TIMPOOCHEE BARNARD
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One of the most interesting Chapters of Georgia History is entwined around the Indian traders who emigrated from South Carolina into the Creek Nation before Oglethorpe came on his expedition to establish the Colony of Georgia. As early as 1716 the Carolina authorities suggested the establishment of Savannah Town, better known as Fort Moore, on the site of the present City of Augusta, to further the trade with the Upper Creeks and
the Cherokees. To this place goods were transported both by land
and by water from Charlestown and the trading with the Indians
was forbidden unless sanctioned by a special license or permit.
So rapidly did this traffic increase with the aborigines that before
the year was out, Captain Theophilus Hastings, who was the first
agent in charge, required three additional assistants.
Until the establishment of the Georgia Colony in 1733, these
Carolina traders had a monopoly on the trade with Cherokees and
Creeks. The Trustees of Georgia laid out a Trading Post in 1735.
General Oglethorpe ordered Fort Augusta built and detailed a
garrison for its protection in 1736, with the idea of diverting trade
for Georgia. The Georgia traders began at once to go into
the Creek Nation. Supply posts were established for the traders by Mr. Price at Colerain and Wm. Panton, a Spaniard, at Pensacola, where a thriving business was supplied by his own ships. The traders located their settlements and stores at strategic points, where they exchanged their goods for the Indian peltries. At
Savannah Town a laced hat readily commanded eight buck skins;
a calico petticoat could not be purchased for less than twelve; a
knife brought one doe skin; and so great was the demand for salt,
gunpowder, kettles, rum, looking-glasses, beads and other articles
of European manufacture that the traders were allowed by the
Commissioners to exact as much as the savages could be persuaded
to give them in their buffalo hides, buck skins, doe skins, venison
and game.
Among these traders of the Colonial Era were George Galphin,
a principal agent for Indian Affairs and "high trader in the confidence of both Colonists and Savages," whose daughter married
John Milledge, Governor of Georgia in 1802. His post was on the
Chattahoochee River at Coweta (now Columbus) in 1761; Robert
Grierson; Alexander Cornell, Assistant and Interpreter, a native of
Scotland; Lachlan McGillivray, Scotchman, Interpreter and Trader,
who became immensely rich; John McIntosh, Scotchman; James
Burges, Assistant and Interpreter; Thomas Carr, Trader of Cusseta in 1797; Thomas Marshall and James Darouzeoux, Traders of Coweta in 1797; and last, but by no means least, the subject of this sketch, Timothy Barnard, Diplomat, Interpreter, and
Principal Temporary Agent for Indian Affairs south of the Ohio
River, whose settlement was on Flint River in Macon County.
Many, if not all, of these traders married into the Indian Tribes
and reared their half-breed families. Their wives were generally
selected from the daughters of the Chiefs, as the Indians were
pleased with their white alliances, and their sons were acclaimed
the Chiefs of the Tribes to which their mothers belonged. Conspicuous among these half-breed Indian-Chiefs-sons was Alexander McGillivray, son of Lachlan McGillivray, and a Principal Creek woman of striking personal charms, with some French blood.
He had the distinction at one time of holding the position of Indian
Chief, British Colonel, United States Brigadier General and Spanish
Colonel. He ranked as the foremost man of Indian blood that
Anglo America ever produced. Another was William McIntosh,
Chief of the Cowetas, son of John McIntosh, whose sister, Catherine McIntosh, married an English army officer by the name of Troup. Their son was Georgia's Governor, George Michael Troup. Noble Kennard,
first cousin of Chief McIntosh, who lived
eight miles above Coweta on the Chattahoochee, also had a settlement on the Kitchofoonee Creek near where Albany is today; an early map shows this settlement and also "Kennards Path" going south from his farm, in the direction of the Trading Center
at Pensacola. When Wm. Capers of South Carolina — afterwards
Bishop Capers — the first missionary to the Creek Nation from the
Methodist Church, attempted to organize a Mission School in
1822, he received his greatest encouragement from Kennard, who
promised four of his seven children for the school, the first children
enrolled in the first Methodist Indian Mission School. Kennard
also commanded the left wing of Andrew Jackson's army, while
McIntosh had the right, in the expedition made to Florida to
fight the Seminoles. Timpoochee Barnard, son of Timothy Barnard, Major in the United States Army, Interpreter, signer of
treaties and the hero of the Battle of Challibee in the War of 1812,
was no less famed as an Indian-Chief-Son.
It is almost inconceivable that a short century should have
so completely obliterated the memory of such an illustrious family
that few residents of Macon County had ever even heard the name
of Timothy Barnard or knew that so great a man ever possessed
their lands, so it may be well for the Historian to revive their
memories connecting such scattered meager trifles, as the name
upon a deed, a creek's name and an old Indian grave with a man
who was once all powerful in the county; the owner of the lands,
the Chief of the Tribe; the first farmer and peach grower in the
county; the first mail man and the first road builder of the section.
Timothy Barnard was the first white man known to be a resident
of the lands now called Macon County. He was a man of unusual
intellect. Marrying into the Euchee Tribe of Indians, he became
a member of the tribe and as such, he gained influence over the
Indians, controlling their politics and holding them ever loyal, not only to the white man but to the United States Government. Barnard's Settlement, on the Flint, was a popular place between 1790 and 1820.
He was of English descent and of gentle blood. His grandfather, Sir John Barnard, was an English Baronet and at one time Lord Mayor of London; was prominent in the House of Commons and had a distinguished judicial career. His son, Col. John Barnard, married Jane Bradley in London in 1743. She was the daughter of Wm. Bradley of Lee Street, Red Lyon Square, County of Middlesex, Gentleman. Wm. Bradley, at the time of his death, owned lands in Georgia, South Carolina and Spanish Bonds of over a million dollars (£240,000). Col. John Barnard settled his family on Wilmington Island, which had been granted him by King
George II. There he reared a family, descendants of whom are among the leading families of Georgia today, including the Adams, Chisolm, Demere and Screven families of Chatham County.
Timothy, the oldest son of Col. John Barnard and Jane Bradley, Riled with the youthful spirit of adventure and lured by the stories of untold wealth, left his Wilmington Island home, braving the dangers, and went into the Creek Nation some time before the Revolution. The path into the nation led through this country but it is not supposed that he would have stopped alone in an uninhabited place. Since we know that he married a Euchee Indian
girl, we can very naturally suppose that he went direct to the
Euchee (Yuchi or Uche) town on the Chattahoochee. Here it is
related he married his Euchee wife and started back eastward
in search of a location for a settlement. It might be supposed
that he stopped at Intuchculgua, the Euchee town, in the northwest corner of Macon County. Or he may have stopped at Padgeeliqua (from Padgee-a
pigeon, and liqua-sit-pidgeon roost)
where there was a crossing over the Flint. This was a large Euchee
town, eighteen miles up Flint River (now Taylor County) until
broken up by Benjamin Harrison and his associates who murdered
sixteen of the gun-men. But where ever he wandered with his
Indian wife, we are certain that Timothy Barnard located his settlement in Macon County on the right banks of Thronateeska
(thronato, flint; eska, where it is picked up-creek-Flint) River
one and one-half miles below where the Opilthlucco (Buck) Creek
joins the Flint and here he remained for more than forty years.
His home was located on the west side of Flint River on the
present site of the town of Oglethorpe. Sampson Kitchens, who is
ninety years old, states that the Indian store was about where the
Oglethorpe depot is today, and that it was known as an Indian
Trading Post. He remembers some of the Indians by name.
Among them John and Pete. He further states that the cemetery between the railroads known as the Small Pox Cemetery was
the Indian graveyard. The Early map of Georgia, 1818, marks this
home place and also the farm of his sons on the left bank of the
Flint several miles north of his settlement. The map also shows
his farm in the forks of the Creek which still bears his name, Barnard's Creek (incorrectly marked Barnetts Creek on the Macon County map). Sam Harp states that he has found Indian utensils and other relics on this place.
His farm was undoubtedly located on the lands above and including Miona Springs, which was known to be a great meeting
place of the Indians. The Indians clung to the streams and they
found the tributaries of the Flint a most agreeable and alluring
place to them on account of the fish, the game and the fertile
soil close to the banks.
Benjamin Hawkins, a graduate of Princeton and a United States
Senator from North Carolina, was appointed "Principal Agent
for Indian Affairs South of the Ohio" by President Washington on
November 19, 1796. His first move was to visit Timothy Barnard
and to learn from him the customs and manners of the Indian
and as much of their language as possible. He found Barnard
living in great happiness with his Indian wife and children, with an
abundance of everything that the soil or the herd could yield,
and practicing a crude, but profuse hospitality. He owned a
number of negro slaves, had a peach orchard on the very land which
the peach industry has made famous in this generation; he had a
herd of cattle, many horses, owned and cultivated much of the
best land of Macon County. He had newspapers and his daughters
owned silverware and silver beads.
After a visit from February 5th to 21st, 1797, to Barnard, Benjamin Hawkins, accompanied by Barnard and his son, Homanhedge,
started out for the Ocmulgee. After crossing the Flint at Barnard's
Crossing, they turned north and soon came to the farm where
Barnard's son, Timpoochee, with his Creek wife, was moving into
a recently constructed house. A little further they saw his sons,
Pheloga and Yuccohpee, clearing a Held and preparing logs of pine
for their houses. A friendship was formed between Hawkins and
Barnard which continued through the years; Hawkins visited
Barnard repeatedly, spending three days with him in April, 1798.
Recognizing Timothy Barnard's unusual ability, and his accredited
standing with both the whites and the Indians, Hawkins made
him his Chief Counselor, and he was fortunate in having such a
diplomat to serve between the agents of the United States Government and the Chiefs of the Indian Tribes. He appointed him his Principal Temporary Agent of the Indians south of the Ohio, and made him his Interpreter, for which he received a salary of $700 a year - copies of his payments are attached.
FROM LETTERS OF BENJAMIN HAWKINS.
Ga. Historical Society Vol. IX.
Orders on Edward Price for the Quarterly Payment of the Assistants and others in the Creek Department.
1797 - Mar. 9, No. 1., Timothy Barnard................$233.1/3
Aug. 25, Timothy Barnard by ditto..................... 175.00
Oct. 3, No. 7, Timothy Barnard............................. 175.00
Oct. 3, No. 8, Timothy Barnard, for Felix Counts 196.00
1798- March 10, Timothy Barnard, to the 1st of January, 1798........................... 175.00
1798- Jan. 4, No. 54, John Barnard, 1 bushel of corn.
Jan. 4, No. 57, John Barnard, 5 dollars.
1797 - Oct. 3, Timothy Barnard, assistant and interpreter, for 1 quarter's salary, 1st July to 30 September, inclusive .............................$ 175.00
1797 - Aug. 25, No. 8, Cash, paid Timothy Barnard, one quarter's salary, from 1st April to 30 June. .$175. 00
1798 - Sept. 5, No. 43, Air. Barnard, two orders, from 1st April to last
September.......................$350.00
1799 - January, No. 61, Timothy Barnard, 1st October 31st December,
1799.................................$175.00
1797 - Dec. 30, Tim Barnard, per order No. 1, 4 months' salary, ending 31st March, 1797
.......... $235.33
In compliance with a treaty and realizing the necessity of reaching supplies for his settlement, Timothy Barnard blazed a pathway
from the Uchee Town in Alabama, passing Coweta Town (later
Ft. Mitchell) on the Chattahoochee, paralleling for twenty miles
the Ancient Horse Path, running through Muscogee, Chattahoochee, Marion and Schley Counties, going through the Euchee
Town of Intuchculgua, in Macon County, where the old road is
still called the "Old Indian" road, to Barnard's Store on the Flint.
Here the path forked, one line extending from Barnard's settlement due south, joining the Indian Path which crossed the northern
part of Florida from Mobile, the ancient capitol of the Creek
Nation, to St. Augustine. In this way he established a route to
Mobile, Pensacola and St. Augustine.
The other fork of Barnard's Path crossed Flint River at Barnard's Crossing, later known as Travelers Rest, following the
old River Road along the banks of the Flint, through old Drayton
in Dooly County, through Crisp County, lower corner of Turner
County, through northern Dougherty, crossing the Ocmulgee
Town Path, turning eastward, it passed through Worth, Tift and
Berrien Counties, crossing the Alapaha River, passing through
northern part of Clinch, Central Ware, crossing Hurricane Creek
and Satilla River in Pierce County down through southern part of
Wayne, crossing the St. Marys River, passing through two sections of Charlton and Traders Hill, following the St. Marys River
by Colerain through Camden County to the town of St. Marys.
Another fork of Barnard's Path left the above path in Worth
County, went through Irwin County, through Coffee and the
present city of Douglas, through Appling County to Fort James on
the Altamaha River.
Barnard's Path was the main thoroughfare from the Chattahoochee to the ocean and was in general use in the first of the last
century. It is shown in "Carey and Lea's Complete Historical,
Chronological and Geographical American Atlas of 1823 Plate
25" and in "Farmers New American Atlas." Tradition says
that one of Barnard's camping grounds on this trail was just west
of Isabella, later called San Barnard. This was a famous camp and
hunting ground as late as 1850. San Barnard served as the first
County site for Worth County. The Daughters of the American
Revolution in Sylvester named their Chapter "Barnard Trail."
In more recent years, a trail known as Hathorn Trail followed
the first part of this fork from Barnard's Path to Dougherty.
Mr. I. F. Murph of Marshallville used Hathorn Trail in 1863
during the War between the States, when he went to Goose
Creek, Fla., below Tallahassee, with six wagons for a supply of
salt for the community.
There was a trail called "Old Slosheye Trail" which led from
Hartfort (Hawkinsville) to Drayton connecting there with Barnard's Path. This trail is shown on original Land Grant No. 184
of 7th District, Dooly County, made to Robert Jemison of Bledsoes District, Putnam County, on August 16, 1824. The land surveyed, September 1, 1821, original plat and grant in possession of Carl. L. DeVaughn. For this trail also see Fleming History Crisp Co. Vol. I.
These paths were the first established trails in South Georgia
and did much toward the development of Georgia. They linked
Indian Villages in the western part of the state to the English
settlements in Southwest Georgia and to the Spanish settlements
in Florida. They were constantly used by Indians and white
settlers and each year brought pioneers seeking suitable lands for
farms and homes. It developed into a great thoroughfare and
brought the isolated traders into close connection with the important trading posts at Traders Hill, Colerain, Centervillage and St. Marys. These trails were used later as the stage coach routes.
During the years Benjamin Hawkins was in the Creek Nation, he
and Timothy Barnard kept up a continual correspondence. Many
of these letters are preserved in the American State Papers. Mr.
Barnard was conducting a rural free delivery mail system of his
own. He had a well known mail route between 1796 and 1807,
and mail was carried by his own runners, his sons or his nephew,
John Cloudy. His mail went along Barnard's Path and Barnard
frequently stopped for the night at Trader's Hill on his way to
St. Marys. He sent his mail by boat up and down Flint River,
particularly when writing to Mr. Hawkins.
Attached are two letters written by Timothy Barnard in 1792
and 1793 to Jas. Seagrove, Agent, by which we get an insight into
his life, his possessions and his standing both with the Indians and
the white men, and two to General Blackshear in 1815.
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