The Friendship of James Edward Oglethorpe & Tomochichi



There is a great story to be told in the early history of Savannah. It is of a friendship between an English settler and the leader of a local Indian tribe. It’s a story of peace and mutual cooperation between English General James Edward Oglethorpe and the leader of the Yamacraw Indian Tribe, Tomochichi. 

General James Edward Oglethorpe 

James Edward Oglethorpe stepped onto the banks of the Savannah River in 1733 at the age of 37 years old. He had been sent with permission of King George of England to form a colony that would be a barrier between the English colonies and the Spanish, who controlled Florida. There was fear of war from the south. Oglethorpe had helped convince the King a colony here would serve a dual purpose — give poor unemployed men, many former prisoners, a place to start a new life and put in a buffer between English South Carolina and Spanish Florida. 

What Oglethorpe found when he stepped onto the shores of Savannah was beautiful land. He was a visionary who had plans for the new colony. But he also found the English settlers were not alone. Living nearby the landing site — near what is now Savannah City Hall — was the Yamacraw Indian Tribe. Fortunately for him, Mary Musgrove was traveling with him and, being half Indian herself, she understand the local dialect and was able to serve as an interpreter between Oglethorpe and the local chieftain, Tomochichi.

Tomochichi 

Tomochichi was in his late eighties by the time General Oglethorpe arrived. Full of wisdom after a lifetime of leadership, he befriended Oglethorpe and began offering assistance to the new arrivals. The two men struck up a friendship that led to something Tomochichi probably never dreamed would happen to him — a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. 

In 1734, General Oglethorpe was returning to England and invited Tomochichi to come with him and bring his family. The voyage back to the Old World led to a formal peace treaty as the English treated their Indian counterparts with great respect. King George himself met with Tomochichi. After a time in England, Oglethorpe brought Tomochichi back to the shores of Georgia and they retained a great admiration for each other until Tomochichi’s death in 1739. 

American history is replete with stories of bloody skirmishes, battles and all-out war between Native Americans and the immigrants from Europe who began settling on the east coast of North America and moving westward. One of the early stories, though, is the best. It’s a story with a happy ending for our ancestors who settled in Savannah in the 1730s and for all of us who’ve come after them.