Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress
Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward
Mr. Secretary: Continuing the transmission which I have made to your department of the documents which have relation to the project of establishing colonies in Mexico of discontented citizens of the southern portion of the United States, engaged in sustaining the usurpation of the Austrian ex-archduke, Don Fernando Maximilian, I have now the honor to remit to you two letters, with their annexes, addressed by Richard L. Maury, called sub-commissioner of colonization in Mexico, and ex-colonel in the army of the Confederate States, to M. M. Pettis, of Montgomery, Alabama, and to O. G. O’Neal, of Columbus, Georgia, and dated the 5th and 10th of April of the current year.
I gladly avail of this occasion, Mr. Secretary, to renew to you the assurances of my most distinguished consideration.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
[Enclosure No. 1.]
Sir: Your letter of February 12 has just been received.
The agents of this office in the south have all been arrested, and required to give up their appointment; therefore, no transportation can be furnished you.
The government only offers lands to settlers. Many private individuals and companies, however, offer aid of every sort during the first few years. Mr. Forns you will find exceedingly kindly disposed towards those who come to his land. (See enclosed circular.)
You will do most wisely to bring a few negro laborers with you. They must be regularly apprenticed to you, for not less than five nor more than ten years; and the government will compel them to observe their indentures, if they should be disposed to run away before their time is out.
As a No. 1 surveyor, you would have very good chances for employment here. Still, a place Could not be kept for you, because as the demand occurs it must be supplied at once. Still, places are every day opening up for those who are on the spot.
Respectfully,
M. M. Pettis, Montgomery, Alabama.
[Enclosure No. 2.]
LATEST FROM MEXICO.
Arrival of Missourians.—Maximilian firmly seated.—Ex-Governor Allen publishing a paper in Mexico.— The emigrants and their colony.—Liberal grants of land.—The grandson of Iturbide heir to the throne.—List of the exiles.
We had a call last night from Messrs. R. H. Thomas and J. M. Lane, of Missouri, who were members of the body-guard of Major General Sterling Price, late Confederate States army, and accompanied him to the city of Mexico. They determined, after so doing, to [Page 489] return to their homes, and started September 18, going by stage to Paso del Macho, and thence by rail to Vera Cruz, arriving here yesterday on a sailing vessel.
These gentlemen report the country somewhat disturbed by guerillas, but very firmly in the possession of the emperor Maximilian, whom they regard as highly capable of making Mexico as prosperous as any other ruler can.
These gentlemen did us the favor to bring us the first number of the Mexican Times, dated September 16, which they were instructed by the distinguished editor and proprietor, Governor Henry W. Allen, to bring to us, and for which we thank both him and them. The agents for the Times in this city are Messrs. Nugent & Co.
Our visitors also inform us that the Americans who had emigrated to Mexico are about to settle at Cordova, about half way between the cities of Mexico and Vera Cruz, in a most delightful region, very rich and healthy, where tropical fruits grow wild, and where the best coffee they ever drank is produced. It has a sufficient market in the country, and is never carried out of it. Grants are made to families of 640 acres, and 320 to single men. Ex-Governor Allen, our informants tell us, went with General Price, General Magruder, Commodore Maury, and other American emigrants, to superintend the laying out of the lands for these colonists.
We find in the Times the important statement that on the day of its issue, the independence day of Mexico, their majesties were to adopt as their successor to the throne of the Mexican empire Augustin Iturbide, two years of age, grandson of the lamented emperor of that name, and the son of an American mother. Nothing could be better calculated to insure the emperor the love and confidence of the people of Mexico.
We append an extract from the prospectus of the Times, to show what is its object. From this we must doubt much that Governor Allen at present thinks of returning to this State. He says:
“The Times will advocate—
“1. Immigration and progress; giving full and accurate descriptions of the rich lands and their products, the valuable mines and minerals, and the various climates of Mexico.
“2. Railroads and manufactories, and internal improvements of every kind.
“3. Special attention will be given to arts and sciences, to polite literature, and to the general news of the day, foreign and domestic.”
The following is a list which the Times gives of “emigrants of the United States of America and of strangers” visiting Mexico:
“Sterling Price, Missouri; J. B. Magruder, Virginia; Isham G. Harris, Tennessee: E. Clark, Texas; Trusten Polk, Jo. O. Shelby, Missouri; H. W. Allen, H. Dennis, W. A. Broadwell, Louisiana; M. F. Maury, Virginia; J. Perkins, Louisiana: Heber Price, H. M. Duncan, J. P.Tucker, Missouri: W. P. Hardeman, H. P. Bee, M. W. Sims, Texas: George Young, R. J. Laurence, C. G. Jones, J. N. Edwards, Missouri: D. C. Cage, Louisiana: W. Yowell, George Hall F. M. Kephart, R. A. Collins, Y. H. Blackwell, J. Terry, J. More-land, T. Boswell W. J. McArthur, J. C. Wood, E. Wood, M. M. Langhorne, F. T. Mitchell and family, Missouri; Mr. Wood and wife, Missouri; D. W. Bouldin, Missouri; S. Hunkel, Missouri; J. Beard, Missouri; W. Skidmore, Missouri; H. Thomas, Missouri; C. M. Wilcox, Tennessee: R. Joseph, Missouri; T. Weston, Louisiana; H. B. Acton, Missouri; J. Donahoe, California; I. Reed, Virginia; T. J. Divine, Texas; J. Brown, North Carolina: Señor Conrow, Missouri; Señor O’Bannon, South Carolina; Señor Kimmel, Missouri; D. Leadbetter, Alabama; Señor Jones, Texas; Señor Thompson, H. T. Childs and family, Missouri; M. L. Kritser, Missouri; J. S. Kritser, Missouri; T. Whalen, California; J. M. Meador, T. Collins, W. Fell, B. F. Jones, J. B. Kirtley, J. B. Conner, G. M. Winship, J. Ward, Missouri; E. Lilly, N. T. Fincher, Texas; H. McNamee, California; R. J. Flynn, R. H. S. Thompson, Louisiana; Señor Bartlett, Mississippi; G. Mitchell, J. N. Lane, B. H. Lyon, Kentucky; J. J. Gaenslen, Virginia; T. C. Hindman, Arkansas; J. H. Brown and family, J. Brown, P. M. Brown, H. C. Cook, Texas; Richard Taylor, Kentucky; O. M. Watkins, Louisiana; T. C. Reynolds, Missouri; A. Ridley, California; E. Kirby Smith, Florida; J. N. Martin, J. G. Walker, Missouri; T. O. Moore, Louisiana; W. Preston, Señor Roberts, Texas; Alfred Mordecai, North Carolina.”
Of the above, Judge Divine, of Texas, has returned to San Antonio, where he resided as Confederate States district judge during the war. Señor Roberts is, we presume, Judge Roberts, formerly of the State supreme court of Texas, and colonel late Confederate States army. W. Preston, of Kentucky, was United States minister to Spain, and a general in the late Confederate States army. J. G. Walker, of Missouri, captain in the United States mounted rifles, and major general Confederate States army, commanding district of Texas just before the surrender of the trans-Mississippi department, is now in England, we understand, and desirous of coming back. A. Ridley came from California with General Sidney Johnston; was a major of a Texas cavalry regiment; was captured in the attack on Don-aldsonville by Tom Greene’s men, in 1863, and was kept a prisoner on Johnson’s island, returning to Texas just before its surrender. T. C. Reynolds was the confederate governor of Missouri. O. M. Watkins, of Louisiana, was formerly of Alabama, and served with Magruder in a Louisiana regiment on the peninsula, and then on his staff in Texas. General T. C. Hindman was understood, several months before Lee’s surrender—on his arrival at Shreveport from Georgia, after Hood’s defeat—to have given up the confederate cause as [Page 490] hopeless. He went from San Antonio to Shreveport, and thence to Monterey. J. J. Gaenslen was a surgeon in the old army, and also in the confederate service, with Magruder, and then with Slaughter, on the Rio Grande. D. Leadbetter was an officer of the old army, we believe, and a general in the Confederate States service. He was under Kirby Smith, in Texas, but a short time before the latter’s surrender. Señor O’Bannon, of South Carolina, was well known and very popular in the old army. He served gallantly with the Palmetto regiment in the Mexican war, and was given a position as an officer in the regular infantry at the close of the war. He was Bragg’s chief quartermaster in his Kentucky campaign, and, as Kirby Smith’s chief quartermaster, was noted for his energy and integrity. He once kicked a man down stairs in his office, at Shreveport, who offered him a big bribe. We heard an old friend of his say the other day that O’ Bannon went to Mexico as poor as a church mouse. C. M. Wilcox was in the old army, and a well known general in Lee’s army. Sterling Price, Maury, Perkins, of Louisiana, Magruder, I. G. Harris, Edward Clark, of Texas, Shelby, of Missouri, Moore and Allen, of Louisiana, are too well known to need any showing of who they are. Generals W. P. Hardeman and Ham. Bee are old Texas names—the former one of the few left of the real Texas rangers of the days of Jack Hays and Gillespie.
We hope yet to see all these gentlemen returning to their former homes and country. Those who stood so well the brunt of battle and revolution for what they deemed a right principle, owe it to their native land to labor as persistently in restoring peace and prosperity to it after the struggle is over. Could they follow a nobler example than Lee and Johnston?
[Enclosure No. 3.]
My Dear Sir: I have received your letter inquiring, like many others, about Mexico, with the view of making it their home.
You know its geographical features and the fame of its mineral wealth. Its soil is of unsurpassed fertility, and its climate, after you begin to ascend the table-land, is as delicious and healthful as the heart of man can desire.
The emperor is ruling wisely and mildly. Their majesties are beloved by the imperialists and respected by all. They move as freely among the people as the President of the United States ever did in days of yore.
The empire is continually gaining ground. Enterprise is abroad; many works of internal improvement are already under way and about to be commenced. Capital is leaving its hiding-places, and the columns of the newspaper press are daily, and for months have been, filled with the names of liberals who, looking upon the empire as a success, and their cause as a failure, have laid down their arms and are giving in their adhesion.
Property and life are daily becoming more secure. As an illustration, the doors of the house in which I Jive are without locks, nor do I ever take care even to shut any of them before I go to bed. True, there is a porter below, but the building is an old convent, inhabited and frequented by hundreds of people, who are not barred from each other by any fastenings.
The impressions abroad about Mexico are very erroneous. With regard to the inquiries in behalf of our friends who desire to come to this lovely land, I have to say, they can find desirable locations in any climate they please, and suitable for the cultivation of any staple they prefer, or the raising of any kind of stock.
As to the most profitable branch of agricultural industry, that varies with the locality, the variation depending as well upon the convenience and circumstances of the market as upon geographical conditions. Owing to the want of roads, navigable rivers, and canals, internal transportation is tedious and expensive, and exportation difficult. Hence, in one part of the empire the spectacle has not been unfrequently presented of breadstuffs at famine prices, while in a neighboring department they were wasting for the want of consumers.
The most desirable location, therefore, for emigrants who are “well to do,” (and this is the class that must lead the way,) are on what may be called the intertropical belt of Mexico, within which Cordova and Jalapa are situated. This is a sort of steppe or slope, which rises from the low lands of the coast to the various climates which are to be found in all intertropical latitudes between the heights of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above the sea. Within this range the climates are those of perpetual summer; they are healthy and delightful.
These steppes encircle the empire on the east, south, and west. They overlook the valley of the Coatzacoalcos and the Gulf of Mexico on one side, and the Pacific ocean on the other, and abound in garden spots as beautiful as Eden itself, and as sinful too. Cordova and Jalapa are such places; they are in sight of the sea. The farmer there, and at many other places, may reap from the same field two or three crops annually, with an increase of three or four hundred fold upon the seed sown.
In the course of the present year a railway is to be completed from each of these points to Vera Cruz, which will bring them fairly within the domains of foreign commerce.
Corn, cotton, coffee, sugar, and tobacco all do well here, but, as a rule, I consider coffee, [Page 491] cotton, and tobacco the most profitable staples of cultivation, because they can best bear transportation and stand competition in foreign markets.
Formerly, and before the country began to be tossed and vexed by revolution, lands in the neighborhood of these two cities were valued at from $75 to $100 per acre.
Many of these splendid haciendas—some of them large enough to accommodate with elegant farms ten times fifty families—were broken up during the revolutions, and their owners compelled to seek safety elsewhere.
They have fallen into ruin and decay through absenteeism; and now that order is restored, the empire gaining ground, and the internal improvements encouraged by the wise policy of the emperor, these lands are coming into demand again. But present owners find themselves too poor to repair and bring them under cultivation again. They are for sale, and may be bought at from $2 to $3 per acre.
These abandoned haciendas (and they are to be found in all parts of the empire) are the places for your thrifty American farmers to establish themselves. Let them, therefore, send out their head men to select a place for the whole settlement, to be followed immediately by their young men, to sow and plant, and build and repair, and make ready for, the old men, the women, and the children, and others to follow by the time the crops are ready.
They will find it, at first, best to establish themselves in villages, as well for mutual convenience as for protection against the bands of lawless marauders who are ever ready to pounce upon the solitary farmer. Immigrants should bring with them such mechanics as are required to satisfy their own wants and necessities. Tell those who come to count upon all the assistance, every facility, and the best information that it is in my power to afford or within the province of this office to give.
In the northern departments the vine flourishes well, and the wine is excellent. On the slopes next the sea cochineal and indigo are cultivated, drugs and gums and spices collected. The most profitable stock raising are mules, horses, and goats. There is room for much improvement in the breed of horses, cattle, and sheep.
The immigrant is allowed free exercise of religious worship. It is guaranteed to him both by an ordinance of the empire and a dispensation of the Pope. He is also entitled, on entering the country, to a free duty permit for all of his cattle and effects, and exemption from all taxation for one year, and from military conscription for five years. He is allowed to bring in his arms also, and, with his neighbors, to form a sedentary militia for mutual defence against robbers, who are daily becoming less bold. But he may not bring in anything for sale, exchange, or barter, without the payment of full duties.
In the rural districts the Indians generally are honest; indeed, in some parts of the country, theft among them is unknown. They are a gentle and docile race. Simple in their habits, they are superstitions, entering zealously into all the festivities and ceremonies of the church. They seem not to care to earn more than a dollar or two a week, and when they have done this, whether by two or three days of labor, they generally stop work and frolic till their money is gone, when they are ready to earn, by labor in the field, the next instalment. The Sabbath is not much observed by them or the Mexicans generally, except as a day of parade and pleasure. As a rule, the wages of farm hands are paid weekly in cash, and at the rate generally of from 25 to 50 cents a day, the laborer finding himself.
Silver is the principal circulating medium. There are also gold and copper coins, but no bank notes.
The implements of husbandry are generally rude, and agriculture by no means in a high state of improvement. Nevertheless, the Indians and the mixed classes, of whom there are about 7,000,000, are skilful laborers in their way. Their mode of husbandry is, in the way of contrast, so much the better for the display by the European or American farmer of his exquisite skill, and of the virtues of his improved implements, which last he can bring in duty free.
It is not advisable at present for immigrants without money to come to Mexico, unless they come under the auspices of some friend who can assist them, or under the care of some one of the various companies for establishing colonies that have been recently incorporated. Some of these propose to bring the immigrants into the country; to furnish them with land; to establish them on their farms; to subsist them for a while; and to receive a certain portion of their crops for the loans advanced for these various services. Many who have some means, and desire to come in companies to Mexico and establish themselves on some of these fine but abandoned haciendas, wish to know where these haciendas are, and their price.
Answer. In almost every part, and at any price, from a few cents to a few dollars the acre. Of course the prices named to me, though moderate, are the asking prices.
It is best for every such company of immigrants to send some of their number ahead to select a place, and bargain for it themselves. Bryant, from Arkansas, has established a colony in Chihuahua; Mitchell, of Missouri, another on the Rio Verde, in the department of San Luis Potosi; Terry, of Texas, another in Jalisco. They rent at first, with the privilege of purchase in the mean time at a stated price.
Then there is the fine colony of Carlotta, near Cordova, where the lands were abandoned. There was a number of haciendas in that neighborhood that were indebted for more than they were worth to the church, and which, by the Juarez government, were confiscated. These have been ex-appropriated by the emperor and applied to colonization.
[Page 492]These lands are sold to immigrants at $1 per acre in five equal annual instalments. Generals Price and Shelby, of Missouri, Governor Harris, of Tennessee, Judge Perkins, of Louisiana, the Rev. Mr. Holeman, of Missouri, and a number of others, have already established themselves there.
They are all highly pleased with their prospects. By the time the railway hence to Vera Cruz is completed, and their last instalment falls due, they will have improved their farms, when the most staid among them expect that their lands will be worth $10, $20, and even $50 per acre. A gentleman from Louisiana has been there for seven or eight years. He established a coffee plantation of 80 acres, which is now in good bearing, and the crop from which, last year, was valued at $16,000.
The Cordova coffee sells in New York market as Java, and the tobacco equals that of Cuba, while the sugar has 14 per cent. more of sapcharine matter than that of Cuba.
It will cost at the rate of some $5 or $6 per acre to clear, enclose, and bring these lands under cultivation. Hence it will be much cheaper for those who have a little money to buy haciendas with ground already cleared, fences made, and houses, or at least walls of houses, already erected. All the lands of this colony are already, or soon will be, taken up. Each married man there is allowed 640 acres, but it is now generally admitted that one-fourth of that quantity will probably be quite as much as one family will be able to cultivate. It is fertile and wonderfully productive. But to emigrants with a little capital the speedy filling up of this colony should not be disheartening, under the idea that there are no more good lands and choice spots. There are better lands than these, both about Cordova and Jalapa, which present owners, not being able to work, are ready to sell on favorable terms.
Agents have been established at various convenient points to assist immigrants on their arrival in the country, by giving them information and furnishing them with the necessary certificates and passports to enable them to pass the custom-houses, to enjoy all the rights, privileges, and exemptions of the emperor’s decree.
It has not been, as yet, practicable to establish agencies on the Rio Grande, but as soon as it may be done one will be stationed at Presidio del Norte.
At present the following agencies have been established, viz: Y. P. Oropesa, at Vera Cruz; J. Perkins, formerly of Louisiana, at Cordova; J. T. Lux, formerly of New Mexico, at Monterey; Alonzo Ridley, formerly of California, at Mazatlan; captain of the port of Tampico, at Tampico; captain of the port of S. Bias, at S. Bias; captain of the port of Matamoras, at Matamoras; D. Ramon de la Vega, president de Mejoras de Colima, at Manzanilla.
I am about to embark for England, expecting to return to this beautiful land accompanied by my family. The office is left in charge of the sub-commissioner, R. L. Maury, who, during my absence, will attend to the business of the office. He is earnest in the cause, and has now in hand a guide-book for immigrants., which will soon be ready for the press.
The rainy season commences in June and ends in October. Immigrants should not come by sea during that time.
There are many inquiries made also as to religious liberty in Mexico. Perfect freedom of worship is guaranteed by the organic law of the empire and sanctioned by the Pope.
I have just returned from the palace, where I had a long and interesting interview with the emperor. I read him your questions; we discussed them seriatim; and he gave his answers to them one by one. I repeat your questions and give his answers:
“1. Will Protestant clergymen be tolerated, and permitted to enjoy their religious opinions and worship in these colonies without molestation?”
Yes, and encouraged.
“2. Can a support be provided for such clergymen?”
Yes, as soon as I get my finances in a better condition.
“3. Will they be sustained in the establishment of Protestant schools and colleges ?”
Yes.
“4. Would a Protestant bishop be allowed among them?”
Certainly.
“5. Will the government do anything towards the support of the schools and colleges ?”
Yes.
“6. Could endowments of land, or otherwise, now be made for their support ?”
Yes, by lands and voluntary contributions now, and money from the government afterwards.
“7. Would it be possible, for the present, to engraft on the University of Mexico a department in which the studies, lectures, and instructions in general, should be in the English language?”
The question suggests a capital idea; converse further with —upon that point. I desire to see communities of different religious persuasions established in this country, and to give encouragement to all, for they act and react upon each other with wholesome effect.
I have quoted as nearly as, after the interval of an hour, I can remember the words used by this remarkable, clear-headed, and business-like sovereign.
There is a clergyman, Rev. Mr. Holeman, in the colony of Carlotta, near Cordova. He is the only preacher, except the Rev. Mr. Mitchell, (Methodist,) of the Rio Verde colony, that I have as yet heard of among the settlers.
In the city of Mexico there is a large number of English and American residents who are [Page 493] anxious to engage the services of an Episcopal clergyman who can minister unto them in their mother tongue. They meet at the houses of one another on Sundays, when the services of the church and a sermon are read. I. have attended service in a sort of upper loft, or retired room, such as we may imagine the early Christians met together in, and in which the congregation were all Mexicans. There were not more than a dozen or two, but enough, apparently, to represent all classes of society.
The services were performed in Spanish, with the prayer-book in that language. The sermon was a very good one. It was also preached in Spanish, by a Mexican, who had been a priest of the Roman Catholic church. Other Protestant denominations also have their meetings in the same quiet way, and Protestant Bibles are freely sold. So you observe, my dear sir, even here in Mexico a field and a harvest, much room for and a great lack of laborers.
Come to us!
We have accounts now of some 600 or 800 immigrants with their families, who are on their way thence, and who are preparing to come hither.
I had an offer this morning of lands for colonization on the north bank of the Panuco river. They commence about 30 miles west of Tampico and extend up to the table land. This tract includes several hundred square leagues. It is in what is known here as the Huasteca country, decidedly one of the finest regions of the whole empire. The owner, a Mexican, is most anxious for our people to establish themselves upon these lands, and has requested me to tell him how to get them there. “Give them alternate sections, with a pre-emption right to the rest at $2 per acre.” “I will do it,” said he, “and give the lands for roads and villages besides.” He has now gone to reduce his offer to writing.
The river is navigable, but the country there has been for years, and until recently, in a disorderly and unsafe state.
A few months ago, however, the people there gave in their adhesion to the empire, and everything now is as orderly and as quiet as could be desired.
A party of surveyors went out yesterday from the land office to survey a fine body of public lands in Mitlatoyuca, one of the sub-districts of that region.
We hear of immigrants who are coming from the South to the number of several hundred families. They should aim to arrive in this country by the first of May, if possible. They will then have an opportunity, unless they come by land, to shelter themselves by the time the rains commence.
Yours, very truly,
Ho for Mexico!–Notice to immigrants.
THE FORNS COLONY.
The imperial commissioner of colonization is hereby authorized to dispose of 25 square leagues of land (108,459 acres) of my hacienda of Limon, situated on Paauco river, in the department of Tamaulipas, giving gratis every alternate section—640 acres—to a man with family; 320 to an unmarried man—with pre-emption right in each case to as much more at $2 per acre.
I will give also gratis enough land for a town, as well as for a road 16 yards wide traversing the entire colony from north to south.
[Untitled]
The offer of Mr. Forns is most princely; the land is situated in the Huasteca country, on the mountain borders of the Tierra Caliente. It is said to be healthy, and is admirably adapted to the cultivation of coffee, cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, and the whole list of inter-tropical fruits and productions; it is also a good stock country, with an abundance of timber. The Panuco river is navigable up to it, and boats are running on that stream. Provisions are plenty, but labor is said to be not very abundant, the usual price being 37½ cents a day and found.
Those who come from any of the Gulf ports should take shipping direct to Tampico, taking care not to come later than the first or middle of May, on account of the rainy season, which commences in June. Immigrants are advised to send out their pioneers first, to make ready for their families to follow.
The best time for planting the first corn crop is in June, after the rains have commenced. This is the surest of the three corn crops. November is the time for planting again; cotton, corn, and tobacco may be put in the ground now and gathered from March onward until the rains again.
[Page 494]Immigrants should not begin to arrive at Tampico before the last of March. Mr. Forns will then be on his hacienda to receive them and show them their lands.
This is a well-wooded country, and immigrants will do well to provide one or two good portable saw-mills for each settlement. They should also bring with them seed of all sorts.
The collector of the port at Tampico is authorized to pass the effects of immigrants duty free, to issue them the certificates which secure to them all their rights under the decree, and to speed them on their way.
[Enclosure No. 4.]
Sir: Yours of March 6 I have just received. Since the letter of mine which you speak of was written the Yankees have refused to permit our transportation agents to act in the United States, and thus his majesty’s intention of furnishing passage to needy emigrants has been frustrated. As immigrants are now coming faster than we want them, it is probable that this offer will not be renewed, as we can get as many colonists as we desire, without giving them this aid. You would do very well to bring your negroes with you.
The general will sell you 640 acres at $1 per acre. Mr. Forns will give you that much.
You should not arrive between June and October, on account of the yellow fever.
Respectfully,
O. G. O’Neal, Columbus, Georgia.