Near by was an Indian village peopled by the Yamacraws, whose chief, or mico, was the venerable Tomo-chi-chi. Having, through the intervention of Mary Musgrove,—a half-breed, and the wife of a Carolina trader who had there established a post,—persuaded the natives of the friendly intentions of the English and secured from them an informal cession of the desired lands, Oglethorpe returned to Beaufort. Thence, on the 30th of January, 1733, the colonists, conveyed in a sloop of seventy tons and in five periaguas, set sail for Yamacraw Bluff, where, on the afternoon of the second day afterward, they arrived in safety and passed their first night upon the soil of Georgia. The ocean had been crossed, and the germ of a new colony was planted in America. Sharing the privations and the labors of his companions, Oglethorpe was present planning, supervising, and encouraging. In marking out the squares, lots, and streets of Savannah, he was materially assisted by Colonel William Bull. Early and acceptable aid was extended by the authorities of Carolina, and this was generously supplemented by private benefactions. Well knowing that the planting of this colony would essentially promote the security of Carolina, shielding that province from the direct assaults and machinations of the Spaniards in Florida, preventing the ready escape of fugitive slaves, guarding her southern borders from the incursions of Indians, increasing commercial relations, and enhancing the value of lands, the South Carolinians were eager to further the prosperity of Georgia. Sensible of the courtesies and assistance extended, Oglethorpe repaired at an early day to Charlestown to return thanks in behalf of the colony and to interest the public still more in the development of the plantation. In this mission he was eminently successful. He was cheered also by congratulations and proffers of aid from other American colonies.
In nothing were the prudence, wisdom, skill, and ability of the founder of the colony of Georgia more conspicuous than in his conduct toward and treatment of the Indians. The ascendency he acquired over them, the respect they entertained for him, and the manly, generous, and just policy he ever maintained in his intercourse with the native tribes of the region are remarkable. Their favor at the outset was essential to the repose of the settlement; their friendship, necessary to its existence. As claimants of the soil by virtue of prior occupancy, it was important that the title they asserted to these their hunting grounds should at an early moment be peaceably and formally extinguished. Ascertaining from Tomo-chi-chi the names and abodes of the most influential chiefs dwelling within the territory ceded by the charter, Oglethorpe enlisted the good offices of this mico in calling a convention of them at Savannah. In May, 1733, the Indians assembled, and on the 21st of that month a treaty was solemnized, by which the Creeks ceded to the Trustees all lands lying between the Savannah and the Alatamaha rivers, from the ocean to the head of tide-water. In this cession were also embraced the islands on the coast from Tybee to St. Simon inclusive, with the exception of Ossabau, Sapelo, and St. Catharine, which were reserved for the purposes of hunting, fishing, and bathing. A tract of land between Pipe-maker’s Bluffs and Pally-Chuckola Creek was also retained as a place of encampment whenever it should please the natives to visit their white friends at Savannah. Stipulations were entered into regulating the price of goods, the value of peltry, and the privileges of traders. It was further agreed that criminal offences should be tried and punished in accordance with the laws of England. In due course the provisions of this treaty were formally ratified by the Trustees.
Thus happily, in the very infancy of the colony, was the title of the Aborigines to the lands south of the Savannah amicably extinguished. This treaty compassed the pacification of the Lower Creeks, the Uchees, the Yamacraws, and of other tribes constituting the Muskhogee confederacy.
TOMO-CHI-CHI MICO.
[This head is taken from a German print, engraved at Augsburg, purporting to follow an original issued in London. The full print also represents Tooanahowi, his brother’s son, a lad, holding an eagle as he stands beside his uncle. The entire print on a smaller scale is reproduced in Jones’s History of Georgia; in Gay’s Popular History of the United States, iii. 147; and in Dr. Eggleston’s papers on “Life in the English Colonies” in the Century Magazine.—Ed.]
Nor did the influences of this convocation rest with them only. They were recognized by the Upper Creeks; and at a later date similar stipulations were sanctioned by the Cherokees. For years were they preserved inviolate; and the colony of Georgia, thus protected, extended its settlements up the Savannah River and along the coast, experiencing neither opposition nor molestation, but receiving on every hand valuable assurance of the good-will of the children of the forest. Probably the early history of no plantation in America affords so few instances of hostility on the part of the natives, or so many acts of kindness extended by the red men. Potent was the influence of Tomo-chi-chi in consummating this primal treaty of amity and commerce. Had this chief, turning a deaf ear to the advances of Oglethorpe, refused his friendship, denied his request, and, inclining his authority to hostile account, instigated a combined and determined opposition on the part of the Yamacraws, the Uchees, and the Lower Creeks, the perpetuation of this English settlement would have been either most seriously imperilled or abruptly terminated amid smoke and carnage. When therefore we recur to the memories of this period, and as often as the leading events in the early history of the colony of Georgia are narrated, so often should the favors experienced at the hands of this mico be gratefully acknowledged. If Oglethorpe’s proudest claim to the honor and respect of succeeding generations rests upon the fact that he was the founder of the colony of Georgia, let it not be forgotten that in the hour of supreme doubt and danger the right arm of this son of the forest, his active intervention, and his unswerving friendship were among the surest guarantees of the safety and the very existence of that province. Tomo-chi-chi will be remembered as the firm ally of the white man, the guide and protector of the colonist, the constant companion and faithful confederate of Oglethorpe.
Accessions occurred as rapidly as the means of the Trust would allow. Among some of the early comers were Italians from Piedmont, who were engaged to develop the silk industry, from the pursuit of which considerable gain was anticipated. As the immigrants multiplied, and the defences at Savannah were strengthened, Fort Argyle was built on the Great Ogeechee River, the villages of Highgate and Hampstead were laid out, Thunderbolt and Skidoway Island were occupied, Joseph’s Town and Abercorn were peopled, and plantations formed on Augustine Creek, on the Little Ogeechee, and as far south as the Great Ogeechee River. On the 7th of July, 1733, occurred a general allotment of town lots, garden lots, and farms among the inhabitants of Savannah; and this was confirmed by deed executed on the 21st of the following December. The town lot contained sixty feet in front and ninety feet in depth; the garden lot embraced five acres. Forty-four acres and one hundred and forty-one poles constituted the farm; so that the grant aggregated fifty acres,—thus conforming to the instructions of the Trustees, and furnishing land sufficient for the support of the colonist who came at the charge of the Trust and brought no servants. The conveyance was in tail-male. Of the moneys realized from the sale of lands in the island of St. Christopher, the sum of £10,000 was, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons, paid over to the “Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in America,” to be by them applied “towards defraying the charges of carrying over and settling foreign and other Protestants in said colony.” This timely relief enabled the Trustees to accomplish a purpose from the execution of which they had been prevented by a want of funds. In the administration of the Trust preference had been accorded to English Protestants seeking homes in the New World. Now, however, they were justified in enlarging the scope of their charity, because the resolution in obedience to which this liberal benefaction was made, contemplated in terms the colonization of foreign Protestants.