Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsGeneral Willcox And Indians Fought But Kept The Faith In 1836
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
I remarked the other day where we found evidence that General Mark Willcox, would, on occasion, have "excited feelings." The year 1836 would by no means disappoint him. That year brought more of those feelings for him and anyone else who might be around the neighborhood. But it wasn't all bad. Just some of it.
1836 was a good year in many respects for folks around Jacksonville, Georgia, and Telfair County. Babies were being born and that was good. Joseph B. and Sarah Fletcher Williams would bring into the world a little fellow they named Wiley J. Williams. He was one of the Civil War babies. That is, he was a baby in 1836 who became a soldier in the Civil War. Wiley J. was one of the lucky ones. He made it back from the Civil War in one piece (alive). His father suffered a worse fate. In 1860, he was violently killed in a steamboat explosion on the Ocmulgee River.
The General (Mark Willcox) probably pondered life and death many times as he stood looking at the grave of his first wife, Jane Parramore Willcox. He didn't know it at the time but later Joseph B. Williams would have a gravestone placed in that same cemetery at Old Concord. But his body wasn't there - just some personal belongings; his body was never found. It was said their clothes were found up in the trees on the river banks. That was bad.
And folks were getting married. That seemed good, too. Here is a list of some of those young folks who tied the knot along the Ocmulgee in 1836:
- Barrow, John married McClendon, Harriett on 06 Jan 1836
- Hutchins, Margaret married White, Simeon on 07 Jan 1836
- Burke, Napoleon B. married Merritt, Mary on 13 Mar 1836
- Douglass, Martin married Stewart, Mary Ann on 06 May 1836
- Hall, Supina married Langford, Parish on 28 May 1836
- Crums, Mary married Jones, Robert W. on 16 Jun 1836
- Gill, Drucilla married Varnedoe, Alfred B. on 30 Jun 1836
- Thomas, Ezekiel married Ward, Meheasha on 02 Sep 1836
- Graham, Mary B. married Studstill, Hustus on 23 Oct 1836
- Graham, Flora married Mizell, William on 01 Dec 1836
Now, Mark Willcox knew just about all of these folks, if not all of them. He knew the Mizells well because they lived around the Temperance area and were Methodists, too. Mark was a Methodist and worshiped at Old Allston Church.
From the Mizell history, it appears that they, like many other pioneer families, ventured far and near in the southeast (and other places, too). Evidently, some of them went to Alabama (Russell County) and when things got hot there with the Indians they scooted back to Georgia to seek a haven of safety with the Mizells back here. Below is the account of this exciting time:
"My Mizell and Edwards grandparents and their families were living in Russell County at the time of the Indian war in 1836. One of my uncles, William Williams, nearly always had several Indians working for him. These Indians liked him and his family and when they knew that there was going to be war with the whites, they warned my uncle and told him that he and his people had better leave the country. Grandfather Mizell was a local Methodist minister and Missionary to the Indians. The Indians had great respect and reverence for him; they had the utmost confidence in what he told them, and often went to him for advice and counsel. They told him that they did not want him or his family ever to be hurt by their people. So, on the eve of war, they warned him to leave the country, and my Grandfather Mizell with Uncle William Williams and other white settlers took their families in wagons to their relatives in Georgia. Some of their property they took with them, but much of it was left at their homes.
When they returned after all danger was passed, much of their property had been destroyed and some of their houses burned. But the Indians had harmed nothing at Grandfather Mizell's place. They said that Grandfather was a good man, and that they were afraid the Great Spirit would be angry with them if they destroyed anything belonging to him".
Now, those Alabama Indians didn't play around with their enemies, either. We learned that back in 1813, when they massacred quite a few folks (around 300 or so) at old Fort Mims (Alabama). Mark Willcox remembered, as a boy of only fourteen, that the Fort Mims horror was one of the very main reasons General Blackshear so hastily erected forts along the Ocmulgee. Little did he know at the time that he and his daddy, John Willcox, would be putting old Fort Adams at Temperance to good use against the Indians. It was at Fort Adams that they mustered men to go after the Indians at Breakfast Branch.
Another thing that probably perplexed General Willcox was the fact that the Indians and settlers both worshiped a higher power, but they could not come to terms themselves. Why, the Indians even had a list of ten commandments. Here they are:
"Indian Ten Commandments:
1 - Remain close to the Great Spirit
2 - Show great respect for all your fellow beings
3 - Give assistance and kindness wherever needed
4 - Be truthful and honest at all times
5 - Do what you know to be right
6 - Look after the well being of mind and body
7 - Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect
8 - Take full responsibility for your actions
9 - Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good
10 - Work together for the benefit of all mankind"
Now, some of those sayings would fit right in with some of the local civic clubs, and one could argue that they might even satisfy some scriptural intent. Sadly, the Indians could not keep all those those moral and spiritual guidelines. And they weren't by themselves. Neither could the pioneer settlers. It seemed like The Old Deluder, Satan, was working both camps fulltime.
And General Mark Willcox might have just looked at his eight year-old son, John Coffee Willcox, and wondered: "Great day, boy, I wonder what's in store for you?" And some of that wasn't so good, either.
And another thing: 1836 wasn't over, either, and we will talk about that next week.
Credits:
Ann Carswell for letters of and notes on Gen. Mark Willcox;
Willcox Family History by Martha Albertson;
Pioneer Days Along the Ocmulgee by Fussell Chalker;
History of Telfair County (1807-1987);
info furnished by Chris Trowell;
The Mizell Family History;
Indian Ten Commandments;
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others.
