FLORIDA.

Arms Of Florida. Motto; IN GOD IS OUR TRUST.

Florida was first discovered by Sebastian Cabot, sailing under the flag and patronage of England, in 1497, but he did not land to examine the interior of the country. In 1512 and 1516, Ponce de Leon, one of the companions of Columbus on his second voyage, explored the country to some extent, and gave to it the name which it still bears, It was called Florida it is said, from the circumstance of its being discovered on Palm Sunday or, as others say, from the numerous flowering shrubs which in many places give the country such a beautiful aspect.

In 1528, Narvarez, a Spaniard having obtained from Charles V the indefinite grant of “all the lands lying from the river of Palms to the cape of Florida,” sailed in March from Cuba, with five ships and four hundred men, for the conquest of the country. Landing on the coast, he marched to Apalache, a village of forty cottages, where he arrived on the 5th of June. Having lost many of his men by the natives, with whom he had a sharp engagement, he was obliged to retreat to his shipping. Sailing to the westward, he was lost, with many others, in a violent storm, about the middle of November, near (it is supposed) the mouth of the Mississippi. His people, with great difficulty, provided a kind of boat to cross the rivers on their way, making their ropes of horse-hair and their sails of soldier's shirts. In conclusion, only fifteen were left alive, four of whom, after almost incredible suffering, arrived at Mexico eight years later.

In 1539 Ferdinand de Soto, who had been an officer under Pizarro, sailed from the island of Cuba, of which he was governor, with about one thousand men, and landed on the western shore of Florida. From the Gulf of 49 0010 780 Mexico he penetrated northward and westward, in search of gold. The Spaniards wandered about in the wilderness for four years. De Soto, and about half his men, perished. In 1553 the French attempted to establish a coloony, which occasioned a contest between them and the Spaniards, in which the latter were finally victorious. The Spaniards were obliged several times to contend with the English colonies of Georgia and South Carolina, but they maintained possession, though several times attacked by the French and English forces.

In 1763 Florida was ceded to Great Britain in exchange for Havana. Liberal offers were now made to settlers from abroad, and, in consequence, numerous respectable citizens from the British settlements, and even a body of some 1,500 people from the shores of the Mediterranean, were induced to emigrate to Florida. A portion of the territory known as West Florida was conquered by the Spanish governor of Louisiana, in 1781, and the whole was surrendered to Spain, by the treaty of Paris, in 1783.

In the war of 1812, with Great Britain, the latter power, disregarding the neutrality of the Spanish territory, introduced her emissaries into Florida to arm the savages against the frontier settlers; and not only this, but British fleets entered the ports, and garrisoned the forts, of west Florida. After the war had terminated, and the treaty of Ghent had been ratified, British emissaries make Florida the theater of renewed operations for involving the United States in another Indian war. This was done from the opinion expressed by Lord Castlereagh, that the ninth article of the treaty of Ghent virtually entitled the Creek Indians to a restoration of all the lands they had relinquished to the United States by the treaty of Fort Jackson. Therefore, the inference that England should assist the Indians, they “being the independent allies of Great Britain.” Captain Woodbine, a British officer acting under the orders of Colonel Nichols of the royal navy, conducted a colony of negro slaves about twenty-five miles up the Appalachicola River, and there built a strong fort as his head-quarters, which was well supplied with munitions of war from the British fleet, for the use of the negroes and Indians. The commandant of the fort was Gaçron, a French negro, in connection with Red Sticks, a Choetaw chief, and it was garrisoned by one hundred negroes and a few Indians. From this general rendezvous marauding expeditions were sent out against the Georgia frontier.

As a protection to the American settlements, Camp Crawford, just above the Florida line, was garrisoned by United States troops under Colonel Clinch. In August, 1816, Colonel Clinch, with one hundred choice men under Major Muhlenburg and Captain Zachary Taylor, and a body of friendly Indians, made an attack on the fort, when a red-hot shot penetrated the magazine, involving nearly all the inmates in one indiscriminate destruction. Three thousand stand of arms and six hundred barrels of powder were destroyed. Garçon and Red Sticks were delivered over to the Indians and tortured to death. Woodbine had escaped the evening previous.

Next day intelligence was received of the approach of a body of hostile Seminoles, but, as Colonel Clinch was well prepared to receive them, they declined making an attack. Such was the commencement of the first Seminole war in Florida.

After the destruction of the negro fort, Colonel Nichols, from the island of New Providence, dispatched Alexander Arbuthnot, a British officer, to succeed Captain Woodbine in his diabolical operations. He arrived in Florida in the guise of a British trader, in the year 1817, and, simultaneously, the war-whoop resounded through the forests, and the blood of American citizens began to flow along the George and the Alabama territory.

In December, 1817, Gen. Gaines destroyed an Indian town on Clinch River. The Seminoles embodying in large numbers upon the Clinch and Appalachicola Rivers, and upon the St. Mary's, near the frontiers of Georgia, General Jackson, early next 0011 781 year, took command of the troops operating in this quarter. In April, at the head of fifteen hundred regulars and militia, and eighteen hundred friendly Indians, he destroyed the Miokasukie and Fowel towns, in East Florida. At the Mickasukie towns, about fifty miles north of St. Marks, were found nearly three hundred scalps—men, women and children. Many of these were fresh, and fifty of them were suspended upon a war-pole in the council square.

At St. Marks, upon the Appalachee River, was a strong Spanish fort, mounting twenty heavy pieces of ordnance. General Jackson ascertaining that the Indians were supplied with ammunition and aid from the officers, appeared before the fort and demanded its surrender. This was complied with, and the garrison permitted to retire to Pensacola.

Some two thousand Seminoles had assembled at the Suwanee towns, about one hundred miles south-east of St. Marks, where they were supplied with arms and ammunition by Arbuthnot. General Jackson next marched thither, when the Indians, after a little show of resistance, fled; but three hundred and forty runaway negroes made a desperate stand, and were defeated.

The notorious Arbuthnot, and his colleague, Ambrister, were at this time taken prisoners, tried by a court martial, General Games presiding, and found guilty of exciting the Indians and negroes to commit murder upon American citizens. General Jackson refusing to interpose, they were sentenced to a speedy death—Ambrister by shooting, and Arbuthnot by hanging. The latter was a young man of elegant appearance, a lieutenant of marines in the British navy. He died like a weak woman, repining at his fate.

The perfidious Spaniards at Pensacola having countenanced the hostile Indians, Jackson next marched thither and entered the town unmolested, while the governor, with his troops, retired to Fort Barancas. Jackson took up a position before the fort, and, in the night, threw up a breastwork In the morning the Spaniards opened their fire upon it, which the Americans returned, and were preparing to storm the fort, when the Spaniards concluded it wise to capitulate. The governor and garrison were thereupon permitted peaceably to retire to Havana. A day or two subsequent, May 29, 1818, Jackson issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of West Florida, stating the necessity, on the ground of self-defense, of his taking possession of Pensacola, and promising protection to all Spanish subjects, and that the laws of Spain should remain in force.

All of Florida was now in the virtual possession of the United States. The federal government, regarding its annexation as vital to the security of the southern frontier, opened negotiations for its purchase from Spain. On the 22d of February, 1819, a treaty of cession was signed by the American secretary of state and the Spanish ambassador at Washington. This was subsequently ratified by Spain, October 24, 1820, and by the United States senate, February 22, 1821. By this treaty the United States were to pay five millions of dollars to their citizens, as an indemnity due from Spain for spoliations on American commerce. The western limit of Louisiana was also removed on the Gulf of Mexico, five hundred miles eastward, from the Rio Bravo del Norte to the Sabine, a territory now comprised within the state of Texas, and three times as extensive as Florida, relinquished without consideration.

On the 17th of June, 1821, General Jackson took formal possession of Florida, in the name of the United States, and entered upon his duties as military commandant and governor. His head-quarters were at Pensacola.

Florida remained a territory 24 years. On the 3d of March, 1845, Florida and Iowa were admitted into the Union in the same bill; and Texas in the course of the ensuing summer. “Strange that Texas, which was exchanged for Florida, in 1819, should enter the Union simultaneously with it in 1845, as an independent state.”

0012 782

The Seminole * Indians, until of late, were the sole occupants of the Everglades , a flat, marshy, lake-like district, in the central and southern part of Florida. As early as 1821, the national government were urged to remove the Creeks, who had fled into this territory and incorporated themselves with the Seminoles. Difficulties continuing with the Indians, a treaty was made in 1832, at Payne's Landing, in which a large number agreed to remove west of the Mississippi. A part of the Seminoles, considering the treaty as unfair, refused to remove. In. 1835, Gen. Thompson having a dispute with Osceola , a favorite chief of the Indians, caused him to be arrested and put in irons. The Indian chieftain, exasperated by this indignity put upon him, determined to have revenge.

* The Indians of Florida are said to be the remnants of, or runaways from, other tribes, principally Creeks, Red Sticks, and Micasukies. The word “Seminole,” is said to signify a “runaway,” or “wanderer; ” it is, therefore, a name indicating their origin.

On Dec. 28, 1835, Maj. Dade, with 117 men, fell into an ambuscade of the Indians, and were all killed but three men; one or two of them afterward died of their wounds. The same day Gen. Thompson, the government agent, who resided at Camp King, was seated, with a company at dinner, in a store house, when Osceola, at the head of his warriors, suddenly broke in upon them; and discharging a volley of nearly 100 guns, killed Gen. Thompson and four others.

After a variety of conflicts, Osceola, in Oct. 1837, with about 70 warriors, under the protection of a flag, came into the camp of Gen. Jessup, who caused him to be forcibly detained. He was taken to St. Augustine, thence to Fort Moultrie, at Charleston, where he died in Jan. 1838. This harassing warfare, at this period, was brought to a close by Col. Worth, in 1842, after millions had been expended, and hundreds of valuable lives had been sacrificed. In 1846, the greater part of the Seminoles were removed west of the Mississippi. Great numbers of the soldiers perished by disease, contracted by traversing through swamps, morasses, and stagnant lakes, in pursuing the Indians from place to place. A remnant of this tribe still remain in the interminable swamps and forests in Florida.

Florida is bounded N. by Georgia and Alabama, E. by the Atlantic Ocean; S. by the Gulf of Mexico; W. by the same, and by a small portion of Alabama. This state, which forms a peninsula, is situated between 25° and 31° N. Lat., and between 80° and 87° 44′ W. Long. It is about 385 miles long from north to south, and about 250 miles wide, including an area of about 59,268 square miles, or nearly 38,000,000 of acres, of which, in 1850, only some 350,000 were improved. St. John's is the principal river in this state. This beautiful stream rises in an immense marsh, slightly elevated above the ocean, and runs to the north, nearly parallel to the coast, until it turns to the east, and flows into the Atlantic. It passes through several lakes in its course, and afterward receives the Ocklawaha, a large tributary. Its entire length is about 250 miles, expanding, in many places, from three to five miles in width, though in other places it is not more than a quarter of a mile. Vessels drawing eight feet of water can enter Lake George 150 miles in the interior. The principal river in the western part of the state is the Appalachicola.

The surface of Florida is generally level, probably in no part elevated more than 250 or 300 feet above the sea. The southern part of the state is covered with a large sheet of water, called the Everglades , of an immense extent filled with islands. “The lands of Florida,” says De Bow, “are very curiously distributed, and may be designated as high hummock, low hummock, swamp, savanna, and the different qualities of pine land. High Hummock is usually timbered with live and other oaks, magnolia, laurel, etc., and is considered the best of land for general purposes. Low hummock , timbered with live and water oaks, is subject to overflow, but when drained, is preferred 0013 783 for sugar. Savannas , on the margin of streams, and in detached bodies, are usually rich alluvions, yielding largely in dry, but needing ditching and dyking in ordinary seasons. Marsh savannas, on the borders of streams, are very valuable when reclaimed for rice or sugar cane.” Much of the territory is covered with pine timber. The “pine barrens,” so called, appear to be scarcely worth cultivating. The open condition of the forests admits the luxuriant growth of innumerable varieties of herbage and flowers, many of which are, of the most beautiful description, flourishing all seasons of the year.

Population in 1830, was 34,730; in 1840, 54,477; and in 1850, 87,445, of whom 39,410 were slaves. Only about half of the inhabitants are natives of the state. Population, in 1860, 145,694; slaves, 63,809.

Eastern View of the Plaza, St. Augustine.

St. Augustine is said to be, by forty years, the oldest town in the limits of the United States east of the Mississippi. It is situated 160 miles S. of Savannah, and 200 east of Tallahassee. Population, about 2,000. The city stands back two miles from the Atlantic, on a peninsula, and is shielded from the force of the main ocean by Anastatia Island, which lies before it, but is so low and narrow as not to intercept the sea-breezes. The site of St. Augustine is itself low, being not over twelve feet above the level of the ocean. The soil consists of shell and sand, with an intermixture of vegetable mold. The city is about a mile long and about half a mile in width, fronting east on Matanza Sound, which forms the harbor. Not more than one-half the city is compactly built, and much of this has an antiquated appearance.

The engraving annexed shows a view of the public square, as seen from the end of the long wharf, which extends into the harbor. The Catholic church, or cathedral, a large but plain and substantial building, having a small spire, is seen on the right. It is an interesting structure, from the fact of its being the place of worship for the oldest Christian congregation 0014 784 east of the Mississippi. Before the church is a monument, some sixteen or eighteen feet high, erected in memory of the new constitution of the Spanish government. On each front is inscribed, Plaza De La Constitution.

The United States court-house is seen in the distance, between the monument and the Catholic church, the lower part of which was formerly occupied as a postoffice. On the left appear the two market-houses and the spire of the Episcopal church. The square is open to the east, being bounded by a sea-wall formed of the native coquina rock, capped with granite stone. This is more than a mile in extent, in front of the town, and was erected by the United States, at a heavy expense. The United States custom-house is the small one story building seen on the right, in front of the Catholic church. The court-house was formerly the residence of H. White, who was of Irish birth, and one of the last Spanish governors of St. Augustine.

On the 8th of September, 1565, at noon-day, on the celebration of the festival in honor of the Virgin Mary, Pedro Melandez, a creature employed by the Spaniards to break up a Huguenot settlement near the mouth of St. John's River, entered the harbor of St. Augustine, landed and took possession of the country, proclaiming Philip II king of North America. He had the service of mass performed, and the foundations of a town immediately laid, which he named St. Augustine. * This place was so named from the circumstance of Melandez having come in sight of the coast of Florida on a day consecrated to the memory of St. Augustine, a venerable and pious father in the church during the early period of Christianity. Melandez, for twelve years, presided over the destinies of the town, directing his attention mainly to the conversion of the Indians to the Catholic faith. In this object he was aided by the Franciscan monks, who had a monastery which occupied the present site of the United States barracks.

* Melandez, after having established the town, sailed northward to the mouth of the St. John's, where the Huguenots, or French protestante, under the patronage of Admiral Cologni, had, on the 30th of June, 1564, made a settlement and erected Fort Caroline. On the appearance of the Spanish fleet, the colonists sent a deputation to learn the name and objects of the Spanish commander, to which he answered, “I am Melandez, of Spain, sent with orders from my king to gibbet and behead all the protestants in this region. Frenchmen who are catholics I will spare— every heretic shall die! ” Some time afterward, Melandez, having collected a force at St. Augustine, marched through the wilderness and fell upon the French colonists by surprise; 86 persons were killed. Their bodies were hung on the limbs of the next tree, and Melanuez erected monument at this spot, on which he engraved, in extenuation of his crime, “Not as Frenchmen, but as Hereties. ” The Spaniards having formed a settlement on the spot from whence they had driven the Huguenots, were assailed by De Gourgas, a catholic and Frenchman. This distinguished person had retired from public life, but, hearing of the atrocities committed upon his countrymen by the Spaniards, he fitted out an expedition at his own risk. He sailed from France, fell upon the Spaniards at the mouth of St. John's. Hardly one escaped. Their bodies he also hung upon the trees. Underneath he put the inscription, “Not as Spaniards but as murderers! ”

In 1586, Admiral Drake, of the royal navy of England, under Queen Elizabeth, attacked the Spaniards at this place, who made but little opposition. The town was taken, plundered and burnt. Drake then sailed for England, where he arrived in July. About twenty-five years afterward St. Augustine was assaulted by a numerous band of the native Indians, and laid in ashes. In 1665, Davis, the bucannier, having discovered this Spanish retreat, with his armed band of freebooters invested, captured and plundered the town.

In 1702, Governor Moore, of South Carolina, with a large force, embarked on an expedition for the reduction of St. Augustine, which was considered 0015 785 the center of predatory operations against the English settlers. Twenty years after this expedition, Colonel Palmer, with a body of Georgia militia and friendly Indians, marched into Florida to retaliate the injuries received from the Spaniards and the Yamasee Indians, their allies. Although unable to reduce the city, the power of the Yamasee tribe was here broken, they being nearly all killed or made prisoners under the walls of the place. The next invasion was made by General Oglethorpe, of Georgia, in 1740. This also proved unsuccessful.

Southern View of Fort Marion, St. Augustine.

The above is a view of Fort Marion, as seen from the end of the wharf which extends into the harbor. This fortress was built by the Spaniards, from the neighboring coquina quarries, according to the most approved principles of military science. It walls are twenty-one feet high, terminating in four bastioned angles. Each of the several corners is surmounted by a tower, or look-out. A deep ditch surrounds the walls, over which is thrown a drawbridge, originally protected by a draw. This castle, which is situated within some twenty or thirty rods from the houses at the northern extremity of the town, commands the entrance of the harbor, and has now a water-battery, furnished with a complement of Paixhan guns, of a heavy caliber.

On approaching the main entrance, through the principal gateway, the first object of interest is a Spanish inscription, cut in stone overhead, surmounted by the arms of Spain. It is as follows, viz:

Reynando en Espana et son Don Fernando Sexto y Sierdo Governador y Capitan General di esta Plaza de San Augustine de Florida y su Provincia el Moriscal de campo Du. Alonzo Fernandez de Herida se condayo este Castello el ano de 1756 dirigendo las abras et Capitan ynginero Don Pedro de Brazas y Garay.

Don Ferdinand the Sixth, being King of Spain, and the Field Marshal, Don Alonzo Fernandos de Herida, being Governor and Captain General of the place, St. Augustine of Florida and its province, this fortress was finished in the year 1756. The works were directed by the Capt. Engineer, Don Pedro de Brazas y Garay.

Within the massive walls of this fortress are numerous dark, dungeon-like cells. Within the bastion of the north-east angle, far under ground, is a dark recess, the walls of which are constructed of solid masonry. After the fort came into the hands of the Americans this dungeon was opened, when a human skeleton, with the fragments of a pair of boots, and a mug for water were discovered.

On the eastern side of the fort, in one of the angles, a great number of 0016 786 bullet-holes are to be seen. This, undoubtedly, was the place where condemned persons were shot. Within the fort one of the cells appears to have been fitted up as a kind of church or chapel, over the door of which is the Spanish coat of arms. On each side are the remains of fonts, which probably contained the holy water for the use of the unfortunate prisoners, who here, it is presumed, received the last rites of religion before they were led out to be executed.

Before St. Augustine came into the possession of the United States it was a regular fortified town, in many respects similar to fortified places in Europe. The gateway, with a section of wall, represented in the engraving, is situated at the northern extremity of the town, the gate of which was closed at night-fall. The great road of the country, called the “king's road,” passed through this gate, which was guarded by sentinels. On the pillars inside this wall there is a recess in which a person can stand, and, through a small opening, observe whatever is approaching the town from the north. The Protestant cemetery is but a few rods from this point, a few palinp of the inclosure of which are seen on the right of the engraving. This interesting relic of antiquity owes its preservation to Thomas Douglas, Esq., who recently died at the house of his son-in-law, A. M. Reed, Esq., of Jacksonville. Soon after the place came into the possession of the Americans, this gateway being considered as an incumbrance, it was resolved to destroy it. and it was proceeded with so far as to take down one of the pillars. Judge Douglas, then United States attorney at St. Augustine, interfered on the ground of its being a part of the fortifications of St. Augustine, which were to be preserved. He compelled the authorities to put up the pillar as they had found it, and thus, by urging this point, this interesting relic of the past was preserved.

Northern View of the Ancient Gateway.

Previous to the great frost in February, 1835, St. Augustine contained within its bounds one immense orange orchard, and appeared, says an eyewitness, “like a rustic village, with its white houses peeping from among the clustered boughs and golden fruit of the favorite tree, beneath whose shade the invalid cooled his fevered limbs and imbibed health from the fragrant air.” The frost of 1835 cut down, in one night, this entire growth of 0017 787 orange trees. Shoots from the old stocks have sprung up, but the young trees have been much injured by the ravages of insects. Before the frost, it is stated, that the income to the city in some years from the orange trees amounted to more than seventy thousand dollars per annum.

North View in Charlotte Street, St. Augustine. The annexed is a view in Charlotte street, running south from the public square. The form of the buildings (mostly of stone), and particularly the narrowness of the street (five paces wide), show the antiquity of the place and the Spanish method of building their houses. On the left is a fig-tree, which produces fruit twice in a year, in August and in October.

The following is extracted from Wynne's Hist. North America, Yol. II. London, 1770:

We come now to the harbor of St. Augustine, which would be one of the best in America were it not for its bar, which will not admit vessels of great burden, as it has but eight feet of water. The bar is surrounded by breakers, that have a formidable appearance when you enter it, but is not so dangerous as it appears, on account of the bar being very short; since the government has appointed a good pilot no vessels have been lost upon it. There is a road on the north side of the bar, with good anchorage for such ships as draw too much water to go into the harbor.

A neck of main land runs to the north, and a point of Anastatia island to the south, from the entrance of the port. Opposite to the entrance lies Fort St. Mark, so called from the river it is situated upon. This fort is a regular quadrangle, with four bastions, a ditch fifty feet wide, with a covert-way, place of arms and a glacis; the entrance of the gate is defended by a raveline; it is case-mated all round, and bomb proof; the works are entirely of hewn stone, and being finished according to modern taste of military architecture, it makes a very handsome appearance, and may be justly deemed as pretty a fort as any in the king's dominions.

The town of St. Augustine is situated near the glacis of the fort, on the west side of the harbor; it is an oblong square; the streets are regularly laid out, and intersect each other at right angles; they are built narrow on purpose to afford shade. The town is above a half a mile in length, regularly fortified with bastions, and a ditch. Besides these works, it has another sort of fortification, very singular, but well adapted against the enemy the Spaniards have most to fear. It consists of several rows of palmetto trees, planted very close along the ditch, up to the parapet; their pointed leaves are so many chevaux de frise , that make it entirely impenetrable; the two southern bastions are built of stone. In the middle of the town is a spacious square called the Parade, open toward the harbor; at the bottom of this square is the governor's house, the apartments of which are spacious 0018 788 and suited to the climate, with high windows, a balcony in front, and galleries on both sides, to the back part of which is joined a tower, called in America a look-out, from which is an extensive prospect towards the sea as well as inland. There are two churches within the walls of the town—the parish church, a plain building, and another belonging to the Convent of Franciscan friars, which is converted into barracks for the garrison. The houses are built of free-stone, commonly two stories high, two rooms upon a floor, with large windows and balconies; before the entry of most of the houses runs a portico of stone arches; the roofs are commonly flat. The Spaniards consult conveniency more than taste in their buildings. The number of houses in their time, in the town and in the lines, was above nine hundred; many of them, especially in the suburbs, being built of palmetto leaves, are now gone to decay.

The inhabitants, of all colors—whites, negroes, mulattoes, Indians, etc.,—at the evacuation of St. Augustine, amounted to five thousand seven hundred, the garrison included, which consisted of two thousand five hundred men. Half a mile from the town, to the west, is a line, with a broad ditch and bastions running from St. Sebastian's creek to St. Mark's River; a mile further is another fortified line, with some redoubts, forming a second communication between a stockade fort upon St. Sebastian's River, and Fort Moza, upon the river St. Mark's.

Within the first line, near the town, was a small settlement of Germans, who had a church of their own. Upon St. Mark's River, within the same line, was also an Indian town, with a church built of free-stone. The steeple is of good workmanship, though built by the Indians. The lands belonging to this township the governor has given as glebe-land to the parish church. The land about St. Augustine, in all appearance, is the worst in the province.

Opposite the town of St. Augustine lies the island of Anastatia. This island is about twenty-five miles in length, and divided from the main land by a narrow channel, called Matanza River, though in reality an arm of the sea. The soil here is but indifferent; at present it is used for pasturage, but having some creeks and swamps in several parts may in time be cultivated to advantage.

At the north end of this island is a watch-tower, or look-out, built of white stone, which serves also as a land-mark for vessels at sea. At the approach of any vessels, signals are made from this tower to the fort; a few soldiers do duty there on that account. A quarry of whitish stone is found opposite St. Augustine, of which the fort and houses are built. Stone quarries are very rare in the southern parts of America, which makes this of Anastatia the more valuable; the stone is manifestly a concretion of small shells, petrifed; it is soft under ground, but becomes very hard and durable by being exposed to the air.

Fogs and dark, gloomy weather are unknown in this country. At the equinoxes, especially the autumnal, the rains fall very heavy every day, betwixt eleven in the morning and four in the afternoon, for some weeks together. When a shower is over, the sky does not continue cloudy, but always clears up, and the sun appears again. The mildness of the seasons and the purity of the air are probably the cause of the healthiness of the country, which the inhabitants of the Spanish settlements considered, with respect to its healthiness, in the same light that we do the south of France, the Spaniards from the Havana, and elsewhere, frequently resorting thither for the benefit of their health; and since it came into the hands of Great Britain many gentlemen have experienced the happy effects of the climate.

The following cut shows the appearance of the principal monuments in the graveyard situated in the rear south of the garden attached to the U. S. Barracks, and, it is believed, occupies the site of the British barracks which formerly stood in this vicinity. This is an interesting spot, as in it repose the ashes of some representative of almost every state in the Union. All the remains of the officers and soldiers who have perished in the Indian wars in Florida, as far as they could be collected, have been brought here and buried. The pyramid monuments, on the left, contain the remains of one hundred men who, with Major Dade, fell a sacrifice to the terrible vengeance of Osceola and his warlike Seminoles. The large columnar monument on the right, over the remains of officers, has the following inscription:

Sacred to the memory of the officers and soldiers killed in battle and died on service during the Florida war. This conflict, in which so many gallant men perished in battle ann by disease, commenced 25th December, 1835, and terminated 14th August, 1842. A minute record 0019 789 of all the officers who perished, and are here and elsewhere deposited, as also a potion of the soldiers, has been prepared and placed in the office of the adjutant of the post, where it is hoped it will be carefully and perpetually preserved. This monument has been erected as a token of the respectful and affectionate remembrance by their comrades of all grades, and is committed to the care and preservation of the garrison of St. Augustine.

Cemetery near the U. S. Barracks, St. Augustine.

The smaller monument of the same form is that of Major Allen Lowd, 1st Reg. U. S. Artillery, and his wife. The small inclosure on the extreme right contains the monument of the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Hardee. A row of orange trees is seen in the back-ground; beneath their shade are deposited the remains of many of the officers who perished in the Florida war, mostly young men in the prime of life.

Jacksonville , the most flourishing and populous town in East Florida, is beautifully situated on the left or north bank of St. John's River, twenty-five miles from the ocean, forty north-west from St. Augustine, and about two hundred and fifty eastward of Tallahasse. Population about 3,000. It has a court-house, several churches, and an academy. The lumbering business is the principal occupation of the inhabitants, and several steam-mills are kept in operation. Jacksonville is situated at what was formerly called the low crossings. At this point the St. John's River is quite contracted, so that cattle can swim across the stream. Immediately south from the town the St. John's is expanded in some places to a width of several miles, having a lake-like appearance. Jacksonville is seen from a distance of twenty miles up the St. John's, and the scenery on each bank is in many places uncommonly beautiful.

Key West , is on the N. W. end of Key West or Thompson's Island, in lat. 24° 20′ N; long. 82° 4′ W. The town was first settled in 1822, and is regularly laid out, containing a court-house, a marine hospital, several churches and schools, and about 3,000 inhabitants. The principal business of Key West is derived from salvages and other perquisites from wrecked vessels, there being usually from twenty-five to fifty vessels wrecked in this vicinity annually. The amount derived from this source by the “wreckers ” has amounted in some years to $200,000. The harbor of this place is safe, 0020 790 and accessible for vessels requiring twenty-two feet of water. Key West is a military station of the United States, and the entrance of the harbor is by Fort Taylor. The island of Key West is four miles long and one mile in width, and is considered as the key to the northern passage of the Gulf of Mexico. It is of coral formation, and is not elevated more than twenty feet above the level of the sea.

“The population of Key West is composed of Americans, English, Spanish and French, in varying proportions, with also a large infusion of black, brown and yellow ingredients. A peculiar race, not so well known to the world in general, is found here. A large portion of the people at Key West are vulgarly called Conchs; these are Bahamian emigrants, who have left the government of Great Britain for our own freer institutions, and wisely prefer Key West to the Bahama islands. They gained this peculiar name from the circumstance that, during an insurrection in the Bahamas, the insurgents placed the figure of a large conch-shell on the flag beneath which they fought—a very appropriate emblem, as most of them are fishermen.

“Key West is the nest from which issue swarms of wreckers, who lie in wait at every point, and as certain highly respectable birds are attracted by the most distant scent of blood, assemble with marvelous rapidity at the faintest report of a wreck. Indeed, the system of wrecking may be said to have built up Key West, and now materially helps to support it. Almost every prominent man on the island either is or has been connected with wrecking, and, though the profits are necessarily uncertain, yet, in many instances they are great.

“If beacons were erected on every shoal between Cape Florida and the Tortugas, and each dangerous passage accurately marked out, the wreckers would still have employment. The frequent calms, after violent winds that excite strong currents in the ocean, place ships completely at their mercy; and, sometimes a captain beholds his vessels drifting on a shoal without the power to do anything but foresee his fate. The water may be too deep to anchor, and with a current of two or three knots an hour, setting steadily toward the bank, all efforts to avert his fate would be utterly useless. He must make up his mind to view his ship lying helpless on the sand, with as much philosophy as he can muster, and wait for the coming of the wreckers, whose eagle eyes he may be sure will not long overlook him.”

Tallahassee , the capital of Florida, is situated on ground somewhat elevated, about twenty-five miles from the Gulf of Mexico, one hundred and ninety-four miles E. from Mobile, one hundred and thirty from Pensacola, and two hundred and ten W. N. W. from St. Augustine. The adjacent country is rolling but not hilly, and the soil is good. The city is of recent origin, being incorporated in 1825. It is regularly laid out, containing a number of public squares, and has among its public buildings a state-house, court-house, an academy and several churches. Population about 2,000. There is a fine mill-stream on its eastern border, with a fall of fifteen or sixteen feet, after which it disappears in a cleft of the limestone strata. It is connected by a railroad with Port Leon, twenty-six miles distant, on the Appalachee Bay, which may be regarded as the port of Tallahassee.

Tallahassee was founded in 1824, as the seat of government of the territory of Florida. The first legislature of the state met here June 23, 1845, and two days after the first executive, Governor Mosely, was installed into office. The officers of the legislature were James A. Berthelet, president of the senate; Thomas F. King, clerk: Hugh Archer, speaker of the house; M. D. Papy, chief clerk.

Appalachicola is one hundred and thirty-five miles S. W. of Tallahassee, at the mouth of the river of the same name, and is a point of large cotton shipments.

Pensacola is upon the Pensacola Bay, in the extreme south-west corner of 0021 791 the state, ten miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and sixty-four east of Mobile, and has a population of 2,500. Its harbor is one of the safest on the coast, and it has considerable trade. Six miles below the city is the United States navy-yard, covering eighty acres, and, also, a dry dock. Just below it are Barrancas barracks and the naval hospital. The entrance of the harbor is defended by Forts Pickens and M'Ree.

Pensacola is the oldest town on the Gulf of Mexico in the United States. In 1696 the Spanish government sent a colony of three hundred emigrants from Mexico to occupy this point. In 1699 the colony was reinforced and placed in command of Don Andre de Riola, who fortified the harbor. In 1719, when war raged between France and Spain, Pensacola was taken by Bienville, after a brave resistance. He had under him a party of French Canadians, about four hundred Indians, and a few armed vessels. He soon after was compelled to abandon the place on the approach of a powerful French armament.

In 1764 when Florida for a time came under the English dominion, extending from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, Pensacola was made the capital of West Florida, and St. Augustine of East Florida.

In the spring of 1781, General Galvez, with a powerful Spanish fleet and land forces, invested the British fortress of Pensacola, both by land and sea. The garrison, Colonel Campbell, having made a gallant but ineffectual resistance, surrendered the fort and port on the 8th of May, together with the whole province of West Florida, East Florida subsequently yielded to the victorious Spaniards, and the treaty of 1783 confirmed all of Florida to Spain. In May of 1818, Pensacola was taken from the Spaniards by General Jackson, in the Seminole war of that period, aid and comfort having been extended to the savages by the Spanish authorities. All of West Florida now became virtually occupied by the American troops, and soon after the purchase of the whole country was effected with Spain. When General Jackson took formal possession of Florida, in 1821, as governor, Pensacola, was his headquarters.

Bartram, the botanist, visited Pensacola in 1777. He describes the town as containing several hundred habitations. The governor's palace was a stone building, erected by the Spaniards, and ornamented with a tower, defended by a large stockade fortress of wood, on the plan of a tetragon, with a salient angle at each corner, where stood block-houses, mounted with light artillery. The fort contained officers' houses, barracks for the troops, arsenals and magazines. The secretary resided in a spacious house, as did some eminent merchants and professional gentlemen.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC.

Osceola , the celebrated Seminole chieftain, was not a chief by birth, but raised himself, by his courage and superior abilities, to that station. His father is said to have been an Englishman and his mother a Creek woman. In person he was rather slender, but well formed, muscular, and capable of enduring great fatigue. He was an excellent tactician, and an admirer of order and discipline. His complexion was rather light, and, at the time of the Florida war, he was between thirty and forty years of age. He is said to have conducted, in person, every important action from the commencement to the battle of Withlecoochee. He died at Sullivan's Island, S. C., in 1838.

Bow-legs , who of late years has attained considerable notoriety, appears to have commenced his career as a lieutenant under King-Paine , as early as 1812. Early in this year, at the head of certain Seminoles and slaves who had run away from their American masters, these two chieftains issued forth in quest of blood and plunder. General Newman, with a party of one hundred and seventeen Georgia volunteers, marching out to destroy some Indian villages, were met by a band of one hundred and fifty Indians under King-Paine and Bow- legs. A desperate conflict. 0022 792 ensued. King-Paine was killed and Bow-legs wounded. The fight lasted about four hours, and the Indians succeeded in carrying off the body of King-Paine. The original name of Billy Bow-legs (as he is now called) appears to have been Boleck, which has been corrupted into Bow-legs.

Neamathla , a Seminole, was a chief of note before the last war with Great Britain. After the Seminole war, he lived upon a good estate at Tallahassee, of which a mile square was under improvement. This, in 1823, at the head of the chiefs of his nation, he gave up, with other lands, for the benefit of the United States, by a treaty made at Moultrie Creek.

Micanopy , the king of the nation, the grandson of King-Paine, was at first opposed to the removal of his people west of the Mississippi. He afterward, in 1832, signed a conditional treaty to remove. He is described as a short, thick-set, ugly looking Indian, and given to intoxication. Jumper , an Indian of some note, was Micanopy's chief counselor.

ENSLAVEMENT OF MEDITERRANEAN COLONISTS IN FLORIDA.

After the year 1763, when Florida fell into the possession of the English, emigrants from England began to arrive in the country. Several of the English nobility settled plantations on Hillsboro' River, on St. John's River, and on Amelia Island, in the peninsula of East Florida. Settlements, also, were made at Pensacola. Lord Rollo, beside, obtained a grant of land on St. John's River, where he formed a colony called Charlotia , to which he transported nearly three hundred prostitutes from London, with the hope of making of them good members of society; but death, in a few years, removed them from his charge. Another colony was formed of Greeks, Corsicans and Minorcans, the sad history of which we annex from Monette's History of the Mississippi Valley:

Dr. Turnbull, of notorious memory, and Sir William Duncan, tried a different experiment for peopling Florida. The former sailed for the Peloponnesus, and for the sum of four hundred pounds sterling, obtained permission of the governor of Modon to convey to Florida a large number of Greek families. In 1767 he arrived with one small vessel, and took as many Greeks as he could obtain. On his way from Modon, he put in at the islands of Corsica and Minorca, and there procured several vessels, and augmented the number of his settlers to fifteen hundred. He a agreed to carry them free of expense, to furnish them with good provisions and clothing, and, at the end of three years, to give to each head of a family fifty acres, and to each child twenty-five acres of land. If they should be dissatisfied at the end of six months he agreed to send them back to their native country. These were the terms promised, but never complied with.

They had a long and tedious voyage of four months, and many of the old people died on the voyage. They arrived in Florida in the fall season, and a grant of six thousand acres of land for the settlement was made by the governor of Florida. To shelter them through the winter they built huts of palmetto, and proceeded to prepare the fields for the opening spring. The settlement was designated "New Smyrna," and its location was about four miles west of Musqueto Inlet, and seventy-four south of St. Augustine.

After a sufficient quantity of provisions had been raised, Turnbull directed his attention to the cultivation and manufacture of indigo, and reduced his ignorant and helpless foreigners to the most abject and disgraceful slavery. In five years they had nearly three thousand acres of good land in a fine state of cultivation; and the nett value of the indigo crop, for one year, amounted to three thousand one hundred and seventy-four dollars.

Turnbull's avarice seemed to increase with his prosperity; but he failed to comply with his agreements, or to fulfill his contracts. From the colonists he selected a few Italians, whom he made overseers and drivers, and they exercised over the remainder such cruelty and oppression as is known only under English masters.

0023 0024

Historical.

The vast region north of lat. 36° 30 and between the valley of the Mississippi and the Pacific coast was the date of this map (1803) unknown and unexplored by civilized man.

Descriptive.

In general terms of the United States west of the 98° th meridian is an almost airless desolate waste, unfitted for agriculture with the exception of a narrow belt of rich lands in California and north of it, a small part of western Texas and some narrow valleys in the Rocky Mountains which are susceptible of irrigation. Mining in the Mountains and cattle raising on the plains will be the chief industries.

THE UNITED STATES IN 1803.

0025

THE UNITED STATES IN 1861.

0026 0027 793 Men, women and children, indiscriminately, were subjected to the lash, and to the most inhuman treatment and privations.

Tasks were assigned them for the week as large as they could possibly perform. The food allowed the laborers was seven quarts of shelled corn per week for the whites; to the negroes on the plantations ten quarts per week were allowed. Saturday and Sunday were allowed to supply themselves with meat by fishing and hunting. The sick and invalids were allowed only three and a half quarts of corn per week.

Most of the Minorcans and Corsicans had brought a good supply of clothing with them; when these were worn out, they were furnished with one suit of Osnaburgs each year. One blanket and one pair of shoes, for the whole term, were given to the men; but none were allowed to the women, although many of them had been accustomed to live in comparatively easy circumstances in their own country.

For nine years were this people kept in ignominious bondage, ground down by a tyranny unequaled by the relentless Spaniards of St. Domingo. During the last three years they were supplied with no clothing at all, but were permitted to buy on credit at a public store belonging to the company, thus creating a debt which served as a pretext for their detention. On the most trifling occasions they were beaten without mercy, and negroes were usually chosen as the instruments of diabolical cruelty, they being often compelled to beat and lacerate those who failed to perform their tasks, until many of them died. Sometimes, after having the skin scourged from their backs, they were left tied to trees all night, naked and exposed, for swarms of musquetoes to fatten on their blood and to aggravate their tortures. If induced by despair to run away, they were captured by the negroes of the neighboring plantations, who received a bounty for their apprehension and delivery. Some wandered off and sought an asylum in the woods, where they died of hunger and disease, or sought the protection of the Indians.

At the end of nine years their number, including the natural increase, was reduced to six hundred. These people, living under the protection of a nation which boasts its freedom, and that its very soil strips the shackles from the slave, were, a mere accident, released from their cruel tyrant. Secluded, overtasked and isolated, they knew not their rights, nor the mean of obtaining them. In the summer of 1776, some English gentlemen from St. Augustine. making an excursion down the coast, called at “New Smyrna” to see the improvements, especially a spacious stone mansion-house, which had been commenced for the proprietor. Seeing the wretched and degraded condition of the people, one of the gentlemen observed, In the hearing of an intelligent boy, “that if these knew their rights,” they would not submit to such slavery. The boy repeated the remark to his mother, and she took counsel with her friends at night, to gain more intelligence on the subject.

A plan was devised to send three individuals ostensibly to the coast to obtain a supply of turtle, but, in fact, to St. Augustine. They arrived in safety, and soon had an interview with Mr.Younge, the attorney-general of the of the province. They made known their business, and he promised them the protection guarantied to them by the laws. Governor Grant, who is supposed to have been personally connectted Turnbull in the slavery of these Greeks and Minorcans, had been superseded by Governor Tonyn, who sought to render himself popular by causing justice to be done to these long-injured people.

The messengers returned, after a few days, with the joyful intelligence that justice was in prospect; but the mission must be concealed, as well as the intelligence received. Although Turnbull was absent, they feared the overseers, and dreaded their cruelty. They met in secret and chose M. Pallacier for their leader, and secretly arranged the plan of their departure. Upon a given day, formed into a phalanx, the armed and strong men guarding the women and children, they marched in a body toward St. Augustine. So secretly had the whole plan been concerted, that they were some miles on their way before the overseers discovered that the settlement was deserted.

Turnbull, their tyrannical master, having been informed of their departure, rode many miles after them, and overtook them before they reached St. Augustine; but 50 0028 794 his entreaties were unavailing to induce them to return. At St. Augustine they were supplied with provisions by the order of governor; their case was tried before the judges, and their cause honestly advocated by the attorney-general. Turnbu]l could show no cause for their detention, and they were set at liberty; but they had no redress for the wrongs which they had already endured upon Britigh soil ish sell and under British jurisdiction.

To supply them with homes, they were offered lands for settlement near New Smyrna; but, fearing some treachery in Turnbull, they refused to return to that place. Grounds were, therefore, assigned them in the northern suburbs of St. Augustine, where they erected their houses, and cultivated gardens for the town supplies. The same grounds to this day are occupied by many of their descendants, who now constitute a respectable, and in some instances a wealthy and intelligent portion of the population of that city.

FLORIDA WAR.

As early as 1821 Gen. Jackson, at that time governor of Florida, strongly urged government to take measures to send back all the Creek Indians who had in 1814 and 1818 fled to Florida, as he apprehended that an increase of the Indian population in that country would sooner or later produce bad consequences. In 1822 Col. J. M. White, the representative of that territory, urged upon the secretary of war the necessity of adopting those measures proposed by Gen. Jackson as the only efficient mode to give peace and quiet to the country.

These recommendations were so far disregarded that a treaty was held with these Indians, and others, on the peninsula of Florida, on the 18th of September, 1823, at Camp Moultrie, which stipulated for their continuance in the territory during twenty years. By this treaty the Seminoles relinquished all their claim to lands in Florida, with the exception of a tract, estimated to contain about five millions of acres, within the limits of which they bound themselves to continue. The United States were to pay the Indians $2,000 to aid them in removing to the reservation; to furnish them with articles of husbandry, stock, etc., to the amount of $6,000; to furnish them with provisions for one year; to pay them $4,500 for the improvements which they had surrendered with their lands; to allow them $1,000 per annum for a blacksmith, and $1,000 per annum for a schoolmaster, these two last allowances to continue for twenty years.

In less than a year from the treaty complaints were made to the authorities of depredations on the property of the whites, their fields having been plundered and their cattle driven off and killed; these outrages were laid to the Indians. There is, however, strong evidence that the whites first committed depredations of this kind upon the property of the Indians. *

* The Indians in numerous instances acted in a mild and forbearing manner under the most trying circumstances. When their property was taken from them they made no resistance; their hands were bound, as the severest punishment awaited any attack they might make against intruders, although justified by circumstances. The testimony of an Indian could not be received in a court of justice—the white man's oath would condemn him to severe punishment. Two men from Georgia, by the names of Robinson and Wilburn, taking advantage of the excitement against the Indians, circulated unfavorable reports against Econchatta Mico , a high-minded and honorable chief, stating that he was about to join the hostile Indians; by this means they succeeded in dispossessing the chief and his people of their fire-arms, and other moans of defense, when these villains took forcible possession of twenty of his slaves, valued at about $15,000, and carried them off to New Orleans. Col. John Blount, another estimable chief, was inhumanly beaten by a party of white men, who robbed him of several hundred dollars; he made application to the authorities, but the whites were allowed to escape. A man by the name of Floyd was employed by an Indian woman to recover some negroes for her, and instead of presenting a mere power of attorney for her signature she found, alas I it was a bill of sale for all her negroes! Another individual was requested by Micanopy, governor of the Seminoles, to draw a piece of writing for him, to which, without suspicion of its character, he attached his name; it was soon after discovered to be a conveyance of a large tract of land!

Another source of great irritation to the Indians was the vile impositions of a 0029 795 pecuniary nature repeatedly practiced upon them by persons holding official. stations. One of the government agents was a delinquent to them for a considerable amount, He robbed the principal interpreter of the nation, a very influential black chief by the name of Abraham, of several hundred dollars, by gey getting a receipt from him without paying the money, under the plea that it was necessary to send the receipt to Washington, where it was filed to the credit of the agent. Several other Indians of influence were robbed in a similar manner, and when they demanded he money from the succeeding agent they were told the government would not pay them.

The annoyance to the whites arising from the Indians being so near them resulted in numerous petitions being sent to the president praying for their removal sooner than the time fixed on by the treaty at Camp Moultrie. These memorials were so far regarded by the president that a new treaty was immediately decided upon. Col. Gadsden, a citizen of Florida, was appointed a commissioner to make known to the Indians the views of the government, and, if possible, to secure a new arrangement. He accordingly went into the nation, and on the 8th of April, 1832, had an interview with Micanopy and a few other chiefs on the subject of a removal of their tribe west of the Mississippi. At this time he found but little objection to the proposal, on account of the almost starved condition of the Indians from the failure of their crops the preceding year. Micanopy said he wished all his people to hear what their father in Washington had to say, and as many of their warriors were out upon their annual hunt from one to two hundred miles down the peninsula, he wished Col. Gadsden to defer his communication for thirty days. Accordingly the 8th of May following was fixed upon as the day for the council, and Payne's Landing as the place of meeting. According to arrangement, the parties met, and on the 8th of May and the day following a treaty was signed by such chiefs and head men who had assembled, to the number of fifteen, It is said that this treaty was signed only on the condition that the chiefs whom they should send to see the country should bring back a favorable report.

The importance of an early ratification of this treaty was earnestly pressed upon the attention of government. Two years, however, were suffered to elapse before its validity was acknowledged, and some time after that before the appropriations were made. In the mean time the Indians became dissatisfied with it, and it was openly denounced as a “white man's treaty.” One of the principal causes of hostility to emigration was the fact of their holding a large number of negro slaves. Many of these negroes were claimed by the Creek Indians, under the treaty made in 1821, by which the United States agreed ageed to pay to the citizens of Georgia for the slaves detained among the Creeks; these slaves, it was alleged by the Creeks, were in possession of Seminoles, and were unjustly detained from them. This was, however, denied by the latter.

The representations of the numerous whisky dealers who had located themselves on the Indian borders had probably considerable influence with the Indians against emigrating. These pests to the Indians made a profitable business in selling them strong drink, and of course did not like to lose their customers.

The ratification of the treaty on the part of the United States having taken place, the agent was. instructed to convene a general council of the Seminole chiefs, in order that they might prepare themselves for emigration. This council met at Fort King Oct. 23, 1834. The chiefs on this occasion made many complaints against the whites, who they said had forced them into the treaty, and that their people were unwilling to remove. In 1835 another effort was made to obtain the consent of the Indians for a removal. Several hundred chiefs and warriors were assembled. A "“talk”' from President Jackson was delivered to them, enforced and illustrated by the agent and Gen. Clinch, the purport of which was that they must remove, or they would be compelled to do so without delay. Some of the chiefs were in favor of this, but the principal ones were firm in their opposition, and expressed themselves accordingly.

The firmest friend to emigration was Fucta Lusta Hajo (Black-dirt) By his influence eight of the principal chiefs of the and eight sub-chiefs sigr@ed treaty sanctioning their removal. Five of the principal chief remained opposed, viz: Micanopy, Jumper, Holato Mice, Coa Hajo and Arpiucki. Gen. Thompson, 0030 796 the agent, now took the high-handed and tyrannical step of striking the names of these five chiefs from the council of the nation, declaring that he would not recognize them as chiefs.

The Indians discovering the hopelessness of their situation determined to oppose the efforts of the government, and at a great meeting of the nation at Big Swamp resolved on retaining possession of their country, and condemned all who should oppose their views to instant death. Immediately upon this, five of the principal chiefs, with about four hundred and fifty of their people who were friendly to a removal, fled to Fort Brook on the 9th of November, and encamped on the opposite side of the Hillsboro River. Marauding parties of Indians now commenced operations by pillaging and destroying everything of value. Conflagration succeeded conflagration, until the whole country from Fort Brooke to Fort King was laid waste, while those who lived in the interior, abandoning their houses, stock, etc., sought protection within the forts or picketed towns.

On the 26th of November a party of about four hundred warriors, headed by Osceola, and others, proceeded to the residence of Charley Amathla, and demanded a pledge from him that he would oppose the removal of his people. This chief nobly replied that as he had given his promise that he would remove, rather than break it he would suffer death. He was allowed two hours to deliberate whether he would join them or suffer death. He remained firm in his determination to abide by his word, and was accordingly shot by Osceola. At this period the whole military force stationed in Florida amounted to 489 men, which were distributed as follows: at St. Augustine, 53; at Fort Brooke, on Hillsboro' Bay, 133; and at Fort King, six companies, consisting in the whole of 303 men. The force of the hostile Indians at this time has been estimated at about two thousand warriors.

When the news of the death of Charley Amathla reached Fort King, Gen. Clinch immediately decided upon attacking a body of Indians who had assembled in the vicinity of the forks of the Withlacoochee River, and should he succeed in routing, them he hoped it would effectually put down all opposition. For this purpose he gave orders to the com0manding officer at Fort Brooke to place two companies in motion on the 16th of Dec., in order to form a junction with the troops from Fort King, at or near the forks of the Withlacoochee. This order was, however, susspended by Major Belton, in consequence of his small force (120 men) to protect the garrison; and from information which he had received of the strong position which the Indians occupied on the river. This plan was therefore deferred until the arrival of other forces. On the 18th of December, Col. Warren, of the militia, who had been ordered out for the defense of the frontier, put his command in motion to scour a large hammock near Wacahonta, where he supposed the Indians were embodied. Not wishing to be incumbered with baggage, he directed Dr. M'Lemore, with an escort of thirty men, to proceed direct with the train to Witumkey, whither he would march on his return. When the train had reached Payne's prairie, fifty or sixty Indians arose from ambush and opened a spirited fire on the guard, killing eight and wounding six; the others retired to Micanopy. The Indians also killed five of the horses, and wounded six more; they then took possession of the baggage, ammunition, etc., and set the wagon on fire.

At this time Gen. Clinch was stationed at Ft. Crane, in the interior of Florida, to be in imminent danger from the Indians, and also in great want of supplies, Major Dado was dispatched, at the head of Tampa Bay, with eight officers and one hundred and two and, to his assistance. On the 28th of December, 1835, having proceeded about half way, and reached an open pine country about six miles north-east of the Withlacoochee River, he fell into an Indian ambuscade.

“Suddenly, about mid-day, they were attacked on all sides with a continuous volley of small arms, accompanied by horrid yells, from an unseen enemy in the high grass; and so terrible was the first discharge that Major Dude Dade was killed, and nearly half his detachment disabled. The remainder, under Lieut. Bassinger, sheltered themselves behind trees, while five or six discharges of canister from the six pounder caused the Indians to Aisperse and retire. On their retreat, Captain Gardiner immediately commenced the erection of a triangular breast-work, by cutting 0031 797 down pine trees. In three quarters of an hour the savages returned in great numbers and with horrid yells. A cross-fire was immediately opened upon the unfinished breastwork with dreadful execution. Lieutenant Bassinger continued to fire his piece until all his artillerists were cut down by the enemy s fire, and until he fell wounded himself. Every man able to raise a gun continued to defend the spot after they were wounded.

At length the last man fell, when the savages rushed into the inclosure. Here, supposing all were dead, a large Indian made a speech to the warriors, who immediately proceeded to strip the arms and accouterments from the soldiers, without any indignity to their bodies and then retired. Thus in two hours this fine detachment of brave men had been annihilated.

Soon afterward fifty negroes on horseback rode up to the breastwork, tied their horses, and began the horrid butchery. Did any man on the ground show signs of life) it was only to receive the negro's tomahawk into his brains, or to be stabbed to death with their knives, or otherwise to be cut and mutilated by the thick-lipped savages, amid demoniac yells and horrid blasphemies. Lieutenant Bassinger, still alive, sprung to his knees and begged his life of the negro savages, but they mocked his prayers and mangled his body with their hatchets until death relieved him from their tortures.

After stripping the dead, the negroes dragged the field-piece to a neighboring pond, in which they concealed it, after which they shot the oxen and burned the wagon and gun-carriage.

Two men, Clarke and Decouy, lay concealed among the dead bodies until night, when they crawled out and made their way toward Tampa Bay. Next day Decouy was discovered and shot by an Indian; Clarke concealed himself in the bushes, and proceeded to Tampa next day, where he speedily recovered of his wounds. Another soldier, named Thomas, after lying half suffocated under the dead bodies all night, recovered, and finally succeeded in reaching the fort at Tampa Bay in safety.

Thus terminated this disastrous battle, in which only two men survived to tell the melancholy story of this detachment of as brave men as ever suffered under savage cruelty.

A free negro, named Lewis, formerly the property of General Clinch, had been the guide of Major Dade, and it was through his treachery that this fatal ambuscade succeeded. He fled to the Indians upon the first attack. The number of Indians engaged in this tragedy is unknown; but probably there were not less than three hundred, beside fifty negroes. They were commanded by Jumper and Micanopy. The officers slain in this massacre were Major Dade, Captain Frazier, Captain Gardiner, Lieutenant Bassinger, Lieutenant Mudge, Lieutenant Keys, Lieutenant Henderson, and Doctor Catlin.

On the same day that Major Dade was cut off, the Seminole chief, Powell, with twenty men, advanced to Fort King, and, within two hundred and fifty yards of the pickets, killed the suttler to the fort, Erastus Rodgers, and a party of friends, while at dinner. Among those slain with Rodgers were Suggs, Hitzler, General Wiley Thompson, the Indian agent, and Lieutenant Constantine Smith. Four others escaped. The body of Gen. Thompson was pierced by fifteen balls, and that of Rodgers by sixteen, and their bodies were horribly mangled and mutilated afterward. *

* The spot where these brave men fell was passed by the army under General Gaines, on their route from Fort Brooke to the north, on the 20th of February, 1836. The following account is given by an officer of the army: “Resuming their march at daybreak on the 20th, they pursued the even tenor of their way until about nine o'clock, when the appearance of large vultures but too plainly foretold the approach of the army to the sad spot of slaughter. The advanced guard having passed the battle-ground without halting, the general and his staff came upon one of the most appalling and affecting scenes that the human eye ever beheld. A short distance in the rear of the little field-work lay a few broken cartridge-boxes, fragments of clothing, here and there a shoe, or an old straw hat, which perhaps had been exchanged for a military cap; then a cart partly burnt, with the oxen still yoked lying dead near it; a horse had fallen a little to the right; and here, also, a few bones of the hapless beings lay bleaching in the sun; while the scene within and beyond the triangular inclosure baffles all description. One would involuntarily turn aside from the horrible picture to shed a tear of sorrow, and 'wish that he had nothing known or nothing seen.' From the positions in which the bodies of this devoted little baud were found, it was evident that they had been shot down in the faithful discharge of their duty; their bodies were stretched with striking regularity, nearly parallel with each other; and it is very doubtful whether the Indians touched them after the battle, except to take some few scalps, and to divest the officers of their coats. A short distance further, in the middle of the road, was the advance guard, about twenty-eight in number; and immediately in the rear lay the remains of poor Dade, while a few feet to the right, in the rear, were those of the estimable Captain Frazier. To guard against surprise, our troops had been immediately formed into a quadrangular line, and soon after a detail of the regulars commenced the pleasing though mournful task of consigning the remains of their mutilated brethren-in-arms to whence they came. Within the inclosure two large graves were dug, into which the bodies of ninety-eight non-commissioned officers and privates were placed; and outside of the north-east angle of the work another grave received the bodies of eight officers, at the head of which the field-piece, which had been spiked and concealed by the enemy, but recovered, was planted vertically. The regular troops, formed into two columns and led by the immediate friends of the deceased officers, then moved, with reversed arms, in an opposite direction, three times around the breast-work, while the bands played the Dead March. ”

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At the very time of the attack on Dade's party, Osceola, with a band of warriors, was prowling in the vicinity of Fort King, about sixty-five miles south-west from St. Augustine. While Gen. Thompson, with several friends, was dining at store-house only 250 yards from the fort, they were surprised by a sudden discharge of musketry, and five out of nine persons were killed. The body of Gen. Thompson was found pierced with fifteen bullets. Osceola and his party rushed in, scalped the dead and retreated before they could be fired upon by the garrison.

The next important event which occurred after these tragedies was the battle of Withlecooche. Gen. Clinch, previous to this action, was lying in garrison at Fort Drane, a stockade about thirty miles from Fort King. Gen. Call having arrived at this place at the head of nearly five hundred volunteers from the adjoining counties, formed a junction with the United States troops, amounting to about two hundred men. An expedition was now immediately set on foot for the head-quarters of the Indians, and Gen. Clinch issued orders for the troops to move at sunrise on the 29th of December. On the 30th they arrived within half a mile of the Withlereecho, and encamped for the night. The next morning at daybreak the column resumed its march toward the river, and when it arrived at the crossing-place the general found that his guides bad deceived him, and that the river was not fordable but deep and the current rapid. No Indians having been seen along the banks, one of the men swam over and obtained a small canoe from the opposite side, in which the regulars began to cross, seven at a time. Gen. Clinch and Colonels Parkhill and Read having passed to the other side of the river, they, in conjunction with Gen. Call on this side, began to construct a raft of logs for facilitating the passage of the troops, their baggage, etc.

The regulars having all crossed by twelve o'clock, Maj. Fanning led them into an open field, surrounded on all sides by a thick swamp and hammock, and formed them into line, waiting for the crossing of the volunteers. When about fifty of the latter had reached the opposite shore, and while the officers were engaged in the construction of the raft, they were suddenly surprised with the cry of “the Indians are coming! ” Every man flew to his post, and the moment Gen. Call drew up his men in line the Indians opened a fire upon them from the opposite side, but the volunteers poured a heavy volley into the hammock, which silenced the enemy, who now, finding that some of our troops had crossed, made a desperate attack upon the regulars. As the Indians had the advantage of the ground, Gen. Clinch ordered a “charge,” which was most gallantly executed by Major Fanning, but the Indians still maintained their ground. After two other charges into the swamp and scrub, the regulars succeeded in driving the enemy some distance off. The chiefs called to their warriors to rally once more, and not to run from the “pale-faces.” But all their efforts were in vain; after the third charge the regulars, although one-third of their number had been cut down, succeeded in defeating the enemy, and in giving entire protection to the position selected for crossing the river.

The action lasted nearly an hour, and four men were killed and fifty-two wounded, some of whom afterward died of their wounds. The Indian loss is supposed to 0033 799 have been much greater, as they were seen during the action, constantly carrying off their dead and wounded. General Clinch showed great bravery during this action; his horse was shot under him, and several balls passed through his clothing. Osceola was observed foremost of all his men in this battle, and nearly fulfilled his threat, which was to kill General Clinch. He took his stand behind a tree, from whence he would boldly step, level his rifle, and bring down a man at every fire; nor was he dislodged until several volleys from whole platoons had been fired upon him. In this battle the Indians are supposed to have been nearly three times more numerous than the force under General Clinch.

Previous to, and immediately succeeding, the battle of Withlacoochee, the Indians spread themselves in small parties, for the purpose of devastating the country. They simultaneously appeared in the south part of the peninsula, and as far north as Picolata, and from the extreme east, below St. Augustine, to the west. On the 5th of January, at New River, on the south-east side of the peninsula, they murdered the wife and children of Mr. Cooper, in whose house they knew that a quantity of goods were stored. They carried off twelve barrels of provisions, thirty hogs, three horses, one keg of powder, two hundred pounds of lead, seven hundred dollars worth of dry goods, four hundred and eighty dollars in silver, and two negroes. All the settlements in that neighborhood (two hundred and fifty miles south of St Augustine) were immediately abandoned. The scene of destruction on the eastern side of the peninsula, and along St. John's River, is described as heart-rending. The extensive plantations of Colonel Rees and Mr. Forrester, on the St. John's, were laid waste, and, it is supposed, about three hundred negroes from the neighborhood were carried away. The establishments of Mr. Solano, General Hernandez, Bulow, Dummet, Mrs. Anderson, and others below St. Augustine, were laid waste, and property to the value of two millions destroyed.

Intelligence of these events having reached the adjoining states, nearly two thousand volunteers from Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina put themselves in readiness to embark for the theater of war at a moment's warning. General Gaines, who was on a tour of inspection in the western department, first heard of the disturbances in Florida about the 15th of January. Being at New Orleans, he called on the governor of Louisiana for aid, and set out himself for the scene of hostilities. At Pensacola he found some vessels of war, under Commodores Dallas and Bolton, who had already commenced operations in the neighborhood of Tampa Bay, and other adjacent inlets. General Gaines arrived with his forces, in three steamboats, at Tampa, on the 9th of February, and on the 13th began to proceed into the Indian country. On the 20th the army passed the fatal battlefield of Major Dade, and on the 22d arrived at Fort King. General Gaines now concluded to move down the Withlacoochee, over General Clinch's battle-ground, on to Tampa, hoping that this route would bring him into contact with the main body of the Indians.

On the 27th the army arrived at Gen. Clinch's crossing-place. Here, while examining and surveying the river, the Indians fired upon them, but their numbers were not sufficient to make any material impression, although they continued the fight for about half an hour. The whites lost one killed and eight wounded. On the 28th the army resumed its march, and was again attacked about two miles from its former position, and a fire was kept up about half a day. Major J. F. Izard, of the United States dragoons, who had volunteered his services on this expedition, fell mortally wounded at the commencement of the action. The next day the Indians appeared in greater force, and continued the contest for two hours, killing one man and wounding thirty-three others, among whom was General Gaines himself, a rifle-ball having passed through his under-lip, knocked out one tooth and damaged two others. A breast-work was thrown up near the river, and the fortification was named Camp Izard , and at this place the army was closely invested by the Indians. Their provisions now began to fail them, and they were obliged to subsist on horse-flesh. On the 28th of February, General Clinch, with about five hundred men and a supply of provisions, reached the camp, and a scene ensued which beggars description. The nearly starved Louisianians could scarcely wait for the soldiers to get off their haversacks and canteens.

General Gaines, having transferred his command to General Clinch, left for New 0034 800 Orleans about the 9th of March, and General Clinch proceeded with his united forces to Fort Drane. About the time General Gaines left this place, General Scott arrived, with instructions to assume the chief command in Florida. Supposing the enemy to be concentrated at or near the forks of the Withlacoochee River, General Scott adopted the following plan of operations. The forces in Florida were constituted into three divisions, viz: the center, the right , and the left wings —the center wing, consisting of one thousand two hundred and fifty men, under Colonel Lindsay, was to move from Fort Brooke; the right wing, upward of two thousand strong, under General Clinch, were to move from Fort Drane; the left wing, about one thousand four hundred strong, under General Eustis, were to move from Volusia, All these forces were directed to advance to. ward the forks of the Withlacoochee, and thus inclose the enemy on every side. This plan, however well devised, was, by unforseen circumstances, rendered but of little avail. But few Indians could be found, and the troops were worn down by fatiguing marches through hammocks and swamps. By the 17th of April, 1836, the weather became oppressive. Out of more than seven hundred Louisianians, who had volunteered in January, but one hundred and thirty were left who were able to endure the fatigue of another march.

After General Scott left Florida, Major General Jesup was appointed to the command. Having a large force under his orders, he was quite confident that he would he able to put an end to the war in a short time. His efforts, however, were as equally unsuccessful as those before him. About the 1st of February, 1837, General Jesup made a movement with the main body of the army to attack the Indians and negroes, who were said to be in force about the head-waters of the Ocklawaha, near Apopka Lake. After driving them from one swamp to another, without any decisive action, the chiefs Jumper, Alligator, Abraham, and some others, came into camp and agreed to a cessation of hostilities. A treaty was signed afterward, by which they agreed to bring their families to Tampa, in order to emigrate to the west by the 10th of April. A considerable body of Indians assembled, apparently with the design of emigrating. After a protracted negotiation with the government agents, a party of hostile Indians surrounded the camp of Micanopy, Jumper and Cloud, and forced them away, and the Indians all left the camp and fled into the woods. The treaty for removal seems to have been an artifice to gain time for recruiting their strength at the expense of the government. Being paid for the cattle they brought in, they were able to purchase supplies, ammunition, etc.

On the 3d of December, 1837, Micanopy, Little Cloud, Sam. Jones' nephew, and about twenty other principal warriors, came into Fort Mellon, on Lake Munroe, the headquarters of the army. It appears that they were induced to come in under a flag of truce, by the influence of the Cherokee delegation, who were employed to act as mediators between the Florida Indians and the United States. Notwithstanding the circumstances under which these chiefs entered the fort, General Jesup sent them to St. Augustine, and there secured them as prisoners of war.

The celebrated Osceola, it appears, was captured while seeking an interview with Gen. Jesup. He was taken to St. Augustine, and from thence sent into confinement at Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, in the harbor of Charleston, S. C., where he died January 30, 1838, of the throat distemper.

On the 1st of December, 1837, the army stationed at the different posts in Florida was estimated to number nearly nine thousand men, yet, against this force, the Indians still held out, with hopes of effectual resistance. On the 25th of the month, Colonel Taylor (afterward president of the United States), at the head of about six hundred men, encountered the Indians on the north side of Lake Okeechobee , or Big Water , in the southern part of Florida. “After passing several cypress swamps and dense hammocks, Colonel Taylor reached the vicinity of the Indians' encampment, on the 25th. Here they found one of the strongest places, as well as one of the most difficult of access, of any known before in Florida. The main body of the Indians were posted in a hammock, from whence they poured such a destructive fire upon the volunteers that they were obliged to fall back. They formed in the rear of the infantry, who now coming into action pressed forward and gained the hammock. The struggle continued for more than an hour, which was sustained with difficulty on the part of the whites, the Indians at one time nearly breaking their line. They were, however, finally routed and driven at every point, leaving ten their 0035 801 dead upon the field, and numerous traces of blood where others had been dragged away. Colonel Taylor had twenty eight men killed and one hundred and eleven wounded.

During the years 1837 and 1838 numerous encounters were had with the Indians, although but little appeared to be accomplished toward bringing the conflict to a close. In 1839, General Macomb, who had received the chief command of the army in Florida, induced a number of chiefs in the southern part to sign a treaty of peace. By the influence of Colonel Harney an amicable arrangement was made, whereby they were to remain in the country for the present, or until they could be assured of the prosperous condition of their friends who had emigrated. But the many murders which took place after the treaty destroyed all confidence in its utility. The people of Florida now declared they would take into their own hands the management of the war, and early in June the government of the territory offered a reward of two hundred dollars for every Indian killed or taken.

During the year 1840 many murders were committed by the Indians, and frequent contests took place between small parties of them and the whites. In December, Colonel Harney, with ninety men in boats, penetrated into the extensive everglades in southern Florida, long supposed to be the headquarters of the enemy. These much heard of and little known retreats extend over, perhaps, one hundred miles. They are an expanse of shoal water, in depth from one to five feet, dotted with innumerable low and flat islands, generally covered with trees and shrubs. Much of the water is shaded by an almost impenetrable saw-grass, as high as a man's head, with little channels running in every direction. He succeeded in capturing a band of forty-nine, of whom he caused nine to be put to death for some previous murders which it was supposed they had committed.

ALABAMA.

Arms Of Alabama.

Alabama is an Indian expression, said to signify “here we rest.” It is supposed that its soil was first visited by white men in 1540, that being the year when its territory was traversed by the followers of De Soto, in his celebrated expedition through Florida to the Mississippi. After a long and disastrous march, De Soto arrived with his cavalcade by the waters of the Coosa, having made his entry into Alabama from the northern part of Georgia, where he had been searching for gold. The country of the Coosa tribe embraced the present counties of Cherokee, Benton, Talladega and Coosa.

From Coosa the expedition advanced toward Tallapoosa. Crossing the Tallapoosa, they were received by Tuscaloosa, an Indian chieftain, who was “lord over many territories and much people, and was feared by his neighbors and subjects.” Passing down the western side of Alabama River with Tuscaloosa, De Soto arrived at Maubila, the capital of the country. This place consisted of eighty handsome houses, each sufficiently capacious to contain a thousand men. They were encompassed by a high wall made of immense trunks of trees, set deep in the ground and close together, strengthened with cross-timbers and interwoven with large vines. This place is supposed to have occupied the present site of Choctaw Bluff, in Clarke county, about twenty-five miles above the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee.

It appears that Tuscaloosa had taken measures after De Soto came within his capital, to seize him and his men as prisoners. De Soto having discovered the plot took measures of defense. The attack was begun by an Indian chief, who rushed out of a house and loudly denounced the Spaniards as robbers, thieves and assassins. A murderous conflict ensued. The Indians, supposed to have been upward of ten thousand in number, joined by many of their young women, fought desperately, and for a time the conflict seemed doubtful. De Soto, mounted upon his horse, calling loudly upon “our Lady and Santiago,” rushed boldly upon the enemy, and forced his way over hundreds 0038 804 of fighting men and women. Followed by his troops, prodigies of valor were performed, and the ground was covered with the slain. The conflict lasted nine hours. Although victory was on the side of the Spaniards it was dearly bought. Eighty of their number were slain or died of their wounds; forty-five horses were killed, an irreparable loss in their condition. Nearly all their camp equipage and baggage were consumed by the flames. Maubila was laid in ashes; at least six thousand Indians were slain, and the tribe almost annihilated. De Soto now proceeded northward, crossed the Black Warrior and Tombigbee, and proceeded westward to the Mississippi, having many conflicts with the Indians on his route.

“At the time of De Soto's expedition, Alabama was inhabited by the Coosas, Talassees, Mobilians and Choctaws. Being nearly destroyed by his invasion, the Muscogees and Alabamas, who had been driven out of Mexico by Cortez, occupied their places. The Muscogees were a warlike race, and conquered the tribes with whom they came in contact. They extended their conquests, and overrun Georgia to the Savannah River. They received into their tribe the relies of the Alabamas, Tuskegeegs, and several other tribes. The Muscogee confederacy at length became the most formidable in the country. They received the name of “Creeks,” from the number of beautiful streams flowing through their country.

After the invasion of De Soto, the soil of Alabama appears to have been untrodden by Europeans for nearly a century and a half. In 1702, Bienville, the governor of Louisiana, sailed up the bay of Mobile, and at the mouth of Dog River commenced the erection of a fort, a warehouse, and other public buildings. The fort was long designated as Fort St. Louis de la Mobile. Here was the seat of government for nine years. At the end of this period, in 1711, the French moved up to the mouth of Mobile River, where they founded the present city of Mobile.

Bienville, the French governor, pursued a friendly policy with the natives, and endeavored to secure the friendship and alliance of various tribes upon the Mobile River and its tributaries. Mobile being the seat of government, various delegations of Indian chiefs, Spaniards from Vera Cruz, and Canadians from the northern lakes and rivers, repaired there to see Governor Bienville upon business. The English traders from Virginia and Carolina were a source of great annoyance to the French. During the wars between France and England, the latter power instigated the Indians against the French colonists. To stop their expeditions, Bienville located a fort upon the Alabama at Tuskegee. In 1721, three French war-ships, loaded with African slaves, arrived at Mobile. Ultimately the disasters of the colonists caused the abandonment of Mobile to a later period.

At the treaty of Paris, in 1763, the French gave up their possessions on the continent of America. The western bank of the Mississippi, from its source to its mouth, but including the island of New Orleans on the other bank, passed into the hands of Spain, while Great Britain acquired Canada, all the territory east of the Mississippi as far south as the Bayou Iberville, and the whole of Florida. The whole of Alabama and Mississippi, and that portion of Louisiana north of a line drawn through the Bayou Iberville, the Amite, lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, to the sea, and east of the Mississippi River, became thus a British possession, known until 1781 as West Florida and the province of Illinois. Alabama was divided on the parallel of 32° 28′ between West Florida and Illinois, in nearly equal divisions, and Montgomery and Wetumpka, which are but fifteen miles apart, were in different jurisdictions.

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George Johnson, the first British governor, organized a military government, garrisoned the fort at Mobile, and that of Toulouse, up the Coosa The first English inhabitants of Mobile died in great numbers, from habit, of intemperance, exposure, and contagious disorders, introduced by the military. The exports of Mobile, in 1772, were indigo, raw hides, corn, cattle, tallow, rice, pitch, bear's oil, lumber, fish, etc. Cotton was cultivated in small quantities. The charter granted to Georgia comprised within its limits all the territory westward to the Mississippi. That state, considering its title to these lands as perfect, made grants to various companies, for the purpose of settlement. Two sets of these, known as the “Yazoo Grants,” have acquired a celebrity in history. By the first, five millions of acres in Mississippi were granted to the South Carolina Yazoo Company; seven millions to the Virginia Yazoo Company; and 3,500,000 acres in Alabama to the Tennessee Company. The United States authorities opposed these grants, and the several companies having failed to pay the purchase money, Georgia rescinded her patents. Several years afterward, Georgia made other and more considerable grants. These sales raised a storm throughout the country; they were denounced by Gen. Washington, in his message to congress, and, eventually, they were declared null and void.

Alabama, at this period, was almost entirely in the occupation of the natives. There was a garrison of Spanish troops at Mobile, and also at St. Stephens, on the Tombigbee, with trading posts upon the Oconee, and on other points in the south and west. The whole country west of the present limits of Georgia, to the Mississippi, was now purchased by the United States, and, in 1817, was erected into the “Mississippi Territory.” Fort Stoddard was built near the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee, and the county of Washington laid out, embracing a space out of which 20 counties in Alabama and 12 in Mississippi have since been made.

At the period of the second war with Great Britain, Alabama was a theater of Indian warfare, as a great part of the state was then inhabited by a number of tribes of Indians, of whom the Creeks were the principal. In 1812, the Creeks having been stirred up to war by Tecumseh, the celebrated Shawnee warrior, commenced hostile operations. In August, they fell on Fort Mimms; the garrison made a desperate resistance, but out of three hundred men, women and children, only seventeen survived the massacre. The adjoining states were now roused to action. In November, Gen. Jackson, assisted by Generals Coffee, Floyd, and Claiborne, entered the Indian country, and defeated the Indians at Talladega, where 290 of their warriors were slain. In November, Gen. Floyd attacked the Creeks on their sacred ground, at Autossee. Four hundred of their houses were burned, and 200 of their bravest men killed, among whom were the kings of Autossee and Tallahassee.

The last stand of the Creeks was at Tohopeka, a place called the “Horseshoe Bend. ” Here the Indians fought desperately, but were entirely defeated with the loss of nearly 600 men. The victory ended in the submission of the remaining warriors, and in 1814, a treaty of peace was concluded, and the Creeks have now removed westward of the Mississippi. In 1816, a cession was obtained from the Indians of all the territory from the head waters of the Coosa westward to Cotton Gin Point and to a point running thence to Caney Creek on the Tennessee. The territorial government being established, the seat of government was located at St. Stephens. William W. Bibb was appointed governor, and the first legislature was convened in 1818. 0040 806 “The flood-gates of Virginia, the two Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia were now hoisted, and the mighty streams of emigration poured through them, spreading over the whole territory of Alabama.” In 1819, Alabama was admitted into the Union as a sovereign state. The general assembly convened at Huntsville, and William W. Bibb was inaugurated governor.

Alabama lies between 31° and 35° N., and 8° 8′ and 11° 29′ W. from Washington. It is 317 miles long from north to south, and 174 miles broad, bounded N. by Tennessee, E. by Georgia and Florida, S. by Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, and W. by Mississippi. The north-eastern part of the state, being the region of the termination of the range of the Alleghany Mountains, is hilly, broken, and somewhat mountainous. The southern part, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, is low and level, and mostly covered with pines. The soil and climate of Alabama varies with the position and elevation of its parts. In the north the soil is moderately fertile; in the central part, which is less elevated and undulating, it is well watered, and in the river bottoms, the land is extremely rich and productive. The most prominent productions of the state are cotton —of which in yield it stands first in quantity of any state in the Union—corn, wheat, and rice. Tobacco and sugar are also raised to some extent.

Alabama is rich in mineral productions. The whole central region is underlaid with vast beds of iron ore, or occupied by coal measures of great thickness and extent. The coal is of a bituminous character, and well adapted for steamboats and factories. Various establishments for manufacturing iron have been erected, and their products have become extensive and valuable. The river navigation in the state is quite extensive, in its various windings measuring at least 2,000 miles. The great body of the products of Alabama find their way to Mobile, the commercial emporium, by means of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers and their branches. The Baptists and Methodists are the most numerous religious denominations in the state. Population in 1820, was 127,901, of whom 41,879 were slaves; in 1850, it had increased to 771,671, of whom 342,892 were slaves. In 1860, the population was 955,917, of whom 435,473 were slaves.

Mobile, the principal city and commercial emporium of Alabama, is situated on the west bank of Mobile River, just above its entrance into Mobile Bay, 330 miles S.W. of Montgomery by the river, 166 N.E. from New Orleans, and 1,566 from New York. Population is about 25,000. The city is built on an extended plain, dry and sandy, and elevated about 15 feet above the highest tides. It has a fine prospect of the bay, extending about 30 miles, with an average width of 12 miles, to the Gulf of Mexico. Immediately opposite the city is a low island, covered with high grass and rushes, known as “the marsh.” Above, on the banks of the river, is a large swamp; back from the city the dry, sandy hills commence, affording a delightful and healthy retreat from the heat and sickness during the summer; and here have sprung up the pleasant villages of Toulminville, Spring Hill, Cottage Hill, and others.

The streets of Mobile are generally wide and, of late years, have been much improved by shade trees. The warm season, though tempered by the sea breezes, is somewhat relaxing to the system. During the coldest season the ground is but seldom frozen. The city contains a United States Hospital, City Hospital, and about 20 churches, among which is a splendid 0041 807 Catholic cathedral; there are also several other public buildings, some of which are magnificent structures, particularly the Custom House, the Academy, and the Battle House. The Spring Hill College, two miles from the city, has about 200 students, and some 7,000 volumes in its libraries. The city is supplied with excellent water, brought in iron pipes, from a hill two miles distant. Next to New Orleans, Mobile is the largest cotton market in the United States. The harbor is defended by Fort Morgan, situated on a low sandy point at the mouth of the bay, opposite to Dauphin's Island.

North View of St. Louis Wharf, Mobile. Showing one of the principal wharves for the unlading of cotton and other articles; some of the stores and warehouses appear on the right and the shipping in the distance.

In 1702, Bienville, the French governor of Louisiana, with forty sailors and some ship carpenters, began the construction of a warehouse on Dauphin Island, at the entrance of Mobile Bay. He then sailed up the bay, and, at the mouth of Dog River, began the erection of a fort, a warehouse, and other buildings. “This place was called Mobile, from the spacious bay upon which it was situated, so named after a tribe of Indians who had resolutely fought De Soto upon the field of Maubila. In 1704, two years afterward, the colony is represented, in an official dispatch, as having 180 men capable of bearing arms, two French families with three little girls and seven boys, six Indian boys (slaves), from 15 to 20 years of age, 80 wooden houses one story high, covered with palm leaves and straw, 9 oxen, 14 cows, 4 bulls, 6 calves, 100 hogs, 3 kids, and 400 hens.

The colonists suffering from famine, were temporarily relieved by the governor of Pensacola, but being again destitute of provisions, were forced to disperse themselves along the coast, to procure fish and oysters for a subsistence. By the arrival of two vessels of war from France, abundance was restored. On board of one of these, the Pelican, was La Vente, of the foreign mission, sent as rector by the Bishop of Quebec. He was accompanied by four priests, 0042 808 four sisters of charity, four families of laborers, and what was quite a novelty, twenty young women. These, it is stated, left the ship with “vailed faces, proceeding, arm in arm and two by two, to the house of the governor, who received them in state, and provided them with suitable lodgings.” The next day, being Sunday, the officiating priest, after mass, read from the pulpit the following communication from the French minister to Gov. Bienville:

“His majesty sends twenty girls to be married to the Canadians, and to the other inhabitants of Mobile, in order to consolidate the colony. All these girls are industrious, and have received a pious and virtuous education. Beneficial results to the colony are expected from their teaching their useful attainments to the Indian females. In order that none should be sent except those of known virtue and of unspotted reputation, his majesty did intrust the Bishop of Quebec with the mission of taking these girls from such establishments as, from their very nature and character, would put them at once above all suspicions of corruption. You will take care to settle them in life as well as may be/in your power, and to marry them to such men as are capable of providing them with a commodious home.”— Gayarre's Louisiana.

It is stated that only a few months rolled round before they all found husbands. These were the first marriages solemnized in old Mobile, or, indeed, in any part of the soil of Alabama, by Christian marital rites. The first child born in the colony, and, consequently, the first “Creole,” * was named Claude Jousset: he was the son of a Canadian who carried on a small trading business at Mobile.

* “The word Creole is used in Louisiana to express a native-born American, whether black or white, descended from old world parents.”

The settlements around the fort, at the mouth of the bay, being subject to inundations by the high floods, Bienville determined to place his people upon more elevated ground. In 1711, all the inhabitants, excepting the garrison at the fort, removed to the Mobile River, and established themselves on the present site of Mobile. Here Bienville built a new wooden fort, which, in a few years, was destroyed to give place to an extensive fortress of brick, called, in French times, Fort Conde, and during the English and Spanish rule, Fort Charlotte. In 1712, the French government granted to Crozat, an opulent merchant, the exclusive commerce of Louisiana for fifteen years. At this time the colony, including 100 soldiers, numbered 324 souls. Cadillac was appointed governor under Crozat's charter.

Cadillac showed himself to be a very inefficient magistrate, and was full of complaints against the colony. He was removed from his office, and, in 1717, was succeeded by De l'Epinay, whose administration also proved unfortunate. All the efforts of Crozat to increase the population proved futile, and several millions worth of merchandise, which he had sent to Louisiana with the hope of their finding their way to Mexico, had been lost for want of a market. Crozat finally became so discouraged that he resigned his charter to the king. In 1763, Mobile was ceded by France to Great Britain. In 1780, it was surrendered to Spain, and in April, 1813, it became a portion of the United States. It was incorporated as a city in 1819.

Fort Morgan, formerly Fort Bowyer, stands at the mouth of Mobile Bay. In September, 1814, a British fleet, under Com. Percy, made an attack on the fort, which was defended by Maj. Lawrence, with 130 men. The British were repulsed with a total loss of 232 men—the American loss 4 killed and 4 wounded. The victory of the Americans at New Orleans, forced the British to abandon the banks of the Mississippi, after which they hovered about Mobile Point. Five thousand men landed from their ships and 0043 809 prepared to reduce the fort. Maj. Lawrence, agreeably to a council of officers, negotiated for a surrender, and the next day, Feb. 12, 1815, marched out of the fort with his little garrison, with colors flying and drums beating. They took quarters on board the British ships-of-the-line, as prisoners of war. Soon after the news of peace was received. Great mortality prevailed among the British shipping at this time, from wounds and disease, and hundreds of British soldiers were entombed among the white sands of Mobile Point and Dauphin Island.

Fort Morgan, Mobile Point.

The new and now principal cemetery in Mobile, is situated about one mile southwest of the court house. John N. Maffit, * the celebrated Methodist preacher, so well known in almost every section in this country, was buried in this yard in square No. 8, and in the west end of lot No. 101. He died in Toulminville, a small village about 3½ miles from Mobile, on the 28th of

* Mr. Maffit emigrated to New York, from Ireland, about the year 1820. He was originally connected with a clothing store in Dublin, and joined a Methodist Society in that city. Soon after his arrival in this country, he became an itinerant in the Methodist connection Perhaps no preacher, since the days of Whitfield, ever drew such crowds together, of all classes of persons, in every part of the country. He was a most impassioned speaker: his success in turning many from the error of their ways was remarkable. Some years before his death, it was estimated that upward of 20,000 were added to the Methodist societies through his instrumentality, beside great numbers who joined other denominations. As an orator, he was pre-eminent. The various intonations of his musical voice, expressing the different passions which move the human mind, his animated countenance, his flashing eyes all carried conviction to his audience that the speaker's soul was in his subject. Though short of stature, he was graceful in action, elegant in language, and perfectly self reliant. At times his descriptive genius was exhibited with a pathos and sublimity rarely equaled Like Wesley and Whitfield, he left his wife behind while on his itinerating career. After the death of his first wife, at Galveston, Texas, Mr. Maffit married a young lady in Brooklyn, N. Y., nearly 40 years younger than himself. This appears to have been an unfortunate step. Continuing his intinerating career, his young wife soon after died. When preaching in Mobile, his enemies—of whom he had many—forwarded from Brooklyn various charges affecting his moral character. These were of such a grave nature, that his brethren were obliged to suspend his preaching, giving him a limited time to answer these allegations. He sunk under this last attack, and it is said that he literally died of a broken heart Upon a post mortem examination, the left wall of his heart was found to have been worn to the consistence of thin paper. His mental sufferings at times were well known to have produced a powerful effect on his bodily frame. That he was guilty of many of what are called trifling imprudences can not be successfully denied, but it is believed that no overt act of immorality was ever proved against him. With his dying breath, he declared himself a calumniated man. He said, that during his pastoral life he had been guilty of many frivolous, but no criminal acts; forgave his enemies, expressed an unalterable trust in Jesus Christ, and did not doubt but that all would be well. One of Mr. Maffit's sons is an officer in the U. S. navy: his daughter is the wife of Gov. Lamar, of Texas. The following notice of Mr. Maffit's death is from the Mobile Tribune, of May 9, 1850:

“Late yesterday afternoon, after a few hours of severe illness, John Newland Maffit breathed his last, at the residence of Maj. Chamberlain, at Toulminville. Soon after the attack, Dr. Gains was called in, and found the patient suffering from excruciating pain in the pit of the stomach. Medicine was speedily administered, and a favorable change occurred within a few moments. Afterward calomel was given with the happiest effect, the cold and clammy state of the extremities and surface giving place to a warm and healthy glow. But suddenly the pain returned, and shifting to the region of the heart, soon produced death. Dr. Gains denominates it a spasm of the heart.”

0044 810 May, 1850. At present there is nothing on the ground to designate his grave. The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in this cemetery.

Erected to the memory of Henry Goldthwaite, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Alabama, who died of the yellow fever the 19th of Oct., 1847, aged 45 years. Leaving for his family the inheritance of a spotless reputation; and for the State of Alabama the records of a Judicial life characterized by learning, labor, the faithful observance of his public duties, an unswerving rectitude of purpose. Vivit enim vivetque semper; atque etiam latius in memoria hominum et sermone versabitur, postquom ab oculis recessit.

To the memory of William Crawford, late judge of the district courts of Alabama, who died Feb. 27th, 1849, in the 65th year of his age. He was urbane and generous in his intercourse, enlightened and accurate in his judgment, learned and laborious in his profession, faithful in public trusts, and untiring in the performance of duty: affectionate, sincere and cordial as a husband, father and friend. His family who appreciate his worth and mourn his death have erected this tribute to his memory.

Here rest the remains of Samuel Warren, born at Middlebury, Vermont, died at Mobile June 23d, 1844, aged 32 years. This monument is erected by his friends as a small memento of a man who nursed through all our epidemics; alike to the poor and the rich, his only reward an approving conscience and the smiles of heaven!!! Reader go, and do thou likewise!!

In memory of Henry V. Chamberlain, who was born in Worcester, Mass., Jan. 11th, 1777, and died in Mobile, Dec. 1st, 1855, where he had spent more than 40 years of his life. He was the constant friend of the poor and lowly, whom he always sought to elevate and protect. “Alliusque et idem naceris.”

Sacred to the memory of Robert Grigg, Esq. , formerly a merchant of East Love, Cornwall, Eng., who was appointed on the 3d of March, 1845, her Britannic Majesty's Consul for the States of Alabama and Florida, to reside in Mobile, and died in the discharge of his duties on the 20th day of Feb., 1848, in the 56th year of his age, leaving a widow and eight children in England to deplore their irreparable loss.

In Memory of Dr. Carl Von Emden, a native of Vienna, Germany, who died Sept. 26th, 1853, in his 32d year. Because of his ardent patriotism, he was driven into exile, where he strove to soothe the wounds of his disappointed hopes and blighted affections by devotion to his humane profession, falling a martyr to it. May he find beyond the grave what was denied him on earth.

Memento of affection and gratitude: To Maria B. , wife of Dr. Geo. Lingen, and daughter of Sir John and Lady Oldmixon, of England. She died on the 16th of Sept., 1853, in her 54th year, closing a life of angelic purity and self devotion by following through a fearful epidemic, the example of Ruth, in whose words she spake to her husband, “Entreat me not to leave thee or to return after following thee, for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God. Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried.

Montgomery City, the capital of Alabama, is on an elevated bluff on the Alabama River, at the head of steamboat navigation, 118 miles southeasterly from Tuscaloosa, the former capital. There is now a continuous 0045 811 line of railroads to New York, Savannah, and Charleston, being 483 miles from the latter place. It is connected by steamboat navigation with Mobile, from which place it is distant, by the coarse of the river, 328 miles. Beside the state house, the city contains a court house, churches for various denominations, and several splendid public edifices. It is in the midst of a fertile cotton region, commands an extensive trade, and is one of the most flourishing places in the southwest. Population about 8,000. It was laid out and became the capital of the state in 1817.

Western View in the Central part of Montgomery. The reservoir of waste water from the Artesian well is seen in the foreground, in Court Square. The State House, or Capitol, appears in the distance, on elevated ground, at the head of Market-street, about half a mile distant front the Reservoir.

The territory of the present county of Montgomery contained a few white inhabitants as early as 1792. The ancient Indian name for the location on which the city of Montgomery is now built, was Econchate , or “Red Earth. ” The first settlers were traders, who located themselves at the southern suburbs of the city. Among the first settlers of the county was a white woman, who had lived with her husband at Savannah. He was a soldier in one of the British regiments, but deserted from the army, when she fled with him to the Chattahoochie. He died at Cusseta, and his bold and adventurous wife continued to wander through the Creek nation, and finally settled in the present county of Montgomery, upon the eastern side of a creek which still bears her name, for she was called by no other name than “Milly. ” Here among the Cuwalla Indians, she established herself, without husband, father, children, or even a single friend. Espousing one of the sons of the forest, she soon began to have comforts around her. Her stock of cattle became large, to which, in a few years, was added a drove of ponies. For many 0046 812 years Milly lived alone upon this creek. The trading-path leading to Pensacola from Tookabatcha, passed by her house.

The following account of some of the principal events, in this region of country, during the Creek war of 1813-14, is extracted from Perkins' History. The massacre at Fort Mimms, in Aug., 1813, spread consternation and dismay throughout all the settlements in Alabama, and the inhabitant fled without delay to various places for safety. The neighboring states of Tennessee and Georgia were roused to vigorous exertions. A body of 1,801 volunteers, under Gen. Floyd, were marched into the southern section of the Creek Nation, from the state of Georgia. The legislature of Tennessee passed an act to raise 3,500 men to act against the Indians, and $300,000 were voted to be used to defray the expenses. Generals Jackson and Cocke were appointed commanders.

“The first object to which the troops under General Jackson were directed, was their encampments at the Tallustaches towns, on the Coosa river, a northern branch of the Alabama. On the 2d of November, General Coffee was detached with a part of his brigade of cavalry, and a corps of mounted riflemen, amounting to nine hundred, against this assemblage. He arrived on the morning of the third, and encircled the encampment with his cavalry; when he had approached within half a mile, the Creeks sounded the war-whoop and prepared for action. Captain Hammond's and Lieutenant Patterson's companies advanced within the circle and gave a few shots for the purpose of drawing out the enemy. The Creeks formed and made a violent charge. Captain Hammond, according to his orders, gave way, and was pursued by the Indians, until they met the right column, which gave them a general fire, and then charged. The Indians immediately retreated within and behind their buildings, and fought with desperation; but their destruction was soon accomplished. The soldiers rushed up to the doors of their houses, broke them open, and in a few minutes killed the last warrior of them: not one escaped to carry the news. None asked for quarters, but fought as long as they could stand or sit, and met death in various shapes without a groan. Two hundred warriors were killed, eighty-four women and children taken prisoners and discharged; of General Coffee's troops only five were killed, and forty-one wounded.

General Jackson established his head-quarters at the Ten Islands on the Coosa, and fortified his position, giving it the name of Camp Strother. On the evening of the 7th of November, a runner arrived from the friendly Indians at the Tallageda fort, thirty miles below on the same river, giving information that the hostile Creeks had encamped in great force near that place, and were preparing to destroy it, earnestly soliciting immediate assistance. General Jackson determined on commencing his march the same night, and dispatched a runner to General White, informing him of his movement, and urging him to hasten his march to Camp Strother, to protect it in his absence. He had previously ordered General White to form a junction with him as speedily as possible, and received his assurances that he would be with him on the 7th. General Jackson immediately commenced crossing the river at the Ten Islands, leaving his baggage wagons and whatever might retard his progress in the camp, and halted at midnight within six miles of the Tallageda. Here a runner arrived with a note from General White informing him that he had altered his course, and was on his march back to join General Cocke at the mouth of the Chataga.

Battle of Tallageda. —It was then too late for the general to change his plan of operations, or make any new arrangements. He renewed his march at three o clock, and at sunrise, came within half a mile of his enemy, whom he found encamped a quarter of a mile in advance of the fort, He immediately formed the line of battle; the militia on the left, the volunteers on the right, and the cavalry on the wings; and advanced in a curve keeping his rear connected with the advance of the infantry line, so as to inclose the enemy in a circle. The advance guard met the attack of the Indians with intrepidity, and having poured upon them four or five rounds, fell back to the main body. The enemy pursued, and were met by the front line. This line was broken, and several companies of militia retreated. 0047 813 At this moment a corps of cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel Dyer, which was kept as a reserve, were ordered to dismount and fill the vacancy. The order was promptly executed, the militia soon rallied, and returned to the charge. The fire now became general along the first line and the contiguous wings. The Indians fled, and were met and pursued in every direction. The right wing followed them with a destructive fire to the mountains, three miles distant. Two hundred and ninety of their warriors were found dead, and a large number killed in the pursuit, who were not found. General Jackson lost fifteen men killed, and eighteen wounded. In consequence of the failure of General White to proceed to Camp Strother, General Jackson was obliged to give up further pursuit, and immediately return to his camp to protect his sick, wounded, and baggage.”

Gen. White, who considered himself as under the command of Gen. Cocke, was ordered by that officer to attack the Hillabee towns. On the morning of the 18th of November, he surrounded and surprised the town of the Hillabees, killed 60 warriors, took 256 prisoners, and returned to Fort Armstrong without the loss of a man, either killed or wounded. While the Tennessee forces were performing these operations in the northern sections of the Creek country, the Georgia troops, under Gen. Floyd, entered their territory from the east.

“The general, having received information that a number of hostile Indians had assembled at the Autosee towns, on the southern bank of the Talapoosa, eighteen miles from the Hickory ground, and twenty above the junction of that river with the Coosa, proceeded to that place with a corps of nine hundred and fifty militia, and four hundred friendly Indians; and on the morning of the 29th of November, at half past six, appeared in line of battle, in front of the principal town. The Indians presented themselves at every point, and fought with desperate fury. The well directed fire of the artillery, and the charge of the bayonet, soon drove them from the ground, and obliged them to take shelter in the copses, thickets, and out-houses in rear of the town. Many concealed themselves in caves previously provided as places of retreat, along the high bluffs on the river, which were thickly covered with reeds and brush-wood. The friendly Indians were divided into four companies, under leaders of their own choice, and directed to cross Canhabee Creek, and occupy that flank to prevent escapes from the Tallisee town, situated about one hundred rods below the Autosee. Instead of obeying this order, soon after the action commenced, most of them thronged in disorder into the rear of the lines; but the Covetans under M'Intosh, and the Tookabotchians, under Mad Dog's son, joined the flanks of the militia, and fought with a bravery equal to disciplined troops. At nine o'clock, the Indians were completely driven from the plain, and the houses of both towns were in flames. Warriors from eight towns had assembled at Autosee, which their prophets had taught them to believe was holy ground, on which no white man could tread without inevitable destruction. Four hundred buildings were burned, some of which were of a superior cast for the dwellings of savages. The loss of the Indians was estimated at two hundred killed; among whom were the Autosee and Tallisee kings. The number of wounded could not be ascertained, as they were taken off by their friends, but must have been very considerable. General Floyd was severely wounded, and Adjutant General Newman slightly. The whole loss of the Georgians was eleven killed, and fifty-four wounded. The friendly Indians lost several killed and wounded, but their loss was not great, as most of them sought places of safety at the commencement of the action. From the Autosee towns, General Floyd, after resting several days, proceeded to Camp Defiance, fifty miles further to the west, into the enemy's country. At this place, at 5 o'clock in the morning of the 2d of January, his camp was assailed by a desperate band of hostile Indians, who stole unobserved upon the sentinels, fired on them, and immediately rushed on the lines. In twenty minutes the troops were formed in order of battle, and the action became general. The front and both flanks were closely pressed once, but the skillful conduct of the officers, and firmness of the men, repulsed the enemy at every point.”

On January 17, 1814, Gen. Jackson, finding himself in a situation to commence 0048 814 further offensive operations, marched from his encampment at Fort Strother, with 900 volunteers, who were soon afterward joined by 300 friendly Indians. Marching against the Creeks, collected at the great bend of the Tallapoosa, he was attacked by the Indians, on Jan. 22d, at Emuckfau , with great fury. Gen. Jackson, being on the alert, encamped his men in a hollow square, stood his ground, and forced the enemy to retire. Being somewhat crippled, and rather short of provisions, Jackson began a retreat to Fort Strother. When at Enotochopko Creek, he was again attacked, and he once more succeeded in putting his enemies to flight. In these two conflicts, the American loss was 20 killed and 75 wounded; among the killed were Maj. Donaldson and Capt. Hamilton. The Indians lost at least 189 warriors.

The Creeks still continued to concentrate their forces at the great bend of the Tallapoosa, usually called Horse Shoe by the whites, and Tohopeka by the Indians, a word in their language said to signify a horse shoe. The peninsula formed by the bend contained about 100 acres, on which was a village of some 200 houses. About 1,000 Indians, from the adjoining districts, had fortified themselves on the peninsula with great skill, having a formidable breastwork built of large logs. They had also an ample supply of provisions and ammunition.

“On the 16th of March, 1814, General Jackson, having received considerable reinforcements of volunteers from Tennessee, and friendly Indians, left Fort Strother with his whole disposable force, amounting to about three thousand of every description, on an expedition against this assemblage of Indians. He proceeded down the Coosa sixty miles to the mouth of Cedar Creek, where he established a post called Fort Williams, and proceeded on the 24th across the ridge of land dividing the waters of the Coosa from the Tallapoosa; and arrived at the great bend on the morning of the 27th, having the three preceding days opened a passage through the wilderness of fifty-two miles. On the 26th he passed the battle ground of the 22d of January, and left it three miles in his rear. General Coffee was detached with seven hundred cavalry, and mounted gunmen, and six hundred friendly Indians, to cross the river below the bend, secure the opposite banks, and prevent escape. Having crossed at the Little Island ford, three miles below the bend, his Indians were ordered silently to approach and line the banks of the river, while the mounted men occupied the adjoining hights, to guard against reinforcements, which might be expected from the Oakfusky town, eight miles below. Lieutenant Bean, at the same time, was ordered to occupy Little Island, at the fording-place, to secure any that might attempt to escape in that direction. In the mean time, General Jackson, with the artillery and infantry, moved on in slow and regular order to the isthmus, and planted his guns on an eminence one hundred and fifty yards in front of the breastwork. On perceiving that General Coffee had completed his arrangements below, he opened a fire upon the fortification, but found he could make no other impression with his artillery than boring shot-holes through the logs. General Coffee's Indians on the bank, hearing the roaring of the cannon in front, and observing considerable confusion on the peninsula, supposing the battle to be nearly won, crossed over and set fire to the village, and attacked the Creeks in the rear. At this moment General Jackson ordered an assault upon the works in front. The regular troops, led by Colonel Williams, accompanied by a part of the militia of General Dougherty's brigade, led on by Colonel Russell, presently got possession of a part of the works, amid a tremendous fire from behind them. The advance guard was led by Colonel Sisler, and the left extremity of the line by Captain Gordon of the spies, and Captain M'Marry of General Johnson's brigade of West Tennessee militia. The battle for a short time was obstinate, and fought musket to musket through the port-holes; when the assailants succeeded in getting possession of the opposite side of the works, and the contest ended. The Creeks were entirely routed, and the whole margin of the river strewed with the slain. The troops under General Jackson, and General Coffee's Indians, who had crossed over into the peninsula, continued the work of destruction as long as there was a Creek 0049 815 to be found. General Coffee, on seeing his Indians crossing over, had ordered their places to be supplied on the bank by his riflemen; and every Indian that attempted to escape by swimming the river, or crossing the Little Island below, was met and slain by Genera] Coffee's troops. The battle, as long as any appearance of resistance remained, lasted five hours; the slaughter continued until dark, and was renewed the next morning, when sixteen more of the unfortunate savages were hunted out of their hiding-places and slain. Five hundred and fifty-seven warriors were found dead on the peninsula; among whom was their famous prophet Manahell, and two others, the principal instigators of the war; two hundred and fifty more were estimated to have been killed in crossing the river, and at other places, which were not found. General Jackson's loss was twenty-six white men, and twenty three Indians, killed; and one hundred and seven white men, and forty-seven Indians, wounded.

This decisive victory put an end to the Creek war. In the short period of five months, from the first of November to the first of April, two thousand of their warriors, among whom were their principal prophets and kings, had been slain, most of their towns and villages burned, and the strong places in their territory occupied by the United States troops. After this battle, the miserable remnant of the hostile tribes submitted. Weatherford, the principal surviving chief and prophet, who led the Indians at Fort Mimms, accompanied his surrender with this address to General Jackson:

‘I fought at Fort Mimms—I fought the Georgia army—I did you all the injury I could. Had I been supported as I was promised, I would have done you more. But my warriors are all killed. I can fight no longer. I look back with sorrow that I have brought destruction upon my nation. I am now in your power. Do with me as you please. I am a soldier.’”

Eastern View of Selma. The above shows the appearance of Selma steamboat landing, as it is approached sailing down the river; on the right, on the elevated limestone banks, is seen the commencement of the Alabama and Tennessee Railroad, also the apparatus for conveying coal to the boats below. The warehouses for cotton, etc., from which cotton bales are conveyed by slides to the steamboats, appear in the central part.

Selma, Dallas county, on the right bank of the Alabama River, is situated 82 miles westward of Montgomery, by the river, and 10 miles above Cahaba, and about 150 above Mobile. It is a flourishing place, containing 6 churches about 4,000 inhabitants, and several iron foundries and other manufacturing establishments. Two railroads, the Alabama and Mississippi and the Alabama and Tennessee River, diverge from this place. It is situated in the midst of a fertile cotton growing section, and large quantities of cotton are shipped at this point. Bituminous coal from Shelby county, about 50 miles 0050 816 distant, on the line of the railroad, is brought here for shipment to Mobile and elsewhere.

Cahaba , the capital of Dallas county, is on the right bank of Alabama River, and, by the stream, is 16 miles below Selma. It was formerly the capital of the state, and contains a court house, several churches, an academy, and about 1,000 inhabitants.

Demopolis , Marengo county, adjoining Dallas county, is on the right bank of the Tombigbee River, immediately below the entrance of the Black Warrior, and 220 miles from Mobile. It contains a United States land office, several churches, and about 1,000 inhabitants. This place was first settled by a colony of French, who were obliged to leave their native country on account of their attachment to the Emperor Napoleon, then an exile at St. Helena. The winter of 1816–17 found many of these distinguished refugees in Philadelphia. In March, 1817, Congress authorized the sale of four townships to them, at two dollars per acre, on a credit of fourteen years, upon condition they cultivated the vine and the olive. They concluded to settle near the confluence of the Black Warrior and Tombigbee, and removed thither in 1818, having previously organized themselves into a company of 340 allottees.

The French emigrants proceeded by water to Mobile, and from thence by boats to the place where they intended to establish themselves, which was an immense forest of trees and cane, interspersed with prairie. They erected their cabins about the Pine Bluff, on the Tombigbee. Being accustomed to Parisian life, they proved very indifferent pioneers. They, however, endeavored to raise provisions on small patches, without knowing upon what tract in the grant they were to live in future. The meridian being established, the grant was divided into townships and sections. A town was formed at White Bluff, which was called Demopolis— the City of the People. The principal portion of the French grant lay in Marengo , so named in honor of the great battle fought during the French Republic.

Among the French emigrants were many distinguished persons. Count Lefebre Desnoettes was a lieutenant general under Napoleon, and rode with him in his carriage in his retreat from Russia. He was handsome in person and graceful in carriage, and the most splendid horseman of the time in which he lived. While in Marengo county, he often received large sums of money from France. Near his main dwelling he had a log cabin which he called his sanctuary, in the center of which stood a bronze statue of Napoleon, surrounded by trophies taken in war. Having obtained permission from the French government to reside in Belgium, he was drowned on his passage thither in the ship Albion, which was wrecked in 1823, on the coast of Ireland at old Kinsale.

Col. Rooul was an officer under Bonaparte, and accompanied his imperial master when banished to Elba. He lived several years on his grant, and, becoming much reduced in his circumstances, was forced to keep a ferry at French Creek, three miles from Demopolis, he acting in person as ferryman. His wife was a beautiful Italian woman, who had been Marchioness of Sinabaldi and maid of honor to Queen Caroline, when Murat was King of Naples. In 1824, Col. Rooul and his wife left their cabin on French Creek, emigrated to Mexico, and from thence returned to France, where he, for a long time, held an honorable commission in the French army. Cluis, who had been an aid to Marshal Lefebvre, the Duke of Rivigo, cultivated a farm near Greensboro'. Like all the other refugees, he found planting the vine and olive a 0051 817 poor business in Alabama: he died in Mobile. Simon Chaudron , one of the settlers, was an editor and a poet of considerable reputation. He died in Mobile, in 1846, at an advanced age, and left several works which were published in France. Gen. Count Bertrand Clausel, an officer of merit, did not occupy his grant, but became a citizen of Mobile in 1821, and furnished the market with vegetables, driving a cart himself. He returned to France in 1825, and became governor and marshal of Algeria.

Among the refugees who sought homes in Alabama, was the Spanish Gen. Rico, a member of the Cortes, and a distinguished officer in the army. He was a person of uncommon energy, and made an excellent farmer. He was recalled to Spain in 1825. The following extract is from Pickett's History of Alabama, a most valuable and interesting work, published in 1851:

“In addition to the ruinous failure of the vine and olive, the French were continually annoyed by unprincipled American squatters. Occupying their lands without a shadow of title, they insultingly told the French that they intended to maintain their footing at all hazards. Several law-suits arose, and although our supreme court decided in favor of the grantees, yet the latter became worn out with controversies, and allowed the intruders, in many cases, to retain possession for a small remuneration. On the other hand, many honorable Americans purchased their grants, for fair considerations, and thus the French refugees were gradually rooted from the soil.

Judson Female Institute, Marion.

But, in the midst of all their trials and vicissitudes, the French refugees were happy. Immured in the depths of the Tombigbee forest, where, for several years, want pressed them on all sides—cut off from their friends in France—surrounded by the Choctaws on one side, and the unprincipled squatters and land-thieves on the other—assailed by the venom of insects and prostrating fevers—nevertheless, their native gaiety prevailed. Being in the habit of much social intercourse, their evenings were spent in conversation, music and dancing. The larger portion were well educated, while all had seen much of the world; and such materials were ample to afford an elevated society. Sometimes their distant friends sent them rich wines and other luxuries, and upon such occasions, parties were given, and the foreign delicacies brought back many interesting associations. Well cultivated gardens, and the abundance of wild game, rendered the common living of the French quite respectable. The female circle was highly interesting. They had brought with them their books, guitars, silks, parasols and ribbons, and the village, in which most of them dwelt, resembled, at night, a miniature French 0052 818 town. And then, farther in the forest, others lived, the imprints of whose beautiful Parisian shoos on the wild prairie, occasionally arrested the glance of a solitary traveler. And then, again, when the old imperial heroes talked of their emperor, their hearts warmed with sympathy, their eyes kindled with enthusiasm, and tears stole down their furrowed cheeks.”

Marion, the capital of Perry county, is situated 26 miles N. from Selma, with which it is connected by railroad. It is in an elevated, broken and dry region, distant from any river, creek, or swamp, and is remarkable for salubrity. The village contains several female seminaries, the Howard College, for young men, five churches, a fine court house, and about 3,000 inhabitants. The Marion Female Seminary, a flourishing institution, was established in the infancy of the place. The Judson Female Institute, having about 250 pupils, was established in 1839. It was originated by a few private individuals, who afterward presented it to the Baptist denomination. The Howard College, having about 100 pupils, was founded in 1841. Both of these last named institutions are owned by the Baptist State Convention of Alabama, and are under their patronage.

The following inscription is copied from a perpendicular marble shaft, ten feet high, in the graveyard in this place:

Harry, servant of H. Talbird, D.D., President of Howard College, who lost his life from injuries received while rousing the students, at the burning of the College building, on the night of Oct. 15th, 1854, aged 23 years. As a grateful tribute to his fidelity, and to commemorate a noble act, this monument has been erected by the Students of Howard College, and the Alabama Baptist Convention. He was employed as a waiter to the College, and when alarmed by the flames at midnight, and warned to escape for his life, replied, “I must wake the boys first,” and then saved their lives at the expense of his own. A consistent member of the Baptist Church, he illustrated the character of a Christian servant, faithful unto death.

At the commencement of hostilities with Great Britain in 1812, Tecumseh, the celebrated Shawnee chieftain, visited the southern Indians, and by his arts of persuasion induced them to take up arms against the United States. Gen. Claiborne, who was appointed to the defense of the country in the vicinity of Mobile, proceeded to Fort Stoddart, situated on the Mobile River, upward of forty miles above its mouth. From this point he sent the soldiers under his command to defend the settlements. The inhabitants of the Tensaw district, on the Alabama, fled to Fort Mimms, on that river, about 16 miles above. This fort was built about the residence of Samuel Mimms, a mile east from Alabama River, and two miles below the cut-off. It was garrisoned by 150 soldiers, under Maj. Beasly; these, with the white settlers, the friendly Indians, and negroes, amounted to 553 persons, who were crowded together in an Alabama swamp, in the month of August. About 1,000 Creek warriors stole up near the fort, and there lay in ambush, ready for a bloody onset: among their leaders was the celebrated Weatherford. On the 30th of August, 1813, in an unsuspecting moment, while the soldiers were about dining, the Indians issued from their hiding places and advanced to within a few rods before the alarm was given.

“As the sentinel cried out, “Indians,” they immediately gave a war-whoop, and rushed in at the gate before the garrison had time to shut it. This decided their fate. Major Beasly was mortally wounded at the commencement of the assault; he ordered his men to secure the ammunition, and retreat into the house; he was himself carried into the kitchen, and afterward consumed in the flames. The fort was originally square, but Major Beasly had enlarged it by extending the lines upon two sides about fifty feet, and putting up a new side, into which the gate was removed; the old lines of pickets were standing, and the Indians, on rushing in at the gate, obtained possession of the outer part, and through the port holes of the 0053 819 old line of pickets, fired on the people who held the interior. On the opposite side of the fort was an offset or bastion made round the back gate, which being open on the outside, was occupied by the Indians, who, with the axes that lay scattered about, cut down the gate. The people in the fort kept possession of the port-holes on the other lines, and fired on the Indians who remained on the outside. Some of the Indians ascended the block-house at one of the corners, and fired on the garrison below, but were soon dislodged; they succeeded, however, in setting fire to a house near the pickets, which communicated to the kitchen, and from thence to the main dwelling-house. When the people in the fort saw the Indians in full possession of the outer court, the gate open, the men fast falling, and their houses in flames, they gave up all for lost, and a scene of the most distressing horror ensued. The women and children sought refuge in the upper story of the dwelling-house, and were consumed in the flames, the Indians dancing and yelling round them with the most savage delight. Those who were without the buildings were murdered and scalped without distinction of age or sex; seventeen only escaped. The battle and massacre lasted from eleven in the forenoon until six in the afternoon, by which time the work of destruction was fully completed, the fort and buildings entirely demolished, and upward of four hundred men, women, and children, massacred.”

“General Claiborne dispatched Major Joseph P. Kennedy, with a strong detachment, to Fort Mimms, from his head-quarters at Mount Vernon, for the purpose of interring the dead. Upon arriving there, Kennedy found the air darkened with buzzards, and hundreds of dogs, which had run wild, gnawing upon the human carcasses. The troops, with heavy hearts, succeeded in interring many bodies, in two large pits, which they dug. ‘Indians, negroes, white men, women, and children, lay in one promiscuous ruin. All were scalped, and the females, of every age, were butchered in a manner which neither decency nor language permit me to describe. The main building was burned to ashes, which were filled with bones. The plains and woods around were covered with dead bodies. All the houses were consumed by fire, except the block-house, and a part of the pickets. The soldiers and officers, with one voice, called on Divine Providence to revenge the death of our murdered friends.’”

Outline View of the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

Tuscaloosa is situated on the S.E. side of Black Warrior River, 94 miles N.W. of Montgomery, 120 S.W. of Huntsville, and 217 from Mobile. It is regularly built, on an elevated plain at the lower falls of the river, at the head of steamboat navigation, and until 1847, was the capital of the state. It contains the old state house, a court house, Masonic hall, an academy, a lyceum for boys, seminary for young ladies, the Alabama Institute, five churches, and the University of Alabama; population about 3,000. The University of Alabama went into operation in 1831. It is situated on the Huntsville road, half a mile from the state house. There are three buildings, three stories high, for student's dormitories, building for a laboratory 0054 820 and recitation rooms, and several professor's houses. In the center is a large circular building, three stories high; in the first story is a spacious room for public occasions, with a circular gallery in the second for spectators. The third story is occupied for a library.

View of the Public Square, Huntsville. The engraving shows the Court House in the center; on the right, in the distance, appears the front of the Northern Bank of Alabama.

Huntsville, the shire town of Madison county, one of the most beautiful and well built places in the southern states, is on the line of the Charleston and Memphis railroad, about 10 miles N. of the Tennessee River, 217 N. from Montgomery, and 211 from Memphis, Tenn. The court house is of Grecian architecture, erected at an expense of $45,000, the banking house is of hewn stone, with an Ionic portico, built at a cost of $80,000. It has several churches and academies, three female seminaries, and many handsome private dwellings. The inhabitants are supplied with pure and cold water from a spring which breaks out at the foot of a rock, a few feet distant from the Northern Bank, with a power sufficient to move a forcing pump for elevating and distributing it to all the dwellings. This place presents many attractions for a permanent residence. One of the best collections of paintings and statuary in the United States is here, in the possession of Dr. Colhoun. Population about 5,000.

Huntsville received its name from Capt. John Hunt, a revolutionary soldier, the first settler, who located himself near the spring which supplies the city. The plot comprising the town was sold by the government, in 1809, to Leroy Pope: in his honor, or that of his namesake in England who wrote the Essay on Man, it was called Twickenham , the place of Pope's residence, near London. It was, however, changed back to Huntsville, at the next meeting of the legislature. The Presbyterians and Methodists organized the first religious societies. Rev. Dr. Blackburn at first preached in the court house, and organized the first Presbyterian society. Among the first settlers, were Gov. Clement C. Clay, father of the senator in congress of the same name; 0055 821 Gen. John Braham, receiver of the public moneys; Col. John Read, merchant and register of the U. S. land office; Dr. Henry Chalmers, a representative in congress; Gen. Benjamin Patterson, U. S. marshal; Richard W. Anderson, an extensive land dealer; Stephen Neal, the first sheriff of Madison county; Capt. Francis T. Mastin, merchant; James Clemens, father of Senator Clemens; James J. Donegan, president of the Northern Bank; Capt. Wm. Hale; Dr. Alex'r. Erskine; Dr. Edmund Irby; Wm. Patton, merchant; Capt. Wm. Wyatt; Jesse S. Searcy; Lewis and William H. Winston; Benj. S. Pope; Sam'l and Wm. O. Cruse; Alex. Gilbreath; John P. Hickman; T. G. Percy; Irby and Edwin Jones; Thomas and Wm. Brandon.

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the Huntsville graveyard:

Rev. John Allan, D.D., born April 21st, 1788, died April 21st, 1843. For 22 years the beloved pastor of the Presbyterian church, Huntsville. “He being dead yet speaketh.” This monument was erected by members of the Congregation.

Dr. David Moore, born in Brunswick Co., Virginia, 25 Aug., 1787. Died 23d Sept., 1845.

He nothing knows, who knows not this, That Earth can yield no settled bliss, No lasting portion give. He all things knows, who knows to place His hopes on Christ's redeeming grace, Who died that we might live.

Meridian. Richard W. Anderson caused this monument to be erected in memory of deceased relations and to perpetuate the Huntsville Meridian. John Anderson. born in Montgomery Co., Maryland, died in Montgomery Co., Alabama, Oct. 9th, 1835, aged 42 yrs. 10 mo. and 6 days. [Here follow the names of other deceased relatives on this large and elegant monument.] We meet in heaven to part no more.

Here repose the mortal remains of Thomas Bibb, born May 8th, 1782, died Sept. 20, 1839. Sacred to the memory of Pamelia, consort of Thomas Bibb, born March 22, 1784, died Sept. 5, 1854.

Mr. Bibb was the brother of the first governor of Alabama: on the decease of his brother, he became, as president of the senate, acting governor. He died near Mooresville, about 22 miles west from Huntsville, and his remains were brought here for interment. Mrs. Bibb died near Huntsville, universally respected and lamented. She was one of the most efficient supporters of the Methodist Church in this place. With the true spirit of Christianity, she felt for the suffering poor: oftentimes she would call on Mr. Franks, the marshal and sexton, to ascertain what persons were in affliction or distress, in order that she might minister to their wants and necessities. The following inscription is from a monument in the ancient and neglected graveyard, on an elevation covered with forest trees:

Sacred to the memory of John Williams Walker, who died March 27th, 1823, in the 40th year of his age. “In the midst of life, we are in death.” He was President of the Convention which formed the Constitution of Alabama , and appointed by the first Legislature of that State a Senator in Congress , the duties of which station he discharged for 3 years, when increasing ill health compelled him to resign.

Wetumpka is on the E. side of Coosa River, 13 miles north easterly from Montgomery. It has a fine site, at the head of steamboat navigation, and is a place of considerable trade. It contains five churches, with numerous stores, etc. The state penitentiary was located here in Oct., 1851. Population about 3,000. The Harrowgate Springs , in the south border of the city, are much resorted to during the summer months.

0056 822

Florence , the capital of Lauderdale county, was laid out in 1818. It is on the N. side of Tennessee River, immediately below the Muscle Shoals, and 197 miles N.W. of Montgomery. It is on an elevated plain, 100 feet above the river, which, when full, is navigable for steamboats to the Ohio. The streets are 100 feet wide, and laid off at right angles. It contains a court house, three churches, and a U. S. surveyor-general's office. Population about 2,000. La Grange College was founded in 1831, under the direction of the Methodists. The Muscle Shoals are an extensive series of rapids, in which the water, in the course of 20 miles, descends 100 feet. “The neighborhood is a famous place of resort for wild ducks and geese, which come in great flocks in search of the shell-fish from which the rapids derive their name. Boats can not pass this part of the Tennessee except at times of very high water. The canal which was built around the falls is now abandoned.

Tuscumbia , is on the left bank of the Tennessee, five miles below Florence, and 346 miles N. from Mobile. It is on the line of the Charleston and Memphis Railroad, 144 miles E. from Memphis. It contains several churches and seminaries, and a number of manufacturing establishments. Population about 3,000. An extraordinary spring here flows from a fissure in a lime stone rock, which discharges 20,000 cubic feet of water per minute.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

William Weatherford , one of the most conspicuous war chiefs of the Creek Confederacy, was born in the Creek Nation: his father was an itinerant pedlar and his mother a full blooded Indian of the Seminole tribe. He is said to have possessed the bad qualities of both his parents, combined with many traits peculiarly his own. In person he was tall, strait, and well proportioned. His judgment and eloquence had secured the respect of the old; his vices made him the idol of the young and unprincipled. During the war of 1812 he entered fully into the views of Tecumseh, and was the principal leader at the massacre at Fort Mimms. After the final defeat, at the battle of the Horse-shoe, he voluntarily came into the camp of Gen. Jackson; it was on this occasion that he made his celebrated speech:

“I am in your power—do with me as you please—I am a soldier. I have done the whites all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely. If I had an army, I would yet fight—I would contend to the last: but I have none. My people are all gone. I can only weep over the misfortunes of my nation.”

General Jackson was pleased with his boldness, and told him that though he was in his power, yet he would take no advantage; that he might yet join the war party, and contend against the Americans, if he chose, but to depend upon no quarter if taken afterward; and that unconditional submission was his and his people's only safety. Weatherford replied, in a tone as dignified as indignant:

“You safely address me in such terms now. There was a time when I could have answered you—there was a time when I had a choice—I have none now. I have not even a hope. I could once animate my warriors to battle—but I can not animate the dead. My Warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their bones are at Talladega, Tallushatches, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered myself without thought. While there was a single chance of success, I never left my post, nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone, and I now ask it for my nation, not for myself. I look back with deep sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calamities. If I had been left to contend with the Georgia army, I would have raised my corn on one bank of the river, and fought them on the other. But your people have destroyed my nation. You are a brave man. I rely upon your generosity. You will exact no terms of a conquered people, but such as they should accede to. Whatever they may be, it would now be madness and folly to oppose them. If they are opposed, you shall find me amongst the sternest enforcers of obedience. Those who would still hold out, can be influenced only by a mean spirit of revenge. To this they must not, and shall not sacrifice the last remnant of their country. You have told our nation where we might go and be safe. This is good talk, and they ought to listen to it. They shall listen to it.”

After the war was over, he became a citizen of Monroe county, where he had a 0057 823 good farm, well supplied with negroes. He was much respected by the inhabitants for his bravery, honor, and strong native sense. He died in 1826, from the effects of fatigue produced by a desperate bear hunt.

Alexander M'Gillivray was one of the greatest chiefs ever known among the Creeks. He was born about the year 1739, and was the son of an Englishman of that name, who married a Creek woman, and hence was what is called a half breed. At the age of ten years he was sent to school at Charleston, S. C. On the death of his mother, who was governess of the nation, he was elected “emperor,” by the Creeks, who had so high an opinion of him that they styled him “king of kings.” He was in the British interest during the Revolutionary war. After the peace he became reconciled to the Americans. In 1790 he visited New York, and made a treaty with the United States, and became their agent at a salary of $3,500 per annum, while at the same time, it appears, he was secretly receiving a large amount as agent for the Spanish authorities. He died Feb. 17, 1793, at Pensacola and was buried with Masonic honors.

William Wyatt Bibb , the first governor of Alabama, was born in 1781. He was educated as a physician, and practiced in Petersburg, Georgia, In 1806, at the early age of 25, he was elected a representative to congress from that state, and afterward a senator. He remained in congress until 1816, when he was appointed governor of Alabama Territory, and was afterward elected by the people, governor of the state of Alabama. He died in 1820, in the 40th year of his age. He was a man of pure moral character, graceful address, and fine talents.

William R. King , vice president of the United States, was born in North Carolina, in 1786, was educated to the bar, served as a representative in congress from his native state, from 1811 to 1816; afterward emigrated to Alabama, which state he represented in the U. S. senate from 1819 until 1844, when he was appointed minister to France, and continued there until 1846, when he was again elected to the senate, and there remained until he was elected vice president of the United States, in 1852, on the same ticket with Franklin Pierce. His health was so feeble at this time that he went to Cuba, and the constitutional oath of office was administered there to him by the American consul. He returned to his plantation, at Cahawba, Dallas county, April 17, 1852, and died the following day. His faculties were rather solid than brilliant, and he was highly esteemed for his sound judgment and integrity of character.

MISSISSIPPI.

Arms Of Mississippi.

The name of this state is from the Indian words Meach-Chassippi , signifying “Father of Rivers.” The first Europeans who traversed its soil were De Soto and his followers, in their celebrated expedition in search of gold, about the year 1540. The Indians inhabiting its territory were the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Natchez , etc. For a great part of the time until the cession of 1763, most of these tribes or nations were in a state of warfare with the white intruders. La Salle, descending the rivers from the Illinois country, in 1681, visited the part of the state bordering on the Mississippi, but the first attempt to found permanent settlements on this river were made, in 1698, by Ibberville, the governor of Louisiana. His colony arrived at Ship Island in 1700, and after exploring along and beyond the Mississippi, the parties returned and built a fort at Biloxi, at the mouth of a river of that name, about 20 miles N. of the island.

In 1716, Bienville, one of the governors of Louisiana, sailed up the Mississippi as far as Natchez, erected and garrisoned a fortification, which he called “Fort Rosalie. ” This spot had been marked down by Ibberville, in 1700, as an eligible site for a town, of which he drew a plan, and which he called Rosalie , the maiden name of the Countess Ponchartrain, of France.

In 1729, the Natchez Indians formed a conspiracy against the French colonists, by whom they considered themselves aggrieved. On the 28th of November, they fell upon the inhabitants by surprise, and about 700 hundred Frenchmen were massacred. The French governor of Louisiana, M. Perier, resolved on avenging the massacre, sent to the Choctaws, who furnished a body of about 1,600 warriors to assist the French against the Natchez. The Natchez, being besieged in their fort by the French, had the address, during the night, to make their escape. Learning afterward, that they had fortified themselves west of the Mississippi, the French followed them thither, and compelled them to surrender. They were taken to New 52 825 0060 826 Orleans, and afterward transported as slaves to St. Domingo. Thus perished the Natchez nation, “the most illustrious in Louisiana.”

The Chickasaws were the dread of the French colonists, as they had incited the Natchez against them. They occupied a large and beautiful tract east of the Mississippi, at the head of the Tombigbee. This they would not allow the French to settle, but maintained their independence. In 1736, a force from New Orleans, under Bienville, sailed for Mobile in thirty barges and thirty large pirogues. Proceeding up the Tombigbee, they were joined by 1,200 Choctaw warriors, and the combined force moved up to the present site of Cotton-gin Port, nearly five hundred miles, by the river, from Mobile, to within about 27 miles of the stronghold of the Chickasaws, in the present county of Pontotoc. Having completed a stockade, and left a guard, Bienville advanced against the enemy. As they came in sight of the Chickasaw fort, on the 26th of May, the British flag was seen waving over its walls, and it was known that British traders were in the fort conducting the defense.

The French column advanced to the assault, with the cheering shout of “Vive le Roi. ” Twice during the day was the assault renewed with fire and sword, but they were repulsed by the terrible fire from the fort, and having lost about 100 men, in killed and wounded, Bienville soon after broke up his encampment and took up the retrograde line of march. Having dismissed the Choctaws with presents, he threw his cannon into the Tombigbee, and floated down the river to Fort Conde, and from thence to New Orleans.

One important part of the plan of the campaign against the Chickasaws, was to have the co-operation of a force of French and Indians from Canada. D'Artaguette, the pride and flower of the French at the north, procured the aid of “Chicago,” the Illinois chief from the shore of Lake Michigan. His lieutenant was the gallant Vincennes , from the settlement on the Wabash. These heroes came down the river unobserved to the last Chickasaw bluff, and from thence penetrated into the heart of the country. On the 10th of May, they encamped, it is supposed, about six miles east of the present town of Pontotoc, near the appointed place of rendezvous with the force of Bienville. Having waited for some time in vain for intelligence from the chief commander, the Indian allies of D'Artaguette became impatient for war and plunder, and could not be restrained, when D'Artaguette consented to lead them to the attack. He drove the Chickasaws from two of their fortified villages, but was severely wounded in his attack on the third. His allies, the red men of Illinois, dismayed at this check, fled precipitately, and D'Artaguette was left weltering in his blood. Vincennes, his lieutenant, and the Jesuit Senat, their spiritual guide and friend, refusing to fly, shared the captivity of their gallant leader. They were treated with great care and attention by the Chickasaws, who were in hopes of obtaining a great ransom from Bienville, then advancing into their country. After his retreat, the Chickasaws, despairing of receiving anything for their prisoners, tortured and burnt them over a slow fire, leaving but one alive to relate their fate to their countrymen.

In 1763, France relinquished to Great Britain all her possessions east of the Mississippi, and to Spain all west of that river, and also the Island of Orleans. Spain, at the same time, gave up Florida to the British. In 1783, the country north of the parallel of 31° north latitude, was included in the limits of the United States, by the treaty acknowledging their independence, and the Floridas reverted to the Spanish crown. By its charter, the Georgia limits extended to the Mississippi. In 1795, its legislature sold 22,000,000 0061 827 acres of land in Mississippi, called the Yazoo purchase , to four companies, for $500,000, who afterward sold it, at advanced prices, to various persons, mostly in the eastern and middle states. The next year the legislature declared the sale unconstitutional, and ordered the records of it to be burnt. The southern section of the state was within the limits of Florida, and was purchased of Spain in 1821. In 1798, a large part of the area now comprising the states of Mississippi and Alabama, constituted the “Mississippi Territory.” In 1817, the state of Mississippi was admitted into the Union.

Mississippi is situated between 30° 10′ and 35° N. Lat., and between 80° 30′ and 81° 35′ W. Long. It is 339 miles long from N. to S., and 150 broad, containing 47,151 square miles. The southern part of the state, for about 100 miles from the Gulf shore, is mostly a sandy level pine forest, interspersed with cypress swamps, open prairies, and a few slight elevations. There are no mountains within the limits of the state, only numerous ranges of hills of moderate elevation, some of which terminate abruptly upon a level plain, or upon the banks of a river, bearing the name of “bluffs,” or river hills. The Mississippi River, in its various windings, forms the entire western boundary of the state, and most of the lands bordering it, from the northern line to the entrance of Yazoo River, consist of inundated swamps, covered with a large growth of timber. From Memphis, just above the northern line of Mississippi to Vicksburg, a distance of 450 miles by the river, the uplands, or river hills, are separated by inundated bottom lands of greater or less width, and afford no site suitable for a port. Below Vicksburg, the only eligible port is Natchez, 100 miles south.

The country in the south part of the state is rolling, healthy, and productive. The Yazoo is the largest river that has its whole course in the state, and the lands drained by it are very fertile. The coast, which extends along the Gulf of Mexico for about 60 miles, has no harbor for large vessels. A chain of low sand islands, six or seven miles from the shore, inclose several bays or sounds: the largest are Pascagoula Sound and Lake Borgne. Ship and Cat Islands are eligible for ocean steamers. The ports on the Mississippi are Vicksburg, Grand Gulf, and Natchez. The great staple of the state is cotton. Indian corn, rice, tobacco, hemp, etc., are also important productions. The fig and orange grow well in the lower part of the state, and the apple tree flourishes in the higher hilly regions. Population, in 1800, 8,850; in 1820, 75,448; in 1840, 375,651 in 1850, 606,555 and in 1860, 887,258, of whom 479,607 were slaves.

Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, is about 40 miles eastward of Vicksbuag, with which it is connected by a railroad. It is situated on a plain on the left bank of Pearl River, which is navigable to this place for small steamboats. It contains the state house, the governor's house, the state penitentiary, a lunatic asylum, an asylum for the deaf and dumb, and also one for the blind, a United States land office, seven churches, and about 4,000 inhabitants.

The first settlers of Jackson and its vicinity were Col. Abram De France, Hiram G. Runnels (afterward governor,) Col. John A. Grimbel, and Gen. David Dickson. Col. De France located a few rods north of the capitol: Gov. Runnels located about two miles from the state house: Col. Grimbel about six miles to the westward. Gen. Dickson came to this place in 1828, as lieutenant governor, and located himself where his widow now resides. Mrs. Dickson has, for a long period, kept a boarding house for members of 0062 828 the legislature and others. Gen. Dickson, her husband, was an officer under Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, and at the time of his death in 1837, had received the appointment of minister to France.

Southern View of Jackson (Central Part.) The view shows the southern front of the State House. The Governor's House is seen a little to the left, also the Bowman House. The City Hall and Mrs. Dickson's house are on the right.

The first church erected in Jackson was the Methodist, and the second was the Presbyterian. Messrs. Hamilton, Donund, and Halsey, were the first Presbyterian clergymen. Mr. Halsey was quite distinguished. The next in order was the Baptist. The first Baptist clergyman was Mr. Holliway. The fourth church erected was the Catholic, the fifth the Episcopal, and the last the Campbellite Baptist. Gen. Dickson, who was president of the Medical Board of Mississippi, was the first practicing physician in the place. The land on which these churches stand, was given by the state to the several societies who erected the buildings.

The first session of the “First General Assembly of the State of Mississippi,” convened in the town of Washington, in Oct., 1817. The first senators to congress were Walter Leake and Thomas H. Williams; and the first representative elected by the people was George Poindexter. At this period more than two thirds of the territory of the state was in the possession of the native tribes, the Choctaws occupying the largest portion. In 1820, the Federal Government employed Gen. Jackson, of Tennessee, and Gen. Hinds, of Mississippi, as commissioners to negotiate with the Choctaws for the purchase of lands. A treaty was effected at Doak's Stand, whereby nearly five and a half millions of acres were obtained.

The territory thus acquired, was, for many years afterward, known as the “New Purchase,” and was formed into the counties of Hinds, Simpson, Copiah, Rankin, Madison, Bolivar, Yazoo, Washington, and Holmes. It being determined to establish the seat of the state government in some central part, the general assembly, in Nov., 1820, authorized “Thomas Hinds, William Lattimore, and Peter A. Vandorn, to locate the future capital of the state near Pearl River, within the ‘New Purchase.’” They also declared that it should be “known by the name of Jackson , in honor of Major General Andrew Jackson.

0063 829

Natchez is on the E. bank of the Mississippi, 87 miles S.W. from Jackson, the capital of the state, and from New Orleans, by the river, 309 miles, but in a direct line, 127 miles. This is usually considered the principal city of the state, its importance arising from its being the depot of cotton, the product of the lands around it, and from being also one of the main entrepots of the internal commerce of Mississippi. The principal part of the city is built on a clayey bluff, about 150 feet high. Natchez under the Hill , as it is called, is that part of the city which lies upon the margin of the river, consisting of warehouses, stores, shops, etc., for the accommodation of the landing.

Western view of Natchez. The buildings near the shore comprise “Natchez under the Hill”: part of the city above appears on the bluff. The City Hotel and part of the promenade grounds on the edge of the precipitous cliffs are seen on the left. The passage to the landing appears in the central part.

On the elevated ground the city is regularly laid out with broad streets, adorned with trees. Generally, the style of building is plain, but many of the dwellings are elegant, and their grounds beautifully ornamented with trees and shrubbery. The surface of the ground on which Natchez stands, and of the whole adjacent country, is uneven, undulating like the rolling of the sea in a storm, presenting a strong contrast to the low and level surface of the vast cypress swamps of Louisiana, seen on the opposite side of the river. The city contains a court house, five churches, several literary institutions, three banks, a hospital, orphan asylum, etc., and about 7,000 inhabitants.

“From its geographical position, and the wealth which has been expended upon its decorations, it has long been considered as one of the most beautiful places in the lower valley of the Mississippi. Its elevated site affords a fine view of this majestic river, with the numerous craft moving to and fro upon its waters; of the village of Concordia, on the opposite bank, and the vast region of country spreading out beyond. Although the city is liable occasionally to be visited with the bilious and intermittent fevers of the climate, yet its location is comparatively advantageous in this respect, and in most seasons, it proves a healthful and agreeable place of residence.”

Natchez was a very important point in the early history of Mississippi. 0064 830 In the year 1700, Iberville, the first colonist of Louisiana, ascended the Mississippi 400 miles, as far as the Natchez tribe, on a voyage of exploration. Here he selected an elevated bluff as the site for the future capital of the province. It was the bluff where the city of Natchez now stands: this place he named Rosalie. He was highly pleased with the Natchez tribe and their country. This tribe was very powerful and highly improved, and in many particulars differed from the neighboring tribes with whom they were in alliance.

“Their religion, in some respects, resembled that of the fire-worshipers of Persia. Fire was the emblem of their divinity; the sun was their god: their chiefs were called “suns,” and their king was called the “Great Sun.” In their principal temple a perpetual fire was kept burning by the ministering priest, who like-wise offered sacrifices of the first fruits of the chase. In extreme cases, they offered sacrifices of infant children, to appease the wrath of the deity. When Iberville was there, one of the temples was struck by lightning and set on fire. The keeper of the fane solicited the squaws to throw their little ones into the fire to appease the angry divinity, and four infants were thus sacrificed before the French could prevail on them to desist from the horrid rites.

After Iberville reached the Natchez tribe, the Great Sun, or king of the confederacy, having heard of the approach of the French commandant, determined to pay him a visit in person. As he advanced to the quarters of Iberville, he was borne upon the shoulders of some of his men, and attended by a great retinue of his people. He bade Iberville a hearty welcome, and showed him the most marked attention and kindness during his stay. A treaty of friendship was concluded, with permission to build a fort and to establish a trading-post among them; which was, however, deferred for many years.”

A few stragglers soon after took up their abode among the Natchez; but no regular settlement was made until 1716, when Bienville, governor of Louisiana, erected Fort Rosalie, which is supposed to have stood near the eastern limit of the present city of Natchez.

Grand or Great Sun , the chief of the Natchez, was at first the friend of the whites, until the overbearing disposition of one man brought destruction on the whole colony. The residence of the Great Sun was a beautiful village, called the White Apple. This village spread over a space of nearly three miles in extent, and stood about twelve miles south of the fort, near the mouth of Second Creek, and three miles east of the Mississippi. M. de Chopart. the commandant, was guilty of great injustice toward the Indians, and went so far as to command the “Great Sun” to leave the village of his ancestors, as he wanted the ground for his own purposes. The Great Sun, finding Chopart deaf to all his entreaties, formed a plot to rid his country of the tyrant who oppressed them. Previous to the tragedy, the Sieur de Mace, ensign of the garrison, received advice of the intention of the Natchez, through a young Indian girl who loved him. She told him, crying, that her nation intended to massacre the French. Amazed at this story, he questioned his mistress. Her simple answers, and her tender tears, left him no room to doubt of the plot. He informed Chopart of it, who forthwith put him under arrest for giving a false alarm. The following is from Monette's History of the Valley of Mississippi:

“At length the fatal day arrived. It was Nov. 29, 1729. Early in the morning, Great Sun repaired, with a few chosen warriors, to Fort Rosalie, and all were well armed with knives and other concealed weapons.

The company had recently sent up a large supply of powder and lead, and provisions for the use of the post. The Indians had recourse to stratagem to procure a supply of ammunition, pretending that they were preparing for a great hunting excursion. Before they set out they wished to purchase a supply of ammunition, 0065 831 and they had brought corn and poultry to barter for powder and lead. Having placed the garrison off their guard, a number of Indians were permitted to enter the fort, and others were distributed about the company's warehouse. Upon a certain signal from the Great Sun, the Indians immediately drew their concealed weapons, and commenced the carnage by one simultaneous and furious massacre of the garrison, and all who were in and near the warehouse.

Other parties, distributed through the contiguous settlements, carried on the bloody work in every house as soon as the smoke was seen to rise from the houses near the fort.

The massacre commenced at nine o'clock in the morning, and before noon the whole of the male population of the French colony on St. Catharine (consisting of about seven hundred souls) were sleeping the sleep of death. The slaves were spared for the service of the victors, and the females and children were reserved as prisoners of war. Chopart fell among the first victims; and, as the chiefs disdained to stain their hands with his despised blood, he was dispatched by the hand of a common Indian. Two mechanics,, a tailor and a carpenter, were spared, because they might be useful to the Indians.

While the massacre was progressing, the Great Sun seated himself in the spacious warehouse of the company, and, with apparent unconcern and complacency, sat and smoked his pipe while his warriors were depositing the heads of the French garrison in a pyramid at his feet. The head of Chopart was placed in the center, surmounting those of his officers and soldiers. So soon as the warriors informed the Great Sun that the last Frenchman had ceased to live, he commanded the pillage to commence. The negro slaves were employed in bringing out the plunder for distribution. The powder and military stores were reserved for public use in future emergencies.

While the ardent spirits remained, the day and the night alike presented one continued scene of savage triumph and drunken revelry. With horrid yells they spent their orgies in dancing over the mangled bodies of their enemies, which lay strewed in every quarter where they had fallen in the general carnage. Here, unburied, they remained a prey for dogs and hungry vultures. Every vestige of the houses and dwellings in all the settlements were reduced to ashes.

Two soldiers only, who happened to be absent in the woods at the time of the massacre, escaped to bear the melancholy tidings to New Orleans. As they approached the fort and heard the deafening yells of the savages, and saw the columns of smoke and flame ascending from the buildings, they well judged the fate of their countrymen. They concealed themselves until they could procure a boat or canoe to descend the river to New Orleans, where they arrived a few days afterward, and told the sad story of the colony on the St. Catharine.

The same fate was shared by the colony on the Yazoo, near Fort St. Peter, and by those on the Washita, at Sicily Island, and near the present town of Monroe. Dismay and terror were spread over every settlement in the province. New Orleans was filled with mourning and sadness for the fate of friends and countrymen.

The whole number of victims slain in this massacre amounted to more than two hundred men, besides a few women and some negroes, who attempted to defend their masters. Ninety-two women and one hundred and fifty-five children were taken prisoners. Among the victims were Father Poisson, the Jesuit missionary; Laloire, the principal agent of the company; M. Kollys and son, who had purchased M. Hubert's interest, and had just arrived to take possession.”

When the news of this terrible disaster reached New Orleans, the French commenced a war of extermination against the Natchez. The tribe eventually were driven across the Mississippi, and finally scattered and extirpated. The Great Sun and his principal war chiefs, falling into the hands of the French, were shipped to St. Domingo and sold as slaves. Some of the poor prisoners were treated with excessive cruelty, four of the men and two of the women were publicly burned to death at New Orleans. Some Tonica Indians, who had brought down a Natchez woman, whom they had discovered 0066 832 The unfortunate woman was led forth to a platform erected near the levee, and, surrounded by the whole population, was slowly consumed by the flames! She supported her tortures with stoical fortitude, not shedding a tear. “On the contrary,” says Gayarre, “she upbraided her torturers with their want of skill, flinging at them every opprobrious epithet she could think of.”

“The scattered remnants of the tribe sought an asylum among the Chickasaws and other tribes who were hostile to the French. Since that time, the individuality of the Natchez tribe has been swallowed up in the nations with whom they were incorporated. Yet no tribe has left so proud a memorial of their courage, their independent spirit, and their contempt of death in defense of their rights and liberties. The city of Natchez is their monument, standing upon the field of their glory. Such is the brief history of the Natchez Indians, who are now considered extinct. In refinement and intelligence, they were equal, if not superior, to any other tribe north of Mexico. In courage and stratagem they were inferior to none. Their form was noble and commanding; their stature was seldom under six feet, and their persons were straight and athletic. Their countenance indicated more intelligence than is commonly found in savages. The head was compressed from the os frontis to the occiput, so that the forehead appeared high and retreating, while the occiput was compressed almost in a line with the neck and shoulders, This peculiarity, as well as their straight, erect form, is ascribed to the pressure of bandages during infancy. Some of the remaining individuals of the Natchez tribe were in the town of Natchez as late as the year 1782, or more than half a century after the Natchez massacre.”

By the peace of 1763, the Natchez District came into possession of Great Britain, and the next year it was included in West Florida. In 1783, when Florida was ceded to Spain, Natchez came under the dominion of that power. In 1796, by the treaty of Madrid, the Natchez district was ceded to the United States. That treaty defined the boundary of the Floridas to be the thirty-first parallel of north latitude, from the Mississippi eastward to the Chattahoochee River; thence along a line running due east from the mouth of Flint River to the head of St. Mary's River, and thence down the middle of that river to the Atlantic Ocean. This left to Spain, west of the present boundary of Florida, a narrow strip along the Gulf of Mexico, of about 60 miles in width, of the present states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, to the Mississippi, beside all of the present Florida and a strip of about 25 miles in width of the present southern part of Georgia. Spain was forced to this cession through her political embarrassments, and, from the delay in abandoning the territory, it was evident she had hopes that circumstances would arise which would enable her to retain possession. Foiled in her intrigues to accomplish this end, the Spanish governor general at New Orleans, in January, 1798, ordered the evacuation of the only Spanish forts remaining, Natchez and Nogales. The post at the mouth of Wolf River, near the present site of Memphis, had been evacuated the preceding autumn.

On the 29th of March, 1798, about midnight, the Spanish drums in the fort at Natchez sounded the note of preparation, and before morning the garrison had embarked on the Mississippi, on their way to New Orleans. On the 7th of the following month, the territory surrendered, comprising the present states of Mississippi and Alabama, north of the 31st parallel of north latitude, was erected into the Mississippi Territory, and on the 10th of May, organized a territorial government. Winthrop Sargent, the first territorial governor, and the territorial judges, arrived at Natchez the following August, and proceeded to establish the government. General Wilkinson also arrived with the Federal troops, and established his headquarters 0067 833 at Natchez. Soon after he founded the present Fort Adams, on the Mississippi, six miles above the Florida line.

In 1801, Gov. Sargent was succeeded by Wm. C. C. Claiborne as governor of the territory, which at that time had about 12,000 inhabitants, of whom some 2,000 were slaves. The next year the seat of the territorial government was removed to the town of Washington.

On the 10th of March, 1803, Natchez received a city charter from the territorial legislature. It was then a large village, consisting chiefly of small wooden buildings of one story, distributed over an irregular, undulating surface, with but little regard to system or cleanliness. The year previous, the Natchez Gazette, the first newspaper in Mississippi, was established by Col. Andrew Marschalk, who had been an officer in Wayne's army. This paper, under different forms and names, was published by this father of the press in Mississippi for nearly forty years afterward.

Previous to the extension of the American jurisdiction over the Natchez district, the Catholic powers forbade Protestant worship, hence public preaching was unknown. The first Protestant preacher was Tobias Gibson, of the South Carolina Conference, who arrived at Natchez in the summer of 1799, and proceeded to organize societies at Washington, Kingston, on Cole's Creek near Greenville, and on the Bayou Pierre. After his death he was succeeded, in 1806, by Learner Blackburn. Thus was Methodism first introduced into the territory. Rev. Mr. Bowman, also a Methodist, settled in Natchez in 1803. In 1802 came the first Presbyterian missionaries, Messrs. Hall and Montgomery, the first of whom labored several years at Natchez. In 1802 came David Cooper, the first Baptist missionary, to Natchez, and also, about the same time, Rev. Dr. Cloud, of the Episcopal church.

“The Mississippi Territory, for several years afterward, with its wide extent of Indian country, was traversed by only three principal roads, or horse-paths. These were, first, the road from the Cumberland settlements through the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations to the Natchez District; second, from Knoxville through the Cherokee and Creek nations, by way of the Tombigbee, to Natchez; third, that from the Oconee settlements of Georgia, by way of Fort Stoddart, to Natchez and New Orleans. The Chickasaw, or Nashville Trace , was frequented more than any other, it being the traveled route for the return journeys of all the Ohio boatmen and traders from New Orleans and Natchez.”

Natchez was the residence of Hon. Sergeant S. Prentiss and Gen. John A. Quitman, each of whom, in their time, were men of national reputation. Mr. Prentiss was born in Portland, Maine, in 1810, and at eighteen years of age settled in Natchez, where he studied law and became the acknowledged head of his profession in this region. As a jury lawyer he had no equal in the southwest, and he was one of the most brilliant of stump orators. In 1838 and 1839, he was a representative in congress. He died in 1850, at the age of 40 years, and is buried near the city. Gen. Quitman was born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1799, was educated for the bar, and when about twenty-one years of age he removed to Natchez. About the year 1840, he was appointed judge of the high court of errors and appeals. He was a major general in the Mexican war, and gained great credit in several battles. In 1850, he was elected governor of Mississippi, and afterward served in congress, where he was at the head of the committee on military affairs. His strict integrity and kindness of heart won him troops of friends among all parties. He was spoken of often as the Democratic candidate for vice president, and was the recognized leader of those favorable to the annexation of Cuba. He died in July, 1858.

0068 834

Vicksburg, so named from Mr. Vicks, an extensive landholder, is on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, 41 miles W. from Jackson, and by the river, 513 from New Orleans. The city is principally built on a bluff, broken into several eminences, and elevated about 200 feet above the river. The buildings are situated on and among the shelving declivities of the hills, and the many clusters of dwellings present a picturesque appearance. The city contains the usual public buildings, several academies, five churches, and about 4,500 inhabitants. It was incorporated as a town in 1825, and as a city in 1836. Great quantities of cotton are annually shipped from this place to New Orleans and elsewhere. The surrounding country is remarkably fertile, well adapted to the culture of cotton, grain, etc. The Walnut Hills , between two and three miles from the city, rise to an elevation of 500 feet above the river.

View of Vicksburg, from the West bank of the Mississippi. The view shows the appearance of the central part of Vicksburg, as seen from the Louisiana side of the Mississippi. The Car House of the Jackson R.R. is on the right. The Catholic and some other churches are seen on the hights in the central part.

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the Vicksburg cemetery:

Sacred to the memory of James Hagan, M.D., a native of the County of Derry, Ireland. By adoption a citizen of the U. S. He departed this life on the 6th day of June, 1843, aged 38 years, a Martyr to his devotion to the Rights and interests of the people, and by his uncompromising vigilance and zeal in detecting and exposing the usurpations and corruptions of place and power. *

* Dr. Hagan was shot by a son of one of the judges of the state courts, for publishing some strictures respecting the conduct of his father. He was tried for murder and acquitted. The monument, was erected at the expense of the Democratic party of Mississippi.

Erected by the citizens of Vicksburg over the remains of ROBERT L. MOORE , Lt. 1st Miss. Rifles. Born in Fairfax Co., Va., killed in the battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, 23d Feb., 1847. He rests on a bed of Honor. Lt. Robert L. Moore, as a citizen and soldier, “obtained the highest respect and confidence.” He fell at Buena Vista, 23d Feb., 1847, “in the first engagement and on the most advanced position.” Robert L. Moore, commanding the Vicksburg Volunteers, distinguished himself by his gallantry “in the storming of Monterey,” and died in his country's service, on the 23d of Feb., 1847, at Buena Vista.

0069 835

Sadly and slowly they laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory, They carved not a line, they raised not a stone, But left him alone in his glory.

A tribute to the memory of the brave soldier and good citizen is now paid by this marble.

Sacred to the memory of John Jenkins, who was born at Walnut Hills, Warren Co., Miss., on the 28th day of July, 1815. On the 13th of Dec., 1844, he became Editor of the Vicksburg Sentinel, and on the 15th of Sept., A.D. 1848, he died bravely, as he ever lived, honorably consecrating with the blood of another martyr, a righteous cause, which living he had advocated with unsurpassed ability, fearlessness and fidelity. *

* Mr. Jenkins lost his life in a street affray. The person who killed him was recently shot in Nicaragua, his head cut off and stuck upon a polo.

Sacred to the memory of Rev. John Lane, born in Virginia, April 8th, A.D. 1789, and died in: Vicksburg, Oct. 10th, A.D. 1855, in the 67th year of his age. He came to the territory of Miss. a Missionary in 1816; and after many years of labor and usefulness, was called to his eternal reward. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. Rev. XIV, 13.

He hath gone to the grave, we no longer behold him, Nor tread the rough paths of the world by his side. God gave him, and took him, and will soon restore him, And death hath no sting, since the Savior hath died.

In memory of Rev. William Hyer, M.A., Pastor of the M. E. Church, Vicksburg. Born in Penn., Feb. 14th, 1807, died in Vicksburg, Nov. 3d, 1855.

Soldier of Christ, well done, The battle's fought, the victory won, Rest from thy lov'd employ, Enter thy master's joy!

At the foot of Monroe-street, in Vicksburg, is a monument without name or date, but on its front is carved a representation of a tree, with its trunk broken off at the top, and beside it is a female figure, weeping. This is erected in memory of Dr. Bodley, who lost his life in an attack on the gamblers, who infested this place about the year 1835. At this period, gambling so prevailed in Vicksburg, that honest citizens were continually liable to the insults of the gamblers, while those who played with them were constantly exposed to their villainous frauds. The citizens, at length, became so exasperated with these desperadoes, that they determined to eject them by force. The following account of the outbreak, July 5, 1835, is extracted from a newspaper published at the time:

“Some difficulty arose at the public dinner given in the celebration of the Fourth of July, as too often happens on similar occasions, between Mr. Fisher, who belonged to the volunteer company, and Mr. Francis Cobbler;—from words they came to blows. Mr. C. having drawn a knife on his opponent, the company taking the part of their comrade, seized him, bound him to a tree, and inflicted thirty-two lashes on his person. Not considering this sufficient, they tarred and feathered him, alleging that he was a gambler He was then released and ordered to quit the city in 24 hours.

The next day. they went forth armed, in military array, to pull down, tear out, and demolish everything appertaining to gambling... Some wished to protect their property, but their hearts failed them when they saw the state of excitement among the volunteers. One at length determined to stay in Mr. North's house, to protect himself from being tarred, and to secure the house and grocery from destruction. He fastened the doors, but on Dr. Bodley's kicking one of them open, some shots were exchanged; the consequence was that the doctor was killed on the spot, and one of the inmates of the house, a person named Cullam, or as we have since heard, Helms, was so wounded as to have been totally insensible to the subsequent punishment inflicted on his body while suspended with the rest upon 0070 836 the gallows. He was hauled upon a dray, and thrown upon the scaffold disfigured as he was and covered with blood.

Three more individuals were taken in the house: the bar-keeper, called Dutch Bill, Mr. Samuel Smith, and Mr. McCall. North, who had previously quitted it and was endeavoring to escape by water, was arrested about a mile from the city and brought back, his hands tied behind him, and obliged to walk with the rest In this manner they were conducted to the scaffold, which is a permanent building, and executed.

No cap or other covering was used, and the unfortunate sufferers presented such a horrid appearance that the passers by were moved even to tears the black musicians were ordered to strike up, and the voices of the supplicants were drowned by the fife and drum Mr. Bodley's brother, or Mr. Hest, his brother-in-law, is stated to have cut the rope by which four of the unfortunate men were launched into eternity. Mr. Winfield threw the nearly lifeless body of Helms (or Cullom) from the scaffold The company consisted of 30 or 40 persons, commanded by Capt. Baumgard The same fate was threatened to any person who should dare cut down the bodies before the expiration of the twenty-four hours. At 11 o'clock the next day, they were cut down and thrown together in a hole, which had been dug near the gallows, without coffins or any other preparations, except a box into which one of them was put.”

Outline view of the Observatory of the University of Mississippi.

Oxford, the capital of Lafayette county, is on the line of the Central Railroad, in the northern part of the state. It is considered one of the healthiest places in Mississippi. It has several churches, two seminaries for boys, two for girls, and the University of Mississippi. This institution is about a mile from the village, and the buildings are excellent. Its origin was a grant of 36 sections of land given for this purpose, by congress, in 1819. The funds accruing from the sale of 35½ sections of this land were accordingly thus applied by the legislature, and in 1848, the institution went into operation. In the three departments—academical, law and arts—are about 200 students.

Columbus , the shire town of Lowndes county, is on the left bank of the Tombigbee, at an elevation of 120 feet above the river, at the ordinary head of steamboat navigation, 150 miles N.E. from Jackson, and, by the river, 480 miles from Mobile. It is regularly laid out. It has a fine court house and other public buildings, six churches, a U. S. land office, extensive warehouses, stores, and about 4,000 inhabitants. Within a few years, in consequence of the sale of the Indian lands and emigration to the surrounding country, it has rapidly increased. The first settlement of the place commenced 0071 837 in 1819, by Thomas Sampson, William Viser, Spirus Roach, and William Poor Mr. Roach kept a tavern in a cabin built by Thomas Thomas in 1817. During the winter of 1819 and the spring of 1820, the military road, leading from Nashville to New Orleans and passing through Columbus, was opened by the United States troops.

Aberdeen , on the right bank of the Tombigbee, 25 miles above Columbus, is the center and shipping place for a fertile cotton region. It has several literary institutions, six churches, and several manufacturing establishments.

Canton , 25 miles N. from Jackson, on the line of the railroad, is a beautiful place recently incorporated, having an elegant court house, five churches, and about 2,000 inhabitants.

Yazoo City is a large shipping point for cotton on the Yazoo River, 50 miles N.N.W. from Jackson. It is in a rich cotton district, and has about 2,500 inhabitants.

Holly Springs , the capital of Marshall county, is a flourishing village, in a healthy, beautiful country, on the line of the Mississippi Central Railroad, 210 miles north of Jackson. It contains four educational institutions of fine repute, the Chalmers' Institute, and St. Thomas Hall for boys, and the Franklin Female College and Holly Springs Female Institute for girls, and about 4,000 inhabitants.

The Lauderdale Springs , sulphur and chalybeate, are in Lauderdale county, in the extreme northwestern corner of the state. Coopers' Well , 12 miles west of Jackson, is noted for its mineral qualities.

MISCELLANIES.

THE LYMAN COLONY IN MISSISSIPPI.

Phineas Lyman, a major general in the French Canadian war, was one of the first of the Anglo Saxon race who attempted a settlement in the present limits of Mississippi. He was a native of Durham, Conn., a graduate of Yale College, a distinguished lawyer, and became commander of the Connecticut forces in 1755. He visited England as the agent for an association, called the “Military Adventurers,” whose design was the colonization of a tract of country upon the Mississippi. After sustaining a series of mortifications and delays from those in power, for more than ten years, the grant upon the Mississippi was made, and he returned home in 1773.

In Dec., 1773, Gen. Lyman sailed from New England, in two vessels, for New Orleans, accompanied by the following emigrants: Daniel and Roswell Magguet and Capt. Ladley, of Hartford; Thomas and James Lyman, of Durham; Hugh White, Capt. Ellsworth, Ira Whitmore, and —— Sage, of Middletown; Thaddeus and Phineas Lyman, James Harman and family —— Moses, Isaac Sheldon, Roger Harmon, —— Hanks, Elnathan Smith, and eight slaves, from Suffield; Thomas Comstock, —— Weed, of New Hartford; Capt. Silas Crape, Robert Patrick, Ashbel Bowen, John Newcomb, and James Dean, of Lebanon; Abram Knapp, and Capt. Matthew Phelps, of Norfolk; Giles and Nathaniel Hull, James Stoddart, and Thaddeus Bradley, of Salisbury; Maj. Easley, of Weathersfield; John Fisk, and Elisha Hale, Wallingford, Timothy and David Hotchkiss Waterbury; John Hyde, William and Jonathan Lyon, and William Davis, of Stratford or Derby; —— Alcott of Windsor. All these were from Connecticut. The following, were from Massachusetts: Moses Drake, Ruggles Winchel, and Benjamin Barber, of Westfield; Seth Miller, Elisha and Joseph Flowers, William Hurlbut, and Elisha Leonard, with a number of slaves, of Springfield

Gen. Lyman and his company arrived at New Orleans in 1774, and after a laborious passage up the Mississippi, reached the Big Black River, in the “Natchez Country,” as it was called. Here he settled his grant, but was too old to cultivate it. In a short time he and his son died. Capt. Phelps returned to Connecticut, 0072 838 and by his representations of the fertility of the new country, induced many of the citizens to return with him. After some delay, he sailed from Middletown in 1776. Among the emigrants were Madame Lyman, the widow of the late general, with three sons and two daughters, Maj. Timothy, Sereno, and Jonathan Dwight, of Northampton; Benjamin Day and family, Harry Dwight and three slaves, Joseph Leonard and Joshua Flowers, with their families, from Springfield; Rev. Mr. Smith and his family, from Granville, Mass.; Mrs. Elnathan Smith and children, John Felt, with his family, Capt. Phelps and family, from Suffield, and many others.

After a voyage of three months, they reached New Orleans on the 1st of August. Here, having obtained boats, they proceeded up the Mississippi. Capt. Phelps and all his children becoming prostrated by disease, his boat was tied to the willows, while the others continued the Voyage. The boat containing the Lymans and the Rev. Mr. Smith reached Natchez. Mr. Smith and Maj. Dwight died in a short time. Those of the party who were left arrived at the Big Black and the improvements made by Gen. Lyman. Here Madame Lyman soon died, and was buried by the side of her husband. Capt. Phelps remained in his boat, which was anchored fifteen miles above Point Coupee, where his son and daughter died and he was compelled to bury them with his own hands: his wife soon after died, and he was left alone with two little children. These were subsequently drowned as he came in sight of the mouth of the Big Black River.

The remaining members of the Lyman family continued in the country until it was invaded by the Spaniards in 1781-82. With a number of their friends, they planted themselves in the neighborhood of Natchez. Being British subjects, and having everything to fear from the Spaniards, they determined to flee through the wilderness to Savannah, the nearest British post. The mother country and her colonies being at war, rendered a direct course to Savannah too perilous to be hazarded. To avoid danger they were compelled to take a very circuitous route, wandering, according to their reckoning, nearly fourteen hundred miles. Their journeyings occupied one hundred and forty-nine days.

The caravan was numerous, including men, women and children, with some at the breast. They were mounted on horseback, but the ruggedness of the ground obliged such as were able to walk, to make a great part of their way on foot. They were in constant apprehensions from hostile Indians. Often they suffered from extreme thirst and hunger. The first Indian town they ventured to approach was on the “Hickory ground”—the site of Wotumpka, Ala. Supposing the company were whigs, and enemies to King George, their “Great Father,” the Creeks appear to have determined to put them to death. But, by the cunning and address of Paro, the black servant of McGillivray, the Creek chief, who understood the English language, they escaped. The Indians told Paro that, if they were Englishmen, “they could make the paper talk,” i. e. they must have kept a journal. Paro took the hint, and as they had kept none, he told them any piece of paper that had writing upon it would serve the purpose. An old letter was produced, from which one of the company pretended to read the adventures of the company since they left Natchez. This was interpreted to the Indians by Paro, sentence by sentence. As the recital went on, their countenances began to relax, and before the reading was finished, their ferocity was succeeded by friendship, and all the wants of the wanderers kindly supplied.

THE BANDIT MASON.

“Among the incidents in the early history of the Mississippi Territory was the violent death of the notorious robber Mason. This fearless bandit had become the terror of the routes from New Orleans and Natchez through the Indian nations. After the organization of the territorial government, and the opening of” roads through the wilderness to Tennessee, the return of traders, supercargoes, and boatmen to the northern settlements, with the proceeds of their voyage, was on foot and on horseback, in parties for mutual protection, through the Indian nations; and often rich treasures of specie were packed on mules and horses over 0073 839 these long and toilsome journeys. Nor was it a matter of surprise, in a dreary wilderness, that bandits should infest such a route. It was in the year 1802, when all travel and intercourse from New Orleans and the Mississippi Territory was necessarily by way of this solitary trace, or by the slow-ascending barge and keel, that Mason made his appearance in the Mississippi Territory.

Long accustomed to robbery and murder upon the Lower Ohio, during the Spanish dominion on the Mississippi, and pressed by the rapid approach of the American population, he deserted the ‘Cave in the Rock,’ on the Ohio, and began to infest the great Natchez Trace, where the rich proceeds of the river trade were the tempting prize, and where he soon become the terror of every peaceful traveler through the wilderness. Associated with him were his two sons and a few other desperate miscreants; and the name of Mason and his band was known and dreaded from the morasses of the southern frontier to the silent shades of the Tennessee River. The outrages of Mason became more frequent and sanguinary. One day found him marauding on the banks of the Pearl, against the life and fortune of the trader; and before pursuit was organized, the hunter, attracted by the descending sweep of the solitary vulture, learned the story of another robbery and murder on the remote shores of the Mississippi. Their depredations became at last so frequent and daring, that the people of the territory were driven to adopt measures for their apprehension. But such was the knowledge of the wilderness possessed by the wily bandit, and such his untiring vigilance and activity, that for a time he baffled every attempt for his capture.

Treachery at last, however, effected what stratagem, enterprise and courage had in vain attempted. A citizen of great respectability, passing with his sons through the wilderness, was plundered by the bandits. Their lives were, however, spared, and the returned to the settlement. Public feeling was now excited, and the governor of the territory found it necessary to act. Governor Claiborne accordingly offered a liberal reward for the robber Mason, dead or alive! The proclamation was widely distributed, and a copy of it reached Mason himself, who indulged in much merriment on the occasion. Two of his band, however, tempted by the large reward, concerted a plan by which they might obtain it. An opportunity soon occurred; and while Mason, in company with the two conspirators, was counting out some ill-gotten plunder, a tomahawk was buried in his brain. His head was severed from his body and borne in triumph to Washington, then the seat of the territorial government.

The head of Mason was recognized by many, and identified by all who read the proclamation, as the head entirely corresponded with the description given of certain scars and peculiar marks. Some delay, however, occurred in paying over the reward, owing to the slender state of the treasury. Meantime, a great assemblage from all the adjacent country had taken place, to view the grim and ghastly head of the robber chief. They were not less inspired with curiosity to see and converse with the individual whose prowess had delivered the country of so great a scourge. Among those spectators were the two young men, who, unfortunately for these traitors, recognized them as companions of Mason in the robbery of their father.

It is unnecessary to say that treachery met its just reward, and that justice, was also satisfied. The reward was not only withheld, but the robbers were imprisoned, and, on the full evidence of their guilt, condemned and executed at Greenville, Jefferson county.

The band of Mason, being thus deprived of their leader and two of his most efficient men, dispersed and fled the country. Thus terminated the terrors which had infested the route through the Indian nations, known to travelers as the ‘Natchez and Nashville Trace.’”

COTTON.

Cotton, only within the memory of man, has assumed much importance in the agriculture and commerce of the world. With our fathers, cotton cloth was almost entirely unknown, linen being universally worn. This change has been 0074 840 owing to the invention of the cotton gin by Whitney * in 1793. Prior to this time it was in vain to think of raising cotton for the market, for separating the seed from a single pound of cotton was a day's work for a single hand. At this period the whole interior of the southern states was languishing, and the people emigrated for want of some object to engage their attention and employ their industry, when the invention of this machine at once opened new views to them which set the whole country in motion.

* “Ell Whitney, the great benefactor of the south, in the invention of the cotton gin, was born in Massachusetts, and was early distinguished for his mechanical genius. After graduating at Yale College, he visited Georgia in the prospect of securing a situation of private tutor. He was disappointed in the hope, and was received, almost in charity, under the benevolent roof of Mrs. Green, the widow of General Nathaniel Green, of the Revolution. A party of gentlemen, conversing incidentally on the subject, were lamenting that there was no means of separating the seed from the cotton; and remarked, that until ingenuity could devise some machine to effect the purpose, it was vain to think of raising cotton to export “Gentlemen,” said Mrs. Green, “apply to my young friend, Mr Whitney, he can make anything.” When the matter was proposed to Whitney, he replied that he had never seen cotton or cotton seed in his life. The subject was thus, however, suggested to his mind, and with tools most inadequate, and much of the materials made by himself, in the course of a few months, he perfected a machine which answered every desired purpose. Thus, by the force of intuitive genius, one man called into practical being the staple of an entire country, revolutionized its affairs, and added millions to its wealth. When the fact of such a discovery was known, the populace was so determined to possess the machine, that they broke open his house and seized it. Before Whitney was able to make his model and procure his patent, many machines were already in operation. This violent procedure robbed the inventor of much of the benefit of his discovery. It was emphatically stated by Whitney, in a subsequent application to congress for remuneration, “that his invention had been the source of opulence to thousands of the citizens of the United States, and that as a labor-saving machine, it would enable one man to perform the work of one thousand men.”

Harvesting Cotton.

In 1784, an American vessel arrived at Liverpool, having on board, for part of her cargo, eight bags of cotton, which were seized by the officers of customs under the conviction that they could not be the growth of America, although the plant is natural to the soil. Now cotton is our great article of export, amounting in value, in 1859, to $161,000,000, and in total product to about $250,000,000!! The demand is increasing in a greater ratio than we can supply; such 0075 841 are our advantages of soil and climate, that none can compete with us. Instead of measuring the value of this invention by hundreds of millions of dollars, thousands of millions could scarce compass it. But for it, it is probable that the cotton-growing states would have remained in a wilderness condition, and our country, as a whole, immeasurably behind her present state, in wealth, power, and population.

The earliest seat of the cotton manufacture known to us was Hindostan, where it continues to be carried on by hand labor. America and Europe are now pouring back upon Asia her original manufacture, and underselling her in her own markets. In the manufacture of no one article has the genius of invention been more called into exercise. It has not only built up our own Lowell and other thriving towns, but large cities in other lands, as Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Paisley, etc. It is estimated to give employment to over a million of persons, and an amount of capital of millions upon millions of dollars.

“Cotton goods, to a great extent, may be seen freighting every vessel, from Christian nations, that traverses the globe; and filling the warehouses and shelves of the merchants, over two thirds of the world. By the industry, skill, and enterprise employed in the manufacture of cotton, mankind are better clothed; their comfort better promoted; general industry more highly stimulated; commerce more widely extended; and civilization more rapidly advanced than in any preceding age. When the statistics on the subject are examined, it appears that nearly all the cotton consumed in the Christian world, is the product of the slavelabor of the United States.” The London Economist says: “The lives of nearly two millions of our countrymen are dependent upon the cotton crops of America; their destiny may be said, without any kind of hyperbole, to hang upon a thread. Should any dire calamity befall the land of cotton, a thousand of our merchant ships would rot idly in dock; ten thousand mills must stop their busy looms; two hundred thousand mouths would starve, for lack of food.”

There appears to be no limits to the varieties of cotton. The varieties familiar to our southern states, and known to commerce, are divided into “short” and “long staple.” The short staple, or upland cotton, was originally procured from the West Indies, and is familiar to every household in the form of sheetings and shirtings. The long staple, or Sea Island cotton , is supposed to have originated in Persia. It is the finest cotton in the world, commanding four or five times the price of the other, and is used only for the finest fabrics. Combined with silk it often deceives the most practiced eye to discover the mixture.

An immense area of the Union is adapted to the cultivation of cotton, including all the slave states excepting the northern tier. What are particularly denominated the cotton states, are South Carolina, Georgia, and those on the Gulf of Mexico. These include great varieties of scenery, and often the cotton plantations are rendered picturesque by the combinations of hill and dale. Preparations for planting the cotton begin in January, by collecting the old stalks of the previous season in piles, and destroying them by fire. The planting takes place about the last of March, two or three bushels of seed being used to the acre. In about a week the young plants are seen making their way above ground in lines of solid masses. “The field hand, however, will single one delicate shoot from the surrounding multitude, and with his rude hoe he will trim away the remainder with all the boldness of touch of a master; leaving the incipient stalk unharmed and alone in its glory; and at nightfall you can look along the extending rows, and find the plants correct in line, and of the required distance of separation from each other. Through the month of July the crop is worked over the last time, with the plow and the hoe, and makes rapid advances to perfection.

The “cotton bloom,” under the matured sun of July, begins to make its appearance. The announcement of the “first blossom” of the neighborhood is a matter of general interest. It should, perhaps, be here remarked, that the color of cotton in its perfection is precisely that of the blossom—a beautiful light, but warm cream color. In buying cotton cloth, the “bleached” and “unbleached” are perceptibly different qualities to the most casual observer; but the dark hues and harsh look of the “unbleached domestic” comes from the handling of the artisan and the soot of machinery. If cotton, pure as it looks in the field, could be wrought into fabrics, they would have a brilliancy and beauty never yet accorded to any other material in its natural or artificial state.

The cotton blossom is exceedingly delicate in its organization. It is, if in perfection, as we have stated, of a beautiful cream color. It unfolds in the night, remains in its glory through the morn—at meridian it has begun to decay. The day following its birth it has 53 0076 842 changed to a deep red, and, ere the sun goes down, its petals have fallen to the earth, leaving inclosed in the capacious calyx a scarcely perceptible germ. This germ, in its incipient and early stages, is called a “forms,” in its more perfected state, “a boll.”

The cotton plant, like the orange, has often on one stalk every possible growth; and often, on the same limb, may sometimes be seen the first opened blossom, and the bolls, from their first development as “forms,” through every size, until they have burst open, and scattered their rich contents to the ripening winds.

The appearance of a well cultivated cotton field, if it has escaped the ravages of insects and the destruction of the elements, is of singular beauty. Although it may be a mile in extent, still it is carefully wrought as is tile mold of the limited garden of the coldest climate. The cotton leaf is of a delicate green, large and luxuriant; the stalk indicates rapid growth, yet it has a healthy and firm look. Viewed from a distance, the perfecting plant has a warm and glowing expression. The size of the cotton plant depends upon the accident of climate and soil. The cotton of Tennessee bears very little resemblance to the luxuriant growth of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia; but even in these favored states the cotton plant is not every where the same, for in the rich bottom lands it grows to a commanding size, while it the more barren regions it is alt humble shrub. In the rich alluvium of the Mississippi, the cotton will tower beyond the reach of the tallest “picker,” and a single plant will contain hundreds of perfect bolls.”

The season for picking continues, without intermission, from the last of July to the Christmas holidays, and the average daily work of a hand is about 275 pounds. The cotton is carried in baskets by the slaves, at the close of the day, to the gin. A gin stand impelled by mules, will clean about 1800 pounds per day. On large plantations, steam engines are often used to work the gins. T. B. Thorpe, of Louisiana, in his article in Harpers' Magazine, on “Cotton and its cultivation,” from which this is mainly derived, says: “The average of a bale of ginned cotton to every cultivated acre is set down by the most experienced planters as a very liberal reward for their labor. Ten acres of cotton and five acres of corn are considered the work of each “field hand;” yet five or six bales of cotton, of four hundred and fifty pounds, to the hand, would greatly exceed the average production, for it will be found, on examination, that an average of two acres are cultivated in order to produce one bale.

The cultivation of the soil being the earliest as well as the noblest of pursuits, it seems to create a manliness and patriotism in those who follow it. The southern planter presents the agriculturalist in the most dignified form. He directs, he plows, he sows, he reaps, and yet he does nothing of mere physical labor. He has all the advantages that come from a familiarity with tile open fields, combined with all the accomplishments which flow from elegant leisure. Surrounded with an overabundance of the necessaries of life, and, from his isolated position, ever glad to see the face of a friend or stranger, he has become proverbial throughout the world for his accomplished manners and unbounded hospitality.

In the cotton-packing season, when the lassitude of summer has given way to the invigorating influences of all early frost,' the planter and his guests frequently indulge in the manly sport of ‘following the hounds.’ Spirited horses and excellent fire-arms are in abundance, and the plantation-house presents a scene of rare excitement at the moment of the ‘start for the hunt.’ The neighing of horses, the yelping of hounds, the boisterous laughter of negroes, mingle together in strange but enlivening confusion.

The ‘cotton-picking season’ is generally brought to a close by the middle of December. The crop ready for shipment, the negroes are permitted to relax from their labors, and are in fine spirits, because ‘the work of the year is finished.’ The Christmas holidays are strictly kept, and is the great gala season of the negro. It may be likened to the saturnailia of the Romans, modified by decency and decorum. The wagons and carts are at their service to carry their corn, fodder, chickens, and eggs to the neighboring city or village. ‘the return load’ being made up of finery and luxuries for the feasts of the holidays. Invitations for exchange of visits are circulated among the negroes of different plantations; fiddlers are in demand; and dancing and merriment characterize the hours of night and day. The festivities of Christmas commence at the break of day. Just as the light appears they form themselves into a procession, and preceded by a fiddle and a variety of rude instruments, above all of which is to be heard boisterous singing and laughing, they march round the house, crying at intervals, ‘Wake up! wake up! Christmas has come! ’“

LOUISIANA.

Arms Of Louisiana. Motto —Union and Confidence.

The territory of Louisiana was first traversed by the Spaniards under De Soto , who died at the mouth of Red River, in May, 1542. This celebrated adventurer, finding that the hour of death was come, appointed a successor, and with his dying breath, exhorted his desponding followers to “union and confidence,” words late: emblazoned on the arms of Louisiana De Soto, it is said, expended 100,000 ducats in this expedition, and thus like the fabled pelican of old, gave his own blood for the nourishment of his brood of followers.

In 1682, La Salle, a French naval officer, discovered the three passages by which the Mississippi dicharges its waters into the Gulf. La Salle, having ascended the river to a dry spot, above inundation, erected a column with the arms of France affixed, and took possession of the country: “in the name of the Most High, mighty, invincible, and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, fourteenth of that name.” After the Te Deum was chanted, a salute of fire-arms, and cries of vive le roi , La Salle declared that his majesty, as eldest son of the church, would annex no country to his crown, without making it his chief care to establish the Christian religion therein: its symbol must now be planted. Accordingly a cross was erected, before which religious services were performed. The country was named Louisiana , in honor of the French king.

La Salle attempted a settlement, but it failed. In 1699, a more successful attempt was made by Iberville and others. He entered the mouth of the Mississippi, and after making considerable explorations, he returned to the Bay of Biloxi, where he erected a fort, which he left in charge of his brothers, Souvolle and Bienville , and then returned to France. In 1712, the King of France granted a charter to M. Crozat, which covered the whole province, with the exclusive privilege of trade, etc., for twenty years. This grant was 0078 844 surrendered, after five years, with bitter complaints that from the imbecility of the colony, the strength of the Indians, the presence of the British, and the sterility of the soil, it had proved of no value to him, but rather a ruinous expense.

About the year 1717, John Law , a Scotchman, but settled in Paris as a financier, obtained a charter for a bank. With this was connected a great commercial company, to whom was granted the extensive territory of Louisiana, the mines of which, near the Mississippi, would, it was represented, reimburse any investment. The Royal Bank stock went up to six hundred times its par value, and dividends were rendered at 200 per cent. This banking and stock jobbing bubble soon burst, involving vast numbers of persons in every rank of life in ruin, and the “Mississippi Scheme ' was a by-word for a long period. Despairing of finding gold, and having but poor success in colonizing their lands, this “Western Company” gave up their charter in 1732, which the king accepted, and declared the commerce of Louisiana free.

In 1760, war broke out between Great Britain and France. Canada fell into the hands of the English, and rather than submit to their government, many of the inhabitants sought a home in southern climes, fixing themselves on the Acadian coast of Louisiana, or, taking their course westward of the river, formed the settlements of Attakapas, Opelousas, and Avoyelles. In 1762, France ceded the territory of Louisiana west of the Mississippi, with New Orleans, to Spain, and soon afterward abandoned her possessions eastward to Great Britain. When the news of the transfer of Louisiana fell upon the French inhabitants, they were filled with mourning. O'Reilly, with a Spanish military force, arrived and landed in New Orleans, and took formal possession of the country in the name of his king. This commander soon proved himself a tyrant. Some of the first citizens were arrested, thrown into prison, declared guilty of treason, and tried under the statute of Alphonso, making it death to incite insurrection against the king. Sentence and execution followed. “Posterity,” says Martin, the historian, “will doom this act to public execration.”

The laws of Spain were gradually extended over Louisiana. During the American Revolution, Galvez, governor of Louisiana, captured the British garrison at Baton Rouge. The treaties between Great Britain, France and Spain and the United States, concluded in 1783, opened the navigation of the Mississippi, and ceded the Floridas to Spain. These treaties, however, were followed by embarrassing disputes, particularly respecting the navigation of that part of the Mississippi which passed through their territories. Any attempt to navigate the river, to introduce merchandise into New Orleans, was resisted by the authorities, and the property seized. About the year 1787, Gen. Wilkinson conceived the design of making a settlement of American families in Louisiana, for which he expected to receive commercial favors from the Spaniards.

In 1800, Spain reconveyed the province of Louisiana to France. Bonaparte, in 1803, sold the territory to the United States, for fifteen millions of dollars. On the 20th of December, 1803, “the American flag waved over the city Of New Orleans—the same day having witnessed the descent of the Spanish ensign, and the elevation of the tri-color, the latter only having been raised to be replaced by the stars and stripes. Gov. Claiborne, on taking the chair of authority, organized a judiciary. The act of Congress, in 1804, established a territorial government. The conflicting 0079 845 claims of the United States and Spain, to the strip of territory lying east of the Mississippi River, were brought to something like a crisis, in 1810, by the seizure of the Spanish post at Baton Rouge. In 1812, Louisiana was admitted into the Union as a sovereign state. Upon the declaration of war with Great Britain, Gen. Wilkinson took possession of the country west of the Perdito, then in the occupation of Spain. The memorable battle of New Orleans was fought on the 8th of January, 1815. The British troops, about 8,000 strong, were entirely defeated by a body of about 6,000 American militia, with a loss of about 2,600 men, killed, wounded, and prisoners; the American loss was only six killed and seven wounded, a disparity rarely if ever before known. Since this period, Louisiana has steadily advanced in wealth and population.

Louisiana extends from 29° to 33° N. latitude, and from 88° 40′ to 94° 25′ W. longitude; bounded N. by Arkansas and Mississippi, E. by Mississippi, W. by Texas, and S. by the Gulf of Mexico. Its length is 250 miles, its breadth on the Gulf of Mexico 300 miles, and at its northern boundary is 180, having an area computed at 46,431 square miles. The whole surface of the state consists mostly of low grounds, with some hilly ranges in the western part. The southern portion of the state, occupying about one fourth part of its territory is seldom elevated more than ten feet above the sea, and is annually inundated by the spring floods. This section is an alluvial deposit from the waters of the Mississippi and its branches. The territory between the Atchafalaya on the west, and the Iberville, etc., on the east, is called the Delta of the Mississippi, from its resemblance to the Greek letter of that name.

The immense alluvial soil of Mississippi may be arranged into four classes —the first, about two thirds of the whole, has a heavy growth of timber, with an almost impenetrable undergrowth of canes, etc., and a soil of the richest fertility. The second class consists of cypress swamps; these are basins or depressions of the surface from which there is no outlet, and the waters which they receive from the annual floods remain until they are carried off by evaporation; the third class consists of the sea marsh, a belt of land partially covered by the common tides, and generally without timber; the fourth class consists of small bodies of prairie land.

The richest tract in the state is a narrow belt, called “the coast,” lying along the Mississippi, on both sides, extending from 150 miles above to 140 below New Orleans, and one to two miles wide. This belt was formed from the annual deposits of the river, and is a little above the ordinary level of the floods. To prevent the river from inundating the valuable tracts in the rear, an artificial embankment has been built, six or eight feet high, called the Levee , which is sufficiently broad for a highway. The whole of this tract is under cultivation, and large quantities of sugar are annually produced. Below the mouth of Red River, the Mississippi separates into several branches or outlets, which, diverging from each other, slowly wend their way into the Gulf of Mexico, and divide the southwestern portion of the state into islands. The climate in the vicinity of New Orleans is similar to that of Charleston, S. C., although two degrees further south. The great agricultural productions of the state are sugar, indian corn, rice and cotton. Louisiana is divided into two districts, the eastern and western; the eastern contains 21, the western 26 parishes. Improved lands, 1,590,025 acres; unimproved, 3,939,018. Population, in 1810,76,556; in 1820, 153,407; in 1850, 511,974; in 1860,666,431, of whom 312,186 were slaves.

0080 846

New Orleans, the great commercial emporium of the south and west, and the greatest cotton mart on the globe, is situated on the E. or left bank of the Mississippi, 105 miles above its mouth, 1,438 S.W. from Washington, 1,663 from N. York, 2,025 miles from Pittsburgh, via Ohio and Mississippi

South-Eastern view of jackson Square, New Orleans. The Cathedral, with its spires, appears in the central part, the Statue of Gen. Jackson within the square in front. The Court buildings are on either side.

Rivers, and 2,000 from St. Anthony's Falls, in Lat. 29° 57′ 30″ N., Lon. 90° W. from Greenwich. The city is built around the river, which here forms a curve somewhat in the form of a crescent, from which circumstance it is often called the “Crescent City. ” The Mississippi, opposite New Orleans, is half a mile wide, and 100 to 160 feet deep, and continues this depth to near the Gulf, where there are bars having only 13 to 16 feet of water. The location is on a piece of land which inclines gently from the river to the marshy grounds in the rear. At high water it is from three to nine feet below the

View on the Levee at New Orleans.

0081 847 water surface. To protect the country against inundations, an embankment, or levee , fifteen feet wide and six feet high, has been raised, extending 120 miles above, and 43 below the city to Fort Plaquemine.

View in View Orleans. The engraving is a representation in St. Charles-street, showing the widely known St. Charles Hotel, with the adjacent buildings.

The New Orleans levee is one continuous landing-place, or quay, four miles in extent, and of an average width of 100 feet. It is 15 feet above low water mark, and six feet above the level of the city, to which it is graduated by an easy descent. During the business season, from November to July, the river in front of the levee is crowded with vessels, of all sizes and from all quarters of the world, with hundreds of large and splendid steamboats, barges, flat-boats, etc. The levee presents a most busy and animated prospect. Here are seen piles of cotton bales, vast numbers of barrels of pork, flour, and liquors of various kinds, bales of foreign and domestic manufactures, hogsheads.of sugar, crates of ware, etc., draymen with their carts, buyers, sellers, laborers, etc. Valuable products from the head waters or the Missouri, 3,000 miles distant, center here. The Illinois, the Ohio, the Arkansas and Red Rivers, with the Mississippi, are all tributaries to this commercial depot. Upward of two hundred millions of dollars worth of 0082 848 merchandise are annually brought to this market. Upward of 2,000 vessels, with a tunnage of more than 1,000,000, enter and clear from this port annually.

The change in the course of the river at New Orleans, causes vast alluvial deposits, particularly at that point where the commerce of the city chiefly centers. Here it has been found necessary to erect quays, extending from 50 to 100 feet in the river. In consequence of the new formations, the levee has been widened, and an additional row of warehouses erected between the city and the river. The city is built along the river over seven miles, and extends toward Lake Ponchartrain, nearly four miles from the river. The houses are mostly of brick, and many of the residences in the suburbs are ornamented with orange trees and gardens. The city was originally laid out by the French, in an oblong rectangular shape, 1,320 yards in length, and 700 yards in breadth. In 1836, New Orleans was divided into three municipalities, but in 1852, this division was abrogated, and the faubourgs, with the village of La Fayette, are now incorporated under one city government. Algiers, which may be regarded as one of the suburbs, is a flourishing village on the opposite side of the river, and has several shipyards and extensive manufacturing establishments. The inhabitants of New Orleans are nearly equally composed of Americans, Creoles, and Spaniards. Population, in 1850, 116,375; in 1860, 170,766.

Jackson Square, with its beautiful statuary, trees, shrubbery, etc., in front of the Cathedral, is one of the most attractive places in the city. Formerly it was known as Place d'Arms , and in early days was used for military purposes. In 1850 it was changed to its present name, since which time it has been tastefully laid out in walks, and ornamented with the rarest plants and flowers of the south. In the center of the square is a fine statue of Jackson, the hero of New Orleans, on horseback. In either corner of the square is a statue representing the seasons. The Catholic Cathedral, fronting the square, was erected in 1792. The style of its architecture is duplex—the first story front is of the Doric order, and the second, the Tuscan. The belfry was erected in 1850. The founder, Don Andre, built and dedicated this imposing structure to the church, on condition that masses be offered every Saturday evening at sunset for the repose of his soul.

Lafayette Square , adorned with shade trees, is now used as a military parade ground, and has several fine public edifices around it—the Odd Fellows' Hall fronts the west side of the square. It is a noble building, erected at a cost of $200,000. The City Hall , on the opposite side of the square, is a superb edifice of the Grecian Ionic order, after the Erectheum at Athens: it is built of white marble, the basement being of granite. The finest portion of the building is the portico, with its massive marble columns. The pediment contains a groupe in marble, representing Justice supported by Liberty and Commerce. It was commenced in 1847, and completed in 1850, at an expense of about $300,000. Since the consolidation of the city, it has been known as the City Hall. The First Presbyterian Church , on the south side of the square, is an architectural ornament to the city of the first order. It is of Gothic style, and the largest building of the kind in the city, being nearly 100 feet in breadth and 194 in depth, having a steeple 210 feet high. It occupies the site of the old church, which was destroyed by fire, Oct. 30, 1854. The following inscription is within the vestibule:

In memory of Rev. Sylvester Larned, First Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in this City, who died of the yellow fever, Aug. 31, 1820; aged 24 years. His last sermon was 0083 849 preached on the 27th of Aug., from Phil. I, 21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Northern View of Lafayette Square, New Orleans. The first Presbyterian Church is seen in the central part, on the south side of the Square. Part of the Odd Fellows' Hall and Catholic Church on the left, and the front of the City Hall on the extreme right.

Situation of New Orleans. The outline shows the general appearance of New Orleans, as seen from the south, on the east bank of the Mississippi. The localities of Algiers, MacDonough, etc., appear on the left; part of the Lovee in front.

There are about 50 churches in New Orleans, about one third of which are Catholic. The Charity Hospital is a large building, three stories high and 290 feet in length. It was instituted in 1832, and the citizen and stranger alike find admission and receive the benefits of this institution during sickness. Its average yearly admissions have been latterly about 11,000, and its discharges about 9,000. Its disbursements are about $100,000. The University of Louisiana was founded in 1849. The medical department has 8 professors, the academic 4, and the law 4. The U. S. Marine Hospital is at MacDonough, on the opposite side of the river. The hotels and theaters of New Orleans, are among the most splendid buildings in the city. St. Charles 0084 850 Theater is 132 feet long and 170 feet deep, and cost about $350,000; the French theater is a large and expensive building; the American theater cost about $130,000. These three theaters will, in the aggregate, accommodate about 4,500 persons, and are nightly filled, often to suffocation.

The New Orleans Custom House is stated to be “the largest structure of the kind under one roof in the world.” The corner stone was laid by Henry Clay, in 1849. The building covers a whole square, an area of two acres. The whole cost, when completed, it is supposed will amount to nearly four millions of dollars.

The statue of Henry Clay is one of the objects of interest in New Orleans. It is in bronze, after the design of Joel T. Hart. It is about twelve feet in hight, and is mounted on a lofty pedestal. Mr. Clay is represented in the act of addressing the senate, the left hand resting on the pedestal, the right gracefully extended. The corner stone was laid on the 12th of April, 1856, and on the 12th of April, 1860, it was inaugurated in the presence of one of the largest concourses of people ever assembled in the city. It stands in the heart of the metropolis, overlooking the Mississippi. New Orleans was a place of favorite resort to Mr. Clay, and his memory is endeared to her citizens by many valued recollections of his social life among them.

The history of New Orleans, in its earlier epochs, embraces that of the whole French settlements in lower Louisiana. It received its name from the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France.

“In many respects New Orleans is regarded as the most remarkable and attractive city of the United States, especially by those foreigners who are partial to the life of Southern Europe. Its almost tropical climate, its semi-French tone, its luxuries and pleasures, and its being, so to speak, the headquarters of the southwestern states, whose inhabitants are famed for their frank, courteous, and hospitable manners, all combine to render New Orleans to the one who perfectly appreciates it a place of most delightful memories and associations. Previous to the beginning of the present century, the history of New Orleans was intimately connected with that of France and Spain. It was settled by the French in 1717, and owed its existence to the famous, and until recently but imperfectly understood genius, John Law. The settlement of the country did not succeed, however, under the Mississippi scheme, though immense sums were expended upon it, and many colonists sent there. All possible protection and privilege failed to produce remunerative returns, principally because gold and silver were more sought for than crops. In 1727, New Orleans received a great number of Jesuit priests and Ursuline nuns, who remained there until 1764. It was in 1769 that the first cases of yellow fever occurred—introduced, it is said, by a slaver. Its commerce with the United States began in 1777, and during the following year it was nearly destroyed by a vast conflagration. The population of New Orleans in 1785 amounted to four thousand seven hundred; in 1853 it was one hundred and forty-five thousand four hundred and forty-nine, of whom twenty-nine thousand one hundred and seventy-four were either slaves or 'f.p.c.,' 'free people of color.' In 1762, by secret treaty, Louisiana was conveyed to Spain. Several years elapsed before the occupation took place. The new Spanish government was odious to the French settlers, and so aggravating to their American neighbors that our general government had at one time to use strenuous exertions to prevent a regular war between the western people and the Spaniards. New Orleans was reconveyed to the French in 1800, and included in our purchase of Louisiana. Napoleon saw that the loss of the country was inevitable, and wisely sold it to the United States. Never was a monarch so willing to sell out, or a government so anxious to buy as ours, the only difficulty was the price. It was finally transferred for the valuable consideration of eighty millions of livres, deducting twenty millions for spoliations of our merchant marine. In 1804 New Orleans was incorporated as a city; in 1805 it became a port of entry. From the period of its passing under 'American' government, 0085 851 its progress was wonderfully rapid, its population more than doubling within seven years. It was on January 8, 1815, that the most interesting event in its history occurred. It was on that day that General Pakenham approached the city through Lakes Borgne and Ponchaftrain, and was defeated by General Jackson.”

Battle Field of Plaine Chalmette, or New Orleans.

The memorable battle of New Orleans was fought about four miles below the city, at a spot washed by the Mississippi, and surrounded by cypress swamps and cane-brakes. The following account is from Perkins' History of the War:

“On his arrival in the city, General Jackson, in conjunction with Judge Hall, and many influential persons of the city, on the 16th of December, issued an order declaring the city and environs of New Orleans to be under strict martial law. Every individual entering the city was required to report himself to the adjutant-general, and no person by land or water was suffered to leave the city without a passport. The street lamps were ordered to be extinguished at nine o clock; after which any persons found in the streets, or from their homes without permission in writing, and not having the countersign, were ordered to be apprehended as spies. This measure at once converted the whole city into a camp, and subjected the persons and property of the citizens to the will of the commanding general. Writs of habeas corpus, and all other civil process by means of which the lives and properties of the people are protected, were for the time suspended. Such was the alarm and confusion of the moment, that few inquiries were made whence the commanding general of a military station derived such powers, to be exercised over the inhabitants of the adjacent country, in nowise connected with his camp. Although the brilliant success which afterward attended the operations of General Jackson seemed to justify the measure, yet the people saw in it a precedent, which though it might have saved New Orleans, might at some future period extinguish their liberties. A most rigid police was now instituted. Spies and traitors, with which, the governor complained, the city abounded, and who had been industriously employed in seducing the French and Spanish inhabitants from their allegiance, now fled; and the remaining citizens cordially co-operated with the general in the means of defense. Fort St. Philips, which guarded the passage of the river at the Detour la Plaquemine, was strengthened and placed under the command of Major Overton, an able and skillful engineer. A site was selected for works of defense, four miles below the city, where its destinies were ultimately to be determined. The right rested on the river, and the left was flanked by an impenetrable cypress swamp, which extended eastward to Lake Ponchartrain, and westward to within a mile of the river. Between the swamp and the river was a large ditch or artificial bayou which had been made for agricultural objects, but which now served an important military purpose. On the northern bank of this ditch, the entrenchments were thrown up. 0086 852 Each flank was secured by an advance bastion, and the latter protected by batteries in the rear. These works were well mounted with artillery. Opposite this position, on the west bank of the river, on a rising ground, General Morgan, with the city and drafted militia, was stationed; and Commodore Patterson, with the crews of the Caroline and Louisiana, and the guns of the latter, formed another, near General Morgan's; both of which entirely enfiladed the approach of an enemy against the principal works. A detachment was stationed above the town to guard the pass of the Bayou St. John, if an attempt should be made from that quarter. These arrangements, promptly and judiciously made, gave entire confidence to the citizens, and inspired them with zeal to second the general's exertion. Reinforcements were daily arriving, and as they arrived were immediately conducted to their respective stations.

Landing of the British. —In the meantime the British were actively employed in making preparations for the attack; believing the pass from Lake Borgne to Lake Pontchartrain to be defended according to General Wilkinson's plan, by the fortress of Petit Coquille, they determined to land from Lake Borgne by the Bayou Bienvenue. For this purpose they concentrated their forces on Ship Island, eighty miles distant from the contemplated place of landing. The depth of water in Lake Borgne was such that this distance could be traversed only by boats and small craft, and must necessarily be passed several times in order to bring up the whole armament. The first object of the British general, was to clear the lake of the American gun-boats; and for this purpose, forty British launches were sent in pursuit of them, and, after a desperate resistance, captured and destroyed the whole American flotilla, stationed on Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain, for the defense of New Orleans, consisting of five gun-boats and a small sloop and schooner. By this success, they obtained the undisturbed possession of the lake; and on the 22d of December, proceeded from their rendezvous on Ship Island, with all their boats and small craft capable of navigating the lake, to the Bayou of Bienvenue; and having surprised and captured the videttes at the mouth of the bayou, the first division accomplished their landing unobserved. Major General Villiere, of the New Orleans militia, living on the bayou, to whom the important service of making the first attack, and giving notice of the enemy's approach was intrusted, found them on his plantation, nine miles below the city, without any previous knowledge of their approach.

Skirmishes on the 23d. —Notice was immediately given to General Jackson, who came out and attacked them on the evening of the 23d. In this affair the British sustained a loss, in killed, wounded and missing, of five hundred. The British entrenched themselves at the Bieuvenue plantation, four miles from the American camp, making the plantation house, in the rear of their works, their head-quarters. General Jackson established his head-quarters at M'Carty's plantation, on the bank of the river, and in full view of the British encampment. Two armed schooners, the Caroline and Louisiana, constituting all the American naval force on the river, dropped down from the city, anchored opposite the British encampment, and opened a brisk fire upon their lines with considerable effect. On the 27th, the Caroline, Captain Henly, got becalmed within reach of the British batteries, and was set fire to and destroyed by their hot shot: the other succeeded in getting out of their reach. On the 28th, the British advanced within half a mile of the American lines, and opened a fire of shells and rockets; but were driven back by the artillery with considerable loss. On the night of the 31st of December, the enemy again advanced to within six hundred yards of General Jackson's position, and erected three batteries, mounting fifteen guns, and at eight o'clock in the morning a opened a heavy fire. In the course of the day, under cover of these batteries, three unsuccessful attempts were made to storm the American works. By four in the afternoon, all their batteries were silenced, and in the following night they returned to their former position. On the 4th of January, General Adair arrived with four thousand Kentucky militia, principally without arms. The muskets and munitions of war destined for the supply of this corps, were provided at Pittsburgh, and did not leave that place until the 25th of December; passed Louisville the 6th of January, and arrived at New Orleans, several days after the battle of 0087 853 the 8th. On the 6th, the last reinforcement of three thousand men arrived from England, under Major General Lambert. Before the final assault on the American lines, the British general deemed it necessary to dislodge General Morgan and Commodore Patterson from their positions on the right bank. These posts so effectually enfiladed the approach to General Jackson's works, that the army advancing to the assault must be exposed to the most imminent hazard. To accomplish this object, boats were to be transported across the island from Lake Borgne to the Mississippi; for this purpose the British had been laboriously employed in deeping and widening the canal or bayou Bienvenue, on which they first disembarked. On the 7th, they succeeded in opening the embankment on the river, and completing a communication from the lake to the Mississippi. In pushing the boats through, it was found at some places the canal was not of sufficient width, and at others the banks fell in and choked the passage, which necessarily occasioned great delay and increase of labor. At length, however, they succeeded in hauling through a sufficient number to transport five hundred troops to the right bank. At dawn of day on the 8th, was the period fixed for the final assault on the American lines. Colonel Thornton was detached with five hundred men, to cross the river and attack the batteries on that side, at the same time that the main assault was to be made, of which he was to be informed by a signal rocket. The American general had detached Colonel Davis, with three hundred Kentucky militia, badly armed, to reinforce General Morgan. These were immediately ordered to the water-edge, to oppose the enemy's landing. Unable in their situation to contend with a superior force of regular troops well armed, they soon broke and fled, and the Louisiana militia at General Morgan's battery followed their example: Commodore Patterson's marine battery, being now unprotected, his crews were obliged to yield to an overwhelming force, and the British succeeded in silencing both; but the opposition which Colonel Thornton met with prevented this operation from being completed until the contest was nearly ended on the opposite side of the river.

At day-light on the morning of the 8th, the main body of the British under their commander-in-chief, General Pakenham, were seen advancing from their encampment to storm the American lines. On the preceding evening they had erected a battery within eight hundred yards, which now opened a brisk fire to protect their advance. The British came on in two columns, the left along the levee on the bank of the river, directed against the American right, while their right advanced to the swamp, with a view to turn General Jackson's left. The country being a perfect level, and the view unobstructed, their march was observed from its commencement. They were suffered to approach in silence and unmolested, until within three hundred yards of the lines. This period of suspense and expectation was employed by General Jackson and his officers, in stationing every man at his post, and arranging everything for the decisive event. When the British columns had advanced within three hundred yards of the lines, the whole artillery at once opened upon them a most deadly fire. Forty pieces of cannon deeply charged with grape, canister, and musket balls, mowed them down by hundreds, at the same time the batteries on the west bank opened their fire, while the riflemen in perfect security behind their works, as the British advanced, took deliberate aim, and nearly every shot took effect. Through this destructive fire, the British left column, under the immediate orders of the commander-in-chief, rushed on with their fascines and scaling ladders to the advance bastion on the American right, and succeeded in mounting the parapet; here, after a close conflict with the bayonet, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the bastion, when the battery planted in the rear for its protection, opened its fire and drove the British from the ground. On the American left, the British attempted to pass the swamp, and gain the rear, but the works had been extended as far into the swamp as the ground would permit. Some who attempted it, sunk into the mire and disappeared; those behind, seeing the fate of their companions, seasonably retreated and gained the hard ground. The assault continued an hour and a quarter: during the whole time the British were exposed to the deliberate and destructive fire of the American artillery and musketry, which lay in perfect security behind their earthen breastworks, through which no balls could penetrate. At eight o'clock, the British columns drew off in confusion, and retreated behind their works. Flushed with success, 0088 854 the militia were eager to pursue the British troops to their entrenchments, and drive them immediately from the island. A less prudent and accomplished general might have been induced to yield to the indiscreet ardor of his troops; but General Jackson understood too well the nature, both of his own and his enemy's force, to hazard such an attempt. Defeat must inevitably have attended an assault made by raw militia upon an entrenched camp of British regulars. The defense of New Orleans was the object; nothing was to be hazarded which would jeopardize the city. The British were suffered to retire behind their works without molestation. The result was such as might be expected from the different positions of the two armies. General Packenham, near the crest of the glacis, received a ball in his knee. Still continuing to lead on his men, another shot pierced his body, and he was carried off the field. Nearly at the same time, Major General Gibbs, the second in command, within a few yards of the lines, received a mortal wound, and was removed. The third in command, Major General Keane, at the head of his troops near the glacis, was severely wounded. The three commanding generals, on marshaling their troops at five o'clock in the morning, promised them a plentiful dinner in New Orleans, and gave them booty and beauty as the parole and countersign of the day. Before eight o'clock the three generals were carried off the field, two in the agonies of death, and the third entirely disabled; leaving upward of two thousand of their men, dead, dying, and wounded, on the field of battle. Colonel Raynor, who commanded the forlorn hope which stormed the American bastion on the right, as he was leading his men up, had the calf of his leg carried away by a cannon shot. Disabled as he was, he was the first to mount the parapet, and receive the American bayonet. Seven hundred were killed on the field, fourteen hundred wounded, and five hundred made prisoners, making a total on that day of twenty-six hundred. But six Americans were killed and seven wounded. Of General Morgan's detachment on the west bank, and in a sortie on the British lines, forty-nine were killed, and one hundred and seventy-eight wounded.

After the battle, General Lambert, who had arrived from England but two days before, and was now the only surviving general, requested a truce for the purpose of burying his dead. This was granted until four o'clock in the afternoon of the 9th. Lines were drawn one hundred rods distant from the American camp, within which the British were not permitted to approach. In the ditch, and in front of the works, within the prescribed lines, four hundred and eighty-two British dead were picked up by the American troops, and delivered to their companions over the lines for burial. The afternoon of the 8th and the whole of the 9th, was spent by the British army is burying their dead. The American sentinels guarding the lines during this interval, frequently repeated in the hearing of the British, while tumbling their companions by hundreds into pits, 'Six killed, seven wounded.'

Retreat of the British. —On the night of the 18th, they broke up their encampment, and commenced their retreat to the place of their first landing. To accomplish this with safety, it was necessary that the army should move in one body. With this view, immediately after the battle of the 8th, large working parties had been employed in constructing a road through a quagmire, for a considerable distance along the margin of the bayou: by binding together large quantities of reeds, and laying them across the mire; in the course of nine days, these parties had constructed something resembling a road from their encampment to the place of debarkation. Along this insecure track, the British army silently stole their march in the night of the 18th of January. By the treading of the first corps, the bundles of reeds gave way, and their followers had to wade up to their knees in mire. Several perished in the sloughs, the darkness of the night preventing their companions from affording relief. At the mouth of the bayou were a few huts, which afforded shelter for fishermen in the season of catching fish for the New Orleans market; here the troops halted and bivouacked previous to their embarkation. Their provisions being exhausted, a few crumbs of biscuit and a small allowance of rum was their only support. Here they were eighty miles from their ships, the whole of which distance they had to traverse in small open boats; and having but few of these, the embarkation occupied ten days. On the 27th, the whole land and naval forces which remained of this disastrous expedition, to their great joy, 0089 855 found themselves on board their ships. Their ranks thinned, their chiefs and many of their companions slain, their bodies emaciated with hunger, fatigue, and sickness, they gladly quitted this inauspicious country. The surviving commanding general observes, 'that the services of both army and navy, since their landing on this coast, have been arduous beyond anything he ever before witnessed, and difficulties have been gotten over with an assiduity and perseverance beyond example by all ranks.' A British officer of distinction, an actor in the scene, thus describes his tour from the encampment to the embarkation: 'For some time, our route lay along the high road beside the brink of the river, and was agreeable enough; but as soon as we began to enter upon the path through the marsh, all comfort was at an end. Being constructed of materials so slight, and resting upon a foundation so infirm, the treading of the first corps unavoidably beat it to pieces: those which followed were therefore compelled to flounder on in the best way they could; and by the time the rear of the column gained the morass, all trace of a way had entirely disappeared. But not only were the reeds torn asunder and sunk by the pressure of those who had gone before, but the bog itself, which at first might have furnished a few spots of firm footing, was trodden into the consistency of mud. The consequence was, that every step sunk us to the knees, and frequently higher. Near the ditches, indeed, many spots occurred which we had the utmost difficulty of crossing at all; and as the night was dark, there being no moon, nor any light, except what the stars supplied, it was difficult to select our steps, or even to follow those who called to us that they were safe on the other side. At one of these places, I myself beheld an unfortunate wretch gradually sink, until he totally disappeared. I saw him flounder in, heard him cry for help, and ran forward with the intention of saving him; but before I had taken a second step, I myself sunk at once as high as the breast. I could feel no solid bottom under me, and continued slowly to go deeper and deeper till the mud reached my arms. Instead of endeavoring to help the poor soldier, of whom nothing now could be seen except the head and hands, I was forced to beg assistance for myself, when a leathern canteen strap being thrown me, I laid hold of it, and was dragged out just as my fellow sufferer became invisible. Over roads such as these, did we continue our march during the whole of the night, and in the morning arrived at a place called Fishermen's huts, consisting of a clump of mud-built cottages, standing by the edge of the water, on a part of the morass rather more firm than the rest. Here we were ordered to halt; wearied with exertions and oppressed with want of sleep, I threw myself on the ground without so much as taking off my muddy garments, and in an instant all cares and troubles were forgotten. Nor did I awake from that deep slumber for many hours; when I arose, cold and stiff, and addressed myself to the last morsel of salt pork my wallet contained. Without tents or huts of any description, our bed was the morass, and our only covering the clothes which had not quitted our backs for more than a month; our fires were composed solely of reeds, which, like straw, soon blaze up and expire again, without communicating any degree of warmth. But above all, our provisions were expended, and from what quarter an immediate supply was to be obtained, we could not discover. Our sole dependence was upon the boats. Of these a flotilla lay ready to receive us, in which were already embarked the black corps and the 44th; but they had brought with them only food for their own use, it was therefore necessary that they should reach the fleet and return again before we could be supplied. But as the nearest shipping was eighty miles distant, and the weather might become boisterous, or the winds obstinate, we might starve before any supply could arrive. As soon as the boats returned, regiment after regiment embarked and set sail for the fleet; but the distance being considerable, and the wind foul, many days elapsed before the whole could be got off; by the end of the month, we were all once more on board our former ships.'”

The following respecting New Orleans, is extracted from a small work, entitled “Travels in Louisiana and the Floridas in the year 1802, etc.,” a very popular volume, published in Paris, Aug., 1803. Translated by John Davis:

“New Orleans on the east side of the Mississippi, thirty-five leagues from the sea The river forms, before the city, a large creek, or kind of semi-circular 0090 856 basin, here and there widening. It is equivalent for a port on the cast, where vessels anchor close to each other, and so near the water side, that by means of a couple of forts, in the form of a bridge, there is an easy communication from the land to each vessel, and their cargoes are discharged with the greatest care.

The depth of the river, taken at the middle of its bed, in front of the city, is about forty fathoms; about half a century ago its depth at the same place was seventy fathoms. Hence it follows (if these measurements be not faulty) that the bed of the river loses in depth what it gains in breadth; it is considerably wider than it was. Its breadth at the same place is about five hundred fathoms, proportionate to the elevation and depression of its waters.

Behind the city is a communication by water with Lake Ponchartrain, which is not more than two leagues distant in a right line toward the north-east from whence small vessels come up with sails, by the way of the Bayou Saint John, which there empties itself. At this confluence is an open canal, which was made some years ago, under the direction of Mons. Carondelet, a work truly useful; which, in procuring to the city the advantages of a double port, purged and drained the neighboring swamps. Formerly, those very vessels navigated the canal which now anchor before the city, but it having been neglected since the departure of the governor, it has lost its advantages in being choked up, and is now the receptacle of only the most diminutive barks.

The city is about 3,600 feet in length: to which may be superadded the suburbs extending like the city along the river, and about half as long; but, strictly speaking, both the city and suburbs are mere outlines, the greater part of the houses being constructed of wood having but one story, erected often on blocks, and roofed with shingles, the whole being of very combustible wood, that is of cypress. Hence this city has been twice on fire, accidentally, in the interval of a small number of years, in the month of March, 1788, and the month of December, 1794. Yet, notwithstanding, the inhabitants every day build wooden houses, regardless of the consequences.

There are a few houses, more solid and less exposed, on the banks of the river, and in the front streets. Those houses are of burnt brick, some one, others two stories high, having the upper part furnished with an open gallery, which surrounds the building. In the heart of the town one sees nothing but the barracks.

The streets are well laid out and tolerably spacious, but that is all. Bordered by a footway of four or five feet, and throughout unpaved, walking is inconvenient; but what more particularly incommodes the foot-passenger is the projecting flight of steps before every door. The streets being flat, the filth of the houses remains where it was thrown; and during a great part of the year, they are a common sewer, a sink of nastiness, dirt, and corruption.

With regard to the public buildings, these are only the Hotel de Ville and the Parochial Church (a plain building of the Ionic order), both built of brick; the former has, however, but one story. They stand near each other, on a spot contiguous to the river. At both times they offered asylums to the inhabitants, many seeking safety under their roofs, instead of exerting themselves to extinguish the flames.

Nearly in the center of the town is a small theater, where, on my arrival, I saw several dramas performed with considerable ability. The company was composed of half a dozen actors and actresses, refugees from the theater of Cape Francais, in the Island of St. Domingo. Nor is this the first instance of Louisiana having profited by the calamities of that island. But by some misunderstanding between the civil and military of the colony, and the indifference of the citizens and colonists, the theatrical troop has been dispersed, and the theater shut. Not long ago, however, some of the citizens were seized with a fit of play-acting, and a display of their dramatic talents was made in the Death of Caesar. They in consequence stabbed with great vigor, rage, and perseverance, this enemy of Roman liberty, in the person of an old colonist, bald headed from years and corpulent from good living. The venerable colonist sustained his part well. But the spectators, who could not yield themselves to the theatrical illusion, ceased not to see, through the representation, the hero of ancient Rome, raised from the dead and 0091 857 transported from the banks of the Tiber to those of the Mississippi, they did not cease a moment to behold the venerable and portly Mr. B .

In winter, during the Carnival, there is a public ball open twice a week, one day for the grown people, and another for children. It is nothing but a kind of hall made out of a huge barrack, and stands in such an unfortunate part of the city, that it is only accessible through mud and mire. Each side is accompanied with boxes, where the mammas form a tapestry, and where ladies of younger date, who come merely as spectators, are accommodated with seats. The latter in irony are called Bredouilles. The musicians are half a dozen gypsies, or else people of color, scraping their fiddles with all their might. It is hither, in the months of January and February, but seldom sooner or later, that the inhabitants repair, men and women, to forget their cares in dancing; nor will they tire at their country dances, groso modo , from seven at night till cock-crowing the next morning. The price of admittance is four Dutch shillings, or half a piastre, for every individual.”

The French or Catholic Cemetery, in New Orleans, is an interesting spot. On account of the wet nature of the soil, almost all the dead are interred above ground. The principal cemetery (which is within the city limits), is in three divisions, each of which is covered with a profusion of elevated tombs. Many of these are beautifully constructed, embracing a great variety of architecture. A large portion of the tombs are built against the walls which surround each division of the cemetery, having tiers of ovenlike recesses, one above each other, in each of which a body is placed and then walled up by masonry, with a marble slab in front having inscriptions to the memory of the deceased within. The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in these cemeteries; the first from Judge Martin's, the three following from the upper tier in the structure by its side, containing eleven recesses:

Monument of Judge Martin, and others, New Orleans. Judge Martin's granite monument is on the left, that for a number of Catholic Priests on the right, nearly in front of which is seen a cross, at which place a Catholic clergyman once every year, on All Soul's day (2d Nov.), addresses the multitude which assembles here.

Francois Xavier Martin, * ne a Marseille le Mars, 1762; mort a la Nouvelle Orleans le 10 Decembre, 1846. Juge de la cour Supreme d l'Etat de la Louisiane pendant 31 ans; du ler Cour Superieure du territoire d'Orleans, 1810—Docteur de l'academie de Harvard, Massachusetts,

* Francis Xavier Martin, born at Marseilles, March 1765, died in New Orleans, Dec. 10th, 1846. Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana during 31, years; of the 1st Superior Court of the Territory of Orleans, 1810; Professor in Harvard College, Massachusetts; member of the House of Representatives of the State of North Carolina, 1806; Judge of the Superior Court of the Territory of Mississippi, 1809; member of the foreign association of the Academy of Marseilles, 1817.

“At the age of twenty he left France for America, having in his possession only seventy-five dollars. He located his residence in North Carolina, bound himself to a printer to learn the art of printing; afterward worked as a journeyman, lived abstemiously, made money, and finally purchased the office. While conducting his business, writing editorials, and making selections for a newspaper, he studied law, and made himself familiar with the English language. He was a mind of rare power, which grasped and digested whatever became an object of interest with him. In a few years he gave evidence of greater attainments in jurisprudence than might reasonably be expected in a person of his age, and by rare eloquence as an advocate he became extensively known and popular. Hence, under the administration of President Jefferson, who had become acquainted with his merits, he was constituted Judge of the Mississippi Territory, and located himself at Natchez. In 1815 he was placed on the Bench of the Supreme Court of Louisiana, by Gevornor Claiborne, then chief magistrate of that state; and, in 1837, after the death of Chief-Justice Mathews, Judge Martin was appointed to succeed him; the duties of which office he performed with dignity, ability, and great impartiailty until 1845, when the new Constitution was ratified. He then retired to private life, bearing with him the steem of all who knew him; not only as one of the best jurists in the country, but also as a citizen of the most unblemished moral purity, and possessing social virtues which rendered him an ornament in every relation of life. Judge Martin was a good general scholar, as well as a sound lawyer. His History of Louisiana from its Earliest Period, is a monument to his industry, and an evidence of his talents as a historian. He had some idiosyncrasies. He was not a miser, yet throughout his long life ho practiced the most rigid economy in his personal expenditures, which at first might have been the result of necessity, prudence, or principle; but it became a habit involving no personal sacrifice. Yet he was a most charitable man to the poor. For many years he was a partner in a brick yard, and during seven years of that time he and his partner ate at the same table, their expenses for board and clothing amounting to only twenty-five cents each per day; and that occurred at a time when his salary as judge amounted to $5,000 per annum. At the time of his death his estate was valued at $400,000.”— Blake's Universal Biographical Dictionary.

0092 858 1841—Membre de la Chambre dos Representans de l'Etat de laCaroline du Nord, 1806—Juge de la Superieure du territoire du Mississippi, 1809—Membre associe etranger d l'academie do Marseille, 1817.

† Aqui yace el Presbitero Dn. Felipe, Asencio nacio on la villa de Fermoselle, on la provincia de Zamora, Esp., fallecio el 28 de Feb., do 1850, a la edad de 71 anos. †

† Here lies the Rev. Don Felipe, who was born in the village of Fermoselle, in the province of Zamora, Spain, died on the 28th of February, in 1850, aged 71 years.

Rev. E. Blin, vicarius Sti Augusti Obiit die 15a mensis Augusti anno 1853, ætatis 48. ‡

‡ Rev. E. Blin, vicar of St. Augustine, died the 15th of August, 1853, aged 48.

Revd V. G. Gautheaux, vicarius Sta Mariæ Obiit die 24d mensis Augusti anno 1853, ætatis Suæ 24. ∥

∥ Rev. V. G. Gautheaux, vicar of St, Mary, died 24th of Aug., 1853, aged 24.

In this inclosure, in front of the tomb of the Sisters of Charity, is a splendid marble monument, on the top of which are five statues, two with clasped hands, looking upward, as if viewing the opening scenes above, to which the soul of the departed has arisen: two of the figures, with inverted torches, are looking down ward, as if deploring the death of a companion; the fifth figure, in the center, is of angelic form, and has the appearance of addressing a surrounding multitude with one hand pointing upward. The only word inscribed on the monument is the name of Barelli, underneath which is a representation in relief of a steam-boat explosion at a wharf, above which is represented a ministering angel receiving a mortal, over whose face is a vail, and conducting him to the realms on high Above is the all-seeing eye, with cherubs and cherubim, with their harps and other instruments of music. In the same yard is the following, on a high granite monument:

Sacred to the memory of Alexander Milne, senior, a native of Lochebar, in Scotland who arrived in this city prior to 1790, and departed this life on the 20th of Oct., 1838, Æ. 94 yrs. He pursued the occupation of a hardware merchant, and by great industry, pru. donee and economy accumulated a very large fortune, which he dedicated to the support and education of the Orphan, as appears from the following act to incorporate an Asylum for the destitute Orphan Boys, under the name and style of the “ Milne Asylum for destitute Orphan Boys. [Hero follows the act of the Legislature, approved by the governor, A. B. Roman, Feb. 27, 1839. By another act of the same Legislature, of the same date, an Asylum for Orphan Girls was incorporated. An extract from the will of Mr. Milne is also engraved on the monument.

Societe des enfants de St. Jean, sous la protection de Marie, 27 Mars, 1853. §

§ Society of the children of St. John, under the protection of Mary, 27th March, 1853.

0093 859

Seciete fleur de Marie, sous la protection de Ste Anne, instituee le 15 Dec., 1852. *

* Society of the flower of Mary, under the protection of St. Anne, instituted Dec. 15th, 1852.

Le Mausolie est con tribut paye par l'amour paternal, a la memoire d'une fille cherie Pauline Elsa Foy, nee le 17 Mars, 1814, morte le 7 Mai, 1833, victims du fleau qui desola ce pays.

Paix eternelle a la cendre sacree Que renferme a jamais, ce pieux monument, C'est le dernier sejour d'une fille adore Modele de vertus, d'amour de devoument, Elle faisait le bien, sans' en chercher la glorie, Lorsque le cruel sort abregea ses beaux jours. Ses parens affliges la pleurerout tojours, Et dans leurs coeurs conservent sa memoire.

Cavissimae filice suæ, infelix pater hoc sepulchrum erexit.

Vous que jai tant aimes, Vous me devez des pleurs; Sur ma tomb en offrande, Apportez vos douleurs, Ut flos ante diem Flebilis occidit.

Stop stranger, have a tear for other's woes, In this sad tomb a Father's hopes repose.

Piu dell' ombra e fugace Questa vita mortal che tanto piace. †

† This tomb is a tribute given by paternal love to the memory of a beloved daughter Pauline Eliza Foy born March 17, 1814, died the 7th May, 1833, victim to the scourge which desolated this land.

Eternal rest to these, the blest remains, That ever more, this monument contains The last abode of a beloved child, Model of virtue, love, devotion mild, She has done well, yet seeking not for praise, When cruel fate cut short her lovely days. Her stricken parents' tears will never dry, But in their hearts preserve her memory.

To his most beloved daughter; an unhappy father has erected this monument.

Ye whom I've loved so well, Ye who pay to me a tear, On my tomb for offering, Bring your grief and sorrow here,

More of the shadow is fleeting than can charm this mortal, life.

Aqui yace Don Jose Javiere De Olazabal, nacido en Azpeitia de vizcaya, quien con su prudente y generosa beneficencia Uego a la sara felicidad de ser armigo de todos y que todos lo fueran suyos, Modelo de maridos y de padres egecito' ademas por tiempo largo en vera cruz su selo por el bien publico, su curidad con los enfermos, y su liberalidad con los probes. Asistido y Urado por su amante agradecida familia, murio a los 59 anos de su edad en 4 de Noviembre de 1832.

There are several large structures, erected by various societies of different nations. “The Portuguese Benevolent Association” was instituted in 1848; a fine female statue, in a weeping posture, adorns their Mausoleum, and on the east side of the pedestal on which she sits is engraven the word “Silence. ” The Italian monument is a very superior structure of marble, adorned with statuary of the first order. The “Orleans Battalion of Artillery,” the Societe of Francais de Bien. faisane, and several others, are large structures. The following is copied from one of these monuments:

La companie des Cazadores D'orleans, formee in 1829, et attaches a la legion de la Louisiane, a erice a see Membres ce Monument ou leurs depouilles mortelles gisent dans un repos eternel, 1836. Amen. La companie de Cazadores De Orleans, ormada a impulsos de Espanoles Residences in Orleans, y Abierta a todo defensor de la libertad Americana: fue instalada el dia 4 de Julio de 1836. Siendo su capitan Dn Joaquim Niosca. R. I. P. Longa a Patria venientes Hispani Libertatis causa Cohorte Militare formats Nevaurelli Hane Ultiman Sedem Militibus ejus defunctis crexcrunt. A.D. MDCCCXXXVI. Die IV quintilis mensis. S. I. T. L. Every man belonging to the “ Cazadores De Orleans ” shall find here a retreat where his mortal remains may rest in peace. R. I. P.

0094 860

Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, is situated on the east or left bank of the Mississippi, 130 miles above New Orleans, and 1,120 miles S.W. from Washington. It is mostly built on an elevated plain or bluff, some 30 or 40 feet above high water, being the first elevation on the Mississippi from its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico. The city contains the state house, the state penitentiary, court house, jail, several churches, an academy for females, several manufacturing establishments, the deaf, dumb and blind asylum, and about 4,000 inhabitants. The United States barracks adjoin the city on the north.

Western view of Baton Rouge. The view shows the appearance of Baton Rouge, as seen from the levee on the opposite bak of the Mississippi, about a mile distant. The Deaf, Dumb and Blind Asylum is seen on the extreme right; the State Capitol is the next prominent building to the left.

The State Capitol at Baton Rouge, erected in 1847, is upon the lower point of the last bluff which extends to the river. Its architecture is of the mixed Gothic order: it resembles an ancient feudal castle, and has quite a striking and imposing appearance, when viewed from the river. The smaller building by its side contains a statue of Washington, by Powers. The Garrison buildings, on the opposite side of the city, are neat, handsome and convenient, and at this place is stored the arms and ammunition to supply the southern military posts. The Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind was established in 1852, and when completed will be superior to any similar structure in the south.

State Capitol At Baton Rouge.

Baton Rouge is, next to New Orleans, the oldest town in the state, the first settlement being made shortly after that of New Orleans by the French, but the difficulty in navigating the river with sail vessels to such a distance from the Gulf, was such that it never increased to any great extent. At the time of the purchase of Louisiana, Baton Rouge being then in the hands of the 0095 861 Spaniards, was taken by Gen. Thomas, and the Spanish rule annihilated. The place is said to have derived its name from the symbols of a bloody massacre by the Chickasaw Indians. A Spanish family, residing here, were murdered by the Indians, and their heads placed on poles along the margin of the river. A party of French, under La Salle, shortly afterward approached the place, and were appalled by the ghastly sight, and named it Baton Rouge (Red Stick.)

General Zachary Taylor had his family residence, for many years, at Baton Rouge. It was a small cottage built house, standing upon the bank of the Mississippi, and was originally inhabited by the commandant of the old Spanish fort. “It contained but three large rooms, to which'were added in course of time a surrounding veranda, and some out-buildings devoted to domestic purposes. Here Col. Taylor, when ordered to take a command in the army south, refusing the more ostentatious quarters of ‘the garrison,’ established himself, and here the members of his family resided: more or less, for the quarter of a century that preceded his translation to the ‘White House.’ At the time of the ‘Presidential contest,’ the thousands who traveled upon the great highway of the south and west, the Mississippi, were accustomed to stop their steamers in front of this, humble looking house, and make the welkin ring with exulting cheers and nothing could exceed the enthusiasm when ‘old Whitey,’ grazing in his retirement, would start at the enlivening sounds, and sweep along the bluff in graceful movements, as if cordially acknowledging the honors paid to his master.”

Gen. Taylor's Residence

Opelousas , the capital of St. Landry parish, is near the head of the Vermillion River, 55 miles west from Baton Rouge, and 217 from New Orleans, in a pleasant and fertile country. The village contains a court house, two banks, four churches, and a U. S. land office. Population about 2,000. The Franklin College, founded in 1839, having a president and several professors, is located in this place. The village has shaded streets, substantial mansions, and pretty cottages.

Natchitoches , the capital of Natchitoches parish, is on the west side of Red River, 143 miles N.W. of Baton Rouge, 414 miles by steamboat from New Orleans, and 178 miles from the junction with the Mississippi River. The village stands at the foot of a bluff, and contains a court house, a U. S. land office, several churches and academies, and about 2,000 inhabitants, a mixture of American, Spanish and French descent. The first settlement of Natchtoches may be dated at 1714, when about thirty men under St. Denys, established a trading post on the site of the present town. St. Denys was a bold 0096 862 and intrepid officer, who in 1732 bravely defended himself against the furious attacks of the Natchez warriors. Having reinforced his detachment by volunteers and a body of friendly Indians, he attacked the Natchez in their entrenchments, entirely routed them and slew all their head chiefs. This blow completed the final dispersion and annihilation of the Natchez Indians as a distinct tribe.

Shreveport , the capital of Caddo parish, is situated on the right bank of the Red River, 201 miles north-west of Baton Rouge, and about 30 miles below the “Great Raft.” Population about 3000. It is the most commercial town in the north-western section of the State, and the only accessible port for a large region. About 60,000 bales of cotton are shipped annually. A railroad is in progress from Vicksburg through this town into Texas, and will there connect with the Southern Pacific R. R.

Alexandria , on Red River below the lower rapids, is the great cotton mart of Red River. It is the capital of Rapides parish, and has about 2,000 inhabitants.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC.

Hernando De Soto , who with his men were the first European traversers of the soil of Louisiana, was one of the most distinguished companions of Pizarro, in his conquest of Peru. He landed in Florida, in May, 1539, with a force of upward of 1,300 men, many of whom were gentlemen of the best blood, of Spain and Portugal. After wandering about with various vicissitudes, through Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, for two years, he is supposed to have crossed to the western side of the Mississippi River, near the site of Memphis, Tenn. Meeting with alternate hospitality and hostility on the part of the natives, he arrived at the mouth of Red River, in Louisiana, where he closed his adventurous career in May, 1542. The following relative to his death is from Monette's History of the Valley of the Mississippi:

“A melancholy had seized upon his spirits, while the incessant fatigue of body and anxiety of mind, together with the influence of the climate, brought on a slow, wasting fever, which at length confined him to his bed. Still, De Soto was the vigilant commander, and from his sick-bed gave all the necessary orders, and directed all the plans of movement. But his labors and anxieties were fast coming to a close; and being conscious of the near approach of death, he prepared himself to die like a soldier and a devout Catholic. Having made his will, and with great solemnity appointed and installed Luis de Moscoso as his successor, he called all his faithful officers to him, two and two, and bade them an affectionate farewell; begged forgiveness if at any time, in the discharge of his duty, he had been harsh toward them; and exhorted them to remain true to the king, courageous and affectionate to one another; he thanked them for the fidelity and constancy with which they adhered to his fortunes, and expressed deep regret that it was not in his power to reward them according to their merits.

He next called to him his soldiers, according to their rank, by twenties, and in like manner bade them adieu, with his blessing. He expired the next day, being about the fifth of June.

The death of De Soto overwhelmed his hardy veterans with sorrow; they had followed him nearly four years; and in all their sufferings he had suffered with them, and led them on through dangers which he had equally shared. They mourned for him as for a father; and so much the more, because they could not give him a burial and such obsequies as were due his birth and rank: they also feared lest his remains should be insulted by the Indians after he was buried. The hostile Indians had been in the habit of searching for the bodies of Spaniards who had been buried, and when found they would quarter them, and set them on posts and trees as trophies. How much more eager would they be for the governor's body? To prevent this, they sought a retired spot near the village, where 0097 863 many pits and holes rendered the ground uneven; there they buried him secretly at the dead hour of night. To conceal his grave from the Indians, they prepared the ground as if for a place of parade, and gave out word to the Indians that the governor was fast recovering from his illness. Finding, however, that the Indians suspected not only the death, but the burial place of the governor, they determined to remove the body to a place of greater security: accordingly, the next night they disinterred it, and placed it in a strong and heavy coffin, made by excavating a cut of green oak, over the aperture of which they nailed a strong plank. The body, thus inclosed, was taken with great secresy to the middle of the Mississippi, ‘Rio Grande,’ and sunk in nineteen fathoms of water. Thus the first discoverer of the Mississippi made his grave in the bosom of its waters.”

William C. C. Claiborne , the first American governor of Louisiana, was born in Virginia in 1775, was bred to the law, and emigrated to Sullivan county, Tennessee. At 22 years of age he was appointed a judge, he being at the time considered at the head of his profession in Tennessee. Soon after, he was elected to congress, and in 1801 he was appointed governor of Mississippi Territory. In 1804 he was appointed governor of the territory of Louisiana: “His justice and urbanity endeared him to all classes; and when, in 1812, Louisiana became an independent state, the people chose him for their governor, by an almost unanimous vote. He was in the executive chair during the memorable invasion of the British, and their repulse at New Orleans by General Jackson, early in 1815. On that occasion Governor Claiborne wisely and generously surrendered to Jackson all power and command, and, under that general's orders, the magistrate led a large body of the militia of his state. His long career as governor of Louisiana terminated in 1817, when he was chosen to represent that state in the Federal senate. But his useful life closed too soon to allow him to serve his countrymen any more. He died in New Orleans, on the 23d of November, 1817, in the forty-second year of his age. The municipal authorities decreed a public funeral, and money was appropriated to erect a marble monument to his memory.”

Merriwether Lewis was born in Virginia in 1774. From 1801 to 1803, he was the private secretary of Jefferson, who, in 1803, appointed him to the command of the party to explore the North American continent, from the head waters of the Missouri to the Pacific. He was absent about three years, and in 1806 was appointed governor of Louisiana. lie died in 1809, by his own hand, at the early age of 35. To his history of the expedition, published after his death, was appended a sketch of his life, written by Mr. Jefferson.

Edward Livingston was born in Clermont, New York, in 1764, was bred to the bar, and from 1794 to 1800, was a member of congress from his native state, and then became mayor of the city of New York. Emigrating to New Orleans, he late in life was sent to both houses of congress from Louisiana. In 1831, he was secretary of state under President Jackson, and in 1833 was sent as a minister to France. He died in 1836. His fame rests upon his eminence as a jurist. With his supervision the whole system of jurisprudence of Louisiana underwent a revision. The result of his labors was published in one large volume, which, in the beauty of its arrangement, the wisdom of its provisions, and the simplicity of its forms, has probably never been equaled.

Eleazer Wheelock Ripley was born in Hanover, N. H., in 1782. In the late war with Great Britain, he became a brigadier general, and was much distinguished in the battles of the Niagara frontier, and was presented by congress with a gold medal for his brave defense of Fort Erie. Emigrating to Louisiana, he became a citizen, and from 1835 to 1839, was one of its representatives in congress. He died in 1839.

John James Audubon , the eminent ornithologist, was born of French parents, at New Orleans, in 1780, and was educated at Paros. His life was one of indefatigable industry and of bold, fearless adventure in the prosecution of his darling pursuit. His work on the birds of America is a perpetual monument to his genius and an honor to his country. He died in 1851, at his seat on the banks of the Hudson.

0098 864

PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. *

* This article is extracted from Bonner's History of Louisiana.

In 1763, Louisiana was ceded to Spain, and by a secret article in the treaty of St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, that power ceded it back to France. Napoleon, however, wished to keep this cession secret until he should have—as he hoped to do—reduced St. Domingo to submission. Failing in this, he was rendered indifferent to his new acquisition. In January, 1803, he sent out Laussat as prefect of the colony, which was the first intimation that the inhabitants had of the transfer which gave them great joy.

On being informed of this retrocession, President Jefferson had dispatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American minister at Paris, to represent to the First Consul that the occupation of New Orleans by France would endanger the friendly relations between the two nations, and, perhaps, even oblige the United States to make common cause with England; as the possession of this city by the former, by giving her the command of the Mississippi, the only outlet to the produce of the western states, and also of the Gulf of Mexico, so important to American commerce, would render it almost certain that the conflicting interests of the two nations would lead to an open rupture. Mr. Livingston was therefore instructed not only to insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the acquisition of New Orleans itself and the surrounding territory; and Mr. Monroe was appointed with full powers to assist him in the negotiation.

Bonaparte, who always acted promptly, soon came to the conclusion that what he could not defend, he had better dispose of on the best terms; but before deciding, he summoned two of his ministers in council, on the 10th of April, 1803, and thus addressed them:

“I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it than to those to whom I yield it, The English have despoiled France of all her northern possessions in America, and now they covet those of the south. I am determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object will be to gain possession of it. They will probably commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily getting worse since the death of Le Clerc. The conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in putting it out of their reach. I am not sure but what they have already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their habits; and in their place I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not yet possess it; and if I wait but a short time, my enemies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to conciliate. They only ask for one city of Louisiana, but I consider the whole colony as lost; and I believe that in the hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political, and even the commercial interests of France, than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject.”

One of the ministers, Barbe Marbois, fully approved of the cession, but the other opposed it. They debated the matter for a long time, and Bonaparte concluded the conference without making his determination known. The next day, however, he sent for Marbois, and said to him:

“The season for deliberation is over: I have determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with Spain was to recover it. But, though I regret parting with it, I am convinced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commission you, 0099 865 therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember, however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different companies, which have never returned to the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory to the United States, they would be unbounded; but, being obliged to part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine country.”

The negotiations commenced that very day. Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris on the 12th of April, and the two representatives of the United States, after holding a private conference, announced that they were ready to treat for the cession of the entire territory, which at first Mr. Livingston had hesitated to do, believing the proposal of the First Consul to be only a device to gain time.

On the 30th of April, 1803, the treaty was signed. The United States were to pay fifteen million dollars for their new acquisition, and be indemnified for some illegal captures; while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports of Louisiana free of duty for twelve years.

Bonaparte stipulated in favor of Louisiana that it should as soon as possible be incorporated into the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, privileges, and immunities as other citizens of the United States; and the third article of the treaty, securing to them these benefits, was drawn up by the First Consul himself, who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words:

“Make it known to the people of Louisiana that we regret to part with them; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could desire; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any European government as they will when they become independent. But, while they enjoy the privileges of liberty, let them ever remember that they are French, and preserve for their mother-country that affection which a common origin inspires.”

The completion of this important transaction gave equal satisfaction to both parties. “I consider,” said Livingston, “that from this day the United States takes rank with the first powers of Europe, and now she has entirely escaped from the power of England;” and Bonaparte expressed a similar sentiment in these words: “By this cession of territory I have secured the power of the United States, and given to England a maratime rival, who at some future time will humble her pride.” These words appeared prophetic when the troops of Britain, a few years after, met so signal an overthrow on the plains of Louisiana.

The boundaries of the colony had never been clearly defined, and one of Bonaparte's ministers drew his attention to his obscurity. “No matter,” said he, “if there was no uncertainty, it would, perhaps, be good policy to leave some;” and, in fact, the Americans, interpreting to their own advantage this uncertainty, some few years after seized upon the extensive territory of Baton Rouge, which was in dispute between them and the Spaniards.

On the 30th of November, 1803, Laussat took possession of the country, when Casa Calvo and Salcedo, the Spanish commissioners, presented to him the keys of the city, over which the tri-colored flag floated but for a short time. The colony had been under the rule of Spain for a little more than thirty-four years.

On the 20th of December, in the same year, Gen. Wilkinson and Gov. Claiborne, who were jointly commissioned to take possession of the country for the United States, made their entry into New Orleans at the head of the American troops. Laussat gave up his command, and the star-spangled banner supplanted the tricolored flag of France.

The purchase of Louisiana, which gave the United States their sole claim to the vast territory west of the Mississippi, extending on the north through Oregon to the Pacific, and further south to the Mexican dominions, was the most important 0100 866 event to the nation which has occurred in this century. From that moment, the interests of the whole people of the Mississipi valley became as one, and its vast natural resources began to be rapidly developed. So great are they that it is destined to become the center of American power— “the mistress of the world.”

CULTIVATION OF SUGAR CANE. *

* Abridged from an article in Harper, by T. B. Thorpe, entitled “Sugar and the Sugar Region of Louisiana,” and from Olmsted's “Seaboard Slave States.”

Louisiana produces about half the amount of sugar used in the United States or more than 350,000 hogsheads, of 1,000 lbs. each per annum. Sugar is a modern production: it was unknown to the ancients, and even in the middle ages was a luxury seldom indulged in even by the wealthiest. It is generally conceded that the plant originated in China. The cane was first introduced into Europe by the Saracens, who cultivated it in Sicily, and the islands in the vicinity: by the middle of the 13th century, it became generally known to the European world. Soon after the discovery of America the sugar cane was introduced by the early colonists of St. Domingo and other West India islands, which soon became famous for its cultivation and the extraordinary improvements introduced there in the manufacture of sugar. In 1751, the cane was introduced into Louisiana by Jesuit priests from St. Domingo, who, by the industry of negroes familiar with its cultivation, planted it upon lands now occupied by the most densely populated part of New-Orleans. The climate of Louisiana is far inferior to that of the West Indies for the production of sugar; but the cane in time becomes acclimated and insensible to the cold which would destroy that grown farther south.

Gathering Sugar Cane.

Until within the memory of those now living, the cultivation of the cane was confined to the vicinity of New Orleans. A great change has taken place: for over two hundred miles on either side of tile Mississippi, and on the banks of many of its tributaries, together with the rich country—almost unknown except to its inhabitants—of Opelousas and Attakappas, lying westwardly on the Gulf coast, the sugar cane flourishes in the greatest perfection. A large number of the great cotton farms on lower Red River, have been successfully changed into the cultivation of cane, and the “high lands,” which mean those above the annual rise of the Mississippi, have gratefully rewarded the labor of the sugar planter.

Sugar cane is classed by botanists among the grasses. Its technical description, except to the initiated, gives but an indefinite idea to the general reader. Superficially, it resembles, in the field, the growing corn; but, on examination, it will be found to be very different. The stem, in every species of cane, is round and hard, and divided, at short, irregular intervals, with joints. When it is considered, that 0101 867 in Louisiana, the sugar crop has to be gathered and manufactured in ninety days, or be destroyed by the frost, and that one third of the entire crop has to be put into the ground for “seed,” and that in the West Indies the season is always favor able for the perfection of the cane, a tolerably correct idea can be formed of the disadvantages under which the Louisiana planter labors, compared to those similarly engaged in more tropical regions.

The largest and most important sugar plantations of Louisiana lie, with few exceptions, upon the low lands of the Mississippi and its outlets. The consequence is, that they are beautifully level, and present a different appearance from any other agricultural portion of the Union. The prairies of the West roll like the swells of the sea, but the fields of Louisiana spread out with an evenness of surface that finds no parallel, except in the undisturbed bosom of the inland lake.

One of the most interesting and picturesque portions of Louisiana devoted to the cultivation of sugar, lying off the banks of the Mississippi River, is the country of “the Attakappas.” This earthly paradise—for such a name it really deserves —lies west of the Mississippi River, and borders upon the Gulf of Mexico. It would be almost impossible to describe its character, it is so composed of bayous, lakes, rivers, prairies, and impenetrable swamps. To even a large portion of the oldest inhabitants of the state, Attakappas is an unknown region, and so it is destined to remain, except to its immediate inhabitants, if artificial means are not adopted to facilitate communication. In the spring you can reach the Attakappas in a comfortable steamer; later in the season all direct communication is cut off by the “low water.”

Here, upon the borders of the Teche, is the most enchanting scenery and the richest sugar farms of Louisiana. Unlike the Mississippi, the Teche has no levees: its waters never overflow. The stately residences of the planters are surrounded by gardens, the shrubbery of which reaches to the water's edge, and hedges of rose and hawthorn, of lemon and orange, every where meet the ravished eye. Along its shores the magnificent live oak rears itself in all the pride of vigorous “ancient youth,” and gives to the gently undulating landscape, the expression so often witnessed in the lordly parks of England.

The pleasant town of Franklin lies upon the Teche, and is the shipping port of the richest sugar parish of the state. Vessels of large size while in the Gulf of Mexico turn aside from the mud-choked mouths of the Mississippi, and floating and cordelling through innumerable bays and bayous, finally work their way into the “interior,” and mingle their rigging with the foliage of the forest. Here these argosies, born in the cold regions of the Aroostook, fill their holds with sugar and molasses, and, once freighted, wing their way to the north.

Running parallel with the Teche are magnificent lakes, that consequently lie upon the rear of the plantations. It is the mists from these inland seas, with those of the rivers, that rise over the sugar cane in winter, and protect it from frosts which in less favored regions destroy the planter's prospects. To the accidental location of a plantation with regard to water, it is often indebted for a comparative exemption from freezing cold.

Immediately after the business of one year is closed, and the holidays are at an end, one of the first things attended to, as a commencement of the year's labor, is the clearing out of the ditches, that have become choked up by vegetation in the course of the summer and fall months. The ditches form one ef the most important and expensive necessities of a sugar estate; for, with the exception of frost, standing water is the most destructive thing to cane. Rains that fall in torrents in these latitudes, not only have to be guarded against, but also the more insidious and ever-encroaching “transpiration water.” To form an idea of what is meant by this term, it must be remembered that the lands on the Mississippi River are protected from annual inundation by embankments known as “levees.” In the spring of the year, the Mississippi, as the conductor to the ocean of more than half the running water of the North American continent, rises not only until its banks are full—but would, if left to itself, overflow for a season the whole lower country through which it passes. To remedy this evil, from below New Orleans and up toward the north for hundreds of miles, the river is lined with an embankment, which, in times of flood, confines its waters within its usual channel. These embankments vary from 0102 868 six to twelve feet in hight. When the river is full, it will be noticed that there is an inconceivable pressure made by this artificial column upon the water that lies under the soil of the plantations. Consequently, there is a constant percolation up to the surface; and if this were not provided against by the most liberal and scientific method of ditching, although the sun might shine uninterruptedly for weeks, the cane crop would sicken and die, not as we have seen by the descending rains, but by the ascending flood that at these particular times literally boils and billows under the earth.

The highest lands upon the Mississippi River are those forming the banks; as you go inland, they gradually sink. In draining a plantation, it is customary to cut parallel ditches about two hundred feet apart, from the front to the rear of the plantation, with cross ditches every six hundred feet. This complication of artificial canals requires not only an enormous outlay of capital and occupation of valuable land, but also taxes the scientific engineer to give them their proper levels. In many instances, it is found impossible to accomplish this, and costly draining-machines have to be called into service. There is erected the steam-engine, that in every revolution tumbles the superabundant water that is running so merrily in the ditches over the back levee into the swamp.

There are plantations on which within a square mile can be found from twenty to thirty miles of ditching. Often the “bayous” of the country are cleared out, and form an important natural adjunct in carrying off the surplus water, but to the labor of man is to be ascribed the making of the most formidable channels; for on some plantations can be seen a regular system of deep and carefully constructed canals. It may be with truth said, that the industry and capital expended in Louisiana alone, to preserve the state from inundation, have erected works of internal improvement which, united, far surpass in extent, and if concentrated within the vision of a single eye, would be superior in magnificence to the renowned pyramids of Egypt.

This extensive ditching has required the labor of years to accomplish. At first very little was needed, for only the highest lands of the river were cultivated. As plantation after plantation was opened, and the levees increased, this ditching became more important—in fact, the value of the plantation for productiveness depended upon their construction. Where the “plantation force” is large, the negroes do most of this important work, and generally are able to keep all clean when once they are made. But the same hardy and improvident son of Erin that levels mountains at the north, or tunnels through their rocky hearts, that flourishing cities may be built, and railways be constructed, finds his way to the distant south; and with spade and wheelbarrow, is ever ready to move about the rich soil with an energy and ease that finds no rival except in the labors of an earthquake.

For planting, new or fallow ground is prepared by plowing the whole surface. The ground being then harrowed, drills are opened with a double mold-board plow seven feet apart. Cuttings of cane for seed are to be planted in them. These are reserved from the crop in the autumn, when some of the best cane on the plantation is selected for this purpose, while still standing. This is cut off at the roots, and laid up in heaps or stacks, in such a manner that the leaves and tops protect the stalks from frost. The heaps are called mattresses; they are two or three feet high, and as many yards across. At the planting season they are opened, and the cane comes out moist and green, and sweet, with the buds or eyes, which protrude at the joints, swelling. The immature top parts of the stalk are cut off, and they are loaded into carts, and carried to the ground prepared for planting. The carts used are large, with high side-boards, and are drawn by three mules—one large one being in the shafts, and two lighter ones abreast, before her. The drivers are boys, who use the whip a great deal, and drive rapidly. In the field, says Olmsted, in his book, I found the laborers working in three divisions—the first, consisting of light hands, brought the cane by armsfull from the cart, and laid it by the side of the furrows; the second planted it, and the third covered it. Planting is done by laying the cuttings at the bottom of the furrow, in such a way that there shall be three always together, with the eyes of each a little removed from those of the others—that is, all “breaking joints.” They are thinly covered with earth, drawn over them with hoes. The other tools were so well selected on this plantation, 0103 869 that I expressed surprise at the clumsiness of the hoes, particularly as the soil was light, and entirely free from stones. “Such hoes as you use at the north would not last a negro a day,” said the planter.

Cane will grow for several years from the roots of the old plants, and, when it is allowed to do so, a very considerable part of the expense is avoided; but the vigor of the plant is less when growing from this source than when starting from cuttings, and the crop, when thus obtained, is annually less and less productive, until, after a number of years, depending upon the rigor of the seasons, fresh shoots cease to spring from the stubble. This sprouting of cane from the stools of the last crop is termed “ratooning.” In the West India plantations the cane is frequently allowed to ratoon for eight successive crops. In Louisiana it is usual to plant once in three years, trusting to the ratooning for two crops only, and this was the practice on Mr. R's plantation. The cost of sugar growing would be very greatly increased if the crop needed planting every year: for all the cane grown upon an acre will not furnish seed for more than four acres—consequently one twelfth of the whole of each crop has to be reserved for the planting of the following crop, even when two thirds of this is to be of ratoon cane.

Planting is finished in a favorable season—early in March. Tillage is commenced immediately afterward, by plowing from the rows of young cane, and subsequently continued very much after the usual plan of tillage for potatoes, when planted in drills, with us. By or before the first of July, the crop is all well earthed up, the rows of cane growing from the crest of a rounded bed, seven feet wide, with deep water-furrows between each. The cane is at this time five or six feet high; and that growing from each bed forms arches with that of the next, so as to completely shade the ground. The furrows between the beds are carefully cleaned out; so that in the most drenching torrents of rain, the water is rapidly carried off into the drains, and thence to the swamp; and the crop then requires no further labor upon it until frost is apprehended, or the season for grinding arrives.

The nearly three months' interval, commencing at the intensest heat of summer, corresponds in the allotment of labor to the period of winter in northern agriculture, because the winter itself, on the sugar-plantations, is the planting-season. The negroes are employed in cutting and carting wood for boiling the cane-juice, in making necessary repairs or additions to the sugar-house, and otherwise preparing for the grinding-season.

The grinding-season is the harvest of the sugar-planter; it commences in October, and continues for two or three months, during which time, the greatest possible activity and the utmost labor of which the hands are capable, are required to secure the product of the previous labor of the year. Mr. R. assured me that during the last grinding-season nearly every man, woman, and child on his plantation, including his overseer and himself, were at work fully eighteen hours a day. From the moment grinding first commences, until the end of the season, it is never discontinued; the fires under the boiler never go out, and the negroes rest only for six hours in the twenty-four, by relays—three quarters of them being constantly at work.

Notwithstanding the severity of the labor required of them at this time, Mr. R. said that his negroes were as glad as he was himself to have the time for grinding arrive, and they worked with greater cheerfulness than at any other season. How can those persons who are always so ready to maintain that the slaves work less than free laborers in free countries, and that for that reason they are to be envied by them, account for this? That at Mr. R.'s plantation it was the case that the slaves enjoyed most that season of the year when the hardest labor was required of them, I have, in addition to Mr. R.'s own evidence, good reason to believe, which I shall presently report. And the reason of it evidently is, that they are then better paid; they have better and more varied food and stimulants than usual, but especially they have a degree of freedom, and of social pleasure, and a variety of occupation which brings a recreation of the mind, and to a certain degree gives them strength for, and pleasure in, their labor. Men of sense have discovered that when they desire to get extraordinary exertions from their slaves, it is better to offer them rewards than to whip them; to encourage them rather than drive them.

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If the season has been favorable, so that the cane is strong, and well matured, it will endure a smart early frost without injury, particularly if the ground is well drained; but as rapidly as possible, after the season has arrived at which frosts are to be expected, the whole crop is cut, and put in mattresses, from which it is taken to the grinding-mill as fast as it can be made to use it.

The business of manufacturing sugar is everywhere carried on in connection with the planting of the cane. The shortness of the season during which the cane can be used is the reason assigned for this: the proprietors would not be willing to trust to custom mills to manufacture their produce with the necessary rapidity. If cane should be cultivated in connection with other crops—that is, on small farms, instead of great “sugar only” plantations—neighborhood custom-mills would probably be employed. The profits of a sugar-plantation are now large, much in proportion to its size (if it be proportionately stocked), because only a very large supply of cane will warrant the proprietor in providing the most economical manufacturing apparatus. In 1849 there were 1,474 sugar estates in Louisiana, producing 236,547 hhds. of sugar; but it is thought that half of this quantity was produced on less than 200 estates—that is, that one eighth of the plantations produced one half the sugar. The sugar-works on some of the large estates cost over $100,000, and many of them manufacture over 1,000,000 lbs. per annum. The profits of these, in a favorable season are immense.

At the close of the year's labor are the holidays, which extend from Christmas to New Year. The negroes now enjoy uninterrupted repose; or, rather, have the liberty of indulging their caprices, so long as they are harmless to themselves and others, free from constraint.

The planter and his family have too their trysting time. The mother and her comely daughters hie to the city of New Orleans, in pursuit of the innocent amusements of the season; and the “Crescent City,” at these times, shows a perceptible filling up of joyous, familiar, and southern-looking faces. The fashionable dry goods and jewelry stores, the opera, and the “society balls,” all feel the genial influence of these holiday times, and it only gradually disappears as the summer heat sets in, and drives residents of the country back to their rural homes.

TENNESSEE.

State Arms Of Tennessee.

Tennessee was originally included within the limits of North Carolina. The first establishment of the Anglo-Saxon race within its borders was Fort Loudon, on the north bank of Little Tennessee or Watauga River, about a mile above the mouth of Tellico River, and some 30 miles south-westerly from Knoxville. This fortification was erected by Andrew Lewis, in 1756, who was sent here for that purpose by the Earl of Loudon, the governor of Virginia and commander of the King's troops in America. The fort was garrisoned by British troops, and this, with other fortified places established afterward, induced large numbers of emigrants to settle in the vicinity. In the spring of 1758, the garrison of Fort Loudon was augmented to 200 men. In a few months, by the arrival of traders and hunters, it grew into a thriving village. At the time Tennessee was first explored, its territory was a vast and almost unoccupied wilderness, over which the Indian hunters seldom roamed. Being equi-distant from the settled territories of the southern and northern tribes, it remained a kind of neutral ground. By reason of the mildness of the climate, and the rich pasturage furnished by its varied ranges of plain and mountain, in common with Kentucky, it had become a great park in which the beasts of the forest ranged without much molestation. The Cherokees, in the south-east corner of the territory, appear to have been the only Indian tribe who had any permanent location in the state. The other parts of Tennessee were either claimed or occupied as hunting grounds by the Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Shawnees. The Six Nations also claimed a right to the grounds north and east of the Tennessee River, and the first cession of lands by any of the aboriginal tribes was made by them.

The second fort built in Tennessee was in the north-east corner of the state, within the present limits of Sullivan county, near the Virginia line, in 1758, by Col. Bird, in the French and Indian war. It was erected on a 0106 872 beautiful eminence on the north bank of the Holston, opposite the upper end of Long Island, and from this circumstance called Long Island Fort. The army wintered here in 1758. It was at that time supposed to be within the limits of Virginia. After the treaty with the Indians in 1768, many emigrants flocked into Tennessee, and settled on the banks of the Holston and Watauga Rivers. North of Holston, in what is now Sullivan and Hawkins counties, was believed to be in Virginia; south of the Holston was admitted to be within North Carolina. Of those who ventured furthest into the wilderness, with their families, was Capt. William Bean. He came from Virginia, and settled early in 1769 on Boone's Creek, a tributary of the Watauga. His son, Russel Bean , was the first white child born in Tennessee.

In 1769 or 1770, a company of ten hunters built two boats and trapping canoes, loaded them with the results of their hunting, and descended the Cumberland River—the first navigation and the first commerce probably ever carried on upon that stream by the Anglo-Americans. Where Nashville now stands they discovered the French Lick, and found immense numbers of buffalo and other wild game. Descending the river to the Ohio, they met with Indians, who, while they stole a few articles, offered them no personal injury. On descending the Ohio they met with Frenchmen trading to the Illinois, who treated them with friendship. From thence they sailed down the Mississippi as far as the then Spanish town of Natchez. Here some of them remained while the others returned.

In 1760, the Cherokees besieged Fort Loudon, with its garrison of 200 men. The garrison, having subsisted for a month principally on the flesh of horses and dogs, agreed to capitulate, on condition they should be allowed to return to Virginia or Fort Prince George. After marching about fifteen miles from the fort, they were surrounded and treacherously attacked by nearly 500 warriors; with horrid yells they rushed, tomahawk in hand, upon the feeble and emaciated troops, and massacred nearly all of them on the spot. The next year, Col. Grant, with a body of 2,600 men (Highlanders, Provincials and friendly Indians), marched into the Cherokee country, gave battle to the Indians, burned their dwellings, and laid waste their country.

The celebrated Francis Marion was a subordinate officer in this campaign, and in writing to a friend, he gave the following touching and picturesque account: “We arrived at the Indian towns in the month of July. As the ground was rich and the season had been favorable, the corn was bending under the double weight of lusty roasting cars and pods and clustering beans. The furrows seemed to rejoice under their precious loads—the fields stood thick with bread. We encamped the first night in the woods, near the fields, where the whole army feasted on the young corn, which, with fat venison, made a most delicious treat. The next morning, we proceeded, by order of Col. Grant, to burn down the Indian cabins. Some of our men seemed to enjoy this cruel work, laughing very heartily at the curling flames, as they mounted, loud crackling, over the tops of the huts. But to me, it appeared a shocking sight. ‘Poor creatures!’ thought I, ‘we surely need not grudge you such miserable habitations.’ But when we came, according to orders, to cut down the fields of corn, I could scarcely refrain from tears. For who could see the stalks, that stood so stately, with broad, green leaves, and gayly tasseled shocks, filled with sweet, milky fluid, and flour, the staff of life—who, I say, without grief, could see these sacred plants sinking under our sword, with all their precious load, to wither, and rot untasted in the mourning fields! I saw everywhere around, the footsteps of little Indian children, where they had lately played under the shelter of the rustling corn. No doubt they had often looked up with joy, to the swelling shocks, and gladdened when they thought of their abundant cakes for the coming winter. When we are gone, thought I, they will return, and, peeping 0107 873 through the weeds with tearful eyes, will mark the ghastly ruin poured over their homes, and the happy fields where they had so often played.”

The result of these measures was decisive, and a deputation of chiefs visited the camp to sue for peace. Among them was Attakulla, a chief who had been opposed to the war, and who thus addressed Col. Grant:

“You live at the water side, and are in light. We are in darkness; but hope all will be clear. I have been constantly going about doing good; and though I am tired, yet I am come to see what can be done for my people, who are in great distress. As to what has happened, I believe it has been ordered by our Father above. We are of a different color from the white people. They are superior to us. But one God is Father of us all, and we hope what is past will he forgotten. God Almighty made all people. There is not a day but that some are coming into, and others going out of the world. The Great King told me the path should never be crooked, but open for every one to pass and repass. As we all live in one land, I hope that we shall all live as one people.”

Peace was formally ratified, and both expressed the hope that it might last as long as the sun would shine and the rivers run.

In 1773, the population of Tennessee was found to have increased to a very considerable extent. In the succeeding year a war broke out with the northern Indians, residing across the Ohio, and terminated by their suing for peace. The year 1776 is rendered memorable by a formidable invasion of the Cherokees, whom the British had incited to attack the infant settlements. A strong force from Virginia and the Carolinas soon dispersed the Indians, and peace was again restored. When the constitution of North Carolina was formed, in 1776, Tennessee (then the District of Washington) sent deputies to the convention. In the southern campaign of 1780, at the brilliant exploit at King's Mountain, when the British troops under Col. Ferguson, were either taken or slain, the Tennessee settlers, under Col. Sevier, bore a most important share in the conflict. Col. Sevier's command was 240 men, all well mounted and nearly all armed with a Deckhard rifle. * The following relative to this period is from Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee:

* This rifle was remarkable for the precision and distance of its shot. It was generally three feet six inches long, weighed about seven pounds, and ran about seventy bullets to the pound of lead. It was so called from Deekhard, the maker, in Lancaster, Pa. 55

“The camp on Watauga, on the twenty-fifth of September, presented an animated spectacle. With the exception of a few colonists on the distant Cumberland, the entire military force of what is now Tennessee was assembled at the Sycamore Shoals. Scarce a single gunman remained, that day, at his own house. The young, ardent and energetic had generally enrolled themselves for the campaign against Ferguson. The less vigorous and more aged, were left, with the inferior guns, in the settlements for their protection against the Indians; but all had attended the rendezvous. The old men were there to counsel, encourage and stimulate the youthful soldier, and to receive, from the colonels, instructions for the defense of the stations during their absence. Others were there to bring, in rich profusion, the products of their farms, which were cheerfully furnished gratuitously and without stint, to complete the outfit of the expedition. Gold and silver they had not, but subsistence and clothing, and equipment and the fiery charger— anything the frontier-man owned, in the cabin, the held or the range, was offered, unostentatiously, upon the altar of his country. The wife and the sister were there, and, with a suppressed sigh, witnessed the departure of the husband and the brother. And there, too, were the heroic mothers, with a mournful but noble pride, to take a fond farewell of their gallant sons.

The sparse settlements of this frontier had never before seen assembled together a concourse of people so immense and so evidently agitated by great excitement. The large mass of the assembly were volunteer riflemen, clad in the home-spun of their wives and sisters, and wearing the hunting shirt so characteristic of the back-woods soldiery, and not a few of them the moccasins of their own manufacture. A few of the officers were better dressed, but all in citizens' clothing. The 0108 874 mien of Campbell was stern, authoritative and dignified. Shelby was grave, taciturn and determined. Sevier, vivacious, ardent, impulsive and energetic. McDowell, moving about with the ease and dignity of a colonial magistrate, inspiring veneration for his virtues and an indignant sympathy for the wrongs of himself and his co-exiles. All were completely wrapt in the absorbing subject of the revolutionary struggle, then approaching its acme, and threatening the homes and families of the mountaineers themselves. Never did mountain recess contain within it, a loftier or a more enlarged patriotism—never a cooler or more determined courage.”

At the peace these brave men again sought their mountain homes and devoted themselves to the improvement of their settlements. In 1782, commissioners were appointed by government to explore Davidson county (at that time quite extensive), and report which part was best for the payment of the bounty promised to officers and soldiers of North Carolina during the Revolution. A settlement had been made in this part of Tennessee, by Col. Robertson and some two or three hundred followers, at Nashville, in 1780, and the county received its name in honor of Gen. Davidson, who fell in opposing Cornwallis in 1781. The military warrants were made out, many of the officers and soldiers came to this section to secure and settle their lands, and many purchasers from various states of the Union became settlers.

In 1785, the inhabitants of the counties of Sullivan, Washington, and Greene, lying directly west of the Alleghany Mountains, feeling the inconveniences of having a government so remote as that of North Carolina, framed a constitution, elected their governor, and erected themselves into an independent state by the name of the State of Franklin. This premature state was to comprehend “all that tract of country which lies between the mountains and the suck or whirl of Tennessee River.” The legislature of the new state met at Jonesboro': John Sevier was elected governor; a judiciary system was established, David Campbell, Joshua Gist, and John Anderson were appointed judges. These proceedings occasioned great confusion and warm disputes, which continued until 1788, when the thoughts of independency were relinquished and tranquillity was restored. The territory was finally ceded to the United States in 1790, and a territorial government was established under the name of the “Territory of the United States south-west of the river Ohio.” William Blount, of North Carolina, was appointed the first governor.

In 1794, Tennessee was constituted a separate territory, the general assembly of which met at Knoxville. In 1795, the inhabitants of the territory numbered 77,262, of which number 10,613 were slaves. The next year, 1796, a convention met at Knoxville and formed a constitution for state government, and the name of Tennessee was adopted for the new state. The constitution was approved by congress, June 1, 1796, and Tennessee entered the Union. John Sevier was elected the first governor. William Blount and William Cocke were elected the first senators to congress. The first constitution remained unaltered for about forty years. The present constitution was adopted in 1835.

Tennessee is bounded N. by Kentucky and Virginia, S. by Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, E. by North Carolina, and W. by Arkansas and Missouri, from which it is separated by the Mississippi River. It extends east and west between 81° 37′ and 90° 28′ W. long., and between 35° and 36° 35′ N. lat. Its mean length from east to west is 400 miles, breadth, 114. Its area is computed at about 45,000 square miles.

The state is usually considered as being divided into three nominal divisions, 0109 875 severally known as East , West , and Middle Tennessee. East Tennessee, bordering on North Carolina, is an elevated region, containing numerous lofty and picturesque ranges of the Cumberland and Laurel Mountains, and other conspicuous branches of the Alleghany range, mostly covered to their summits with noble forests. West Tennessee, between the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers, has generally an undulating surface, though some parts are quite level, with a light but productive soil, producing large quantities of cotton. Middle Tennessee is uneven and hilly, though not mountainous, and the lands are of good quality.

Tennessee is watered in various directions by important streams. The Mississippi washes its Western borders; the Tennessee crosses the state between Middle and Western Tennessee; the Cumberland has its principal course in this state; the Holston, Clinch, French, Broad, and Hiwassee, are branches of the Tennessee. The mineral resources of the state are very great, consisting of iron, coal, copper, lead, etc. Indian corn, tobacco and cotton are the principal staples. In 1851, at the World's Fair, the wool of Tennessee was awarded the premium of the “Golden Fleece.” * The climate is mild and genial, being free from the extremes of heat and cold. Population in 1790, 35,791; in 1820, 422,813; in 1840, 829,215; in 1850, 1,002,725, in 1860, 1,146,640, of whom 287,112 were slaves.

* “The mountain district of Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia combine every chief feature which adapts a country to the raising of sheep on a large scale. The warm and sheltered valleys where little snow ever falls, afford a winter home for the flocks, where little defense from storms and cold is required, and where much of their food can be obtained in the fields and woodlands; while the hill slopes and mountain sides will afford precisely the kind of pasture most conducive to the health of the animals and the excellence of the fleece. In such a climate, and in such circumstances, the finest and softest wools of the world are produced. In proof of this, it may be stated that at the World's Fair, in London, when all the world was engaged in competition, the wool which received the prize as the best which the nations then could boast, was sheared from the flocks which had been reared in this very region, on the hills of East Tennessee. Mark R. Cockrell, Esq., an extensive wool grower of Tennessee, attended the World's Fair in London, in 1851, and presented some of his wool in competition with the wools of Europe. The contest, under the rules, was between countries, not individuals. The premium of the ‘Golden Fleece’ was awarded to Tennessee. The legislature of that state, the winter following, passed a resolution tendering Mr. C. its thanks, and ordering the preparation of a gold medal, to be given to him as a token of respect. On its presentation he said, ‘Germany Spain, Saxony and Silesia were there; the competition was honorable, strong and fair. Nature gave me the advantage in climate, but the noble lords and worthy princes of Europe did not know it until we met in the Crystal Palace, in London, before millions of spectators. While their flocks were housed six months in the year, to shelter them from the snow of a high latitude, mine were roaming over the green pastures of Tennessee, warmed by the genial influence of a southern sun—the fleece thus softened and rendered oily by the warmth, and green food producing a fine, even fiber.’”— Prof. Christy's Report.

The mountain regions of this section, elevated above the frost belt , it is believed, possess the very best climate and soil east of the Rocky Mountains, for the production of fruit, particularly the peach and the grape. On the elevations grapes and peaches are as certain a crop, as is corn generally elsewhere. In some instances, European grapes have, for twenty years, borne twenty consecutive crops, without mildew or rot, and producing a third more than in France. The dried poaches of Tennessee and North Carolina have an unrivaled reputation in northern markets. In time this will probably become the great wool growing, wine producing, and fruit raising region of the Atlantic states. Population, capital, and improved railroad facilities are alone wanting to soon bring this consummation. The great tide of emigration has now nearly reached the broad belt of arid land that stretches for hundreds of miles across the continent, east of the Rocky Mountains. When its streams are diverted southward, to the beautiful climate of the south-western Alleghanies, we shall see this noble country rapidly developing its natural riches to the hand of industry and enterprise.

Northern view of Nashville. The view shows the appearance of Nashville as it is entered upon the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. On the left is seen the suspension bridge over Cumberland River, with part of the steamboat landing and the steam printing establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The State House appears on the extreme right.

Nashville, City, port of entry, county seat for Davidson county, and capital of the state of Tennessee, is situated on the left bank of Cumberland River, at the head of steamboat navigation, about 200 miles, following the 0110 876 course of the river, from its entrance into the Ohio; it is 684 miles W. by S. from Washington, 230 N.E. from Memphis, and 206 S.W. of Lexington, Ky. The city, built on an elevated bluff of limestone, from 50 to 175 feet above the river, presents on every side an imposing appearance, and is surrounded by a beautiful and fertile country. Owing to the salubrity of its situation, Nashville is the resort of considerable numbers from the lower parts of the country during the sultry heats of summer. Quite a number of steamboats are owned here, which ply at regular intervals between Nashville and Cincinnati, and other places.

The city was originally laid out upon a ground plot of 200 acres, but it has long since overgrown these limits. There is a public square on the summit of the hights rising immediately from the river. Here is the court house, the market house, and other fine buildings. There are 9 banks, some 10 or 12 newspapers and periodicals, and 19 churches, some of which are elegant buildings. Population in 1860, 23,715. Great attention is paid to the subject of education in Nashville. The University of Nashville , founded in 1806, is one of the most important institutions in the western states, and its libraries contain 10,000 volumes: its medical school has a high reputation. The Nashville Female Seminary is a highly respectable institution, and has sent out a greater number of graduates who have taken a high position, than any institution of the kind west of the mountains. The lunatic asylum is a large and commodious building, three stories high. The penitentiary, or state prison, is located in the western suburbs. The wire suspension bridge, which spans the Cumberland River here, was constructed at an expense of $100,000.

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In 1779; Capt. James Robertson, with two or three hundred others, left the Holston country for the purpose of making a settlement at French Lick, where, it appears, that some Frenchmen had a station or settlement as early as 1764. This was on the spot where the city of Nashville is now built. Capt. Robertson's company brought with them a good many horses and cattle. Their route lay through the Kentucky country, and as there were no roads, and being impeded by snow storms, they did not arrive at the French Lick until Jan., 1780. This was the “Cold Winter,” so universally known throughout this country. The snow was of great depth and continued for an extraordinary. length of time, so that it was with much difficulty that men and beasts could travel, and they suffered greatly in obtaining food, or died of want and cold combined. The company drove their stock over the Cumberland River on the ice, and where Nashville now stands, began to build a fort.

State House of Tennessee, Nashville. The State House, a most noble and magnificent structure, stands on the highest ground of the city, one hundred and seventy-five feet above the river. Its dimensions are 240 by 135 feet, and cost about a million of dollars.

In Dec. 1779, two companies of settlers embarked from East Tennessee for the French Lick. Col. John Donelson, with one company, departed from Fort Henry on the Holston River, Captain John Blackmore left with the other from Blackmore's Fort, on Clinch River. A large number of the men, who went through by land with Capt. Robertson, sent their families around by water with Col. Donelson. These two companies united at the mouth of Clinch River, forming a flotilla of about forty boats, nearly all of which had two families on board. On the 12th of March they reached Muscle Shoals; on the 20th, they arrived at the mouth of the Tennessee, and sailing up the Ohio, they entered the Cumberland, and arrived at the place of their destination on the 24th of April, 1780. This voyage of four months , in view of the coldness of the season, the frequent attacks from the Indians, and the want of provisions, was one of the most remarkable achievements in the settlement of the country.

After the settlers arrived several forts, or stations , were built in various 0112 878 directions. The Indians became hostile, and killed a number of the settlers, At the close of 1780, by the attacks of the Indians, the colony was reduced to three or four forts. In the spring of 1781, the Indians again commenced hostilities.

“In the month of April, a large force of Cherokees advanced with the determination, doubtless, of driving the whole body of settlers from the country. During the previous year they had been so successful in breaking up and burning the forts, that they could not bear the idea of yielding their favorite hunting ground without a deadly struggle. The plan of attack decided against the settlement at the Bluff was well laid. They approached secretly under cover of the night. One party took its stand at the branch between Broad street and College Hill, while the other stood about half-way between that point and the fort. Soon after daylight, a few of them, advancing, fired upon the fort and then retreated up the river. Immediately eighteen or twenty men mounted their horses and started in pursuit —having not the least idea of the large force in their vicinity. They followed the retreating party up the river, passing by those lying between the branch and the fort, and wholly unconscious of the ambuscade. Having arrived at the branch, they were attacked by the Indians, and dismounting, they returned the fire with great effect. At this juncture, the Indians lying between the branch and the fort extended their line to the river, for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of the settlers. The poor fellows soon saw their dreadful situation, having to contend with a hundred or more savages. About this time the horses became frightened and ran off, going south of the enemy's line, between the branch and the fort, and a number of the Indians pursued them by the fort to the French Lick. At the same time the dogs, hearing the firing of guns, started off in the direction of the sound; and having been trained to fight the Indians, they fell upon the remainder of them who had not gone in pursuit of the horses, so that they had as much as they could do to fight the dogs. If it had not been for this occurrence, it is probable that not one of the poor fellows would ever have reached the fort. As it was, they were closely pursued. An Indian overtook Ned Swanson not far from the fort, and had his gun right against him, but fortunately it missed fire. Swanson seized the gun by the muzzle, and in the struggle the priming was lost out of the pan. Then the Indian clubbed the gun, and knocking Swanson down, was in the act of tomahawking him. Old Mr. Buchanan, the father of Major Buchanan seeing the dreadful situation of Swanson, rushed from the fort with his rifle, fired, and killed the Indian, and then brought the rescued man into the fort Isaac Lucas got within a short distance of the fort when his thigh was broken, and an Indian rushed up to scalp him. Fortunately, his gun was loaded, and lying upon the ground, he fired, and the Indian fell dead by his side. Great efforts were made by the Indians to drag off their slain warrior, and get the scalp of Lucas. But from the fort they poured death upon them, and finally drove them off and brought Lucas in from his perilous situation. In this battle, the Indians killed Peter Gill, John Kesenger, Alexander Buchanan, George Kennedy, Zachariah White, Capt. Leiper, and J. Kennedy; and they wounded James Menefee, Kasper Mansker, Isaac Lucas, Joseph Moonshaw, and others. The horses, saddles, and bridles, fell into the hands of the Indians. The number of Indians killed could never be ascertained. The one killed by Lucas could not be carried off by his comrades, and the dead body of another was found on College Hill; and beside these there were doubtless many others killed who were taken off by the warriors. The Indians withdrew at ten o'clock. That night another attack was made upon the fort, supposed to be by a party who had not arrived in time to partake in the battle of that morning. The men in the, fort loaded a swivel, and giving the party a broadside, made them leave in haste. But hostilities still continued, and during that year the Indians killed William Hood, Peter Renfroe, Jacob Freeland, and many others.

This year, 1781, was marked by the loss of many valuable men. 1782 was commenced with violent attacks upon the settlers. They were so harassed that they could not plant their corn nor hunt game without exposing themselves to the danger of being waylaid and killed by the savages. The colony, though their number had been increased during the past year by the arrival of a few more emigrants, 0113 879 became discouraged, and having held a council, they determined to leave the country. Such a step, however, was violently opposed by Capt. Robertson. He told them it was impossible to get away, because the Indians would waylay and kill them. He reminded them of the hardships already endured by them, and pointed to the beautiful country of which they had thus obtained possession. He urged them to remain another year, in the hope of reinforcements sufficient to put an end to hostilities. Through his influence they agreed to give the settlement the benefit of another year's trial, and the result justified the expectations raised by his counsels. The Revolutionary War was brought to an end, and North Carolina began to notice her distant colonists, and legislate for their benefit.

There being no laws instituted by the state for the colony, the settlers, soon after their arrival at the Bluff, appointed trustees, and signed a covenant binding themselves to conform to the judgment and decisions of these officers, in whom they vested the powers of government. The trustees acted both as judiciary and executive, and their action in these respects gave general satisfaction. The founder of the colony, Capt. Robertson, was, of course, one of the trustees, and he was the first officer to celebrate the rites of matrimony. The persons married by him were Capt. Leiper and his wife. The first child born in the country was John Saunders, and the second was Anna Wells. The first child born in Nashville was the son of Capt. Robertson—the venerable Dr. Felix Robertson, now living in Nashville.”— Carr's Early Times in Middle Tennessee.

In 1783, the legislature of North Carolina erected the county of Davidson, naming it in honor of Col. Davidson, who fell at Catawba, while trying to check the progress of the British troops. The legislature also established a town at the Bluff, calling it Nashville , in honor of Col. Francis Nash, of North Carolina, who fell at the head of his regiment at the battle of Germantown.

“At the same time, the legislature appointed the civil and military officers of the county of Davidson. The first court was held in October, 1783. Isaac Bledsoe, Samuel Barton, Francis Prince, and Isaac Lindsey, were ‘sworn in’ as magistrates. The oldest man had the oath administered to him by the one next in seniority, and then he administered the oath to the others. Andrew Ewing was elected clerk; Daniel Williams, sheriff; Samuel Barton, entry-taker; and Francis Prince, register. The court then nominated constables for the several stations: Samuel Mason, at Mauldin's and Kilgore's; James McCain, at Mansker's; Stephen Ray, at Eaton's; Edward Swanson, at Freeland's; John McAdams, at Nashville. The court next proceeded to select a place for the building of a court-house and jail; and it was agreed that, in view of the situation of the settlement, it should be at Nashville. It was ordered that the court-house should be eighteen feet square, with a shed twelve feet in width, extending the length of the house and that it should be furnished with a bar and benches fit for the sitting of the court. It was ordered that the jail should be fourteen feet square, of hewn logs twelve inches square, for the walls and loft, and the floor also, unless the building should be upon a rock; the work to be done at the lowest price.

The following military officers were ‘sworn in:’ Anthony Bledsoe, colonel; Isaac Bledsoe, first major; Samuel Barton, second major; Kasper Mansker, first captain; George Freeland, second captain; John Buchanan, third captain; James Lord, fourth captain; William Ramsay, Jonathan Drake, Ambrose Mauldin, and Peter Lides, lieutenants; William Collins and Elmore Douglass, ensigns.”

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the cemetery at the southern border of the city:

Sevier, the noble and successful defender of the early settlers of Tennessee. The first, and for twelve years Governor, Representative in Congress, Commissioner in many Treaties with the Indians. He served his country forty years faithfully and usefully, and in that service died. An admirer of patriotism and merit, unrequited, erects this.

This monumental slab, sacred to the memory of the late Col. John Tipton, of Washington Co., in the state of Tennessee, was placed here by the members and officers of the 19th 0114 880 General Assembly of that State, as a token of their regard for the talents and exalted worth of the deceased. An early adventurer in this country, COL. TIPTON was distinguished for his daring intrepidity in the sanguinary Indian Wars of the day. He gave promise of the future by the deeds of his youth, and verified public expectations by the lofty stand he afterward assumed and always sustained in the Councils of his State. He was an incorruptible patriot, bold in conception, and fearless in execution. Covered with Honors and with years, he descended to the grave on the 8th day of Oct., 1831, in the 64th year of his age.

How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, By all their Country's wishes blest, When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallowed mould, She there shall deck a sweeter sod, Than Fancy's feet have ever trod.

To the memory of Duncan Robertson, a native of Scotland, and a resident of the United States forty-three years, who died at Nashville the 1st of May, 1833, in the 63d year of his age, the citizens of Nashville have erected this monument. His loss will be long and severely felt, and his place will not soon or easily be supplied. Always best and first in every work of philanthropy and beneficence; to do good to his follow men seemed to be the great object of his life. In the dungeon of the forsaken prisoner, at the bedside of the wretched and friendless, and in the abode of poverty and distress, he was almost constantly found. In imitation of his Divine Master, he literally went about doing good. No personal sacrifice was too great for him to make, when the calls of benevolence demanded it. He was not only willing, but active and efficient in every work of charity and disinterested beneficence. Such a man is among the wonders of the age, a blessing to any community, and his memory should be embalmed in the grateful recollections of his cotomporaries, and preserved for the gratitude and veneration of posterity.

In memory of Richard Claiborne Napier, a native of Virginia, for the last thirty-five years a citizen of this state, well known as one of the oldest Iron Masters of Middle Tennessee. He departed this life on the 20th of March, 1834, in the 61st year of his age.

In memory of James Campbell, a member of the Nashville Bar, born in Washington, Va., the 19th of Jan., 1794. In 1819, he removed to Winchester, Tenn., where he commenced his professional career, and continued to reside until 1834, when he removed to Nashville, where he died Aug. 20th, 1848, in the 55th year of his age. He was among the first in the first rank of his profession. He was exemplary as a man and lawyer. He was distinguished as a legislator, and Tennessee is indebted to him for many of her most admirably drafted and eminently useful laws.

Sacred to the memory of Felix Grundy, born in Berkely Co., Vir., Sept. 11th, A.D. 1777, died in Nashville, Tenn., Dee. 19th. A.D. 1840. Educated for the profession of the law, he commenced his career in Kentucky, to which State, then a portion of Virginia, his parents emigrated in his infancy. In 1799, having rapidly risen to distinction, he was a member of the Convention to revise and amend the Constitution , was subsequently, for several years, a prominent member of the Legislature , and was finally elevated to the bench of the Supreme Judicial Tribunal of the State, as Chief Justice. In 1807, he removed to Nashville , Ten., where, for more than twenty years, he stood unrivaled as an advocate at the Bar. In 1811, he was elected a Member of the House of Representatives in Congress. In 1819, after having voluntarily retired from Congress, he was elected a Member of the Legislature, and in 1820, under an appointment from that body, he acted as Commissioner on the part of Tennessee, in finally settling the disputed boundary between that State and Kentucky. In 1829, he was elected to the Senate of the United States; in 1838, he was appointed to a seat in the Cabinet of Mr. Van Buren, as Attorney General of the United States, but in 1839, in compliance with the wishes of the Legislature , he resigned the latter office, and was again elected Senator of the United States , which office he held at the time of his death. These high honors and just earthly distinctions he bore meekly, and calmly resigned when summoned by his Creator to this Sepulchre, which is erected as a humble tribute to his worth, by those to whom he was best known and most endeared in the kind relations of Husband, Father, Friend, and as a devout and humble Christian.

To the memory of Gen. William Carroll, born in Pennsylvania, March 3d, 1788, died March 22d, 1844. He was distinguished in the battles of Talladega, Emuckfaw, Enotochopoe, Tehopeka, and New Orleans, and was chief magistrate of Tennessee for twelve successive years. As a gentleman, he was modest, intelligent and courteous; as an officer, energetic, gallant and daring; as a Statesman, firm, wise and just. To commemorate their 0115 881 estimate of his character and services, the State of Tennessee have caused this monument to be erected.

Terry H. Cahal, born in the State of Virginia, Sept. 4th, 1802, died near Nashville, Ten., April 15th, 1851. Endowed by nature with great talents, and gifted with ambition equal to these powers, though born in want and obscurity, he triumphed over every disadvantage, and rising in an honorable career to eminence and high distinction, he adorned and illustrated his life by all the success which Genius, added to virtue, courage and perseverance, never fails to achieve. A member of the last State Convention, twice a Senator in our General Assembly, and once Speaker of that body. He was second in command of a Volunteer Regiment in the first Florida war, and being afterward elected Chancellor of Tennessee, he died discharging the duties of his exalted station.

The following is the inscription on the monument standing in the front yard of the Polk mansion, on Vine-street in the city of Nashville:

“The mortal remains of James Knox Polk are resting in the vault beneath. He was born in Mecklenburgh Co., North Carolina, and emigrated with his father, Samuel Folk, to Tennessee 1806. The beauty of virtue was illustrated in his life: the excellence of Christianity was exemplified in his death. His life was devoted to the public service. He was elevated successively to the first places in the State and Federal Government: a A member of the General Assembly; a member of Congress; and chairman of the most important Congressional Committees; Speaker of the House of Representative Governor of Tennessee, and President of the United States. By his public policy he defined, established and extended the boundaries of his Country. He planted the Laws of the American Union on the shores of the Pacific. His influence and his counsels tended to organize the National Treasury on the principles of the Constitution, and apply the rules of Navigation, Trade and Industry. ames Knox Polk, 10th President of the U. S., born Nov. 2, 1795, died June 15, 1849.”

Mansion and Monument of President Polk.

Nashville was the point of rendezvous for the Nickajack Campaign , an important event in the history of Tennessee. The annexed account is from Howe's “Great West,” It was derived by Mr. Howe, in the spring of 1850, from the lips of Col. James Collier, who was then residing in Xenia, Ohio, and who was one of the spies employed on the expedition:

“The Cherokee nation generally respected the treaty of Holston, made near the site of Knoxville, in July 1791. A minority only were dissatisfied with it, and refused to acquiesce in its terms. Separating from the rest, they settled on the Chicamauga, and became known as the Chicamauga Indians. From this branch of the tribe mainly originated all the depredations and murders subsequently committed upon the settlements in Tennessee, a fact which appears to have been entirely lost sight of by writers of that period.

0116 882

A branch of the Chicamaugas settled the Nickajack towns. They were three in number, and situated on the south bank of the Tennessee, about fifty miles above the site of Huntsville. The lower town, name not recollected, contained about twenty houses; two miles above stood Nickajack, containing about two hundred dwellings, and Running Water, which was larger still, was nearly five miles above Nickajack. These villages indicated considerable civilization: the houses were principally built of round logs, and covered with split boards and fine bark: within, at the end of each dwelling, was a fire-place. The council-house, which was at Running Water, was a regular circle, of sixty or seventy feet diameter, with a conical roof running up to a point, and the whole was covered with bark. The towns were surrounded by potatoe and corn-fields, peach-orchards, and melonpatches. Their sites were pleasant, and that of Running Water of unusual natural beauty.

In the year 1794, the depredations of the Nickajack Indians had excited so much alarm, that some of the leading men of the country saw the necessity of punishing them. Col. William Whitley, of Lincoln county, Kentucky, whose residence was near the Crab Orchard settlement, originated the plan of the invasion of their towns. After Gen. Scott had raised a force to join Wayne, Whitley put this plan into execution, corresponding for the purpose with Gen. James Robertson, of Middle Tennessee, and Col. John Orr, of East Tennessee; the latter of whom commanded at the time a company of U. S. Rangers, under the general control of William Blount, governor of the Southwest Territory. Their preparatory measures were conducted with great secresy, for it was feared that Gov. Blount, had it come to his knowledge, would have frustrated the expedition, under the apprehension that the friendly Cherokees would have suffered.

On the 20th of August, a day memorable as that of Wayne's victory, Whitley left home for Nashville, the point of rendezvous, with a small body of Kentuckians, which, by the time they had arrived at the borders of the state, bad augmented to one hundred and twenty. At Nashville they were joined by Orr, with his company of Rangers, numbering sixty-two men. In a few days their ranks were increased to six hundred men, all volunteers. About the 6th of September, the expedition left Nashville, and the day after organized by the choice of Col. Whitley as commandant, with Col. John Orr and Col. John Montgomery next under him. Richard Fennelson, a half-breed, acted as guide.

At that time I was about twenty years of age, having come on by invitation from Col. Whitley, who resided in my vicinity. Upon organizing, Alex. McFarland and Jesse Gray, two old hunters and Indian fighters, were selected as spies, who, in turn, being allowed to select a third, chose me. We three daily kept in advance, looking out for signs, and at night returning to camp. The troops were mainly on horseback, and attired in hunting-shirts. Their provisions were principally bacon and corn-meal, some of it parched. At night the horses were hoppled out to grass, and the men lay on their blankets in the open air.

On the night of the 11th, the army arrived at a beautiful spring, the largest I ever saw, on what I believe is the site of Huntsville. We were then fifty miles below the crossing place of the Tennessee, in the vicinity of the Nickajack towns. At midnight of the 12th, the troops reached the crossing place. Great confusion prevailed, for as the night was very dark, many of the men in consequence had become deadly sick from riding on horseback. The only means which we brought with us to cross the stream, which was high and wide from recent rains, were two ox-hide boats. These had been transported on horseback, and being stiff and unwieldy, were first soaked, and then stretched on poles and launched. They were square, box-like in shape, and held each from two to four men. Several rafts were constructed on the spot.

By sunrise, two hundred and forty men having succeeded in crossing it was thought best to push on, leaving the others, who did not cross at all, and were consequently not participators in the scenes about to be related.

After proceeding about five miles, they came into the vicinity of the lower and smaller town, where fifteen men were placed in ambush until they heard the attack above, while the main body, making a detour, marched on. When in sight of Nickajack, they formed for the attack in three divisions, the right, center, and left, 0117 883 being respectively under Whitley, Orr, and Montgomery. The last, first came within firing distance, and soon all were warmly engaged. The poor Indians were taken completely by surprise, and made little or no resistance. Indeed, it was a massacre. Large numbers rushed to their canoes to escape, and so many were shot that the stream was crimsoned with their blood. The Indians having been killed and dispersed, and their women and children taken prisoners, their houses were committed to the flames.

When the melee was about over, several of us tried to shoot an Indian who was escaping in a canoe down the river. He was lying nearly flat, with his arms only showing over the sides, vigorously paddling for life, and our shots failed; but Col. Whitley coming up, said, ‘let me try.’ I watched his shot, and instantly saw the blood spout out of his shoulder. Subsequently Joseph Brown swam out to the canoe, and as he was approaching, the Indian entreated him to spare his life, ‘for,’ said he, ‘I'm a Cherokee.’ Brown, who had been two years a prisoner at Nickajack, and understood their language, inquired, ‘what were you doing at Nickajack?’ ‘To visit some friends,’ was the reply. Brown then tomahawked him.

I was amused at an incident that I witnessed between a large, powerful squaw and the famous Joe Logston. She had secreted herself in the bush. Joe, on attempting to take her prisoner, encountered most furious resistance. She fought like a tigress, while he, disdaining to resort to blows, had great difficulty in overcoming her.

Collingsworth, one of our men, related to me an affecting incident. Entering one of the houses, he saw an Indian mother lying dead on the floor, over whose corpse was crawling an infant of ten or twelve months old, with its bowels hanging out from a wound in the abdomen. He was horrified at the sight, and for a moment debated with himself what was best to be done; then deciding as an act of mercy, he put his rifle to its head, and blew out its brains.

At the lower town, those in ambush saw a. beautiful Indian maiden beating hominy in a mortar outside of a cabin. In a few moments she was joined by a young man, probably her lover, who placed his arms around her waist, playfully slung her about, and then assisted her with the pestle. While engaged in this sort of dalliance and unsuspicious of danger, the firing was heard at Nickajack, and then the party here fired, and the Indian lover fell a corpse beside his dusky sweetheart. The maiden was captured, but the party finding resistance likely to be desperate, retreated to Nickajack.

Immediately after shooting the Indian in the canoe, Whitley said to the group around him, that they must proceed without delay to the upper town, lest the Indians might make a stand at the Gap, midway between the villages, and prevent their passage. Starting with from fifteen to twenty men, they hastened toward Running Water. A few Indians were in ambush at the Gap; but after the exchange of a few shots, the latter retreated with slight loss. Being joined at the Gap by more men, the party, among, whom I was one, numbering less than forty in all, proceeded to Running Water. As we neared the town, the Indians were discovered in great numbers escaping across the river in their canoes, and on our arrival there, we found it entirely deserted, and nothing was left for us to commit their dwellings to the flames. To prevent their being tracked by the dogs, the Indians, on leaving, shut them in their cabins, and when they were burnt, they, filled the air with their howlings.

Our troops recrossed the river at a late hour the same night, and on the 14th commenced our return march. When in the barrens of Green River, we learned the news of Wayne's victory from a party of Chickasaws.

Our loss in this campaign was trifling, we having two men wounded, viz: Luke Anderson, slightly in the leg, and S. Donaldson, in the heel; he was a brother-in-law of Gen. Jackson, and was supposed to have been shot by our own men. We killed about one hundred forty Indians, and brought in seventeen prisoners, all females except two boys, They were subsequently exchanged for white prisoners. The results of this campaign were important. It stopped the murders by the Indians, and in a few months thereafter, the Chicamaugas sued for peace.”

0118 884

Memphis, city, is on the east bank of the Mississippi, beautifully situated on a bluff some twenty to thirty feet above the highest floods, 191 miles W.S.W. from Nashville; 420 below St. Louis, and 781 miles above New Orleans. It lies on one of the only three bluffs on the Lower Mississippi, where it is possible , without great expense for artificial works, to build a large town. It has great commercial advantages, and is on the line of important railroads, built or contemplated, in almost every direction. Memphis, since 1850, when its population was 6,427, has taken an astonishing stride in commercial prosperity, it being now the most growing and prosperous city of the south-west, and second in importance only to New Orleans. It has a superior system of free schools, and a large number of mercantile and manufacturing establishments. Connected with the rich cotton growing region of North Mississippi, it is a great point for the shipment of cotton. Population is about 35,000.

View of Memphis from the West bank of the Mississippi. The Exchange, or Court House building, is seen on the left; the principal Steambout Landing on the extreme right. The front row of mercantile buildings appear on the summit of the Bluff. The view show the city as seen from the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad, on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi.

The adjacent country is one of the most beautiful and extensive bodies of tillable land contiguous to the Mississippi River, between the mouth of the Ohio and New Orleans. It is elevated, dry and level, possessing a fertile and productive soil, and extending east, north-east, south and south-east for nearly one hundred miles. Corn, cotton, wheat, and tobacco, can be cultivated to great advantage.

As early as 1736, the Bluff on which Memphis now stands, was, on account of its superior advantages, selected by the French as a suitable position for a garrison. It appears, however, to have been inhabited by uncivilized Indians and wild beasts, in 1782. In 1783, the Spanish government directed W. H. Gayoso, then acting governor of the Territory of Louisiana, to take steps for the occupation of this point. The following historical items are extracted from Rainey's Memphis City Directory for 1855-6:

0119 885

“The Indians manifesting a disposition to receive the officers of the Spanish Government, Gov. Gayoso came up with a sufficient number of troops and built Fort St. Fernando, on the bluff, at the mouth of Wolf River, the site of which is now covered by a portion of the Navy Yard. The Spanish continued in occupation of this garrison, until the ratification of the treaty by which Louisiana was ceded to the United States Government, and 33 degrees of north latitude established as the boundary line between the two governments.

Soon after this, Gen. Pike (then Lieut. Pike), was sent by the government of the United States, with troops, to occupy Fort St. Fernando, and the Spanish troops evacuating it, crossed the river and established Camp ‘Lesperance (afterward called Camp Hope), at or near the termination of the Military Road. Gen. Wilkinson came on soon after Lieut. Pike arrived, and dismantled Fort St. Fernando, and established Fort Pickering.

In 1783, the government of the United States granted to John Rice the tract of land on which Memphis stands, who devised it to Elisha Rice, and he sold it to John Overton.

In 1819, John Overton sold one undivided half of the tract to Gen. Andrew Jackson and Gen. James Winchester, and these three (Overton, Jackson and Winchester), laid out the town of Memphis.”

The first public sale of lots was made in 1820, at which front lots were deemed high at one hundred dollars each, and back lots in proportion. The principal business of the place was confined to the Indian trade for several years afterward, and the new town attracted but little attention until after 1830, in which year it was but a village of 704 inhabitants.

“In 1841, Congress appointed Commissioners to select and survey a site for a Navy Yard upon the Mississippi River, who, after a toilsome examination of its whole length, from New Orleans to the mouth of the Ohio, reported the position at the mouth of Wolf, as being the most suitable one they could find for the purpose; and, at the session of 1842-3, Congress passed a bill for the erection of a Navy Yard at Memphis.

The principal portion of the ground which the Navy Yard occupies, has been formed by deposites of sand and mud from the river, since 1830, at which time the main steamboat landing was at the upper end of the Yard.

In 1841, Memphis extended very little below Poplar-street, there being, at that time, only one brick house south of that street. In fact, as late as that year, the land upon which the Gayoso House now stands was an old field, surrounded by an open wood, where the youth of the city were in the habit of shooting squirrels and other small game.

In 1829, the tract of land embraced in the limits of South Memphis, was sold, by R. Fearn, the proprietor, to a company, who laid it out into streets, alleys, and lots, upon the same plan of the old town; the principal streets, Shelby and Main, running parallel with the river, and in continuation of Front and Main-streets of Memphis.

In the years 1842-3, a company erected the Gayoso House, one of the most spacious and elegant hotels in the western country, which was opened in 1843, by Mr. Henrie, previously of the ‘Henrie House,’ of Cincinnati. It was not until 1844 that any business of consideration was transacted below Madison-street.

The county seat of Shelby having been removed from Memphis to Raleigh, in 1827, with a view of centralizing it, it was not until 1847 that there was any attention paid to the erection of a public edifice. In that year, Mr. Bickford, being aided by the City Council, commenced the erection of a large and beautiful building on Front-row, extending from Poplar to Exchange-streets, known as the Exchange Building, within which is arranged a most magnificent City Hall, one hundred anti and six by fifty-two feet, besides several smaller though spacious halls for other public purposes; such as the holding of courts, a Medical Hall, Council Chamber and Mayor's Office.

Up to 1852, the business of the town was, almost entirely, confined to the trade which the different craft navigating the Mississippi River afforded—the sparse settlements in the interior barely raising enough for their support. In the fall of 0120 886 1826, the first shipments of cotton were made at this point. The almost universal impression that Memphis was a very unhealthy place retarded its growth for several years, her citizens, especially new comers, being subject to those fevers peculiar to a southern climate; but as it has extended and been improved, so has the health of the city improved, from year to year, until it may now be said to be as healthy as any city in the Union.

At Fort Pickering there are some beautiful Indian mounds, around which the imagination delights to linger. These melancholy relics of the red man—the first owners of the soil of this great country—are clothed with much interest and speculative legendary lore. Upon one of these mounds, now the property of the state, a monument is one day to be erected in honor of that great man, Gen. Andrew Jackson. The tribute is justly due him, by not only the people of this state, but the whole country.

The first preaching in Memphis took place on a Sunday morning, in the year 1822, in March. On the above day of that year, a flatboat was seen making for a landing at the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff, owing no doubt, to a sudden fog, which was becoming very dense, and which was considered very dangerous by the bold navigators of the ‘Father of Waters.’ The occurrence created considerable excitement among the inhabitants, and aroused great curiosity and desire to know what manner of strangers had come among them. Our informant says: “It was soon noised about that there was ‘a man of God’ on the boat. The village schoolmaster was appointed ‘a committee of one’ to wait upon and request him to hold forth to the ‘children of the wilderness.’”

The biblical individual in question, reveled in the cognomen of Elijah Coffey. He had translated the contents of the Holy Scriptures into his head, and when he opened his lips the Word was before the people. The venerable Elijah is still an inhabitant of earth and the city of Memphis, and may sometimes yet be seen hammering away for the benefit of perverse soles. He is one, of the ‘oldest inhabitants,’ sometimes alluded to by the newspapers, but which people have gotten into the habit of thinking of as a mythical personage.

The first meeting house was erected in 1826. The funds were raised by general contribution from all classes, without regard to sect. It was a humble edifice, and stood in Court Square. The first preacher was Mr. Blair, a missionary from the Chickasaw Nation.”

Knoxville is situated on the north bank of Holston River, 4 miles below the junction of the French Broad River, 185 miles east from Nashville, and 204 from Lexington, Ky. It is quite a flourishing place, a central point of intersection of all the great railroads of the country, east, west, north and south. Fine marble quarries and iron ore abound in this section, and beds of bituminous coal on the line of the railroads. The river is navigable downward for steamboats at all seasons, and in the spring some 30 or 40 miles above to Dandridge. Few places possess such a variety of scenery as can be found within the limits of Knoxville, exhibiting on the banks of the Holston the wild and picturesque beauty of nature, the hills and valleys of the cultivated country, the manufacturing village, and the features of the city. Knoxville contains six churches, the county buildings, of which the jail, a castellated building, makes a striking appearance, the University buildings, and the State Deaf and Dumb Asylum. Population about 9,000. East Tennessee College, or University, is located on a commanding eminence, upward of 200 feet high, and about half a mile from the court house. This institution was founded in 1792.

Knoxville was first laid out by Gen. James White, the first patentee. East Knoxville was laid out by Moses White, his son, and at first was called Mechanicsburg. The west end of the town was laid out by Col. John Williams, and was for some time called Williamsburg. Gov. Blount's residence was on Barbara Hill, where the University buildings now stands. The hill received its name from Barbara , the daughter of the governor, who was 0121 887 born on its summit. The Presbyterian church was the first house of worship erected in the place, Rev. Wm. Carrick the first minister. Dr. Strong, the first physician, was previously a surgeon on board the U. S. frigate Constitution. John Crosier, it is believed, was the first post-master, The Hon. Hugh L. White, U. S. senator, who died in 1840, was the son of Gen. White. Robert Huston was the first sheriff, and Robert Armstrong the first surveyor. John Hood was the first, or one of the first printers in Knoxville; he printed the Knoxville Gazette.

South-western view of Knoxville. The view shows the appearance of Knoxville, descending the hill on the old country road in front of the University. Part of Cumberland-street is seen on the left; Main-street on the right; the Cupola of the Court House in the central part; Hampden Sidney Academy on the extreme left; the Female Institute on the right.

The building in which the first legislature met, is that known as the “Knoxville Hotel,” now standing at the corner of State and Cumberlandstreets: it is said to have been the first tavern erected in Tennessee. The house of the secretary, now owned by Mr. W. B. Smith, is in State-street, about 150 feet distant from the Hotel, and is said to have been the first house erected in Knoxville. The famous “Holston Treaty ” with the Cherokee Nation, was held at the mouth of White Creek, on the banks of the Holston. The second dwelling was erected on the spot. Among the first settlers of Knoxville, were, James White, James King,—McLemee, Gov. Blount,

Knoxville Hotel. In which met the first Legislature.

0122 888 Hugh Dunlap, Samuel and Nathaniel Cowan, Capt. John Crozier, Maj. Arthur Crozier, Paul Cunningham, George McNutt, and John O'Dear. The first white child born in Knoxville, was the late Gen. R. G. Dunlap. The first lots improved were those nearest the river in the south-east quarter of the town. The following, relative to the Holston Treaty, in 1791, is from Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee:

“Tradition says that Governor Blount received and entertained the chieftains and head warriors with signal attentions and marked ceremonials. The treaty ground was at the foot of Water-street, where the governor appeared in full dress. He wore a sword and military hat, and acted throughout the occasion the polite and accomplished gentleman, the dignified officer, and courteous negotiator. He remained seated near his marquee, under and surrounded by the tall trees which then shaded the banks of the Holston. His officers, civil and military, stood near him, uncovered and respectful. On this occasion, James Armstrong was arbiter elegantiarum. Behind the officials, in clusters and disorderly groups, stood strangers, attracted by the occasion, and the citizens of the immediate neighborhood. The soldiery were not present.

One of the interpreters, in Indian costume, introduced each chief to Armstrong, and he presented him to the Governor, announcing him by his aboriginal name. The delegation was large; forty-one of them being thus presented, in order according to their age, and not their rank Twelve hundred other Indians were upon the ground, among whom were some women and children. The Braves were decorated with eagle feathers on their heads, and other insignia of their rank, but were unarmed. The older chiefs and wise men wore only the common Indian dress.

After the presentation was over, Governor Blount speaking through the interpreter, opened the conference. During its continuance, the chiefs observed strictly the Indian Council House tactics—the speaker alone standing, while his colleagues sat upon the ground, in a circle around him, in respectful silence and with fixed attention. Squollecuttah, Kunoskeskie, Auquotague, and Nenetooyah, are said to have been the principal speakers. Chuquilatague seemed sullen, and, it is believed, signed the treaty reluctantly.

On the second of July, the conference was ended, and the treaty agreed to and signed. By its provisions, perpetual peace and friendship were restored and established between all the citizens of the United States, and the whole Cherokee nation of Indians, who acknowledged themselves to be under the protection of the United States, and of no other sovereign whatsoever.”

The first newspaper published in Tennessee was at Rogersville, by Geo. Roulstone, Nov. 5, 1791. It was, however, called “The Knoxville Gazette,” as it was intended to be issued at Knoxville, where Gov. Blount had determined to fix the seat of his government. In February of the next year, Knoxville was laid off by Col. White, and the Gazette was removed to it soon after. It was issued from a cabin on Gay-street, on a lot lately owned by Samuel Bell. Knoxville was named in honor of Maj. Gen. Knox, the secretary of war under President Washington.

“With Captain White, came his old neighbor from Iredell county, North Carolina, and comrade in arms, James Conner, the worthy ancestor of H. W. Conner, Esq., of Charleston, South Carolina. These two were the first to disturb the virgin soil, on which the future Knoxville was to be built. Tradition says, that the lot on which the First Presbyterian church now stands, was the place first cleared by them. Pounded corn was the only bread the first settlers used. Their rifles, which had been used in the war of the Revolution, procured them meat. Their cabin stood half a mile from the mouth of the creek, and on its west side, north of Mrs. Kennedy's orchard. This cabin afterward constituted one corner of White's Fort. Captain Crawford and others forted in it with him. A quadrangular plat of ground, containing a quarter of an acre, was chosen, on each corner of which was a strong cabin, but of less imposing appearance than Mr. White's, which was two stories high. Between these corners, stockades were placed, eight feet high 0123 889 impenetrable to small arms, and having port-holes at convenient hight and distance. A massive gate opened in the direction of the spring. White's Fort became the central point for emigrants, and the rendezvous for rangers and scouts. They were charmed with its beauties. In their short rambles around their encampment, they noticed an elevated parallelogram, extending south, and terminating with a bold front upon the Holston. A creek of considerable size glided along its eastern, and another along its western base, from the banks of which gushed forth, in close proximity, fountains of excellent water. It was noticed that the two streams furnished several eligible sites for water power. The highest point of land between them, seemed designed by nature for a barrack or garrison. As then seen, the site of the future Knoxville was lovely in the extreme—almost entirely sheltered by the primitive forest, in its rich foliage, and having an air of enchanting coolness and rural retirement and seclusion—its quiet disturbed only by the playful murmurings of rivulets, formed by the several springs, and winding through their grassy borders in stillness to the creeks. Wooded hills and sylvan slopes completed the picture of rural beauty. The high land terminated abruptly toward the Holston, seen here and there through the tall trees, winding its way along the cane-brakes which lined its margin. Immediately opposite, was the Little Island, robed in green and almost submerged by the turbid stream. The southern shore presented, in one place, lofty hills, resting upon a perpendicular cliff—in another, rising with a more gradual ascent to the ridge beyond. The whole country was carpeted with verdure and clothed with trees—dense woods surrounding you, with the solitude and silence of nature. These attractions, and the advantages of iti position, had pointed out the place as the nucleus of a future settlement. Mr. White soon had other settlers as his neighbors. John Dearmond settled south of the river, near Col. Churchwell's Ferry, and other emigrants came rapidly around White's Fort.

Amongst other emigrants, John Adair moved this year to his late residence in Knox county. He had been appointed commissary under North Carolina, to furnish provisions for the Cumberland Guards, and in the discharge of that trust, took his position on the extreme frontier. Adair's Station was erected at the same time with White's, about five miles north of it. The country began to be reached by wagons; settlers were gradually extending themselves west, and in quick succession, Well's, Bennett's, Byrd's, Hackett's, and Cavett's Stations were formed. Campbell's Station was settled by several emigrants of that name from Virginia, survivors of the gallant regiment which had signalized itself at King's Mountain. Of these the principal one was Col. David Campbell, who has left the savor of a good name wherever he was known.”

The following are towns of local note in different parts of Tennessee, of from 1,000 to 4,000 inhabitants each: Chattanooga is situated on the left or south bank of Tennessee River, in the south part of the state, and near the boundary lines of Georgia and Alabama, 150 miles S.E. of Nashville, 447 from Charleston, S. C., and 432 from Savannah, Geo. It is the center of several important railroads, both completed and progressing, which extend from Richmond, Charleston and Savannah on the Atlantic, to the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. The place is, for the most part, situated in a narrow valley, in the midst of hills or mountainous elevations on almost every side. Murfreesboro ', the county seat of Rutherford county, is on the line of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, about 30 miles S.E. from Nashville. It was the capital of the state from 1817 to 1827. It contains several churches, the county buildings, an academy, and Union College, under the patronage of the Baptist denomination, established in 1848. Murfreesboro' is well laid out, in the midst of a fertile region of corn and tobacco land, and has a large trade in the products of an extensive and highly cultivated district. Jonesboro ', the county seat of Washington county, about 100 miles north-easterly from Knoxville, contains about 700 inhabitants. It was laid off and established as a seat of justice for Washington county, in 1779, by 0124 890 the legislature of North Carolina: it is the oldest town in Tennessee. It was named in honor of Willie Jones, Esq., of Halifax county, North Carolina, a friend to the growth and prosperity of the western counties, and an active patriot of the Revolution. Lebanon , capital of Wilson county, 30 miles east of Nashville, is distinguished as a seat of learning. Here is Cumberland University, a flourishing institution, founded in 1844, under the direction of the Cumberland Presbyterians; the law school attached to it was founded in 1847, and has more students than any other in the Union. Shelbyville , capital of Bedford county, is on Duck River, and at the end of a branch of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, 59 miles S.S.E of Nashville. McMinnville , capital of Warren county, on the McMinnville and Manchester Railroad, 75 miles S.E. from Nashville. Winchester , capital of Franklin, on the Winchester and Alabama Railroad, 2 miles south from the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and 84 miles S.E. of Nashville. A branch of the Winchester and Alabama Railroad connects this place with Huntsville, Alabama. The tunnel which has been cut in this county, through the Cumberland Mountains, for the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, is one of the most magnificent works of the kind in the Union, extending 2200 feet, mostly through solid rock. Fayetteville is the capital of Lincoln county, 73 miles S. by E. from Nashville. Cleveland , county seat of Bradley, on the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, 83 miles S.W. of Knoxville, is the shipping point for the rich copper mines of East Tennessee. Athens , capital of McMinn county, 154 miles E.S.E. of Nashville. Greenville , capital of Green county, is 66 miles E. by N. from Knoxville. Columbia , the capital of Maury county, is 41 miles S. by W. from Nashville, on the Tennessee and Alabama Railroad. It is the seat of Jackson College, founded in 1833, and also three female seminaries. The town is in a beautiful country, is noted for its educational institutions, has a fine trade, and was the residence of President Polk, previous to his election in 1844. Gallatin , county seat of Sumner, is 25 miles N.W. of Nashville. Clarksville is on the Cumberland, at the mouth of Red River, about 50 miles N.W. of Nashville: it is an important point for the manufacturing and shipping of tobacco, and a very flourishing business town. Jackson , capital of Madison county, in West Tennessee, is on the line of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.

The COPPER MINES of East Tennessee are proving a most important element in the industry of the country. The famous Ducktown mines are in Polk county, forty miles easterly from the little thriving town of Cleveland, on the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, which is their point of shipment. The first mine was discovered in 1850, and, for want of roads, it was a long time before any ore could be sent away. The earlier shipments had to be made to Dalton, Georgia, a distance of seventy-four miles. Notwithstanding these inconveniences, there had been 14,291 tuns of copper ore shipped from these mines before the close of 1855, which was sold for more than a million of dollars. In September of 1855, seven of the mines produced ore to the value of $80,000, or at the rate of nearly a million of dollars per annum. The discovery of these mines led to great excitement and large expectations when it was known that the supply of copper throughout the world was not equal to the demand. Lands which were nearly quite worthless before the veins were discovered rose to a great value. In one instance, a tract of one hundred acres with a mine fully developed, sold for $460,000. A late visitor at Ducktown thus gives us his experience there:

0125 891

The Ducktown copper mines have been opened in some low ranges of hills which seem to form the highest point in a broad, rolling plain, surrounded on all sides, apparently by lofty mountains, so distant as to be clothed with blue, and lifting many a bold peak far into the sky. The scene is one of great beauty, when seen as we first beheld it, at sunset, when the western crests of the far-away hills seemed to blaze in the sunbeams, while their bases lay in a shadow of the deepest blue, deepening every moment into the evening gloom, and the eastern ridges were yet purple with the fading glory of the day. Woodlands thinned by the ax, and spoiled of half their beauty, were near at hand, but at a little distance the dark, dense forest seemed to begin and stretch away almost unbroken to the distant mountains. The few clearings scarcely broke the continuity of the woods, and man seemed not much to have marred the beauty of the works of God. Before us, as we approached Ducktown, tall columns of smoke, from the furnaces, marked its situation, and this smoke was already settling into and filling to the brim the eastern valley.

It presents, however, the usual aspect of a mining village, and the buildings, perhaps, are all that circumstances require. The people had comfortable, though not elegant dwellings, plenty of proper food, schools for their children, and preaching on the Sabbath. There is here a population of about five thousand, many of whom are English and Scotch, with a few Irish and Welsh. The mines are mostly controlled by English capitalists, and no slaves are employed in them. There is, indeed, no mechanical work in which slaves as a body can be profitably used.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, MISCELLANIES, ETC.

Gen. James Robertson , one of the principal fathers of Tennessee, was a native of North Carolina, the patriarch of Watauga, and the founder of the Cumberland settlements. He emigrated to Watauga in 1769. “To his wife he was indebted for a knowledge of the alphabet, and for instruction how to read and write. To his Creator he was indebted for rich mental endowments—to himself for mental improvement. To his God he was indebted for that firmness and indomitable courage which the circumstances that surrounded him called so constantly into exercise. A detail of his acts in behalf of his country, and an enumeration of his sufferings by personal exposure in the wilderness, in the field of battle, in the besieged fort and the assaulted station, in losses of relatives and of private property, would fill a volume. Previous to and at the time of his death, Gen. Robertson was the United States agent at the Chickasaw nation.” He continued to the close of his useful life an active friend to his country, and by his services to the western settlements, in peace and in war, he has caused his name to be remembered with gratitude and veneration. He died at the Chickasaw agency, Sept. 1, 1814.

John Sevier , the first governor of Tennessee, the compatriot and colleague of Gen. James Robertson, was born in Shenandoah county, Va., in 1744. His ancestors were French Huguenots; the family name in France is Xavier. The Earl of Dunmore, then governor of Virginia, appointed young Sevier a captain in the military service of the colony. Not long after the family emigrated to the west to the Holston, and finally to the Watauga. Inheriting the sprightliness, gallantry and generosity of his French ancestry, Capt. Sevier soon became a favorite in the wilds of Watauga. In the revolution, when the British troops were sweeping the friends of liberty before them in the southern states, Sevier and his companions in arms hastened to the rescue. His services in the important conflict at King's Mountain are well known. He was the first to introduce the Indian war-whoop among the soldiery. The British prisoners at King's Mountain said they could stand the fighting, but the hallooing confused them making them believe that “the mountains had regiments instead of companies.” Sevier was the idol of his soldiers, who were generally his neighbors and the members of his own family. Often no public provision was made for their pay and equipments. These were furnished by himself, he being at once commander, commissariat and paymaster. On the formation of the new “State of Franklin,” Sevier was chosen governor. In the trouble and confusion 0126 892 which followed that event, he was seized by an armed posse, and conveyed to Morgantown on a charge of treason against the state of North Carolina. At the time of his trial he was rescued by his friends, and his return was everywhere welcomed with joy. He was afterward restored to favor, and was elected the first member of congress from the great valley of the Mississippi. In 1815, he was appointed commissioner by President Monroe to run the boundary of territory ceded by the Creeks to the United States. He left his home, near Knoxville, in June, for that purpose, and died of a fever September 24th, in the 71st year of his age. He was buried, with the honors of war, on the east bank of the Tallapoosa, near Fort Decatur, in Alabama.

William Blount , the first governor of the “Territory south-west of the River Ohio,” was a native of North Carolina, and his relatives were distinguished during the revolutionary period. He received the appointment of governor under the administration of Washington in 1790. He was remarkable for his urbanity, hospitality and commanding presence. At first he made his residence in the fork of Holston and Watauga Rivers, at the house of Wm. Cobb, where he held his court in the ancient woods of Sullivan. After he removed to Knoxville, the friendly Indian chiefs paid frequent visits to the new capital. Mrs. Blount, the wife of the governor, an accomplished lady, became much interested in them, and by her address and persuasion induced them to restrain their young warriors from aggression upon the frontier people. Grainger county and Fort Grainger, at the mouth of the Tennessee, were named from the maiden name of Mrs. Blount. Governor Blount was cut off in the prime of life, and his remains were interred in the burying ground of the First Preshyterian Church, having a slab with the simple inscription: “William Blount, died March 21, 1800, aged 53 years.”

Andrew Jackson. “'Ask nothing but what is right—submit to nothing wrong,' was Andrew Jackson's great political maxim, and it was an abiding principle in his character from his earliest youth until the close of his life. That noble principle was the key to his great success in whatever he undertook, and is worthy of Andrew Jackson adoption by every young man when he sets out upon the perilous voyage of active life. Jackson's parents were from the north of Ireland, and were among the early Scotch-Irish settlers in the upper part of South Carolina, in the vicinity of Waxhaw creek. Jackson's father lived north of the dividing line between North and South Carolina, in Mecklenburg county, and there Andrew was born on the 15th of March, 1797. His father died five days afterward, and a month later his mother took up her abode in South Carolina, near the meeting-house of the Waxhaw settlement. He received a fair education, but his studies were interrupted by the tumults of the on-coming revolution, and soon after the fall of Charleston the Waxhaw settlement became a terrible scene of blood, in the massacre of Buford's regiment by the fiery Tarleton. Every element of the lion in young Jackson's nature was aroused by this event, and, boy as he was, not yet fourteen years of age, he joined the patriot army and went to the field. One of his brothers was killed at Stono, and himself and another brother were made captives in 1781. The widow was soon bereaved of all her family but Andrew, and after making a journey of mercy to Charleston, to relieve sick prisoners, she fell by the wayside, and the place of her sepulcher is not known unto this day.' Left alone at a critical period of life, with some property at his disposal, young Jackson commenced a career that promised certain destruction. He suddenly reformed, studied law, and was licensed to practice in 1786. He was soon afterward appointed solicitor of the western district of Tennessee, and journeying over the mountains, he commenced, 0127 893 in that then wilderness, that remarkable career as attorney, judge, legislator and military commander, which on contemplation assumes the features of the wildest romance, viewed from any point of appreciation. His lonely journeyings, his collisions with the Indians, his difficulties with gamblers and fraudulent creditors and land speculators, and his wonderful personal triumphs in hours of greatest danger, make the record of his life one of rare interest and instruction.

In 1790, Jackson made his residence at Nashville, and there he married an accomplished woman, who had been divorced from her husband. In 1795, he assisted in forming a state constitution for Tennessee, and was elected the first representative in congress of the new state. In the autumn of 1797, he took a seat in the United States senate, to which he had been chosen, and was a conspicuous supporter of the democratic party. He did not remain long at Washington. Soon after leaving the senate, he was appointed judge of the supreme court of his state. He resigned that office in 1804, and retired to his beautiful estate near Nashville. There he was visited by Aaron Burr, in 1805, and entered warmly into his schemes for invading Mexico. When Burr's intentions were suspected, Jackson refused further intercourse with him until he should prove the purity of his intentions. For many years Jackson was chief military commander in his section, and when war against Great Britain was proclaimed in 1812, he longed for employment in the field. He was called to duty in 1813. Early the following year he was made a major-general, and from that time until his great victory at New Orleans, on the 8th of January, 1815, his name was identified with every military movement in the south, whether against the hostile Indians, Britons or Spaniards. In 1818, he engaged successfully in a campaign against the Seminoles and other southern Indians, and, at the same time, he taught the Spanish authorities in Florida some useful lessons, and hastened the cession of that territory to the United States.

In 1821, President Monroe appointed General Jackson governor of Florida, and in 1823 he offered him the station of resident minister in Mexico. He declined the honor, but accepted a seat in the United States senate, to which the legislature of Tennessee had elected him. He was one of the four candidates for president of the United States in 1824, but was unsuccessful. He was elevated to that exalted station in 1828, by a large majority, and was re-elected in 1832. His administration of eight years was marked by great energy, and never were the affairs of the Republic, in its domestic and foreign relations, more prosperous than at the close of his term of office. In the spring of 1837, he retired from public life forever, and sought repose after a long and laborious career, devoted to the service of his country. He lived quietly at his residence near Nashville, called the Hermitage, until on a calm Sunday, the 8th of June, 1845, his spirit went home. He was then a little more than seventy-eight years of age. The memory of that great and good man is revered by his countrymen, next to that of Washington, and to him has been awarded the first equestrian statue in bronze ever erected in this country. It is colossal, and occupies a conspicuous place in President's Square, Washington City, where it was reared in 1852. * ”

* Lossing's Eminent Americans.

Parton, in his three volume biography of Jackson, has given some facts

The Hermitage.

0128 894 upon his boyhood days, that interesting era in the history of great men. These we find grouped to our hand by a reviewer, and so present them, with his dove-tailing paragraphs:

His parents were Scotch Irish emigrants from Carrackfergus, of the humblest condition in life, and to add to the struggles of the family with adversity, his father died just after the birth of his son. His mother was obliged to find a home, as housekeeper and poor relation, in the family of a brother-in-law, and here young Andrew passed the first ten or twelve years of his life. He soon acquired the reputation of being the most mischievous boy in the neighborhood, always full of pranks and getting into trouble. His school-days were not of the most promising character; nor, judging from Mr. Parton's lively description, was his youthful brain in danger of being turned by any superfluity of book-learning.

'In due time the boy was sent to an 'old field school,' an institution not much unlike the road-side schools in Ireland of which we read. The northern reader is, perhaps, not aware that an 'old-field' is not a field at all, but a pine forest. When crop after crop of cotton, without rotation, has exhausted the soil,' the fences are taken away, the land lies waste, the young pines at once spring up, and soon cover the whole field with a thick growth of wood. In one of these old fields, the rudest possible shanty of a log house is erected, with a fire-place that extends from side to side, and occupies a third of the interior. In winter, the interstices of the log walls are filled up with clay; which the restless fingers of the boys make haste to remove in time to admit the first warm airs of spring. An itinerant schoolmaster presents himself in a neighborhood; the responsible farmers pledge him a certain number of pupils, and an old-field school is established for the season. Such schools, called by the same name, exist to this day in the Carolinas, differing little from those which Andrew Jackson attended in his childhood. Reading, writing and arithmetic were all the branches taught in the early day. Among a crowd of urchins seated on the slab benches of a school like this, fancy a tall, slender boy, with bright blue eyes, a freckled face, an abundance of long, sandy hair, and clad in coarse, copperas-colored cloth, with bare feet dangling and kicking and you have in your mind's eye a picture of Andy as he appeared in his oldfield school days in the Waxhaw settlement'

His mother seems to have had more ambitious views for her son, and hoped that by being enabled to obtain for him a liberal education she would have the pleasure to see him 'wag his pow in a pulpit' as a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church. He was not destined, however, to 'beat the drum ecclesiastic,' though if his good mother's wishes could have been realized, he would doubtless have proved a valiant soldier of the 'church militant,' and dealt thick and heavy blows on the sinner and heretic with as much unction as he subsequently discomfited the invaders of his country at New Orleans. He was a fighter from his earliest boyhood. Not a drop of tame blood ran in his veins.

'Andy was a wild, frolicsome, willful, mischievous, daring, reckless boy; generous to a friend, but never content to submit to a stronger enemy. He was passionately fond of those sports which are mimic battles—above all, wrestling. Being a slender boy, more active than strong, he was often thrown.

'I could throw him three times out of four,' an old schoolmate used to say, 'but he would never stay throwed. He was dead game, even then, and never would give up.'

He was exceedingly fond of running foot races, of leaping the bar, and jumping, and in such sports he was excelled by no one of his years. To younger boys, who never questioned his mastery, he was a generous protector; there was nothing he would not do to defend them. His equals and superiors found him self-willed, somewhat overbearing, easily offended, very irascible, and upon the whole, 'difficult to get along with.' One of them said, many years after, in the heat of controversy, that of all the boys he had ever known, Andrew Jackson was the only bully who was not also a coward.

But the boy, it appears, had a special cause of irritation in a disgraceful disease, name unknown, which induces a habit of—not to put too fine a point on it—'slobbering.' Woe to any boy who presumed to jest at this misfortune! Andy was 0129 895 upon him incontinently, and there was either a fight or a drubbing. There is a story, too, of some boys secretly loading a gun to the muzzle, and giving it to young Jackson to fire off, that they might have the pleasure of seeing it 'kick' him over. They had that pleasure. Springing up from the ground, the boy, in a frenzy of passion, exclaimed: 'By—, if one of you laughs I'll kill him!'

He soon had an opportunity, for pursuing higher game. He was nine years old when the declaration of independence was signed. By the time the war approached the obscure settlement in the region of the Catawba, where he was born, he was a little more than thirteen. A change now came over his rustic life. The schoolhouse was closed, the peaceful labors of the people interrupted. His elder brother Hugh had already mounted his horse and ridden southward to meet the bloody strife. 'It was on the 29th of May, 1780, that Tarleton, with three hundred horsemen, surprised a detachment of militia in the Waxhaw settlnment, and killed one hundred and thirteen of them, and wounded a hundred and fifty. The wounded; abandoned to the care of the settlers, were quartered in the houses of the vicinity, the old log Waxhaw meeting-house itself being converted into a hospital for the most desperate cases. Mrs. Jackson was one of the kind women who ministered to the wounded soldiers in the church, and under that roof her boys first saw what war was. The men were dreadfully mangled. Some had received as many as thirteen wounds, and none less than three. For many days Andrew and his brother assisted their mother in waiting upon the sick men; Andrew, more in rage than pity, though pitiful by nature, burning to avenge their wounds and his brother's death.

Tomb of Jackson

Tarleton's massacre at the Waxhaw settlement kindled the flames of war in all that region of the Carolinas. Andrew, with his brother Robert, was present at Sumpter's attack on the British post at Hariging Rock, where he might have received his first lesson in the art of war. Soon after he passed his fourteenth birth-day there ensued a fierce, intestine warfare in the vicinity of his home—a war of whig and tory, neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother, and even father against son. Among other instances of the madness that prevailed, a case is related of a whig, who, having found a friend murdered and mutilated, devoted himself to the slaying of tories. He hunted and lay in wait for them, and before the war ended had killed twenty, and then, recovering from that insanity, lived the rest of hisdays a conscience-stricken wretch. Andrew and his brother soon began to take a personal share in the eventful conflict. Without enlisting in any regular corps, they plunged into the fight on their own hook, joining small parties that went out on single enterprises of retaliation, mounted on their own horses, and carrying their own weapons. Mr. Parton gives a description of one of his adventures in this line which illustrates both the time and the boy:

'In that fierce, Scotch-Indian warfare, the absence of a father from home was often a better protection to his family than his presence, because his presence invited attack. The main object of both parties was to kill the fighting men, and to avenge the slaying of partisans. The house of the quiet hero Hicks, for example, was safe until it was noised about among the tories that Hicks was at home. And thus it came to pass, that when a whig soldier of note desired to spend a night with his family, his neighbors were accustomed to turn out and serve as a guard to his house while he slept. Behold Robert and Andrew Jackson, with six others, thus employed one night in the spring of 1781, at the domicil of a neighbor, Capt. Sands. The guard on this occasion was more a friendly tribute to an active partisan than a service considered necessary to his safety. In short, the night was not far advanced before the whole party were snugly housed and stretched upon the floor, all sound asleep except one, a British deserter, who was restless, and dozed at intervals.

Danger was near. A band of tories, bent on taking the life of Capt. Sands, approached 0130 896 the house in two divisions, one party moving toward the front door, the other toward the back. The wakeful soldier, hearing a suspicious noise, rose, went out of doors to learn its cause, and saw the foe stealthily nearing the house. He ran in in terror, and seizing Andrew Jackson, who lay next the door, by the hair, exclaimed: 'The tories are upon us!'

Andrew sprang up and ran out. Seeing a body of men in the distance, he placed the end of his gun in the low fork of a tree near the door and hailed them. No reply. He hailed them a second time. No reply. They quickened their pace, and had come within a few rods of the door. By this time, too, the guard in the house had been roused, and were gathered in a group behind the boy. Andrew discharged his musket, upon which the tories fired a volley, which killed the hapless deserter who had given the alarm. The other party of tories, who were approaching the house from the other side, hearing this discharge, and the rush of bullets above their heads, supposed that the firing proceeded from it party that had issued from the house. They now fired a volley, which sent a shower of balls whistling about the heads of their friends on the other side. Both parties hesitated and then halted. Andrew having thus, by his single discharge, puzzled and stopped the enemy, retired to the house, where he and his comrades kept up a brisk fire from the windows. One of the guard fell mortally wounded by his side, and another received a wound less severe. In the midst of this singular contest, a bugle was heard, some distance off, sounding the cavalry charge, whereupon the tories, concluding that they had come upon an ambush of whigs, and were about to be assailed by horse and foot, fled to where they had left their horses, mounted, dashed pell-mell into the woods, and were seen no more. It appeared afterward that the bugle charge was sounded by a neighbor, who, judging from the noise of musketry that Captain Sands was attacked, and having not a man with him in his house, gave the blast upon the trumpet, thinking that even a trick so stale, aided by the darkness of the night, might have some effect in alarming the assailants.'

After peace was restored to his neighborhood, young Jackson embraced every opportunity to engage in a 'free fight,' beside sharing largely in the fun and frolic, which were almost as congenial to his disposition as the drubbing of an adversary. Several Charleston families of wealth and distinction were waiting in the settlement for the evacuation of their city. With the young men whose acquaintance he thus made, Andrew led a life in the summer and autumn of 1782 that was more merry than wise. He now began to betray that taste for horse-flesh which became such a decided passion in after life. He ran races and rode races, gambled a little, drank a little, indulged in a cock-fight occasionally, and presented a glorious specimen of the young America at that day. He seems to have had but a faint love for his Carolina relations, and was probably regarded as the scapegrace of the family.

It is credibly related that his first attempt at earning a living for himself was in the capacity of a country schoolmaster, but after trying his hand in this uncongenial employment for a short time he resolved to study law. Gathering together his scanty earnings, he mounts his horse, sets his face to the northward in quest of a master with whom to pursue his law studies, and finally enters an office in Salisbury, N. C., at the age of eighteen. Of his residence in that pleasant old town, Mr. Parton has succeeded in bagging some characteristic if not altogether edifying reminiscences:

'Salisbury teems with traditions respecting the residence there of Andrew Jackson as a student of law. Their general tenor may be expressed in the language of the first old resident of the town, to whom I applied for information: 'Andrew Jackson was the most roaring, rollicking, game-cocking, horse-racing, card-playing, mischievous fellow that ever lived in Salisbury.' Add to this such expressions as these: 'He did not trouble the law books much,' 'he was more in the stable than in the office,' 'he was the head of all the rowdies hereabouts.' That is the substance of what the Salisbury of 1859 has to say of the Andrew Jackson of 1785.

Nothing is more likely than that he was a roaring, rollicking fellow, overflowing with life and spirits, and rejoicing to engage in all the fun that was going, but I do not believe that he neglected his duties at the office to the extent to which Salisbury says he did. There are good reasons for doubting it. At no part of Jackson's career, when we can get a look at him through a pair of trustworty eyes, do 0131 897 we find him trifling with life. We find him often wrong, but always earnest. He never so much as raised a field of cotton which he did not have done in the best manner known to him. It was not in the nature of this young man to take a great deal of trouble to get a chance to study law, and then entirely to throw away that chance. Of course he never became, in any proper sense of the word, a lawyer , but that he was not diligent and eager in picking up the legal knowledge necessary for practice at that day, will become less credible to the reader the more he knows of him. Once, in the White House, forty-five years after this period, when some one from Salisbury reminded him of his residence in that town, he said, with a smile, and a look of retrospection on his aged face, ‘Yes, I lived at old Salisbury. I was but a raw lad then, but I did my best. ’”

David Crockett's Cabin. [Drawn by Henry Howe, Nov., 1859.]

Annexed is a view of the residence of the celebrated Col. David Crockett, at the time he was a member of congress. It is in Gibson county, in the north-western corner of Tennessee, about 4 miles easterly from Rutherford's Station, on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. It is the present residence of Moses F. Whitehurst, and stands in the forks of Obion River, a stream famous in the history of Crockett's hunting adventures. The house is of hewn logs: originally it had “cat and clay” chimneys. These have given place to stone, and the logs are now weatherboarded. It is about 40 feet long and 14 wide, and is what is termed “a double cabin ”—a favorite kind of backwoods structure in the south-west. The open space between the different parts of the cabin, in the heats of summer, is a common place for the families to partake of their meals, for the females to sew, and for general social intercourse. Independence, buoyant health, solid, substantial comfort, and general freedom from oppressive care, may be said to be the general condition of Americans who find their homes in double cabins.

The country in the vicinity of Crockett's cabin is yet in a somewhat wilderness condition, though it is now rapidly improving under the impetus given, of late years, to the cotton growing region. When in the county to make a sketch of the place for this work, we became acquainted with several gray-headed men, who evidently took pride in stating they had “voted for Crockett.” They described him as a man tall in stature, rising six feet, of sinewy frame, independent in manner, and an excellent story-teller. In his last canvass for congress he was beaten, and therefore emigrated to Texas. They related many anecdotes of his goodness of heart and generosity— among them this: In the autumn of 1838, a general migration of squirrels from the north crossed that section of country, devouring all the corn in their path, so that a famine threatened the inhabitants. Crockett, upon this, 0132 898 went to the Wabash country, bought a flat-boat loaded it with corn, and floating down the Ohio into the Mississippi, and thence to the mouth of the Obion, a distance of several hundred miles, poled it up that stream 130 miles further by its various windings, to the forks of the Obion, and there distributed it among his suffering neighbors. His first question, when a man came to buy, was, “Have you got money to pay for it?” If the reply was, “Yes,” Crockett would rejoin, “then you can't have a kernel. I brought it here to sell to those who have no money.” Another question was, “how many have you in your family?” This ascertained, he would sell none more than their share, taking from all due bills, and refusing credit to none, however untrustworthy their reputation, or great their poverty. The following sketch is from Lossing's American Biography:

“ ‘Be sure you are right, then go ahead,’ is a wise maxim attributed to one whose life was a continual illustration of the sentiment. Every body has heard of ‘Davy Crockett,’ the immortal backwoodsman of Tennessee—the ‘crack shot’ of the wilderness —the eccentric but honest member of congress—the ‘hero of the Alamo’ —yet few knew his origin, his early struggles, and the general current of his life. History has but few words concerning him, but tradition is garrulous over his many deeds.

David Crockett was born at the mouth of the Limestone River, Greene county, East Tennessee, on the 17th of August, 1786. His father was of Scotch-Irish descent, and took a prominent part in the War for Independence. It was all a wilderness around David's birth-place, and his soul communed with nature in its unbroken wildness, from the beginning. He grew to young manhood, without any education from books other than he received in his own rude home. When only seven years of age, David's father was stripped of most of his little property, by fire. He opened a tavern in Jefferson county, where David was his main ‘help’ until the age of twelve years. Then he was hired to a Dutch cattle-trader, who collected herds in Tennessee and Kentucky, and drove them to the eastern markets. This vagrant life, full of incident and adventure, suited young Crockett, but becoming dissatisfied with his employer, he deserted him, and made his way back to his father's home. After tarrying a year, he ran away, joined another cattle-merchant, and at the end of the journey, in Virginia, he was dismissed with precisely four dollars in his pocket. For three years he was ‘knocking about,’ as he expressed it, and then he sought his father's home again. He now enjoyed the advantages of a school for a few weeks; and, finally, after several unsuccessful love adventures, he married an excellent girl, and became a father in 1810, when 24 years of age. He settled on the banks of Elk River, and was pursuing the quiet avocation of a farmer in summer, and the more stirring one of hunter in the autumn, when war was commenced with Great Britain, in 1812. Crockett was one of the first to respond to Gen. Jackson's call for volunteers, and under that brave leader he was engaged in several skirmishes and battles. He received the commission of colonel at the close of the war, as a testimonial of his worth. His wife had died while he was in the army, and several small children were left to his care. The widow of a deceased friend soon came to his aid, and in this second wife he found an excellent guardian for his children. Soon after his marriage, he removed to Laurens county, where he was made justice of the peace, and was chosen to represent the district in the state legislature. Generous, full of fun, possessing great shrewdness, and ‘honest to a fault,’ Crockett became very popular in the legislature and among his constituents. In the course of a few years he removed to Western Tennessee, where he became a famous hunter. With the rough backwoodsmen there he was a man after their own hearts, and he was elected to a seat in congress, in 1828, and again in 1830. He and the opposing candidate canvassed their district together, and made stump speeches. Crockett's opponent had written his speech, and delivered the same one at different places. David was always original, and he readily yielded to his friend's request to speak first. At a point where both wished to make a good impression, Crockett desired to speak first. His opponent could not refuse; but, to his dismay, he heard David repeat his own speech. The colonel 0133 899 had heard it so often that it was fixed in his memory. The other candidate was speechless , and lost his election. When the Americans in Texas commenced their war for independence, toward the close of 1835, Crockett hastened thither to help them, and at the storming of the Alamo, at San Antonio de Bexar, on the 6th of March, 1836, that eccentric hero was killed. He was afterward found dead, surrounded by a pile of the enemy, who had fallen beneath his powerful arm. He was then fifty years of age.”

Hugh Lawson White , an eminent statesman and jurist, was born in North Carolina, in 1773, and when 13 years of age emigrated with his father's family to Knox county Tennessee. He was educated to the law in Pennsylvania, and in 1796, began the practice at Knoxville. Though his education was limited, he was clear headed, logical and self-relying, and attained distinction throughout the entire south-west, where he was “familiarly compared to Aristides, and reverently regarded as the Cato of the republic.” He served in many offices of trust, as U. S. district attorney, judge of the supreme court of Tennessee, state senator, president of the state bank, etc. He was appointed commissioner by President Monroe to adjust claims of our citizens against Spain. In 1825, 1831, and 1837, he was successively elected to the senate of the United States, where he served with signal ability. At the election for vice president of the United States, in 1836, he received all the votes of Georgia and Tennessee. In 1839, having received instructions from the legislature of Tennessee to vote in the senate contrary to his own judgment, he resigned his seat in that body, which he had held sixteen years. He died at his residence in Knoxville, April 16, 1840, in the 68th year of his age.

Brainerd, the Ancient Missionary Station among the Cherokees. The engraving shows the Mission Church, Store House, and other buildings connected with the Mission as they appeared about the year 1821. The grave of Dr. Worcester * is soon on the left, at the spot where two persons are standing.

* Rev. Dr. Worcester, of Massachusetts, an active member of the American Board, died in his visit to the Cherokees, at Brainerd, June 7, 1821, and was interred on the Mission premises. His remains were taken up several years since, and carried to Massachusetts, by his son, a clergyman of that state. The mission grounds are now owned by A. E. Blunt, Esq., who was formerly connected with the mission as a farmer, mechanic and teacher. The wife and two children of Mr. Blunt were buried by the side of Dr. Worcester, with others of the mission family. The old Mission Church is still standing.

THE CHEROKEE MISSION.

The first mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions among the Cherokees, was commenced in 1817 at Brainerd, a spot within the limits of Tennessee, on the western side of the Chickamauga Creek , which is navigable to Brainerd, being about 15 miles from its confluence with the Tennessee. It was, at that time, nearly equi-distant from the eastern and western extremities of the Cherokee country, and perhaps 25 or 30 miles from the northern limit, which was the mouth of Hiawassee. A 0134 900 church was organized in Sept. 1817, and Catherine was the first fruit of missionary labor. This place was visited by President Monroe, in May, 1819, on his grand tour through the United States.

The missions continued to flourish: 8 churches, or stations, were established, and the mass of the people became civilized, and, externally, embraced the Christian religion. In 1828 and 1829, the state of Georgia, repudiating the independent government which the Cherokees attempted to establish among themselves, extended her laws over them, and forbade the missionaries of the board to reside among them. Mr. Worcester and Dr. Butler, for violating this law, were imprisoned in the Georgia penitentiary. The case was brought before the supreme court of the United States, in 1832, which ordered their release. The bill for the removal of the Indians west of the Mississippi, passed congress in 1830. On Sunday, the 19th of Aug., 1835, the church at Brainerd gathered, for the last time in that place, around the sacramental table. In 1836, some of the principal chiefs negotiated a treaty at New Echota, for the sale of all their lands east of the Mississippi, for five millions of dollars. In 1838, the whole nation, 16,000 in number, were on their march for the west, in fourteen companies. Several missionaries accompanied them on their way. Their journey of 600 or 700 miles, was performed in four or five months. On the 22d of June, 1839, Major Ridge , his son, John Ridge , and Elias Boudinot , Cherokee chiefs, were assassinated by their countrymen, for the part they took in selling the lands of the nation.

THE JERKS.

About the beginning of the present century, the religious meetings of the west were attended by singular mental and physical phenomena, resembling, in some of their phases, the mesmeric phenomena of our time. These were comprised under the general name of “the Jerks. ” The first recorded instance was at a sacrament in East Tennessee, when several hundred of both sexes were seized with this strange and involuntary contortion. A clerical writer, Rev. Barton W. Stone, has, in his biography, left an account of what he personally witnessed of these strange phenomena, which we here transcribe:

The bodily agitations or exercises attending the excitement in the beginning of this century were various, and called by various names, as the failing exercise, the jerks, the dancing exercise the barking exercise, the laughing and singing exercises, and so on. The falling exercise was very common among all classes, the saints and sinners of every age and grade from the philosopher to the clown. The subject of this exercise would generally, with a piercing scream, fall like log on the floor or earth, and appear as dead. Of thousands of similar cases, I will mention one. At a meeting, two gay young ladies, sisters, were standing together, attending the exercises and preaching at the same time, when instantly they both fell with a shriek of distress, and lay for more than an hour apparently in a lifeless state. Their mother, a pious Baptist, was in great distress, fearing they would not revive. At length they began to exhibit signs of life, by crying fervently for mercy, and then relapsed into the same death-like state, with an awful gloom on their countenances; after a while, the gloom on the face of one was succeeded by a heavenly smile, and she cried out. ‘Precious Jesus!’ and spoke of the glory of the gospel to the surrounding crowd in language almost superhuman, and exhorted all to repentance. In a little while after, the other sister was similarly exercised. From that time they became remarkably pious members of the church.

I have seen very many pious persons fall in the same way, from a sense of the danger of their unconverted children, brothers, or sisters, or from a sense of the danger of their neighbors in a sinful world. I have heard them agonizing in tears, 0135 901 and strongly crying for mercy to be shown to sinners, and speaking like angels all around.

The jerks can not be so easily described. Sometimes the subject of the jerks would be affected in some one member of the body, and sometimes in the whole system. When the head alone was affected, it would be jerked backward and forward, or from side to side, so quickly that the features of the face could not be distinguished. When the whole system was affected, I have seen the person stand in one place, and jerk backward and forward in quick succession, the head nearly touching the floor behind and before. All classes, saints and sinners, the strong as well as the weak, were thus affected. I have inquired of those thus affected if they could not account for it, but some have told me that those were among the happiest seasons of their lives. I have seen some wicked persons thus affected. and all the time cursing the jerks, while they were thrown to the earth with violence. Though so awful to behold, I do not remember that any one of the thousands I have seen thus affected, ever sustained any injury in body. This was as strange as the exercise itself.

The dancing exercise generally began with the jerks, and was peculiar to professors of religion. The subject, after jerking awhile, began to dance, and then the jerks would cease. Such dancing was indeed heavenly to the spectators. There was nothing in it like levity, nor calculated to excite levity in the beholders. The smile of Heaven shone on the countenance of the subject, and assimilated to angels appeared the whole person. Sometimes the motion was quick, and sometimes slow. Thus they continued to move forward and backward in the same track or alley till nature seemed exhausted; and they would fall prostrate on the floor or earth, unless caught by those standing by. While thus exercised, I have heard their solemn praises and prayers ascend to God.

The barking exercise, as opposers contemptuously called it, was nothing but the jerks. A person affected with the jerks, especially in his head, would often make a grunt or a bark, from the suddenness of the jerk. This name of barking seems to have had its origin from an old Presbyterian preacher of East Tennessee. He had gone into the woods for private devotion, and was seized with the jerks. Standing near a sapling, he caught hold of it to prevent his falling, and as his head jerked back, he uttered a grunt, or a kind of noise similar to a bark, his face being turned upward. Some wag discovered him in this position, and reported that he had found the old preacher barking up a tree.

The laughing exercise was frequent—confined solely to the religious. It was a loud, hearty laughter, but it excited laughter in none that heard it. The subject appeared rapturously solemn, and his laughter excited solemnity in saints and sinners: it was truly indescribable!

The running exercise was nothing more than that persons feeling something of these bodily agitations, through fear, attempted to run away and thus escape from them; but it commonly happened that they ran not far before they fell, where they became so agitated they could not proceed any farther.

I knew a young physician, of a celebrated family, who came some distance to a big meeting, to see the strange things he had heard of. He and a young lady had sportively agreed to watch over and take care of each other if either should fall. At length, the physician felt something very uncommon, and started from the congregation to run into the woods. He was discovered running as for life, but did not proceed far until he fell down, and there lay until he submitted to the Lord, and afterward became a zealous member of the Church. Such cases were common.

The singing exercise is more unaccountable than any thing else I ever saw. The subject, in a very happy state of mind, would sing most melodiously, not from the mouth or nose, but entirely in the breast the sounds issuing thence. Such noise silenced everything, and attracted the attention of all. It; was most heavenly, none could ever be tired of hearing it.

KENTUCKY.

Arms Of Kentucky.

Kentucky was originally included in the limits of Virginia, and the name, said to signify, in the Indian tongue, “The dark and bloody ground,” is indicative of her early conflicts with a wily and savage foe. The first explorer of her territory of whom we have any very definite knowledge was Col. James Smith, who traveled westward in 1766, from Holston River, with three men and a mulatto slave. The beautiful tract of country near the Kentucky River appears to have been reserved by the Indians as a hunting ground , and consequently none of their settlements were found there. The dark forests and cane thickets of Kentucky separated the Creeks, Cherokees and Catawbas of the south from the hostile tribes of the Shawnees, Wyandots and Delawares of the north.

In 1767, John Findley and some others made a trading expedition from North Carolina to this region. In 1769, Daniel Boone (the great pioneer of Kentucky), with five others, among whom was Findley, undertook a journey to explore the country. After a long fatiguing march over a mountainous wilderness, they arrived upon its borders, and from an eminence discovered the beautiful valley of the Kentucky. Boone and his companions built a cabin on Red River, from whence they made various excursions. Boone being out hunting one day, in company with a man named Stuart, was surprised and both taken prisoners by the Indians. They eventually succeeded in making their escape. On regaining their camp, they found it dismantled and deserted. The fate of its inmates was never ascertained. After an absence of nearly three years, Boone returned to his family in North Carolina.

In 1770, Col. James Knox led into Kentucky a party from Holston, on Clinch River, who remained in the country about the same length of time with Boone's party, and thoroughly explored the middle and southern part of the country. Boone's party traversed the northern and middle region with great attention. Although both parties were in the country together, they 0138 904 never met. When these pioneers returned, they gave glowing descriptions of the fertility of the soil throughout the western territories of Virginia and North Carolina. The lands given to the Virginia troops for their services in the French war were to be located on the western waters, and within two years after the return of Boone and Knox, surveyors were sent out for this purpose. In 1773, Capt. Bullitt led a party down the Ohio to the Falls, where a camp was constructed and fortified.

In the summer of 1774, parties of surveyors and hunters followed, and within the year James Harrod erected a log cabin where Harrodsburg is now built; this soon grew into a settlement or station—the oldest in Kentucky.

In 1775, Daniel Boone constructed a fort, afterward called Boonesborough, during which time his party was exposed to fierce attacks from the Indians. By the middle of April, the fort was completed, and soon after his wife and daughters joined him and resided in the fort—the first white women who ever stood on the banks of Kentucky River.

In 1775, the renowned pioneer Simon Kenton erected a log cabin where the town of Washington now stands, in Mason county. In the winter of this year, Kentucky was formed into a county by the legislature of Virginia. In the spring of 1777, the court of quarter sessions held its first sitting at Harrodsburg.

The years 1780 and 1781 were distinguished for a great emigration to Kentucky, and great activity in land speculations, and by inroads of the Indians. In 1780, an expedition of Indians and British troops, under Col. Byrd, threatened the settlements with destruction. Cannon were employed against the stockade forts, some of the stations were destroyed, and the garrisons taken.

In 1781, every portion of the country was continually in alarm, and many lives were lost. The most important battle between the whites and Indians ever fought on its soil was on the 19th of August, 1782, near the Blue Lick Springs. The celebrated Col. Boone bore a prominent part in this engagement, in which he lost a son. The whites numbered but 182, while the Indians were twice or thrice that number. From the want of due caution in advancing against the enemy, they were, after a short but severe action, routed with the loss of seventy-seven men and twelve wounded. Kentucky being the first settled of the western states, a large number of expeditions were sent out by her from time to time against the Indians in the then wilderness country north of the Ohio; these were mostly within the present limits of Ohio, which thus became the battle ground of Kentucky, and was watered with the blood of her heroic pioneers.

After the revolutionary war, there was a period of political discontent. This arose partly from the inefficient protection of Virginia and the old federal congress against the inroads of the Indians, and partly by a distrust; lest the general government should surrender the right to navigate the Mississippi to its mouth.

Kentucky was the central scene of the imputed intrigues of Aaron Burr and his coadjutors to form a western republic. What the precise designs of Burr really were has perhaps never been fully understood.

Kentucky took an active part in the war of 1812. After the surrender of Hull at Detroit, the whole quota of the state, consisting of upward of 5,000 volunteers, was called into active service. In addition to these, a force of mounted volunteers was raised, and at one time upward of 7,000 Kentuckians are said to have been in the field, and such was the desire in the state to 0139 905 enter into the contest that executive authority was obliged to interpose to limit the number. At this period, Isaac Shelby, a hero of the revolutionary war, was governor of the state. At the barbarous massacre of the River Raisin, and also in the unfortunate attempt to relieve Fort Meigs, many of her brave sons perished. In the recent war with Mexico, several of her distinguished citizens engaged in the contest.

Kentucky was separated from Virginia in 1786, after having had several conventions at Danville. In 1792, it was received into the Union as an independent state. The first constitution was formed in 1790, the second in 1796. The financial revulsion which followed the second war with Great Britain was severely felt in Kentucky. The violence of the crisis was much enhanced in this state by the charter of forty independent banks in 1818, with a capital of nearly ten millions of dollars, which were permitted to redeem their notes with the paper of the bank of Kentucky. The state was soon flooded with the paper of these banks. This soon depreciated, and the state laws were such that the creditor was obliged to receive his dues at one half their value. The people of the state became divided into two parties; the debtor party, which constituted the majority, was called the Relief, and the creditors the Anti-Relief party. The judges of the courts declared the acts of the legislature, in sustaining the currency, unconstitutional. The majority attempted to remove them from office by establishing new courts; the people became divided into the “new court” and “old court” parties. The contest was finally decided in the canvass of 1826, when the old court party pervailed.

Kentucky is bounded N. by the Ohio River, separating it from the states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois; E. by Virginia; W. by the Mississippi River, separating it from Missouri, and S. by Tennessee. It is situated between 36° 30′ and 39° 10′ N. Lat., and between 81° 50′ and 89° 20′ W. Long. Its length is about 400 miles, and its breadth 170 miles, containing 37,680 square miles.

Kentucky presents a great diversity of surface. In the eastern part, where it is bordered by the Cumberland Mountains, there are numerous lofty elevations; and on the Ohio River, through nearly the whole extent of the state, there is a strip of hilly but fertile land from five to twenty miles in breadth. On the margin of the Ohio are numerous tracts of bottom lands, which are periodically overflowed. Between the hilly country of the more mountainous eastern counties and Green River is a fertile tract, frequently called the “garden of the state.” This is in the blue limestone region, in the midst of which is the beautiful town of Lexington. The line demarking this region passes from the Ohio round the heads of Licking and Kentucky Rivers, Dick's River, and down Great Green River to the Ohio; and within this compass of above one hundred miles square is found one of the most fertile and extraordinary countries on which the sun has ever shone. The soil is of a loose, deep and black mold, without sand—on first-rate lands, from two to three feet deep—and exceedingly luxuriant in all its productions. It is well watered by fine springs and streams, and its beautiful climate and the salubrity of the country are unequalled; the winter, even, being seldom so inclement as to render the housing of cattle necessary. In a state of nature, nearly the whole surface of this region was covered with a dense forest of majestic trees, and a close undergrowth of gigantic reeds, forming what in the country are called canebrakes. In the southern part, however, on the head waters of Green River and its tributaries, is an extensive tract, thinly 57 0140 906 wooded, and covered in summer with high grass growing amid scattered and stunted oaks. Struck with the contrast this region presented to the luxuriant forests of the neigboring districts, the first settlers gave the country the unpromising name of “barrens. ”

In 1800, the legislature considering this tract but of little value, made a gratuitous grant of it to actual settlers. This land proved to be excellent for grain, and also adapted to the raising of cattle. The whole state, below the mountains, has, at the usual depth of eight feet, a bed of limestone, which has frequent apertures. The rivers have generally worn deep channels in the calcareous rocks over which they flow. There are precipices on the Kentucky River of solid limestone 300 feet high. Iron ore and coal are widely diffused; coal, especially, occupies an extensive field. Salt springs are numerous, and mineral springs are found in many places. The great agricultural productions are hemp, flax, Indian corn, tobacco, wheat and live stock. More than half of all the hemp raised in the Union is grown in Kentucky. Population, in 1790, 73,077; in 1820, 564,317; in 1840, 779,828; in 1850, 982,405; in 1860, 1,185,567, of whom 225,490 were slaves.

South-eastern view of Frankfort. Showing the appearance of the place from the railroad. The southern entrance of the tunnel through the limestone bluff, and under the State Arsenal and foot path to the Cemetery, is seen on the right. The Capitol and some other public buildings are seen in the central part, Kentucky River in front on the left.

Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, is 25 miles N. W. from Lexington, and 53 E. from Louisville. It is beautifully situated on the right or northeast bank of Kentucky River, 60 miles above its mouth, in the midst of the wild and picturesque scenery which renders that stream so remarkable. The city stands on an elevated plain between the river and the high bluffs, which rise 150 feet immediately behind the town. The river, which is navigable for steamboats to this place, is nearly 100 yards wide, and flows through a deep channel of limestone rock. A chain bridge crosses the river here, connecting the city with South Frankfort, its suburb. The railroad from Lexington 0141 907 passes into the city in a tunnel through the limestone rock or ledge on which the State Arsenal is erected. Frankfort is well built, and has fine edifices of brick and Kentucky marble. The State House is a handsome edifice of white marble. The city is well supplied with excellent spring water, which is conveyed into the town by iron pipes. The State Penitentiary is located here, and the trade of the place is facilitated by railroads in various directions. The Kentucky Military Institute, a thriving institution, is in the vicinity of Frankfort. Population about 5,000.

State House, Of Frankfort

“Frankfort was established by the Virginia legislature in 1786, though the first survey of 600 acres was made by Robert McAfee, on the 16th of July, 1773. The seat of government was located in 1792, and the first session of the assembly was held in 1793. The public buildings not being ready, the legislature assembled in a large frame house belonging to Maj. James Love, on the bank of the river, in the lower part of the city.”

The Frankfort Cemetery is laid out on the summit of the high and commanding bluffs which immediately rise in an eastern direction from the city. The “Military Monument” (an engraving of which is annexed) was erected in pursuance of an act of the legislature, Feb., 1848. The following inscriptions and names are engraved upon it, viz:

Military Monument Erected By Kentucky , A. D., 1860.

Mexico , Lt. J.W. Powell; Boonesborough, Harmar's Defeat , Capt. J. McMurtsy; Monterey , P. M. Barbour; Buena Vista , Col. William R. McKee, Lieut. Col. Clay, Capt. Wm. T. Willis, Adjutant E. P. Vaughn; Raisin , Col. John Allen, Maj. Benjamin Graves, Capt. John Woolfolk, Capt. N. G. S. Hart, Capt. James Meade, Capt. Robert Edwards, Capt. Virgil McCracken, Capt. William Price, Capt. John Edmundson, Capt. John Simpson, Capt. Pascal Hickman, Lieut. John Williamson; Thames , Col. Wm. Whitley, Capt. Elijah

Military Monument, Frankfort. The small monument in front is that of Maj. Barbour; in the distance is shown that of Col. R. M. Johnson.

0142 908 Craig, Lieut. Robert Logan, Lieut. Thos. C. Graves, Lieut. Thos. Overton, Lieut. Francis Chinn, Ensign Levi Wells, Ensign —— Shawhan, Surgeon Alex. Montgomery, Surgeon Thomas C. Davis, Surgeon John Irvin, Surgeon Thos. McIlvaine; Indian Wars , Col. John Floyd, Col. Nathaniel Hart, Col. Walker Daniel, Col. Wm. Christian, Col. Rice Galloway, Col. James Harrod, Col. Wm. Lynn, Maj. Evan Shelby, Maj. Bland Ballard, Capt. Christ Irvin, Capt. Wm. McAfee, Capt. John Kennedy, Capt. Christopher Crepps, Capt. Rogers, Capt. Wm. Bryant, Capt. Tipton, Capt. Chapman, Capt. McCracken, Capt. James Shelby, Capt. Samuel Grant, Supv'r Hane'y Taylor, Supv'r Willis Lee; Massissinaway, St. Clair's Defeat , Col. Wm. Oldham; Estill's Defeat , Capt. James Estill, Lieut. South; Tippecanoe , Col. Joseph H. Daviess, Col. Abram Owen; Fort Meigs, Col. Wm. Dudley, Capt. John C. Morrison, Capt. Chris'r Irvin, Capt. Joseph Clark, Capt. Thomas Lewis; Blue Licks , Col. John Todd, Col. Stephen Trigg, Major Silas Harlan, Maj. Wm. McBride, Capt. Edward Bulger, Capt. John Gordon, Capt. Isaac Boone.

The principal battles and campaigns in which her sons devoted their lives to their country are inscribed on the bands, and beneath the same are the names of the officers who fell. The names of her soldiers who died for their country are too numerous to be inscribed on any column. By order of the legislature, the name of Col. J. J. Hardin, of the 1st Reg. Illinois Infantry, a son of Kentucky, who fell at the battle of Buena Vista, is inscribed hereon.

Kentucky has erected this column in gratitude equally to her officers and soldiers.

To the memory of Col. Richard M. Johnson , a faithful public servant for nearly half a century, as a member of the Kentucky legislature and senator in congress. Author of the Sunday Mail Report, and of the laws for the abolishment for debt in Kentucky and in the United States. Distinguished for his valor as a colonel of a Kentucky regiment at the battle of the Thames. For four years vice-president of the United States. Kentucky, his native state, to mark the sense of his eminent services in the cabinet and in the field, has erected this monument in the resting place of her illustrious dead. Richard Mentor Johnson, born at Bryant's Station, on the 17th day of October, 1781; died in Frankfort, Ky., on the 19th day of November, 1850.

Philip Norbourne Barbour , born in Henderson, Kentucky, graduated with merit at West Point in 1829; and immediately commissioned Lieutenant 3d Regiment U. S. Infantry; captain by brevet for valor in the Florida War; served with distinction at Palo Alto; major by brevet for distinguished gallantry and skill at Resaca de la Palma. lie fell at the head of his command, covered with honor and glory, at the storming of Monterey, Sept. 21; 1846. Florida, Palo Alto, Resaca de Palma, Monterey. Kentucky has erected this monument to a brave and noble son.

“At its session of 1844-45, the legislature of Kentucky adopted measures to have the mortal remains of the celebrated pioneer; Daniel Boone, and those of his wife, removed from their place of burial on the banks of the Missouri, for the purpose of interment in the public cemetery at Frankfort.

The consent of the surviving relations of the deceased having been obtained, a commission was appointed, under whose superintendence the removal was effected; and the 13th of September, 1845, was fixed upon as the time when the ashes of the venerable dead would be committed with fitting ceremonies to the place of their final repose. The deep feeling excited by the occasion was evinced by the assembling of an immense concourse of citizens from all parts of the state, and the ceremonies were most imposing and impressive. A procession, extending more than a mile in length, accompanied the coffins to the grave. The hearse, decorated with evergreens and flowers, and drawn by four white horses, was placed in its assigned position in the line, accompanied, as pall bearers, by the following distinguished pioneers, viz: Col. Richard M. Johnson, of Scott; General James Taylor, of Campbell, Capt. James Ward, of Mason; Gen. Robert B. McAfee and Peter Jordan, of Mercer; Waller Bullock, Esq., of Fayette; Capt, Thos. Joyce, of Louisville 0143 909 Mr. Landin Sneed, of Franklin; Col. John Johnston, of the state of Ohio; Major Z. Williams, of Kenton, and Col. Wm. Boone, of Shelby. The procession was accompanied by several military companies, and by the members of the Masonic Fraternity, and the Independent order of Odd Fellows, in rich regalia. Arrived at the grave, the company was brought together in a beautiful hollow near the grave, ascending from the center on every side. Here the funeral services were performed. The hymn was given out by the Rev. Mr. Godell, of the Baptist Church; prayer by Bishop Soule, of the Methodist E. Church; oration by the Honorable John J. Crittenden; closing prayer by the Rev. J. J. Bullock, of the Presbyterian Church, and benediction by the Rev. P. S. Fall, of the Christian Church. The coffins were then lowered into the graves. The spot where the graves are situated is as beautiful as nature and art combined can make it.”

Graves Of Daniel Boone And His Wife At Frankfort. The graves of Boone and his wife are without a monument save the forest scene by which they are surrounded. The spot where they were interred is at the foot of the two trees, around which is a simple board seat. It is near the edge of the high bluff rising from the river. The beautiful valley of Kentucky River is seen in the extreme distance.

Only two persons were present of all the assembled thousands who had known Boone personally. One of these was the venerable Col. John Johnston, of Ohio, long an agent of the U. S. government over the Indians, having been appointed to that office by Washington. The other was a humble old man named Ellison Williams, who walked barefoot from Covington to Frankfort, a distance of sixty miles, to see Boone's bones buried, but he was a silent mourner and an entire stranger in that vast crowd. He left as his dying request that he should be buried by the side of Boone, and the legislature of Kentucky in 1860 appropriated ninety dollars for that purpose. At the same session they passed a bill appropriating two thousand dollars to erect a monument over the remains of Boone and his wife. The originator of the bill was the Hon. Samuel Haycraft, senator from Hardin, who advocated the measure in a speech of “almost matchless beauty, eloquence and patriotism.”

Harrodsburg, the county seat of Mercer county, is situated near the geographical center of the state, thirty miles south from Frankfort, on an eminence, 1 mile from Salt River and 8 miles from Kentucky River. It contains the county buildings, 7 churches, 2 banks 25 stores, several manufacturing establishments, the Kentucky University, 2 female colleges, and about 2,500 inhabitants. Baco College, founded in 1836, under the patronage of the Christian denomination, is located in this place. The Harrodsburg 0144 910 Springs are celebrated for the medicinal virtue of their waters, and for the beauty and extent of the adjoining grounds.

According to some authorities, Harrodsburg was the first settled place in Kentucky. In July, 1773, the McAfee company from Bottetourt county, Va., visited this region, and surveyed lands on Salt River. Capt. James Harrod, with forty-one men, descended the Ohio River from the Monongahela, in May, 1774, and penetrating into the intervening forest made his principal camp about one hundred yards below the town spring, under the branches of a large elm tree. About the middle of June, Capt. Harrod and companions laid off a town plot (which included the camp), and erected a number of cabins. The place received the name of Harrodstown, afterward Oldtown, and finally the present name of Harrodsburg. The first corn raised in Kentucky was in 1775, by John Harmon, in a field at the east end of Harrodsburg. During the year 1777, the Indians, in great numbers, collected about Harrodsburg, in order, it was supposed, to prevent any corn being raised for the support of the settlers. In this period of distress and peril, a lad by the name of Ray, seventeen years of age, rendered himself an object of general favor by his courage and enterprise. He often rose before day, and left the fort on an old horse to procure (by hunting) food for the garrison. This horse was the only one left unslaughtered by the Indians of forty brought to the country by Major M'Gary. He proceeded, on these occasions, cautiously to Salt River, generally riding in the bed of some small stream to conceal his course. When sufficiently out of hearing, he would kill his load of game and bring it in to the suffering people of the fort after nightfall.

Louisville, the seat of justice for Jefferson county, is the largest city in the state, and, next to Cincinnati and Pittsburg, the most important on the Ohio. It is situated on the left bank of the river, at the head of the rapids, 65 miles by railroad W. of Frankfort, 130 below Cincinnati, 590 W. by S. from Washington, and 1,411 above New Orleans. The city is built on a gentle acclivity, 75 feet above low water mark, on a slightly undulating plain. Eight handsome streets, nearly two miles in length, run east and west, parallel with the river: they are crossed by more than 30 others running at right angles. The situation and surrounding scenery of Louisville are beautiful, and from some parts is had a delightful view of the Ohio River and of the town of New Albany, a few miles below.

Its immediate trade extends into all the surrounding country, and embraces within the state of Kentucky a circuit of one of the most productive regions of the world. The manufactures of Louisville are very extensive, embracing a great variety. It has founderies and machine shops, steam bagging factories, cotton, woolen and tobacco factories, mills of various kinds, distilleries, breweries, agricultural factories, etc. Ship building is also extensively carried on. The trade of Louisville is estimated at one hundred millions of dollars annually. The principal agricultural exports are tobacco, pork, hemp, and flour. It is connected with its suburb Portland by a railroad operated by horse power, and by a canal 2½ miles around the Falls of the Ohio, with a total lockage of 22 feet. It is also connected by railroads with the interior. Since the completion of the railroad to Nashville, an immense trade has opened with the south, which has given a great impulse to the prosperity of the city. Louisville contains many splendid public buildings, 10 banks, about 50 churches, and a population, in 1860, of 75,196.

The Medical Institute , organized in 1837, by an ordinance of the city 0145 911 council, ranks high among the public institutions of Louisville. The University of Louisville is in successful operation, and has buildings which are an ornament to the city. The Marine Hospital , designed as a refuge for sick and infirm mariners, is an important public institution, located and established here in 1820, by a grant from the state of $40,000. Another Marine Asylum has been erected here by the general government. The Asylum for the Blind , established by the state in 1842, has a spacious building erected by the joint contributions of the state and citizens of Louisville. The students, beside their literary studies, are also instructed in various kinds of handicraft, by which they can support themselves after leaving the institution. St. Joseph's Infirmary is a Catholic benevolent institution. The Kentucky Historical Society , in this place, was incorporated in 1838: it has collected valuable documents relating to the early history of the state and of the west. The Mercantile Library Association has a large and valuable collection of books. The Artesian Well , at Louisville, sends up immense quantities of mineral water of rare medicinal value in various complaints, proving a blessing as great as it was unexpected to the citizens.

View of the Central part of Louisville. The view shows the appearance of the central part of Louisville, from the Indiana side of the Ohio. The Jefferson City Ferry Landing, and Galt House appear on the left, the Louisville Hotel in the distance on the right, tho Court House and City Hall, the Catholic and other Churches in the central part.

The following, relative to the first settlement, etc., of Louisville, is from Collins' Historical Sketches of Ky.:

Captain Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, uncle of the late Alexander Scott Bullitt, who was the first lieutenant-governor of Kentucky, is said to have laid off Louisville in 1773. This was before the first log cabin was built in Kentucky. For several years after this, the silence of the forest was undisturbed by the white man. The place was occasionally visited by different persons, but no settlement was made until 1778. In the spring of this year, a party, consisting of a small number of families, came to the Falls with George Rogers Clark, and were left by him on an 0146 912 island near the Kentucky shore, now called Corn Island. The name is supposed to have been derived from the circumstance that the settlers planted their first Indian corn oil this island.

These settlers were sixty or seventy miles distant from any other settlement, and had nothing but their insular position to defend them from the Indians. The posts in the Wabash country, occupied by the British, served as points of support for tile incursions of the savages. After these had been taken by Clark, the settlers were inspired with confidence, and, in the fall of 1778, removed from the island to the site now occupied by Louisville. Here a block house was erected, and the number of settlers was increased by the arrival of other emigrants from Virginia.

In 1780, the legislature of Virginia passed ‘an act for establishing the town of Louisville, at the falls of Ohio.’ By this act, ‘John Todd, jr., Stephen Trigg, Geo. Slaughter, John Floyd, William Pope, George Meriwether, Andrew Hynes, James Sullivan, gentlemen,’ were appointed trustees to lay off the town on a tract of one thousand acres of land, which had been granted to John Connelly by the British government, and which he had forfeited by adhering to the English monarch. Each purchaser was to build on his own lot ‘a dwelling house sixteen feet by twenty at least, with a brick or stone chimney, to be finished within two years from the day of sale.’ On account of the interruptions caused by the inroads of the Indians, the time was afterward extended. The state of the settlers was one of constant danger and anxiety. Their foes were continually prowling around, and it was risking their lives to leave the fort.

The settlement at the falls was more exposed than those in the interior, on account of the facility with which the Indians could cross and recross the river, and the difficulties in the way of pursuing them. The savages frequently crossed the river, and after killing some of the settlers, and committing depredations upon property, recrossed and escaped. In. 1780, Colonel George Slaughter arrived at the Falls with one hundred and fifty state troops. The inhabitants were inspired with a feeling of security which led them frequently to expose themselves with too little caution. Their foes were ever on the watch, and were continually destroying valuable lives. Danger and death crouched in every path, and lurked behind every tree.

Medical and Law Colleges, Louisville.

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the graveyards of Louisville, the first three being in the old yard in the city, the remainder in the Cave Hill Cemetery:

Erected by Dr. J. M. Talbot to the memory of his Father, Capt. Isham Talbot, who departed this life July 30, 1839, in his 81st year. He was born in Virginia. At a tender age 0147 913 he entered the Army of the Revolution, was in the memorable battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth. Visited Ky. in ′79, and after his permanent location in ′82, was in the disastrous engagement with the Indians at the Lower Blue Licks. He sustained through life the character of a high minded, honorable gentleman. His Honesty and Integrity were never questioned, and far better than all, he died with a bright hope of enjoying eternal Life beyond the grave.

Rev. Isaac Mccoy, born June 13th, 1784, died June 21st, 1836. For near 30 years, his entire time and energies were devoted to the civil and religious improvement of the Aboriginal tribes of this country. He projected and founded the plan of their Colonization, their only hope, the imperishable monument of his wisdom and benevolence.

The Indian's Friend, for them he loved through life, For them in death he breathed his final prayer. Now from his toil he rests—the care—the strife— And waits in heaven, his works to follow there.

To the memory of Major John Harrison, who was born in Westmoreland Co., Virginia, A.D. 1754. After having fought for the Liberty of his Country during the struggles of the American Revolution, he settled in Louisville in 1786, and paid nature's final debt, July 15th, 1821.

Pearson Follansbee, City Missionary in Louisville, born March 4, 1808, in Vassalboro, Me., died Sept. 6th, 1846. “He went about doing good. His record is on high.”

00

Sacred to the memory of John Mckinley, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U. S. Born May 1, 1780; died July 19, 1852. “In his manner he was simple and unaffected, and his character was uniformly marked with manliness, integrity and honor. He was a candid, impartial and righteous judge, shrinking from no responsibility. He was fearless in the performance of his duty, seeking only to do right, and fearing nothing but to do wrong.”— Hon. J. J. Crittenden's remarks in U. S. Court.

Wm. H. G. Butler, born in Jefferson Co., Ind., Oct. 3, 1825, died at Louisville, Ky., Nov. 2, 1853. A man without fear and without reproach, of gentle and retiring disposition, of clear and vigorous mind; an accomplished scholar, a devoted and successful teacher, a meek and humble Christian. He fell by the hand of violence in the presence of his loving pupils, a Martyr to his fidelity in the discharge of duty. This monument is erected by his pupils, and a bereaved community, to show their appreciation of his worth, and to perpetuate their horror at his murder.

Jane Mccullough, wife of John Martin, died by the falling of the Walnut Presbyterian Church, Aug. 27, 1854. Aged 59 years.

She loved the Courts of God below, There found her Saviour nigh, And while engaged in worship there, Was called to those on high.

Annexed is a view of the magnificent bridge over Green River on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Excepting the Victoria Bridge, at Montreal, it is the largest iron bridge on this continent. The iron work of the superstructure, which was built by Inman & Gault, of Louisville, was begun in July, 1858, and by July, 1859, the bridge was in its place ready for the passage of trains.

“It crosses the valley of Green River near the town of Mumfordsville, Kentucky, about 70 miles from Louisville, and twenty miles above the celebrated Mammoth Cave, which is located on the same stream. Its total length is 1,000 feet, consisting of three spans of 208 feet, and two of 288 feet each; is 118 feet above low-water; contains 638,000 pounds of cast, and 381,000 pounds of wrought iron, and 2,500 cubic feet of timber in the form of rail joists. There are 10,226 cubic yards of masonry in the piers and abutments. The cost of the superstructure, including that of erection, was sixty-eight dollars per foot lineal—that of the entire work, $165,000. The plan of truss is that invented by Albert Fink, the designer and constructor of the bridges and viaducts on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; and is peculiar in this, that it is self-compensating and self-adjusting, and no extremes of temperature can put it in such a condition that all the parts can not act in their accustomed manner and up to their full capacity.”

0148 914

The celebrated