RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
His ancestor stood in the presence of George Washington
All his life, Larry Odom's mother and aunts told him, "We had a family member kidnapped by Indians" This was all they knew; this one bit of information passed down through the generations. So Odom began a genealogical search to find this family member and what he has pieced together is not only the genealogical link, but also some very interesting history. Odom is a direct descendant of Hannah Hale and the Creek Indian chief, "Far Off Warrior." Hopaie, also known as Little Prince and Birdtail King, brought Hannah from Georgia back to his village known by traders as the "Fish Ponds," located on the Coosa River in present-day Coosa County, Alabama. Hannah would bear five children to Far Off Warrior: Polly, Mary, Jane (Jennie), David and Samuel Hale. The children took the surname of their mother. At the council held in 1799 at Tuckahatchee, Benjamin Hawkins told Hannah she was free to go back to her people, but she elected to remain with her children.
Hannah Hale's son David died at what today is Pass Christian, Miss. during the Indian Removal. Samuel Hale escaped and continued to live in what today is Monroe County. Hannah Hale is buried at Autauga Town/Village, Alabama. Odom has not located her grave. At one time in individual treaties with Indians, the U.S. government gave them land, but Indians could live on it only so long as the person to whom it was given survived; it could not be passed on to children or family. Hannah Hale's family was given approximately 640 acres in Monroe County. This land was sold at her death. Odom has found copies of deeds attesting to this. In 1790 a deputation from the Creek Indian Nation accompanied Alexander McGillvray to New York to negotiate the Treaty of 1790. Among them were Chief Far Off Warrior and his father, Chief Mad Dog. (Chief Mad Dog would become chief of the Creek Indian Nation in 1793 when he succeeded Alexander McGillivray.) John Trumbull, now famous for his paintings of Colonial American history, including the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, Bunker Hill and others, had just finished a fulllength portrait of George Washington in July that same year. In the Trumbull portrait, General Washington is in full uniform. After dinner, Washington, again in full uniform, invited several of the principal chiefs to take a walk with him. He had instructed Trumbull to place his full-length portrait in an advantageous light facing the entrance to the painting-room. When the door to the painting-room was thrown open, the Indians according to Trumbull, were struck mute with astonishment and even more with perplexity on seeing before them another and identical White Father transfixed on thin fabric. Trumbull wanted to paint some of these Creek chiefs who "possess a dignity of manner, form, countenance and expression worthy of Roman senators." However, the Indians "thought that there was magic in an art which could render a smooth flat surface so like a real man. I however succeeded in obtaining drawings of several by stealth." (John Trumbull, Autobiography, New York, 1841, p. 165) Since these likenesses were done by stealth, it is probable that Trumbull sketched them during one of the several gatherings between the time the Indians arrived in the city on the 21st of July and the formal ratification ceremonies in Federal Hall on the 13th of August. Research shows that Thomas Jefferson was also present at several of these meetings. Alabama history recounts the attack on August 20, 1813, by some 750 to 1,000 Creek warriors led by William Weatherford, (Red Eagle) upon a stockade that contained the fortified home and outbuildings belonging to Samuel Mims, located in what is today upper Baldwin County. At least 550 settlers and slaves had crowded into the tiny stockade, along with friendly Indians. Major Daniel Beasley who was in charge, ignored several warnings, one of which was given by a scout riding by who shouted a warning of seeing a throng of Indians heading toward the Mims' place. Beasley also ignored this last warning and what resulted is reportedly the single largest slaughter of white settlers by Indians in North America. In addition to the famed William Weatherford, among the other Creek Chiefs who participated in the attack were Chief Mad Dog and his son, Chief Far Off Warrior. This would be the last battle for Far Off Warrior, for he, too, died at Fort Mims. Now to accomplish a direct line back to a 12-year-old kidnapped in Georgia, circa 1777, is quite a feat; but Odom topped that. Through an Ebay link to a store in Georgia that specializes in old documents, maps, etc., he came upon a signed drawing of "Birdtail King of the Cusitahs." Odom knew "Birdtail King" to be one of the names for Hannah's husband and knew he had found a likeness of his 18th century Indian ancestor. This sketch was not just any signed sketch; it was a Trumbull sketch, the painter of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, etc., Of course, this was not the original. That one is probably in the Smithsonian. What he acquired is an 1841 reprint of Trumbull's original signed sketch, and in itself is quite a historical artifact. The pencil sketch by John Trumbull of Larry Odom's, great, great, great, great Creek ancestor was done in stealth because the Indian chiefs considered the painting of George Washington to be some kind of "magic"; how could Washington stand before them speaking, yet also, stand there on canvas. One can only imagine what Far Off Warrior might think of the "magic" which allowed his grandson to put words on a lighted flat surface and "talk" to a store in Georgia and buy his likeness 194 years after he was killed in the attack on Fort Mims. It all seems so very long ago: the hostilities that arose as more and more white settlers encroached further and further into the wilderness that became the state of Alabama; and the Creek Indians were pushed off more and more land upon which they had lived for generations. For most of us, the Fort Mims massacre is just one more historical event in Alabama history books. But for Larry Odom, who has traced his ancestry both to a 12-year-old girl kidnapped in Georgia by a Creek chief, who would stand in the presence of George Washington, it is a bit more.
Larry has the 1841 sketch beautifully matted and framed, and I'm sure it hangs in a prominent place in his home; and I'm just as sure that he will pass on the story of Hannah and Far Off Warrior to his descendants.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
