USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 15
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Learning that Fee had been apprehended, and that he was in confinement, several of the Creek chiefs came to Savannah to witness his execution. Grievous was their displeasure when they ascertained that he had been forcibly released. When assured that Governor Wright's proclamation was still operative, that the governor of South Carolina had offered a further reward of £200 for his arrest, and that there was good reason to believe he would yet be brought to punishment for his crime, their wrath was measurably appeased. The governor then stated to the chiefs that within four months fifteen of his people had, without any provocation, been slain by the Creeks, and that eleven of the South Carolinians had, in like manner, been slaughtered on Long Cane. He thereupon demanded of them the blood of the Indians who had murdered these innocent colonists, and ques- tioned the propriety of their asking that justice which they failed to accord. IIe assured them that the king of England, if he made a requisition for it, would send him a military force ca- pablo of exterminating the whole Indian nation, and that his amicable disposition and forbearance were proof positive that he did not desire war. He insisted, however, that the blood of his innocent people should no more be shed, and warned them that if hereafter the Indians either murdered or robbed his people he would exact atonement for every offense. On the other hand he stood pledged to make proper reparation for every injury of which they might justly complain. In the future the chiefs prom- ised that their nation should maintain peace with the English. When about to depart, the governor ordered Captain Samuel Elbert, with his company of grenadiers, to escort them through the white settlements that no harm might befall them at the hands of the inhabitants.
During the absence of theso chiefs from their nation several war parties crossed the frontiers of Georgia and committed theft
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and murder. In a little while commissioners from the Upper Creek towns visited the governor and reported that their warriors had killed the leader and two of the men who had been guilty of these recent depredations.1
These difficulties were all happily terminated, and a general peace was established at a congress held in Savannah on the twentieth day of October, seventeen hundred and seventy-four. The contracting parties on behalf of Georgia were his excellency Sir James Wright, governor, the Honorable John Stuart, super- intendent of Indian affairs in the Southern District and one of his majesty's councilors, and the Honorable Noble Jones, James Edward Powell, Lewis Johnston, John Graham, James Read, Clement Martin, Anthony Stokes, and James Hume, members of council. On the part of the Indians the treaty of amity was signed by seven kings and head warriors of the Lower Creeks, and by thirteen head men of the Upper Creek nation.
After reciting the existing treaties for the establishment and conservation of friendship between the races, after recounting the infractions which had of late occurred, notably in the murder of William White, his wife, and four children at his house near the head of Ogeechee River on the 25th of December, 1773, the unprovoked attack upon Sherrall's plantation in January, 1774, and the killing of Sherrall, four white persons, and two negroes, and the wounding of others, the murder of sundry white settlers, the robbery of houses, the theft of horses and cattle, and the retaliations which had been indulged in by the colonists, pro- vision was made for the rendition of negro slaves and personal property eloigned, and for making full satisfaction by the execu- tion of all murderers who were still at large so soon as they could be apprehended. Negroes escaping into the Indian territory were to be promptly returned, and the Indians were to refrain from trespassing upon the lands ceded to the Crown. Former treaties were solemnly ratified, entire good-will, peace, and friend- ship were pledged for the future, and all past offenses were mut- ually condoned.2
It excites no surprise that these incursions of the savages and the insecurity of the New Purchase, as it was called, materially
1 See McCall's History of Georgia, vol. ii. pp. 9-13. Savannah. 1816. Governor Wright's talk to the head men and war- riors of the Upper and Lower Creeks,
Savannah, February 1, 1774. Governor Wright's proclamation of March 24, 1774. 2 Sco this treaty in full in Colonial Documents from the State Paper Office, London, vol. v. pp. 160-171.
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retarded the tide of immigration which at first turned towards these desirable lands. Confidence, however, was restored by the conclusions and covenants of the Savannah congress. Applicants for purchase soon reappeared in pleasing numbers, and those who had been driven from their partially improved homes returned and entered upon their labors with renewed hope of safety and success.
In progress of time, as the moneys realized from the sale of these lands were collected and it became proper to disburse them in liquidation of the claims which the English traders held against the Indians, Governor Wright, in view of the unsettled condition of political affairs, assumed the responsibility of paying such traders as were loyal to the Crown the full amount of their demands and of withholding payment from others whom he regarded as sympathizers with the cause of the Revolutionists. He exhibited like partiality in granting the lands themselves. Against George Galphin, and some others who opposed the op- pressive measures of the British government, Sir James discrim- inated most unjustly. Although their claims were large, and of their justice there could be no question, compensation to them was absolutely refused. While, as a matter of policy, this con- duct was approved by the ministry, it can scarcely be indorsed in the forum of equity and good conscience.
On the 6th of June, 1775, the demand of George Galphin was audited before the governor in council, approved for the sum of £9,791 15s. 5d., and made payable from moneys which should be realized upon the sale of the lands lately ceded to his majesty by the Cherokee and Creek Indians. By the fortunes of war this territory became the property of the State of Georgia. As early as 1780, the interest of such of the traders as proved them- selves to be "friends to America " was admitted by Georgia. That among this number Galphin should be properly classed there can be no question. By the royal assembly which con- vened in Savannah only a short time before his death was he at- tainted of high treason, and denounced as the " Rebel Superin- tendent of Indian Affairs." Of his pronounced sympathy with the American colonies in their effort to rid themselves of English rule, of the value of the services rendered by him in behalf of Georgia during the Revolution when his extensive influence was exerted to the utmost in restraining the temper of the Creeks and in prevailing upon them to remain neutral in the struggle, and of the personal contributions he made to the new-born State,
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GEORGE GALPIIIN.
sadly deficient in provisions, men, and munitions, General Howe, Judge Walton, Major Joseph Habersham, and other well-ap- proved patriots have borne ample testimony. The tardy recog- nition of his claim was a reproach to law and a perplexing denial of justice.1
During her colonial days George Galphin may justly be ranked among the most influential and enterprising citizens of Georgia. Although his home and depot of supplies were for many years located at Silver Bluff, on the Carolina side of the Savannah River below Augusta, his affiliations were all with Georgia, and his principal intercourse was with her people and with the Indian nations dwelling upon her borders. In the colonization of the province he took an active interest. His commercial transactions extended as far as Charlestown and Savannah on the one hand, and St. Augustine, Pensacola, and Mobile on the other. Time and again did he advance supplies to the colony when at remote points they were required by those engaged in the public service. By William Bartram, who visited him in 1776, he is described as "a gentleman of very distinguished talents and great liber- ality, who possessed the most extensive trade, connexions, and influence amongst the South and South-west Indian Tribes." Those in authority often leaned upon him for aid and advice.
Long was Silver Bluff a place of general resort and of much commercial importance. Hence were the annual royal presents for the Indians frequently distributed. Hither did the Indians, from an extensive territory, repair to exchange their peltry and animals for articles of European manufacture. From this point did traders depart amply supplied for distant expeditions and long sojourns among the red men. Here were storehouses, cattle pens, and structures erected for the accommodation of the rude visitors. Barges plied regularly between Silver Bluff and Charles- town and Savannah, and the landing place was the resort of multitudes of Indian canoes, many of them coming from remote points. It was a busy scene in the midst of the wild woods and by the swiftly moving waters of the tawny-hued Savannah, - this constant arrival and departure of a picturesque trading popu- lation, this ever-recurring receipt and dispersion of goods, this ceaseless exchange of commodities. Over all watched the ob- servant eye of the proprietor. So just was he in his dealings with the sons of the forest, and so extensive were his transac-
1 For a history of this claim and its Collections of Georgia, pp. 246 et seq. final collection, see White's Historical New York. 1855.
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tions with them, that he acquired an influence at once potent and far-reaching.
The years roll on, and an increasing population, overleaping stream and mountain barrier, fills the hills and valleys of a dis- tant interior. Before its inexorable advance the red race retires, and upon its departure the occupation of the Indian trader here becomes obsolete. Bereft of its importance this post lapses into decay, and the locality becomes the home of departed memories, the abode of traditions, and the dwelling-place of the phantoms of things that were. The same bold river with restless tide hast- ening onward to mingle its waters with the billows of the At- lantic, the same overarching skies, the same potent sun, kindred forests and voices of nature, but all else how changed !
In a report on the condition of the province of Georgia, pre- pared by Governor Wright in response to certain inquiries pro- pounded by the Earl of Dartmouth and dated on the 20th of September, 1773,1 we are informed that the territory of Geor- gia within the Indian boundary line was supposed to embrace 6,695,429 acres. About one hundred and twenty thousand acres were improved and cultivated, and these were distributed among fourteen hundred plantations. Titles to 140,915 acres were granted by the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America. Ninety-three thousand acres were held under grants from the governor of South Carolina, and all the rest, save a barony of twelve thousand acres claimed under a patent from the late Lords Proprietors of the Colony of South Carolina, was held under grants from his late majesty, and from King George III., witnessed by the respective governors of the province. These twelve thousand acres, constituting the barony, were claimed by Sir William Baker, whose title was disputed by cer- tain soldiers of General Oglethorpe's regiment, who asserted that when that regiment was disbanded in 1748 and 1749 these iden- tical lands were set apart to them by the trustees, and that they had remained in the ownership and occupancy of them and their descendants ever since.2
The courts of the province consisted of a " court of Chancery," and of courts of " General and Common Pleas," and of " Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery." The rules observed
1 P. R. O., Am. and W. Ind., No. 235, printed in Volume iii. of the Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, pp. 157- ing petition of claimants. 179.
2 See Order of Council at the Court of St. James, May 1, 1771, and accompany-
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REPORT OF GOVERNOR WRIGHT.
in their conduct and the methods of procedure conformed to those in use in the courts of Great Britain.
" The trade of this Province," writes Sir James, "is princi- pally with Great Britain, from whence we are supplyed with Linnens and Woolens of all Sorts, Iron ware of all sorts, Hats, Shoes, Stockings, and all sorts of Apparel : Tea, Paper, Paints, and a great variety of other articles, and altho' the Negroes are brought here immediately from Africa, yet the Returns in pay- ment for them are made to Great Britain so that that may also be deemed as a part of our Trade with Great Britain, to which place we export Deer skins, Rice, Indico, Naval Stores and sun- dry other Articles. The annual amount of our Imports from Great Britain is computed at £76,322 on an average for three years past, besides the Negroes imported which, in the last year, amounted to twenty thousand pounds. And our exports to Great Britain only in the year 1772 amounted to £68,688.10.2. ster- ling. And besides this we are supplyed with Rum and Sugar from the West Indies, and also with Rum, Flour, and Biscuit and other Provisions &ca from the Northern Colonys. To the West Indies we send Rice, Corn, Pease, Lumber, Shingles, Cattle, Horses and Live Stock, also Barrelled Beef and Pork. But the Northern Trade is an injurious trade as they take but little of our produce and drain us of every trifle of Gold and Silver that is brought here by giving a price for Guineas, Moidores, Johannes's Pistols, and Dollars, far above their real and intrinsic value, so that we can never keep any amongst us. There is belonging to this Province that is owned and part owned here, five Ships, one Snow, seven Brigantines, thirteen Sloops and Schooners, and ten coasting vessels, in all to the amount of nineteen hundred and ninety tons, and trading boats that go up our rivers, and to which may belong about two hundred and twelve seafaring men. And we have entered and cleared at the Custom House in the Port of Savannah for the last year one hundred and sixty one sail of Vessels of different sorts, and at Sunbury fifty six : in the whole two hundred and seventeen, the Tonnage of which is com- puted at 12,124 Tons, and in all which Vessels there may be em- ploy'd seventeen hundred seafaring men. In the year 1761 we only entered and cleared in the whole Province forty five vessels, the whole Tonnage of which amounted only to 1604 Tons, from which the increase of the Trade and Produce of this Province since that time is most evident."
The staple commodities of the province were rice, indigo, deer
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TIIE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
skins, raw silk, pitch, tar, turpentine, beef, pork, Indian corn, peas, tobacco, staves, shingles, lumber of all sorts, live-oak for ship building, and a little hemp. To the West Indies cattle, horses, and other live stock were shipped. Bees-wax and beaver skins also formed articles of trade. The exports for five years past averaged £101,210 sterling.
Of the mineral resources of the province but little was then known, although the presence of iron ore of a rich quality had been detected beyond Little River. The white population of Georgia was estimated at rather more than eighteen thousand, while the number of negro slaves was computed at fifteen thou- sand. Two thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight white males between the ages of sixteen and sixty were enrolled in the militia and commanded by officers commissioned by the governor. Six regular musters were had in each year, and the power resided with the governor to summon to the field the entire military force of the colony should invasion, insurrection, or rebellion occur.1
The defenses of the colony continued to be in a pitiable con- dition. Fort George, on Cockspur Island, commanding the en- trance to Savannah River, which, in 1762, was built of mud walls faced with palmetto logs, was in ruins, and its garrison consisted of only a subaltern officer and three men " just to make signals."
Of Fort Halifax, in the town of Savannah, erected in 1759 and 1760, and made of plank filled in with earth, "only two caponiers " remained.
The tabby walls were all that were left to remind the visitor of Fort Frederick, constructed by General Oglethorpe at Fred- erica, on St. Simon's Island. No soldiers had been stationed there since 1767, when the Independent Company was disbanded. When in April, 1767, the Rangers " were broke," Fort Augusta, in the town of Augusta, faced with three-inch plank, was aban- doned. It had now fallen into decay. Such, also, was the con- dition of Fort Barrington, on the Alatamalia River. It originally consisted of "a large Caponiere inclosed round with Pun- chions." 2
1 Sco " Act for the better ordering of the Militia," nssented to 29th of Septem- ber, 1773. Acts passed by the General Assembly of the Colony of Georgia, 1755- 1774, now first printed, pp. 260-283. Wormsloe. MDCCCLXXXI.
2 For plans of Forts George and Bar- rington, see DeBrahm's History of the Province of Georgia, pp. 44, 45. Worms- loo. MDCCCXLIX.
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Of the Indian nations resident within and adjacent to Georgia, the Choctaws were supposed to number seventy-five hundred, among whom were two thousand five hundred gun men. The Creeks, with their four thousand gun men, were set down at twelve thousand. The Chickesaws were conjectured to have four hundred and fifty warriors and an aggregate population of between thirteen and fourteen hundred. Three thousand gun men represented the military strength of the Cherokees, while the Catawbas, all told, could not number more than three hun- dred men, women, and children. No longer misguided by the French and Spaniards, these primitive peoples turned to the English for supplies and were largely influenced by the presents annually distributed among them. It was Governor Wright's impression that in the scale of civilization the Cherokees were half a century in advance of their neighbors the Creeks, who were the most treacherous of all these Indian nations.
The revenue applied to the support of the provincial gov- ernment, etc., was raised from the king's quit rents, and by an annual tax on houses, lands, negroes, money at interest, stock in trade, and on some other specified articles. There was also a duty on rum imported from the West Indies and the northern colonies. The sum thus realized for the year 1773 amounted to £5,121 15s. 10gd. sterling.
The civil establishment of the province consisted of the follow- ing officers : -
His excellency James Wright, baronet, governor, appointed by his majesty. His salary was £1,000 sterling per annum, with perquisites amounting annually to some £319.
The secretary was the Honorable James Habersham, also ap- pointed by the Crown, with a salary of £100. His official per- quisites averaged annually £341. Besides these, his fees for recording deeds and other conveyances amounted annually to about £131. From these perquisites and fees, salaries of a deputy and clerks and incidental expenses, estimated at £350 per annum, were paid.
Anthony Stokes was chief justice. His salary was £500 ster- ling per annum, and his perquisites and fees of office did not annually fall short of £520 sterling. Associated with him were three assistant judges who were entitled to neither salaries nor perquisites. They held their appointments from the governor.
The receiver of quit rents, Sir Patrick Houstoun, baronet, ap- pointed by the Lords of the Treasury, enjoyed a fixed salary of
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£100 sterling per annum, and fees of office amounting annually to £71 sterling.
The surveyor general, Henry Yonge, also an appointee of the Lords of the Treasury, had a salary of £150 per annum. The gross fees of his office aggregated annually the sum of &373.
Charles Pryce, attorney general, appointed in obedience to his majesty's royal sign manual, received a salary of £150 sterling per annum, and his fees of office for prosecutions and every other kind of business amounted annually to the sum of £215 sterling. During the absence of Mr. Pryce, by the king's permission, James Hume, by appointment of the governor, acted in his place.
The provost marshal, Samuel Smith, appointed by the Crown at a salary of £100 per annum, resided in England. His duties were performed by an acting provost marshal, nominated by the governor, to whom the province paid an annual salary of £30. The fees earned by him in attending and recording elections, summoning juries, etc., amounted annually to £280 sterling.
James Edward Powell, judge of the admiralty, and appointed by the Crown, found his office worth not more than £10 per annum. William Spencer, register of the admiralty, was also an appointee of the Crown, and his position did not bring in more than £12 per annum. Andrew Elton Wells, commissioned in like manner, did not make more than £15 sterling out of his office of marshal of the admiralty.
Henry Preston and Charles Pryce, Jr., clerks of the Crown and Pleas, were appointed by the governor. They had no salary, but their fees amounted annually to £613 sterling. To the office of public or provincial treasurer no salary was attached, but that officer was allowed five per cent. upon the taxes received, and that percentage usually amounted to some £150 sterling per annum. Besides, his other fees of office did not fall short of £83 annually. The treasurer held his appointment from the governor.
Alexander Thompson, collector of customs at the port of Savannah, appointed by the Lords of the Treasury and Com- missioners of Customs, was in the receipt annually of a salary of £60 sterling, and of fees of office amounting to £298.
William Brown, comptroller and searcher for the port of Sa- vannah, appointed in the same manner as the collector, received as comptroller an annual salary of £50, and as searcher, ££30 per annum. ITis fees as comptroller amounted annually to £70, and his fees as searcher to £90.
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OFFICERS OF THE PROVINCE.
James Kitchen, collector of the port of Sunbury, held his ap- pointment likewise from the Lords of the Treasury and Commis- sioners of the Customs, receiving an annual salary of £65 sterling, and enjoying fees of office to the amount, annually, of £90.
Isaac Antrobus, comptroller and searcher for that port, per- formed his duties by like authority. His salary was £60 per annum and the fees of his office amounted annually to £60.
William Haven, naval officer, appointed by the governor in obedience to the royal sign manual of his majesty, was allowed no specified salary, but his fees amounted to £154 7s.
Besides these were minor officers, such as country waiters, in- spectors of tobacco, hemp, etc., appointed by the government, whose duties were light and their compensations trifling.
Alexander Wylly, clerk of council, holding his appointment from the governor, although not a salaried officer, received annually for his services in attending upon council and keeping its minutes, and for drawing land petitions, swearing parties, entering orders, and countersigning grants, £180 8s. 6d. sterling. As clerk of the Upper House of Assembly, his salary and allow- ances amounted annually to £70.
Another officer, appointed by the governor and allowed by the Crown an annual salary of £20, was Richard Cuningham Crook, the clerk of the Commons House of Assembly. For attending the House, recording bills, and copying its journals, he was annu- ally paid £181 sterling. Clerk's hire and any incidental expenses connected with the discharge of his duties were payable out of this fund.
James Edward Powell, captain of Fort George, was paid by the province £10 sterling per month.
The officers of the troop of rangers for the protection of the settlers of the newly acquired territory were also under the pay of the colonial government.
Moses Nunez, an Indian interpreter, was allowed £50 per annum out of the contingent fund.
In the estimate for maintaining the civil establishment of the colony for the year ending June 24, 1774, aggregating £3,086, appear an allowance of £116 for the support of a minister of the Church of England and two schoolmasters, an appropriation of £200 to pay the salary of the agent selected to solicit the affairs of the province in England, an allowance of £50 to the pilot stationed at the mouth of the Savannah River, an annuity of £100 to Mr. Ottolenghe, superintendent of the late Filature at
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Savannah, in consideration of his long and faithful services in promoting silk culture in Georgia, and an allowance of £500 for contingent expenses.
Such, in a word, was the financial, agricultural, commercial, military, and civil condition of Georgia, and this the list of the king's servants charged with the administration of public affairs, but a little while anterior to the epoch when the differences be- tween England and her American colonies were submitted to the arbitrament of the sword.
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