Ware County GaArchives History .....History of Ware County - Chapter I 1934 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 4, 2004, 1:31 pm CHAPTER I INDIAN AND SPANISH HISTORY SPANISH EXPLORERS COLUMBUS—PONCE DE LEON The great Admiral Viceroy, Christopher Columbus, once remarked: "I have established all that I supposed—the existence of land in the West. I have opened the gate and others may enter at their pleasure, as indeed they do, arrogating to themselves the title of discoverers to which they can have little claim, following as they do in my tracks!" Columbus little dreamed that the ingratitude of mankind would eventually sanction the claims of these adventurers so far as to confer the name of one of them on that world which his genius had revealed. PONCE DE LEON Ponce de Leon was with Columbus on his second voyage to the "New World" sojourning for a while in Porto Rico. Florida doubtlessly owes her entry into European history to this dreamy adventurous navigator. She unquestionably deserves her name which afterwards displaced all previous appelations—La tierra de la Pascne Florida —the land of the flowery feast. Ponce de Leon, after traveling along the coast seemingly for many miles on the eastern and western sides of Florida, part of which became Georgia, returned to Porto Rico, but later became Governor of Cuba and while serving in that office made his home there. In 1521 he made another landing on the shores of the beautiful peninsular of Florida. Often -------------- p. 2 the weather-beaten adventurer and companion of Columbus imagined he heard the voice of a siren ever calling him to the land where "none grows old"—the land of the Fountain of Eternal Youth. He heard the song that never fails to lure the heart of the old—the song of joyous youth, of fresh love and alluring hopes. "Gold and Silver, Fame and Honor! What paltry baubles in comparison with Eternal Youth!" Ponce de Leon hastened to secure the conquest of the picturesque land of "Bimina", marched forth with men and arms. "His efflorescence, his own resurrection, was the festival he had in mind" when he named the land now known as Florida. While at Apalachee Bay he was wounded by an Indian, returned to Cuba and in a short while died from his wound.[1] HERNANDO DE SOTO It has generally been an accepted piece of information that De Soto passed through the lands where Irwin (and Ware County) are now located, and some historians think that he probably passed out of Florida through a part of the Okefinokee Swamp; anyway, historic pages tell us that in 1539 Hernando de Soto, a Cavalier of Spain landed in Florida with an army of six hundred select soldiers and proceeded north into the lands of the Cherokees. He encountered on the march dangers and endured difficulties which have no parallel, save in the annals of Mexican and Peruvian conquests. They marched from Osachile through the Apalachee country, passing through a "swamp of such dimensions, so vast, so impenetrable that the Spaniards ever afterwards called it the "Great Swamp".[2] A treacherous Indian guide piloted this adventurous army down a trail leading through this land of cypress and tangled grape vines. The trail was barely wide enough for two men abreast to _________ [1]. Hernando de Soto and His men in the Land of Florida, by Grace King. [2]. By some authorities supposed to be the Okefinokee Swamp; by others the Ohahichee Swamp. -------------- p. 3 pass in any degree of comfort. It wound like a serpent between the huge trunks of cypress trees, wedging one against another in the dark watery soil; no lights or signs of day, nothing visible overhead but a canopy of grey moss, decorated with coils and loops of gaunt black vines. The path at the bottom was like a trail through a chasm. The detachment of the army had gone but a short distance into the swamp, when they saw ahead, Indians prepared like stoics awaiting their coming. The hostile army that De Soto found stationed there was composed of native dwellers from surrounding forests to the number of several thousand, painted, plumed, and armed according to their customs. They were soon engaged in a deadly battle. For hours they fought hand to hand with all the fury of demons. The Indians held their own, creeping from tree to tree, hiding behind bushes, crawling on the ground with the noiselessness and quickness of serpents. They picked off the Spaniards, one by one, wounding them by scores, with the sudden storm of arrows, surprising them on all sides. The Spaniards, jaded for want of sleep, were unrelentingly teased into ill temper, accusing the trees of turning themselves into warriors and the sky raining down arrows against them. The few open spaces where the horses might have formed chances of escape, the Indians had blocked with felled trees, making a barricade of timber and branches tied from tree to tree with vines. Though the Indians planned many devices for impeding the travel of the Spaniards through the swamp, they advanced slowly, finally reaching the open country, leaving many riderless horses behind, and the descendants of these Spanish animals, at this late day, are found in the marsh ponies,[1] that are frequently seen on the islands along the coast of Georgia. OSCEOLA ONCE A CITIZEN OF WARE Osceola was a Georgian by birth, he first saw the light of day in 1800 in the northwestern part of the state. His ___________ [1]. Garcilaso de la Vega's History of Florida. -------------- p.4 Indian home was located on lands now known as a part of Muscogee county. Osceola's mother belonged to the Red Stick Tribe, a branch of the Creek Indians. She married William Powell, who was an English trader; he remained with the Creeks for over twenty years. Osceola had the appearance of a full blood Indian and in a lordly way represented his brave race. He was sometimes called Powell, instead of Osceola, but he preferred his Indian name. In 1808 a quarrel occurred among the Lower Creek Indians; the mother took her young son, Osceola, and left their home on the Tallapoosa river and sought the fastness of the Okefinokee Swamp. Osceola and his mother remained there nine years. Powell and his two daughters continued to live in Georgia for a short time, but later emigrated to the west. Osceola had many tragic adversities to come into his life after leaving the Okefinokee Swamp, for he found a spirit of insurrection in Florida. While in the Southern part of Ware, they often heard that General Charles Floyd or General Thompson would soon be among them to drive them out under the lash. Osceola met General Thompson on one of his visits to Fort King and was insolent to him, for which offense he was imprisoned. Osceola soon was released but continued his defiant spirit toward General Thompson. Many times he lay in ambush near Fort King, waiting for his opportunity. One afternoon when General Thompson and Lieutenant Smith, not suspecting danger, were walking out some distance from the fort, the opportunity came. Osceola and his comrades fired, killed both the general and the lieutenant. Then, after killing the emloyees at the settler's store, continued their depredations by burning the building. They set off to join their comrades in the Big Wahoo Swamp on the With-la-coo-chee. It was there that Osceola was captured and imprisoned. Osceola, although only thirty-six years of age, had become worn and frail from active warfare. He spent only -------------- p. 5 a short while as a prisoner at Fort Moultrie, near Charleston, South Carolina, before his death. He was buried on Sullivans Island and a simple marker has been put above his resting place by the Seminole Clan of Indians from Florida. To Osceola, a Georgian by birth, living in Ware county for nine years, Florida has placed monuments and tablets to his memory and on May 12, 1887, a county in Florida was named in honor of the silver tongued Osceola of Georgia. BILLY BOWLEGS OF WARE During the War of 1812-14 and through the entire War of 1834, Secoffee (father of Bowlegs) was quite active in the interest of his race, for he was a respected chief among the Seminole Tribe. He was probably the chief known to the English as the "Cowkeeper," mentioned in the quotations in Bartram's and in the Georgia Colonial Documents, as living well toward the south and spending most of his time in warfare with the Spaniards.[1] The Oconee chief who participated in Og1ethorpe's first general Indian Council, was "Onee-kachumpa" called by the English "Long King." It does not appear whether Secoffee was his successor or merely the leader of those Oconees who went into Florida. I do not know on what authority Bartram Brinton places the in- ______________ [1]. Information from Georgia Colonial Documents. Page 626. -------------- p. 6 vasions of Florida by Secoffee in 1750 but the date appears to be approximately correct, and is important as to establishing the beginnings of the Seminole as a distinct people.[1] Secoffee's two sons were King Pain and Bowlegs, and they were the principal chiefs of the Seminoles. The Americans marched on to within a few miles of the Indian's stronghold when the Indian Chieftain with the warriors began the attack from a thick hummock. At first, the Indians could not be seen, but Colonel Newman ordered his men to pretend flight and this pretense drew them out. There was a fierce fight and King Pain was mortally wounded, but the invaders were forced to retreat under the cover of night. King Pain was succeeded by his brother Bowlegs, whose Indian name is given by Cohen as Islapaoya (meaning "far away"), Cohen says that the Alachua settlements were broken up in 1814 by General Jackson and Bowlegs was killed. I feel that the killing of Bowlegs was a mistake, for as late as 1840 Bowlegs was living on an island in the Okefinokee Swamp, and even years since 1840, an island in the Swamp has been called Billy's Island. It was my great pleasure years ago to hear a very interesting gentleman, Captain Burrell Sweat (often called "Uncle Burrell") stop on the street and tell of the Indians that he had known when Waycross had been a small village. He was especially interesting in telling of having bought fish and swamp animals from Bowlegs and that he had often seen him peddling along the sidewalks of Waresboro. Capt. Burrell Sweat often visited the great old Indian Chief at his Island home. There are three other Billy Bowlegs of the Seminole Tribe, whose history can be found in the Bureau of American Ethnology, but I think this is Ware county's Billy Bowlegs. THE WILDES MASSACRE During the stormy period of our country's history, when tragic enormities and cruel massacres occurred frequently along our frontiers, Ware county came in for her __________ [1]. Information from Fairbanks History of .Florida. -------------- p. 7 share of death from the tomahawk and deadly rifles in the hands of the Creek Indians. This first tragedy of Ware took place in July, 1832, in the Wildes settlement, which is located between what is now Washington Avenue in Gilchrist Park, a subdivision on the south side of Waycross and Du Buss Bay. Mr. Wildes, an English settler, came to Ware seeking cheap lands which he secured for a mere pittance building a home near where Waycross was later located. At this time United States troops were engaged in driving the Indians out of the Okefinokee Swamp and the surrounding districts, and the settlers grew careless, feeling secure with a soldier's camp on the banks of Kettle Creek, only a few miles away. One day while collecting ash wood in the bay Mr. Wildes saw signs of Indians in the swamp and he came to the house and told his wife of impending danger. Mrs. Wildes besought him to get what things they needed together and leave for the Wilkinson settlement, but Mr. Wildes thought this unnecessary. That night Mrs. Wildes went into the yard where they cooked on open fire and heard the Indians coming. She quickly returned to the house and again asked her husband to pack and leave. All night they heard the Indians but no attack came until daylight Sunday morning when Mr. -Wildes stepped from his house. Thirty rifles "spoke" together, but not until after Mr. Wildes returned to what he then thought was safety. He loaded his rifle and opened fire. The Indians killed seven, six of the Wildes family and the twelve-year-old Wilkinson girl. The Wildes' baby was brutally murdered with a lightwood knot which they buried in its head. Four of the Wildes' children and the Wilkinson boy escaped, making their way to the Post House kept by Mr. Stancil, two miles away. The house once stood on the ground later owned by Mr. Dan Williams situated on the road to Blackshear. The Indians burned the Wildes home after having secured all they wanted of the household goods. Late in the afternoon the soldiers reached the annihi- p. 8 lated home of the Wildes family and buried them near where Ben Collins later lived. A large tree is all that marks the graves of murdered pioneer family of Ware county.[1] Indian treaties that gave to Ware County the Tallassee Country was within the boundaries of Georgia, and were fixed by the original charter. There were four great tribes of Indians: viz: the Creeks, the Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws. These last two were so far away to the westward that they never came into contact with the whites during the colonial period. The Cherokee country was more than two hundred miles from the first settlement on the Savannah River and it was several years be- ______________ [1]. Facts obtained from Mr. J. L. "Wildes, the story was told him by his father and Uncle Rube, both of whom escaped at the time of the attack by the Indians. -------------- p. 9 fore any relations were either sought or established with them. The first treaties were, therefore, with the Creeks, who inhabited all the southern, central and eastern portions of the province. On May 21, 1733, General Oglethorpe met the head men of the Creek nation at Savannah and entered into an agreement with them by which the whites were to sell certain goods to the Indians at fixed prices, and to make restitution to them for any injuries that might be inflicted by the settlers. On the other hand the Indians agreed that the trustees of the Colony should have the privilege of settling upon and using the lands which the nation did not want for its own use; pledged themselves to give no encouragement to any other white men to settle there; not to rob or molest the settlers sent by the trustees, and to "keep the talk in their heads as long as the sun shines and the water runs." The treaties made with the Creeks in 1785 ceded to the white settlers the land known as the Tallassee Country, lying south of the Altamaha River. In 1790 in reference to George Washington's invitation, McGillivray, the head man of the Creeks, concluded a treaty with Henry Knox, then secretary of war, as the sole commissioner for the United States. This treaty combined with the one made August 9, 1814 with Andrew Jackson at Fort Jackson, Georgia (later Alabama), confirmed the two treaties to give South Georgia the Tallassee County, lying south of the Altamaha River. TREATY "August 9, 1814 a treaty was made between Andrew Jackson on the part of the United States and a number of the Creek chiefs at Fort Jackson. By its provisions the Indians ceded all of the southern portion of the state."[1] The Indians, who signed the treaty at Fort ____________ [1]. Indian Treaties of Georgia Colonial Records. -------------- p. 10 Jackson, acknowledged having violated their treaties and ceded a tract equivalent for expenses of the war. "This treaty was signed by Andrew Jackson and a number of Creek chiefs, deputies and warriors. The strip of territory lay between the Creek Indians on the north and the Seminole Indians in Florida on the south."1 This strip of land had been, since the coming of the settlers, a bone of contention between the two races. The treaty at Coleraine confirmed this land as the Tallassee strip.[2] This much coveted section in southern Georgia was a vantage ground between the Indians and the white settlers; both sides contending for their rights. Later a penalty was meted out to the Indians for becoming British sympathizers in the War of 1812, and the Indians __________ [1] and [2]. White's Historical Collections of Georgia. -------------- p. 11 were forced to relinquish their claims to the land and it became the property of the white settlers. Ware County was cut from a part of the Tallassee strip. INDIAN TRADING HOUSES By Act of Congress April 18,1875, the establishment of Government trading houses was authorized. Soon there were established fourteen trading posts among various tribes of Indians, which were as follows: Coleraine, on the St. Marys river, Georgia, 1795; Jellico, blockhouse on the Hiwassee, Tennessee, 1795; Fort St. Stephens, Alabama, 1802; Chickasaw Bluff, now Memphis, Tenn. 1795; Detroit, Michigan, 1805; Arkansas, 1805, and others. The post at Coleraine only lasted two years, and was -------------- p. 12 moved to Fort Wilkinson, and in 1806 was removed to Fort Hawkins. The United States hoped by the establishment of these trading houses to create a more satisfied and friendly feeling among the Indians toward the Government. It was designed to bring to them in their own territory such affairs as would add to their domestic comfort, and at a fair price that would undersell the private trader. For a time the policy seemed to be most successful, but gradually the Government came more and more to see that the system was a failure. Every trading house was protected by United States soldiers, and the factor in most cases thus protected were indifferent as to whether Indians were in a friendly attitude or not, while the private trader, constantly in their power, became identified with the Indian tribe which he commonly visited. Again, Government factors, or employees generally, carelessly allowed their stock to become inferior and of such a character as was not suited to the needs of the Indians, while the private trader, through adroit measures, put the United States' trading posts out of business. All the posts except those in Georgia have become towns and cities. Coleraine was considered at the time the Government established the trading post there one of the most important Indian settlements, and Chickasaw, now Memphis, Tenn., one of the most doubtful. The settlers in the early days of Ware county traded at Coleraine. SEMINOLE INDIANS In the autumn of 1838 the Seminole Indians, who were still carrying on their warfare against the United States, made an irruption from the fastness of the Okefinokee Swamp upon the southern frontier of Georgia. The Governor of the state, as soon as he received information of the fact, ordered a portion of the militia to repair to the scene of action, to render assistance and protection to the south Georgia citizens. He selected General -------------- p. 13 Charles Floyd of Camden County for the command. With his accustomed promptness he met the call. The object of this campaign was to drive the invading Indians from the state and expell them from the Okefinokee Swamp. The service was one of no ordinary character. It required all the fortitude and patient endurance of man to meet the privation and difficulties of the attempt to penetrate this region of solitude. In the language of General Charles Floyd:—"The foot of the white man had there never left its impress; the crawling reptile there basked in warm sunshine upon the miry banks of its turbid pools; the wild beasts there held their court; the savage there retreated as to a fortress, fear of which he might bid defiance to his pursuers." Later the time came when this dark and desolate spot could no longer offer a safe asylum to the Indians. General Floyd pursued the retreating foe to the borders of the swamp, and then began an arduous and toilsome march, such as seldom falls to the lot of the soldier. The swamp was entered, and the whole body of the troops penetrated and passed and repassed through it. General Floyd placed himself at their head and carrying his own knapsack upon his back, he played the part of the common soldier in all things save authority—thus encouraging his men and stimulating them by his example. General Floyd and his soldiers passed from one side of the swamp to a central crossing of the Suwanee river on the opposite side without an encounter with the Indians. They had recently deserted their former abode on a large island, later known as Floyd's Island, in the heart of the swamp where were found many things that had been used by them. Emerging from the border of the Okefinokee, General Floyd and his men had an encounter with the Indians and the Indians were routed.[1] __________ [1]. Information obtained from the Floyd family records, in possession of General John Floyd's great granddaughters, Misses Zoe and Isabella Blackshear. -------------- p. 14 TWO INDIAN GIRLS CAPTURED IN WARE "Think you a little din can daunt my ears? Have I not in my time heard lions roar?" Captain Miller must have entertained such thoughts when, in a magnanimous way, he took care of the poor little screeching, screaming, kicking Indian girls that General Floyd and General Hilliard's men had captured near the Okefinokee Swamp in the tall grass that bordered this place. It was indeed a problem to the men to know what should be done with these two girls who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years old. The gallant Captain Miller relieved the tense situation by offering to take them home to Mrs, Miller, hoping that she could improve their wild cat tendencies. Alas! the taming of the shrew was nothing compared to Mrs, Miller's great undertaking. These maids of the forest remained with the Miller family for three months and all that they were ever able to teach them was to bring in the wood. They were often locked in a room to keep them from running away. Captain Miller's family decided that the best place for these girls were with the Indians and, like Hortensio, he felt "From all such devils good Lord deliver us!" He held a family conference and no objection was made to his suggestion that they be sent to a Seminole tribe of Indians who were located at St. Augustine, Fla. Billy Bowlegs was the chief over this tribe and to his care these girls were to be assigned. Captain Miller and some of his recruits went to Waresboro and hired Jim Cobb to take the girls back to their own race of people. MEMORIES OF INDIAN DAYS A story was told to Mr. Manning Thigpen by his grandfather, Mr. Stafford Davis, a centenarian, who once lived in that part of Ware that later was incorpor- -------------- p. 15 uted into the forming of the county of Coffee. This is the story, "Indian Days in Ware." "I well remember the day when our tents were first pitched on this almost unlimited space of wild lands in southern Georgia. Here all was fresh and nature was then primeval and revelled in space. The devouring hand of progress had not then stamped the country with a network of steel, nor had the marks of trade and commerce blackened the skies of blue. The promiscuous hymns of nature, the clarion echoes of our bugles, the baying of our dogs, and all the glad domestic sounds of animals seemed to join partnership with man, and sometimes I feel that I again hear the hearty blows of the woodcutter's axe, the crash of falling trees, and the reckless wood notes of the first songs which these solitudes had heard since the creation. How often I look back upon the pleasures and fond remembrances as a green spot in the almost illimitable garden of the past, for in those beautiful days of the long ago, we not only had our happy days but many anxious days and nights of apprehensive disturbances. We consecrated our cabin in this forest with the affecting and tender name of home, and I have seen many a spot since where nature is picturesque in privacy and seclusion, but none more Eden-like than the little home in the wiregrass settlement of Ware. "One day I had a vague feeling that we were approaching a cataclasm, and as night came on the feeling of depression increased, but being always friendly with the Ware County Indians—we often exchanged corn with them for venison-—I could not feel apprehensive that I would be molested by them. However, there was a spirit of unrest among these poor children of the forest, for they had been notified by the government that the lands upon which they lived were no longer theirs and an army was on the way to drive them beyond the waters of the Mississippi. I soon found that there was no doubt that we in a short while would be appre- -------------- p. 16 hended by the Indians, for we heard their war cry a far way off. Knowing of the great disturbance among the Indians and some of the white settlers I had in a way prepared for the safety of my family by cutting a block out of the puncheon floor of our cabin, making a secret passage leading out from beneath the house to the cornfield beyond. The war whoop was rapidly sounding nearer each minute, and the yells of the savages and the sharp reports from their flint and steel rifles rang clearly out on the night air. I hastily barred the doors of the house, for we had no locks in those days, and soon had my children out of bed together with my wife and our infant fled to the cornfield. The startled hares, deers, and other wild animals of the woods bounded away from our path and we soon found a safe retreat in the cornfield some distance from the cabin. The children realizing that danger lurked near did not make a sound, not even a whimper from our baby. They seemed to feel that an impending disaster was lurking close by that endangered their lives. While my family was out of sight of the Indians, they were not out of the sound of their voices and hatchets. They cut down the door, and entered our home, and finding no one there, they seized an axe, butcher knife, some lead and gun powder, leaving the house unharmed. They entered the smokehouse and took all of the dried beef and other commodities and left, singing a chattering song that meant peace. The next day I put my family in the settlement fort, and secured at the Camp on Kettle Creek a squad of soldiers and chased the Indians to the Okefinokee Swamp, where they disappeared among the dense trees and tangled vines. That was our last encounter with the Indians for General Charles Floyd and his soldiers had marched into the heart of the Okefinokee, and gradually drove these men of the forest out on their westward journey." p. 17 INDIAN ENCAMPMENT According to Mr. Alex. Eunice, a large body of Indians made camp some three miles southeast of Waycross in 1862. They were of the Creek tribe and were trying to make their way into the Okefinokee Swamp. Mr. Eunice went into their camp where he found them cooking terrapins which they had caught in the vicinity. Mr. Eunice offered them salt and such other supplies that he thought they needed, but they refused. They did inquire of him, however, the direction into the swamp and the following morning they broke camp and moved south. FORTS AND BLOCK HOUSES There are four old forts in Ware county, located near the southern division of the Dixie Highway. The first on the road is Fort Mudge, a temporary fortification tuilt during the Florida war. It was abandoned when peace was restored. A few miles beyond Fort Mudge is Fort Dearborn. It was also a temporary structure and was about 13 miles south of Fort Floyd, (named for General John Floyd). It is located near the northeast corner of the Ware county side of the swamp. This fort was erected by the United States government and was occupied from Nov. 15, 1838, to Sept. 25, 1839, when it was abandoned. Fort Gilmer, named for Governor George Gilmer, is situated in a bend in the Suwanee river, just where it forks into Suwanuchee creek. Floyd's Trail leads out from this fort and ends on the opposite side of the swamp, at the entrance to Fort Dearborn. The names of the blockhouses that once stood on the Ware county side of the swamp are: Fort Barnam, Fort Muse, Fort McClain, Fort Mills, Fort Smith and Fort Walker. Now one hundred years have passed since Ware county was created. The wilderness, the village, the town, have long since changed into a city! A new volume of life .and activity have taken their places. Farm lands are -------------- p. 18 stretching out into broader enterprises, in competition with other towns and cities, whose communities come rumbling back in prosperous exchange. The county site, like a great leader, is ever going forward, and is often called by the euphonious name of the Magic City of the. Wiregrass. Additional Comments: From: HISTORY OF WARE COUNTY GEORGIA BY LAURA SINGLETON WALKER File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/ware/history/other/gms224historyo.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 29.4 Kb