466 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



ings, the negroes, whose happy and contented faces and 

 cheerful glee, always adds a charm to a night landing 

 upon a southern or western river. 



During all the 24th, we were sailing between some of 

 the finest plantations upon this rich river. The Oswichee 

 Bend, formerly owned by General Hamilton,^ has lately 

 been purchased, with some 280 servants, by Mr. Wright, 

 of Cheraw, South Carolina. The price, $140,000, is con- 

 sidered low. The last crop sold for $22,000. I believe 

 there are about 3,000 acres of land, including the hills, 

 though a thousand acres, more or less, is not considered 

 in sales of this kind ; the number of servants and number 

 of cotton bales produced, is the criterion of value. 



Average Crops upon Bottom Lands. — Judge Mitchell,^ 

 of Columbus, whose plantation is on creek bottom land, 

 30 miles from that town, on the Alabama side, told me 

 he averaged from 1844 to 1850, 2,100 pounds, (five and 

 a quarter bales,) to the hand, making at the same time a 

 full supply of corn and pork. As he is considered a first- 

 rate planter, this may be taken as a full average yield of 

 the bottom lands of this river for a series of years. 



Chattahoochee Cotton Lands. — These are ranked 

 among the best in the United States. General Abercrom- 



' James Hamilton, born in Charleston, South Carolina, May 8, 

 1786; died at sea, November 15, 1857. State legislator, Congress- 

 man, and governor of South Carolina. Organized the Bank of 

 Charleston. Railroad director and land speculator. Operated profit- 

 ably five large rice plantations, two cotton plantations, a brickyard, 

 and a rice mill. Champion of Texan independence. Moved to Texas 

 in 1855. See sketch in Dictionary of American Biography, 8:187-88. 



* Americus C. Mitchell, son of Julius C. B. Mitchell and Kather- 

 ine Daniell, and grandson of John Mitchell, officer of the American 

 Revolution, born November 18, 1819, in the section of Hancock 

 County, Georgia, formed from Washington County. In 1836 moved 

 with his family to Barbour County, Alabama, and settled at Glens- 

 ville. Lawyer, extensive planter, and known for his cultural attain- 

 ments. Married Mary Billingslea in 1841. His house, mentioned 

 later by Robinson, was built in 1843 or 1844. Letter of Peter A. 

 Brannon, Montgomery, Alabama, to Herbert A. Kellar, June 2, 

 1936. 



