US Army Hired Contractors to Remove Indians From Georgia on “Trail of Tears”

February 27, 2021 at 12:03 am (Indian Wars, Uncategorized)
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In 1836, amid conflicts with Native Americans who were being forced from their home lands in Georgia and Alabama, the U.S. government contracted for the removal of the Indians to western territories. In old Lowndes County, GA, which then included Berrien County, Ray City settlers fought in local battles including the Skirmish at William Parker’s Place, the Battle of Brushy Creek, Actions at Little River and Grand Bay, Skirmish on Cow Creek, the Skirmish at Troublesome Ford and other violent encounters with Native Americans in old Lowndes County, GA.  

Alfred Iverson, Sr., a Justice of the State Superior Court, invested in companies that defrauded the Creek Indians of their land and "removed" them on the Trail of Tears.

Alfred Iverson, Sr., a Justice of the State Superior Court of Georgia, invested in companies that defrauded the Creek Indians of their land and “removed” them on the Trail of Tears.

Removal Contractors

A Removal Contract was let out by the U.S. Army on August 12, 1836 at Tuskegee, AL. The contract called for the Alabama Emigrating Company to remove Indian “men, women and children, and their slaves” to an area west of the territory of Arkansas.  Alfred Iverson, Georgia Superior Court Justice and later US Senator, was a principal in the company, along with Edward Hendrick, James C. Watson, A. Abercrombie, James Abercrombie and others. A founder of the Columbus Land Company, Iverson had already been involved in defrauding the Creek Indians out of over 10 million acres of land. The Daily Savannah Republican postulated that the Creek land fraud was the cause of the present violent Indian resistance and tried to make it a political issue, to little avail.

“The ‘Removal Contractors’ , firms like the Alabama Emigrating Company … amassed a fortune and like vultures plucked from the tribes what little remained , after the debacle” of the Trail of Tears was over (The Indian Historian, 10:26).

On the forced march to the western lands, known as the Trail of Tears, 4,000 Native Americans died of cold, hunger, and disease.

Athens Southern Banner edition of August 27, 1836 reports Army contract for removal of Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama.

Athens Southern Banner edition of August 27, 1836 reports Army contract for removal of Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama.

REMOVAL OF THE CREEKS.

The contract for the removal of the Creek Indians was let out on the 12th inst. at Tuskegee. We understand that it was taken by a large company of gentlemen associated under the name of the Alabama Emigrating Company. –
Amongst others, the members of the Old Emigrating Company are concerned in conjunction with Mr. George Whitman and others, of Montgomery, and a number of other citizens of Alabama, comprising in the aggregate about twenty persons, and combining the best talents and the most efficient means for the prompt transportation of the Indians. –
The contract was taken at twenty-eight dollars and fifty cents per head, and the contractors are to furnish their own means, and be ready at a moments’ warning to remove the Indians by parties of from one to five thousand, as soon as they can be collected.-
There was a good deal of competition in bidding for this important contract. There were a great number of applicants, some at lower prices than the sum given to those who obtained the contract. But the price agreed upon was considered a medium bid, and the company who obtained were thought to possess advantages fir a faithful performance of it over any others who applied for the contract. It is a large company, possessing a great deal of ready capital, an efficient force of active and energetic men, and having considerable experience in the business. Considering that the most important point is, the speedy removal of these Indians, and the immense expense of the Government of subsisting them where they now are, it was very proper for the officers having charge of this business to employ the services of able and efficient contractors who would create no delay, and move straight forward to the execution of their trust. We consider the contract under all the circumstances, a most favorable one to the Government; and much credit is due to Gen. Jessup and Capt. Page for the promptness and discretion exercised in making it. We learn from the contractors that a large party of about 3000 will start between the 20th and 25th inst., and that the whole nation will move in convenient parties within sixty days at farthest. Gen. Jessup is using great exertions to get off these troublesome neighbors-and for his active, prompt and energetic movements in this branch of the public service, he deserves and will receive the approbation and thanks of the whole community. – Columbus Sentinel.

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An Act to Provide for Payment of Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Campaigns

February 20, 2021 at 1:20 am (Indian Wars)
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Compensation for Georgia Militia volunteers in the Creek Campaign of 1836

In the spring of 1836, pioneer settlers of Ray City and settlers all across Wiregrass Georgia faced increasing hostilities from Native Americans who were being forced out of their ancestral lands.

Levi J. Knight, to protect his family and the families of other settlers around Beaverdam Creek, mustered the men of his district into an independent company in the Lowndes County Militia, which he commanded at the rank of Captain.  For three months in mid 1836, Knight’s Company was on active duty and skirmished with Indians in separate engagements in the swamps around Berrien County (then Lowndes). Militia units under Col. Henry Blair, Captains Enoch Hall, Levi J. Knight and Hamilton W. Sharpe engaged groups of Creek warriors, women and children in pitched battles. There were engagements at the Alapaha River, Brushy Creek, Warrior Creek, Cow Creek, Little River, and Grand Bay;  the bloodiest action was the Battle at Brushy Creek.

In 1830 William Schley became a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1832 and again in 1834, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives. He resigned from that position to become the 36th Governor of Georgia from 1835 until 1837.

In 1830 William Schley became a member of the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1832 and again in 1834, he was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives. He resigned from that position to become the 36th Governor of Georgia from 1835 until 1837.

At the 1836 legislative session of the Georgia Assembly, an act was passed to provide compensation to the men who served. Captain L. J. Knight had paid many expenses out of his own pocket. Now he was responsible for submitting a roster of his troops and an accounting of expenses incurred. In turn, Governor Schley was directed to seek reimbursement of State expenditures from the federal government.  The attendant difficulties in implementing this act were later reported by Governor Schley (below), including reports by Hamilton W. Sharpe of fraudulent claims from Lowndes county, GA.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

An 1836 Act to provide for the payment of Georgia Militia Volunteers in the Creek and Seminole Wars.

AN ACT

To provide for the payment of Volunteers in this State, in certain cases, for services, loss and expenditures, during the late Creek and Seminole campaigns, and to point out the manner of doing the same.

Sec. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the several companies or other bodies of less than sixty men, battalions, or regiments of the militia, which were ordered out to defend the frontiers of this State, against the recent hostilities of the Creek and Seminole Indians, by the commanding officer of such company, battalion, regiment, or brigade, and such companies as were or were not formed and volunteered for the immediate defence of the same without such orders, all of whom were not mustered into the service of the United States, shall be entitled to receive the same compensation for their services as though they had been regularly mustered into said service.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of each and every commanding officer of the several companies or bodies of men as aforesaid, whether commissioned, or breveted, or appointed by the members thereof to the command under the exigencies of the moment, to make out a muster roll of his company or body of men, containing the names and rank of the members thereof, the time of their actual service, whether infantry or cavalry, the number of days of subsistence and forage for man and horse furnished by each, and the quantity of ammunition expended.by each in said service and upon the presentation of such muster roll, duly certified to the Governor, by the commanding officer of such company, it shall be his duty to issue his warrant on the Treasurer for the amount due said company, according to the requisitions of the first section of this act, and full pay for the ammunition, in favor of the officer commanding the same.

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That all field and staff officers shall be paid at and after the same rates, which similar officers are paid in the service of the United States upon the presentation of their accounts duly certified to the Governor.

Sec 4. And be it further enacted, That the said commanding officers of companies shall state upon their muster rolls, what property of said company may have been lost in battle or in the immediate pursuits of the Indians, or while employed in actual service, together with a statement of the value and name of the owner, and shall transmit likewise to the Governor, such testimony as the claimant may furnish to him of the loss and value thereof, it shall be the duty of the Governor to pay for the same: Provided, that the provisions of this act shall not extend beyond the loss of horses, and equipages, wagons, and wearing apparel of the soldiers.

Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That his Excellency the Governor, be, and he is hereby required to pay all accounts for subsistence, forage, ammunition, clothing, tents, camp equipage, cooking utensils, and medicine, and hospital stores, transportation, and all expenses necessarily incurred in fitting up the public arms, which may have been contracted by the commanding officer of any company, battalion, regiment, brigade or division, or by the quarter master of either of them thereof, for the use of the same, either in the Creek or Seminole campaign, or in the Cherokee Counties of this State, either before or after they had been mustered into the service of the United States: Provided, such payment has not been made by the United States, Provided his Excellency shall be satisfied that the same shall have been purchased in good faith. And Provided also, that the officer purchasing or issuing said provisions, in the event of his not having received compensation therefor, shall be paid at and after the same rates which similar officers are paid for like services, in the army of the United States.

Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That inasmuch as many of the volunteers both in the Creek and Seminole campaigns were sick or wounded, and required medical assistance, which could not be obtained otherwise than from physicians unconnected with the army, his Excellency the Governor is hereby authorized to pay all reasonable accounts for necessary medical attention and nursing of the Volunteers in the Creek campaign, who were, or were not, mustered into the service of the United States, or wounded Indian prisoners, as well as all similar accounts contracted by the Volunteers in the Seminole campaign, either going to, or returning from the same, who were unable to procure the services of the surgeon of the army.

Sec. 7. Be it further enacted, That all of said companies and other bodies of men, who had to defray their own expenses on their way home, shall be paid such reasonable expenses; Provided, the same has not been paid by the United States.

Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That all payments made under this act shall be made out of any monies in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and that all such payments shall be charged by the Governor in account against the United States. 

Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That where any duties are required by the commanding officer of any company, under the provisions of this act, the same may be performed by the next highest officer in command: Provided, the said officer may be dead or removed from the State.

Sec. 10. And be it further enacted, That all accounts to be settled under this act, shall be audited by the Comptroller General, who, upon evidence of their reasonableness, under a liberal construction of this act, shall recommend the same to be made to the Governor, who shall thereupon draw his warrant on the Treasury for the same.

Sec. 11. And be it further enacted, That his Excellency the Governor, be, and he is hereby authorized to demand of the Treasury of the United States, re-payment of the amounts paid under this act, which are properly a charge under the Rules and Regulations of War ; and that he be authorized to request our Representatives and instruct our Senators in Congress to obtain the passage of a special act of Congress for the payment of the accounts not so chargeable under the existing law of the United States.

Sec. 12. And be it further enacted, That our Senators in Congress and our Representatives in that body, be requested to use their most strenuous efforts to obtain an act of Congress for the appointment of Commissioners, under the United States, to adjust and liquidate the claims of all the citizens of this State, for losses incurred by them in the late Indian wars.

JOSEPH DAY,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.

ROBERT M. ECHOLS,
President of the Senate.

Assented to, Dec. 26, 1836.

WILLIAM SCHLEY, Governor.

According to Governor Schley’s 1837 annual address to the Georgia Assembly, about four thousand volunteers served in the Creek war. The act for the payment of volunteers was

“attended with much difficulty in its execution. Many claims were presented which could not be allowed; and when the officers, to whom was confided the administration of the law, endeavored, in the conscientious discharge of their duty to the people, to ascertain the will of the Legislature by the usual and commonsense mode of construing laws, they were condemned as unfriendly to the volunteers and attempts were made to lessen them the public estimation, by misstatements of facts and unjust inferences and conclusions. But whatever may have been the opinions of any in regard to the correctness of the construction placed on the statute, all knew and felt that, as no interest accrued to the officers, there could be no motive to do wrong, and therefore their integrity remained, unimpeached….

Under the fourth section payment was demanded for horses which died a natural death, and for clothes which cost higher prices than it was supposed the Legislature intended to comprehend within the meaning of the words “wearing apparel of the soldier”…, including fine cloth coats, overcoats, gold breast-pins, and other expensive articles…

Under this act upwards of one hundred and seven thousand dollars have been paid from the Treasury, and many accounts remain unpaid. A portion of this amount has no doubt been drawn on fraudulent muster rolls and accounts,…It will be seen by the letter of Hamilton W. Sharpe, Esq. of Lowndes county, that a man named Wm. T. Thompson, has committed a fraud, and received the sum of one thousand five hundred and ninety-four 14-100 dollars upon two muster rolls – one in his own name and the other in the name of John Homes for whom he acted as agent…Many other cases of a similar character no doubt exist, but it was impossible to prevent these frauds – that section of the act authorizing payment on muster rolls requires no oath of the Captain nor certificate of a superior officer, and therefore we were bound to pay every roll presented, on the mere certificate of the person representing himself as the commanding officer.  

Later Levi J. Knight himself would face allegations by the federal War Department that the activation of Georgia militia companies in 1842 had been unnecessary and warranted no reimbursement of state expenditures. The Secretary of War disputed the Indian War claims of Captain Knight.

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Matthew Franklin Giddens

February 13, 2021 at 12:42 am (Uncategorized)
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Matthew Franklin Giddens (1845-1908)

Grave marker of Matthew Franklin Giddens and Mary Elizabeth Knight Giddens. Image source: Lori Humble

Grave marker of Matthew Franklin Giddens and Mary Elizabeth Knight Giddens. Image source: Lori Humble

Matthew Franklin Giddens was born and raised in Georgia. A son of Elizabeth Edmondson and  William Giddens, he was born in 1845 in that part of Lowndes county which was later cut into Berrien County.  His boyhood was spent  on his father’s farm, near Ray City, GA in the 1144th Georgia Militia District, where he and his brothers helped work the farm.

Matthew’s grandparents were among the earliest settlers of the area. His grandfather, Isben Giddens, and father, William Giddens, both served in the Lowndes County Militia during the Indian Wars of 1836-1838, under the command of  Captain Levi J. Knight.  The Giddens were among those who took part in the Battle of Brushy Creek, one of the last real engagements with the Creek Indians in this region. His maternal Grandfather, James Edmondson served in the Indian campaign as a private in Capt. Levi J. Knight’s 1838 Independent Company of Lowndes County militia. His  future father-in-law, Joel Knight, served in the Indian Wars in the 2nd East Florida Mounted Volunteers and  during the Civil War served in the 1st Battalion, Florida Special Cavalry, Company C.  This unit was part of Lieutenant Colonel Charles James Munnerlyn’s famous “Cow Cavalry,” which was detailed to protect the supply of Florida cattle to feed the Confederate Army.

Matthew Franklin Giddens served in the Confederate army, enlisting in the Berrien Minute Men, Company G, 29th Georgia Infantry at the age of sixteen. He saw two years of active service before being captured near Atlanta on July 22, 1864.  He spent most of another year as a prisoner of war;  first seven months at Camp Chase, Ohio then four months at City Point, VA. He was released June 10, 1865 after swearing an oath of allegiance to the United States of America. The Oath of Allegiance was a condition of release since he, like other Confederate States soldiers and citizens had renounced their U.S. citizenship.

After the war he returned to Berrien County where he was enumerated in the Census of 1870  residing in the household of Thomas and Marentha Devane and working as a farm laborer.

Shortly thereafter he moved to Florida, settling in that portion of Manatee County which is now DeSoto.

Matthew Franklin Giddens married Mary Elizabeth Knight (1853-1939) on Valentine’s Day, 1872, which was also the bride’s 19th birthday. She was a daughter of Virginia Mitchell and Joel Knight, born at Knight’s Station, FL. She was a granddaughter of Mary Roberts and Samuel Knight. Her father, Joel Knight, was a farmer and cattle dealer.

In Florida, Matthew Franklin Giddens engaged first in mercantile business and later in the cattle business. By 1880, his brother Isbin S. Giddens had moved to Manatee County, Florida  and was residing in Matthew’s household while working as a grocer. Isbin enjoyed great success as a grocery merchant, forming his own company,  I. S. Giddens & Co., wholesale grocers, of Tampa. Two other Giddens brothers also settled in Tampa, where they were among the prominent  citizens of the city:  Dr. John A. Giddens, a well known dentist, and Henry Clay Giddens, a successful business man.

Matthew Giddens became county superintendent of public instruction of DeSoto County and also a member of the board of public instruction of the same county for several years. He removed to Tampa and continued to reside there till his death, in 1908, at the age of sixty-two years.

Matthew Franklin Giddens and Mary Elizabeth (Knight) Giddens became the parents of seven Children, as follows:

  1. Sumner Edmondson Giddens, born 12 Dec 1872 Manatee, Florida; married Marion McLeod, a niece of the wife of Governor Henry L. Mitchell; died 2 Jun 1944, Charlotte Harbor, Charlotte County, Florida.
  2. Larue Breckenridge Giddens, born 31 March 1876; married Elizabeth Wallace.
  3. Marcus J. Giddens, married Josephine Hill; resided at the old Knight homestead at Knight’s Station, FL.
  4. Virginia Giddens
  5. Eva Giddens, married Dr. James Smoak
  6. Paul Knight Giddens, married Mary Malone; moved to Kansas City, MO.
  7. Grady Mitchell Giddens, born 14 October 1892; Cpl US Army, WWI; died 5 September 1964; buried Woodlawn Cemetery, Tampa, FL
  8. Frances Jane Giddens, died in childhood
Obituary of Matthew Franklin Giddens

Obituary of Matthew Franklin Giddens

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James M. Baskin Loses Sawmill Equipment

February 6, 2021 at 12:49 am (Baskin Family)
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The year 1892 opened a string of bad luck for James Madison Baskin.

James Madison Baskins

James Madison Baskin of old Berrien County, GA

J. M. Baskin had brought his wife, Frances Bell , and family to the Ray City area around 1856, at about the time that Berrien County was created by the Georgia Legislature. James was 28 years old, a young and energetic farmer and mechanic. A “mechanic” was a craftsman, tradesman or artisan  – a skilled worker in manufacturing, production or entrepreneurial trade. Mechanics worked as independent masters or journeymen in manufacturing and trade establishments, railroads, mills, foundries, potteries, bakehouses, tanneries, currieries, coach makers, saddlers, blacksmiths, soap and candle makers, construction, shoe making, boat manufacture, book binding, watchmaking, and so on.

James’ father had given him two enslaved people who were experienced in construction, and who enabled him to enter into business as a building contractor.  He acquired a farm about five miles east of Ray’s Mill (now Ray City). He acquired many other enslaved peoples who worked at his farm, cotton gin and other enterprises. His wife Frances joined the Baptist Church at Troupville, GA.

During the Civil War J.M. Baskin enlisted with the Berrien Light Infantry in Company E, 54th Georgia Regiment. At least part of his war service he was detailed working as a mechanic , but after 1864 he was in combat and was seriously wounded in the Battle of Atlanta. He survived the war and returned to Berrien County, where his mechanical skills enabled him to prosper in the post-war period. He and Frances moved their membership to the New Bethel Baptist Church, and in 1874, joined with Ray City founder Thomas M. Ray and Baskin’s old Captain, J. D. Evans (a Confederate Deserter) to organize the Beaver Dam Baptist Church at Ray’s Mill. Baskin helped with the construction and carpentry for the Church building.

J. M Baskin also went in with Jonathan Knight to build a school for white children near the Baskin farm, the Grand Bay Academy.  In the 1890s James Madison Knight, grandson of the two men, attended the school then taught by Robert C. Woodard.  The Grand Bay School was consolidated with the Milltown School in 1923.

With the aid of his family, J.M. Baskin kept the cotton gin operating and also a saw mill, as well as the farm.  When Frances died of tuberculosis in 1885, J.M. Baskin re-married within six months.

By the 1890s J.M. Baskin had become one of Berrien County’s most prominent citizens.

But in February of 1892  he was forced to give up some of his sawmill equipment for auction on the courthouse steps to settle a debt owed to C. B. Peeples. The equipment included a planer-matcher for planing rough cut timber into finished lumber, and a 10 horsepower steam engine to power the planer. The planer weighed over a ton.

Tifton Gazette, January 22, 1892 reports the sawmill equipment of James Madison Baskin will be sold at auction to settle debts.

Tifton Gazette, January 22, 1892 reports the sawmill equipment of James Madison Baskin will be sold at auction to settle debts.

BERRIEN SHERIFF’S SALES
For February.
GEORGIA—Berrien County.
Will be sold before the court house door in the town of Nashville, said state and county, between the legal hours of sale on the first Tuesday in February next, the following property to-wit:
One certain engine and boiler, made by the Taylor Manufacturing Co., said engine being ten horse power; also one certain sweepstake planer and matcher, with all the fixtures thereto attached. Levied on as the property of James M. Baskins to satisfy a mortgage fi fa. issued from Berrien superior court in favor of C. B. Peeples against said Baskins. Property pointed out in said fi. fa. and can be seen at the defendant’s residence. This December 30, 1891.

Sweepstakes Planer-Matcher. A planer-matcher can -- in one pass -- surface both top and bottom of workpieces, and is frequently used for this purpose in plants producing shop lumber.

Sweepstakes Planer-Matcher. A planer-matcher can — in one pass — surface both top and bottom of workpieces, and is frequently used for this purpose in plants producing shop lumber.

According to Polly Huff, curator of the Georgia Museum of Ag & Historic Village in Tifton, GA the museum has a similar planer/matcher in its collection, and of course, many steam engines, some of them still powering the sawmill, cotton gin, and variety works in the exhibits.

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