The problem with Atkin
The problem with Edmond Atkin is he has no S at the end of his last name.
That's just for starters.
But the real problem right now on 20 July 1757 is that Edmond Atkin ordered 10 Indians to be jailed here in Winchester VA.
Atkin doesn't trust that 2 of the 10 jailed Indians claim to be Cherokee allies.
Yet he is worried what the other Cherokees will think and do.
He is worried most especially of those Cherokee who went out with a company of the Virginia Regiment to scour the woods for enemy.
What will they think of this situation when they get back?
Why fight for the Virginia Regiment while their brothers are put in prison?
Colonel George Washington mentions the Cherokee were finally placated on 30 July 1757. Rebellion was averted. Colonel George Washington writes his letter from Fort Loudoun to Colonel Stanwix who is stationed in Carlisle Pa. :
My former letters wou’d inform you how little share I had in confining the Indians in the public Jail at this place. Fort Loudoun Winchester VA].
Mr Atkin, in His Majesty’s name, applied to me, as commanding Officer, for aid to secure these people; which I thereupon did: but not without first representing the consequences that might, and in some measure, really did happen.
This step was no sooner taken, than the Cherokees in town, about 22 in number, despatched a runner to inform their people, that the English had fallen upon their Brethren; and desired that they (the Cherokees) wou’d stand upon their defence.
Another runner, you are sensible, came to Carlyle to inform the warriors there of it; who returned fully resolved to rescue the prisoners, or die in the attempt.
The former they did, and were so enraged with Mr Atkin that they wou’d hold no conference with him the next day, when he sent to desire it, ’till they had first been with me for information.
I took great pains to convince them that it was a mistake, and happily succeeded; they readily agreed to send an Indian with an Express which I might procure, to their nation, to prevent a massacre of all the Traders and white people there; which they looked upon as inevitable, except timely measures were taken to prevent it.
Where was this prison?
We believe that jail was on the southwest corner of Loudoun and Fairfax Lane, the parking lot of what is now an empty Wells Fargo bank.
Frederick Morton in his book, cited below, writes that George Washington " . . . was compelled to build a military prison on the west side of Main Street (Loudoun St) a little north of the corner occupied by Shenandoah Valley Bank.
Source:
”The Story of Winchester in Virginia, The Oldest Town in the Shenandoah Valley” Frederick Morton, first published 1925, reprinted by Heritage Books 2007, PAGE 82.
After Shenandoah Valley Bank closed, there may have been a different bank before it became First Union and then Wachovia and finally Wells Fargo as of this writing August 28 2014). Now Wells Fargo has closed prior to this writing, July 23, 2021.
This is adjacent to the Lot Washington owned (located on corner of Braddock and Fairfax Lane) where a blacksmith shop stood. Washington had brought his blacksmith from Mt Vernon to work on iron needed for the Fort and the men.
Morton gives the reason that colonials did not trust standing armies and so use of the public jail was refused forcing Washington to build his own jail.
But most likely, James Wood, Clerk of Court, who helped win Washington's first election, probably had other concerns for the public jail.
To have its space filled up with soldiers would leave no room for handling other offenders not associated with Washington's Virginia Regiment.
But back to the real problem at hand.
Threat of Cherokee Rebellion:
This imprisoning of some Cherokee was going to cause a rebellion among our Cherokee allies.
They were sending runners to everywhere of this news. Cherokee runners were going home down south. News of this could have caused revenge killings of all the white traders down there. Colonel George Washington claims he prevented those revenge killings down south in the Cherokee lands.
Cherokee runners went to Carlisle PA where some Cherokees camped out with troops under Colonel Stanwix who was designated overall commander of the southern colonies including Pennsylvania while Lord Loudoun was in Halifax staging an invasion north to the French Fortress Louisbourg.
So who is this Atkin without the S?
And who made him boss?
King George II made him boss.
His title?
This is how Atkin referred to himself in a very angry letter to Colonel George Washington:
"his Majesty’s Agent & Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the four Southern Provinces."
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He is the southern version of William Johnson, the Superintendent of the Indian Affairs in the northern department.
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History's Judgement of Atkin?
Good on paper, not in real life.
Atkin's northern counterpart, William Johnson, was good on both paper and in real life - as far as the Indians were concerned.
There are 3 times Atkin really irritated people in Winchester VA.
One was irritating Colonel George Washington for taking too long to come to Winchester to assume the very Indian Affairs he Atkin pestered everybody to allow him to do.
The other was angering Baker and his company who had captured a French prisoner by criticizing them for interviewing the French prisoner before he Atkin could interrogate that French Prisoner.
The third time is the one we are looking at in this story -- the imprisoning of Indians was about to cause the whole Cherokee nation to rebel.
In all 3 cases, I think Atkin may have had a good argument in his defense, but his style was so abrasive that no one could give Atkin any due process.
One scholar who has studied Atkin -- Wilbur R Jacobs --- has attempted a fair defense of Atkin. But this scholar has been criticized as heavily as Atkin was.
That book is "Diplomacy and Indian Gifts, The French-English Rivalry for Indian Loyalties During the French and Indian War Years 1748-1763" by Wilbur R Jacobs, Wennawoods Publishing, Lewisburg PA, published in 2001.
Here is a bad review. Here is a good review.
Jacob Dean, on the left in photo, is an Indian reenactor from Virginia Beach, who in the tradition of an Indian giving gifts, gave me that book by Wilbur R Jacobs who tries to give Atkin a fair appraisal. The reenactor on the right portrays Atkin and who is highly informative about Atkin. Photo is of an event held in September 2018 at Abram Delight, Winchester VA.
Why is Atkin headquartered in Winchester VA?
That's where the Cherokee and Catawba and others allied to the Virginia Regiment were launching their joint search parties for the enemy French and their Indians.
Winchester was the frontier headquarters. Fort Loudoun was the headquarter fort in Winchester Va.
To get a sense of what led Atkin to Winchester VA, see this timeline.
TIMELINE:
While Atkin created the most comprehensive organized plan for this position of Indian Affairs in 1755, William Johnson was appointed 15 April 1755 from Braddock before Edmond Atkin was appointed in 13 May 1756 by the Board of Trade subject to approval and financing by Lord Loudoun.
Atkin had to get Lord Loudoun's approval and funding.
Atkin kept following Lord Loudoun to Boston in October 1756 then to New York. But no resolution of Atkin's need for approval and funding was to be had. Finally Atkin got an audience with Lord Loudoun in March of 1757 and got some funding. Atkin had grand plans. Those grand plans needed more than what Lord Loudoun gave him.
So on to Williamsburg VA.
He pestered Lt Gov Dinwiddie for funding beyond what Lord Loudoun gave.
Lt Gov Dinwiddie administered this order in 16 May 1757 commanding that Colonel George Washington is to no longer have anything connected to the Indians. This role was to be assigned to Edmond Atkin. Lt Gov Dinwiddie writes:
"You are no longer to have concern with, or management of, Indian affairs. The Honble Mr Atkin is appointed by His Majesty for that extraordinary Service—He is now repairing to Winchester for that purpose, and will I suppose, if he should be obliged to leave it before the Indians return home, appoint some Person to transact the Business in his Absence . . ."
Lt Gov Dinwiddie described Edmond Atkin's territory in a following letter dated 23-27 May 1757:
Edmd Atkin Esqr. who has his Majesty’s Commission to transact & superintend all the Affairs with the different Tribes of Indians the back of Georgia, South & No. Ca⟨r⟩olina & this Dominion;
Finally Atkin arrives in Winchester VA.
Colonel George Washington is fine with not having the responsibility with the Indians.
But when is Atkin going to come to Winchester where the Indian allies are?
And then again in another letter, when is Atkin going to arrive?
No really, when is Atkin really showing up?
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Atkin did not arrive in Winchester VA until 3 June 1757.
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Sources:
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Founders Online Sources
To George Washington
from Edmond Atkin in Winchester VA,
19 June 1757
From George Washington to John Robinson,
10 July 1757
1. Edmond Atkin did make Christopher Gist his deputy. His letter of appointment, dated 25 July 1757, and his extensive instructions to Gist, dated 16 Nov. 1757, are both in Kenneth P. Bailey, Christopher Gist (Hamden, Conn., 1976), 205–17.
From George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie,
11 July 1757
As Mr Atkin will not agree to part with any of the dutch-blankets which came up for the Indians, to replace those of the Regiments, which Colo. Stephen injudiciously gave away. I shall be at a great loss, not having a Blanket left; and unless they can be sent up soon from Williamsburgh, I shou’d be glad to receive orders to send for them to Pennsylvania. I am &c.
To George Washington from Robert Dinwiddie,
13 July 1757
The Guns at Co. Hunters cannot be spar’d at present, but 14 Great Guns mounted at Fort Loudoun I think will make a good Defence. I have been much fatigued in geting Goods for the Inds. which I now send with Invo. under Cover to Mr Atkin, if he is gone open the Letter; & if he has appointed a Deputy deliver them to him; if Mr Gist is the Person I think he must have Capts. Pay; but Mr Atkin wrote me he expected Maryld to contribu⟨te⟩ to the Charge o[f] Presents &ca as it’s hard on this Country to be at the whole Expence—Whoever is left in trus⟨t⟩ by him must be particularly careful in keeping a⟨n⟩ exact Acct, to what Natn of Inds. & at what Times the Goods are given to them—Mr Atkin desir’d a Barrel of Powder & some Lead—which You are to supply.
To George Washington from John Stanwix,
11 July 1757
2. A letter from Gov. William Denny at Philadelphia to Stanwix dated 7 July 1757 includes the following postscript: “Please to forward the enclosd Letter to Mr Atkin ⟨at⟩ Winchester; it comes from Sir William Johnson, & contai⟨ns⟩ Matters of Consequence. If he shoud be gone, Col. Washington will send it after him wherever he is” (DLC:GW). Sir William Johnson’s letter to Edmond Atkin, 21 June 1757, and various enclosures relating to Johnson’s conference with some of the Indians from the Six Nations on 20 June are in Pa. Archives, Col. Rec., 7:623–28.
From George Washington to John Stanwix,
15 July 1757
Mr Atkin has told me day after day, since the date of my first, that his Express wou’d go off the next morning, as he wou’d the preceding evening be able to finish his dispatches to you. This prevented my enquiring after any other conveyance, and is the cause of the delay of my letters ’till now.
An affair has happened at this place which may, I apprehend, be productive of very unhappy consequences: it is this. About 6 days ago came to this town, from Chota, in the cherokee nation, ten Indians; some of whom call themselves Mingo’s tribe of the Six nations; others Cherokees, &c. But, as they gave no good account of their intentions, Mr Atkin suspected their loyalty; and taking them for Spies, has caused them to be put in close confinement, in which they now remain.3
This proceedure greatly alarmed, and at the same time exasperated about 12 cherokees, who were at this place and knew all the prisoners; and has obliged Mr Atkin to send an Express to the South-Branch, to bring Outassity down, who now lies sick there, to clear the matter up. He is not yet arrived.4
Nineteen Indians, and the Officer I mentioned in my last, marched from Fort Cumberland the 9th instant for Ft du Quesne[.] By their return, I hope I shall receive some intelligence worth transmitting to you: At present we are pretty peaceable.
The Philadelphia post, which formerly came to this place, being stopped, prevents our hearing any foreign news, but what are transmitted in the channel of friendly Letters. We greatly regret the loss of this post, and wou’d gladly keep it up by private subscription, from this to Carlyle, if it comes that length.5 I am Your &c.
3. Indian superintendent Edmond Atkin wrote a long and circumstantial letter on 22 July to the commander of Fort Prince George in the Cherokee country giving his version of the affair from the time the party of Cherokee arrived in Winchester on 10 July until he released them from confinement on 21 July. He explained his decision to lock the Indians up in this way: “On the 10th of this Month 10 Indians were conducted up from Williamsburg to this Place to me as Cherokees; they did not come near me that Day. The next Day I was informed that they were not Cherokees, but Northward Indians out of the Six Nations, and that the French and Mingoe Tongues were spoken among them. Their Captain only was brought to me that Day who proved a little in Liquor and spoke to me in the Mingo Tongue by an Interpreter. He said that he came from Chota, that he was the Head Man of all the Cherokee Nation which I knew to be not true. . . . As he was disposed to behave rudely, I was forced to leave him and received further Informations afterwards, which made me suspect those ten Indians being of different Sorts, to be employed by the French. . . . The Day following [12 July] my Suspicions being increased by further Reasons I sent for them all in the Afternoon and having examined them, they gave such Answers to my Questions and so bad an Account of themselves and their Business . . . I caused them all to be put under Confinement” (McDowell, S.C. Indian Affairs, 1754–1765, 406–8).
4. Atkin wrote that after he confined the ten Indians, “a few Cherokees then in this Town (without a Headman) discovered their Uneasiness thereupon signifying that there were 2 or 3 of their People among them. I had no Interpreter . . . but questioned them by making them sensible that no Hurt was intended to any of the Cherokees, our Friends and Brothers, and I immediately dispatched an Express the same Hour to Otojoity of Tomotley [Otacite Ostenaco of Tomatly] and Jud’s Friend [Judge’s Friend] then at or in the Neighbourhood of Fort Cumberland . . . to acquaint them with what had been done, desiring them to come down immediately. . . . They were both ill of the Fever and therefore could not set out immediately. But Outosuity of Tomatley and Testoe of Keowee sent me a Letter, desiring me not to let them escape before they should come, for that they believed them to be Enemies” (ibid.). Ostenaco of Tomatly and Judge’s Friend are usually identified as the same person.
To George Washington from John Stanwix,
18 July 1757
a Cherokee Indian is just arrived here & has put the ten indians waiting at this place for Prestents from this Collony into very ill humour, by telling them that their Brothers have been put into Prison at Winchester, so that is with the Greatest difficulty I could prevale with them to stay ’till this afternoon to take with them to our Fort Loudoun £400 worth, of presents to be there distributed after they joyn, but these Cherokees have insisted upon their interpreter Mr Smith going off directly to you to know the cause and have given them the Strongest assurance (wch I am sure I could do with great safety) that you will do them the greatest justice, and if any mistake has happen’d that you will make them the most ample satisfaction as Mr Smith their interpreter & the bear[e]r of this is press’d much by the Indians to set of so it prevents my saying any more than that I am with great truth Sir Your most obedt humble Servt1
1. See GW to Stanwix, 15 July 1757, for an account of Edmond Atkin’s imprisonment of ten Cherokee warriors. Atkin wished “to enquire of Richard Smith whether he knew of any of those Indians. He was at that Time out with another Party of Cherokees at that Time [sic] lately called the Swallows. When I stopped the 10 Indians I knew not where to find him, but two Days after, hearing he was at Carlisle with Col. Stanwix, I dispatched a Letter to him, ordering him to acquaint Outossity of Estatoe, the Chief of that Party and the Swallows, Nejohew [sic], of what had happened, and to desire them to return here immediately with him. Unluckily that Letter missed them by an Hour or two. But two Cherokees who had gone privately from hence, by telling them a very imperfect Story made them very angry. Immediately on their coming into this Town [Winchester] Yesterday, all the ten Indians were taken out of Confinement and put into their own Hands. They answered for the Whole as being Freinds and a Present being recommended by them and accepted by those Indians to make them amends for their Confinement and wipe away their Sorrow all are well satisfied” (Atkin to the Commander of Fort Prince George, 22 July 1757, in McDowell, S.C. Indian Affairs, 1754–1765, 406–8). For a slightly different version of this denouement, see GW to Stanwix, 30 July 1757.
To George Washington
from Edmond Atkin,
20 July 1757
When the 10 Indians were taken into Custody yesterday was Se’nnight,1 you may remember I expressed my Desire, that they might be treated in point of Necessaries rather better than before, because it was pretended that two of them were Cherokees
OTHER SOURCES
Wikipedia
Wikipedia footnote
O'Toole, Fintan (2005). White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4668-9269-9.
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Indians of the Southern Colonial frontier. The Edmond Atkin report and plan of 1755. Edited with an introd. by Wilbur R. Jacobs.
Online Books by Edmond Atkin
Wilbur R. Jacobs · 2019 · History
Book Review: Diplomacy and Indian Gifts: Anglo-French ... https://journals.psu.edu › wph › article › view by RC Downes · 1951 — Book Review: Diplomacy and Indian Gifts: Anglo-French Rivalry along the Ohio and Northwest Frontiers, 1748-1763. by Wilbur R. Jacobs. Book Reviews.
by WR Jacobs · 1949 · Cited by 37 — the Protocol of Indian Diplomacy. Wilbur R. Jacobs * ... plomacy and Indian Gifts, Anglo-French Rivalry on the Ohio and Northwest Fron- tiers, I748-
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The Prison
Lot 76 is where a prison sat
on what is now the back parking lot of a closed Wells Fargo branch on the southwest corner of Loudoun and Fairfax Lane. Source: Frederick Morton,”The Story of Winchester in Virginia, The Oldest Town in the Shenandoah Valley”, first published 1925, reprinted by Heritage Books 2007, PAGE 82.
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Of this prison, GW writes Lt Gov Dinwiddie, “As your Honor was pleased to leave to my discretion, to punish or pardon the criminals, I have resolved on the latter; since I find example of so little weight, and since those poor unhappy criminals have undergone no small pain of body and mind, in a dark prison, closely ironed!3
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Lot 45 is our Captain George Mercer’s lot. He was GW’s aid de camp too. p.44.
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All correspondence between Edmond Atkin and GW:
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About Atkin and extensive Indian activities:
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Scots and Indian Trade
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In 1755, a South Carolinian submitted a report and a plan to the Board
of Trade in London that shed much light on frontier conditions. Edmund
Atkin (1707–1761), himself a successful Charleston merchant in the Indian
trade, was tactless, quarrelsome, pompous, arrogant, and inept. And he did not
play favorites, angering whites and Indians alike. One incident highlights the
personal danger of operating in Indian country, the volatile atmosphere that
always lurked beneath the surface when whites and Indians met, and the
damage that could be done by offensive deportment or ill-chosen words. It
was described by the trader James Adair, on one occasion while in council
in the Upper Creek town of Tuckabatchee, which was located in present-day
Elmore County, Alabama, northeast of modern Montgomery. Atkin so
enraged the Creek warrior Tobacco Eater, “who had always before been very
kind to the British traders,” that Tobacco Eater “jumped up in a rage, and
darted his tomahawk at his head.”The blade hit a beam as it came down and
struck Atkin only a glancing blow. But blood spurted, and pandemonium
ensued. Traders fearing all would be massacred fled in every direction. But
several Creeks friendly to the English sprang upon Tobacco Eater and threw
him to the ground and bound him. Thus, Adair wrote, was “prevented those
dangerous consequences which must otherwise have immediately followed.
Beginnings 21
Had the aimed blow succeeded, the savages would have immediately put up
the war and death whoop, destroyed most of the white people there on the
spot, and set off in great bodies, both to the Cherakee country, and against
our valuable settlements.”30
Yet Atkin was intelligent, well educated, and a good observer. And unlike
many, if not most, of his fellow merchants, he believed strongly that central
control and regulation of the Indian trade was necessary if England was
to best France in the momentous war for North America then being waged.
His general approach was neither unique nor new to the authorities in London.
Various proposals by well-known colonials had been submitted to the
Board of Trade during the early 1750s. But his plan, wrote the historian
Wilbur Jacobs, “was truly the first comprehensive, well-organized design for
Indian management submitted to British authorities.”31
Atkin divided the colonies into northern and southern departments,
with a superintendent of Indian affairs for each. The northern superintendency
would be filled by the famous and very able Anglo Irishman Sir
William Johnson, whose main responsibility would be the powerful Iroquois
Confederacy of central and western New York, among whom he lived, married,
and begot children. His baronial home, Johnson Hall, still stands in the
Mohawk Valley. Atkin was made superintendent of the Southern Department,
in which he served from his appointment in 1756 until his death in
October 1761.
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Long after Atkin is gone, there are still complaints on how he left the situation in Winchester VA.
From George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, 5 November 1757
The sincere disposition the Cherokees have betrayed to espouse our cause heartily, has been demonstrated beyond the most distant doubt: and if rewarded in the manner in which that laudable and meritorious disposition entitles them to, wou’d, in all human probability, soon effect a favourable change in the present (apparently) desperate situation of this poor, unhappy part of His majesty’s Dominions. But, in the stead of meeting with that great encouragement which the essential Services of that brave people undoubtedly merit; several of them, after having undergone the rudest toils and fatigues of an excessively long march—destitute of all the conveniences, and almost necessaries of life—and, (to give us still more convincing proofs of their strong attachment to our interest) in that very situation, went to war; and in the way behaved nobly (from which we reaped a signal advantage;) and, when they returned here with an enemys’ scalp, Baggage, and other trophies of Honor, they must have gone home without any kind of reward or thanks—or even provisions to support them on their march—justly fired with the highest resentment for their mal-treatment—had not I and my Officers strained a point, procured them some Things of which they were in absolute want, and made it the object of our care, in various respects, to please them.1
Another party of those Indians since very opportunely arrived to our assistance, at the very juncture the enemy made an irruption into this settlement, pursued their tracks, came up with 3 of them, two of whom they scalped, and wounded the third. They are now returned from this pursuit and are nearly in the same situation with those above-mentioned. I applied to Captn Gist in their behalf; and told him I must represent the matter to your Honor.2 But he assures me that he has neither Goods to reward them, money to procure them; or even an Interpreter; which totally incapacitates him for doing any kind of service. If so (which I have no reason to doubt), it is surprizing that any man shou’d be entrusted with the negotiating of such important affairs, and not be possess’d of the means to accomplish the undertaking: By which he, and several others who receive high pay from virginia, are not only rendered useless, but our Interest with those Indians is at the brink of destruction. Whenever a party arrives here, they immediately apply to me: But I have neither any thing to give them, nor any right to do it. Nor is there any body to inform them, to what these and their other disappointments is owing: which reduces me to such a dilemma as I wou’d most gladly be extricated from.
To George Washington from Robert Dinwiddie, 14 November 1757
From Robert Dinwiddie Williamsburg Novr 14th 1757 Sir Yr Letter of the 5th I duly recd & I am much surpriz’d at what You write that the Indn Affairs have been impeeded by a Train of Mismanagemt when I consider Mr Atkin’s Report that he had established every Thing in regard to those People in a most regular Manner1 I have wrote the Necessary to Ct. Gist on that Head, & order’d up a Quantity of Goods from Petersburg for that Service which I hope will be at Winchester before this reaches You—I have it much at Heart to encourage the Cherokees & did not doubt but Mr Atkin had agreeable to his Declaratn fix’d every Thing in proper Order, if any Deficiency I hope the Goods sent up will supply;2 & Ct. Gist writes that he sent away the last 20, & nine that came before, tolerably pleas’d, by the Advance of some Goods;3 & You write that with the advice of Yr Officers You stretch’d a Point in supplyg them with some Necessaries, which I suppose was more than what Ct. Gist had given them. I am glad the last Party had the Success of scalping two & wounding a third of the Enemy, they are to be applauded & rewarded for their Service—Gist complains he has no Goods which surprizes me, when Mr Atkin says he left upwards of 800£ in Goods, with him; I believe they were design’d for the Catawbas, but on Occasion they shd be made use of for those Indians that may come to our Assistance, & those for the Catawbas may hereafter be compleated, as the Country has sent Home for a large Quantity. The Interpreter Smith left this a Month ago contrary to my Opinion Mr Atkin sent him by Augusta but I hope he is with You long before this reaches You[.] Gist’s Employmt is to take Care of the Inds. & to deliver them Presents with Discretion, & he has Goods for that Purpose, if not restrain’d by Mr Atkin’s Instructions, but I suppose he now writes him fully how to act. Mr Boyd carried up Money to pay Ct. Gist & the others employ’d by Mr Atkin till the 14th of last Month: the Neglect or Delay of the Interpreter has occasion’d some Difficulties entirely owing to Mr Atkin sending him by Augusta, but I hope he is now with You.
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compiled and updated by Jim Moyer July 2021, updated 1/27/2022
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