STATE OF ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES ANO HISTORY Founded by Thomas M. Owen, LL.D.. 1901 MONTGOMERY 1iarch 2, 1928. A912 IN REPLY REFER T O FILE NO, Lamar
My dear .ur. King:- We have been trying to get Dr. G.R. Lamar,
426 Finley Ave., this ~ity, over the phone in order to get the information that you are in need of. Dr. Lamar has spent
a number of years in compiling his Lamar ancestry. A letter
addressed to him at his residence I think will get an early reply. Sincerely yours,
Director. Per LI.LI. .
Mr . F.R. King, Tuscumbia, Ala. ,,....c~ ---- I l l tn ·\ Nat e ~r ce
r:r . vh ir'!un-L ught rs of the liCl r1c1n ~ovolution , u'ldioe ontl on.
·It h a bool'.i · in,...,. tl.ou t to 0 !or tllo d'lyo to t1 1.ruc tb ould h vo the pr il d i'1 th yo 2 t ' y . ::i al oat ti r o sooro nd t n- to orrow io ,,J irtbd ftor t hqt r 11 1 ot pl .l tollinr; y ore. · I t nt t Le t 11 l 1 t:h yo to y . ... 1o 10 Jn p..ittic-tn fir t 1 vit t ion L over an fe "ing th t I oaild not\ it oo 1 d e t c"" pt i t t t 0 tho old tr ils- orao th t pao od t r vOlbort Con ty , Al b1 i r thro th t oro 1 tll t e rly uy of tho t ort::i ea. Th y c to notic u fol~o ,s- ~ho t c Cu ~racc ------17 ~ ino • Trnco------1801 J ck o o • ilit r y Ro d-----1 l - 16 a fr o tho to :m bolicv d , riea; nd r.iftcr r ll.i d tho ri in"' tho riv r ore
a t u re a nu: ro o p 0 lo mcl OCCUJ io fro G t ' Z to th irl eh. .. ey ro wor ip no eettlod the ln poet t
Of
r -
er unlo rt.., • to t.:otto 0
0 r1 r t otto 1 c Trsce leaving Colberts ' Ferry was for quite a dist ~nce one and the same rosd. Prior to 1800 there vere no roads except Indian trails leading to that part of Mississippi territory. uur early ro 1ds followed these trails .is d id many of the early railro3ds. From Nashville , Tennessee to Natchez , M:s~issippi a distance of 550 mjles there was not a sinqle white settlement qnd only occasional lndiun 0 villages. At this time it vas not so much used by travelers going to that cou.ntry but was much ...tsed by the traders o:f Kentucky , •.rennessee and Alabama w1J.O had carried their boat 101ds of cotton and other products fro~ the upper Tenneosee v.aters over the rapids of Muscle Sho~ls down the Tennessee into the uhio river and fin1lly to r~ew Orleans; ~ho returned to their homes by Hat~hez over the Trace 'hich was only a bridal path t:.rough the c ne and woodv . ~11"" :L-omotcn-oss :fro"'l civiliz ~ tion R ~ the density of both cane and woods made the tr il an id "ll. l ace to rob and kill the ret .. rnlng bo!ltmen; who \,ere al 'lys supposed to have large a'!loun ta of mor ey fro tho s1le of their p.oods . This trail was msde ~amo1s for uch deeds by a man na~ed Tom son who lived near Croso Plains in Roberson county , Tenn. tto went from there to Natchez whore he or ~ani zed his band , \'Jh ich consistJd of himself lnd his t\'lO sons and eight other bad men. '!'her terrorized tho nom.:: coming travelers for years until the outrages got to be so frequent that Gov . Cl~yborne of Mississippi territory offered a large reward for his capture , dead or alive. So strong and defiant this band bee me that they would sometimes capture offic~rs wuo were after them. Finally tho ~ were so closely hunted that they moved West. This trail vns infested w.ith another band of robbors headed by two brothers fro Kentucky by the nnme of Harp . They were kuow as Big and Litile Harp~ one being a large and the other a S!Illll man. After murdering and robbing tr ~velars they v·o ld repair to "Nick-a-Jack cave" whore they would remain in hiding until they felt safe to come out and co;irnit other orlmes. Nick- a-Jack cave is that point \•hich determines the north east corner of the State of Alab~m~, an Indian site of great antiquity. The Indians tiere ahrude t raders and is aisposing of thoir lands in the e rl days they alw:'lys reserved the FERRIES. So .. e of th m yielded great fortunes to their ovners. It h~s been said that Colberts ' Forry on the Natchez Trace was vorth *20. 000 anually. John A. Murrell who ~as born in Williamson county, Tennessee about 1810 and h"ls h3d the \"Orse reputation for murdering and robbing of any m~n that ever operated on the Trace. I have gone to the tro;.zble of \,ri ting miny letters to that part of the stqte of 2ennessee in thich he lived at different times and my inveatig~tion of him has made me ch~n~e my mind as to his guilt of many charges that have been laid at his door. All admit tbat he stole orses and negro slaves and id an extenajve business. He was arrested many times charged with murder but the Co1rts always acq1ltted him upon this char~e . Mr. Park Marshall of Fran·lin, Tenn. an eminant la\'1Yur, writes me th~t Murrell belonged to a good fa-n ily of people ·:md h .s m'.lny rel'ltivoo where he was born and that thoy ~re univ.silt respectable people and that he had msde extenoive invostigutions regarding him(Murrell) and that he ' s convinced that mo t of the charges ware grossly exaggerated. He wrote the story of his life, a little paraphlct consistin.:.a o ai:>.. ty pages ,.; hich had a consi er lle circulation in both Alabarn nd Uiss., but aro now very r re. I no~ of but one copy ind it is in the hands of a second hand de l r nd the price is 10 .oo just 16-2/3 centc· a pnp:e . Thomas H. henton , born 1r N. ~ in 1782 tan oarly day aottled in ~ennessee , on J 1c~ :i~er at Gorden~ Ferry nd the Secret ry of C pt. John Gorden., the ke per of ttie Ferry. He re resented Tennessee in the lei 11tu.re and aerv upon Jacksons' sta·f. On th ad iasion of iseo ri s a ot t h a cbo it d ut L s Son tor in 1820, and erv for thirty years. His othor O\med a vory 1 rge plant tion on the natchez trace at or ne r Gordons ' Forry. He wrote mgny books, all rol~tjve to the orki gs of our Govern ent. lleri eth r Lo is, an Americ n soldier, and explorer born in Vir iniq in 1774 was sent dth Lr. Cl rk to m ke di coverio in the north ~eotern p rt of this coJ.lltry lso to discovor tho ource of th l.liaaouri riv r. Hi r ports r ult d in the purch se fro~ Fr nee the v t territory then cqlled Louieia • The ne~m co~ing by ship to Nuw York and c rried fro~ there to llr. Jefferoon in Philadolphia by a carri r pi on . the q ickost tr sport tion i that day. So ple a d ~1th th manner jn ict llr. Le is d !Ar . Cl rk perfor ad t is t k thgt • Jefferso re srded tho both. Le .la with the Governo ship of Louisiana lnd Cl rk s agont to th u. s. for Indi n affairo. ur. Lens died on h·s vre.y to\ asl ingt n troroling the N tchoz Trece in 1809. It is a deb toable question to this d y ~ether he ~ s vitim of robbor d am.rdor d or took io otm 11 e. Ee never married and 11 o love thrilling otory should re d tho otory of .Mr . ori etl... er Lolf is and his swcet1"eart , iss Thoodocia , the d htor of A ron burr . ~enn. n d the territor ore he di d for 1 , Len.is co ty nd er ct d subst ti 1 onu nt to hia memory by the tr ce ne r the spot. hero be diod . Loranza Do~ and Peg y , is ifo ere frequent tr velers of the Tr o. Since tho d ys of Goor o 'lhitfiold it has not f llen the lot of nother minister of the ospel to enjoy the r t celebrity e th t of the late Loranz Do • He and his 1 e er both e'ce din ly hand o~e 3I1Cl 1 t s told by rlr • .lJow th~t his co irtohip 1tL hor con la t don but one ord. \hat v.o~ld ~e oder men h ve iven fjfty yo rs go to x ow th~t ma~ic ordi It s t Col • s' Ferry th t .ur . Do h fore crossing the river ~ ~ ~ ....J.~ . John Loe noy the 11 C rri r in 1804 or ou t tim • ~e ndering ooureo of llr. ~o tr v ler to r 1 to ny etr e pl1cea th t r ote from ci'iliz tion. e nt t £ng1 nd r ho a 1 riaonod· for pr chi rr t they c lJ atran~e doctrine .
J OB Allen Of H. c. s Of 1797 Jamos All en was v;ell educated and of a family i~ easy circ mstancea. He c 1me to N~shville , Tennessee, intending to settle there ~ a lawyer but from some disgu.st en tared the Chickasaw Natio1 .., 1here he conciliated the favor of General m. Colbert, a .1r breed chief of large fortune. He lived a fov. mil a from a little place kno~n as Toks hish. He served in the "1-eek lar with Geno1al Jackson in 1814 end was a gre~t fr end of the Generals. ' • Allen' s diniration for the general n:.is benificial to him in more than one nay. Miss $Qaie Colbert , is daug1ter ~as a beautiful woman and .llr . Allne ~as not able to resist her ch1rms and he i;,ent to the old general nd told him that he wanted to .!larry his daughter , Susie. The General gave Mr. Allen his consent ~nd in a few d ys Susie wrapped in a shawl le vi ng only a small spq~o that she might see her way went to the cabin of J mes Allen, just a ni ht f 11 , 1o4ocied t the door and being lnvi ted in she touk her seat. According to Indi9n fashion their courtshi thus ended. Their d~ughtor , Feggy w s be utiful and received mqny proposals from traders returning from Ne~ Orle'llla over the Trace. The U. s. Agent in char e of the Chick~ saws , Samuel Mi tchell fel, ~eply in love with her but ru1e did not teturn it. He ap ~~~d to her grand oth r and she considering it a very good m9tch o :i. 1. e r:Y'g · o f to tho A ant with a string of wall loaded pack- horses and ten nogroes for hor aouary. Poggy 9 s compelled to mqko the J ournoy but she persistently refused Mitchell, aaying that she ould novor marry a drin 1 \;hite n or an Indian. After t~o ~eeks of i por u.nity hos nt her homo. Just then there t'ttrned up a very handsome young m n, Simon Birmey from the natch z cou.ntrrr w o loved her very deeply. ~nd her f 1t1er and herself both ~o t ?-' /~;; i nterieronce by Mitchell ~nd his friends and she and Birney marriec ~ t once and loft tho N~tion nd want to hie home na ~r Natchez .
Gen. Samuel Lale the h ro of the canoe fi~ht on Alabana River. Compar his ride~rom llil ageville Ga . to New Orleans with that of Paul Revior's. (m rking his grl e in Lauder~~le Co. iss.
hen Ft. llims h d its massacre in l ul3 a runner was sent to St. Stevens to Col . G ins and he redd it alo d for tho information of t hose aro nd him in the citizens fort . It at once created a panic and Col ~ ,. s romarkod , if o cold et Gen. Jackson i th his "Brigaderr o 'If( ,~ nt ain voluntoercr' tho Greek Ind1 a l.Ould be soon quited. Th~ u as a young n JJ.r. Bel onso vJho ~a guest in the G ins homo ~nav vol ntevrod to t~ke the mess ge. t1rs G ins re )ared provisions for him, 1le tnis as bc1ni ~ he a provided with letters to fr1neds along the trace t. o \ere reque ted to supply hi~ ith no or fre h horso e ch day. He le ving the jaded horse until is return. All his friends oat of hom long the Trace ~re Indians or b~lf reeds illinr!ly met the roqu ~t and youn Edmo son ad the trip to n s ville in most t:'O dorful s hort time nd fell bofore them prostrated f o exhaustion. J en . Jackson nd Gen. John Co~fee hurried t the scene and t.o all kr o the res lt. Greenwood LeFlore Pan ton md Co •• llc!.Un and Co., a branch of the gre:J t firm of Swanson and Mill er, of London, had an extensive eatabliah.ient_ at Pensicola. The wealthy inhabitants of Natchez districf-t:"t\oir ordure once a year·. very often ordering their merchandise ~iract from the London house. Sometimes the order from a single home woul d be L. 300- L. 500. , and in one instance L. 1000 sterling. This would include a cask of London Particular maderra , a cask of sherry a cssk of proter, and a barrel of French cognac. These goods were usually sent, on their delivery ot Penaicola, in a keel boat to Hatches, by the lake route and up the Amite and .Manchac . Occa sionall y the Natchez pl anters ma.de the trip to Pensioola v.dth their own boat and a Negro crew.
Lawis ~a. Floro , the f1ther of Greenwood Leflore owned one of these boata nd in this business ls id the foundation of Ais large fortune . H~estsblished an extensive plantatioL ad cat~le ranch in the Yazoo 'Valley, in the present county of "-o es, where he died a fc\ years after the last treaty vith the Cnoct~us. He had 100 sl eo and as many Indi ns llvi g about him. He was a small man . A P 1 u~ch Canadia. 'hough over eighty years old ha was a gre t hunter a ___ ten spent ~ whole days in ovcr:fli d swamps and prairies. Trading houses .uru established under the supervision of the governor on the ToBbigbee for the Cho caws, nnd no r Fort Pi ok9ns for the· Chickasaws. The f irat goods sent to the former wwre corsigned to ~o~is, LeFlore. He carried thom in a keel boqt from Natchez , down the river to nshac , thence down tc Amite, across the lakes and up he To~bl bee to Ft. St odtt~rd the point of delivery. Joso~h Chambers was the fir t factor and George s. Gains, his successor. Groonwood LeFlora \SS a son of Leuis LeFlore and Rebecca Cravat, and Indian Princess. It is intereoting to know that his f 1ther established~ trading post and callod it LaFlore Bluff ~hich is rhore the city of Jgck on, the capitol of Mississippi, now is situated. Recivad hia educ tion at Uaahville John Donely the msil car·ier. Hia fir.,t marria e was v,ith lliss 1onley. The second \.i th isa Cody of Chorokee extr ct1on. Hie t ird marriage s Uiss Do ley a sister of the first. He w~s one of the firot~r~stous of ~aGrange College- the first Chartered institution of learning in the St~ta o~ .11tama. David Hicks of Tuscumbia v;se his best m9n at his 1~ ; marr11~e . Ho repr~ tad LJiss. in the le~islature. His amou, ec in the Cho cl ei..t 1 ngua e, lr:isting tov1 hours . !lalm::ison , his home is l~ mile~ ~o Green~ ood .
John Lee S aney the ma il rinor. }..;; s'f - George Colbert a Chief of the Chick saw Nation
LoP.an James Colbort(fatler of Geor e Colbert) nrlor to 1740 lived in ono of the Carolin~ 'JI scotch youth • o respond d to the call of the wild nd j oiile · ne English tr ders and adventurers who re traveling Wert ~topped east of tho Tennessee rivor. Je ~ ~ld say north r c •~ing from hero, tho scle Shoals. He v~s ad o~ted by an Indi~1 ° ily and seen fiovolo ed fondness for trading and a ~ssed a fortune owning land nd negro slaves.
~hreo tines he marrie lnQian girls , the first tt:JO full b ood ~ A.~ s nd the third a ·h lf bread Chic :a .ia-. c. ...L_ W_B ~-- - ther of ,..,, • ,.,_,... <..h1ldren ' 0 v;ore - ... 88 1ol JD .1).f ~rl ii~ A daue·h tQ.,. ,, "~"' first- ive co o ~ "he _. ~-.Olf~r-::;i • .i..ua na ...... 1.hein first u. ughter is not rocorci -7 do so .., i --- ~ socond m rri go ero Jilli , eorge, Lovi, S ual and Joe ph. And ~ tho son and daughter by the last rare Ja 3° an Susan. l
He boc m influ ntial ~1th hlo tribe and as soon a bold l ador in their rars; and in 1780 led n expodition g i st the Americana t Fort Jeffor~on on the Ohio v.here he raceivel bullet ound in the r~. The scigo 1 sted five days but the Americans hold the ort. The fort s built Ly the dir ction of Tho a Jofforsin no t that time wna Gov . of i.ia . Hl 1Ilstruct1ons to ct or~i aion for its erection re not carried out- e ce the tro ble.
In tho Chig~ s r. battles along the iss. River cou try he w D v liont to such n entent th t it has been s id by good autbori ty th t Legan J a Colbert t that time \'laS the ost f ous Chief of the Chickas w U tion.
In 1784 or n nr th3t tl o he ~ns killed while on hia y fro the N tion to eorgi as 1ao supposed by ono of iE: no ro slAves named C e r lo acco pgnied i . rat irn·1 fP re J V ~~~ th this horse thro him cau in his d 3th.
}oor e Colbert u1s orn in 1764 i that p rt of the Chick ic:...n no / om a L.... u r~ 1 ounty, lab a where ha gre~ to m nhood long the enka of Cypress and Blue mtor creeks whose cool s ift sparkling w ters covor a grnvellJ Oiton, the home of tho lordly trout t ic. re t~ken is goodly .unb ~ o this y by the oportamen of th t 1 cality. These streams po 1 t-" ir ters i to that p rt of the riv r mo\'\ s Colbe,..t nn :u. clo o;1no ls; 11 l ere in the fall of the ye r "ather in co ~~ rs lld aucks ~nd geese ~ho fo fi on the mo~oi grass JJ-A ~ e h llow ~ ter nd llich is one of tho ttractions for : .e ,, • Aa.ded to t hi th J d of tho river is ... tre m \ ith us. els auu. 1 eritt intl a wl ich • re not only reliohed by the fish nd fo vlA but as gu r ntee of food to the In i ns i ti e of sc rcity~ as is evi oncod by 1 r~e piles of these shells , ri n l a nd ussells , :f.ro o a to four feet daep th t can be seen in n oro G pl ces a.long tho banks of tho river George Colbert from Colbert Shoals to above uacle Sho la to tho old home of Doubel Head the CHEROKEE CHIEF. What a paradise to the hunter of that day. All Chickasa a were ellpert swim~ere and regarded a al most anphibeo e and it must have been a glorious si ht to behold this manly boy hen his soul was in the chase over the hills and hollows as he r~ahod . like the avuft footod deer he persu d ·or in hie plrogue d~afly gliding upstre m g ~ 1dod by a narrow muddy stro of tor, ¥ l~ ding to the feeding buffaloo so soon to lie bJ e ing by h .., e. Thus passed the e rly life of tho young co + ~'-!rt who die... not dream that soon he ilOuld be guiding the doatinio e ofkjl ltion. At tri~nty six he built oo fort~ble rosidonce on he ao u 1ide of the Tenness e river rhere the Natchez Tr ce crossda le ding f r om B1shville , menn . to Natchez Mias. Si~ns of the old trace ro plainly vi~ !~ ~ om tho Col • house looking South through a pasture d3C1 tUMt ,o th pl c e - ro tho plow sh re r- not yet dono its full of destruct·o • The trquah shape L~ thro.ngh the hills pl i ·ly tell the direction fu.ich iJ:.took. ' e lo~wr Broun is marked wi + r ooree ~h1ch must be infectious as our high nyu of t he r · +,.;..Rr y ro a fflic tea. VJi th thom. !J.1he house is built of tho best ~ tori 1 nd fastoded to ehtor 1th cooden pins . ~he t\ro fron~ Luo one u ova the other re t~onty four fteet by 1ghteen 1th n ~oot ceiling. The bac~ room is tm rme si:z.e . The found ti / of stone anc1 the fr nt porch is held up b l . k alnut 11 lB d columns about seven or eight inahos FK:RB