Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 6

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274

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It may be of interest in this connection to state that an eminent investigator, James Mooney, dissents from the majority view on this subject and locates Chiaha on the site of the present town of Columbus. While his opinion in the matter may strike the average reader as somewhat erratic, it cannot be lightly dismissed. Mr. Mooney is a recognized authority on American antiq- uities. He is connected with the Smithsonian Institu- tion in Washington, D. C., and is not only the latest scholar to investigate the route of De Soto but, what entitles his view to special weight is the fact that he has based his researches largely upon an original document which was not published, except in a mutilated form, until 1851, and which was not consulted by the other investigators, namely, an unfinished report in Spanish by one Ranjel, secretary to the expedition.

There is no essential deviation between Jones and Mooney until the Spaniards leave Cutifachiqui, which both identify as Silver Bluff. Then the two commenta- tors part company; and where Jones locates Xualla in Nacoochee Valley, Mooney locates it at the head of the Broad River in Western North Carolina, where a tribe of Indians then lived called the Suwali, better known

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

later as Cheraws. Gauxule, a town which the Spaniards reached after traveling in a westerly direction, he locates in Nacoochee Valley. Thence proceeding down the Chat- tahoochee River, he identifies Conasauga as an old Indian town near the banks of this stream, in the neighborhood of Kennesaw Mountain, a name whose similarity of sound may be something more than a mere coincidence; and finally he comes on down to Columbus, in the situa- tion of which town he recognizes the Chiaha of the Spanish narratives.

Whether it be Rome or Columbus, De Soto remained at Chiaha for nearly a month. At the expiration of this time, he parted from the king with kind words, and left on July 1, 1540, for the far west, accompanied by a retinue of slaves as the king's gift. In a short while he was be- yond the territory of Georgia. To trace his wanderings through a trackless forest, exposed without protection to the torrid heat of summer and to the rigorous cold of winter, exhausted by hunger, enfeebled by disease, is not within the purview of this sketch. It suffices to say that the gold for which the Spaniards relinquished home and braved the solitudes of an unknown wilderness proved an illusive phantom. Most of them looked no more upon Spain. At last, on Sept. 10, 1543, a pathetic remnant reached Panuca, in Mexico, after suffering untold hard- ships ; but not until they had lowered the body of De Soto secretly at night into the bosom of the Great Father of Waters, where at last his splendid fabric of dreams literally crumbled into dust.

HERNANDO DE SOTO

ITINERARY OF HERNANDO DE SOTO

(1) According to Jones:

March 3, 1540. Left Anhayca (Tallahassee, Fla.).

March 7, 1540.

Crossed a deep river (Ocklockonce).

March 9, 1540. Arrived at Capachiqui.

March 21, 1540.

March 24, 1540.

Came to Toalli, in Irwin County (near the Ocmulgee). Left Toalli.

March 25, 1540. Arrived at Achese, in Wilcox Co. (on the Ocmulgee). April 1, 1540. Departed from Achese.

April 4, 1540. Passed through the Town of Altamaca.

April 10. 1540.

Arrived at Ocute, in Laurens Co. (near the Oconee).

April 12, 1540.

Left Ocute. Passed through a town whose lord was called Cofaqui, and came to the province of an- other lord, named Patofa.

April 14, 1540. Departed from Patofa.

April 20, 1540.

Lost in a pine barren. Six days consumed in fording two rivers (sources of the Great Ogeechee).

April 26, 1540. Set out for Aymay, a village reached at nightfall.

April 28, 1540.

Departed for Cutifachiqui (Silver Bluff, on the Savan- nah, 25 miles below Augusta).

May 3, 1540. Left Cutifachiqui ..

May 10, 1540.

Left Cutifachiqui (Cherokee, Ga,, probably in Frank- lin County).

May 15, 1540.

Arrived at Xualla (Nacoochee Valley, near Mount Yonah).

May 20, 1540. Arrived at Gauxule (Coosawattee Old Town in Murray County).

May 22, 1540. Arrived at Conasauga (New Echota, in Gordon Co.).

June 5, 1540. Arrived at Chiaha (Rome, Ga.).

July 1, 1540. Departed from Chiaha.

(2) According to Mooney:

March 3, 1540

May 10, 1540. May 15, 1540.

In substantial agreement with Jones.

Arrived at Xualla (town in Western North Carolina, belonging to the Suwalli Indians, at the head of Broad River).

May 20, 1540. Arrived at Gauxule (Nacoochee Valley).

May 22, 1540. Arrived at Conasauga (town of this name, near Ken- nesaw Mountain).

June 5, 1540. Arrived at Chiaha (Columbus, Ga.).

July 1, 1540. Departed from Chiaha.

CHAPTER II

"Home, Sweet Home:" John Howard Payne's Georgia Sweetheart and Imprisonment

I T is one of the ironies of Fate that the poet from whose pen has come the best-known lyric of the hearthstone was himself a homeless wanderer. With little knowledge of domestic happiness, he sang of home, not as a possession, but as a want; and, for more than thirty years, he was even fated to fill an exile's grave, on the far shores of the Mediterraneon. The ab- sence of any strong domestic ties first led him, when a mere lad, to seek his fortune abroad. On returning to America, after a lapse of two full decades, his wandering footsteps at length brought him to Georgia, where two experiences of a widely different character awaited him; a jail and a sweetheart. From the former of these bind- ing spells he was soon released, through the prompt inter- vention of an influential friend. But, in gentle bondage to the latter, he remained a life-long prisoner. His heart underwent no change. As for the fair object of his affec- tions, she retained her maiden name to the end of her days and, dying at the ripe age of seventy-six, carried to her grave in Oconee Cemetery, at Athens, an undimmed image of her poet-lover : the immortal author of "Home, Sweet Home."

The world has not forgotten the pathetic story of John Howard Payne. But the tendency to exaggerate has led a host of writers, eager for dramatic effect, into

Spring Place, Ga., where John Howard Payne was Imprisoned in 1836,

THE VANN HOUSE:

"HOME, SWEET HOME"

gross misstatements. Indeed, there are few, who, in sketching Payne's life, have not drawn more largely upon fancy for materials than upon fact.

Payne was never at any time the shiftless, ne'er-do- well, or the penniless vagabond which he has often been made to appear by these caricature artists. Most of his life, it is true, was spent in bachelor quarters and among remote scenes. He also lacked business acumen ; but those upon whom nature bestows the divine afflatus are seldom merchants or bankers. With the conveniences of an assured income, he was unacquainted; and the ca- prices of Fortune often entailed upon him financial em- barrassment. On more than one occasion he knew what it was to be without a dollar in his pocket when creditors were clamorous. "But he earned a fair livelihood. At times, his wares brought him a substantial recompense ; and, while his money lasted, he was a Prince of Bohem- ians. During the last years of his life, he held an im- portant consular position at Tunis, in Morocco. .

Born in the city of New York, on June 9, 1792, the early boyhood days of John Howard Payne were spent at East Hampton, on Long Island, where the old family homestead, a quaint two-story structure, with an attic built of cedar shingles, is owned and preserved as a lit- erary Mecca, by Mr. Buek, of Brooklin, a wealthy admirer of the poet. In summer, the cottage is charmingly covered with wisteria vines, contrasting with the silvery tones of color which nearness to the sea invariably gives. Stretch- ing away to the rear of the house is an old apple orchard; while, in the distance, can be seen the sand dunes of the North Atlantic .* The interior paneling of the house is said to have been the work of a ship carpenter, trained in one of the navy yards of England. The building is heated by a huge central chimney, twelve feet in diam- eter, in which is built a fire-place after the ample pattern of the Dutch. The house is furnished exactly as it was in the day's of Payne's childhood, with quaint dressing-

*James Callaway, in the "Macon Telegraph," February 18, 1914.

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

tables, high bedsteads, old Windsor chairs, and other furnishings reminiscent of the Colonial period. It was doubtless a recollection of this early home beside the sea which, in after years, inspired his deathless anthem.

But to go back. At the age of thirteen, when a clerk in a mercantile establishment in New York, Payne began secretly to edit a weekly newspaper, devoted to the dra- ma. Such precocity of genius induced the lad's father to plan for him a good education; but, while a student at Union College, his prospects were suddenly disturbed by the elder Payne's failure in business. John Howard then decided to go upon the stage. His debut as an actor was made at the Park Theatre in New York, on Feb- ruary 24, 1809, as Young Norval in the Douglass; and the success of his initial performance, both from a pe- cuniary and from an artistic standpoint, was such that he afterwards toured the New England and Middle States.

In 1813 he sailed for England; and from this time dates his protracted sojourn abroad. As an actor he was well received by the public; but, anxious to increase his earnings, he essayed theatrical management, with disas- trous results. Due to his lack of business ability, he found himself frequently in financial straits. Fortune did not seem to favor him. In 1815, he published a vol- ume of verse entitled: "Lispings of the Muse," from which his returns were only meagre. Better success attended him as a playwright. He produced a number of musical dramas, for one of which, an opera, entitled : "Clari, or the Maid of Milan," he composed the world- renowned stanzas of "Home, Sweet Home."

This opera was first produced at the Covent Garden Theatre, in May, 1823. The music was adapted by Henry R. Bishop, from an old melody which caught Payne's fancy while visiting one of the Italian cities .* It

*New International Encyclopedia, article on Payne.

"HOME, SWEET HOME"

is said that the song itself came to him, when, oppressed by debt, he wandered one day, in great heaviness of spirit, along the banks of the Thames River. During the first year it netted his publishers over 2,000 guineas. Payne himself derived little pecuniary profit from the song which was destined to make him immortal; but he lived to see it put a girdle of music around the globe, to charm alike the king and the peasant, and to become in literal truth the song of the millions.

The original draft of "Home, Sweet Home" ran as follows :

'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home; A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Like the love of a mother Surpassing all other,

Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. There's a spell in the shade Where our infancy played,

Even stronger than time and more deep than despair.

An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain,

O, give me my lonely thatched cottage again!

The birds and the lampkins that came at my eall- Those who named me with pride- Those who played at my side-

Give me them, with the innocence dearer than all.

The joys of the palaces through which I roam

Only swell my heart's anguish-there's no place like home.

Later Payne re-wrote the poem. But in order to se- cure brevity he sacrificed poetic charm. The lines with which the public are to-day familiar hardly measure up to the original; but they are doubtless better adapted to the air. Here is the poem as re-written :

'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there, Which, seek through the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere. Home, home, sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain, O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again! The birds singing gaily that came at my call-

Give me them-and the peace of mind dearer than all. Home, home, sweet, sweet home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!

In 1832 Payne returned to New York. The question agitating the public mind at this time was the removal of the Cherokee Indians to a trans-Mississippi region. To one of Payne's fine poetic temperament, the idea of using force to drive these primitive inhabitants of the soil-these native Americans-into an unwilling exile was most repugnant. He thought of himself as an out- cast and a wanderer; and it was only natural for the man who wrote "Home, Sweet Home" to espouse the cause of those who were soon to be homeless, even though they were savage tribes of the forest.

To ascertain the real facts in regard to the Cherokees, Mr. Payne came to Georgia in 1836, on the eve of the famous deportation. It so happened that, at this time, Georgia was in a turmoil of excitement. Events were rapidly approaching a climax; and, in order to deal, on the one hand, with meddlesome interlopers whose pur- pose was to inflame the Red Men, and, on the other, with lawless characters escaping across the State line into Indian Territory, it was necessary for Georgia to extend her jurisdiction, with a rod of iron, over the domain of the Cherokees.

There was, at this time, among the Indians, two dis- tinct parties, one of which, under Major Ridge, strongly favored removal as the wisest course for the nation to adopt. The other, headed by John Ross, strenuously op- posed removal; and these were regarded as the sworn enemies of the State. Between the two factions there was war to the knife, deadly and bitter. When John Howard Payne came to Georgia, he visited the Cherokee

"HOME, SWEET HOME"

nation as the guest of John Ross, then as afterwards, the principal chief. His object in making this visit was unknown to the civil authorities; but his affiliation with John Ross put him at once under suspicion. He con- templated nothing sinister. His purpose was merely to gather information. But Tray was in bad company, at least, to Georgia's way of thinking; and, while visiting John Ross, he was put under arrest and imprisoned in the old Vann house, at Spring Place, in what is now Murray County, Ga. Capt. A. B. Bishop, who commanded the Georgia Guards, at this place, made the arrest. He found the poet at Ross's home, near the head of the Coosa River.

It is said that while imprisoned at Spring Place he heard the soldiers singing his familiar anthem, "Home, Sweet Home," and that, when he eventually satisfied his captors that he was the author of this renowned song, he received from them the most considerate treatment .* Nevertheless, he was held a prisoner until his release was finally procured by Gen. Edward Harden, of Athens, to whom he had brought a letter of introduction. The his- toric site of the poet's imprisonment at Spring Place is soon to be marked by the John Milledge Chapter of the D. A. R.

As above stated, Mr. Payne, on coming to Georgia, brought with him a letter of introduction to an old citizen of Athens, Gen. Edward Harden. The latter was formerly a resident of Savannah; and, during the famous visit of LaFayette to this country, in 1825, he entertained the illustrious nobleman of France. Gen. Harden was typically a gentleman of the old school, courtly in his manners, refined and cultured, in fact, a man of letters, though his chosen profession was the law. Payne expected to stop at the public inn;

*Rev. W. J. Cotter, in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate.

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

but to this Gen. Harden demurred, insisting that he become his guest for an indefinite stay.

Thus it was that the author of "Home. Sweet Home," found himself an inmate of the famous old Harden home in Athens. The story that Payne caught the inspiration for his poem at this time is, of course, sheerest fiction, for more than twelve years had elapsed since the first rendition of the song in public. Equally imaginative is the yarn that on entering the door of his prison at Spring Place, he raised both hands in anguish above his head, exclaiming with bitter sar- casm, "Home, Sweet Home," and then proceeded to write the poem, in a moment of silent communion with the Muses.

But while Payne did not write his poem in Georgia, he enjoyed the hospitality which Gen. Harden lavished without stint upon friend and stranger alike; and there came into his life at this time an influence which, for the rest of his days, was destined to cast upon him the spell of a most subtle enchantment. He became ac- quainted with the General's lovely daughter, Mary. So fascinated was the poet with this gentle lady of Athens that the main purpose of his visit to Georgia was almost forgotten. The poor Cherokees became a secondary con- sideration. Even his Yankee scruples against Southern biscuit were overcome when he tasted one of the dainty products of Miss Mary's oven.

Still, he did visit the Cherokee nation; and, it was while on this trip that his imprisonment at Spring Place occurred. On hearing of his predicament, Gen. Harden hastened to his release. But the poet was so mortified over the treatment to which he had been subjected that he lost no time in returning to the North, avowing his purpose never again to visit Georgia, without a formal invitation. To this resolution he adhered. However,

14/199 411

JOHN ROSS:

Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

"HOME, SWEET HOME"

there were some memories connected with his visit which he did not care to forget and which, through the lonely days and nights succeeding his return to New York, continued softly to serenade him, to the music of his own "Home, Sweet Home."

Between Miss Harden and Payne there doubtless passed a number of letters. . But one in particular de- serves our attention. In a wild flutter of hope, he wrote to her, on July 18, 1836, telling her that he could offer her naught save his hand and heart and entreating her to smile upon his suit. What her answer to this pro- posal of marriage was, no one knows. She was always silent upon the subject; but the fact remains that they were never married, though each remained loyal till death. Perhaps the old General himself barred the way. He knew that Payne was a rolling stone; and while he admired the poet's genius he may have doubted his ability to support a helpmeet.

In after years, Payne was sent with a consular ap- pointment to Morocco, by the United State government. On the eve of his departure, Miss Harden requested of him an autographed copy of his renowned song, a boon which he promptly granted. In some mysterious manner, this copy disappeared at the time of Miss Harden's death, giving rise to the not unnatural presumption that it was buried with her; but her niece, Miss Mary Jackson, to whom the old Harden home in Athens was willed and who assisted in preparing the body of her beloved aunt for burial states that, for this supposition, there is no ground whatever. It is not unlikely that Miss Harden herself, when warned of approaching death, destroyed with her own hands what was never meant for the eyes of the idly curious.

Payne, after leaving for Morocco, returned to America but once in life. On this occasion, he received a won- derful tribute from the famous Jennie Lind, who, turn-

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

ing toward the box in which he sat, in a crowded theatre, sang in the richest accents which have doubtless ever been heard on this continent, the familiar words of his inspired song. The great Daniel Webster was a witness to this impressive scene, the memory of which he carried to his grave at Marshfield.

Soon after returning to Morocco, Payne died, on April 9, 1852, at the age of threescore years. He was buried at Tunis, where his body rested for more than three full decades, in a foreign exile, on the shores of North Africa. But finally, in 1883, through the efforts of the great phil- anthrophist, Mr. W. W. Corcoran, of Washington, D. C., the ashes of the poet were brought back to his native land and re-interred in Oak Hill Cemetery, on the out- skirts of the nation's capital. Here, underneath the same ground slab which marked his grave in Tunis, sleeps the gentle poet of the hearthstone. But overlooking the sacred spot there stands a more recent structure of pure white marble, reared by thousands of voluntary con- tributions. It is surmounted by a life-size bust of the lamented bard and lettered underneath it, is the fol- lowing epitaph :

JOHN HOWARD PAYNE Author of "Home, Sweet Home."

Born, June 9, 1792. Died, April 9, 1852.

"Sure, when thy gentle spirit fled To realms above the dome, With outstretched arms God's angels said: Welcome to Heaven's home, sweet home." ,

CHAPTER III

Lost for 114 Years: the Mystery of General Greene's Place of Entombment

M AJOR-GENERAL Nathanael Greene was, next to Washington, perhaps the most illustrious sol- dier of the American Revolution. His campaign in the Southern Department checked the victorious ca- reer of Cornwallis and opened a direct path to Yorktown. More than any other one commander, he was instrumental redeeming Georgia from the British yoke; and, at the close of hostilities with England, the Legislature of Georgia conferred upon General Greene, an exten- sive plantation, known as Mulberry Grove, some twelve miles above the city of Savannah. This handsome estate was formerly the country-seat of Lieutenant-Governor John Graham, but was confiscated by the State on ac- count of the latter's pronounced Toryism. Within a few months after receiving this gift from the State, Gen- eral Greene transferred his residence from Newport, Rhode Island, to the balmier climate of the South At- lantic.

But he was destined to enjoy the delights of his new home on the Georgia coast for only a brief season. While overseeing his plantation one day, during the heat of mid- summer, he was suddenly seized with a violent illness, due it is thought to sunstroke; and from this attack he never rallied. His death occurred on June 19, 1786. Gen- eral Greene was buried in the old Colonial Cemetery in the city of Savannah. There was a vast concourse of people present to witness the impressive ceremonies of

GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS

burial. Savannah was then the chief city of Georgia; and, on account of General Greene's eminence as a sol- dier in the recent war for independence, he was laid to rest with profuse military honors. The surviving mem- bers of the Georgia Society of the Cincinnati attended the funeral in a body ; while the Chatham Artillery acted as an escort of honor.

But, notwithstanding the august ceremonies attach- ing to the burial of this illustrious hero, in the heart of Georgia's most important center of population, the exact place of General Greene's entombment, due to circum- stances which will be explained hereafter, faded from the memory of the oldest inhabitant of Savannalı; and, for a period of one hundred and fourteen years, the last resting place of Major-General Nathanael Greene remained a profound mystery as baffling as the riddle of the Sphynx. To the superstitious imagination of the Georgia darkies along the seacoast, it furnished a most powerful stimulus; and weird stories began to circulate touching the strange disappearance of General Greene's body at the dead hour of midnight.

It looked as if the secret was fated never to be un- earthed. But finally the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati, of which General Greene was the founder, resolved to make one more effort to locate his remains ; and, on March 4, 1901, this final search bore successful fruit. The circumstances connected with the discovery in the old Colonial burial-ground have been obtained from a detailed report made by the Society's President, Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, to the General Assembly of Rhode Island; and the extraordinary account is in sub- stance given below. Says Dr. Gardiner :*

In my telegram of March 4, 1901, I announced the finding of the remains of Major-General Nathanael

*The Remains of Major-General Nathaniel Greene: A Report of the Joint Special Committee, etc., pp. 28-48.

THE GREEN MONUMENT, SAVANNAH, GA.

Underneath the Handsome Bronze Tablet Repose the Ashes of the Renowned Commander.

LOST FOR 114 YEARS

Greene in the Colonial Cemetery, in Savannah, Ga., by a committee of the Rhode Island State Society of the Cincinnati, and I now have the honor to make a more detailed report on this interesting subject. * * Major- General Greene was born in Rhode Island, on August 7, 1742, and throughout his life retained his citizenship in this State, and during the Revolutionary War was cred- ited to the quota of Rhode Island in the Continental ser- vice. When he last departed, a few months before his decease, from Newport for Savannah, he still retained hi ; residence in Newport, R. I. By reason of his po- tential services to the State of Georgia in compelling its evacuation by the British army, the Legislature of that State gave him the confiscated estate of the former Tory Lieutenant-Governor Graham. This property, known as Mulberry Grove, is located about twelve miles above Savannah, on the Savannah River.

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Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume II, Part 6

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co. Number of Pages: 1274

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1274