Tomochichi and Mary Founders of Georgia

Tomochichi and his nephew Toonahowie

​One could say that Tomochichi and Mary Musgrove are the founders of Georgia. They were encouraged to settle in the Savannah area years before Oglethorpe by the Carolina colony at the bequest of the Governor. Their settlement of a part of the land between the Spanish and British would help solidify the “Debatable Lands” as being the British.  So when Oglethorpe came up the Savannah River looking for a place to build the first city in the colony, he came to the Yamacraw Bluff where Mary and Tomochichi already had settled.

Not only would Tomochichi and Mary grant him the very ground beneath their feet they would also ensure the colony survived. It would be Tomochichi who would convince the Creeks to let Savannah exist in peace. He would be the peacemaker and ally of Oglethorpe. He would be the voice to let the Creeks know they should seek peace with the English. The Creeks should learn the English ways. He also would guide Oglethorpe where to establish the southern borders of Georgia, where to construct the first roads of Georgia, and when the in trouble Oglethorpe needed him to travel to England to impress the Trustees he went.

Mary acted as translator and go between Oglethorpe and the Creeks. She would also be the hand that literally fed the early colonists with the food from her farms before they learned to grow and harvest their own crops. She was the advisor to the local military of threats that might be coming from the Native Americans or Spanish. She also provided and recruited braves to fight with Oglethorpe or act as scouts. She provided supplies and money to the colonists for their military defense. And more importantly for some, her trading posts were the only place one could find rum in the colony.

Mary and Tomochichi were the forces that ensured the colonists and Oglethorpe’s endeavors were fruitful. A point in fact Mary would remain in the colony for the rest of her life while Oglethorpe went back to England and never came back. Both Mary and Tomochichi would die here in the colony unlike Oglethorpe. Tomochichi would even be buried in the center of Savannah, to symbolically and literally show that he and the Creeks were a part of the new colony. As for Mary she would be buried on St. Catherine’s Island.

So how have these two founders been treated in history? Both would be lauded as helpers not equals to Oglethorpe. Tomochichi’s grave would literally have in a historical moment of irony a railroad man’s monument placed on his grave. Mary would be vilified as a nasty woman when she demanded to be repaid money and land she was promised.
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So it is with a smile that I say if you want to know more about the Creeks of Savannah and Georgia there is a book called Native American History of Savannah for sale.

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Mary with her husband Thomas Bosomworth

Tomochichi and other Creeks meeting the Trustees of Georgia