Fort Buffington Cherokee Internment Fort
Possible site: https://rockbarn.org/sitesworthsaving/site_page.php?site=ft_buffington
This article is adapted from "Cherokee Removal: Forts Along the Georgia Trail of Tears" by Sarah H. Hill.
Ft. Buffington stood close to or on the Alabama Road (now GA Highway 20) in present-day Canton, Cherokee County, south of the Etowah River and west of the Alabama Road’s junction with the Federal Road. By the time of the fort’s construction in the fall of 1837, whites had lived in the area for at least five years and many had been there considerably longer. Since Cherokee Georgia had been surveyed and distributed by state lottery in 1832, Ft. Buffington was built on property that had been privately owned for five years. Following the lottery, however, property changed hands and titles with such haste and frequency that information is often lacking or inaccurate about who owned or purchased lots where removal forts may have been built. Nonetheless, the property records for the Canton area in the 1830s are fuller than those for other counties in the Cherokee homeland and hope remains that additional research will provide the necessary documentation for the post’s location.
Three separate properties have been suggested as the likely location of the fort. Two of them are north of the Alabama Road. One is adjacent to and behind Harmony Primitive Baptist Church on Harmony Drive, a short road (less than one mile) that runs north from the Alabama Road. Long-time residents grew up hearing that the fort had stood in a pasture on Harmony Drive, and that the spring feeding Big Branch (formerly Five- Mile Creek) east of and considerably lower than the pasture had provided water for the soldiers and Cherokees. Local residents also suggested a second site, the parking area and church lot, both of which border the pasture.
Use of the name “Fort Buffington” in association with various properties occurred throughout the century following the establishment of the military post. The name appears on numerous maps of the mid- to late-nineteenth century, although without any precision. On a Cherokee County map dated 1864, “Fort Buffington” appears north of the Alabama Road, supporting some local stories about the post’s location. The name is also associated with a school. Established in 1868, Buffington School was purportedly a log cabin school at the fort site and possibly built from fort timbers. On an 1894 map of Cherokee County found in the local library, the cartographer placed “Ft. Buffington Academy” north of and adjacent to the church. And finally, the name is associated with a church. The Cherokee Advance of July 1890 reported that “quite a number of our citizens went up to the Fort (Harmony) last Sunday to hear Rev. A.B. Vaughn, Jr., and Rev. J.M. Stewart preach.”cxi Another article in the same issue also refers to “the fort (Harmony).”cxii Unquestionably, the articles associate Fort Buffington with the church, school, and Harmony Drive. No records have been found, however, to confirm the school’s first location, its construction, or any relationship with the fort. Nor have any records emerged to place the fort at the two church sites, lacunae that neither dismiss nor confirm them as fort locations.
Additional support for the post’s location north of the Alabama Road comes from information about an early Canton resident named Nehemiah Garrison. In 1848, Garrison sold ten acres of land to the three deacons of Harmony Church.cxiii The church then erected a building, which was subsequently replaced by the current structure. Forty years later, a Cherokee Advance article stated that the fort had stood on Garrison’s property, which could reasonably place it at either or both of the Harmony Church sites.
The article claims that Garrison had sued the government for damages to his property caused by the establishment and use of the fort on his land. It states that the 1860 court of claims awarded Garrison a judgment of seven hundred dollars, but the claim was forgotten because of the impending Civil War. After Garrison’s death, his son John followed up on the claim and “it was not until last week,” according to the article, “that he received notice from col. candler [sic] that the judgment was a matter of record and the money was ready to be paid over upon the proper showing.”cxiv
Unfortunately, no such claim has been found in two visits to the National Archives in Washington, nor has any archivist at the Archives been able to locate the claim. Furthermore, Cherokee County historian John Carver researched the Garrison property records and found no record of Nehemiah Garrison’s purchasing the land north of the Alabama Road. Moreover, Carver has pointed out that Garrison’s obituary says he moved to Cherokee County in 1839, well after the property was used for the construction of a military post.cxv More research may determine whether Garrison owned Cherokee County property before moving there.
By 1860, “Ft. Buffington” was listed as a Cherokee County post office, indicating the presence of a small community by that name. The community persisted until the end of the century and Nehemiah Garrison’s 1884 obituary states that he died at his home near Ft. Buffington. We can hope that further research will identify the entity to which the phrase “Ft. Buffington” refers, whether school, church, community, or memory.
In addition to the (absence of) evidence that calls into question the Garrison story, two site visits, one with State Archaeologist Dave Crass, all but eliminated the Harmony Church property and the lot behind it as likely places for the fort’s construction. After examining the uneven terrain, one-mile distance to the Alabama Road, and the substantial elevation drop to the spring, Dave Crass and I agreed that the two church sites are unlikely.
The third site suggested by residents is on the south side of the Alabama Road in a field that stands between two streams. Joey Charles of the Office of the State Archaeologist and I visited the site and found it to have high archaeological potential. Soil auguring indicates the field is conducive to archaeology.
NOTE:Since this article was written, additional research by Larry Vogt on the location of Fort Buffington has been published in The Curious Disappearance of Fort Buffington."
Military Occupation.
The military occupation of Ft. Buffington lasted from October 1837 to July 1838. Ezekial Buffington raised a company of mounted volunteers in Gainesville in the winter of 1836 and they were quickly posted to New Echota.cxvi In October 1837, Buffington’s company moved to Canton where they erected the post. Pvt. John H. Wood was appointed quartermaster and remained in that position until removal was completed. No other company joined Buffington’s. On May 11, 1838, however, an order issued from Ft. Cass for the disposition of militia in Georgia directs “the Maj. to take command at Ft. Buffington near Canton; 1 company to proceed to Ft. Buffington.”cxvii Although the major’s name is not included, later correspondence between Gen. Floyd, General Scott, and civil authorities in Canton indicate that it was Maj. Robert Pope, who offended local officials in the course of Indian removal.
Apparently Pope captured an Indian who was being sued in the Cherokee County courts. Someone complained to Scott, who turned the matter over to Floyd. While agreeing to investigate, Floyd wrote to the justices that federal treaties took precedence over state matters and that he would not permit Indians “on every little cause of litigation to be taken out of my possession.”cxviii Pope was exonerated and the Indian remained a federal rather than a county prisoner. In a second instance, a soldier, presumably in Buffington’s company, was charged with a criminal offence and “rescued himself from the custody of civil authorities.” Pope apparently arrested the authorities for interfering with government operations, and Floyd ordered their release.cxix Although no other posts left records of altercations with local officials, conflicts over authority, behavior, and property surely arose.
The records are incomplete but it appears that Capt. Buffington turned over ordnance supplies on July 5, 1838 and Ft. Buffington was then abandoned.cxx The following fall, Pvt. Thomas Harney of Buffington’s company faced a court martial on charges of deserting the company on June 18, and was convicted.cxxi No other records have yet been located that refer to the military occupation at Ft. Buffington.
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Ft. Buffington stood close to or on the Alabama Road (now GA Highway 20) in present-day Canton, Cherokee County, south of the Etowah River and west of the Alabama Road’s junction with the Federal Road. By the time of the fort’s construction in the fall of 1837, whites had lived in the area for at least five years and many had been there considerably longer. Since Cherokee Georgia had been surveyed and distributed by state lottery in 1832, Ft. Buffington was built on property that had been privately owned for five years. Following the lottery, however, property changed hands and titles with such haste and frequency that information is often lacking or inaccurate about who owned or purchased lots where removal forts may have been built. Nonetheless, the property records for the Canton area in the 1830s are fuller than those for other counties in the Cherokee homeland and hope remains that additional research will provide the necessary documentation for the post’s location.
Three separate properties have been suggested as the likely location of the fort. Two of them are north of the Alabama Road. One is adjacent to and behind Harmony Primitive Baptist Church on Harmony Drive, a short road (less than one mile) that runs north from the Alabama Road. Long-time residents grew up hearing that the fort had stood in a pasture on Harmony Drive, and that the spring feeding Big Branch (formerly Five- Mile Creek) east of and considerably lower than the pasture had provided water for the soldiers and Cherokees. Local residents also suggested a second site, the parking area and church lot, both of which border the pasture.
Use of the name “Fort Buffington” in association with various properties occurred throughout the century following the establishment of the military post. The name appears on numerous maps of the mid- to late-nineteenth century, although without any precision. On a Cherokee County map dated 1864, “Fort Buffington” appears north of the Alabama Road, supporting some local stories about the post’s location. The name is also associated with a school. Established in 1868, Buffington School was purportedly a log cabin school at the fort site and possibly built from fort timbers. On an 1894 map of Cherokee County found in the local library, the cartographer placed “Ft. Buffington Academy” north of and adjacent to the church. And finally, the name is associated with a church. The Cherokee Advance of July 1890 reported that “quite a number of our citizens went up to the Fort (Harmony) last Sunday to hear Rev. A.B. Vaughn, Jr., and Rev. J.M. Stewart preach.”cxi Another article in the same issue also refers to “the fort (Harmony).”cxii Unquestionably, the articles associate Fort Buffington with the church, school, and Harmony Drive. No records have been found, however, to confirm the school’s first location, its construction, or any relationship with the fort. Nor have any records emerged to place the fort at the two church sites, lacunae that neither dismiss nor confirm them as fort locations.
Additional support for the post’s location north of the Alabama Road comes from information about an early Canton resident named Nehemiah Garrison. In 1848, Garrison sold ten acres of land to the three deacons of Harmony Church.cxiii The church then erected a building, which was subsequently replaced by the current structure. Forty years later, a Cherokee Advance article stated that the fort had stood on Garrison’s property, which could reasonably place it at either or both of the Harmony Church sites.
The article claims that Garrison had sued the government for damages to his property caused by the establishment and use of the fort on his land. It states that the 1860 court of claims awarded Garrison a judgment of seven hundred dollars, but the claim was forgotten because of the impending Civil War. After Garrison’s death, his son John followed up on the claim and “it was not until last week,” according to the article, “that he received notice from col. candler [sic] that the judgment was a matter of record and the money was ready to be paid over upon the proper showing.”cxiv
Unfortunately, no such claim has been found in two visits to the National Archives in Washington, nor has any archivist at the Archives been able to locate the claim. Furthermore, Cherokee County historian John Carver researched the Garrison property records and found no record of Nehemiah Garrison’s purchasing the land north of the Alabama Road. Moreover, Carver has pointed out that Garrison’s obituary says he moved to Cherokee County in 1839, well after the property was used for the construction of a military post.cxv More research may determine whether Garrison owned Cherokee County property before moving there.
By 1860, “Ft. Buffington” was listed as a Cherokee County post office, indicating the presence of a small community by that name. The community persisted until the end of the century and Nehemiah Garrison’s 1884 obituary states that he died at his home near Ft. Buffington. We can hope that further research will identify the entity to which the phrase “Ft. Buffington” refers, whether school, church, community, or memory.
In addition to the (absence of) evidence that calls into question the Garrison story, two site visits, one with State Archaeologist Dave Crass, all but eliminated the Harmony Church property and the lot behind it as likely places for the fort’s construction. After examining the uneven terrain, one-mile distance to the Alabama Road, and the substantial elevation drop to the spring, Dave Crass and I agreed that the two church sites are unlikely.
The third site suggested by residents is on the south side of the Alabama Road in a field that stands between two streams. Joey Charles of the Office of the State Archaeologist and I visited the site and found it to have high archaeological potential. Soil auguring indicates the field is conducive to archaeology.
NOTE:Since this article was written, additional research by Larry Vogt on the location of Fort Buffington has been published in The Curious Disappearance of Fort Buffington."
Military Occupation.
The military occupation of Ft. Buffington lasted from October 1837 to July 1838. Ezekial Buffington raised a company of mounted volunteers in Gainesville in the winter of 1836 and they were quickly posted to New Echota.cxvi In October 1837, Buffington’s company moved to Canton where they erected the post. Pvt. John H. Wood was appointed quartermaster and remained in that position until removal was completed. No other company joined Buffington’s. On May 11, 1838, however, an order issued from Ft. Cass for the disposition of militia in Georgia directs “the Maj. to take command at Ft. Buffington near Canton; 1 company to proceed to Ft. Buffington.”cxvii Although the major’s name is not included, later correspondence between Gen. Floyd, General Scott, and civil authorities in Canton indicate that it was Maj. Robert Pope, who offended local officials in the course of Indian removal.
Apparently Pope captured an Indian who was being sued in the Cherokee County courts. Someone complained to Scott, who turned the matter over to Floyd. While agreeing to investigate, Floyd wrote to the justices that federal treaties took precedence over state matters and that he would not permit Indians “on every little cause of litigation to be taken out of my possession.”cxviii Pope was exonerated and the Indian remained a federal rather than a county prisoner. In a second instance, a soldier, presumably in Buffington’s company, was charged with a criminal offence and “rescued himself from the custody of civil authorities.” Pope apparently arrested the authorities for interfering with government operations, and Floyd ordered their release.cxix Although no other posts left records of altercations with local officials, conflicts over authority, behavior, and property surely arose.
The records are incomplete but it appears that Capt. Buffington turned over ordnance supplies on July 5, 1838 and Ft. Buffington was then abandoned.cxx The following fall, Pvt. Thomas Harney of Buffington’s company faced a court martial on charges of deserting the company on June 18, and was convicted.cxxi No other records have yet been located that refer to the military occupation at Ft. Buffington.
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