his song. You are charmed. Brothers, you have been deceived. A snake has been coiled in the shade, and you are running into his mouth, deceived by the double-tongue of the pale-face chief McIntosh and drunk with the fire of the pale-face. Brothers, the hunting grounds of our fathers have been stolen by our chief and sold to the pale-face, whose gold is in his pouch. Brothers, our grounds are gone, and the plow of the pale-face will soon upturn the bones of our fathers. Brothers, are you tame? Will you submit? Hop-o-eth-le-yo-ho-lo says no!" Then turning to MeIntosh who was standing with the commissioners at a win- dow, some few feet distant, he exclaimed : "As for you, double-tongued snake, whom I see through the window of the pale-face, before many moons have waned, your own blood shall wash out the memory of this hated treaty. Brothers, I have spoken."
Governor Troup announced himself a candidate for re-election while popular excitement was at its height, following the Treaty of Indian Springs. The prospect of acquiring all the remaining Creek lands with- in the borders of the state was well calculated to arouse the enthusiasm of the people. It was also a trophy for the Troup administration. As we have already observed, an amendment to the state constitution had
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been adopted, making the office of governor elective, by a direct popular vote. Anxious to measure strength with his old antagonist in a contest of this character, General Clark once more became a candidate for this high office. The new law changing the method of election had emanated from the Clark party in the State Legislature .* There was good reason, therefore, to expect that, in a contest before the people, the Troup party would be worsted; and, under ordinary circumstances, such might have been the result. But Governor Troup's vigorous Indian policy had made him strong with the people living on the exposed frontiers as well as with those residing in towns and cities. "Troup and the Treaty" be- came the battle cry of his followers in a campaign the memories of which lingered for more than a generation. Says Mr. Evans: "All the old party strife broke out anew. Every argument was used to affect the election ; bitter hatred sprung up even in families and among friends.t Churches were rent asunder by political discussions. Scarcely a day passed without its bloody toll. Newspaper controversies were bitter. Quarrels, begun on street corners or in hotel corridors, frequently led to duelling pistols on the Field of Honor. It was an era of polemics. The election was held in October. But there were no telegraph wires in those days to announce the result and it was not until the Legislature met in November to canvass the returns that the issue was definitely and finally settled. Governor Troup was re-elected over his opponent by a major- ity of 682 votes. However, the Clark party organized the Legislature; and had the contest been left to the General Assembly, as in former elections, General Clark would have been the next governor.
This was General Clark's last contest for public honors in Georgia. Embittered by the result, he accepted from President Jackson the post of Indian agent, which made him virtually the custodian of the public lands of Florida. It was not an office to which any great honor attached, but the salary enabled him to live in comfort and to extend hospitality in a style to which he had long been accustomed. Besides, he still re- tained extensive holdings of real estate in Georgia. Perhaps Col. Absalom H. Chappell has correctly summarized the achievements of this unique Georgian in the following paragraph. Says he: "During a long career he courted and acquired great enemies, both personal and official, and honorably illustrated if he did not augment the name he inherited, leaving it more deeply imprinted, if not higher enrolled, on Fame's proud catalogue."
Governor Clark took up his residence in West Florida, on St. An- drew's Bay, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. Here, on October 15, 1832, he died of yellow fever. His wife soon followed him to the grave; and a few years later relatives erected a substantial shaft of marble which today rises above them on these lonely shores. The Daughters of the American Revolution have already taken steps looking toward a reinterment of General Clark's body in the soil of his native state, and there is at least a likelihood that the old hero will soon sleep with the nation's dead at Marietta.
* Georgia Journal, February 24, 1824.
+ "History of Georgia, " Lawton B. Evans, p. 205.
# Georgia Journal, December 27, 1825.
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On the authority of Governor Gilmer, we find it stated that General Clark eventually forgave all his enemies, with the single exception of William H. Crawford, against whom his old feeling of bitter personal animosity continued down to the last hour; and had it been within his power he would doubtless have emulated the example of Michael An- gelo, who, in depicting the scene of the last Last Judgment, on the walls of the Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican at Rome, immortalized the features of his enemies by giving them to the demons in hell.
ORIGIN OF THE MUSKOGEES .- It was the commonly accepted belief among the Muscogee or Creek Indians that the original home seat of this powerful family of red men was among the mountains of ancient Mexico. At any rate, when Hernando Cortez, in command of his adventurous army of Spaniards, landed at Vera Cruz, in 1519, and pressed toward the interior of the country, he found the Muscogees form- ing an independent republic to the north of the Aztec capital. The English name of Creeks was given to them, because of the vast number of small streams which watered the new lands in which they dwelt.
According to White, Le Clerk Milfort, a highly educated French gentleman, who came to America in 1775, visited the Creek nation after making a tour of the New England Colonies. He formed the acquaintance, while at Coweta Town, of the cele- brated Alexander McGillivray, the great chief of the Muscogee Indians. Delighted with this cultured half-breed, who was a most extraordinary man, he determined to make his abode in the nation. He afterwards married MeGillivray's sister and, in course of time, became grand chief of war, in which capacity he conducted a num- ber of expeditions against Georgia. He also wrote, at leisure moments, while a resi- dent of Coweta Town, an important historical treatise on the Creeks, which he after- wards published in France. Pickett, in his excellent history of Alabama and Georgia, has translated from his work an interesting account of the Muscogee Indians.
THE VARNER HOUSE .- Recently a movement to purchase the historic Varner House at Indian Springs was launched by Piedmont Continental Chapter of the D. A. R. Mrs. A. H. Alfriend, on behalf of the chapter, brought the matter before the State Convention at Marietta in 1912, at which time the initial steps were takeu looking to an ultimate acquisition of the famous old tavern. The identical counter on which General McIntosh affixed his signature to the treaty still stands in the office of the Varner House, preserved intact.
CHAPTER XIII
LA FAYETTE'S VISIT TO AMERICA-MARKED HONORS BESTOWED UPON THE ILLUSTRIOUS PATRIOT AND SOLDIER-REACHES SAVANNAH ON MARCH 19, 1825-AN IMMENSE CONCOURSE PRESENT TO GREET THE PALADIN OF LIBERTY-MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS IN LINE OF MARCH-VETERANS OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE STILL IN LIFE EMBRACED BY AN OLD COMRADE-IN-ARMS-GOVERNOR TROUP'S ADDRESS OF WELCOME DELIV- ERED ON YAMACRAW BLUFF- LA FAYETTE NEXT VISITS MILLEDGEVILLE RECEPTION AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT-THE BANQUET-EPISODES OF THE RECEPTION-AN EXPLOSION-ITS FATAL RESULTS-MACON IS NEXT VISITED -HOW THE OLD SOLDIER WAS ENTERTAINED-LAFAY- ETTE'S LAST STOPPING PLACE AT THE OLD CREEK' AGENCY ON THE FLINT.
NOTES: THE VARNER ITOUSE-ORIGIN OF THE MUSCOGEES.
Within a few weeks after the last treaty at Indian Springs was signed and while relations between state and Federal governments were strained almost to the point of breaking there occurred an event of a far more pleasing character and for a time at least Georgia forgot her troubles with the Indians in doing honor to the great and good La Fayette who, in the spring of 1825, became her venerated guest on his second and last visit to America. Though now an old man bent with the weight of nearly four score years, the aged knight of liberty was anxious to revisit the scenes of his early life in the New World and to meet the surviving comrades of his youth. Traditions still linger of the stately balls and magnificent receptions held in honor of the illustrious nobleman.
La Fayette reached Savannah on Saturday, March 19, 1825. There was much uncertainty as to the exact moment when the noted visitor was expected to arrive; but stages and packets were all crowded with passengers, especially from the South. To quote a local historian: * "The Light Dragoons from Liberty County, under the command of Captain W. M. Maxwell and the Darien Hussars, commanded by Cap- tain Charles West, had reached town on the preceding Tuesday. At half past five o'clock on Saturday morning, by a signal from the Chatham Artillery, the various organizations were warned to repair to the several parade grounds. The line was formed at eight o'clock, after which, there being no appearance of the boat, arms were stacked and the troops dismissed until the arrival. The first tidings of the welcome vessel were announced by the Exchange Bell, and almost at the same moment the
* " Historical and Picturesque Savannah, " Adelaide Wilson; "Historical Record of Savannah," Lee and Agnew.
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THE OWENS HOME IN SAVANNAH, WHERE GENERAL LA FAYETTE WAS ENTERTAINED IN 1825
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volumes of smoke which accompanied her was perceived over the land; she was then about twelve or fifteen miles off, but rapidly approaching. The troops were immediately formed and marched to the lower part of Bay Street, where they were placed in position on the green in front of the avenue of trees. It proved to be an ideal day. About nine o'clock the mists dispersed, the skies became elear, and a gentle breeze arose, blowing directly up the river, as if to add speed to the vessel which was to land the distinguished visitors upon our shores.
"As the steamboat passed Fort Jackson she was boarded by the Committee of Reception, and the General was addressed by the chair- man, George Jones, Esq. The boat now approached in gallant style, firing by the way, while a full band of musie on board played the Mar- seillaise Hymn and other favorite Freneh and American airs. At the anchorage a salute was fired by the Revenue Cutter Gallatin, under the command of Captain Matthews, and General La Fayette was assisted to the first barge, accompanied by the committee, the other boats being oeeupied by the remainder of the suite. At the doeks were assembled the leading dignitaries and officials of the State; deputations from the Hi- bernian, St. Andrew's and Agricultural Societies, all bedecked with badges ; besides a multitude of citizens. The Savannah Volunteer Guard, in honor of the Nation's guest, wore the Revolutionary eoekade. As the General placed his foot upon the landing place, a salute was fired by the Chatham Artillery, in line on the bluff, with four brass field pieces, one of which was captured at Yorktown. He was here received by William C. Daniel, Esq., Mayor of the city, amid cheers from the as- sembled spectators.
"On arriving at the top of the bluff, he was presented to Governor Troup, by whom, in the most cordial manner, he was welcomed to the soil of Georgia. La Fayette replied in feeling terms, and was then intro- duced to several Revolutionary soldiers, among whom were General Stewart, Colonel Shellman, Eb. Jackson, Sheftall Sheftall and Captain Rees. The eyes of the old General sparkled. He remembered Captain Rees, who proceeded to narrate some incident. "I remember," said La Fayette, taking the captain's hand between both of his own, and, with tear-filled eyes, the two men stood for a moment, absorbed in the recol- leetion of youthful days. The officers of the brigade and of the regi- ment were then introduced, after which the procession moved as pre- seribed in the arrangement of the day, and about half-past five o'clock in the afternoon he arrived at the lodgings assigned to him, at Mrs. Max- well's, where Governor Troup also was lodged. During the passage of the procession, windows and doors everywhere were crowded to excess; and the expression of feeling displayed by all was most enthusiastic, from the highest to the lowest. He was saluted by the ladies with the waving of handkerchiefs: which he returned by the repeated and eon- tinued inelination of the head in acknowledgment. At sundown, another salute was fired by the Marine Volunteer Corps."
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