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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 239
natives of Sunbury. On February 1, 1797, the town having com
menced to decline, the county seat was changed to Riceboro, a point
which was nearer the center of population. Two hurricanes, one in
1804 and one in 1824, hastened the final hour of doom for the once
populous seaport; malarial disorders multiplied amid the wreckage, and,
in 1829, Sherwood gave the town a population of only 150 inhabitants.
Twenty years later it was completely extinct.
During the administration of Governor Ellis, there was a final
adjustment of the celebrated "Bosomworth claim." It will be remem
bered that in requittal of her services to the colony as interpreter and
to cover certain damages sustained by her first husband, who was an
Indian agent, she had made a claim upon the colony for £5,000, in
addition to which she had claimed three islands off the coast, Ossabaw,
Sapelo and St. Catharine. These islands had been reserved by the
Creeks, under an old treaty, but had been ceded back to the English.
However, the claim of Mrs. Bosomworth still put a cloud upon the titles.
Finally, to make an end of matters, it was agreed to give her a deed in
fee to the island of St. Catharine, on which she had established her
residence, to pay her £450 for goods disbursed by her in his majesty's
service during the years 1747 and 1748, and to pay her £1,600 in full
of all demands both as interpreter and as government agent. In turn,
Mrs. Bosomworth agreed to waive all claim to Ossabaw and Sapelo.
These islands were subsequently sold, the former yielding £1,350, the
latter £7,000; and from the proceeds thus obtained, Mrs. Bosomworth
was paid the sum of £2,050.
Events were soon to demonstrate the foresight of Governor Ellis in
renewing a covenant with the Creek Indians. Both the Carolinas in
1759 became involved in a war with the Cherokees, a powerful nation of
red men, whose territory at this time reaching down into middle Georgia,
embraced not only all the lands of North Carolina west of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, but a large part of South Carolina; while on the north
it reached to the Ohio River. The Cherokees had proven themselves
effective allies in the English attack upon Fort Duquesne; but on
returning home after the capture of the fort they had appropriated
some horses found pasturing in Virginia. Pursued by a party of fron
tiersmen, twelve warriors were killed, besides a number wounded. Such
treatment for stealing a few stray horses, after a great service had
been rendered to the English, was well calculated to arouse the Cher
okees, whose resentment, fanned into flames by French agents, led them
to harrass the Carolina frontiers. Fort Loudoun, on the Little Ten
nessee River, was surrounded and its garrison cut off from all supplies,
was faced by a critical situation. Calling out the militia, Governor
Littleton, of South Carolina, prepared to march against the Cherokees,
hearing of which thirty-two chiefs, with friendly sentiments toward
the whites, went to Charleston prepared to make peace. But Governor
Littleton refused to give them an audience. Moreover, he compelled
them to march with his army to the town of Keowee, near which an
English stronghold, Fort Prince George, was located. While on the
march he kept them under guard and, after arriving at Keowee, he
immured them within the fortress walls. Such an act of inhumanity
lent no credit either to the soldiership or to the practical sagacity of