A history of Mississippi : from the discovery of the great river, Part 15

Author: Lowry, Robert, 1830-1910; McCardle, William H
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Jackson, Miss. : R.H. Henry & Co.
Number of Pages: 674


USA > Mississippi > A history of Mississippi : from the discovery of the great river > Part 15


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57


In another part of his letter the General informs his cor- respondent that "Captain John Pierce has been sent by the Secretary himself, to command at the (Chickasaw) Bluffs, (now Memphis,) with a select corps of incomparable rascals under Lewis, Marschaulk and Steele," to which Claiborne adds a foot-note, and says: "This is the first mention we have of Andrew Marschaulk, so well known at Natchez in after years."


Congress, having in April, 1798, established a territorial government for Mississippi, in June of that year, Presi- dent Adams appointed the Hon. Winthrop Sargent, Gov-


161


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


ernor of the territory. The evacuation of the country by the Spanish authorities left Major Guion the sole repre- sentative of authority, civil and military, in the district of Natchez, and to him was entrusted the preservation of good order and the peace of the community. How well he performed that duty, and what confidence was reposed in him by the citizens of the district, is well established by the following correspondence, honorable alike to both parties :


NATCHEZ, May 1st, 1798.


To Major Guion, Commanding United States Troops :


SIR :- As it is very doubtful when the civil officers for this district will arrive, and we are daily experiencing many inconveniences in the absence of all civil authority, the repair of the roads, removing nuisances, keeping up a patrol, preventing riots, and the sale of spirits to Indians, and some regulation for the security and recovery of debts, are objects essential to our well-being, and yet, for all these purposes, we are without authority, and we can accomplish nothing without your support and approval. As a committee, representing the inhabitants of this town, we respectfully ask your assistance.


We have the honor to be, etc., etc.,


DAVID FERGUSON, LEWIS EVANS, DANIEL DOUGLASS, JOHN SCOTT, Committee.


The response of Major Guion stamps him as a clear- headed, discreet and patriotic soldier, and affords a won- derful contrast to the edicts of certain epauletted ruffians during the period of reconstruction. In his reply Major Guion says :


"The objects enumerated in your letter are all import- ant to your citizens, and. until the arrival of the officers of this district, can be accomplished by voluntary associa- tion and common consent. You shall have my co-opera- tion whenever it may be necessary, The selling of spirits to Indians, without a license from the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, is strictly prohibited by act of Congress, 11


162


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


approved May 19th, 1796, and is therefore an offense against the United States, and the penalties will be rigidly enforced by me. In regard to the security and recovery of debts, perhaps, by common consent, you may devise some plan ; but as these matters are too closely connected with judicial and legislative powers to be touched by me, I shall neither advise or discountenance any action the citizens may agree upon, and shall only interfere in case of violence or breach of public order."


The work of establishing the boundary line between the possessions of Spain and the United States, was, after the retirement of Gayoso, on the part of Spain, conducted by Don Stephen Minor, as commissioner, and Sir Wil- liam Dunbar, as astronomer, with a surveyor and a military guard. The American part of the commission consisted of Andrew Ellicott, as astronomer, Major Thomas Freeman, as surveyor, the necessary axmen, and a military guard under the command of Lieutenant McCleary, of the United States army.


The Spanish officials who bore sway for nearly seventeen years in Mississippi, as Governors, or military and civil commandants, were as follows :


First, Senor Francis Collet; second, Colonel Trevino ; third, Don Estavan Miro ; fourth, Senor Piernas ; fifth, Don Francis Bouligny ; sixth, Don Carlos Grand Pre ; seventh, Don Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, who was the last Spanish Governor to control the destinies of the Province, and he was, in all probability, one of the best and most liberal.


These officials all had their headquarters at the town of Natchez.


.


CHAPTER VII.


MISSISSIPPI AS A TERRITORY, FROM 1798 TO 1801.


O N the 12th day of June, 1797, President John Adams, in a special message to Congress, recommended the erection of "a government in the district of Natchez, sim- ilar to that established for the territory northwest of the Ohio, with certain modifications relative to titles or claims of land, whether of individuals or companies, or to claims of jurisdiction of any individual State." This recommendation was referred to a special committee of four members, with instructions to report by bill or otherwise.


By an act of Congress, approved April 7th, 1798, it was declared, "that all that tract of country bounded on the west by the Mississippi; on the north by a line to be drawn due east from the mouth of the Yazoo to the Chat- tahoochie river; on the east by the Chattahoochie river ; and on the south by the thirty-first degree of north lati- tude, shall be and is hereby constituted one district, to be called the Mississippi Territory, and the President of the United States is hereby authorized to establish therein a gov- ernment in all respects similar to that exercised in the terri- tory northwest of the Ohio, excepting and excluding the last article of the ordinance made for the government thereof by the late Congress on July 13th, 1787, and by and with the consent of the Senate, to appoint all the neces- sary officers therein." (The clause excluded was the ordi- nance of 1787, prohibiting the introduction of "slavery or involuntary servitude" into the territory northwest of the Ohio river.)


Congress reserved the right to divide the Mississippi Territory into two districts; declared that the establish-


164


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


ment of the Territorial government should in nowise im- pair the rights of Georgia in the territory. It declared it also unlawful to bring into the district slaves from any foreign country.


Under the act organizing the Territorial government northwest of the Ohio, it was provided that the Governor and the three judges, all appointed by the President, should be, or a majority of them, empowered, "to adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, civil and criminal, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances."


"The General Assembly, or Territorial Legislature, shall consist of the Governor, Legislative Council and a House of Representatives." At a meeting in joint assembly of these three branches, they were authorized to elect a dele- gate to the National House of Representatives, who should have the right to speak and advocate any measure he should think proper, but was to have no vote on any question.


The language of the law in regard to the formation of the Legislative Council was as follows : "The Legislature shall nominate ten persons and return their names to Con- gress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commis- sion." The members of the Legislative Council were to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, any three of whom shall constitute a quornm."


The law of Congress authorized the Secretary of the Territory, in case of the absence of the Governor, or his inability to perform the duties of his office, to discharge the duties of that officer during the absence or inability of the Governor.


Georgia, immediately after the passage of the law cre- ating the Territorial government of Mississippi, entered a solemn protest against the action of Congress as subver- sive of her rights in the premises.


Under this act President Adams appointed Winthrop Sargent, of Massachusetts, Governor, and John Steele, Sec- retary of the Territory. Governor Sargent was a native of the old "Bay State," was a revolutionary soldier, and served with considerable distinction as captain, and subse-


165


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


quently as major in the Continental army, in the brigade of General Arthur St. Clair. When the latter was ap- pointed Governor of the territory northwest of the Ohio, Winthrop Sargent was appointed Secretary of the Terri- tory, and in consequence of the bad health and frequent absence of the Governor, he many times, and for long periods, performed all the duties of the executive, as well as those pertaining to his own office. He was discharging the duties of Secretary of the Territory of the Northwest when he was promoted to the position of Governor of the Mississippi Territory. There was considerable opposition in the Senate to his confirmation, but his appointment was finally confirmed. Governor Sargent was a man of integ- rity, of courage, and of fair ability ; but he was a Puritan of the Puritans, narrow-minded, illiberal, and of strong prejudices. He was ascetic in temperament, cold, austere and suspicious ; was repellant in manners, and was ex- tremely bigoted. Before leaving Fort Washington, (now Cincinnati), he received a letter from the Secretary of State, in which he was informed of the character of the people he was sent to govern, the condition of the country, the temper of the inhabitants, the necessity of being at once firm and conciliatory, and was advised to emulate the ex- ample of his Spanish predecessor, Governor Gayoso, "in cultivating agreeable social relations with the citizens." In responding to this letter, Governor Sargent said :


"I do, indeed, accept your remarks in good faith, and you cannot confer on me a greater obligation than by continuing them. They may be honorable to myself and useful to the new government. The footing on which Gov- ernor Gayoso lived with the inhabitants may not be equally in my power to observe, from the difference be- tween the American and Spanish appointments. It shall be my study to conciliate and attach all parties to the United States."


The new Governor was, as we have said, a man of strong prejudices, and unfortunately for those whom he was sent to rule over, he had imbibed the strongest dislike against the people of the Mississippi Territory before he left the northwest for his new post of duty. In his letter to the


166


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


Secretary of State from Cincinnati, bearing date June 16th, 1798, he writes the Secretary thus :


"From the best intelligence I have been able to procure, there prevails in the country of our destination a refrac- tory and turbulent spirit, with parties headed by men of perverseness and cunning. They have run wild in the re- cess of government, and'every moment's delay in the adop- tion of rules and regulations after the ordinance shall be promulgated, must be productive of growing evils and discontents."


Never was a community more cruelly and harshly judged than were the people then residing in the Territory of Mississippi, by Governor Sargent. At least nine-tenths of the early settlers of the territory were men of high character, of education, fortune and family. They were principally from the New England States, Virginia, Geor- gia and the Carolinas. Many of them had been officers in the Continental army during the war of the revolution. They were uniformly men of landed estates, and therefore directly interested in the preservation of law and good order. They were as unlike the turbulent and disorderly characters that usually flock towards the frontiers of a new settlement as it is possible to imagine. The descend- ants of these early settlers have proven themselves worthy of the high character, the rugged virtues, the courage and constancy of their ancestry. They have always main- tained the character of orderly, law-abiding citizens. They have filled high places in the State and national councils, and in the forum, as in the field, they have borne themselves as men worthy of their lineage, honora- ble sons of noble sires.


As an index to the character of Governor Sargent, a letter from Sir William Dunbar, an educated and accomplished gentleman, the youngest son of Sir Archibald Dunbar, of Elgin, a famous family in Scotland, to his friend, Mr. Ross, bearing date May 23d, 1799, is quite conclusive. Sir Wil- liam writes :


"I returned from the boundary line with our new Gov- ernor, who had been to pay a visit to Mr. Ellicott. I am on as good terms as it is possible to be with a man of his


167


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


phlegmatic and austere disposition. However good his in- tentions may be to do what is just and lawful, or even praiseworthy, it is impossible that a man so frigid and sour can give satisfaction to a free people."


Andrew Ellicott, the astronomer on the part of the Ameri- can government, to run the boundary line between the possessions of Spain and those of the United States, was a disturbing element, a veritable marplot, from the mo- ment he planted his feet on the soil of Mississippi until he left it, and it was the opinion of the best informed and most intelligent men in the Territory, that Governor Sar- gent had fallen in with the prejudices and antipathies, personal and political, of Ellicott, and was wholly under his influence. The Governor invariably followed the ad- vice given him by Ellicott, in regard to men and measures, and as invariably ignored the suggestions of the most in- telligent people of the Territory, men of the highest char- acter, and the heaviest material interest in the country. The people had warmly welcomed Governor Sargent, on his arrival at Natchez, August 6th, 1798, and were pre- pared to give him their entire confidence and support. The coldness and austerity of his manners, his suspicious dis- position, coupled with the fact that he had seemingly taken Ellicott alone into his confidence, and imbibed the preju- dices and antipathies of that apple of discord, made his life in Mississippi a very unhappy one.


The new Governor addressed the people of Natchez ten days after his arrival, in which he announced that "per- sonal merit, and a firm attachment to the United States should be the qualifications for office under his adminis- tration, and that he should defer his appointments until he could become acquainted with the people. This declar- ation gave entire satisfaction to the people of the country, but this pleasure was of brief duration. In one week after making his address, Governor Sargent made a visit to the camp of Andrew Ellicott, who was then engaged in run- ning the boundary line. The object of this visit was gen- erally understood to be for the purpose of consulting with Ellicott as to his appointments. Nothing could have been better calculated to arouse the hostility of the people.


168


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


Ellicott was the most thoroughly detested individual in the territory. A man of brains and education, but of vio- lent passions, intense vanity, extreme selfishness, and a low order of morals; his whole life in Mississippi was a constant wrangle with the best and most intelligent peo- ple, and his chosen companions were of the worst and lowest class to be found in the territory. He was an object of contempt with all the officers of the army in Natchez, was a constant libeler of the best citizens of the district, and it is not strange, therefore, that the visit of the Gov- ernor to Ellicott was regarded by the people as an ill-omen for them. Among his earliest communications to the Sec- retary of State, the Governor wrote of the people he had been sent to govern and to conciliate, as "composed of various characters, and among them the most abandoned villians." Inanother letter he "recommended the expul- sion of certain aliens, and the necessity of transcending the laws, to maintain public order, and put down the seditious " In his letter to the Secretary he indulges in the following language: "I am sometimes constrained to measures that imperious necessity only can justify. They will no doubt be noticed by the malcontents, of whom there are not a few ; and among them some most unscru- pulous scoundrels, who manage with great art and ad- dress." He seems to have acquired a vast fund of infor- mation about the people in his interview with Ellicott, and also to have imbibed all his prejudices against the lead- ing men of the country. It is no marvel, then, that Gov- ernor Sargent should have grown unpopular, and that what might have been a couch of roses was converted into a veritable bed of thorns.


The Governor reached Natchez in very bad health, though that can scarcely be relied on as a defense for his many arbitrary acts. He caused to be arrested one man for "impudent observations," and Claiborne says, "he was strongly inclined to apply the Sedition law, and arrest Major Freeman, the American surveyor, for writing and speaking contemptuously of Commissioner Ellicott."


Again Governor Sargent writes to the Secretary of State, and again his pen is steeped in venom. He writes as fol- lows :


169


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


"Diffused over our country are aliens of various char- acters, and among them the most abandoned villians, who have escaped from the chains and prisons of Spain, and been convicted of the blackest crimes. It would be wise policy to provide for extirpating such from the territory. We have no prisons, and the vilest offenders therefore cal- culate, with some certainty, on impunity. I have done everything in my power, more, perhaps, but I trust neces- sity will plead my justification."


This letter from the Governor, like a swift witness, proves too much. It was the boast of Governor Gayoso, when he retired, that there was but one solitary prisoner in the district, that perfect order had been preserved, and that there being no lawlessness, there existed no necessity for prisons.


In another letter to the State Department, Governor Sar- gent writes thus in reference to the then Capital of the Territory :


"Natchez, from the perverseness of some of the people, and the inebriety of the negroes and Indians on Sundays, has become a most abominable place," and he suggests that the military arm be used to repress the people. He considered seriously the proposition to seize a Catholic church, and convert it into a courthouse, but finally aban- doned the idea on the ground that "it might hurt the feelings of about a dozen Catholic families, and give of- fense to the king of Spain, who had it built." He recom- mended the issuance of orders to prevent aliens from traveling through the territory without passports, and a short time thereafter he issued a proclamation directing that "all persons not actually citizens inhabiting the ter- ritory, or some one of the United States, to report them- selves within two hours after their arrival at any of the settled posts of the territory, to a conservator of the peace, under penalty of imprisonment. And prohibiting any citizen from entertaining or comforting any person neglect- ing to comply with the regulations."


As the military did not sympathise with the Governor in any of his arbitrary acts, he sought to have them re- moved from Natchez, under the plea of "saving the men


1


170


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


from debauchery, and for other reasons of national im- portance."


One of his most arbitrary acts was the appointment of a citizen as a general administrator, with full power to administer on the estate of decedents, taking bond, etc., " thus," says Claiborne, " by a single commission, creat- ing an office, prescribing the laws for its administration, and appointing an officer to fill it." "Royalty could do no more !" was the brief and pungent criticism of the late John M. Chilton, one of the most accomplished lawyers of his time, in reviewing this arbitrary proceeding of Gov- ernor Sargent.


The Governor, in pursuance of the power vested in him, divided the territory into two counties, Adams and Pick- ering, and proceeded to organize them by appointing a full corps of county officers, some of whom were very acceptable, while others were very obnoxious to the peo- ple.


President Adams had appointed three judges of the ter- ritorial court, to-wit : Peter B. Bruin, and two men named respectively, Tilton and McGuire. The last named was the only lawyer on the bench.


Governor Sargent and the three judges were authorized to frame a code of laws for the governance of the Territory, to be drawn from the statutes of the other States, but this they did not do. Following the pernicious precedent the Governor had previously established in the northwestern territory, he and his colleagues proceeded to frame a code of laws directly at variance with all statute law in Ameri- ca, and utterly repugnant to any known system of juris- prudence derived from the common law of England. Among other delightful statutes framed by this quartet of jurists, and under which the Governor received; many per- quisites, was one allowing the fees for marriage licenses, which were fixed at eight dollars ; and for the privilege of lodging and feeding travelers, eight dollars. These fees went directly into the pocket of the Governor, as did the fee of four dollars for a passport, for any one desiring to leave the territory. Under this same code the judges were


171


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


allowed fees on all judicial processes, notwithstanding the fact that the salaries of these same judges were paid from the coffers of the national treasury.


Against this code and its exorbitant fees, flowing as they did directly and steadily into the pockets of the Governor, there was an outburst of fiery and indignant protest, partic- ularly among those speaking the English language, and who were familiar with the principles of English and American liberty. Prominent among those who joined with, and led the protestors against the code of laws formed by Governor Sargent and the judges, were to be found the most active, in- telligent and influential men in the community. Such men as Cato West, Thomas M. Green, Narsworthy Hunter, Ger- ard Brandon, Hugh Davis, Samuel Gibson, Thomas Calvit, Alexander Montgomery, Felix Hughes, David Greenleaf, John Bolls, Ebenezer Dayton, Randall Gibson, Francis Smith, Wm. Ervin, Ebenezer Smith, John Foster, Joseph Calvit, Israel Luse, Moses Bonner, Richard King, Henry Hunter, Patrick Foley, Wm. Conner, Sutton Banks, Jesse Carter, Thomas Lovelace, George Selser, Parker Carradine, Abner Green, Robert Throckmorton, Jesse Harper, Robert Miller, Thomas White, James and Thomas Foster, Gibson Clarke, Tobias Gibson, Mathew Tiernan, William Foster, and others, petitioned Congress to cancel and annul these laws, to put a stop to these arbitrary measures, and to give to them and the people whose sentiments they represented, a voice in the framing of their own laws.


The people of the Territory were of too stern and heroic mold to submit quietly to the arbitrary acts of Governor Sargent, and they proposed to carry their cause before the Congress of the United States. For this purpose they selected Narsworthy Hunter, a native of Virginia, an edu- cated and patriotic gentleman, long a resident of the Ter- ritory, as their agent to lay their just complaints before the Congress. "Armed with the following credentials, Mr. Hunter took his departure for Philadelphia, the then seat of government :


NATCHEZ, October 2d, 1799.


"The undersigned, a general committee regularly chos- en by the inhabitants of the Mississippi Territory, in the


172


HISTORY OF MISSISSIPPI.


several districts of the same, for the purpose of seeking, by the constitutional mode of petition, redress of the grievances which oppress this country ; having drawn up and signed two petitions of this date, to be laid before Congress, one for confirmation of the rights to our lands, etc., the other against the improper and oppressive meas- ures of the Territorial government, and praying for a Legis. lative Assembly, do hereby nominate and appoint, as our special agent, our fellow-citizen, Narsworthy Hunter, (dis- tinguished for his attachment to the United States), to lay before Congress our aforesaid petitions, in full confidence that he will execute the trust reposed in him; and he is hereby authorized to make such explanations and further representations of the facts as he may find necessary dur- ing his continuance at the seat of government as agent for this Territory, and we pray the Honorable Congress to give full credence to his representations in our behalf."


This paper was signed by twenty-one of the most repu- table, intelligent and wealthy citizens of the Territory, members of the committee.


In addition to the general authorization to speak for the people of the Territory, Mr. Hunter presented a peti- tion from the people, numerously signed by the best citi- zens of the country. This petition set forth :


"That from the vast distance of the district from the seat of government, and all other settled portions of the United States, Congress could have but a partial knowl- edge of it, or of the temper of its inhabitants ; and that they had been grossly misrepresented by Andrew Ellicott, in his communications to the President and Secretary of State, and by Governor Sargent, who derived his opinions from Ellicott. Soon after Ellicott's arrival, he recom- mended for this district a government similar to that pro- vided for the northwestern territory-two sections, in their people and institutions, entirely dissimilar. His recom- mendation was made without color of authority, and merely in the interest of himself and his satellites, who were chiefly those who had been the favorites of the Spanish Governor. Under our Governor, those who had enjoyed the patronage of the Spaniards are the exclusive




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.