Augusta, Georgia - History (part 2 of 17)

" We have, as in duty bound, sent this express on purpose, with the inclosed informations by which you will understand that Indian blood has been spilt, and consequently an Indian War is almost inevitable. The only thing in all probability that can prevent it is the having of the murderers secured for to make him satisfection : for which reason we issued /me ajid crys everywhere to apprehend them : and in case they come by the way of Savannah, we hope care will be taken to secure them. We are afraid we cannot hold this place long without speedy assistance, which we hope your Excellency will take into serious consideration. All the settlements on the Ogeechee are abandoned. The fort cannot contain all the inhabitants, so that we shall be obliged to fortify some other places. Wc beg your Excellency would send us instructions how to act as you shall think proper. There are some head-men of the Creeks in Charles Town, or on their way thither - on whom we have had great dependence, as we designed to assure them that we will take and do justice on the murderers, and give them all the satisfaction they required. We wish we could hear from your Excellency before they go from this place, for which reason we hope your Excellency will dispatch the express with all haste possible. There is no match in the fort. Mr. begs, if there is any such

The guilty whites having been finally apprehended and brought to justice^ the wrath of the Indians having thus been appeased, and their head men having been placated by a liberal supply of such articles as they coveted, a pacification ensued to the joy and relief of the inhabitants of Augusta who had been sorely exercised by the late hostile temper and the recent threats of their red neighbors. Although anxious to respond to the requisition, Governor Reynolds found himself powerless to supply the needs and enlarge the protective abilities of Fort Augusta.

Condition of tlie Colony of Georgia in 1760 - Congress at Augusta in November, 1763 - Treaty with the Indians then Solemnized - Instructions to Indian Traders - Strength of Adjacent Indian Nations in 1768 - Augusta's Representation in the Provincial Congress - Congress at Augusta in June, 1773 - The Ceded Lands - Adjustment of the Claims of the Indian Traders - Trouble with the Indians - Silver Bluff.

UPON the inauguration of Governor Wright, in 1760, the population of Georgia amounted to barely six thousand inhabitants. The returns showed that there were then three thousand five hundred and seventy-eight negro slaves owned and employed within the province. The military force of the colony consisted of sixty men belonging to his majesty's independent companies, of two troops of rangers, each numbering five officers and seventy privates, and of the militia, organized as infantry and aggregating one thousand and twenty- five. But thirty-four hundred pounds of rice were exported in that year, and the entire commerce of the colony was conducted by forty-two vessels, most of them of light burthen. Scarcely anything was manufactured at home ; all needed supplies coming from abroad, and especially from Great Britain. Some of the poorer and more industrious class wove a coarse, homespun cloth, and knit cotton and yarn stockings for domestic use. Here and there a tanner or a shoemaker plied his trade, and there was no lack of blacksmiths. Occasionally a ship, a snow, a brigantine, or a schooner was built for the coasting trade. The "whole time and strength" of the colonists, as Sir James Wright reports to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, are "applied in planting rice, corn, peas, and a small quantity of wheat and rye, and in making pitch, tar and turpentine, and in making shingles and staves, and sawing lumber and scantling and boards of every kind, and in raising stocks of cattle, mules, horses and hogs."

By royal proclamation, dated at St. James, October 7, 1763, his majesty, George III., from the extensive and valuable acquisitions in America secured to his crown by the definitive treaty of peace concluded at Paris on the loth of February in the same year annexed to the Province of Georgia all lands lying between the rivers Alatamaha and St. Mary. The separate governments of East and West Florida were then organized, and the northern boundary of the two Floridas constituted the southern boundary of Georgia as far as the Mississippi River.

Thus did Georgia cease to be a frontier colony. Relieved from those anxieties so long entertained by reason of her proximity to Spanish rule at St. Augustine and Pensacola, and no more exposed to the annoyances of French intrigue and jealousies emanating from Mobile and the Alabama fort, the province entered upon a career of security and assured prosperity. Her southern and western boundaries, formerly threatened by enemies, were now but dividing lines separating plantations with kindred interests and acknowledging a common allegiance. The change was pleasing and restful, and the effect upon the colony most salutary. ,

The native population, however, remained, and it became necessary to acquaint the Indians with the change which had occurred, and to adopt measures for the perpetuation of the amicable relations existing between them and the British crown. To that end the Earl of Egremont, the principal secretary of State for the Southern Department, at the instance of the king, addressed communications to the governors of the Provinces of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, directing them, in association with Captain Stuart, the superintendent of Indian affairs, to convene a congress of the Creeks, Cherokees, Catawbas, Chickasaws and Choctaws at Augusta, or in such other central point as might be deemed most convenient.

After some discussion, and upon the suggestion of Governor Wright indorsed by Mr. Stuart, Augusta was selected as the locality most suitable for the convocation. The congress was opened with due formality at the King's Fort, in that town, on Saturday, November 5, 1763. There were present on the part of the English, Governor James Wright, of Georgia, Governor Thomas Boone, of South Carolina, Governor Arthur Dobbs, of North Carolina, Lieutenant-Governor Francis Fauquier, of Virginia, and John Stuart, esq., superintendent of India-n affairs in the Southern Department. Seven hundred Indians were in attendance. James Colbert acted as interpreter for the Chickasaws and Choctaws. John Butler, James Beamor and John Watts interpreted for the Cherokees, and Stephen Forest and John Proctor for the Creeks. Colonel Ayers. the Catawba chief, interpreted for his nation.

The Upper and Lower Chickasaws were represented by the following chiefs: Hopayamatahah, Poucherimatahah, Houpastubah, Pianiatah, Hopayamingo, Houratimatahah, Hopayamingo (Jockey's son), and twenty warriors. The chiefs, Red- Shoes and Chappahomah, represented the Choctaws.

The Upper and Lower Creeks were present in the persons of their chiefs,. Captain Aleck, Sympoyaffee. Bohotcher, Sausechaw. Boysonecka, Hillibeesunaga, Firmicho, Poyhucher, Poyhuchee, and their followers.

Of the Cherokees, fifteen chiefs appeared, representing the Settlements over the Hills, the Middle Settlements, and the Lower Towns. The Over Hill chiefs were AttakullakuUa, Ousteneka, Prince of Chotih, Willanawah, Onatoi, Skiagusta of Chotih, and Moitoi. Those from the Lower Towns were Tiftowih of Keehowee, the Wolf, Houkonata, Man Killer of Keehowee, Good Warrior of Estatowih, Young Warrior of the same place, and the Warrior of Tuscoweh. Will, the head man of Whatogah, led the delegation from the Middle Settlement. The Catawbas were represented by their chief. Colonel Ayers, and some followers.

The conference occurring within the limits of Georgia was opened by Governor Wright. Observing that the day was fair, and indulging in the hope that all the talks would not prove otherwise, he invited the Indians to heed the utterances of Mr. Stuart, as he had been selected by the governors present to give expression to their united sentiments.

Thus commended, Mr. Stuart, addressing the assembled Indians as friends and brothers, assured them that he spake by command of the great King George, who, under God, the Master and Giver of breath, was the common father and protector both of the English and of the red men; that no conference was ever intended to be more general or more friendly; that, provoked at the repeated cruelties, insults, and falsehoods of the French and Spaniards, the king of England had put forth his strength and defeated both his perfidious enemies; that in order to prevent a recurrence of former disturbances, his majesty insisted upon the removal of tlie French and Spaniards beyond the Mississippi ; that all cause of trouble being now at an end, he hoped the Indians and English would dwell together in peace and brotherly friendship ; " that all past offenses should be buried in oblivion and forgiveness ;" that the English were prepared to deal fairly, and to supply the Indian nations with everything they might require ; and that the forts recently surrendered by the French would be used for the assistance and protection of the natives, and for the convenience of a trade, which, it was believed, would prove mutually beneficial. "The white people," he said in conclusion, " value themselves on speaking truth ; but to give still greater weight to what we say, the great king has thought proper that his four governors and the superintendent from a great distance should utter the same words at the same time ; and, to remove every umbrage or jealousy, that you should all hear them in presence of one another, and bear testimony for one another in case we should ever act contrary to our declarations."

The responses of the chiefs and various rejoinders occupied the attention of the congress until the loth of November, when the following treaty was formally ratified by all parties present:

" Article I. That a perfect and perpetual peace and sincere friendship shall be continued between his majesty. King George the Third, and all his subjects, and the several nations and tribes of Indians herein mentioned, that is to say, the Chicasahs, Upper and Lower Creeks, Chactahs, Cherokees, and Catawbas; and each nation of Indians hereby respectively engages to give the utmost attention to preserve and maintain peace and friendship between their people and the king of Great Britain and his subjects and shall not commit or permit any kind of hostilities, injury, or damage whatever, against them from henceforth, and for any cause, or under any pretense whatever. And for laying the strongest and purest foundation for a perfect and perpetual peace and friendship, his most sacred majesty has been graciously pleased to pardon and forgive all past offenses and injuries, and hereby declares there shall be a general

" Article II. The subjects of the great King George and the aforesaid several nations of Indians shall, forever hereafter, be looked upon as one people. And the several governors and superintendent engage that they will encourage persons to furnish and supply the several nations and tribes of Indians aforesaid with all sorts of goods usually carried amongst them, in the manner which they now are. and which will be sufficient to answer all their wants. In consideration whereof, the Indian parties on their part, severally engage in the most solemn manner that the traders and others who may go amongst them shall be perfectly safe and secure in their several persons and effects, and shall not on any account, or pretense whatever, be molested or disturbed whilst in any of the Indian towns or nations, or on their journey to or from the nations.

" Article III. The English governors and superintendent engage for them - selves and their successors, as far as they can, that they will always give due attention to the interest of the Indians, and will be ready on all occasions to do them full and ample justice. And the several Indian parties do expressly promise and engage for themselves severally, and for their several nations and tribes, pursuant to the full right and power which they have so to do, that they will in all cases, and upon all occasions, do full and ample justice to the English; and will use their utmost endeavors to prevent any of their people from giving any disturbance, or doing any damage to them in the settlements or elsewhere as aforesaid, either by stealing their horses, killing their cattle, or otherwise, or by doing them any personal hurt or injury; and that if any damage be done, as aforesaid, satisfaction shall be made to the party injured ; and that if any Indian, or Indians, whatever, shall hereafter murder or kill a white man, the offender or offenders, shall, without any delay, excuse, or pretense whatever, be immediately put to death in a public manner in the presence of at least two of the English who may be in the neighborhood where the offense is committed.

" And if any white man shall kill or murder an Indian, such white man shall be tried for the offense in the same manner as if he had murdered a white man, and, if found guilty, shall be executed accordingly in the presence of some of the relations of the Indian who may be murdered, if they choose to be present.

" Article IV. Whereas doubts and disputes have frequently happened on account of encroachments, or supposed encroachments committed by the English inhabitants of Georgia on the lands or hunting grounds reserved and claimed by the Creek Indians for their own use: Wherefore, to prevent any mistakes, doubts, or disputes for the future, and in consideration of the great marks of clemency and friendship extended to us the said Creek Indian, we, the kings. Head Men and Warriors of the several nations and towns of both Up- per and Lower Creeks, by virtue and in pursuance of the full right and power which we now have and are possessed of, have consented and agreed that, for the future, the boundary between the Enghsh settlements and our lands and hunting grounds shall be known and settled by a line extending up Savannah River to Little River and back to the fork of Little River, and from the fork of Little River to the ends of the south branch of Briar Creek, and down that branch to the Lower Creek path, and along the Lower Creek path to the main stream of Ogeechie River, and down the main stream of that river just below the path leading from Mount Pleasant, and from thence in a straight line cross to Sancta Sevilla on the Alatamaha River, and from thence to the southward as far as Georgia extends, or may be extended, to remain to be regulated agreeable to former treaties and his majesty's royal instruction, a copy of which was lately sent to you.

" And we, the Catawba Head Men and Warriors, in confirmation of an agreement heretofore entered into with the white people, declare that we will remain satisfied with the tract of land of fifteen miles square, a survey of which, by our consent, and at our request, has been already begun; and the respective Governors and Superintendent, on their parts, promise and engage that the aforesaid survey shall be completed, and that the Catawbas shall not, in any respect, be molested by any of the King's subjects, within the said lines, but shall be indulged in the usual manner of hunting elsewhere.

" And we do by these presents give, grant, and confirm unto his most sacred majesty. King George the Third, all such lands whatsoever as we, the said Creek Indians, have at any time heretofore been possessed of, or claimed as our hunting grounds, which lye between the sea, the River Savannah, and the lines hereinbefore mentioned and described, to hold the same unto the great King George and his successors forever. And we do fully and absolutely agree that from henceforth the above lines and boundary shall be the mark of division of lands between the English and the Creek Indians, notwithstanding any former agreement or boundary to the contrary ; and that we will not disturb the English in their settlements or otherwise within the lines aforesaid.

" In consideration whereof it is agreed on the part of his majesty. King George, that none of his subjects shall settle upon or disturb the Indians in the grounds or lands to the westward of the lines hereinbefore described; and that if any shall presume to do so, then, on complaint made by the Indians, the party shall be proceeded against for the same, and punished according to the laws of the English." ^

The following day liberal presents were distributed by Mr. Stuart to all the assembled Indians. The four governors united in an explanatory letter to the

^ See Journal of the Congress of the four SoutherJt Governors and the Superitttendent of that District with the five Nations of Indians at Augusta, 1763, pp. 1-45. South Carolina, Charles-Town. Printed by Peter Timothy. MDCCLXiv. -

Earl of Egremont, advising him of the satisfactory manner in which the king's commands, as signified in his lordship's communication of the i6th of March, had been obeyed, and suggesting the estabUshment of commercial relations with the Indians upon a general, safe, and equitable footing.

In transmitting a copy of this treaty to the board of trade. Governor Wright, on the 23d of December, assures the Lords Commissioners that this accession of territory from the Indians will encourage the incoming of many settlers and promote the prosperity of Georgia. In this expectation he was not disappointed.

In order that the promises contained in this treaty respecting fair dealing with the Indian nations might be duly observed by the licensed traders, Governor Wright deemed it proper to promulgate and enforce certain stringent regulations. As they specially affected the population of Augusta, which -was still largely engaged in traffic with the natives, a synopsis of them will be regarded as pertinent.

Every trader was so to conduct himself that " no offense be given to the Christian religion." All horses, hogs, and cattle, accompanying the trader were to be carefully guarded, in order that no damage should be done by them to the growing crops of the natives. It was expressly forbidden to compel an Indian, either by threats or force, to perform any labor, to carry any pack or burthen, or to buy or sell contrary to his will or inclination.

The trader was not allowed to receive any present, gift, fee or reward from an Indian, or to credit any member of the community to a greater extent than one pound of powder and four pounds of bullets. The savages were to be informed that they were relieved from all obligation to pay debts previously -contracted. No arms, ammunition, or goods were to be sold to Indians acknowledging allegiance to the crowns of France and Spain. Traffic in swanshot was prohibited. Any information acquired touching the movements or designs of the French and Spaniards was to be promptly and faithfully communicated- It was not permitted to a trader, without special permission from the governor, to bring an Indian within the limits of the white settlements. Persons found trading with the natives without license were to be immediately reported . Matters relating to the affairs and government of the province could not form subjects of conversation with the natives, and the servants of traders were forbidden to traffic with the Indians. No servant could remain in the Indian Territory; and if any person in the employment of the trader committed a capital offense, it was made the duty of the trader to take him before a magistrate for trial and punishment. Upon the renewal of his license each trader was required to submit a statement of all skins and effects purchased from the Indians, and of all goods sold or left at his trading-post. It was also incumbent upon him to hand in a journal of all proceedings during his sojourn in the Indian country. No free Indian, negro, or slave could, without special leave, be employed to assist the irader in the prosecution of his calling, or in rowing his boats from any garrison into the red man's territory. Rawhides could not be accepted in exchange for goods. The sale of rum, spirituous liquors, and " rifled barrelled guns," was absolutely prohibited.

With the exception of an occasional murder, resulting from som^ personal quarrel, or committed under the influence of strong drink, the intercourse' between the colonists and the Indians was for many years amicable and satisfactory. This happy state of affairs was largely due to the watchfulness, wisdom, and liberality of Governor Wright, who held the traders to strict accountability and, by apt interviews with the influential chiefs of the Creeks and the Cherokees, and by generous presents, inculcated and maintained friendly relations.

In pursuance of writs of election, issued by Governor Wright in 1 76 1, the town of Augusta and parish of St. Paul sent up the following representatives : longer subjected to menaces at the hands of Spaniards and French, at peace with the Indian nations, permitted to purchase and employ slaves in the cultivation of the soil, enjoying a fee simple title to lands, encouraged by the example and experience of a wise and energetic governor, the inhabitants of Georgia took fresh courage in the development of the plantation ; and, from this time forward, the progress of the colonization was satisfactory and uninterrupted.

In the excitement which violently agitated Savannah when the authorities attempted, within her limits, to enforce the provisions of the stamp act of 1765, the citizens of Augusta did not share except to a limited extent. They were too far removed from the scene of operations, and had but small practical interest in the question and the rights involved.

In 1767 depredations were committed by a party of Creek Indians, who had lately formed a settlement on the Oconee River, upon the plantations on Little River. Some horses were captured. Pursued by five of the inhabitants, the Indians fled until they regained their homes where, reinforced by their companions, they turned upon their assailants and compelled them to beat a hasty retreat. This was not the first time the Creeks had invaded this region and plundered its plantations. Responding to the emergency, Governor Wright, on the 24th of August, prepared a talk to the (^reek nation in which he demanded the return of the stolen animals, insisted upon a recall of the marauding bands, and cautioned an observance of the boundary- line stipulations as agreed upon by the Augusta Congress. The town of Augusta now contained some eighty houses, a church, and two wooden forts. ^ Plantations were multiplying to the north as far as Little River.

ing commerce with Georgia, the following estimate was submitted by Governor Wright to the Earl of Hillsborough, on the 5tli of October, 1768:

In this number are not included those whose trade relations were carried on with South Carolina and with East and West Florida. When we remember the defenseless condition of the province, and its unguarded frontier, and when we recall the fact that the Indian Territory was frequented by traders-^ some of whom were supercilious, dishonest and tyrannical - we are astonished that these primitive peoples exhibited such tolerance towards a race which was surely supplanting them in the occupancy of their native wilds.

In the recalcitrant Assembly which was finally dissolved by Governor Habersham in 1772, Augusta was represented by Edward Barnard, Alexander Inglis, and Thomas Shruder. While the governor was loyally seeking to carry out the instructions of the king and to enforce the acts of Parliament, the Provincial Assembly, under the leadership of Dr. Noble Wymberley Jones, who has been appropriately styled the " morning star " of the revolution in Georgia, was in active sympathy with all who esteemed taxation without representation as unauthorized, and jealously maintained what they regarded as the reserved rights of the colonists and the privileges of provincial legislatures.

For some time the Cherokees had been increasing their indebtedness to the traders. Each year they became less able to discharge their accumulating obligations. The Creeks were in a similar situation. The traders clamored for payment, and the Indians offered to make a cession of lands in settlement of their debts. Various negotiations and talks ensued in regard to the matter, which was finally adjusted at a congress held in Augusta on the 1st of June, 1773. Georgia was represented by her governor. Sir James Wright, and the Cherokees and Creeks appeared in the persons of several chiefs who were empowered to bind their respective nations. The Hon. John Stuart, his majesty's sole agent and superintendent of Indian affairs in the southern district of North America, was also present.

By the cession then made Georgia acquired additional territory embracing over two millions of acres of land, most of it well watered, and adapted to the cultivation of indigo, cotton, tobacco, corn, wheat, etc. Wilkes, Lincoln, Taliaferro, Greene, Oglethorpe, Elbert, and other counties were subsequently carved out of it. Goodly was the region and offering inany attractions to immigrants. The aggregate indebtedness existing on the part of the Indians to the tra ers was estimated at from ^^"40,000 to ;^50,ooo. Simultaneously with the fo mal execution of this cession and treaty, the Indian traders holding claims against the Indians submitted releases by which, in consideration of the surrender of this territory to his majesty, and in anticipation of receiving partial or entire payment of the debts due to them by the Creeks and Cherokees from the moneys to be realized upon the sale of these lands, they absolutely acquitted and discharged the Indians from all demands. Prominent among those signing these releases were George Galpin, James Jackson & Co.,' Martin Campbell & S^n, Woodgion, Rae. Whitefield & Co., Edward Barnard, Waters, James Grierson, James Spalding & Co , and Edward Keating.

In order to engage the attention of the public and to attract settlers for this newly acquired and fertile domain, his excellency, on the iith of June, 1773, issued a proclamation in which, after describing the cession and making known the fact that surveyors were actually engaged in running out and marking the boundaries, he states that the territory would " be parceled out in tracts varying from 100 to 1,000 acres the better to accommodate the buyers "; that in conformity to his majesty's instructions " one hundred acres would be sold to the master or head of a family, fifty acres additional for the wife and each child, and the same number of acres for each slave owned and brought in by the purchaser "; that in "further encouragement of the settling of the said lands the masters or heads of families will be allowed to purchase 50 acres for each able bodied white servant man they shall bring in to settle thereon," and also "25 acres for every woman servant from the age of 15 years to 40 years "; that all persons were at liberty to come into the province and view these lands^ and, as soon as they were surveyed, to make choice of such of them as they desired to purchase and settle upon ; that grants would be executed on the most moderate terms, and that for a period of ten years the parcels purchased would be exempt from the payment of quit rents ; that the lands offered were "in general of the most fertile quality and fit for the production of wheat, indico, Indian corn, tobacco, hemp, flax, etc., etc., etc. ;" that they comprised "a pleasant and very healthy part of the province"; that they were "extremely well watered by Savannah River, Ogechee River, Little River, and Broad River, and by a great number of creeks and branches which ran throughout the whole country and emptied themselves into the aforesaid rivers ; that there was an abundance of springs, and that the water was very fine ; that Little River, where the ceded lands began, was but t\venty-two miles above the town of Augusta ; that at this place ready market would always be found for all produce and stock ; that if Savannah was preferred as a point for trade there was easy transportation down the Savannah River, while a good wagon road led from Little River to that commercial metropolis of the province ; that a fort would speedily be built and garrisoned within the ceded lands for the protection of the immigrants, and that all vagrants and disorderly persons would be promptly and severely dealt with ; and finally, that these lands adjoined a well-settled part of the province, where law, justice, and good government obtained.

A plan of settlement was carefully arranged, and Colonel Bartlett and Messrs. Young, Holland, and Maddox were appointed commissioners and vested with ample powers to negotiate sales. They were authorized to place a valuation upon each tract according to its quality. Not more than five shillings per acre were to be charged in any event, and five pounds sterling were to be paid as entrance money for every hundred acres. To facilitate the business, land courts were opened in Savannah, in Augusta, and at the confluence of Broad and Savannah rivers. At this last named locality Captain Waters and his company were stationed. Here Fort James was builded. Its stockade was an acre in extent. Within this inclosure were officers' quarters and barracks for the garrison, consisting of fifty rangers, well mounted, and armed each with a rifle, two dragoon pistols, a hanger, a powder-horn, a shot-pouch, and a tomahawk. ^ In each angle of this square stockade was erected a block-house in which swivel guns were posted. These structures rose one story ;;bove the curtains, which were pierced for small arms. The stockade crowned a gentle eminence in the fork of the Savannah and Broad, equi-distant from those rivers and from the extreme point of land formed by their junction. On the peninsula above the tort was located the town called Dartmouth in honor of the earl whose influence had been exerted in persuading his majesty to favor the cession of this recently acquired territory. After a short and by no means robust existence Dartmouth gave place to Petersburg, which, during the tobacco culture in Georgia, attracted to itself a considerable population, and was regarded as a place of no little commercial importance.''

Settlements were rapidly formed on the Ogeechee and north of Little River, and the ceded lands were eagerly sought after. The Quakers who, through fear of the Indians, had abandoned their homes in the southern portion of what is now Columbia county, returned and diligently resumed their agricultural operations. The outlook for the speedy population of this new domain was most encouraging when the pleasing prospect wa>i suddenly enveloped in doubt and disister by the unexpected hostility of the Creeks.

In January, 1774, a party of Lower Creek Indians wantonly attacked Sherrall's fortified settlement, in which were five white and three negro men and twelve women and children. Approaching stealthily, the Indians fired upon the men who were at work Upon the fort. Sherrall and two others fell. The rest retreated into the houses where, encouraged by the valor of a negro who rushed upon an Indian and shot him through the head, they entered upon a vigorous defense. Thrice did the savages set fire to the structures, and as

-often were the flames extinguished. Two of the neighbors, attracted by the firing, approached. Discovered by the Indians they were pursued. Succeeding, however, in making their escape, they notified Captain Barnard of the afifair. Hastily collecting about forty men, he advanced to the relief of the besieged and, attacking the Indians in the rear, drove them into the swamp. Seven persons had been killed and five wounded within the fort. Of the Indians it is known that five were slain. Their wounded was carried ofT by their companions.

A few days afterwards a skirmish occurred between twenty-five white settlers and one hundred and fifty Indians. Grant, Weatherford, Hammond, and Ayres were killed, and a fifth white man was wounded who died the next day at Wrightsboro. Several private forts and dwellings, which had been precipitately abandoned by their owners, were reduced to ashes by the savacjes. Collecting some men. Captain Few and Lieutenants Williams and Bishop buried the bodies of those who had fallen in the recent action. Lieutenant Samuel Alexander, with a few militia, attacked and dispersed a party of Indians who had become separated from the main body. Two of the Creeks were killed. For having thus, without authority, punished these Indians, Alexander was rebuked by Colonel Rae, an agent of Indian affairs. Apprised of the circumstances, however, Rae justified Alexander's conduct, and expressed the opinion that when the chiefs of the nation should be made acquainted with the entire transaction they would note the provocation and acquiesce in the propriety of the retaliation.

This sudden and disastrous invasion of the recently settled district caused general alarm and distrust. Many letreated to places of security. Forts were constructed on Savannah and Little Rivers, and in them were deposited women and children, and personal property of special value. In cultivating their farms the husbandmen banded together for mutual protection.

By a messenger dispatched by Mr. George Galphin, a principal agent for Indian affairs and a trader high in the confidence both of the colonists and of the savages, to ascert lin from the chiefs of the Lower Creeks whether they were inclined to peace or war, and to demand an explanation of the recent outrages, answer was returned that the incursion was unauthorized and that the disposition of the Creeks toward the inhabitants of Georgia was pacific.

Big Elk, the leader of the Creeks who attacked Sherrall's fort, finding that his nation was averse to entering upon a war with the English, invited the Cherokees to join him in an invasion of Georgia. This the Cherokees declined to do. On his way home that chief and his party killed and scalped three white men.

About the last of March, Head Turkey, ^ a leading mico of the Upper Creeks, accompanied by two chiefs and an Indian trader, visited the Lower

Creek towns to prevail upon the inhabitants to make peace with the Georgians. It was consented that he should wait upon Governor Wright and submit overtures. On his way to Savannah he was murdered in Augusta by Thomas Fee, who sought revenge for a kinsman of his who, on the northern frontier, had been butchered by the Indians. This lawless act produced a profound sensation and stirred the hearts of the savages to wrath and vengeance. Fee fled into South Carolina and there sought protection. A reward of ;^ lOO sterling was offered by Sir James Wright for his apprehension. He was arrested and lodged in the prison-house at Ninety-Six. While there detained, an armed pa'rty came in the night-time, forced the jail, and set him at liberty.

Learning that Fee had been apprehended, and that he was in confinement, several of the Creek chiefs came to Savannah to witness his execution. Grievous was their displeasure when they ascertained that he had been forcibly released. When assured that Governor Wright's proclamation was still operative, that the governor of South Carolina had offered a further reward of ;^200 for bis arrest, and that there was good reason to believe he would yet be brought to punishment for his crime, their wrath was measurably appeased. The governor then stated to the chiefs that within four months fifteen of his people had, without any provocation, been slain by the Creeks, and that eleven of the South Carolinians had, in like manner, been slaughtered on Long Cane. He thereupon demanded of them the blood of the Indians who had murdered these innocent colonists, and questioned the propriety of their asking that justice which they failed to accord. He assured them that the king of England, if he made a requisition for it, would send him a military force capable of exterminating the whole Indian nation, and that his amicable disposition and forbearance were proof positive that he did not desire war. He insisted, however, that the blood of his innocent people should no more be shed, and warned them that if hereafter the Indians either murdered or robbed his people, he would exact atonement for every offense. On the other hand he stood pledged to make proper reparation for every injury of which they might justly complain. In the future the chiefs promised that their nation should maintain peace with the English. When about to depart, the governor ordered Captain Samuel Elbert, with his company of grenadiers, to escort them through the white settlements that no harm might befall them at the hands of the inhabitants.

During the absence of these chiefs from their nation several war parties crossed the frontiers of Georgia and committed theft and murder. In a little while commissioners from the Upper Creek towns visited the governor and reported that their warriors had killed the leader and two of the men who had been guilty of these recent depredations. ^

It excites no surprise that these incursions of the savages, and the insecurity of the New Purchase, as it was called, materially retarded for a time the tide of immigration which was turning rapidly towards Augusta and these desirable lands. Confidence, however, was restored by the covenants and the conclusions of the Savannah Congress. Applicants for purchase soon reappeared in pleasing numbers, and those who had been driven from their partially settled homes returned and resumed their labors with renewed hope of safety and success.

Of all the Indian traders and merchants prominently associated with the commerce and development of Augusta, no one was more influential or enterprising than George Galphin. Although his home and his depot of supplies -were for many years located at Silver Bluff, on the Carolina side of the Savannah River, his affiliations were chiefly with Georgia, and his intercourse was principally with her people and with the Indian tribes dwelling within and upon her borders. His relations with Augusta were constant, and materially conduced to enhance the business of the town. By William Bartram. who visited him in 1774, he is described as " a gentleman of very distinguished talents and great liberality, who possessed the most extensive trade, connections, and influence among the South and Southwest Indian tribes."

Long was Silver Bluff a place of general resort and of much commercial importance. Hence were the annual royal presents for the Indians frequently distributed. Hither did the Indians, from an extensive territory, repair to exchange their peltry and animals for articles of European manufacture. From this point did traders depart amply supplied for distant expeditions and long sojourns among the red men. Here were storehouses, cattle pens, and structures erected for the accommodation of the rude visitors. Barges plied regularly between Silver Bluff and Charlestown and Savannah, and the landing place was the resort of multitudes of Indian canoes, many of them coming from remote points. It was a busy settlement by the swiftly moving waters of the tawny- hued Savannah. Over all watched the observant eye of the proprietor. So just was he in his dealings with the sons of the forest, and so extensive were his transactions with them, that he acquired an influence at once potent and far-reaching.

The years roll on, and an increasing population, overleaping stream and mountain barrier, fills the hills and valleys of a distant interior. Before its inexorable advance the red race retires, and upon its departure the occupation of the Indian trader here becomes obsolete. Bereft of its importance this post lapses into decay, and the locality becomes the home of departed memories, the abode of traditions, and the dweUing-place of the phantoms of things that were. The same bold river with restless tide hastening onward to mingles it waters with the billows of the Atlantic, the same overarching skies^ the same potent sun, kindred forests and voices of nature, but all else how changed !

Bartram's Description of Augusta in 1773 - Convention of 1774 - Protest from the Parish of St. Paul - Division of Sentiment - Conduct of Governor Wright - Dr. Lyman Hall - Action of St. John's Parish - Progress of the Revolution.

IN the spring of 1773 the English naturalist and botanist, William Rartram, visited Augusta. He has left the following impression of the little town : " The village of Augusta is situated on a rich and fertile plain on the Savanna River ; the buildings are near its banks, and extend nearly two miles up to the cataracts or falls which are formed by the first chain of rocky hills through which this famous river forces itself as if impatient to repose on the extensive plain before it invades the ocean. When the river is low, which is during the summer months, the cataracts are four or five feet in height across the river^ and the waters continue rapid and broken, rushing over rocks five miles higher

" It was now about the middle of the month of May ; vegetation in perfection appeared with all her attractive charms, breathing fragrance everywhere ; the atmosphere was now animated with the efficient principle of vegetative life. . . . Upon the rich, rocky hills at the cataracts of Augusta I first observed the perfumed rhododendron ferrugineum, white robed philadelphus inodorus, and cerulean malva; but nothing in vegetable nature was more pleasing than the oderiferous pancratium fluitans, which almost alone possesses the little rocky islets which just appear above the water."

Upon a second visit to this town he writes : " The site of Augusta is perhaps the m.ost delightful and eligible of any in Georgia for a city. An extensive level plain on the banks of a fine navigable river, which has its numerous sources in the Cherokee mountains - a fruitful and temperate region - whence, after roving and winding about those fertile heights, they meander through a fertile, hilly country, and, one after another, combine in forming the Tugilo and Broad rivers, and then the famous Savanna River; thence they continue near a hundred miles more, following its meanders, and falls over the cataracts at Augusta, which cross the river at the upper end of the town. These falls are four or five feet perpendicular height in the summer season, when the river is low. From these cataracts upwards, this river, with all its tributaries as. Broad River, Little River, Tugilo, etc., is one continued rapid, with some short intervals of still water, navigable for canoes. But from Augusta downwards to the ocean, a distance of near three hundred miles by water, the Savannah uninterruptedly flows with a gentle meandering course, and is navigable for vessels of twenty or thirty tons burthen to Savannah, where ships of three hundred tons lie in a capacious and secure harbor.

"Augusta, thus seated at the head of navigation, and just below the conflux of several of its most considerable branches, without a competitor, commands the trade and commerce of vast fruitful regions above it, and from every side to a great distance; and I do not hesitate to pronounce, as my opinion, that it will very soon become the metropolis of Georgia. "^

The passage of Lord North's bill for closing the port of Boston and occluding the commerce of a town of prime importance in the English dominions in America, and subsequent acts of oppression passed in quick succession by the British Parliament, despite the protestations of Burke, Barre, and other liberal statesmen who bravely raised their warning voices against these measures of insult and injustice, produced a profound impression upon the minds of the patriots in Georgia, and induced them to give early and decided expression to their sentiments of condemnation.

Responding to a call, issued on the 20th of July, 1774, by Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bullock, John Houstoun and John Walton, a number of the freeholders and inhabitants of the province assembled a week afterwards at the watch-house in Savannah, and, after appointing a committee on resolutions and of correspondence, adjourned to convene again on the lOth of August The chairman, Mr. John Glen, was requested to communicate with the respective districts and parishes composing the province, with a view to securing delegates from all of them who should attend at the adjourned convention and thus give general sanction to the patriotic resolutions which it was hoped would then be adopted.

Although Governor Wright issued his proclamation declaring the purposed assemblage to be "unconstitutional, illegal, and punishable by law," in direct disregard of this manifesto, and in opposition to the expressed will of his excellency, a general meeting of the inhabitants of the province was held at Tondee's tavern, in Savannah, on the lOth of August, 1774.

The following resolutions, reported by the committee raised for that purpose at the former convocation, were adopted and given to the public as an expression of the sentiments of Georgia with repect to the important questions which were then agitating the minds of the American colonists :

''Resolved, iieminc contradicenie. That, as protection and allegiance are reciprocal, and under the British constitution correlative terms, his majesty's subjects in Ameiica have a clear and indisputable right, as well from the general laws of mankind as from the ancient and established customs of the land, so often recognized, to petition the throne upon every emergency.

''Resolved, nemine contradicente, That an act of parliament, lately passed for blockading the port and harbor cf Eoslon, is contrary to our idea of the British constitution, first, for that it in effect deprives good and lawful men of the use of their property without judgment of iheir peers, and secondly, for that it is in the nature of an ex post facto law, and indiscriminately blends as objects of punishment the innocent with the guilty; neither do we conceive the same justified upon a principle of necessity, for that numerous instances evince that the laws and executive power of Boston have made sufficient provision for the punishment of all offenders against persons and property.

" Resolved, neviine eoittradicente. That the act for abolishing the charter of Massachusetts Bay tends to the subversion of American rights; for, besides those general liberties, the original settlers brought over with them as their birthright particular immunities granted by such Charter, as an inducement and means of settling the province ; and we apprehend the said Charter cannot be dissolved but by a voluntary surrender of the people, representatively declared.

"Resolved, nemine contradicente. That we apprehend the Parliament of Great Britain hath not, nor ever had, any right to tax his majesty's American subjects; for it is evident, beyond contradiction, the constitution admits of no taxation without representation ; that they are coeval and inseparable ; and every demand for the support of government should be, by requisition, made to the several houses of representatives.

"Resolved, nemine contradicente. That it is contrary to natural justice and the established law of the land, to transport any person to Great Britain or elsewhere to be tried under indictment for a crime committed in any of the colonies, as the party prosecuted would thereby be deprived of the privilege of trial by his peers from the vicinage, the injured perhaps prevented from legal reparation, and both lose the full benefit of their witnesses.

" Resolved, netnine contradicente, That we concur with our sister colonies in every constitutional measure to obtain redress of American grievances, and will, by every lawful means in our power, maintain those inestimable blessings for which we are indebted to God and the constitution of our country - a constitution founded upon reason and justice and the indelible rights of mankind.

" Resolved, nemine contradicente. That the committee appointed by the meeting of the inhabitants of this province on Wednesday, the 27th of July last, together with the deputies who have appeared here on this day from the

parishes, bs a general ominittee to act, a;id that any eleven or more -of them shall have full p^vver to correspond with the committees of the several Provinces upon the continent; and that copies of these resolutions, as well as -of all other proceedings, be transmitted without delay to the Committees of Correspondence in the respective Provinces."

A committee, consisting of William Ewen, William Young. Joseph Clay, John Houstoun, Noble Wimberley Jones, Edward Telfair, John Smith, Samuel Farley, and Andrew Elton Wells, was appointed to solicit, receive, and forward subscriptions and supplies for the suffering poor in Boston. Within a short time five hundred and seventy-nine barrels of rice were contributed and shipped to that town.

While this meeting was most respectably constituted, and while its deliber- .ations and conclusions were harmonious, it must not ]be supposed that there was no division of sentiment in Georgia upon the p )litical questions of the d ly. On the contrary, the royal party was strong and active, and it required no little effort on the part of the "Liberty Boys " to acquire the mastery and place the province fairly within the lists of the Revolutionists. The line of demarcation was sometimes so sharply drawn that father was arrayed against son, and brother against brother. Thus, not to multiply instances, the Hon. James Habersham and Colonel Noble Jones maintained their allegiance to the crowa, while their sons were amongst the foremost champions of the rights of the colony. The brothers Telfair were divided in sentiment upon the momentous issues then involved. The cruel effects of such disagreements, experienced during the progress of the Revolution, were projected, not infrequently, even be/ond the final establishment of the republic. No cause of quarrel can be more dangerous than that involving a conflict of opinion touching the relative rights of the governing and the governed. No calamities are so appalling as those engendered in a strife between peoples of the same race, and claiming privileges emanating from the same fountain head. Polybius was right when he said that such dissensions were to be dreaded much more than wars waged in a foreign country, or against a common enemy.

The only paper published in the colony at this time was the Georgia Ga:;- ette. It was under the control of Governor Wright, and its official utterances were in support of the royal cause. In its issue of Wednesday, September 7. 1774,1 appeared a card signed by James Habersham, Lachlan McGiUivray, Josiah Tattnall, James Hume, Anthony Stokes, Edward Langworthy, Henry Yonge, Robert Bolton, Noble Jones, David iVIontaigut and some ninety-three -others, inhabitants and freeholders chiefly of the tov/n and district of Savannah, -criticising the meeting of the 1 0th of August, and protesting that the resolutions then adopted should not be accepted as reflecting the sentiments of the people of Georgia. "The important meeting of the lOth of August in the de- fense of the constitutional rights and liberties of the American subjects," these gentlemen affirmed, " was held at a tavern, with the doors shut for a considerable time ; and it is said twenty-six persons answered for the whole province, and undertook to bind them by resolutions; and when several gentlemen attempted to go in, the tavern-keeper, who stood at the door with a list in his hand, refused them admittance because their names were not mentioned in that list. Such was the conduct of these pretended advocates for the liberties of America. Several of the inhabitants of St. Paul and St. George, two of the most populous parishes of the province, had transmitted their written dissents to any resolutions, and there were gentlemen ready to present these dissents, had not the door been shut for a considerable time and admittance refused. And it is conceived the shutting of the door, and refusing admittance to any but resolutioners, was calculated to prevent the rest of the inhabitants from giving their dissent to measures that were intended to operate as the unanimous sense of the Province. Upon the whole, the world will judge whether the meeting of the loth of August, held by a few persons in a tavern, with doors shut, can with any appearance of truth ©r decency, be called a general meeting of the inhabitants of Georgia." Such is the other side of the story as told by a pen dipped in the king's ink.

The following is the protest from certain inhabitants of the parish of St. Paul. It will be found in number 575 of TJie Georgia Gazette, under date of Wednesday, October 12. 1774:

" Georgia, Parish of St. Paul. - We, inhabitants of the town and district of Augusta, think it incumbent upon us in this public manner to declare our dissent from, and disapprobation of certain resolutions published in this Gazette, entered into on Wednesday, the loth day of August, as it is there said, at a general meeting of the inhabitants of this province, though we are credibly informed that the said meeting, so far from being general, was not even numerous, and that one of our representatives, whom we had provided with a protest, and our reasons-at-large why we could not agree to any resolutions expressive of disaffection or disrespect to our most gracious king, or the Lords and Commons of Great Britain, thought it improper to deliver said protest to a few people, met privately in a tavern, having also been told by some gentlemen coming from the place of meeting, that they had been refused admittance. "We entirely dissent from the aforesaid resolutions. First, because we apprehend that this mode of assembly, and entering into resolutions that arraign the conduct of the king and parliament is illegal, and tends only to alienate the affection, and forfeit the favor and protection of a most gracious sovereign, and to draw upon this colony the displeasure of the Lords and Commons of Great Britain. Secondly, because, if we have real grievances to complain of,, the only legal and constitutional method of seeking redress is, we apprehend, to instruct our representatives in Assembly to move for and promote a decent and proper application to his majesty and the Parliament for relief. Thirdly, because, if we should be silent upon this occasion, our silence would be construed into consent, and a partial act of, and resolutions entered into by, some individuals might be considered as the general sense of the province.

" "We therefore, in duty to our king, our country, and ourselves, do hereby solemnly protest against the proceedings of the aforesaid meeting, and declare our entire dissent from the resolutions entered into at the same.

In the same number of the Gazette appear two more numerously signed protests from the parish of St. Paul, one from the " Inhabitants of the town and township of Wrightsborough and places adjacent," and the other from the " Inhabitants of the Kyoka and Broad River settlements."

In the absence of accurate information, we are inclined to believe that, at the inception of these disagreements between the mother country and her American colonies, the citizens of the parish of St. Paul, while divided in sentiment upon the grave questions then agitating the public mind, were largely in sympathy with the crown, and averse to allying themselves with the Revolutionists. As a rule the office holders, the men of means, and the older inhabitants hesitated, by word or act, to do anything which would tend to anger the king and Parliament. The young men and the ardent, on the contrary, were inclined to be precipitate, and refrained not from enlisting themselves under the banner of the " Sons of Liberty."

It excites no wonder that many of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Georgia should have tenaciously clung to the fortunes of the crown and sincerely deprecated all idea of a separation from the mother country. Of all the American colonies this province had subsisted most generously upon royal bounty, and had been the recipient of favors far beyond those extended to sister plantations.

To these protests from the inhabitants of Saint Paul, the committee of Saint John's parish, through Chairman Lyman Hall, on the 17th of October, 1774, submitted an elaborate rejoinder.^ This evoked from a signer of the Augusta protest the following humorous retort, addressed to the printer of the

Georgia Gazette :^ " Give me leave to tell you a story. A gentleman, whom for the present we shall call Paul, had a very splenetic brother named John who was very apt to take fire whenever Paul took upon himself, in a friendly way, to remonstrate against his conduct. It happened once that, while they were smoking their pipes by the fire, Paul took occasion calmly to censure some part of John's behavior, which he thought reprehensible, at which, the choleric gentleman, being touched in his tender part, immediately broke out and abused his well meaning brother (in much the same strain as I seethe St. John's committee have abused their well-meaning brethren in our parish for daring to think differently from themselve.s) with a most impetuous torrent of groundless and uncharitable rancor; to which, after John had fully vented his spleen, and taken a little breath, Paul made no answer, but blew a mouthful of smoke, which he had very deliberately collected for the purpose, full in John's face, and, upon John's vehemently asking him the meaning of such behavior, replied, with great indifference, " Wind for wind, John."

Then came the answer of Miso Tyrannus,' presenting " smoke for smoke ;" and so the battle of words was waged in the columns of the only journal published in the colony. Some of these communications were caustic, and tended to widen and intensify the differences then existent in the public mind with regard to the political situation.

The two parties in the province were already counting noses, and marshaling their forces for the impending contest. Violent altercations were not infrequent, and the animosity existing between the professed adherents to the crown and the avowed opponents to longer submission to British rule, was every day becoming more pronounced. With that political sagacity which characterized him, Governor Wright foresaw the danger and confessed the inability of the colonial government to sustain itself In the face of the gathering storm. He frankly admitted to the home authorities that it required the interposition of a power greater than that possessed by the executive, to rectify alleged abuses, remedy existing evils, repress present lawlessness, and subdue the flame of independence which was each year burning more fiercely in the province. In the convention of the loth of August, the expediency of sending six deputies to the proposed general Congress of the American colonies was discussed. The suggestion, however, did not receive the sanction of that assemblage, and so Georgia was not represented in that congress.

Mortified at the apathy displayed, and the lack of prompt action on the part of the other parishes, the inhabitants of St. John's parish, with surprising unanimity, resolved independently to " prosecute their claims to an equality with the Confederated colonies." This parish then possessed nearly one-third of the aggregate wealth of Georgia, and its citizens were remarkable for their thrift, courage, honesty and determination. Having adopted certain resohitions by which they obligated themselves to hold no commerce with Savannah, or other places, excepc under the supervision of a committee, and then only with a view to procuring the necessaries of life, and having avowed their entire sympathy with all the articles and declarations promulgated by the general Congress, the inhabitants of St. John's parish elected Dr. Lyman Hall to represent them in the Continental Congress. This appointment occurred on the 2ist of March, and no more suitable selection could have been made. Among the prominent citizens of the parish none occupied a position superior to that accorded to Dr. Hall. A native of Connecticut, he had long been identified with the region, and was a member of the Midway congregation. Owning and cultivating a rice plantation on the Savannah and Darien road, only a few miles from Midway meeting-house, he resided in Sunbury and was the leading physician in that community. When departing for the continental Congress he carried with him, as a present from his constituents to the suffering republicans in Massachusetts, one hundred and sixty barrels of rice and fifty pounds sterling. On the 13th of May, this gentleman, who had been largely instrumental in persuading the parish of St. John to this independent course, presented his credentials in Philadelphia and was unanimously admitted to a seat in Congress, " as a delegate from the parish of St. John, in the Colony of Georgia, subject to such regulations as the Congress should determine relative to his voting." Until Georgia was fully represented. Dr. Hall declined to vote upon questions which were to be decided by a vote of colonies. He, however, participated in the debates, recorded his opinions in all cases where an expression of sentiment by colonies was not required, and declared his earnest conviction " that the example which had been shown by the parish which he represented would be speedily followed, and that the representation of Georgia vv^ould soon be complete."

The patriotic spirit of its inhabitants and this independent action of St John's parish in advance of the other parishes of Georgia were afterwards acknowledged when all the parishes were in accord in the revolutionary movement. As a tribute of praise and in token of general admiration, by special act of the Legislature the name of Liberty county was conferred upon the consolidated parishes of St. John, St. Andrew, and St. James. Sir James Wright was not far from the mark when he located the head of the rebellion in St. John's parish, and advised the Earl of Dartmouth that the rebel measures there inaugurated were to be mainly referred to the influence of the " descendants of New England people of the Puritan Independent sect." who, retaining "a strong tincture of republican or Oliverian principles, have entered into an agreement among themselves to adopt both the resolutions and the association of the Continental Congress." On the altars erected within the Midway district were the fires of resistance to the dominion of England kindled in bold-

«st relief; and Lyman Hall, of all the dwellers there, by his counsel, exhortations, and determined spirit, added stoutest fuel to the flames. Between the immis^rants from Dorchester and the distressed Bostonians existed not only the ties of a common lineage, but also sympathies born of the same religious, moral, social and political education. Hence we derive an explanation why the Midway settlement avowed, at such an early stage and so emphatically, entire sympathy with the revolutionists. The Puritan element, cherishing and proclaiming intolerance of the established church and of the divine right of kings, impatient of restraint, accustomed to independent thought and action, and without associations which encouraged tender memories of, and love for the mother country, asserted its hatreds, its affiliations and its hopes with no uncertain utterance, and appears to have controlled the action of the entire parish.

Since its settlement Georgia had received, by grant of Parliament, nearly ;{J^200,000, in addition to generous bounties lavished in aid of silk culture and various agricultural products. This fact weighed with no little force upon the minds of many, and Governor Wright sought every opportunity to inculcate gratitude towards a sovereign whose paternal care had been so kindly manifested.

Other colonies had charters upon which to base some claims for redress. Georgia had none. Upon the surrender by the trustees of the charter granted to them by King George the Second, all chartered privileges became extinct. Upon its erection into a royal province, the commission of the governor, and the instructions of his majesty communicated through the Lords of Trade and Plantations and the Privy Council, constituted the supreme measure of privilege and the rules of government

For fourteen years had Sir James Wright presided over the colony with impartiality, wisdom and firmness. Through his zeal and watchfulness the province had been delivered from the horrors of Indian warfare, and guided into the paths of peace and plenty. By his negotiations millions of acres had been added to the public domain. Diligent in the discharge of his official duties, firm in his resolves, just in the exercise of his powers, loyal in his opinions, courteous in his manners, thrifty in the conduct of his private affairs, and exhibiting the operations of a vigorous and well-balanced judgment, he secured the respect and affection of his people. Although differing from many of the inhabitants upon the political questions which were now dividing the public mind, he never suffered himself to be betrayed into acts of violence or revenge. He preferred to counsel, to enlighten, to exhort. Georgia was prosperous, and her development, year by year, was marked. Her position therefore was peculiar, and it excites no surprise that at the outset there should have been a division of sentiment upon the momentous political issues presented for her consideration. The period of doubt, however, was short in its duration. Be- fore Jefferson framed his immortal declaration of independence, Georgia cast her lot with her sister American colonies and, through her delegates, was participating in the adoption of those measures which brought about the War of the Revolution. Of all the English provinces in America Georgia had least cause to take arms against the mother country.

Revolutionary Movements in Savannah - Thomas Brown Tarred and Feathered in Augusta--Provincial Congress of July 4, 1775 - Article of Association - Organization of the Militia and of the Courts - Independence of Georgia Proclaimed - Military Operations.

FORWARDED by post-riders, traveling night and day, came the news of the affairs at Lexington and Concord. Reaching Savannah on the evening of the loth of May, the report of this shock of arms created the profoundest excitement. Gage's order, promulgated on that epochal occasion by the haughty lips of Major Pitcairn - "Disperse ye villains! ye rebels disperse!" - - was answered by defiant shouts from the granite hills of New England to the echoing Savannahs of the South. The blood of yeomen shed on Lexington green cemented the union of the colonies. The thunders of the 19th of April awoke the Georgia parishes from their lethargy, incited to prompt action, and turned the popular tide in favor of resistance to Parliamentary rule.

At a late hour on the night of the i ith of May, a party, under the leadership of Dr. Noble W. Jones, Joseph Habersham, Edward Telfair, William Gibbons, Joseph Clay and John Milledge, broke open the magazine in Savannah, and removed therefrom some six hundred pounds of gunpowder. The tradition lives, and is generally credited, that some of the powder, thus obtained, was forwarded to Cambridge, Mass., and was actually expended by the patriots in the memorable battle of Bunker Hill.

On the 2 1st of June a call, signed by Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bullock, John Houstoun and George Walton was published, requesting the inhabitants of the town and district of Savannah to meet at the liberty pole for the purpose of selecting a committee to bring about a union of Georgia with the other colonies in the effort to achieve national independence. The convocation occurred at the indicated tirhe and place, and a Council of Safety, consisting of William Ewen, president, William LeConte, Joseph Clay, Basil Cooper. Samuel Elbert, William Young, Elisha Butler, Edward Telfair, John Glenn, George Houstoun, George Walton, Joseph Habersham, Francis H. Harris, John Smith and John Morell, members, and Seth John Cuthbert, secretary, was appointed with instructions to maintain an active correspondence with the Continental Congress, with the Councils of Safety in other provinces, and with the committees nominated in the other parishes in Georgia. One of the resolutions adopted at this meeting of the 22d of June provided that Georgia would not afford protection to, or become an asylum for, any person who, from his conduct might be properly considered inimical to the common cause of American liberty, or who should have drawn upon himself the disapprobation or censure of any of the other colonies.

In disregard of the purport of this resolution, openly proclaiming his allegiance to the Crown, and actively opposing the operations of the Council of Safet}' in the parish of St. Paul, Thomas Brown, whom Sir James Wright calls ^'a young gentleman of Augusta," attracted the notice and encountered the enmity of the "Liberty Boys" of that town. Refusing to hearken to their warnings, and mend his ways, he was arrested by a mob of Revolutionists, was tarred and feathered, hoisted into a cart illuniinafed for the occasion, was paraded for hours through the principal streets, and was finally forced to seek protection in South Carolina.^ Smarting under these indignities, he subse-

1 The Georgia Gazette furnishes the tbllowing account of the affair : " This day a respectable body of the Sons of Liberty marched from this place (Augusta), to New Richmond, in South Carolina, in order to pay a visit to Thomas Brown and William Thompson, esqs, two young gentlemen, lately from England, for their having publicly and otherwise expressed themselves enemies to the measures now adopted for the support of American liberty, and signing an association to that effect, besides their using their utmost endeavors to inflame the minds of the people, and to persuade them to associate and be of their opinion. But upon their arrival they found the said Thompson, like a traitor, had run away ; and the said Thomas Browne, being requested in civil terms to come to Augusta to try to clear himself of such accusations, daringly repeated that he was not, nor would he be answerable to them, or any other of them, for his conduct ; whereupon they politely escorted him into Augusta, where they presented him with a genteel and fashionable suit of tar and feathers, and afterwards had him exhibited in a cart from the head of Augusta to Mr. Weatherford's, where out of humanity they had him taken care of for that night ; and en the next morning he, the said Thomas Browne, having publiclvxleclared upon his honor, and consented voluntarily to swear that he repented for his past conduct, and that he would, for the future, at the hazard of his life and fortune, protect and su])port tiie rights and liberties of America, and saying that the said Thompson had misled him, and that therefore he would use his utmost endeavors to have his name taken from the association he had signed as aforesaid ; and further, that he would do all in his power to discountenance the proceedings of a set of men in the Ninety-Sixth District in South Carolina, called Fletchell's Party ; upon which, the said Browne was then discharged, and complimented with a horse and chair to ride home. But the said Thomas Browne, that time having publicly forfeited his honor and violated his oath voluntarily taken as aforesaid, is therefore not to be considered for the future in the light of a gentleman, and they, the said Thomas Browne and William Thompson are hereby publisiied as persons inimical to the rights and liberties of America ; and it is hoped all good men will treat them accordingly.

" N. B. The said Thomas Browne is now a little remarkable ; he wears his hair very short, and a handkerchief tiefl around his head, in order that his intellects by the cold weather may not be affected."

quently U ok service with the king's forces, became an active officer, and, with hatred in liis heart, returned to Augusta and wreaked vengeance upon the inhabitants of the town where he had sufifered such outrage and humiHation.

Memorable in the poHtical annals of the colony were the proceedings of the Provi.icial Congress which assembled at Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775. Every parish was represented, and the delegates were fair exponents of the intelligence, the dominant hopes, and the material interests of the communities from which they respectively came. This was Georgia's first secession convention. It placed the province in active sympathy and confederated alliance with the other twelve American colonies, practically annulled within her limits the operation of the objectionable acts of Parliament, questioned the supremacy of the realm, and inaugurated measures for the accomplishment of the independence of the plantation and its erection into the dignity of a State.

The following members from the parish of St. Paul were present and participated in its deliberatiens: John Walton, Andrew Burns. Robert Rae. James Rae, Andrew Moore, Andrew Hurney, and Leonard Marbury. Joseph Maddock was also a delegate, but he declined to take his seat.

Proclaiming in terms most emphatic their conception of the natural and constitutional rights which appertained to them as citizens of Georgia and subjects of Great Britain ; testifying their determined opposition to the late objectionable acts of Parliament, their admiration of the conduct of New England, and their resolution to share the fortunes of their sister colonies; manifesting their willingness to observe all orders of the Continental Congress, indicating their loyalty to America, and suggesting such measures as they deemed appropriate in the present perplexed condition of public affairs, the members of Congress 'speaking for themselves, their constituents, and for the entire province of Georgia, on the loth of July, 1775, passed the following preamble and resolutions :

" Whereas, By the unrelenting fury of a despotic ministry, with a view to enforce the most oppressive acts of a venal and corrupted Parliament, an army of mercenaries, under an unfeeling commander, have actually begun a civil war in America; and whereas, the apparent iniquity and cruelty of these obstructive measures have, however, had this good effect, to unite men of all ranks in the common cause ; and, whereas, to consult on means of safety and the method of obtaining redress the good people of this Province of Georgia have thought proper to appoint a Provincial Congress; the delegates met at the said Congress, now assembled from every part of the province, besides erty, was drummed three times round the Liherty Tree in Augusta, and published as a person "inimical to the rights and liberties of America."

The Liberty Boys were then "carrying things with a high hand," and would brook no opposition. The flames of a revolution, once thoroughly kindled, are resistless in their onward sweep, attracting to their tiery emhrace'not only all that stands within the direct line of their passage, but whatever trembles on the verge of the heated vorte.x.

adopting the resolutions of the late Continental Congress, find it prudent to enter into such other resolutions as may best express their own sense and the sense of their constituents on the present unhappy situation of things, and therefore think fit and necessary to resolve as follows, viz.:

''Resolved, That in the British Empire, to which we belong, the constitution is superior to every man or set of men whatever, and that it is a crime of the deepest dye in any instance to impair, or take it away, or deprive the meanest subject of its benefits.

" Resolved, That that part of the American continent which we inhabit was originally granted by the crown, and the charter from Charles the Second expressly makes its constitutional dependence upon the crown only.

''Resolved, That those who would now subject all America, or this province to dependency upon the crown and Parliament, are guilty of a vtry dangerous innovation, which in time will appear as injurious to the crown as it is inconsistent witii the liberty of -the American subject.

"Resolved, That by the law of nature and the British constitution no man can be legally deprived of his property without his consent, given by himself or his representatives.

"Resolved, That the acts of the British Parliament for raising a perpetual revenue on the Americans by laying a tax on them without their consent and contrary to their protestations, are diametrically opposite to every idea of property, to the spirit of the constitution, and at one stroke deprive this vast continent of all liberty and property, and, as such, must be detested by every wellwisher to Great Britain and America.

"Resolved, That the subsequent laws, made with a view to enforce tliese acts, viz.: the Boston Port Bill, the Alteration of their Charter, the Act to carry beyond sea for Trial, and (what refines upon every species of cruelty) the Fishery Bill, are of such a complexion that we can say nothing about them for want of words to express our abhorrence and detestation.

"Resolved, That the loyalty, patience, and prudence of the inhabitants of New England under their unparalleled pressures having been construed into timidity and a dread of regular troops, a civil war in support of acts extremely oppressive in themselves hath actually been begun, and there is too much reason to believe that plans have been in agitation big with everything horrible to other Provinces ; plans as rash, barbarous and destructive as the cause which they were intended to serve.

"Resolved, That in these times of extreme danger, our assembly not being permitted to sit, we must either have been a people without all thought or counsel, or have assembled as we now are in Provincial Congress to consult upon measures which, under God, may prove the means of a perpetual union with the Mother Country, and tend to the honor, freedom, and safety of both.

''Resolved, That this Province bears all true allegiance to our own rightful Sovereign, King George the Third, and always will and ought to bear it agreeable to the constitution of Great Britain, by virtue of which only the King is now our Sovereign, and which equally binds Majesty and subjects.

''Resolved, That we are truly sensible how much our safety and happiness depend on a constitutional connection with Great Britain, and that nothing but the being deprived of the privileges and natural rights of Britons could ever make the thought of a separation otherwise than intolerable.

"Resolved, That in case his Majesty or his successors shall at any time hereafter make any requisition on the good people of this Province by his representative, it will be just and right that such sums should be granted as the nature of the service may require, and the ability and situation of this Province will admit of.

"Resolved, That this Province join with all the Provinces in America now met by Delegates in Continental Congress, and that John Houstoun and Archibald Bullock, esquires, the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Lyman Hall, and Noble Wymberly Jones, esqs., be the delegates from this Province, and that any three constitute a quorum for that purpose.

"Resolved, That a Committee be appointed whose duty it shall be to see that the resolutions of the Continental Congress and Provincial Congress be duly observed, and that every person who shall act in opposition thereto have his name transmitted to the Continental Congress, and that his misdeeds be published in every American paper.

"Resolved, That with all such persons, except the indispensable duties we owe to all mankind (bad men and enemies not excepted) we will have no dealings nor connection; and we extend this our resolution also to all such persons or corporations in Great Britain who have shown themselves enemies to America.

" Resolved, That we will do what in us lies to preserve and promote the peace and good order of this Province ; and should any person become an innocent sufferer on account of these grievances, we will do whatever we justly may lor his relief and assistance.

"Resolved, That in such calamitous times as the present, every possible indulgence ought to be given to honest debtors ; that it would be ungenerous (unless tliere appear intention of fraud) in any gentleman of the law to sue without previous notice ; and any person so sued may apply to the Committee ; and should it appear to them that the creditor is in no danger of losing his money, or that he can be properly secured, they shall interpose their friendly offices to persuade him to drop the prosecution ; and every prosecutor that shall appear to take advantage of the confusion of the times to distress his debtor, ought to be publicly pointed out and held in abhorrence.

''Resolved, That notwithstanding in a late Bill for restraining the trade of several Provinces in America, this Province is excepted, we declare that we look upon this exception rather as an insult than a favor ; as being meant to break the union of the Provinces, and as being grounded on the supposition that the inhabitants of such excepted Province can be base enough to turn the oppression of America into a mean advantage."^

Having memorialized the General Congress, the governor, the citizens of Georgia, and the king; having framed a bill of rights and proclaimed the privileges for which they were resolved to contend ; having introduced Georgia into the fold of the confederated provinces; having enlarged the powers and strengthened the hands of the Council of Safety, and appointed committees of conespondence and of intelligence; having provided the wa}'s and means for future sessions of congress; and, above all, having demonstrated the inability of the king's servants to control the province in the present crisis, this assembly - perhaps the most important ever convened in Georgia - adjourned on the 17th of July, subject to further call up to the 20th of August.

"Georgia. Being persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, under God, on the firm union of the inhabitants in its vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and confusion which attend the dissolution 0} the powers of government, we, the freemen, freeholders^ and inhabitants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do, in the most solemn manner, resolve never to become slaves ; and do associate, under all the ties of religion, and honor, and love to our country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever may be recommended by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention, appointed for preserving our constitution and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles, which we most ardently desire, can be obtained ; and that we will, in all things, follow the advice of our general committee appointed, respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and private property."

were designated as a committee " to present this association to all the inhabitants of the Town and District of Savannah to be signed." Expedition was enjoined, and these gentlemen were requested to furnish the General Committee with the names of all who declined to affix their signatures.

The article of association adopted by the Provincial Congress was industriously circulated throughout the province, and an opportunity was afforded to all citizens to sign it. Comparatively few there were who declined to affix their signatures. The revolutionists were in earnest, and it required no little nerve to resist their appeals, gainsay their arguments, or incur their displeasure. It was deemed essential to the success of the liberty cause that no officer should be retained in commission who refused or neglected to sign that article of association. Accordingly the militia was thoroughly purged of the loyalist element. In the organization of the battalion, raised under authority of the Continental Congress at the common charge of the united provinces for the protection of Georgia, of which Lachlan Mcintosh was colonel, Samuel Elbert, lieutenant-colonel, and Joseph Habersham, major, Augusta was credited with one company officered by Chesley Bostick as captain, and John Martin as first lieutenant.

The last branch of the government over which the Provincial Congress assumed control, was the judicial. All courts of law were taken under its supervision, and a committee of fifteen was appointed to hold quarterly sessions in Savannah as a Court of Appeals " to hear and determine between the parties, and sanction or prohibit processes according to the circumstances of the case." The erection of Georgia into a body politic, apart from and opposed to the government hitherto existing by authority of the crown, was now accomplished. The president of the Council of Safety was virtually the governor of this quasicommonwealth. Such laws as were requisite for the preservation of the public peace, the maintenance of order, and the defrayal of current expenses, were promulgated as resolutions by the Provincial Congress and by the Council' of Safety. Courts competent for the assertion of rights and the redress of wrongs were in active operation. A military force had been organized for the com mon defense, A union with the other American colonies had been perfected. A royal governor, it is true, still resided in Savannah, but he was little else than a prisoner with a barren sceptre in his grasp. Members of the king's council there were, but their advice was neither asked nor allowed in the conduct of affairs. Other officers, holding warrant from the crown, were idle spectators of events. Within the entire circuit of the province there was none to enforce the will of his majesty. Well might Governor Wright exclaim in behalf of himself and the other servants of the king in Georgia, *' we shall not remain much longer in this distressful condition."

From this period until the erection of Georgia into a State upon the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, there occurred but little legislation in the proper acceptation of that term. The general assemblies, which convened at various times during Governor Wright's administration, had given to the statute book no fewer than one hundred and forty-eight acts and resolutions, covering a wide range of subjects, and providing for the growing wants of a province which had already assumed the proportions of an important, populous, and profitable dependency. These laws, where they did not militate against the newly erected government and the changed condition of affairs, were allowed to remain in active operation.

The arrest by Major Joseph Habersham, and a party selected by himself, of his excellency Sir James Wright, the flight of the royal governor, the formation of a temporary constitution, the selection of the Hon. Archibald Bulloch as the first Republican president of Georgia, the first passage at arms at Savannah wherein Colonel Mcintosh frustrated the attempt of Captain Barclay and Major Grant to capture the rice-laden vessels lying at anchor in the Savannah River^ the gallant demonstration against the enemy upon Tybee Island, the futile effort of Captain Baker to surprise Wright's Fort on the River St. Mary, the promulgation of the Declaration of Independence in Savannah, the invasion of the Cherokee territory by the column led by Colonel Jack assisted by Captains John Twiggs, John Jones, Leonard Marbury, Samuel Alexander and Thomas Harris, the adoption of the constitution of 1777, the capture of Fort Mcintosh, Governor Gwinnett's ill conceived project for the subjugation of East Florida, Colonel Baker's defeat, the bloody duel between Gwinnett and Mcintosh, Dayton's vain attempt to effect a consolidation of the States of South Carolina and Georgia, the disastrous expedition of Governor Houstoun and General Howe against East Florida, Colonel Elbert's gallant capture of the Hinchinbrooke, Colonel Clark's brave assault upon the enemy's works at Alligator Creek, the transfer by the British of the theater of war from the northern to the southern provinces, the invasion of Southern Georgia hy Colonels Fuser and Prevost, the affair near Midway Meeting- House, the successful defense of Fort Morris at Sunbury, and the capture of Savannah by Colonel Campbell, were some of the important events which followed in rapid succession.

Chapter Vii

Colonel Campbell's Advance Upon, and Capture of Augusta - Republican Operations in Upper Georgia - Battle of Kettle Creek - Augusta Evacuated l:)y the King's Forces.

UPON the fall of Savannah in December, 1778, and the withdrawal of the remnant of General Howe's army into South Carolina, the entire coast region of Georgia, with the exception of Sunbury, was open to the enemy, who issued very stringent proclamations and exacted tribute most onerous. Never was change more sudden or violent wrought in the status of any people. Fort Morris soon surrendered unconditionally to General Prevost, and Ebenezer, without a struggle, quickly passed into the possession of the king's forces. Southern Georgia was now in a deplorable plight. Unable to support themselves amid the destitution, demoralization, and restrictions to which the subjugated territory was subjected, many of the inhabitants set out for Carolina, where, aided by the charity of strangers, they hoped to subsist until the coming season afforded an opportunity for planting and harvesting crops in their new homes. Others, possessing the means of subsistence, were so hampered by royal edicts, and were so preyed upon by foreign and domestic foes, that they abandoned the country in quest of peace and security.

Augusta, alone, of all the rebel posts in Georgia, had not yet submitted to the royal arms. It was occupied by a provincial force under Brigadier-General Williamson, and its reduction was necessary to complete the subjugation of Georgia. About the middle of January, 1779, Colonel Campbell was detached with a column about a thousand strong to capture this town. The Savannah River was now the dividing line between the contending armies. General Lincoln was at Purrysburg, on the north side of the river, with a force of some five hundred continentals and two thousand provincials. The main body of the enemy was at Abercora. In Savannah were one thousand Hessians. At the Two Sisters there was a detachment of six hundred men. Two hundred more guarded Zubly's ferry, and at Ebenezer a considerable force was stationed.^ So near were the two armies that, in the language of General Moultrie, writing from Purrysburg, " we hear their drums beat every morn from our outposts; nay, hear their sentinels cough."

Although anxious to inaugurate a movement for the relief of Georgia, the American commander found himself too weak to cross the river. His troops were in large measure undisciplined, and lacked arms. The North Carolina levies, under the command of General Richardson, were discontented and on the eve of returning home. From Georgia came no recruits. " Most of the inhabitants of that State," reports General Moultrie, " have submitted quietly to the British government, and I believe they will remain neutral unless we go in with a considerable body so as to insure success." All that General Lincoln could do, under the circumstances, was to act upon the defensive, encourage reinforcements, and prevent the enemy from crossing over into Carolina.

Advancing for the capture of Augusta, Colonel Campbell sent forward Colonels Brown and McGirth with four hundred mounted militiamen to make a forced march to the jail in Burke county, and there form a junction with Colonel Thomas and his party of loyalists.

Advised of this movement, Colonels John Twiggs and Benjamin and William Few quickly concentrated an opposing force of two hundred and fifty mounted men. Attacked by Brown and McGirth, they succeeded in repulsing them, inflicting a loss of five killed, several wounded, and nine captured. Expecting that Brown would speedily be supported by Colonel Campbell, the Americans withdrew ; maintaining, however, a close watch upon the enemy. Rallying his troops, and being reinforced by a party of royalists from South Carolina under the command of two Tory majors, and a detachment led by Major Harry Sharp, Brown determined to renew the attack. In the second engagement he and McGirth were defeated, sustaining a loss greater than that encountered two days before. Among the wounded was the noted Tory leader of the expedition. In this skirmish Captain Joshua Inman, commanding a troop of American horse, slew three of the enemy with his own hand. ^

General Elbert, who had been ordered by General Lincoln to proceed to the upper part of Corolina, crossing the Savannah River came to the assistance of Twiggs and the Colonels Few, Together they disputed, but were not strong enough to prevent Colonel Campbell's crossing at Brier Creek. Hoping to be reinforced by Colonel Andrew Williamson from Carolina, and Colonel Elijah Clarke from Wilkes county, they retired slowly, skirmishing with Campbell's column as it advanced upon Augusta, Those officers, however, were otherwise engaged and could not respond to the expectation. Upon his appearance before the town the American forces retreated across the river and yielded Augusta without a struggle. Tarrying there but a few days, and leaving Colonel Brown in command. Colonel Campbell, early in February, marched some thirty miles in the direction of Wilkes county, and detached Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, with two hundred mounted infantry, to proceed to the frontiers of Georgia and there encourage such of the inhabitants as were attached to the British government. The disaffected were to be summarily disarmed. Thus, for the moment, was Georgia completely in the possession of the king's forces. Overt opposition ceased, and it was believed by Colonel Campbell that the population would permanently yield to this enforced submission. Wherever British detachments appeared, the severest penalties were meted out to those who refused to take the oath of allegiance. For the possessions of such as were absent in arms, plunder and the torch were always in store.

So soon as it was known in Wilkes county that Augusta had passed into the possession of the enemy, the inhabitants who were able to remove, hastily collecting their household effects and cattle, fled into Carolina. Those who remained betook themselves to forts, and associated together in small bands for mutual protection. Many, having lodged their wives, children, and servants in places of security, assembled under Colonel John Dooly on the Carolina shore of the Savannah River about thirty miles above Augusta. McGirth,

-with three hundred loyalists, was occupying a position on Kiokee Creek. Both parties were watching the ferries and collecting all boats found on the Savannah River. Returning to Georgia with a part of his command, Dooly was quickly pursued by Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, who pressed him so closely that he fired upon his rear as he recrossed the Savannah just below the mouth of Broad River.