George Mayfield
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George Mayfield (1779โ1848) was an interpreter and spy for General
Early life and capture by the Creek
Mayfield's father, Southerland Mayfield, lived on a
For the next 11 years, Mayfield lived among the Creek and became accustomed to their ways. He lost the ability to speak English and purportedly contracted a fondness for their mode of life.[citation needed]
Reintroduction into American society
The attack at his father's homestead had left much of Mayfield's family dead, but his mother and sister had survived and resettled in
Upon his return to the Anglo-American settlement, Mayfield found himself heir to an estate that had been left to him after the death of his father 11 years earlier.[citation needed] He ceded almost all of the property to his mother and sisters and kept only 80 acres (324,000 m2) for himself.[citation needed]
Creek War
The United States continued to grow, and the need for new lands was pushing colonists further west, creating pressure in the territory which had long past been settled and regularly hunted by the Creek peoples. The clash of cultures eventually resulted in the Creek War of 1813โ1814.[citation needed] Leading James Madison's war effort was General Andrew Jackson, who parlayed his success in removing the Creek from their ancestral homes into two terms of his own presidency.[citation needed]
Owing to his unique knowledge of the
On March 27, 1814, Mayfield was wounded at the
Later life
In the Treaty of Fort Jackson which ended the war, the Creek chiefs recognized not only Mayfield's bravery, but also his integrity in his dealings with them during negotiations. As a result, they stipulated that he be granted 1 square mile (2.6 km2) of the land they forfeited. The U.S. government, however, refused to allow this, which forced Mayfield to petition Congress for the grant.[citation needed] Congress finally complied; however the grant was never enforced by the government.[citation needed]
Mayfield died in 1848.
References
- The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee, Judge John Haywood, 1823
- Life of Andrew Jackson, James Parton, 1861