Monday, December 26, 2022

 Date: June 23, 1907

Paper: Dallas Morning News
Peculiar Peoples In America By Frederic J. Haskins Sheltered by some pocket in the hills living in seclusion in some quiet valley or guarded by impenetrable grasses in some far everglade, there are here and there throughout the United States groups of people that are peculiar and distinctive from the rest of the inhabitants. Segregating in close communities they have preserved for centuries, traits and characteristics of some remote and often unknown ancestry, and 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁.
....On Newman's ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee, overlooking the beautiful Clinch River Valley, lives one of the most mysterious people in America. Through their Anglo-Saxon neighbors or through writers of romance the name "Malungeon" has been given them, a name that the better element resents. 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀, and yet have a strong, Caucasian cast of countenance that makes their claim to Portuguese descent seem probable. They came, so a 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀, 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀.
In the 'Tractado das Ilhas Novas" 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼 𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟱𝟳𝟬, and published in San Miguel, Azores, only about forty years ago, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗱. This colony was known as Terra Nova, and from 1500 to 1579 the records at Lisbon show that commisions were regularly issued to Gaspar and Miguel Corte Real as Governors of the settlement. One hundred years before Columbus came to these shores it is claimed that the Basques, then great seafarers, but now a mountain people of Spain, came to these shores and lent much of their language to Indian dialects. From the Corte Real settlements and from these Basques speculating historians have tried to draw an ancestry for the "Malungeons." Whatever the origin may be as a people they were practically outcasts for many years.
Christina Collinsworth Brashear, Dwight Collins and 9 others
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Christian Priber II

 More on Priber

NOTES ON CHRISTIAN G. PRIBER


Christian Gottlieb Priber studied law at the University of Erfurt where he published his inaugural dissertation in October 1722 on Usu doctrinae juris Romani de ignorantiae juris in foro Germaniae (The Use of the Study of Roman Law and the Ignorance of that Law in the Public Life of Germany)

13 June 1735  he submits a Petition in London to be allowed to leave the country on the next ship to Georgia. Present at the Palace Court was the Earl of Egmont and Mr. Oglethorpe and others.  "Read a Letter from Christian Gottlieb Priber desiring to be sent in the next Embarkation to Georgia with a  Letter of Recommendation from Jr. John Eddleston to the Trustee. RESOLVED; that the said Christian Gottlieb Priber  be sent in the first Embarkation to Georgia.



December 1735  South Carolina Gazette:
"To be Sold by Mr. Priber near Mr. Laurans the Sadler, ready made mens cloaths, wiggs, spatterdashes of fine holland, shoes, boots guns, pistols, powder, a silver repeating watch, a sword with a silver gilt hilt, english seeds, beds & a fine chest of drawers very reasonable for ready Money, he intending to stay but a few weeks in this Town."

1 Jan 1736/7 P: 25 Feb 1736/7 *CHARLES RUSSELL, Berkeley County, Esq. Wife: Mary, executrix. Wife's children: Rachell Heatley, William Heatley, Charles Russell, Sophianis Russell, John Russell, Euginia Russell, and Joseph Russell. Wit: Christian Gottlieb Priber, Henry Spacks, John Pearson.  (In 1725 Capt. George Chicken, Commissioner of the Indian Trade, on an expedition to the Indian country, speaks of stopping at Capt. Charles Russell's, and again in 1730 Sir Alexander Cuming, ambassador to the Cherokees, accompanied by Col. Chicken and George Hunter the surveyor, stopped at Russell's on the Cherokee path near Amelia.  This shows that almost immediately upon arrival Priber began association with the Cherokee traders)


February 27, 1736 the S.C. Council Journal reports Priber's petition for a land grant in Amelia township, stating that he had  "a family of six persons in the province and also a wife, four children and one servant in Saxony." The Council granted him land, but Priber went directly into Cherokee country, [In the thirty-second year of the rule of the emperor Maximilian I, Martin Luther began teaching and writing at Wittenberg in Saxony]

*Charles Russel was the Captain of the Congaree Fort.  He had came from Henrico County, Va., associate of Allison Clarke whose mother was said to be Mary Gibson.  Allison Clarke sue Gilbert Gibson in Henrico, possibly Gilbert, son of Gibby, or more likely Gilbert, son of John Gibson, both found at the Congaree Fort.  




1741/1742 Winter-- Antoine Bonnefoy- "At the time when we arrived in the village there were three English traders there, who each had a store-house in the village where I was, and two servants of theirs.

There was also a German, who said in French that he was very sorry for the misfortune which had come upon us, but that it would perhaps prove to be our happiness, which he proposed to show us in the sequel"

" I had occasion to ask the German, who was called Pierre Albert, who had accosted us on the day of our arrival, and who was lodging in the cabin of my adopted brother, what he wished me to understand. I prayed him to explain to me what was this alleged happiness he promised us. Guillaume Potier and Jean Arlut were present.

He replied that it would take time to explain to us what he had to say to us, addressing himself to all three; that he thought we ought to join his society; that he would admit us to an establishment, in France, of a republic, for which he had been working for twenty years; that the form of the government should be that of a general society of those composing it, in which, beyond the fact that legality should be perfectly observed, as well as liberty, each would find what he needed, whether for subsistence, or the other needs of life; that each should contribute to the good of the society, as he could. I told him, as did my comrades, that we were disposed to join him as soon as he should have shown us some security respecting his establishment

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day we got together again and I began to ask him where he had learned French, which he spoke quiet fluently. He told me that, being of good family, he had been instructed in all that a man ought to know; that after having completed his studies, he had learned English and French; that he spoke these two languages with a little difficulty as far as pronunciation was concerned, but that he wrote German, Latin, English and French with equal correctness; that for twenty years he had been working to put into execution the plan about which he had talked to us; that seven or eight years before he had been obliged to flee from his country, where they wished to arrest him for having desired to put his project into execution; that he had gone over to England, and from there to Carolina, and had also been obliged to depart thence for the same reason, 18 months after having arrived there; that having found among the Cherakis a sure refuge he had been working there for four years upon the establishment which he had been planning for twenty; that the Governor of Carolina having discovered the place of his refuge had sent a commissioner to demand him of the savages there, but that then he was adopted into the nation, and that the savages, rejecting the presents of the English, had refused to give him up; that he had 100 English traders belonging to his society who had just set out for Carolina, whence they were to return the next autumn, after having got together a considerable number of recruits, men and women, of all conditions and occupations, and the things necessary for laying the first foundations of his republic, under the name of the Kingdom of Paradise; that then he would buy us from the savages, of whom a large number were already instructed in the form of his republic and determined to join it; that the nation in general urged him to establish himself upon their lands, but that he was determined to locate himself half way between them and the Alibamons, where the lands appeared to him of better quality than those of the Cherakis.

My comrades and I planned our flight, and agreed together to feign enthusiasm for the execution of the project of Pierre Albert, who had the confidence of the savages, and they left us at liberty with him. I noticed even, on different occasions, that he urged them to live peaceably and to ask peace from the French. The savage with whom I lived, who was one of the principal men of the nation and the other chiefs, sometimes asked me in what manner they could appease the French and bring them to their place to trade. I told them that it would be necessary for them to send a calumet of peace to the nearest post; that I supposed that would be the post of the Alibamons. They told me that they had already been there, but that they feared the savages of those regions, with whom they were not on good terms; that they did not wish to have any new war. . . .


While Pierre Albert and I were working toward peace the three English traders were daily instigating the savages to continue to make war upon us. They were themselves working to enlist parties; which I saw them doing some days before my flight. After having their drum beaten by one of their negroes who was a drummer, and enlisted 70 men, they distributed among them, from their storehouses, the munitions necessary for going to the Outamons, as well as against the voyageurs of Canada. Of the 52 villages which compose the nation of the Cherakis, only the eight which are along the river are our enemies. The other villages remain neutral, whither because of their remoteness or their spirit of peace. Carolina is 15 days' journey by land from the village where I was, Virginia 20, and the Alibamonts 10 to the south. . . .


The 29th of April a day on which the savages had given themselves up to a debauch, was that which we chose for our escape. We had got together a sufficient amount of ammunition. We went out from the village at nine o'clock in the evening. Jean Arlas had his gun. Coussot was not armed, not having been able to take his from the cabin where he was. Guillaume Potier, who was in our plot, having got drunk with the savages, was not in condition to go with us and we could not wait longer for him without risk of being discovered. We marched until daylight, going to find two pirogues that were in a little river six leagues from the village. In one of these we embarked ."



30 May 1743 South Carolina Gazette of excerpts appearing in Charlestown (today Charleston) probably publishes one in the order Oglethorpes of written letter "from Frederica in Georgia", when its receiver its business associate, is to be assumed South Carolina acting governor William bulletin: "the Creek Indians brought finally Mr. Priber here as prisoners. It is a very unusual nature; he is a small ugly man, but he speaks nearly all languages flowing, particularly English, Dutch, French, Latin and indianisch; he speaks very blasphemisch against all religions, but particularly against the Protestant; it was in the process justifying a city at the foot of the mountains under the Cherokee where all criminals, debtor and slaves before the justice or here Mr. Zuflucht should find.

One found a book ready to be printed written by him, which belongs to him with him and whose he praises himself and believes from which he that it was privately printed meanwhile, but it does not want to say where; it shows, how the refugees are to deny their living costs and specifies, after which principles the city is to be governed, to which it gives the name paradies. It enumerates many peculiar privileges and natural rights (like it it calls), on which its citizens have requirement, particularly the dissolution of marriages and the common possession of women and all kinds of dissipations; the book is put on very tidy and full taught of quotations; it is extremely bad, but has it some flights of fancy full invention wealth, and it is a misery that so much spirit is turned to a so bad project."



May 30, 1743 the S.C. Gazette reported that Captain Kent, British commander at Fort Augusta, had perceived "a remarkable intractability in the Creek Indians in matters of trade," and learning that Priber was about to take a journey, he employed Creeks and frontiersmen to waylay him at Tallipoose village.



August 15, 1743 South Carolina Gazette, The Creek Indians have at last brought Mr. Priber prisoner here; he is a little ugly man, but speaks all languages fluently . . . he talks very prophanely against all religions, but chiefly the Protestant; he was for setting up a town at the foot of the mountains among the Cherokees, which was to be a city of refuge for all criminals, debtors, and slaves. . . . There was a book found upon him in his own writing ready for the press, which he owns and glories in and believes it is by this time printed but will not tell where, in which . . . he lays down the rules of government which the town is to be governed by, to which he gives the title of Paradise. He enumrates many whimsical privileges and natural rights . . . particulary dissolving marriages and allowing community of women and all kinds of licenciousness; the book is drawn up very methodically, and full of learned quotations; it is extremely wicked, yet has several flights full of invention, and it is a pity so much wit is applied to so bad a purpose.


1743--In a treaty signed at Charleston  the Cherokee agreed to trade only with the British, return runaway slaves and expel Non-English whites from their territory, and the Cherokee received substantial amounts of guns, ammunition, and red paint.

James Adair-" the governor committed him to a place of confinement, though not with common felons, as he was a foreigner, and was said to have held a place of considerable rank in the army with great honor.


1743-1751
Priber enjoyed some considerable freedoms in his prison. He entertained the intelligentsia of Frederica, among them the physician Frederick Holtzendorff  from Brandenburg, and the Lutheran pastor Johann Ulrich Drießler, whom he assisted in translating the Lord's Prayer and some bible verses into the Cherokee language. His cell in the barracks served for some time as a literary salon.


May 1st, 1751
Anthony Dean -
Great Tellico,
I believe a great deal of the Mischief done here, some white Men are often at the Bottom of, and it is no Wonder, when every Horse Stealer can screen himself here from Justice, and infuses bad Notions in the Heads of the Indians, against the Traders and Others, which could not be if the Trade was regulated, and proper Officers kept here to see Justice done


Emmett Starr
History of the Cherokee
page 24
The Cherokees detailed to the missionaries parallels to practically every one of the stories of the Bible. They called Abraham, Aquahami; Moses was called Wasi. These accounts were so circumstantial that many investigators were led to believe that the Cherokees were of Semitic origin. But it is palpable that they had been told these stories by Priber during his short stay among them and that they had forgotten their origin within seventy years and attributed it to legends that had descended from the mythical Kutani and their primal religion. On account of the fact that the Cherokees thought that the missionaries were bringing back to them their old religion, it was a comparatively easy task to convert them from a tribe of savages to a Christian nation with in the comparatively short period of theirty years. When they were converted, they, at the behest of the missionaries cast aside every vestige of their ancient customs to such an extent that not any of their mythology has ever been preserved, even among those of the tribe that speak the Cherokee language.


MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE, James Mooney p. 36-7

"In 1736 Christian Priber, said to be a Jesuit acting in the French interest, had come among the Cherokee, and, by the facility with which he learned the language and adapted himself to the native dress and mode of life, had quickly acquired a leading influence among them. He drew up for their adoption a scheme of government modeled after the European plan, with the capital at Great Tellico, in Tennessee, the principal medicine man as emperor, and himself as the emperor's secretary.  Under this title he corresponded with the South Carolina government until it began to be feared that he would ultimately win over the whole tribe to the French side.  A commissioner was sent to arrest him, but the Cherokee refused to give him up, and the deputy was obliged to return under safe-conduct of an escort furnished by Priber. 

Five years after the inauguration of his work, however he was seized by some English traders while on his way to Fort Toulouse and brought as a prisoner to Frederica, in Georgia, where he soon afterward died while under confinement.  Although his enemies had represented him as a monster, inciting the Indians to the grossest immoralities,  he proved to be a gentleman of polished address, extensive learning. and rare courage as was~ shown later on the occasion of an explosion in the barracks magazine.  Besides Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, and fluent English, he spoke also the Cherokee and among his papers, which were seized was found a manuscript dictionary of the language which he had prepared for publication-the first, and even yet, perhaps, the most important study of the language ever made.

 He claimed to be a Jesuit, acting under orders of his superior, to introduce habits of steady industry, civilized arts, and a regular form of government among the southern tribes, with a view to the ultimate founding of an independent Indian state.  From all that can be gathered of him, even though it comes from his enemies, there can be little doubt that he was a worthy member of that illustrious order whose name has been a synonym for scholarship, devotion, and courage from the days of Jogues and Marquette down to De Smet and Mengarini."  

 


ZANESVILLE SIGNAL
June 27, 1943
TELLICO PLAINS SCENE OF ILL STARRED
INDIAN PLOT TO WIN BACK AMERICA
By Russell Orr

Tellico Plains, the mountain village headquarters of Tennessee's big annual wild boar and bear hunt, and where the Outdoor Writers Association America are holding their summer meeting this week end is probably the scene of more glamorous and romantic history than any other spot in the Southern Highlands. It was the capital of the Cherokee Nations and was located in the center of the expansive Cherokee hunting grounds which included the great Smoky Mountains and the vast Cherokee National Forest where the hectic wild bear hunt is not held each autumn.

EMPIRE BUILDER
Probably the most spectacular chapter in the history of the Cherokees has to do with their all but forgotten attempt to establish an empire, including all the Indian people, for the purpose of driving all white men back to Europe and bringing about universal peace among red men.

The strange part of this fantastic plan is that it was conceived and almost carried out by Christian Priber, an Englishman, who made his way to Tellico Plains in 1735 and sold the tall Chief Moytoy on his bold scheme. One of Moytoy's descendants, Lloyd Matoy, is the state game warden of the area. He is one of the principal supervisors of the big autumn hunt and is one of the finest specimens of mountain men in East Tennessee.

The story of how Priber went from Charleston, S. C., to Tellico Plains and set up his empire is best told by Herbert Ravenel Sass in his book, "Hear Me, Chiefs." Sass relates: "He founded an empire, crowned an emperor, and made himself prime minister. He shook his fist at the Great Powers of Europe and told them to get out of America or he would throw them out. More than that, he began his great task of remaking the world." "In the heart of the American wilderness with red Indians as his helpers and with an Indian girl as his mate, he laid the foundations for that ideal state of which he had dreamed for 20 years , that happy republic where perfect liberty and equality would prevail and no man would be richer than his neighbor, that new and glorious commonwealth which would be a light and an example to all the nations of mankind. How Priber go to Great Tellico nobody knows. There was peace at the time between the Charleston English and the Cherokee Nations, but there were wandering war parties of other tribes to be reckoned with always, and at best, the lovely wilderness paths were beset with many perils." "More than five hundred miles of almost unbroken forest had to be traversed and the lofty mountain barrier of the Unakas and Smokies had to be climbed or circumvented.


LONE TRADER
"Possibly Priber went alone an down through by good luck; more likely, he attached himself during most of the journey to the pack-horse train of some trader bound for the Indian lands. All that is certain is that he reached Great Tellico, with his box of books, his bottle of ink, his smile and his dreams. And after a while strange things began to happen. The queer little man with a quick smile and bright , observant eyes and appeared defenseless and alone, among the warlike Cherokees beyond the Unaka mountains. How Priber had done it nobody knew, but somehow he had gained the favor of Moytoy of Tellico, most powerful of the chiefs. He had become as much of an Indian as the red men themselves. He had stripped of his European clothes and assumed the dress of an Indian' he had been adopted into the tribe as a great beloved man: and had married a warrior's daughter. Learning the Cherokees; language with marvelous ease, he had become their counselor and teacher.

TAUGHT INDIANS
Among other things he had taught them the proper use of weights and measure and especially, of steelyard to the great inconvenience of the English traders, many of whom were exceedingly canny business men. Worst of all, he was preaching among the Indians the most pernicious doctrine that could possibly be imagined-namely that they must cede no more of their lands to the white man but must hold on jealously to every foot of the soil that was rightfully theirs. Soon ran the stories brought down from te inner wilderness by the hunters and traders.

Then one day the English governor in Charleston received a letter which probably surprised him as much as any letter he had ever received in his life. It was an official communication dispatched from Great Tellico, capital of the Cherokee Nation and , in effect, it informed His Excellency the Governor, politely but firmly, that the sooner he and his English got out of American the better, because America belonged to the Indians and the Indians intended to keep it. the letter was signed "Christian Priber, Prime Minister."

"He had by them--through his good works among them and through his marriage to the Indians girl whose heart he had won---established himself firmly in the confidence of the Cherokees. "In deference in the redmen's taste for stately ceremonial he had devised an impressive new ritual for the crowning of the emperor and a variety of imposing titles for the other chiefs who constituted the nobles of the court, reserving for himself the title of secretary of state, or prime minister. "He planned to set up in America 200 years ago a civilization strikingly like that proposed for Soviet Russia--minus the bloodshed and terror. It would have been a Utopia if his government had been allowed to survive on this continent, but it would have spelled the end to the colonization dreams of England and the English have never allowed any one to stand in their way when bent on opening up a new country.

The English tried many tricks on Priber to get him out of the way and to put a stop to his empire building. It took them six years to lure him far enough away from his headquarters so that they could ambush him and kill him. That was the end of the republic of paradise.


Christian Priber by Americus

 







TO THE PUBLISHERS OF THE
BOSTON EVENING-POST
 
September 26, 1763    
 
I do not know what Degree of credit the following Account may deserve, or how the extraordinary Facts contained therein are authenticated; but the narrative, though in Appearance somewhat romantic, is extremely curious; and as the Character described is such an uncommon mixture of Philosophy and Enthusism, that I think it well worthy a Place in your Paper.
 
Whilst the brave and worthy General Oglethorp commanded in Georgia, and by his extensive influence over the Indian nations around that colony kept them in friendship and subjection to this crown; and in March, 1743, while he, with a detachment of his indefatigable regiment, and a large body of Indians, was making an incursion to the very gates of St. Augustine, one Preber, a German Jesuit, as he afterwards appeared to be, was sent prisoner to Frederica, by Capt. Kent, who commanded at Fort Augusta, on the main. Capt. Kent, had, for some time before, perceived a remarkable intractability in the Creek Indians, in matters of trade, and a sulkiness in that generous nation that betokened no good to the English;  After a wise and secret enquiry, and from proper intelligence, he had great reason to imagine some ill humours were stirred up in these people, by a white man, who had resided some time in the upper towns, after having been many years among the Cherokee, who always shewed him the utmost deference.  Upon these advices he got him privately seized and conveyed (without noise or bustle) to Frederica, as aforesaid, little imagining the importance of his capture; though the Indians, missing him, made it very apparent by their clamours, that they were not a little interested in his safety.  The General, at his return, was surprised, upon examination, to find in this person, who appeared in his dress a perfect Indian, a man of politeness and gentility, who spoke Latin, French, Spanish, and German fluently, and English brokenly.  What passed at his several examinations, it is not in my power to determine; but the consequence was, that he was detained a prisoner, so remained when I left the colony, in the beginning of the year 1744, which was after his excellency returned to England.
 
Preber, as to his person, was a short dapper man, with a pleasing, open countenance, and a most penetrating look.  His dress was a deerskin jacket, a flap before and behind his privities, and morgissons, or deer-skin pumps, or sandals, which were laced, in the Indian manner, on his feet and ancles.  the place of his confinement was the barracks, where he had a room, and a centry at his door, day and night.  the philosophical cafe, with which he bore his confinement, the communicative disposition he seemed possessed of, and his politeness, which dress or imprisonment could not disguise, attracted the notice of every gentleman at Frederica, and gained him the favour of many visits and conversations.
 
His economy was admirable; from his allowance of (? -) and bread, he always spared till he had by him a quantity on which he could regale, even with gluttony, when he allowed himself that liberty.  "It is folly," he would say, "to repine at one's lot in life; - my mind soars above misfortune;  -- in this cell I can enjoy more real happiness, than it is possible to do in the busy scenes of life.  Reflections upon past events, digesting  former studies, keep me fully employed, while health and abundant spirits allow me no anxious, no uneasy moments;  __ I suffer -- though a friend to the natural rights of mankind, -- though an enemy to tyranny, usurpation and oppression;  --and what is more, --I can forgive and pray for those that injure me; -- I am a christian, -- and christian principles always promote internal felicity."
 
Sentiments like these, often expressed, attracted my particular notice, and I endeavoured to cultivate a confidence he seemed to repose in me, more especially, by every kind office in my power.  Indeed, had nothing else been my reward, the pleasing entertainment his conversation imparted, would have been a sufficient recompence.  He had read much was conversant in most arts and sciences; but in all greatly wedded to system and hypothesis.
 
After some months intercourse, I had, from his own mouth, a confession of his designs in America, which were neither more no less, than to bring about a confederation amongst all the southern Indians, to inspire them with industry, to instruct them in the arts necessary to the commodity of life, and i short to engage them to throw off the yoke of their European allies, of all nations.  For this purpose he had, for many years, accommodated himself to their opinions, prejudices and practices, had been their leader in wars, and their priest and legislator in peace, interlarding (like his brethren in China) some of the most alluring Romish rites with their own superstitions, and inculcating such maxims of policy as were not utterly repugnant to their own, and yet were admirably calculated to subserve the views he had upon them.  Hence they began, already, to be more acute in their dealings with the English and French, and to look down upon those nations as interlopers, and invaders of their just rights.  The Spaniards, I found, he looked upon with a more favourable eye; "They, says he, are good christians, that is (with a smiling sneer) such subjects as may be worked upon to do any thing for the sake of converting their neighbours; -- with them my people would incorporate and become one nation;  -- a bull, a dispensation, or a brief, will bring them to anything."  When I hinted, though at a distance, the bloodshed his scheme would produce, the difficulties he had to encounter, and the many years it would require to establish his government over the Indians, he answered in this remarkable manner;  "Proceeding properly, many of these evils may be avoided, and as to length of time, -- we have a succession of agents to take up the work as fast as others leave it.  We never lose sight of a favourite point, nor are we bound by the strict rules of morality, in the mans, when the end we pursue is laudable, if we err, our general is to blame, and we have a merciful god to pardon us.  But, believe me, before this century is past, the Europeans will have a very small footing in this continent."  Thus, the father, or nearly in these words, expressed himself, and often hinted that there were many more of his brethren, that were yet labouring amongst the Indians for the same purpose.  The adventures of this remarkable man, which he imparted to me, are so extraordinary, that I shall, the first opportunity, consign them to your hands for publication, if you will accept of them; and, at present, shall conclude this letter with one striking instance of his presence of mind and fortitude.
 
On the 22nd of March, 1744, the large magazine of bombs, and small magazine of powder, at Frederica, by some accident were set on fire and blew up with a dreadful explosion.  In a moment the town wore all appearance of a bombardment, the inhabitants left their houses, and fled with the utmost consternation into the adjacent woods and savannahs, whilst the splinters of the bursting shells flew in the air to an amazing distance, considering they were not projected from the usual instruments of destruction.  The worthy and humane Capt. Mackay, who then commanded in the garrison, immediately opened the doors of the prisons to all the captive Spaniards and Indians, and bid them shift for themselves.   A message was sent to Preber to the same purpose, which he politely refused to comply with, an din the hurry he was forgotten.  the bombs were well bedded as it providentially happened, and at intervals, were some hours discharging themselves.  When the explosion began to languish some of us thought of the jesuit, and went to his apartment, which by the bye, was not twenty paces from the bomb-house; after calling some time, he put forth his head from under his feather bed with which he had prudently covered himself, and cried, "Gentlemen, I suppose all's over; -- for my part, I reasoned thus; the bombs will rise perpendicularly, and, if the force fails, fall again in the same direction, but the splinters will fly off horizontally;  therefore, with this truly convering, I had better stand the storm here, than hazard a knock in the pate by flying further."  This was said with the same ease that he would have expressed himself at a banquet, and he continued the conversation, with his usual vein of pleasantry, to the end of an explosion, that was enough to strike terror to the firmest breast. 
 
I am, Sir, your constant reader and humble servant
Americus

Friday, December 16, 2022

Drowning Creek Settlers

 CHIPPOAKES CREEK TO BLADEN COUNTY


1754 Governor Dobbs requested reports from the militia commanders of North Carolina’s counties. The Bladen militia submitted the following: “Col. Rutherford’s Regimt. of Foot in Bladen County 441, a Troop of horse 36... Drowning Creek on the Head of Little Peedee, 50 families, a mixt Crew, a lawless People, filleth the Lands without patent or paying quit rents. Shot a surveyor for coming to view vacant lands being inclosed in great swamps. Quakers to attend musters or pay as in the Northern Counties. Fines not high enough to oblige the militia to attend musters. No arms stores or Indians in the county.” [Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. V, p161 


A number of ethnologists, archeologists, historians, etc., have identified these 50 mixt families living on Drowning Creek as the ancestors of the Lumbee Indians. So who was living in Bladen County in 1754? The records show that these families who would later be called Lumbee, Melungeons, etc., were, in fact, living on Drowning Creek - Pee Dee River area in 1754. 


27 August 1753, John Johnson Jr. entered 100 acres in Bladen County, North Carolina on the north side of Pugh's marsh whereon John Oxendine was then living. (Bladen County Land Entries #805). In 1759 , he and two of his sons, John and Benjamin, lived in the Drowning Creek area of Bladen County, North Carolina which is the upper part of the Lumbee River area. The Oxendine, Ivey and Linegar are found on Newman's Ridge. 


Moses Bass was living near "the drains of Drowning Creek" on 1 February 1754 when Robert Carver entered 100 acres there [Philbeck, Bladen County Land Entries, nos. 677, 934] 


Thomas Ivey 300 acres on Drowning Creek where James Roberts formerly lived on 26 September 1755 [Philbeck, Bladen County Land Entries, nos. 974, 1048].


Robert Sweat was granted 100 acres on Wilkerson Swamp near the Little Pee Dee River on 23 Dec 1754. This land adjoined the land of Joshua Perkins and was sold toPhillip Chavis. 


Gilbert Sweat Case…21 Aug. 1829…St. Landry’s Parish LA… Testimony of Joshua Perkins Gilbert Sweat was born about 1756 in what was then Marion Co. SC on the Pee Dee River. About the year 1777, Perkins helped Sweat run away with Frances Smith, the wife of J.B. Taylor. Sweat moved from SC to Tenn, to NC to Big Black River, Miss. And arrived in LA in 1804. 


31 Mar 1753 Grant: To Daniel Willis, 300 acres in Bladen County on Saddletree Swamp adjacent Thomas Ivey [Colony of NC 1735-1764 Abstracts of Land Patents, Margaret M. Hofman, Vol. 1, p10, grant #111]


17 November 1753 Bladen County land which had been surveyed for Gideon Gibsonin North Carolina on the north side of the Little Pee Dee River was mentioned in a Bladen County land entry [Philbeck, Land Entries: Bladen County, no. 904]. 


20 Feb 1754 Land Entry: Thomas Ivey enters 150 acres including his own improvements, on the 5 Mile Branch in Bladen County. [North Carolina Land Entries 1753-1756, A. B. Pruitt, Vol. 2, p127] (From BOB'S FILING CABINET) 


Fayetteville, North Carolina --- Dec. 2, 1845 -- Extreme Old Age -- A writer in the Highland Messenger says he had just visited Spencer Bolton, a resident of Buncombe county, who is now almost one hundred and ten years of age! He was born (1735) on Big Pee Dee River, in South Carolina, and is still sound in mind and body. He was in several skirmishes under Marion in the Rebolutionary war. Has been for 65 years a member of the Methodist Church. Health generally good. In early life, principal diet bread, rice, potatoes, and milk; slept on straw beds; generally up before day-light; and much accustomed to bathe in cold water. To the influence of these habits he ascribes his long life. Spencer Bolton is father of Solomon Bolton who was identified as a Portuguese/Melungeon in 1874 court case.  Click Here


These are the families first found on Chippoakes Creek, as they spread out into the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee etc.


Saturday, December 10, 2022

The Portuguese - Part I

 THE PORTUGUESE CONNECTION



IVEY
Depositions in an 1812 court case strongly suggest that, having disposed of his patent sometime before 1769, Thomas Ivey moved south into what became Marion District, South Carolina and died there some years later. Thomas Hagans, born about 1765 and identified as a grandson of Thomas Ivey and his wife Elizabeth, refused to pay his assessed tax as a free non-white in Marion District, South Carolina in 1809. At his trial in 1812, two white men testified on his behalf. The testimony of John Regan, a longtime neighbor of Thomas Ivey Jr., suggests that Thomas Ivey Sr. left Bladen County sometime in the late 1760s and removed to South Carolina. The testimony of Robert Coleman, a longtime resident of Marion District, suggests that Thomas and Elizabeth Ivey lived in Marion District for several years before their deaths.  Both men testified that Thomas Ivey was “understood” and “generally reputed” to be of Portuguese descent and that his wife Elizabeth was a free white woman.

Note;  Adam IVEY lived south of the James River in the neck of land bounded by Upper Chippoakes Creek and Wards Creek. This neck included what was later the parish of Martins Brandon, in which Adam Ivey apparently lived at his death, in what would later become Prince George County. It was quite close to Surry County, Upper Chippoakes Creek being the later boundary between Prince George and Surry




Abraham Lincoln defends a Portuguese

In August 1851, William Dungey, a dark-skinned young man of Portuguese
descent, married Joseph Spencer's sister. A family quarrel ensued, which
became so bitter that in January 1855, Spencer claimed throughout the
community that his brother-in-law, "Black Bill," was a Negro........

William Dungey faced losing not only his reputation, but his marriage,
property, and right to remain in Illinois. Section 10 of the 1853 law stated
that, "Every person who shall have one-fourth negro blood shall be deemed a
mulatto." William Dungey retained Abraham Lincoln to quash the possibility
that he might be judged a "negro" and therefore suffer the severe penalties
under the 1853 act.......

On October 18, 1855, the jury returned a verdict of guilty and granted Dungey
$600 in damages plus court costs of $137.50. Lincoln charged a $25 fee, which
Lawrence Weldon considered minimal
.



 FERNANDO APPEALS HIS SUIT TO THE GENERAL COURT
 1667Lower Norfolk County
Order Book, 1666-1675, fol. 17.

Whereas Fernando a Negro sued Capt. [John] Warner for his freedome pretending hee was a Christian and had been severall yeares in England and therefore ought to serve noe longer than any other servant that came out of England
accordinge to the custom of the Country and alsoe Presented severall papers in *Portugell * or some other language which the Court could not understand which he alledged were papers From severall Governors where hee had lived a  freeman and where hee was home. Wherefore the Court could find noe Cause wherefore he should be free but Judge him a slave for his life time, From which Judgement thesaid Negro hath appealled to the fifth day of the next Generall Court. [It is not possible to follow this case further owing to the destruc-tion of the General Court records for this period.]


North Carolina State Archives
General Assembly Session Records
April-May, 1760 Box #2
Committee of Claims

Cornelius Harnett Esqur was allowed his claim of one pound nine shillings
eight pence for holding an inquest on the body of one Menasses, a Portugese.




Illegal Voting Trials 1846

Thomas A. R. Nelson for the State
John Netherland for the Melungeons

"Mr. Nelson asked Mr. Netherland what race of people he called his clients. Mr. Netherland answered Portuguese"

See Illegal Voting Trials Click Here




NEWMAN'S RIDGE
  Littell's Living Age
March 1849
THE MELUNGENS

The legend of their history, which they carefully preserve, is this. A great many years ago, these mountains were settled by a society of Portuguese Adventurersmen and women--who came from the long-shore parts of Virginia, that they might be freed from the restraints and drawbacks imposed on them by any form of government.
-------------------------------------
Lucas DeAyllon Expedition to Winyah Bay 1527

"The expedition, financed by Ayllón, sailed with three ships: La Bretona, the flagship; and two smaller vessels, Santa Catalina and Chorruca; as well as a smaller boat to be used in exploring inland waters. With more than five hundred men, women, and children, black enslaved people,...... The Indians of the area, aware that the newcomers had suffered a setback to the north, attacked almost immediately. And as so often happened to Spain in America, dissension arose among Ayllón's followers. Ayllón and many others became seriously ill of a fever. He died on St. Luke's day. One contemporaneous report says that his body was thrown into the sea. The rest of the party, now numbering fewer than 150, returned with the one remaining ship to Santo Domingo."


HISTORY OF THE PIONEERS AND INDIANS OF CROW CREEK


Before the Indians were taken to Indian Territory there was a large number of whites and Indians that fled to the mountain between Little Crow Creek and Little Coon. They built Shavis Town, cleared up about 100 or more acres and cultivated it, putting out an orchard. They raised winesap apples, peaches, corn and dug ginseng besides hunting for a living.

The older men were very religious. They were mixed with Portuguese. Willis Shavis named his four sons after the Apostles, Andrew, John, Peter and Nathaniel. The had two Preachers, John Pressley and Brother Forsythe, an Indian. They would preach and convert the young men and girls and bring them down to Little Crow Creek to Baptize them. They believed rightly they were to be buried in baptism in water. They knew the Bible. I don't know where


1832 - Madison Co. TN

Free man of color, Richard Matthews, seeks permission to marry a white woman. Matthews says he is "of the Portuguese Blood.


"The Roark's are Portugese. They came from the Black Water country, Tennessee, so did the Sizemores and Collets also"
Dickey Diary ~1898



LETTER FROM REV. J. G. JONES TO McKINLEY
GIBSON, ESQ.


Port Gibson, Miss., May 17, 1878


Dear sir:

                    
       There were three branches of the Gibson connexion which settled in Mississippi at an early day: The parents of Rev. Randall Gibson near Natchez about where the old town of Washington now stands; the family of Samuel Gibson - the founder of the Town of Port Gibson, in this vicinity; and that of Rev. Tobias Gibson in what is now Warren county in the vicinity of Warrenrtown. So far as I know these families all came from the valley of the Great Pee Dee river in South Carolina. Some time in the sixteenth century three ship loads of Portuguese Hugenots voluntarily exiled themselves from Portugal rather than renounce their Protestant faith, and settled in South Carolinathen the Colony of Carolina, in the very region of county where our Gibsons are llrst found, and, from their elevated intellectuality, morality, religion and enterprise, I have long believed that they were the descendants of those refugee Huguenots, though I do not remember ever to have heard but one of the connexion refer to this as a tradition of the family. I wish we now had the means of demonstrating this theory.


Excerpt From William Labach  - Read here
Reverend John G. Jones was Author of  A Complete Hisotry of Methodism - 1887


SHIPWRECKED PORTUGUESE

Title: Letters to the Secretary of State and others from the Governors, Alexander Spotswood, William Gooch, Robert Dinwiddle and Francis Fauquier, and Presidents Thomas Lee and Lewis Burwell, with enclosures and replies. Depository: Public Record Office / Class: C.O. 5/1344 SR Number: SR 00233 Reel Number: 48 Dates: 1726 - 1783 References: Lists & Indexes, Vol. XXXVI, 29. Andrews Guide 183, List 493. ff. 86-87 Lords of Trade to the Duke of Bedford,
10 Jan 1750/51. Spanish and Portuguese ships driven into ports of Virginia by bad weather. Encloses the four (only adding two) documents listed below: ff. 90-91 Enclosed in the above. Extract of a letter from Thomas Lee to the Board of Trade, 6 Nov. 1750. The Spanish and Portuguese ships driven into Virginia ports have proven irrepairable. The masters have been given permission to hire other ships to carry their cargoes to Europe. 



PORTUGUESE INDIANS

The Expedition of Batts and Fallam:
A Journey from Virginia to beyond the Appalachian Mountains, September, 1671.
From Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800.

September 5th 1671
''The three gentlemen bore a commission from Major-general Wood "for the finding out tile ebbing and flowing of the Waters on the other side of the Mountains in order to the discovery of the South Sea."
They struck off due west along a trail that was evidently already familiar, and having five horses made rapid progress. On the fourth day 'they reached the Sapony villages, one of which Lederer had visited the year before. They were "very joyfully and kindly received with firing of guns and plenty of provisions." They picked up a Sapony guide to show them to the Totero village by "a nearer way than usual," and were about to leave when overtaken by a reinforcement of seven Appomattox Indians sent them by Wood. They sent back Mr. Thomas Wood's worn out horse by a Portuguese servant of General Wood's whom they had found in the village, and pushed on to the Hanahaskie "town," some twenty-five miles west by north, on an island in the Staunton River. Here Mr. Thomas Wood was left, dangerously ill.''


GRIFFIN
 On  page 35 of  the Order  Book, Volume I (April 24, 1855-January 30, 1869)  of the Clay County Records (Kentucky State  Archives, Frankfort)    "John Griffin was released from being placed on the Negro list, and hereafter he will be listed as a white man,   proof being made to the satisfaction  of the court that he was of Portuguese descent instead of African descent."   [Joanne's possible Melungeon line] 


MOONEY

Such, for example, are the Pamunkeys of Virginia, the Croatan
Indians of the Carolinas, the Malungeons of Tennessee, and numerous other
peoples who in the days of slavery were regarded as free negroes and were
frequently hunted down and enslaved. Since the war they have tried hard by
act of legislature and other wise to establish their Indian ancestry.

Wherever these people are found there also will the traveler or investigator
passing through their region encounter the tradition of Portuguese blood or
descent.


Getting To Know Your Bell Bend Neighbors 

By Betsy Phillips

''Let's consider the poor census-taker who went out to Bull Run in 1910 (which is in Scottsboro, which I know we're supposed to pretend is so far away from Bell's Bend, but for the sake of this post, let's be honest about it all being right together there).  Here he found William and Mary Collins (with their daughter Hazel) and Thomas and Mary Barnes (with their eight children), who he at first classified as "w" for white and then we see the "w" traced over and replaced with a cursive "b" for black.

Right below them is Sarah Thompson (and forgive me here, because I can't read the handwriting very well), but she appears to have at first been classified as "mul" (for mulatto) and that is smeared away and replaced with "w" and her daughter, Vinia, is firmly a "w" without seeming question.  And who knows what to make of Curtis Pentecost's wife Ida or daughter Molly? He is a "w," but they are both "d"s.

To help clarify the mess for whoever tried after him to make sense of it all, written elegantly in the margins by each of these families is "Portuguese."




 GOINS


Randolph County, NC Deed Book 63 Page 227 as follows: "Cumberland County, NC. Personally appeared before me, Archibald A. Johnson, an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said county in the state aforesaid, Flora McDonald and Catherine McBryde, both of whom are well-known to me to be respectable and truth-telling women and after being duly sworn according to law doth say that they are acquainted with DANIEL GOINS, late of the county and state aforesaid, that they know his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, that his great-grandfather (JOHN HARMON) was a native of Portugal, and was always called a Portugan, and he was of the color of the natives of that place, and that he and his sons and grandsons always exercised the right of and passed as white in every respect." Signed Flora McDonald, aged 88 years and Catharine McBride, aged 83 years. Dated 16 July 1884.


CHAVIS/SHAVIS

HISTORY OF THE PIONEERS AND INDIANS OF CROW CREEK

Beore the Indians were taken to Indian Territory there was a large number of
whites and Indians that fled to the mountain between Little Crow Creek and
Little Coon. They built Shavis Town, cleared up about 100 or more acres and
cultivated it, putting out an orchard. They raised winesap apples, peaches,
corn and dug ginseng besides hunting for a living.

The older men were very religious. They were mixed with Portuguese. Willis
Shavis named his four sons after the Apostles, Andrew, John, Peter and
Nathaniel. The had two Preachers, John Pressley and Brother Forsythe, an
Indian. They would preach and convert the young men and girls and bring them
down to Little Crow Creek to Baptize them. They believed rightly they were to
be buried in baptism in water. They knew the Bible. I don't know where they
knew the Bible very few could read or write.

Note;  Wilis Chavis/Shavis apparently came from Marion Dist, SC., same settlement as Bolton, Perkins, and John Shumake/Shumate who had an Indian Reservation not far from there. possibly from the same settlement.


ASHWORTH

T. J. Russell

Clark Ashworth

January 26, 1910
To the Journal:

The Ashworth family had a peculiar history that to a certain extent, militated against them. The grandfather of Clark Ashworth was a native of South Carolina, and the family originally came from Portugal, and were of the Moorish race. A very dark complexion, but had hair on their head, instead of wool, like that of African negro; though, the complexion was about as dark. This fact often caused them to be taken for negroes. An effort was made to disfranchise the family at one time during the days of the Republic. And their friends took the matter up in the Congress and had a law passed, declaring that the law relating to free negroes in the Republic of Texas, did not apply to the Ashworth family. See Act of Congress, date Dec. 12, 1840. H.D. Art. 2571.

TOM J. RUSSELL
 Clipping Here



These are but a few of the documented mention of Portuguese families in  early records.  To Be Continued
1

 

 HOW THE PORTUGUESE GOT TO THE PEE DEE RIVER AND MIXED WITH NATIVES

PORTUGUESE INDIANS 

 

 

Gideon Gibson History in Question

  GIDEON GIBSON MURAL                                                                                                                       ...