George Strother Gaines
George Strother Gaines | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | January 21, 1873 State Line, Mississippi | (aged 88)
Resting place | Peachwood Cemetery, State Line, Mississippi |
Occupation(s) | Alabama State Senator, Choctaw Indian agent, banker |
Relatives | Edmund P. Gaines, brother |
George Strother Gaines (1 May 1784 – 21 January 1873) was a federal Indian agent in the Mississippi Territory (today's Alabama and Mississippi). He began as the US Indian agent to the Choctaw, explored the country west of the Mississippi River, and supervised the removal of the Choctaw to Indian Territory in the 1830s. He worked as a banker, and served as a state senator and railroad lobbyist, becoming even more influential in the early history of the region.
Life
Gaines was born in North Carolina on 1 May 1784, the 11th of 13 children of Captain James Gaines and Elizabeth (née Strother) Gaines. His father had served in the Revolutionary War, and both parents came from prominent Virginia families. His older brother,
In 1804 Gaines was appointed to work for the federal government as an assistant Indian factor at the Choctaw Trading House in St. Stephens, Mississippi Territory (now in Alabama). Indian factors coordinated trading practices and served as personal contacts between the government and the tribes. St. Stephens was a small settlement on the banks of the Tombigbee River.
In 1806 the senior Indian factor, Joseph Chambers, resigned and Gaines succeeded him. In this position he earned the respect of Indians and settlers. As tensions grew as settlers encroached on Choctaw land and competed for natural resources, Gaines was able to maintain a degree of calm in the region. After the
Gaines resigned his position at the Choctaw Trading House in 1818 to join the Tombeckbee Bank in St. Stephens, by then designated as the temporary capital of the new Alabama Territory. Financial difficulties made worse by the Panic of 1819, forced Gaines to resign in 1822. He moved to Demopolis, Alabama and purchased the Choctaw Trading House from the federal government. Gaines assumed responsibility for its operation, and continued trading with the Choctaw.
Gaines served as a member of the
He is buried at State Line, Mississippi.
See also
- Gainestown, Alabama, community named in his honor, founded on the site of one of his former trading posts
- Edmund P. Gaines, his brother
References
- Fant Jr., Gene C. (2002). "George Strother Gaines (1784-1873): A Leader of Two States, A Servant of Two Peoples". Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2015-09-27. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
- Leftwich, George J. Colonel George Strother Gaines and Other Pioneers in Mississippi Territory. Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, v. 1. Jackson, Miss: Mississippi Historical Society, 1916. googlebooks.com Accessed October 20, 2007
- Pate, James P. (2008). "George Strother Gaines". Encyclopedia of Alabama.
Further reading
- Pate, James P. (Editor), The Reminiscences of George Strother Gaines: Pioneer and Statesman of Early Alabama and Mississippi, 1805-1843. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1998.
- Leftwich, George J. Colonel George Strother Gaines and other Pioneers in Mississippi Territory. Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society 1904:442-56.
- DeRosier, Arthur H. The Removal of the Choctaw Indians, Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1970.