The text on this monument gives a good overview of Colonel Hawkins’ life. [Some of the language would hopefully not be used today, such as referring to Native Americans as ‘savages’. I don’t think it’s “politically correct” to find that offensive]. Erected in 1931 by the United States government to commemorate the life and public service of Colonel Benjamin Hawkins, who was born in Warren County, N. C. August 15, 1754 and died at the Creek Indian Agency on the Flint River, June 6, 1816. He was a student at Princeton and shortly after the beginning of the Revolution became a member of General Washington’s staff with the rank of Colonel, serving with distinction throughout the war. He was one of the first senators from North Carolina and was conspicuous for his interest in Indian affairs. Colonel Hawkins was asked by General Washington to assume jurisdiction over all the Indian tribes south of the Ohio River. At the height of his career he came to Georgia and established his home among the Creek Indians on the banks of the Flint River in Crawford County. He built the fort which was named in his honor on the Ocmulgee River at Macon and lived there while the fort was being erected, but his permanent home was at the Creek Agency. His body lies on a bluff overlooking the Flint River where he lived among the savage tribes for 16 years, a man of letters, a mediator of peace and faithful unto death.
Colonel Benjamin Hawkins – Public Domain Image via Wikipedia
Roberta Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This monument, placed as a centennial remembrance by the Roanoke Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the WPA in 1936, commemorates the bloodiest engagement of the largely forgotten Creek War of 1836. The main text reads: On this site was fought the Battle of Shepherd’s Plantation between Creek Indians and pioneer settlers aided by volunteer soldiers stationed at Forts Ingersol Jones and McCreary under Major Henry W. Jernigan and Captain Hamilton Garmany. A second tablet lists the four Stewart Countians killed in the battle: Captain Robert Billups; Jared Irwin*; David Delk; and —-Hunter. *-[Jared Irwin was the nephew of Governor Jared Irwin].
I believe commemorations of victories and massacres against Native Americans should tell the whole story about their removal but I believe they’re important as geographical markers and should invite broader study.
Erected on 12 October 1934 by the Georgia Society and John Ball Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, this marker is located on the lawn of the beautiful Allentown Methodist Church. It glorifies early white settlers who helped run Native Americans off land that was rightfully theirs, so I’m glad that such a commemoration would likely not be considered today. Nonetheless, its integral to the history of the area. It reads: Intersection of Carolina, West Florida, and Savannah Lower Creek Trails. Traditional Indian Village Site and Burial Grounds. Early White Settlement and Haven for Refugee Families in 1812 Indian Alarms. Though I can’t find a reference to the “Indian Alarms” in a quick scan of the literature, I’m sure the term “haven for refugee families” suggests that Allentown was an early outpost in the westward expansion of Georgia.
In 1870 a group of Croatan Indians migrated from Robeson County North Carolina, following the turpentine industry to southeast Georgia. Their knowledge and historical association with pinelands made them natural choices for this industry, and unfortunately, their social class at the time made them vulnerable to its exploitation. Many became tenant farmers for the Adabelle Trading Company, growing cotton and tobacco. Tenant farming and turpentining were connected in that they provided housing and commissary goods for their employees, resulting in a type of indentured servitude. They established the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Adabelle, as well as a school and this nearby cemetery. After the collapse of the Adabelle Trading Company, the Croatans faced both economic hardship and social injustice. As a result, most members of the community returned to North Carolina by 1920. The Croatans are thought to be historically connected/related to the Roanoke-Hatteras people, but scholarship on these tribes is debated and constantly evolving.
The small cemetery is located deep down a row of planted pines. Few headstones remain, though there are five or six, likely of local people somehow connected to the tribe. Sadly, they were so overgrown when I visited that photographs were not possible. I believe descendants have made pilgrimages to maintain it over the years, but they are quite distant and can’t come very often.
Text of the Marker: In memory of Lucinda Locklear, Pink Locklear, Hezie Emanuel and Margaret Adline Locklear, and the other dauntless Indians from Robeson County, North Carolina, who settled, lived, and died here sometime between the close of the Civil War and the 1920s and whose graves are unmarked. Dedicated June 4, 1989.
The Murphy families were among early pioneer settlers who migrated from Duplin and Sampson Counties, North Carolina to this area between the 1790’s and early 1800’s. This area and surrounding land was inhabited by Lower Creek Indian tribes with campgrounds located along the nearby Ochlocknee River. It appears that these lands, for the most part, been explored on a limited basis by early settlers (early maps indicate that DeSoto’s expedition may have also visited nearby areas). The Murphys, along with several other families (Carlton’s, Lanier’s, Sloan’s and Alderman’s) apparently made several trips between here and North Carolina, using the old Thigpen Trail, in an effort to make a permanent settlement. These early families endured many hardships and dangers to establish a farming and trading community.
After the 1814 Creek and Seminole Indian war, these lands were ceded to the United States by the Treaties of 1814 and 1818, and became part of three counties granted charters under the State of Georgia. This local area was originally part of Irwin County, then part of Thomas County and now part of present-day Colquitt County. The Murphy’s and other families acquired these lands which had been divided into Land Lots of 490 acres and granted under the State Land Lotteries of 1818 and 1820. As pioneer settlers, they brought prosperity to the region, with large sheep and cattle operations, along with other agricultural crops (corn, tobacco, and cotton). At one time, the Murphy family land holdings reportedly were from just below present-day Meigs Road near Moultrie south to areas near the current Thomas County line. These early settlers operated commercial enterprises (including a gristmill, timber and sawmill, narrow gauge rail, retail stores, and turpentine stills), and also worked to establish a post office and school for the thriving and growing Murphy community. Land for the Murphy School was purchased by L.T. Dunlap, George Murphy, J.T. Kennedy, and T.A. Redding and donated to the School Board in 1906. When the Murphy School was subsequently combined with Sunset School, the land was deeded back to the Murphy Cemetery.
Among the original settlers (including several Murphy brothers) was Henry Murphy, whose son, James Murphy, was a community leader during reconstruction and a candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives in 1876. He was defeated in a controversial election and is buried at the Shade Murphy Cemetery, where several of the original families are also interred. It is located about 2.5 miles west of this site.
This marker is located near the original Murphy settlement and on land known as the Murphy Cemetery which was donated to the community for a burial site by Gibson Lanier (his parents, Murphy and Temperance Carlton Lanier, are buried at the Shade Murphy Cemetery). Gibson Lanier and his family and eight of James and Elisabeth Ann Murphy’s children are buried here. Many of the descendants of these early families are also interred in the Murphy Cemetery. This historical marker is intended to honor the memory and sacrifices of those pioneer ancestors, who were among the original settlers of this region.
Pioneer Wiregrass settlers mistakenly thought the root of this odd member of the carrot family [not the Yucca family, as the name would imply] to be an antidote to rattlesnake bites. In earlier history, indigenous peoples used the dried seed heads of Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) as rattles.
