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524 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
stands in excellent preservation and is today known as the Varner
House. There are still to be seen, on the doors and mantels, some fine
specimens of hand-carving, done, it is said, with a pocket knife in the
hands of General Mclntosh. The famous chief was well known to the
guests who frequented the establishment. His two wives were both re
fined and handsome women of the full Indian blood.
In what is known as the Lottery Act of 1821, passed at an extra ses
sion of the State Legislature, these newly acquired Creek lands were
erected into five counties, to wit, Dooly, Fayette, Henry, Houston, and
Monroe.*
There was another sharp contest for the governorship before the
Legislature in 1821. Governor Clark was a candidate for re-election and
opposed to him was his old antagonist, Mr. Troup. Feeling was bitter
on both sides. Those who supported the governor were called Clarkites.
Those who favored the rival candidate were called Troupers. There was
apparently an even division of sentiment among the legislators. Amid
breathless excitement a ballot was taken, the result of which was a major
ity of two votes for Governor Clark.
Mr. Troup's disappointment in sustaining a second defeat at the
hands of his old rival was keen. This feeling was likewise shared by
his friends. But there was no abandonment of the fight, except for the
moment. Plans were laid for another campaign in 1823, at which time
the Troupers were to win.
It devolved upon the Legislature of 1821 to elect a successor to Hon.
Freeman Walker, whose resignation as United States senator was ten-,
dered at this time. Though still comparatively a young man—not yet
forty—Major Walker was in precarious health; and he lingered for only
a few years after relinquishing- official responsibilities. Dying in 1827,
he was interred in the family burial plot, today enclosed within the
grounds of the Arsenal, on the Sand Hills, near Augusta. Richard
Henry Wilde, the poet-statesman, wrote a magnificent epitaph for his
tomb.
Major Walker was Augusta's first mayor. He was filling this office
when elected to the United States Senate; and by a singular coincidence
his successor in the office of mayor likewise became his successor in the
United States Senate. This was Hon. Nicholas Ware, upon whom the
Legislature of 1821 conferred the toga. The mayor's chair of Augusta
seemed to be a stepping-stone to political honors in the nation. Even for
such a leap to be made once was a circumstance sufficiently rare to elicit
comment; but for such a leap to be made twice in succession made it
appear as if the fates were juggling with Georgia's politics.
Georgia was represented in the Sixteenth Congress (1819-1821) by
the following members: Joel Abbot, Thomas W. Cobb, Joel Crawford,
John A. Cuthbert, Robert R. Reid and William Terrell.
Two of these: Joel Abbot and Robert R. Reid, were re-elected to the
Seventeenth Congress (1821-1823). The new members of the delegation
were: Alfred Cuthbert, George R. Gilmer, Edward F. Tattnall, and
Wiley Thompson. Mr. Cuthbert was elected to succeed his brother John,
* For additional particulars in regard to these counties, see the section of this
work on Georgia Miscellanies.