James Seagrove

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James Seagrove was an ambassador for the United States to the Creek Nation and merchant who lived in southern Georgia.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is a federally recognized Native American tribe based in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The nation descends from the historic Creek Confederacy, a large group of indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands. Official languages include Muscogee, Yuchi, Natchez, Alabama, and Koasati, with Muscogee retaining the largest number of speakers. They commonly refer to themselves as Este Mvskokvlke. Historically, they were often referred to as one of the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast.

Contents

Early career as a merchant and trader

Although Seagrove's early life is obscure, he was probably born in southern Ireland in 1767. [1] He first appears helping the states of Georgia and South Carolina to procure supplies from Cuba during the American Revolutionary War.

American Revolutionary War War between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, which won independence as the United States of America

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.

After the war, Seagrove moved to Camden County, Georgia. During the 1780s, acting occasionally with the British firm of Panton, Leslie & Company, Seagrove developed a network of mercantile and diplomatic contacts with the Spanish and the Indians along the Georgia borders, and both the state and the federal government utilized his talents in a series of missions to the southern tribes. [1]

Camden County, Georgia County in the United States

Camden County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 Census, the population was 50,513. Its county seat is Woodbine, and the largest city is St. Marys. It is one of the original counties of Georgia, created February 5, 1777. It is the 11th largest county in the state of Georgia by area, and the 41st largest by population.

Panton, Leslie & Company

Panton, Leslie & Company was a company of Scottish merchants active in trading in the Bahamas and with the Native Americans of what is now the Southeastern United States during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Early on, he purchased land and ran a store on Point Peter. Seagrove was one of twenty men who created the town of St. Marys, on the St. Marys River, in 1787. [2] He also formed a charter with his brother Robert Seagrove, and James Armstrong and Noble Hardee for the town of Coleraine also on the St. Marys River, where he operated a mercantile store. [3] He received permission to trade with the Lower Creeks from Chief Alexander McGillivray. [4]

St. Marys, Georgia City in Georgia, United States of America

St. Marys is a city in Camden County, Georgia, United States. The city is the gateway to Cumberland Island National Seashore, the largest of the Georgia Coast's barrier islands. The National Seashore's visitor center and boat access are both located at the St. Marys waterfront. The city is also home to the annual St. Marys Rock Shrimp Festival, the St. Marys Submarine Museum, and Crooked River State Park. Its territory is immediately bordered by Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, which is the home port for several Ohio-class submarines. The population of St. Marys was 17,121 as of the 2010 Census.

Colerain is an extinct town in Camden County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place. A variant name was "Coleraine".

Alexander McGillivray Muscogee leader

Alexander McGillivray, also known as Hoboi-Hili-Miko, was a Muscogee (Creek) leader. The son of a Muscogee mother and a Scottish father, he had skills no other Creek of his day had: he was not only literate but educated, and he knew the "white" world and merchandise trading well. These gave him prestige, especially with European-Americans, who were glad to finally find a Creek leader they could talk to and deal with. He used his role as link between the two worlds to his advantage, not always fairly, and became the richest Creek of his time.

Public service on the Georgia-Florida frontier

In 1787, Seagrove was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1788, Seagrove and Henry Osborne, also of Camden County, were candidates for Representative to the First United States Congress of 1789. Both Seagrove and Osborne lost to Abraham Baldwin.

Georgia House of Representatives

The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members.

Henry Osborne was a public official from Pennsylvania and Georgia.

In 1789, Seagrove was appointed a Collector of the State of Georgia under Congress, an appointment for which he wrote to George Washington for support. [5] The post was at St. Marys, and the town became the site of a U.S. Customs Port. [6] Dissatisfied with an appointment which had produced "not one shilling," Seagrove wrote to President Washington on 16 April 1790 [7] requesting a more lucrative assignment and in March 1792 he was made inspector of the port. [8]

George Washington 1st president of the United States

George Washington was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who also served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War of Independence, and he presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the new federal government. He has been called the "Father of His Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation.

Job role of a person in a society

A job, or occupation, is a person's role in society. More specifically, a job is an activity, often regular and often performed in exchange for payment. Many people have multiple jobs. A person can begin a job by becoming an employee, volunteering, starting a business, or becoming a parent. The duration of a job may range from temporary to a lifetime.

He also served as a Commissioner to the Spanish government in Florida, going to St. Augustine in 1791 to discuss fugitive slaves from the United States entering East Florida. [9]

In 1793, Seagrove undertook a mission to Tukabatchee, a 'capital' town of the Creek Nation. [3]

In 1796, the Treaty of Colerain between the Creeks and United States was signed at the small town Seagrove had founded.

James Seagrove's death date cannot be found, but it is known he was a participant in the Patriot Expedition in 1811.

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References

  1. 1 2 Coleman, Georgia Biography, 2:876–78
  2. ↑ John H. Christian. The Founders of St. Marys. 1990.
  3. 1 2 Daniel M. Smith. James Seagrove and the Mission to Tuckabatchee, 1793. The Georgia Historical Quarterly, Vol 44, No 1. March 1960, p 41-55.
  4. ↑ J. W. Caughey. McGillivray of the Creeks. Norman Oklahoma, 1938. 286-288.
  5. ↑ “To George Washington from James Seagrove, 24 July 1789,” Founders Online, National Archives. Source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 3,15 June 1789–5 September 1789, ed. Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1989, pp. 306–308. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-03-02-0169
  6. ↑ Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States. Vol. I. Page 11.
  7. ↑ Library of Congress. George Washington Papers.
  8. ↑ Executive Journal, Vol.1. 105, 106
  9. ↑ "Enclosure III: Agreement on Fugitive Slaves, 7 August 1791," Founders Online, National Archives (https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-22-02-0383, ver. 2013-06-26). Source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 22, 6 August 1791 – 31 December 1791, ed. Charles T. Cullen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986, pp. 408–409.
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