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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 243
of supplies was also located, it was mainly with the Creek and Cherokee Indians of
Georgia that he engaged in traffic. The area of his operations extended from
Mobile to Charleston, and he dealt with foreign, countries not only through these
ports of entry, but through Savannah, St. Augustine, and Pensacola. The Indians
became indebted to him for large sums of money; but when Governor Wright, in
1773, negotiated with the Indians for an extensive tract of land wherewith to
extinguish the debts due the traders he refused to pay the claim of Galphin because
he sided with the colonies in the pending troubles with England. At the close of
hostilities, the claim was transferred to the courts of the United States; but it
was not until 1848 that the matter was finally settled. In the meantime, George
Galphin had been dead for sixty-eight years, and it was finally among his grand
children that the proceeds were divided.
The story is told by Doctor White.* Says he: "Prior to the year 1773 George
Galphiu was a licensed trader to the Creek and Cherokee tribes of Indians, then
within the limits of the colony of Georgia, and to him these tribes were largely
indebted. In the same year, Sir James Wright, Governor of Georgia, pursuing the
instructions of the parent government, concluded at Augusta, for the sole purpose
of discharging the indebtedness of the Indian traders, a treaty for land, by which
was annexed to the British crown a large extent of territory, embracing the present
counties of Wilkes, Lincoln, and Elbert, together with parts of Greene, Oglethorpe,
and Franklin. In 1775 the treaty was ratified by the British crown, and commis
sioners were appointed to liquidate the various claims under it.. Accordingly the
claim of George Galphin for 9,791 pounds, 15 shillings, and 5 pence was approved
by the Governor in Council, to be paid out of moneys arising from the sale of lands
lately ceded to his Majesty by the Creek and Cherokee Indians. The menace of
open, war in the succeeding year entirely destroyed the prospect of payment from
this source. In January, 1780, the Legislature of Georgia, under the exigencies of
the times, appropriated these ceded lands, but made an important reservation in
favor of such Indian traders as were friends to America. These, on submitting
the requisite proofs, were to be given certificates payable within four years at 6
per cent interest. The relation of George Galphin to the ^Revolution became, there
fore, the pertinent question to be decided. He was a native of Ireland, who emi
grated to America soon after reaching manhood and died at Silver Bluff, on the
Savannah River, in South Carolina, December 2, 1780, in the seventy-first year of
his age. By his enterprise he extended his mercantile relations far into the country
of the Indians, and by his fair dealing and uniform kindness he acquired an influ
ence over the tribes, who were always predisposed to resentment and war. As a
commissioner of Indian Affairs under the colonial government, his official duties
were discharged with promptitude and fidelity; and his conduct during the war of
the Revolution, to the period of his death, was consistent and patriotic.''
Without quoting in detail the somewhat lengthy account, General Howe, in
writing to his commander-in-chief, General Washington, spoke in the highest terms
of the unwearied efforts of Mr. Galphin to conciliate the Creek Indians, and Gov
ernor Walton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, also testified without
reserve to his patriotism, while Maj. Joseph Ilabersham, Hon. William Stephens,
and Maj. Peter Deveaux made affidavits to the same effect. The Royal Assembly,
which met in Savannah in 1780, attainted George Galphin of high treason against
the British crown only four months before he was carried to his grave. In 1790
the British Parliament made an appropriation to meet the claims of the sufferers
under the old treaty of 1773 but the heirs of George Galphin were not allowed to
share in the benefits of this measure of relief which was intended strictly for
British loyalists. His estate was sold to satisfy debts inclined in his trade with,
the Indians, for the payment of which he relied upon the proceeds of these ceded
lands. In 1793, the heirs applied to the United States government, whereupon a
measure was passed by the Senate to carry into execution the promise of the State
of Georgia. But the matter remained in abeyance for years. At last the claim was
reported to be one, the payment of which should be assumed by the United States
government. Accordingly, the secretary of the treasury was directed to pay the
claim, which amounted to $234,000.
* White's "Historical Collections of Georgia," pp. —, New York, 1856.