USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 14
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" We his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Com- mons of Georgia in General Assembly met, are very unhappy to find by your message to us of this day that any Minutes en- tered on our Journals should be construed by your Honour in a manner so very different from the true intent and design of this House. Conscious we are, Sir, that our third choice of Noble Wimberly Jones Esqr as our Speaker was not in the least meant as disrespectful to his Majesty, or to you his representative, nor thereby did we mean to infringe on the just prerogative of the Crown. We have seriously reconsidered that particular minute which seems to have given your Honour so much offence, and cannot perceive wherein it is contrary to the strict mode of Par- liamentary proceeding, or repugnant to anything communicated to us by your Honour. We were hopeful that no further im- pediment would have arisen to retard the urgent business of the public, and still flatter ourselves that we may be permitted to do that justice to our constituents which they have a right to expect from us : and we sincerely assure your Honour that it is our hearty wish and desire to finish the business, by you recom- mended to us, with all harmony and dispatch.
ARCHIBALD BULLOCH, Speaker."
Governor Habersham thereupon summoned the House before him in the Council Chamber and, after reviewing the whole affair, peremptorily dissolved the assembly.
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MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY.
The members composing the Commons House were Jonathan Bryan, Noble Wimberley Jones, Archibald Bulloch, and William Young for the town and district of Savannah; Nathaniel Hall for the parish of St. George; David Zubly for the village of Acton; Benjamin Andrews, John Stevens, and Audley Maxwell for Mid- way and the parish of St. John; Peter Sallins for the parish of St. Patrick ; Edward Barnard, Alexander Inglis, and Thomas Shruder for Augusta and the parish of St. Paul; Thomas Carter for the parish of St. David ; Henry Bourquin for the district of Little Ogeechee in the parish of Christ Church ; William Ewen, Stephen Millen, and John Stirk for the town and district of Eben- ezer in the parish of St. Matthew ; Samuel Farley for the islands of Wilmington, Tybee, Skidoway, and Green Island in the parish of Christ Church ; James Spalding for the parish of St. James ; and William LeConte and Jonathan Cockran for the parish of St. Philip. George McIntosh, elected for the parish of St. An- drew, took his seat on the 24th of April ; and George Baillie for ,the parish of St. Thomas, and John Thomas for the parish of St. George, declined to serve as representatives.1
In a long letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, dated the 30th of April, 1772, Governor Habersham dwells upon the injurious effects of this dissolution of the assembly, and yet demonstrates its necessity in obedience to existing instructions from the Crown. He also comments freely upon the conduct of Dr. Jones and his friends in "opposing the public business " under the "specious pretence of Liberty and Privilege." " My Lord," he continues, "it is very painful to me to say or even to insinuate a disrespect- ful word of any one; and every person who knows me will ac- knowledge that it is contrary to my disposition to dip my pen in gall, but I cannot help considering Mr. Jones' conduct for some time past in opposing Public Business as very ungrateful and un- worthy a good man, as his family have reaped more advantages from Government than any I know in this Province. He was several years first Lieutenant and Surgeon of a Company of Rangers paid by the Crown, and in these capacities met with great indulgence. His father is the King's Treasurer and, if I am not mistaken, reaps very considerable emoluments from it." The truth is, while Governor Habersham was loyally seeking to carry out the instructions of the king and to support the author- ity of Parliament, Dr. Jones was in active sympathy with those who esteemed taxation without representation as wholly unau-
1 Sec Journals of the Commons llouse of Assembly.
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thorized, and were very jealous in the maintenance of what they regarded as the reserved rights of the colonists and the privileges of provincial legislatures. Both were true men, but they viewed the situation from different standpoints. An honored servant of the Crown, Mr. Habersham was confronted with peculiar duties and stringent oaths. Dr. Jones, on the contrary, as a representa- tive elected by the people, was free to give expression to his own and the sentiments of his constituents at an epoch when Amer- ican liberty was being freely proclaimed. Of each it may be aptly spoken, he was pure in purpose, wise in counsel, and fear- less in action, enjoying, in a conspicuous degree, the esteem and the affection of the public. But their political paths hencefor- ward diverged. The one adhered to his allegiance to the Crown and shared its fortunes, while the other cast his lot with the Rev- olutionists and became a favorite leader of the patriot band.
Although Governor Habersham's conduct in dissolving the assembly was fully approved by the king, the effect produced upon the colony was perplexing and deleterious. The treasury was empty and no tax-bill had been digested. Important stat- utes were expiring by their own limitations, and no new laws were framed for the orderly conduct of the province. The peo- ple viewed the dissolution as an arbitrary exercise of imperial power, as a violent suppression of the general preference, as an unjustifiable interference with legislative privilege. From across the sea there came no redress of grievances. At home the shad- ows multiplied, and the waves of popular unrest, disquietude, and passion chafed more sullenly than ever against the barriers which the ministry had erected.
President Habersbam failed to interpret the signs of the times ; for as late as the 12th of January, 1773, he informed the Earl of Dartmouth that the province was "enjoying perfect tranquillity." Its population was increasing and its agricultural products were multiplying in a most satisfactory ratio. Georgia was also on the eve of acquiring a most valuable addition to her territory.
The services of Governor Wright were recognized by the king who, on the 8th of December, 1772, complimented him with a baronetcy. About the middle of February, 1773, he was again in Savannah where he without delay resumed his gubernatorial office. As ou his departure, nineteen months before, affectionate addresses had been presented to him by the council, the bench, the merchants, and the public officers, so now, on his return,
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THE INDIANS CEDE ADDITIONAL LANDS.
tokens of respect were freely tendered, and he was received by the Georgians with great friendliness and rejoicing. Notwith- standing the differences of opinion which existed between Sir James and some of the leading minds of the colony in reference to the late measures of Parliament, there was a universal feeling that he had honestly discharged his duty to the king, and had exhibited qualities inspiring respect and commanding esteem.1
For some time the Cherokees had been increasing their in- debtedness to the traders. Each year did they become less able to discharge their accumulating obligations. The Creeks were also in a similar situation. The traders clamored for payment, and the Indians offered to make a cession of lands in settlement of these debts. Various negotiations and talks ensued in re- gard to the matter, which was finally adjusted at a congress held in Augusta on the first of June, 1773. Georgia was repre- sented by her governor, Sir James Wright, and the Cherokees and Creeks appeared in the persons of several chiefs who were empowered to bind their respective nations. The Honorable John Stuart, his majesty's sole agent and superintendent of In- dian affairs in the Southern District of North America, was also present.
The deed of cession then executed reads as follows : -
" Whereas the Cherokee Indians did some time ago propose to the aforesaid Governor and the Superintendent to cede unto his most sacred Majesty, King George the Third, a certain tract of land situate, lying, and being within the Province of Georgia on the river Savannah above Little river, and extending up Sa- vannah river above Broad river and cross the country towards the Oconee river, which the said Cherokee Indians claimed as their right and property :
" And whereas the said Cherokee Indians having considered of their great poverty and distress, and finding it to be out of their power to pay the debts due from them to their traders in the usual way by hunting and getting deer skins, declared them- selves under the necessity of making the above proposition and requested the said Governor and Superintendent to lay their dis- tressed situation before his Majesty and to implore that he would be graciously pleased to accept of a cession of the said lands from them, and that the same might be appropriated towards the pay- ment of their debts justly due to the unfortunate people who had been trading amongst them since the peace made with them,
1 Sce Stevens' llistory of Georgia, vol. ii. p. 74. Philadelphia. 1859.
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which was in the year 1761, that so their said traders might be enabled to furnish them with goods as usual :
" And whereas the distressed state and condition of the said Indians, together with their proposition and request as aforesaid, having been fully represented unto his Majesty, who, being gra- ciously disposed to relieve the said Indians from their necessities and distress and to promote and preserve peace and good order between and amongst them and his Majesty's subjects trading with them, was pleased to consent to receive a cession of the said lands for the purposes aforesaid, and hath given instructions to his said Governor and Superintendent to hold a Congress with them and to take a cession of the said lands accordingly :
" And whereas the Creek Indians do also claim to have a right and property in the said lands claimed by the Cherokee Indians and proposed to be ceded by them as aforesaid :
" And whereas the said Creek Indians, in consideration of the payment of the debts justly due from them to the persons trading with them since the above period, have also consented and agreed to join in the said cession and also to add some further lands to those proposed to be ceded by the Cherokee Indians :
" And whereas his Majesty hath been also pleased to approve
. of the same and to direct that a cession of all the said lands be received and taken jointly from the Cherokee and Creek In- dians :
" It is therefore consented and agreed by and between the sev- eral Indian Chiefs present, and who have signed this treaty of cession, as well Creeks as Cherokees, and who declare them- selves to be fully and absolutely authorized and empowered by the several Kings, Head-men, and Warriors of the Upper and Lower Creeks, and of all the Cherokee Country, for and in be- half of themselves and their several nations and tribes in man- ner and form following, that is to say : We the said Indian Chiefs, as well Creeks as Cherokees, do freely offer and request that the said Governor and Superintendent, in behalf and for the use of liis most sacred Majesty King George the Third, and to his successors forever, will accept of a grant and cession of the several lands hereinafter mentioned and described, that is to say : To begin at the place where the Lower Creek path inter- sects Ogguechee river, and along the main branch of said river to the source of the southermost branch of said river, and from thence along the ridge between the waters of Broad river and Occonce river up to the Buffaloe Lick, and from thence in a
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TERRITORY CEDED BY THE INDIANS.
straight line to the Tree marked by the Cherokees near the head of a branch falling into the Occonee river, and from thence along the said ridge twenty miles above the line already run by the Cherokees, and from thence across to Savannahi river by a line parallel with that formerly marked by them.
" And the Creeks, by Saleachee and Taleachee and other Head-men of the Lower Creeks, also cede from the present boundary line at Phinholoway Creek on the Alatamaha river, up the said river to an island opposite to the mouth of Barber creek, and from thence cross to Ogueechee river opposite to the road about four miles above Buckhead where a canoe ferry used to be kept.
" And we the said several Indian Chiefs, for ourselves and our several nations and tribes of Indians, do hereby solemnly declare that we do fully and clearly understand every part of this Treaty and Cession, it having been fully interpreted and explained to us, and that the same is made at our own requests and for our own benefit and advantage, and for and towards the payment and sat- isfaction of the several debts which are justly due and owing from us to the several persons who have traded and supplied us with goods as aforesaid. And we, the said Creek Indian Chiefs and Cherokee Indian Chiefs, in consideration aforesaid, do by these presents in the most solemn manner for us and our several nations and tribes fully and absolutely give, grant, and confirm unto his most sacred Majesty, King George the Third, all and singular the lands hereinbefore mentioned and described. And we do, for ourselves and our nations and tribes as aforesaid, and for each and every of us, and them, surrender and yield up all and each and every of our respective rights, titles, interest, claim, and property of and in the aforesaid lands unto his said Majesty King George the Third, to hold the same unto him and his successors forever. And we, the said Creek Indian Chiefs, do hereby fully and absolutely agree that from henceforth the above lines and boundary shall be the mark of division of lands between his Majesty's subjects in the Province aforesaid and us the said Creek Indians, notwithstanding any former agreement or boun- dary to the contrary, and that we will not disturb any of his Majesty's subjects in their settlements or otherwise within the lines aforesaid.
" In consideration whereof it is agreed on the part of his Maj- esty that the monies arising by sale of the lands ceded as afore- said, after defraying the expence of this Congress and such other VOL. II. 9
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
charges and expences as will necessarily arise in carrying this measure into execution, shall be applied towards the payment and satisfaction of such debts as shall appear to be justly due and owing from the Indians to their traders as aforesaid."
Simultaneously with the formal execution of this cession and treaty, releases were taken from the Indian traders holding claims against the Indians by which, in consideration of the sur- render of this territory to his majesty, and in anticipation of receiving partial or entire payment of the several debts due to them by the Creeks and Cherokees from the moneys to be real- ized upon and from the sale of these lands, they absolutely ac- quitted and discharged the Indians from every demand whatso- ever. Prominent among those signing these releases were George Galphin, James Jackson & Co., Martin Campbell & Son, Wood- gion, Rae, Whitefield & Co., Edward Barnard, Waters, James Grierson, James Spalding & Co., and Edward Keating.
The aggregate indebtedness existing on the part of the Indians was estimated at from £40,000 to £50,000. The territory thus acquired embraced over two millions of acres of land, most of it well watered, and adapted to the cultivation of indigo, cotton, tobacco, corn, wheat, etc. Wilkes, Lincoln, Taliaferro, Greene, Oglethorpe, Elbert, and other counties were subsequently carved out of it. Goodly was the region, and offering many attractions to immigrants. In a memorial addressed to the king, Governor Wright submitted the most florid estimate of the benefits which would accrue to the province from the settlement of these lands.
In order to engage the attention of the public and to attract settlers for this newly acquired and fertile domain, his excel- leney, on the 11th of June, 1773, issued a proclamation in which, after describing the cession and making known the fact that sur- veyors were actually engaged in running out and marking the boundaries, he states that the territory would " be parceled out in tracts varying from 100 to 1,000 acres the better to accommo- date the buyers ; " that in conformity to his majesty's instruc- tions "one hundred acres would be sold to the master or head of a family, fifty acres additional for the wife and each child, and the same number of acres for each slave owned and brought in by the purchaser ; " that in " further encouragement of the set- tling of the said lands the masters or heads of families will be allowed to purchase 50 acres for each able bodied white servant man they shall bring in to settle thereon," and also " 25 acres for every woman servant from the age of 15 years to 40 years ; "
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that all persons were at liberty to come into the province and view these lands, and, as soon as they were surveyed, to make choice of such of them as they desired to purchase and settle upon ; that grants would be executed on the most moderate terms, and that for a period of ten years the parcels purchased would be exempt from the payment of quit rents ; that the lands offered were " in general of the most fertile quality and fit for the production of wheat, indico, Indian corn, tobacco, hemp, flax, &c. &c. &c ; " that they comprised " a pleasant and very. healthy part of the Province ; " that they were " extremely well watered by Savannah River, Ogechee River, Little River, and Broad River, and by a great number of creeks and branches which ran throughout the whole country and emptied themselves into the aforesaid rivers ; " that there was an abundance of springs, and that the water was very fine ; that Little River, where the ceded lands began, was but twenty-two miles above the town of Au- gusta ; that at this place ready market would always be found for all produce and stock ; that if Savannah was preferred as a point for trade there was easy transportation down the Savannah River, while a good wagon road led from Little River to that commercial metropolis of the province ; that a fort would speedily be built and garrisoned within the ceded lands for the protection of the immigrants, and that all vagrants and disorderly persons would be promptly and severely dealt with ; and finally, that these lands adjoined a well-settled part of the province, where law, justice, and good government obtained.
A plan of settlement was carefully arranged, and Colonel Bart- lett and Messrs. Young, Holland, and Maddox were appointed commissioners and vested with ample powers to negotiate sales. They were authorized to place a valuation upon each tract ac- cording to its quality. Not more than five shillings per acre were to be charged in any event, and five pounds sterling were to be paid as entrance money for every hundred acres. To facilitate the business, land courts were opened in Savannah, in Augusta, and at the confluence of Broad and Savannah rivers. At this last-named locality Captain Waters and his company were sta- tioned. Here Fort James was builded. Its stockade was an acre in extent. Within this inclosure were officers' quarters and barracks for the garrison, consisting of fifty rangers, well mounted, and armed each with a rifle, two dragoon pistols, a hanger, a pow- der-horn, a shot-pouch, and a tomahawk.' In each angle of this
1 Bartram's Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, etc., pp. 321, 322. London. 1792.
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THIE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
square stockade was erected a block-house in which swivel guns were posted. These structures rose one story above the cur- tains, which were pierced for small arms. The stockade crowned a gentle eminence in the fork of the Savannah and Broad, equi- distant from those rivers and from the extreme point of land formed by their junction. On the peninsula above the fort was located the town called Dartmouth in honor of the earl whose influence had been exerted in persuading his majesty to favor the cession of this recently acquired territory. After a short and by no means robust existence. Dartmouth gave place to Peters- burg, which, during the tobacco culture in Georgia, attracted to itself a considerable population, and was regarded as a place of no little commercial importance.1
Settlements were rapidly formed on the Ogeechee and north of Little River, and the ceded lands were eagerly sought after. The Quakers who, through fear of the Indians, had abandoned their homes in the southern portion of what is now Columbia County, returned and diligently resumed their agricultural opera- tions. The outlook for the speedy population of this new domain was most encouraging when the pleasing prospect was suddenly enveloped in doubt and disaster by the unexpected hostility of the Creeks.
In January, 1774, a party of Lower Creek Indians wantonly attacked Sherrall's fortified settlement, in which were five white and three negro men and twelve women and children. Ap- proaching stealthiily, the Indians fired upon the men who were at work upon the fort. Sherrall and two others fell. The rest retreated into the houses where, encouraged by the valor of a negro who rushed upon an Indian and shot him through the head, they entered upon a vigorous defense. Thrice did the savages set fire to the structures, and as often were the flames extinguished. Two of the neighbors, attracted by the firing, ap- proached. Discovered by the Indians they were pursued. Suc- ceeding, however, in making their escape, they notified Captain Barnard of the affair. Hastily collecting about forty men, hie advanced to the relief of the besieged and, attacking the Indians in the rear, drove them into the swamp. Seven persons had been killed and five wounded within the fort. Of the Indians it is known that five were slain. Their wounded were carried off by their companions.
A few days afterwards a skirmish occurred between twenty-five 1 Deud Towns of Georgia, pp. 233, 234. Charles C. Jones, Jr. Savannah. 1878.
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INDIAN HOSTILITIES.
white settlers and one hundred and fifty Indians. Grant, Weath- · erford, Hammond, and Ayres were killed, and a fifth white man was wounded who died the next day at Wrightsboro. Several pri- vate forts and dwellings, which had been precipitately abandoned by their owners, were reduced to ashes by the savages. Collecting some men, Captain Few and Lieutenants Williams and Bishop buried the bodies of those who had fallen in the recent action. Lieutenant Samuel Alexander, with a few militia, attacked and dispersed a party of Indians who had become separated from the main body. Two of the Creeks were killed. For having thus, without authority, punished these Indians, Alexander was re- buked by Colonel Rae, an agent of Indian affairs. Apprised of the circumstances, however, Rae justified Alexander's conduct, and expressed the opinion that when the chiefs of the nation should be made acquainted with the entire transaction they would note the provocation and acquiesce in the propriety of the retaliation.
This sudden and disastrous invasion of the recently settled district caused general alarm and distrust. Many retreated to places of security. Forts were constructed on Savannah and Little rivers, and in them were deposited women and children, and personal property of special value. In cultivating their farms the husbandmen banded together for mutual protection.
By a messenger dispatched by Mr. George Galphin, a princi- pal agent for Indian affairs and a trader high in the confidence both of the colonists and of the savages, to ascertain from the chiefs of the Lower Creeks whether they were inclined to peace or war, and to demand an explanation of the recent outrages, answer was returned that the incursion was unauthorized and that the disposition of the Creeks toward the inhabitants of Georgia was pacific.
Big Elk, the leader of the Creeks who attacked Sherrall's fort, finding that his nation was averse to entering upon a war with the English, invited the Cherokees to join him in an invasion of Georgia. This the Cherokees declined to do. On his way home that chief and his party killed and scalped three white men.
About the last of March, Head Turkey,1 a leading mico of the Upper Creeks, accompanied by two chiefs and an Indian trader, visited the Lower Creek towns to prevail upon the inhabitants to make peace with the Georgians. It was consented that he should wait upon Governor Wright and submit overtures. On
1 C'allod also Mad Turkey.
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his way to Savannah he was murdered in Augusta by Thomas Fee, who sought revenge for a kinsman of his who, on the north- ern frontier, had been butchered by the Indians. This lawless act produced a profound sensation and stirred the hearts of the sav- ages to wrath and vengeance. Fee fled into South Carolina and there sought protection. A reward of £100 sterling was offered by Sir James Wright for his apprehension. He was arrested and lodged in the prison-house at Ninety-Six. While there de- tained, an armed party came in the night-time, forced the jail, and set him at liberty.
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