(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Treaty settlement for "Negros stolen . . . by a party of Creek Indians."

(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Treaty settlement for "Negros stolen . . . by a party of Creek Indians." Manuscript document, 13 x 7¾ inches, signed by James Smith and several other parties including former Virginia governor James P. Preston as commissioner; moderate toning, a couple of ink burns, folds. Liberty County, GA, 1821 The Creek Indians, through the early 1790s, frequently captured the frontier settlers of Georgia, including their enslaved people. The 1796 Treaty of Colerain established formal boundaries between the Creeks and settlers, established a military outpost at Beard's Bluff on the Altamaha River, and also mandated that the Creeks return all "white inhabitants and negroes who are now prisoners in any part of the said nation." Offered here is a document suggesting that this was easier said than done.
"Return of negros stolen from the plantation of Mrs. Elizabeth Munro in the County of Liberty by a party of Creek Indians in the fall of the year 1793, viz: Cudjoe, Silvia, Hannah & Phillis, worth at the time when taken 400 each. In the year 1795, at the Treaty of Beard Bluff . . . received back Hannah & Silvia." In 1821, Mrs. Munro's heir James Smith testified that "no part of the above property have ever been returned or paid, except as above accepted, notwithstanding that they have been frequently demanded, and all due diligence used for their recovery." On verso, this testimony is docketed "2 negroes $600 allowed, provided for by the Treaty of Coleraine." Were Cudjoe and Phillis living among the Creeks for these 28 years, avoiding return to the plantation? Were they long since deceased, or had they moved on to freedom elsewhere?