USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 16
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Unfortunately, this solemn repudiation of the sale by no means tended to settle the question. The original purchasers had already transferred their rights to others at a large advance on the original purchase-money. These new purchasers were not at all disposed to concede the right of the legislature of Georgia to nullify the acts of their predecessors, especially in a case like the present, where the interest of third parties were concerned.
When, therefore, these same lands were subse- quently sold by Georgia to the United States, Congress was loudly called upon for an indem- nity to the claimants under the Georgia grant. Nearly twenty years elapsed before the matter was brought to a final settlement.
By an act of Congress in the year 1800, Madi- son, Gallatin, and Lincoln, who had been ap- pointed commissioners for adjusting with Georgia her claims to the territory of Mississippi, were '
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
vested with full powers to arrange the whole mat- ter; with the restriction, however, that no money was to be paid to Georgia except out of the pro- ceeds of the land.
The agreement thus entered into was not com- municated to Congress until late in the session of 1802. By the terms of the compact, Georgia ceded to the United States all her claims to the territory west of what now constitutes her western boundary, on condition of receiving out of the first net proceeds of the lands sold, the sum of one million two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars, the United States undertaking to extinguish, at the expense of the federal treasury, the Indian title to the lands reserved by Georgia as early as the same could be peaceably obtained on reason- able terms; especially the Indian title to that tract between the Oconee and Ockmulgee. It was also provided by the terms of the compact, that whenever the population of the territory thus ceded should amount to sixty thousand, or earlier at the option of Congress, the ceded territory was to be erected into a state, on the same terms and conditions contained in the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the territory north- west of the Ohio, "that article only excepted which prohibits slavery."
The Yazoo claims never having as yet been satisfactorily adjusted, the same commissioners who had negotiated with Georgia the cession of
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1
SETTLEMENT OF YAZOO LAND CLAIMS.
the Mississippi country, having been authorized to inquire as to the various land claims in that ter- ritory, reported, concerning the grants of 1795, that, whatever grounds of invalidity there might be, as between Georgia and the original grantees, and even though the contract might not be legally binding, as between Georgia and the present holders, yet, as those holders claimed to stand, and to a certain extent did stand, in the position of innocent purchasers without notice, theirs seemed a proper case for compromise. Taking this view of the matter, the commissioners sug- gested the propriety of offering to the claimants certificates bearing interest to the amount of two millions and a half of dollars, or certificates with- out interest for five millions, payable out of the earliest receipts for Mississippi lands, after the stipulation to Georgia should be satisfied. 1
Upon this report was founded an act appro- priating whatever might remain of the five mil- lions of acres reserved by the compact, after cer- tain specified deductions had been made, to the quieting of such unconfirmed claims as might be exhibited and recorded in the office of the Secre- tary of State before the close of the year, and for which Congress might see fit to make a provision.
To this act, Randolph during the next session of Congress objected, and moved a series of reso- lutions excluding from any compensation whatever the claimants under the Yazoo grants of 1795.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
Almost all the southern, and a few of the north- ern members supported the resolutions ; but after a fierce struggle, they were voted down by a ma- jority of five. Thus ended the contest.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Ellicott appointed to run the line between the Creeks and Geor- gians-Obstacles-Assertion of Spanish claims to the Indian territory-Intrigues of McGillivray-Appointed Superintend- ent-general of Spain in the Creek nation-Irritation of the Georgians-Their determined stand-Sickness of McGillivray -His death-Frontier excesses-Georgia arms against the Indians-Failure of the invasion-Seagrove attends a council of the Creek chiefs-Friendly disposition of the Indians- Seagrove attacked in his house and plundered-Arrival of Genet-His extraordinary course-Fits out privateers-Or- ganizes expeditions from Kentucky and Georgia against New Orleans and Florida-The Spanish governor remonstrates- Course of Governors Shelby and Matthews-Genet recalled -Projects of Clarke-Settles the Oconee lands-Ordered off -Refuses-Is driven off by the militia of Georgia.
IN order to carry out in the clearest manner the provisions of the treaty of New York, early in the year 1791, Andrew Ellicott, a citizen of Pennsylvania, was appointed by the federal go- vernment to run the line between the Creeks and Georgians. He reached Rock Landing upon the Oconee in May, accompanied by James Seagrove, an Irishman, who had been appointed superin- tendent of the Creek nation. At this place the government erected a strong fort, and threw into it a large garrison.
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SPANISH INTERFERENCE.
From this point, McGillivray was urged to obtain the consent of the Indians to the running of the boundary line, and their assistance to its execution.
Many obstacles as usual occurred. The Spa- nish government, alarmed by the treaty of New York, now asserted her claims to a considerable portion of the territory in question. McGillivray attributed the moodiness and discontent of the Indians to the machinations of his rival Bowles, and, after expressing his inability to control the disaffected, retired, as we have already mentioned, to Florida, where he remained during the follow- ing winter.
His return to the Coosa, which took place in 1792, only served to complicate matters which were already sufficiently entangled. The ease with which he rid himself of the presence of Bowles, as soon as he found it his interest to do so, showed very clearly, that the reluctance of the Creeks to submit to the survey did not ema- nate in any great degree from the influence of the freebooter. The intrigues of McGillivray with the Spanish authorities were the real cause. He had scarcely returned from Florida before a Spanish agent made his appearance in the nation, and took up his abode at the Hickory Ground upon the Coosa. The unexpected presence of this agent, Captain Don Pedro Oliver, and his familiarity with McGillivray, awakened the suspi-
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
cions of Ellicott and Seagrove, who inferred, na- turally enough, that McGillivray was not acting in good faith with the federal government. The supposition, though incapable of proof at the time, has since been most abundantly verified.
Through the remonstrances of William Panton, a wealthy merchant of Pensacola, whose partner in the Indian trade McGillivray had become, the Spanish government appointed the latter superintendent-general of the Creek nation, with an annual salary of two thousand dollars, which, in July of the same year, was increased to three thousand five hundred.
As McGillivray was thus an agent of Spain, with an annual salary of thirty-five hundred dol- lars, the copartner of Panton, trading from a Spa- nish port, and the agent of the United States with a salary of twelve hundred dollars, it may easily be inferred, though paid by both, toward which nation his inclinations leaned.
The ignorance of Spain in relation to the secret article in the treaty of New York, and the equal ignorance on the part of the United States of the large sum paid yearly to McGillivray by Spain, puzzled both parties greatly to account for the wavering and uncertain policy of McGillivray, which subsequent developments have so clearly explained.
In the mean while, the people of Georgia, wor- ried alike by the Spaniards and the Indians,
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BOUNDARY TROUBLES.
were chafing impatiently at the numerous impedi- ments and delays which rendered their frontier possessions so constantly insecure.
Disgusted at length with the progress of ne- gotiations which presented no prospect of a termination, they resolved, that if the United States delayed much longer in driving the Spa- niards from their territory, to undertake it them- selves.
The opposition of Spain to the survey under- taken by the agents of the federal government, her refusal to admit of American settlements on the Mississippi, joined to her express determina- tion to protect the Creeks from any encroach- ments on the part of Georgia, tended still more to exasperate the latter, and embarrass the action of the government.
Friendly relations existing between McGillivray and Governor Carondelet, he continued his visits to New Orleans, giving up one of his houses to Captain Oliver, whom he had established in the affections of his people. In returning from New Orleans late in the summer of 1792, a violent fever detained him long in Mobile. He finally recovered from the attack, and reached Little Tallasse, from which place he wrote to Seagrove, the Indian agent, deploring the unhappy disturb- ances which existed, and attributing them to Spanish interference. This was a mere excuse, since the influence which the latter had obtained
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
in the nation had been fostered and encouraged by McGillivray himself.
It is very evident that the great chief never cordially allied himself either to the federal government or to Georgia. The latter he could not help regarding as the natural enemy of his people ; a feeling in some measure justified by that tenacious and constantly enlarging grasp with which the Georgians laid hold of the Creek territory.
But the career of this remarkable man was fast drawing to a close. He was always of a delicate constitution, and had long suffered from a complication of disorders. He was taken ill on the path coming from his Cowpen plantation, on Little River, and only retained sufficient strength to reach the house of his partner, Mr. Panton, at Pensacola, where he died eight days after his arrival, and was buried in the garden of that merchant, whose magnificent fortune he had so largely aided in building up.
No sooner were the politic restraints, with which McGillivray had undoubtedly curbed the more blood-thirsty of his people, cast loose by the death of their beloved man, than the horrors of frontier war broke out fiercer than ever. Mur- ders were committed in various quarters : on the St. Mary's, in the new counties of Camden and Glynn, and at the Skull shoals of the Oconee.
These excesses roused the Georgians to take
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THE CREEK COUNTRY. INVADED.
the law into their own hands. Governor Telfair directed a large force to be raised for the in- vasion of the Creek country. At the solicita- tion of the Georgia delegation in Congress, Washington sent to Augusta a large stand of arms and ammunition, and authorized Governor Telfair to enlist a few companies for the protec- tion of the frontiers, but remonstrated against the invasion. Telfair refused to accept the troops, and paid no heed to the remonstrance. He placed General Twiggs at the head of seven hundred mounted men, and ordered him into the Indian country.
The army of invasion marched as far as the Ockmulgee River, and then, weakened by the want of provisions, and rendered perfectly ineffi- cient by insubordination, retreated.
This unfortunate failure incited the Creeks to commit still greater excesses. Télfair called out a mounted force of militia, which scoured con- stantly the country between the Oconee and Ockmulgee. Washington again remonstrated ; when some of the malcontents, forgetful of the respect that was due to the President of the Republic, vented their indignation by placing his effigies upon pine trees and firing at them. Seagrove, the accredited agent of the federal government, still remained near the Indians, communicating with them occasionally through
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
Timothy Barnard, a trustworthy man who resided within the nation.
In March, 1793, a council of the chiefs, con- sisting of delegates from the upper and lower towns, invited Seagrove to a personal conference. To this mission Governor Telfair objected, on the ground that it would interfere with his mili- tary operations ; and stating further, that Georgia would submit to no treaty made with the Creeks, where her agents were not permitted to partici- pate.
Seagrove, however, accepted the invitation, and after some delay set out from Fort Fidius, escorted by a military guard. When he reached the Ockmulgee the guard was dismissed, and one hundred and thirty warriors accompanied him from thence to Cusseta upon the Chattahoochee. After being saluted at this place with the beating of drums and the fire of artillery, he proceeded to the Tallapoosa River, on the west bank of which stood Tookabatcha, the capital of the nation.
On the 23d of November, 1793, he addressed a vast assembly of the Indians convened for that purpose, and in a speech of unusual force and vigour, commented upon the character of their repeated aggressions and their faithlessness in not assisting to carry out the provisions of the treaty of New York.
A deliberation among the chiefs themselves
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SEAGROVE ASSAULTED.
followed, the result of which was, that they agreed to deliver into the hands of the agent, the negroes, horses, cattle, and other property taken from the Georgians during the twelve months preceding ; and to put to death several of the principals engaged in the late murders upon the frontiers.
But while Seagrove was congratulating him- self upon the success of his mission, a party of Creeks who preferred treating with commission- ers from Georgia, and were opposed to any in- terference on the part of the United States, combined secretly to attack him. Led by the Tallasse king, they entered one night the house at which Seagrove was staying, plundered him of his property, and forced him to fly for his life and hide himself in a deep pond screened by trees and bushes.
In the morning, however, by the interposition of friendly chiefs, peace was restored, the agent withdrawn from his hiding-place, and subse- quently escorted in safety back to the frontiers.
In addition to that fruitful source of annoy- ance, her Indian claims, Georgia had been pro- foundly agitated during this year by an event which had its origin in the French Revolution. This was no other than the arrival at Charleston of Citizen Genet, appointed to supersede Ternant as ambassador from France. Genet brought with him news of the French declaration of war
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
against Great Britain. The people of Charles- ton received him with enthusiasm. Being pro- vided with blank commissions, both naval and military, he caused to be fitted out two priva- teers, manned mostly with Americans, which put to sea under the French flag, and, cruising along the coast, soon made numerous captures of home- ward-bound vessels. He also assumed, under a decree of the convention, the extraordinary power of authorizing the French consuls through- out the United States to erect themselves into courts of admiralty for trying and condemning such prizes as the French cruisers might bring into American ports.
The federal government, listening to the com- plaints made by the British minister, declared that the privateering commissions issued by Genet, as well as the condemnation of prizes by the French consuls, were unauthorized by treaty, irregular, and void.
Against this decision Genet most vehemently protested. Washington remained firm; but for a considerable period it was doubtful whether Genet, supported by the fiery enthusiasm of a considerable portion of the American people, would not be able to place himself beyond the control of the federal government.
France had now also declared war against Spain. This rendered the mission of Genet most welcome to many of the Georgians, who
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FRENCH EMISSARIES.
desired nothing more earnestly than to crush, by any means whatever, the power of her trouble- some neighbour.
Four French agents were sent by Genet to Kentucky, with orders to enlist in that state an army of two thousand men; to engage the ser- vices of a distinguished American officer, as com- mander-in-chief, and, descending the Ohio and Mississippi in boats, attack the Spanish settle- ments at the mouth of the Mississippi, and bring the whole of that country under the dominion of the French republic. The command of this force was confided to General George Rogers Clarke, who accepted the commission of major- general in the service of France, with an annual salary of ten thousand dollars.
Emissaries were also busily engaged at the same time in issuing commissions and collecting a military force in South Carolina and Georgia. The expedition from Kentucky was destined for New Orleans ; that which had its appointed ren- dezvous in Georgia was intended for the invasion of Florida. General Elijah Clarke accepted command of the latter, under a commission and salary similar to that of General Clarke of Ken- tucky. A considerable body of Creeks and Che- rokees had likewise been enlisted in the service of the French republic. An agent was furnished with ten thousand dollars, to purchase supplies
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
for the Georgia army, which was to assemble at St. Mary's.
Alarmed at these preparations, the Governor of East Florida remonstrated with the Governors of Kentucky and Georgia.
Governor Shelby, of the former state, in con- junction with a considerable portion of the citi- zens of Kentucky, who desired a free navigation of the Mississippi, was strongly inclined to favour the projects of Genet. Governor Matthews, what- ever might have been his private feelings in the matter, immediately issued a proclamation for- bidding the people of Georgia to engage in the enterprise.
Washington also publicly denounced the whole project, and authorized the governors of the various states within whose limits such expedi- tions were forming, to employ the United States troops in putting down the contemplated in- vasion.
Kentucky still resisted. Democratic societies were established, in imitation of the Jacobin clubs of Paris. Inflammatory harangues were made, expressive of a determination to force the navigation of the Mississippi, untrammelled by anv foreign authority. The East was charged with jealousy of the West and South, and an exasperated state of feeling produced, which threatened at one time to seriously endanger the integrity of the confederation.
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GENET'S SCHEMES FRUSTRATED.
To their honour be it said, Georgia and South Carolina supported Washington in this hour of difficulty. The schemes of Genet were frus- trated, his agents arrested, and his projects dis- avowed by the new administrators of the French government, who, yielding to the request of Washington, consented to recall their obnoxious ambassador. Genet, however, being perhaps apprehensive of the fate which might befall him, did not choose to risk the danger of returning to France. He married a daughter of Governor Clinton of New York, became a resident of that state, and, ceasing to exercise the functions of a French minister, soon sunk into almost total obscurity.
This concert of action between the general and state governments was by no means pleasing to many of the restless spirits who had entered so ardently into the schemes of Genet. There were at that time large numbers of persons, who, hav- ing been actively engaged throughout the whole war of the Revolution, had acquired that thirst for excitement and those roving habits which a war of any continuance is so apt to engender. These men found it difficult to settle themselves down to any calm and peaceful avocations ; and even such as had occupied high stations in the army felt it difficult to conform to the new state of things.
Some of this unquiet class of men no sooner
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
found themselves deprived of the prospects of a campaign in Florida, than they turned their attention to the possession of the long-disputed lands between the Oconee and Ockmulgee. Ge- neral Elijah Clarke, the brave old Revolutionary veteran, placed himself at the head of this move- ment. Accompanied by a large party of Geor- gians, he began a settlement opposite Fort Fidius, on the west side of the Oconee, and upon the lands guarantied by the federal government to the Indians.
General Irwin, on the part of the state, ordered him to remove, which he refused to do. Governor Matthews forbade by proclamation the contem- plated settlement, and accused Clarke of an attempt to form a separate and independent go- vernment. The latter appeared before the supe- rior court of Wilkes county, and surrendered him- self for trial. The proceedings partook of the nature of a farce. He was found not guilty, and discharged.
Many persons now flocked to his standard. His settlements were pushed with vigour ; a town was laid off, and Forts Advance and Defiance were erected and garrisoned.
Washington called the attention of the state government to this illegal occupation of the In- dian territory, and offered the services of troops to assist in driving off the settlers. Governor Matthews directed Generals Twiggs and Irwin to
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CLARKE'S SETTLEMENTS.
break up the settlements begun by Clarke. This duty was performed by the Georgia militia, firmly, yet without undue harshness. On the 25th of September, 1794, General Clarke, find- ing himself abandoned by all but twenty of his men, surrendered upon condition that his pro- perty and the property of the colonists should be returned to them. The forts and houses were destroyed by fire, and the affair ended happily without the shedding of blood.
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CHAPTER XXV.
Council of Coleraine-Treaty of New York formally renewed and ratified-Discontent of Georgia-Treaty with Spain- Settlement of boundaries -- Ellicott appointed commissioner to run the boundary between Spain and the United States- Intrigues of Carondelet-His reluctance to carry out the conditions of the treaty-Sends an emissary to Kentucky- Fort Panmure summoned by the Americans-Increase of American force-Gayoso evacuates Fort Panmure-Survey commenced-Interruptions feared from the Creeks-Council at Miller's Bluff-Governor Folch, of Pensacola, instigates the Creeks to break up the survey-Ellicott proceeds to St. Marks-Joins the surveyors on the St. Mary's-Bowles the freebooter-Refuses to enter the Spanish service-Sent to Manilla-Escapes-Reaches Florida-Is captured-Sent to Havana-Dies in Moro Castle.
THE sale of the public lands, entered into by the legislature of Georgia in the early part of February, 1795, and stigmatized as the Yazoo fraud, has been already mentioned in a previous chapter.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
In May, 1796, commissioners on the part of the United States and Georgia met the Indians in council at Coleraine upon the St. Mary's River. The object for which the conference was called was the formation of a treaty of peace with the Creeks, and the cession of the long- contested lands between the Oconee and Ock- mulgee.
A full delegation of Indians were present, con- sisting of twenty kings, seventy-five chiefs, and three hundred and forty warriors. At the sug- gestion of Seagrove, the Indian agent, the coun- cil was removed from Coleraine to Muskogee, a short distance off. Here a considerable time was spent in listening to the speeches of the commis- sioners, and in subsequent deliberations.
At length, on the 29th of June, the chiefs of the whole Creek nation concluded a treaty with the federal commissioners, by which the treaty of New York was formally renewed and ratified ; the Indians pledging themselves to carry out its provisions, and to assist Spain and the United States to run their line; but they positively refused to cede any portion of the Oconee and Ockmulgee territory to Georgia.
This renewal of the previous treaty failed to satisfy the Georgians, as no new cessions of land were obtained ; but it put an end to the mutual depredations which had prevailed on that frontier,
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TREATY WITH SPAIN.
and provided for the restoration of prisoners and property taken by the Indians.
Previous to this, Washington had despatched Thomas Pinckney on a special mission to Spain, which ended in settling at last the long-disputed questions of the Spanish boundary, and the navi- gation of the Mississippi River. By this treaty, which was made on the 20th of October, 1795, the Florida boundary was stipulated to be the thirty-first degree of north latitude, between the Mississippi and Appalachicola; and east of the Appalachicola a line from the junction of the Flint to the head of the St. Mary's ; and thence by that river to the sea. It was further stipu- lated, that Spain should not hereafter form treaties of alliance with Indians living upon American soil, nor the federal government with Indians living upon Spanish territory ; and that Spanish and American commissioners should mark the boundary before the expiration of six months after the ratification of the treaty.
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