USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia: containing brief sketches of the most remarkable events, up to the present day, Vol. I > Part 3
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" From the camp near Savannah, the - 10th February, 1733.
"GENTLEMEN,
"I GAVE you an account in my last, of our arrival in Charles-town. The governor and assembly have given us all possible encourage- ment. Our people arrived at Beaufort on the 20th of January, where I lodged them in some new barracks built for the soldiers, whilst I went myself to view the Savannah river ; I fixed upon a healthy situation about ten miles from the sea. The river here forms an half moon, along the south side of which the banks are about forty feet high, and on the top a flat, which they call a bluff. The plain high ground extends into the country about five or six miles, and along the river side about a mile. Ships that draw twelve feet water can ride within ten yards of the bank. Upon the river side in the centre of this plain, I have laid out the town, opposite to which is an island of very rich pasturage, which I think should be kept for the trustees cattle. The river is pretty wide, the water fresh, and from the key of the town you see its whole course to the sea, with the island of Tybee, which forms the mouth of the river. For about six miles up into the coun- try the landscape is very agreeable, the stream being wide, and bordered with high woods on both sides. The whole people arrived here on the first of February ; at night their tents were got up. "Till the 10th we were taken up in un-
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
loading and making a crane which I then could not get finished, so took off the hands and set some to the fortification and began to fell the woods. I have marked out the town and com- mon, half of the former is already cleared, and the first house was begun yesterday in the after- noon. A little Indian nation the only one within fifty miles, is not only in amity, but desirous to be subjects to his majesty king George, to have lands given them among us, and to breed their children at our schools ; their chief and his be- loved man, who is the second man in the nation, desire to be instructed in the christian religion." I am gentlemen, &c.
On the 20th of the same month, governor Oglethorpe wrote another letter to the trustees, of which the following is an extract :
"OUR people are all in perfect health ; I chose the situation for the town upon an high ground forty feet perpendicular above high water mark ; the soil, `dry and sandy ; the water of the river, fresh, and springs coming out of the side of the hill. I pitched upon this place not only for the pleasantness of the situa- tion, but because, from the above mentioned and other signs, I thought it healthy ; for it is shelter- ed from the western and southern winds,. (the worst in this country) by vast woods of pine trees, many of which are an hundred, and few under .
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seventy feet high. There is no moss on the trees, though in most parts of Carolina they are covered with it, and it hangs down two or three feet from them. The last and fullest conviction of the healthiness of the place, was, that an In- dian nation who knew the nature of this country chose it for their situation."
When his excellency gave this account of the moss, he had not extended his travels into the swamps of Georgia, nor had the period of his residence given him an opportunity of judging correctly of the most unhealthy winds. A small fort was erected on the bank of Savannah river, as a place of refuge, and some guns were mount- ed on it for the defence of the colony. The peo- ple were employed in falling trees and building huts, and Oglethorpe animated and encouraged them, by the exposure of his person to all the hardships which the poor objects of his compas- sion endured : he formed them into a company of militia, appointed officers, and furnished them with arms and ammunition. To show the Indians how expert they were in the use of arms, he fre- quently exercised them ; and as they had been disciplined before hand by the sergeants of the guards in London, they performed the manual exercise, little inferior to the regular troops. Hav- ing put his colony in the best possible situation for comfort and defence, the next object of his attention was, to treat with the natives for a share . VỊ of their landed possessions .- The principal tribe
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MSTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
that at this time occupied the territory of which he wished to gain possession, were the upper and lower creeks ; the former were numerous and strong, the latter, by disease and war, had been reduced to a small number : both tribes together were computed at about twenty-five thousand men, women and children. These Indians, ac- cording to a treaty formerly made with governor Nicolson, laid claim to the lands lying south-west of Savannah river, and to procure their friendship for this infant colony, was an object of the high- est consequence. But as the tribe settled at Yamacraw was inconsiderable, Oglethorpe judg- ed it expedient to have the other tribes also, to join with them in the treaty. To accomplish this union, he found an Indian, or rather half breed woman, named Mary, who had married a trader from Carolina, by the name of Musgrove, and who could speak both the English and Creek lan- guages : perceiving that she had some influence amongst the Indians, and might be made useful as an interpreter in forming treaties of alliance with them, he first purchased her friendship with presents, and then allowed her a salary of one hundred pounds a year as a reward for her ser- vices. By her assistance he summoned a pretty , general meeting of the chiefs, to hold a congress with him at Savannah, in order to procure their consent to the peaceable settlement of his colony. At this congress, when fifty chiefs were present, Oglethorpe represented to them the great power,
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
wisdom and wealth of the English nation, and the many advantages that would accrue to the Indians in general, from a connection and friend- ship with them ; and as they had plenty of lands, he hoped they would freely resign a share of them to his people, who were come to settle a- mongst them, for their benefit and instruction. After having distributed some presents, which was then considered as a necessary preliminary to a treaty* of peace and friendship, an agreement was entered into, and Tomochichi, in the name of the creek nation, addressed him with the fol- lowing speech :
" Here is a little present ; I give you a buffa- loe's skin adorned on the inside with the head and feathers of an eagle, which I desire you to ac- cept, because the eagle is an emblem of speed, and the buffaloe of strength: the English are swift as the bird, and strong as the beast, since like the former, they flew over vast seas to the ut- termost parts of the earth; and like the latter, they are so strong that nothing can withstand them ; the feathers of the eagle are soft, and signify love ; the buffaloe's skin is warm, and signifies protection ; therefore, I hope the English will love and protect their little families."
Oglethorpe accepted the present, a treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of both parties, the
* See appendix No. 2.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
colonists appeared satisfied with their condition, and every thing seemed to promise prosperity to the new colony.
When Oglethorpe came over from Eng- land he was not vested with full powers, conse- V quently the ratification of the treaty was to be made in England. Soon after his arrival he sent runners to the different towns, and invited a con- vention of the kings and chiefs of the creek na- tion, and entered into a treaty of amity and com- merce with them, making a transfer of the whole nation and all their lands, and agreeing to live un- der and become the subjects of his majesty's go- vernment in common with the white colonists of Georgia. It was further stipulated that a free and complete right and title, was granted to the trus- tees for all the lands between Savannah and Alata- maha rivers, extending west to the extremity of the tide water, and including all the islands on the coast from Tybee to St Simons' inclusively, re- serving to themselves the islands of Ossabaw, Sapeloe and St. Catharines, for the purposes of hunting, bathing and fishing-also the tract of land lying between Pipe-maker's bluff and Pally- chuckola creek, above Yamacraw bluff, now Sa- vannah : which lands the Indians reserved to themselves for an encampment, when they came to visit their beloved friends at Savannah. Sti- pulations were entered into, regulating the price of goods, and the value of peltry, which was to be received in exchange ; and that the number of .
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
licences should be regulated by the number of principal towns ; each of which was to have one trader. All criminal cases were to be tried by the laws of England, and the offences punished ac- cordingly : fugitives were in all cases to be deliv- ered up, and a reward fixed for apprehending run- away slaves. This treaty was signed by Ogle- thorpe on the part of the king of England, and by Tomochichi and the other chiefs and head men on the part of the Creek nation; it was transmit- ted to the trustees and formally ratified on the 18th of October, 1733. The reservation of the islands and tract of land mentioned in this treaty, occasioned a dispute which had well nigh cost the effusion of all the human blood the colony contained, and produced the most tedious and expensive suit at law, which has ever been liti- gated in America. Having however determined to connect dates rather than circumstances, this subject will be particularly noticed in its proper place.
It was obligatory on the trustees to exhibit an account annually on the 9th of June, to the lord chancellor and other persons named in the char- ter, of their procedure; by which it appears that the number of persons sent over on the char- ity of the trustees the first year, amounted to one- hundred and fifty-two, of whom sixty-one were males capable of bearing arms. The lands grant- cd in trust this year to poor people, amounted to five thousand acres ; and to persons coming at
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
their own expense, four thousand four hundred and sixty. The money received from private contributions, amounted to three thousand seven hundred and twenty-three pounds thirteen shil- lings and seven pence ; of which the trustees ex- pended for the benefit of the colony, two thou- sand two hundred and fifty-four pounds seven- teen shillings and nine-pence ; exhibiting an ac- count of it to the lord chancellor and to the lord chief justice of common pleas, pursuant to their charter, and carrying the remainder into their succeeding account.
In the mean time the people were employed at Savannah in palisading the town and build- ing houses. A public garden was laid off to the eastward of the town, which was designed as a nursery to supply the people with mulberry trees, vines, oranges, olives and other necessary plants. The gardener who had the care of it was employed and paid by the trustees. A crane was made for landing goods upon the bluff, from which there is a commanding view of the river a considerable distance below the town. On the east end of Tybee island, at the entrance of the river, a beacon waserected ninety feet high. Fort Argyle was built at the narrow passage on the Ogechee above the mouth of Canouchee, to pro- tect the settlement against an inland invasion from Augustine. A kind of manchecolas cr stockade fort was built at Skidaway narrows, and garrisoned by a detachment of captain Noble
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
Jones's marines from Wormsloe : an avenue from this fort was opened to Mr. Whitefield's orphan house, which was built soon after under the direction of Mr. James Habersham.
The British parliament foreseeing the necessity of strengthening the new colony, as a security to those farther north, ordered the sale of some lands at St. Christophers, and applied ten thou- sand pounds to encourage the settlement ; and in September and October 1733, the trustees sent over two embarkations, amounting to three hun- dred and forty-one persons, principally persecu- ted protestants from Saltzburgh in Germany.
Some very pleasing accounts of the country and settlement were sent over by some of the people to their friends in England, and the trustees were informed that some persons had made offers in Great-Britain of money and lands, in the name of the trustees, without their knowledge or autho- rity; giving an extravagant description of the country; enticing laborers to leave profitable em- ployments and pleasant situations, and embark in an untried scheme, where they might be dis- appointed and perhaps ruined : the trustees dis- avowed the authority which had been assumed in making such offers, or holding out any parti- cular inducements to increase the population of the colony, at the expense of truth ; and directed these sentiments to be published in the English news-papers, which was accordingly done.
In 1733, a pamphlet appeared in London, .
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
entitled, " A new and accurate account of the provinces of South-Carolina and Georgia." The author did not think fit to favor the public with his name ; but as it was circulated very generally through the kingdom, uncontradicted ; asserting its origin from the best authorities, and pretending an intimate acquaintance with the measures and designs of the trustees ; this high drawn picture received general credit. After an high encomium upon the trustees, the writer says :- " The air of Georgia is healthy, being always serene and pleasant, never subject to excessive heat or cold, or sudden changes of weather ; the winter is re- gular and short, and the summer cooled by re- freshing breezes : it neither feels the cutting north-west wind that the Virginians complain of, nor the intense heats of Spain, Barbary, Italy and Egypt. The soil will produce any thing with very little culture : all sorts of corn yield an amazing increase ; one hundred fold is the com- mon estimate, though the husbandry is so slight, that they can only be said to scratch the earth, and merely cover the seed. All the best sort of cattle and fowls are multiplied without number, and therefore without price. Vines are natives here ; the woods near Savannah are easily clear- ed ; many of them have no underwood, and the trees do not stand generally thick on the ground, but at considerable distances asunder. When you fall the timber to make tar, or for any other use, the roots will rot in four or five years, and in the
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
mean time you may pasture the ground ; but if you would only destroy the timber, it is done by half a dozen strokes of an axe, surrounding each tree a little above the root ; in a year or two the water getting into the wound, rots the timber, and a brisk gust of wind fells many acres for you in an hour ; of which you may make one bright bon-fire. Such will be frequently here the fate of the pine, the walnut, the cyprus, the oak and the cedar. Such an air and soil can only be des- cribed by a poetical pen, because there is no dan- ger of exceeding the truth ; therefore take Wal- lers description of an island in the neighborhood of Carolina, to give you an idea of this happy climate."
" The spring which but salutes us here, Inhabits there and courts them all the year ; Ripe fruits and blossoms on the same tree live ; At once they promise what at once they give. So sweet the air so moderate the clime, None sickly lives, or dies before his time. Heav'n sure has kept this spot of earth uncurst, To show how all things were created first."
" The Indians bring many a mile the whole of a deer's flesh, which they sell to the people who live in the country, for the value of six pence sterling; and a wild turkey of forty pounds weight, for the value of two-pence." The author when recommending the Georgia adventure to gentle- men embarrassed in their pecuniary circumstan- ces, who must labor at home or do worse, states the following objections :- " If people cannot get
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733-34.
bread here for their labor, how will their condi- tion be mended in Georgia ?" which he solves in the following manner-" The answer is easy ; part of it is well attested, and part self evident ; they have land there for nothing, and that land so fer- tile, that as is said before, they receive an hun- dred fold increase for taking a very little pains. Give ten acres of good land in England, to one of these helpless persons, and I doubt not his ability to make it support himself and family by his own labor, without letting it to another; but the differ- ence between no rent and rack'd rent, is the differ- ence between eating and starving."
This highly colored picture of the American terrestrial paradise, uncontaminated by the fall of man, had well nigh turned the heads of the Eng- lish peasantry, and with the additional evidence of the trustees, Great-Britain would have been nearly depopulated. The trustees however re- presented that the description of the country was greatly exaggerated, and thus composed once more, for a time at least, the inflamed fancies of the people.
Oglethorpe having placed his settlers in the best possible state of security, and provided for the accommodation of their wants during his ab- sence ; sailed in April 1734 for England, and in- vited the indian king, with whom he had formed the treaty to accompany him : to this Tomochi- chi consented, and himself, his queen and some other Indians, accompanied Oglethorpe to Great- Britain.
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1734
On their arrival in London, the Indian chiefs were introduced to the king, while many of the nobility were present: Tomochichi struck with as- tonishment at the grande ur of the British court, ad- dressed the king in the following words :- " This day I see the majestyof your face, the greatness of your house and the number of your people ; I am come in my old days, though I cannot expect to see any advantage to myself; I am come for the good of the children of all the nations of the lower and upper Creeks, that they may be instructed in the language of the English. These are fea- thers of the eagle, which is the swiftest of birds, and which flyeth round our nations: these fea- thers are emblems of peace in our land, and have been carried from town to town. We have brought them over to leave them with you, O great king, as a token of everlasting peace : O great king, whatever words you shall say unto me, I will faithfully tell them to all the kings of the Creek nation." To which the king replied : " I am glad of this opportunity of assuring you of my regard for the people from whom you came ; and I am extremely well pleased with the assurances you have brought me from them, and accept very gratefully of this present, an indica- tion of their good dispositions to me and my peo- ple. I shall always be ready to cultivate a good correspondence between the Creeks and my sub- jects, and shall be glad on any occasion to show you marks of my particular friendship."
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While these Indians were in England, no- thing was neglected that might serve to engage their affections, and fill them with just notions of the greatness and power of the British nation. The nobility, curious to see them, and observe their manners, entertained them magnificently at their tables; wherever they went multitudes flocked around them, shaking hands with the rude warriors of the forest, giving them little presents, and treating them with every mark of friendship and civility : twenty pounds sterling.a week were allowed them by the crown while they remained in England, and when they returned, it was computed they carried presents with them to the value of four hundred pounds sterling .- After staying four months, and admiring the splendor of the British court and their sovereign, they were carried to Gravesend in one of his ma- jesty's carriages, where they embarked for Geor- gia, highly pleased with the grandeur and gene- rosity of the nation, and promising perpetual fidelity to its interest.
It was supposed that this kind method of treat- ing barbarians, was more politic than that of over- awing them by harsh and forcible measures; that to promote the settlement of the colonies, noth- ing could be more effectual than the purchase of Indian friendship by mildness, a repetition of presents, and other friendly offices. This ill judged policy will be treated more largely in its proper place.
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Tomochichi acknowledged that the governor of the world, or great spirit, had given the English great wisdom, power and riches ; that they wan- ted nothing : he had given Indians great extent of territories ; yet they wanted every thing : and he exerted his influence in prevailing on the Creeks to resign such lands to the English as were of no use to themselves, and to allow them to settle amongst them, that they might be sup- plied with useful articles for cultivation and ne- cessaries of life. He told them that the English were a generous nation, and would trade with them on the most honorable and advantageous terms ; that they were brethren and friends, and would protect them against danger, and go to war with them against their enemies.
Before Tomochichi left England he requested of the trustees that the weights, measures, prices, and qualities of all goods to be exchanged by them for their deer-skins and other peltry, might be settled by established rules ; that none might be allowed to trade with the Indians in Georgia, without a licence from the trustees, in order that if they were in any respect defrauded by the tra- ders, they might know where to apply for re- dress; and that there might be one store house in each town, to supply them with such goods as they might want to purchase, from whence the trader might be obliged to supply them at first cost. The Indians alledged as a reason for this application, that the traders had demanded cx.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1734.
orbitant prices for their goods, and defrauded them in their weights and measures ; and that to such impositions were to be ascribed the ani- mosities and quarrels between the English and Indians, which had frequently ended in war, pre- judicial to both powers.
The government of South-Carolina had passed a law on this point, the 20th of August 1731, en- titled an act for the better regulation of the In- dian trade, and for appointing a commissioner for that purpose with regulations. The trustees ho- ping that an act of this nature might be effectual in Georgia, prepared an act entitled an act for maintaining the peace with the Indians in the province of Georgia, with the same regulations and provisions, as were in the Carolina act ; which act of Carolina ceased to be in force in Georgia, since it was erected into a distinct inde- pendant province, not subject to the laws of that province.
The trustees having received information from the colony, that the most pernicious effects had arisen from the use of spirituous liquors ; that by the abuse of them great disorders had been created amongst the Indians who had been plen- tifully supplied by the traders, and that by the same cause, a. variety of diseases had been pro- duced amongst the white people, as well as dis- orderly conduct ; prepared an act entitled an act to prevent the importation and use of rum and brandies into the province of Georgia, or
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1734-35.
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any kind of spirits or strong waters whatsoever. At the same time they endeavored to supply the stores with strong beer from England, molasses for brewing Leer, and with Madeira wines, which the people might purchase at reasonable rates, and which would be more refreshing and wholesome. The magistrates of the town of Savannah were empowered to grant licences to private persons for retailing beer, ale, &c. and the trustees had great reason to believe, that the healthiness of Eb- enezer to the northward, and of Frederica to the southward of Savannah, was to be attributed to the prohibition of ardent spirits. Where ardent spirits have been introduced in defiance of the law, and used to excess, the people were nei- ther healthy nor vigorous. These acts, as well as the one prohibiting the use and introduction of slaves into the new colony, were laid before the king in council in the month of January 1735, and ratified.
Though the lands granted by the trustees were to revert to them on failure of male issue, in ' order to be re-granted, for keeping up a number of men capable of bearing arms ; yet the trustees as guardians of the people, when any such failure happened, resolved that the value of the improve- ments upon the lands of the late occupiers, should be estimated and paid to or for the benefit of the ' female offspring or nearest kinswoman, and the first case of this kind occurring on the death of Mr. De Ferron, the value of the improvements
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