" But the chiefs of the
lower towns would not yield, and made the fight. In a short time this
was concluded by the capture of their leading chief, Nehemathla. He
was decoyed by treachery into the power of General Jessup, who
detained him as a prisoner, and almost immediately his band
surrendered.
Nehemathla was an Onchee chief. This was the remnant of a tribe
absorbed into the nation of the Creeks or Muscogees, and was probably
one of those inferior bands inhabiting the land when this nation came
from the West and took possession of the country. Their language they
preserved, and it is remarkable it was never acquired by white or red
man, unless he was reared from infancy among the tribe. It was
guttural entirely, and spoken with the mouth open, and no word or
sound ever required it to be closed for its pronunciation. They had
dwindled to a handful at the time of his capture, but more obstinately
determined to remain and die upon their parental domain, than any
other portion of the nation.
Nehemathla was more than eighty years of age at the time of his
capture.
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