USA > Mississippi > A history of Mississippi : from the discovery of the great river > Part 11
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French, it will be remembered, first introduced this traffic into the colony, and when it passed into the possession of the English, the latter prosecuted it with tireless activity as long as they held possession of the country. "The trade subsequently," says Claiborne, "fell into the hands of New England dealers," from whom many of the most wealthy, educated and aristocratic families in Massachu- setts, Rhode Island and other New England States are de- scended, who are in the habit of claiming the "bluest blood," and the loftiest descent. Many of the wealthiest and most highly educated people in those States would be greatly shocked to-day at the mere suggestion that their lineage could be traced directly to the fountain source of vulgar and mercenary slave traders, the traffickers in hu- man flesh and immortal souls.
A recent publication, the "Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789," by William B. Weeden, throws some light on the early views of our New England friends as to the subject of slavery. The Puritans in the early colonial history of New England were not so averse to the system of African slavery as some of their descend- ants of the present day affect to be. In a word, they were not opposed to African slavery at all, so long as they were permitted to pose as masters of the bondmen. They were indifferent, too, to the color of their slaves, for they would as readily buy an Indian captive as an African stolen from his native jungles. It is learned from the volumes of Mr. Weeden, that as lofty personages as the "Winthrops, and other Puritan colonists, asked and received In- dian captives for slaves as freely as any partisan went for loot or plunder. Indians were enslaved on all sides as long as the local tribes lasted ; then Maine, then the Carolinas, and other districts, furnished captives for a never-ceasing demand for labor. Cotton Mather employed his black servant, showing as little regard for the rights of man as the Boston merchant, or the Narragansett planter." It is learned from the same author, that Peter Faneuil, the original builder of the hall which bears his name, and which has been called "the cradle of liberty" for more than a century, was half owner of a slave ship which made
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regular voyages to the African coast, carrying a cargo of New England rum, to be exchanged for African slaves.
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Mr. Weeden makes mention of a reputable "elder who sent ventures to the coast with uniform success," and who was in the habit of returning thanks, the first Sunday after the arrival of his slave ship in Newport, "that an over- ruling Providence had been pleased to bring to this land of freedom another cargo of benighted heathen to enjoy the blessings of a gospel dispensation."
In the African slave trade, as carried on by the early Puritans, rum was a prime factor, and Mr. Weeden men- tions a Captain Simeon Potter, who was engaged in the slave trade, as instructing the master of his vessel to "make ye cheaf trade with the blacks, and little or none with the white people, if possible to be avoided. Worter ye rum as much as possible, and sell as much by the short mesuer as you can." And yet, the English, and our Puri- tanic brethren of New England, are wont, when they meet the people of the South, whether the meeting be in the market place, the church, or the synagogue, it matters not, they will surely indulge in the language of the original pharisee, "God, I thank Thee that I am holier" than any slaveholder that ever lived or died."
In 1779, Governor Johnstone was recalled, but seemed to have lost no popularity by the re-call, but was soon elected to Parliament, where he was an active participant in the debates then indulged in on the American question.
The Hon. Montfort Brown was the immediate successor of Governor Johnstone, but was very soon offered the posi- tion of Governor of the Bahamas, and as this was regarded as a promotion he accepted and left the province. In 1771, the Hon. Peter Chester was appointed Governor, with Phillip Livingston as Secretary of the Colony.
During the administration of Governor Chester, lands in the vicinity of Walnut Hills (now Vicksburg), Bayou Pierre (now Claiborne county), Natchez, Bayou Sara, Baton Rouge and Manchac, were in great demand, and this writer has seen bushels of those grants with immense seals of wax attached, nearly as large in circumference as a small breakfast plate, and measuring nearly an inch in thick-
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ness. Referring to this period, Claiborne has this to say in regard to a settlement in Adams county :
"As far back as 1768, the king had issued an order, or . mandamus, to the Governor of West Florida, to have sur veyed and alloted to Amos Ogden, of New Jersey, a retired naval officer, twenty-five thousand acres in one single tract. In 1772, Captain Ogden sold nineteen thousand acres of his claim to Richard and Samuel Swayze, of New Jersey, at the rate of twenty cents per acre. They made a reconnoisance of the district and located the claim on the Homochitto river, in the present county of Adams. In the fall of the same year the two enterprising brothers, with their families and a number of their kindred and friends, sailed from Perth Amboy, for Pensacola, thence by the usual lake route to Manchac; up the Mississippi and thence up the Homochitto to what is now known as Kingston. Samuel Swayze had been for a number of years a Congregational minister, and most of the adults who came with him were communicants. The faithful shepherd, as soon as he had provided a shelter for his wife and chil- dren, and planted corn for their bread, gathered up his fold and organized his society, undoubtedly the first Pro- testant pastor and congregation in the Natchez district. Under many drawbacks, growing out of Indian depreda- tions, and discouragements after the country passed into Spanish hands, this pious teacher and his kindred met together on the Sabbath, often in the swamps and cane- brakes, for divine service. In 1780 the Indians became so troublesome and exacting, that most of the settlers aban- doned their homes and moved to the vicinity of Natchez. The venerable pastor settled on the east bank of St. Cath- erine, on what was long afterwards known as "Swayze's old field," on the left of the road from Washington to Natchez, and there he died in 1784. The Jersey settlement, begun in 1772 by men of intelligence, energy and high moral character, became prosperous and rich ; densely populated, highly cultivated-distinguished for its churches and schools-its hospitality and refinement. And, in the course of years, it sent its thrifty colonists into many counties, carrying with them the characteristics of
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the parent hive. The Farrars, Kings, Coreys, Montgom- erys, Pipes, Fowles, Colemans, Jones, Callenders, Fowlers, Luses, Griffins, Hopkins, Nobles, Ashfords, and many others in Mississippi and Louisiana, are descended in one branch or the other, from the brothers Swayze."
About the same time, say 1772, a large grant of twenty thousand acres on the Bayou Pierre (Claiborne county). was awarded to Captain Thaddeus Lyman, a son of Gen. Phineas Lyman, in consideration of his father's distin- guished services in the military service of the king. In addition to his military qualifications General Lyman was one of the most distinguished lawyers and statesmen of Connecticut at that early period.
"In December, 1773, General Lyman, his son, Captain Lyman, with a large party embarked at Stonington for New Orleans. Claiborne furnishes a long catalogue of the names of the Lyman party as follows, copied from the journal of Captain Phelps, one of the party : "Gen- neral Lyman, Thaddeus Lyman, with eight African slaves, Sereno Dwight, Timothy Dwight, Harry Dwight, and three slaves, Moses and Isaac Shelby, Roger Harmon, Hanks, Seth Miller, Elisha and Josiah Flowers, Moses Drake, R. Winchell, Benjamin Barbour, - Wolcott. Dana R. Magguett, Thomas Comstock, - Weed, Capt. Silas Crane, Robert Patrick, Ashbel Bowen, John New- combe, James Dean, Abram Knapp, Gibs and Nathan Hull, James Stoddart, Thaddeus Bradley, Ephraim Case, Heza- kiah Rew, John Fisk, Elisha Hale, Timothy and David Hotchkiss, Hugh White, John Hyde, Wm. Silkrag, Jona- than Lyon, Wm. Davis, Thomas and James Lyman, Captain Ellsworth, Ira Whitman, - Sage, Major Early, James Harmon, Elnathan Smith, Wm. Hurlburt, Elijah Leonard, Benjamin Day, Joseph Leonard, John Felt, Rev. Jedediah Smith, and Daniel Lewis. Senior."
"Many of the descendants of these men are to be found to-day scattered through the States of Mississippi and Louisiana. Some of the party who sailed from Stonington had with them their wives and children, and a noteworthy fact is, that this party of Connecticut immigrants brought with them to Mississippi no less than eleven African slaves !"
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The expedition of the Lyman party was a most unfortun- ate one. They embarked at New Orleans on barges to ascend the Mississippi river to the Bayou Pierre and Big Black, between which streams the Lyman grant was loca- ted. The voyage was in every way a disastrous one. Gen- eral Lyman, and his son, Captain Thaddeus, died on the voyage and were buried on the banks of the great river. The Reverend Mr. Smith, who had long been a Congrega- tional 'minister, in Greenville, Massachusetts, sickened and died when near Natchez, and was buried on the bluff near old Fort Rosalie. The remainder of the party expe- rienced untold sufferings during their voyage up the Mis- sissippi and subsequently in their voyage up the Big Black river, on the south side of which the Lyman grant was located. The expedition was particularly fatal to the Ly- man family. Both the General and his son Thaddeus died while ascending the Mississippi river, and a year later the widow of General Lyman, with another son, accompanied by Major Timothy Dwight, and others, sailed for New Orleans. They took passage on barges to ascend the Mis- sissippi, but were overtaken by sickness. Major Dwight and a number of others died at Natchez, and the venerable Mrs. Lyman sickened and died soon after reaching the "promised land" of the Lyman grant.
Among the immigrants who accompanied the Lyman party was Daniel Lewis, Sr., and wife, from whom are de- scended, according to Claiborne, "many distinguished and prominent people, including the Guions, Mellens, Peytons, Sages, and many other prominent families in Mississippi and Lousiana. Maternally of the same stock with Sir Wm. Pepperrel, General Prescott, of Bunker Hill; Pres- cott, the historian ; Chief Justice Mellen, Sergeant S. Pren- tiss, Judge Parsons," etc.
The years from 1774 to 1777 witnessed a large compara- tive influx of immigration to the Natchez district of coun- try. The Natchez district extended from the line of thirty- one degrees north latitude, to the mouth of the Yazoo river, including what are now the counties of Wilkinson, Adams, Jefferson, Claiborne and Warren, with a good de- gree of prosperity, and entire peace with the various In-
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dian tribes. In speaking of this period, Claiborne in- dulges in the following reflections :
" From the moment the British flag was hoisted over their remote territories, the tide of immigration set in- an immigration very different from the French. The French had come, for the most part, in public vessels with free transportation, under special charters, with soldiers to protect them, and with a constant succession of ships, year after year, bringing reinforcements and supplies. They devoted themselves to exploration, to hunting and trapping, to the establishing of isolated posts, to a fruit- less search after silver and gold, starving on a soil capa- ble of supporting fifty millions of people. The French consisted either of the cadets of noble families who came to seek military distinction, or soldiers of fortune who fol- lowed the profession of arms and were capable of no other vocation ; of a non-producing class, the civil employes of the company ; and a few peasants and Acadians, poor, ignorant and contented with their condition. The priests and the Canadians were the only energetic class. The first were devoted exclusively to the reclamation of the Indians ; the last were satisfied with their fowling pieces, and their pirogues. The very women that were sent out by the government to furnish wives for the colonists, in- stead of being selected from farms and villages, had been, for the most part, picked up in the streets of Paris, and from the houses of refuge.
"The only inducement the British authorities held out for immigration was a liberal dispensation of land to those that had rendered service to the crown. No transportation was furnished; few military posts were established ; no vain search after metals. Those that came, came at their own expense. They crossed the mountains to Pittsburg or to the head-waters of the Tennessee, where they often made a crop of corn and wheat the first season, and there built their boats and brought down with them to their point of destination, their families, their slaves and stock, and a year's supply of provisions. Or they came from Georgia and Carolina, the overland journey on pack-horses, through the Creek and Choctaw territories ; or by sea from
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more northern ports to Pensacola and New Orleans, and then by boats to their respective stations. Nine-tenths of them came to cultivate the soil; they brought intelligence and capital ; and they embarked at once in the production of supplies for home consumption, and selected indigo as their crop for exportation. Tobacco was next introduced, and subsequently cotton. All the necessaries of life were in abundance and cheap. The corn-crib had no lock upon it. Bacon, beef, butter and poultry were plentiful. Or- chards were on a large scale, and the fruit better than at present, (a hundred years later). It was a common sight to see one hundred bee-hives in a farm yard, and both buck-wheat and clover were then grown especially for the benefit of these epicurean manufacturers. Beeswax and honey were articles of export. The medicinal herbs and roots, rhubarb, ginger, pimento, madder, saffron, hops, the opium poppy, and many others which are now purchased from the apothecary, were grown in the gardens. Many planters tanned their own leather. Shoes were almost always made on the plantation, either by a workman be- longing to the place, or by a man hired to do the work. Gentlemen and ladies were clad in homespun; even the bridle reins, girths, and saddle cloths were made at home. "The war between the American Colonies and the mother country stimulated immigration. Many families of wealth and distinction, and who were either loyal in sentiment or desired to be neutral, sought an asylum in West Florida. Settlements on the Bayou Pierre, Big Black and the Wal- nut Hills multiplied. The majority of those who came were men of intelligence and character. Bad men, out- laws and fugitives from justice, came likewise, but they were outnumbered and restrained by the better class, and there was generally peace, order and security for life and property. The land owners were, for the most part, edu- cated men; many of them had held commissions in the British and provincial army ; others had held civil offices under the Crown or the Colonies, and had been accus- tomed to the administration of the laws of England, now, and for ages past, the great security of social order and public liberty. Such a population is a guaranty against
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anarchy and mob rule, and though remote from the pro- vincial government of Pensacola, and no court of record nearer, the Natchez district was proverbial for its immunity from crimes and criminals. There is no British record of judicial proceedings in the Natchez district; and as there was considerable wealth in land, slaves, cattle and mer- chandise, the good order that prevailed may be fairly as- cribed to the superior character of the early immigration. The intelligent and cultivated class predominated, and gave tone to the community."
Early in the spring of 1778, one James Willing, a Phila- delphian of good family, but of licentious habits, who had previously been a merchant in Natchez, visited the Conti- nental Congress then in session at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with the view of being authorized by Congress to visit the Natchez district. Willing represented that it was highly important to secure the neutrality of the people residing on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, from the mouth of the Yazoo to the line of 31 degrees of north lati- tude. The colonies, then engaged in a tremendous struggle with the Crown of England, were in sore distress. New York and Philadelphia were in possession of the British forces. General Washington had passed through the ter. rible winter at Valley Forge. His soldiers were ragged, shoeless and almost starving. The affairs of the colonies were at the lowest ebb, and despair was fast settling upon the minds and hearts of the people. Willing was a man of education, fine manners, of striking appearance, and was wonderfully plausible and specious. His representa- tions of the importance of securing the neutrality of the inhabitants of the Natchez country were eagerly listened to by Congress, but when he assured the governing author- ities, that after securing the neutrality of the people in the Natchez district, he would be enabled to descend the Mis- sissippi to New Orleans in safety, and there purchase from the Spanish merchants a large supply of ammunition, so sorely needed by the colonial army, and transport it up the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers to Fort Pitt, (now Pitts- burg), the tempting bait was at once swallowed, and the authority asked for was promptly granted. Willing de-
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parted on his mission immediately, and a few weeks later he arrived at the mouth of Big Black river with a small armed party. He at once visited the settlements, and sent messages to the settlers on the Bayou Pierre to meet him on a given day. More than a hundred men assembled on the day named, and cheerfully took the oath of neutrality administered by Willing. He next proceeded to Natchez where he was warmly welcomed as a former citizen and a peacemaker. The citizens very generally took the pre- scribed oath and were pleased with his specious utterances. From Natchez he repaired to Ellis' Cliffs, where he landed at night and sent an armed party to the residence of Col. . Anthony Hutchins, some three miles from the river. Col. Hutchins was a prominent, influential and active citizen of the district, and probably no man within its limits exer- cised greater influence. He had served as an officer in the British army, was a gentleman of education and great force of character, and he had not taken the oath of neu- trality, by reason of his inability to travel to Natchez, being confined to his bed by illness. He sent his sons, however, to take the desired oath, with the assurance that he approved, and would take it himself at the earliest opportunity.
Arrived at the home of Col. Hutchins, Willing's ruffians proceeded to insult the family, plunder the house of plate, money and other valuables, carry off twelve valuable negro men, and concluded by dragging Col. Hutchins from a bed of sickness, and holding him a close prisoner. Other par- ties sent out by Willing plundered and arrested several other planters. These, however, were released on taking the required oath, but, adds Claiborne, "he refused to re- turn the property he had seized. At Manchac, on his way down, he surprised an English merchantman at anchor, which he carried to New Orleans and sold." Sir William Dunbar, in a private journal kept by him, describes fully, and at some length the various outrages perpetrated by Willing and his armed scoundrels. He gives an account of his robbery of various houses, burning some, and in other cases wantonly killing the stock of the planters. Sir William took the precaution of removing his negroes
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to a place of safety, and thus describes the plunder of his own house: "The houses of the British gentlemen on the English side (of the line) were plundered ; and among the rest mine was robbed of everything that could be carried away, all my wearing apparel, bed and table linen ; not a shirt was left in the house, blankets, pieces of cloth, sugar, silver-ware ; in short all was fish that came in their net. They destroyed also a considerable quantity of bottled wine, though they carried away no liquor; the party which robbed my house landed at Francis' immediately below ; the orders given by their head were to drive down my negroes, and if opposed by any one to "shoot 'em down." They returned with information that the negroes were gone, but that much property remained in the house, which they were ordered to carry away, and accordingly made three or four trips, carrying at each time a blanket full of the ware above mentioned. On the whole, I was plundered of two hundred pounds sterling value. Two boats under the command of Harrison and flat-nosed Elliott, at length reached Baton Rouge, and surprised Messrs. Williams, Watts and Dicas, made them prisoners with all their negroes, notwithstanding that these gentle- men had had every assurance of protection and safety, and in consequence taken oaths of neutrality. They were all brought to town soon after my arrival, and a public ven- due soon commenced of the plundered effects."
The outrages perpetrated by Willing and his freebooters, here recited, will vividly recall the memory of similar wrongs committed by a ruffian soldiery, during the period of reconstruction in Mississippi, against helpless, defence- less men, women and children.
The experience the people of the Natchez district had had with Willing and his robbers induced them to apply to the Governor of the Province of West Florida at Pen- sacola, to place a garrison in Fort Panmure. In response to this demand one Captain Michael Jackson, with a com- pany of infantry, was soon dispatched to Natchez and took possession of Fort Panmure. The people learned, immediately after the arrival of Jackson, and his ragga- muffins, that they had gained nothing in the way of pro-
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tection to life, property or public order. Jackson and his men were soon found to be of the same type of villains of Willing and his buccaneers, and caused a great amount of annoyance to the quiet, orderly and law-abiding citi- zens. Captain Jackson having excited numerous dis- orders, hearing that Captain Foster had been ordered to supercede him, decamped suddenly and secretly with a squad of the most vicious and depraved of his soldiers, "carrying with him all the portable property he could lay his hands on. The officers and men who had acted with Jackson, were sent under guard to Pensacola, where sev- eral were ordered to be shot."
The rule of the English in the province of West Florida, was now drawing rapidly to a close. These bold Britons had never attempted to conciliate their Spanish neighbors below the Manchac; in fact, conciliation had never been any part of English policy. The rule of force, aggression and domination, has marked the course of the English gov- ernment in its intercourse with other peoples, from the days of the commonwealth, under the iron hand of Oliver Cromwell, the Puritan, to the present hour. Aggressive and domineering in all their instincts, the English people., through many centuries, have well earned the appellation they have long proudly worn, of "the all-conquering race."
The British war-ships were in the habit of sailing past New Orleans, at the time of which we write, with the red cross of St. George, haughtily and vauntingly displayed, while their merchant vessels were constantly anchored just above the city, where a large and profitable trade was daily carried on, without paying the license tax demanded of other traders, greatly to the annoyance and injury of the Spanish traders, and a constant cause of irritation to the Spanish authorities.
In 1779 England was at war with France on account of the "aid, countenance and comfort"-to use a phrase much in vogue nearly a century later in this country-extended to the struggling colonists of America in their contest with Great Britain ; the King of Spain attempted to inter- pose in favor of his cousin, his most Christian Majesty of
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France, but his overtures having been grossly and scorn- fully rejected, Spain at once declared war on England, as Claiborne puts it pithily, "on the point of honor."
The result of this declaration of war was soon visible in America, and especially in the province of West Florida, which at that time comprised a considerable portion of the present State of Mississippi. Claiborne thus describes the result of the action of Governor Galvez, the Spanish Gov- ernor of Louisiana, or as it was then called the "Island of Orleans :"
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