Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsCapt. John Willcox Knew His Son, Mark, Would Have His Hands Full
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
Not even a half a year had passed, after the Battle of Breakfast Branch, after Nat Statham saved the life of Mark Willcox, and poor Nat was losing some of his land. Two lots of his land were being sold to satisfy debt. And in the same September 1, 1818, issue of the Georgia Journal of Milledgeville, "all the unsold Lots in the town of Jacksonville" were advertised for sale to the highest bidder. The frontier was up for sale and people were moving in.
As Capt. John Willcox looked at Mark, now healing of his wound, he thought about all that was changing and all that was ahead. Mark would have his hands full.
Everything was changing. He was even hearing talk about a new-fangled vessel called a steamboat. A fellow by the name of Fulton had put one in the water in 1807, about the time John came to Pulaski County. Now, down in Telfair, he was wondering how all this would affect his economy - and that of everyone else on the river. No use to worry though - he could see a need for pole boats for quite a while and it was his job to build them. He had to watch what he was doing though. A pole boat concern in Macon was giving him some competition.
Capt. John also reflected on the time Andrew Jackson refused to come to the aid of the Ocmulgee river residents. Old Indian Chief Junaluska would have let that other Indian kill Jackson had he known Old Hickory would act as he did in the future: "Oh, my God, if I had known at the battle of the Horse Shoe what I know now, American history would have been differently written."
But, Junaluska was lucky in a way. The State of North Carolina gave him full citizenship, 337 acres of land in Cherokee County, District 9, Tract No. 19, and one hundred dollars. Those Indians on the Trail of Tears probably wondered about that deal. But Junaluska had done all he could do - the removal of the Indians seemed so inevitable - yet a few stayed. The old chief died at over 100 years of age, in 1868, and is buried at Robbinsville, N.C.
The following jingle was becoming all too true:
"All I ask in this creation
Is a pretty little wife and a big plantation
Way up yonder
In the Cherokee nation."
John Willcox probably thought how much everything had changed for the Indians, too. Even since Thomas Jefferson remarked in 1794, "You will unite with us, join in our great councils -- and we shall all be Americans -- your blood will run in our veins and will spread with us over this great continent." Whether this was a personal or political observation, it just didn't pan out that way. For most folks, anyway.
Just a few years later, in fact, about a couple or three years after Breakfast Branch, Andrew Jackson said, (speaking against the Indians), "They have neither the intelligence, the industry, the moral habits, nor the desire of improvement. Established in the midst of another and superior race -- they must necessarily yield -- and ere long disappear." He went on, exhorting the Congressmen of Georgia, "Build a fire under them. When it gets hot enough, they'll move." Strange words from a man whose life had been saved by Chief Junaluska. Strange words from a man who made Chief William McIntosh a Brigadier General in his army. Strange words from a future "Union man" who defied Chief Justice Marshall who tried to render justice toward the red man. Strange words, indeed, from a man who had kept and loved an Indian orphan. Strange indeed.
And, the religious reflection had been cast many years before by the Indian, Tomochichi, who said this to the Reverend John Wesley, "Why, those are Christians at Savannah. Those are Christians at Frederica. Christians get drunk! Christians beat men! Christians tell lies! Me no Christian!" Makes us all more acutely aware that those Christians had a lot of improving to do, and we still have. Strange things are done in the name of God, Christianity, and the church.
And, Catholic John must have sighed when he realized that he really had no church to worship in himself. He just had to carry his church around with him on the insides. And from what people say, he did a pretty good job of it. Wesleyan College, one of the beneficiaries of his works, if not his faith, would probably say that, too.
But, all these changes were probably a bit much for Capt. John. He might have supposed that the settlers and Indians were all men, good and bad, and that's where all the paradoxes came in.
In fact, speaking of paradoxes, this is what the Telfair History (1807-1987) recorded: "The dealings of the settlers with the Creek Indians during this time seems to be filled with paradoxes. Despite the Treaty of Washington of 1805 (you had to get a "pass" to cross the Ocmulgee - or were supposed to, anyway), both the Indians and the whites crossed the Ocmulgee to fish and to hunt. It became common practice for groups of Indians to cross the river and trade at the houses of the settlers. While there were those who dreaded the unexpected appearance of the Indians, there were also some who became friends with the Creeks.
On one occasion, a group of Indians appeared at a Brewer home in Telfair to trade for some turnips. During the course of the trade, Mr. Brewer, who knew the leader of the group, was invited to supper at the Indian camp on the river. Mr. Brewer gladly attended, and happened to arrive as the turnips were being prepared with small cakes of flour. When the turnips were done, a woman removed each cake and touched them with the tip of her tongue. Mr. Brewer is said to have enjoyed the rest of the meal, but avoided corn dumplings.
At the other extreme were the raids in which livestock and crops were stolen from the settlers, and certain whites who committed wanton acts of cruelty against the Indians. Legend has it that some settlers took the scalps of the Indians they killed, and these gruesome souvenirs could be purchased at Jacksonville for thirty dollars."
Evil days it seemed, which would provoke one set of people against another. And John probably pondered where it all was leading.
But people continued to be born, live, and die. Life went on and there were some happy times, as reported in the Georgia Journal at Milledgeville in one of its 1820 issues: "Married, on the 20th inst., at Columbia, S.C., Mr. Cornelius R. Ashley, of Telfair County, Ga., to Miss D.B.(Desire Burroughs) Maxey, daughter of the Rev. Dr.(Jonathan) Maxey, late President at the S.C. College."
And, speaking of marriage, it was just around the corner for Mark Willcox. But he had to get well first. And he had more Indians to fight.
Credits:
Willcox Family History by Martha Albertson;
Pioneer Days Along the Ocmulgee by Fussell Chalker;
History of Telfair County (1807-1987);
Telfair Newspaper Clippings (1810-1892) by Tad Evans;
Hawkinsville Dispatch articles furnished by Chris Trowell;
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others;
various other sources.
