Josiah Francis, also called Francis the Prophet, native name Hillis Hadjo ("crazy-brave medicine") (c. 1770–1818), was a "charismatic religious leader" of the

Red Stick Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs)—the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creek—refers to an early 19th century traditionalist faction of Muscogee Creek people in the Southeastern Uni ...

Creek Indian The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsFrank Owsley, he became "the most ardent advocate of war against the white man, as he believed in the supremacy of the Creek culture over that of the whites". He traveled to London as a representative of several related tribal groups, unsuccessfully seeking British support against the expansionism of the United States, then was captured and hanged by General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

shortly after his return to

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

Name

His native name has been written with a variety of spellings in English: Hilis, Hildis, and Hidlis. His last name is found as Hadgo, Hadsho, and Haya. There are also combined forms found, such as Hillishago and Hillishager. "The English always referred to him as Hidlis Hadjo." In a letter,

called him "Hillishageer". In traditional Creek orthography, his name would be ''Heles-haco'' /hilis-hatʃo/ “Crazy Medicine” composed of the medicinal prefix ''heles-'' and the war title ''haco'' "crazy".

Parents and early life

Francis was the son of a Muscogee Creek mother and a father of European descent. Since Muscogee Creeks were matrilineal and matrilocal, Francis inherited his clan from his mother and was a citizen of the Muscogee Confederacy. Francis and others like him became military leaders, passionate defenders of the Creek cause, apparently to demonstrate their legitimacy to the full-blooded Creek. Francis refused to wear white men's clothing during his visit to New Orleans. He was a trader and metal artisan, the latter skill learned from his father, David Francis, a South Carolina frontier

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

. He "lived among the

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and

Coushatta The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people now living primarily in the United States, U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, the ...

people near the point where the Cousa and

Tallapoosa River The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United Sta ...

s joined to form the

", near modern

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. Little is known about his mother or his childhood. Francis married Hannah Moniac (Muscogee), half-sister of

William Weatherford William Weatherford, also known after his death as Red Eagle ( – March 24, 1824), was a Creek chief of the Upper Creek towns who led many of the Red Sticks actions in the Creek War (1813–1814) against Lower Creek towns and against allied f ...

and aunt of

David Moniac David Moniac (December 25, 1802November 21, 1836) was a United States Army soldier of Muscogee descent. He was the first Native American and first non-white graduate of any race from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 18 ...

, the first Native American to graduate from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. David's father and Hannah's half-brother was "the prosperous and well-known Creek businessman Samuel Moniac. She was a relative of Muscogee leader

Alexander McGillivray Alexander McGillivray, also known as ''Hoboi-Hili-Miko'' (December 15, 1750February 17, 1793), was a Muscogee (Creek) leader. The son of a Muscogee mother, Sehoy II, and a Scottish father, Lachlan McGillivray, he was literate and received a ...

," who led the faction of "southern" Muscogee Creeks that were more receptive to assimilation into American society as a survival technique.

Influence of Tecumseh and Seekaboo

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, a leader from further north, in 1811 traveled throughout the lands west of the Appalachian mountains; settlement by whites was just beginning. With some encouragement from the British, with whom he had contact in Canada, he attempted to create a pan-Indian confederation, from north to south, that could force the new Americans to remain east of the mountains. His greatest success was among the Creeks, to whom he may have been linked through one or both of his parents. (His tribal origins are not known with certainty.) His credibility was enhanced by the New Madrid earthquakes and the Great Comet of 1811. Among the Creeks, his greatest influence was on Francis. Although Tecumseh's visit was brief, and he was widely credited later with incendiary speeches now believed to be forgeries by whites, he left behind his partner, the prophet Seekaboo (also spelled Sukaboo). One source says that he was a

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

, another that he was probably a Creek. Francis had extensive conversations with him. "The first recorded public fact of his life is being created a prophet, which was about the latter part of 1812. It took Sukaboo, the great Shawnee prophet, ten days' work to endow Francis with prophetic powers. When that was completed, Francis was considered the greatest prophet in the Creek Nation. He himself now assumed the role of prophet-maker, ndmade many prophets."

Red Stick leader

Francis, as Prophet, was a leader of the

("northern") faction of the

Creek Indians The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands He "hated the white man and his culture." He particularly disapproved of the

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

of domestic animals, to the point of slaughtering his own (and burning his house) when he decided, about 1812, to give up the ways of whites. He began to have visions "and began to preach with the fervor of a new convert." He founded a new village, Holy Ground, on a bluff above the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa River, Tallapoosa and Coosa River, Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka, Alabama, Wetumpka. Over a co ...

. Opposition by the "Lower", or southern, Creeks, who favored accommodation to the whites, led to civil war, without a clear victor. Francis, who was called later "the principal instigator of this Creek war", led the attack on Fort Sinquefield, killing at least 13, two days after his Red Stick allies Peter McQueen and

attacked Fort Mims in which over 250 men, women, and children were slain. The U.S. response did not take long to arrive, additional troops having been assembled. The U.S. won a decisive victory over the Creeks in the

Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814) The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (also known as ''Tohopeka'', ''Cholocco Litabixbee'', or ''The Horseshoe''), was fought during the War of 1812 in the Mississippi Territory, now central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Native A ...

. Francis and some 1000 other Red Sticks and their allies fled to northern Florida, into the semi-wilderness of the

Florida panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

, where they soon aligned with British forces, which openly recruited Indian allies and became known as

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

. At the center of the wilderness was the strong new fort at Prospect Bluff, where Francis and Peter McQueen both wore British uniforms. It was built by the British after their defeats at the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

and the Battle of Pensacola (1814) and intended as a base for operations against the southern United States. There were so many Creek refugees there ("virtually the entire surviving population of Redsticks") that famine was a real concern; the British were unprepared for that number of refugees. No food was available for purchase, and crops couldn't be raised without months of delay. Food had to be brought in from other British posts.

Trip to England

When Colonel

Edward Nicolls General Sir Edward Nicolls ( – 5 February 1865) was a Royal Marines officer and colonial administrator who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812. Known as "Fighting Nicolls", he had a distinguished mili ...

, the commander at Prospect Bluff, was returning to England after the end of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

in February 1815, he took Francis with him, as Francis insisted on (and Nicolls discouraged). Before leaving, Francis disposed of the eight enslaved people he had, probably the same eight his daughter later claimed. The purpose was to get British agreement to the Treaty of Nicolls' Outpost, which Nicolls, on his initiative and without authorization (in fact, the British knew nothing of it until Nicolls and Francis arrived in England), had negotiated between the Creek Indians and the British Crown. The Treaty recognized the Native Americans as subjects of the Crown, that is, as British citizens. Francis took his son, Earle, with him, hoping the son could stay and get some education. A listing of crown expenditures on Francis's behalf reveals that besides his son, he was accompanied by a servant and an interpreter. (This conflicts with reports elsewhere that Francis was fluent in English and Spanish, as well as "

" and "

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

".) Arriving in England on August 14, 1815, he stayed with Colonel Nicolls at his home near

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(near London). "Nicolls found it necessary to support the Indians rancis and his son Earlefrom his own funds, even to the point of buying them winter clothes." Francis was forbidden from traveling back to Florida until December 30, 1816, which was ordered by

Earl Bathurst Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The medieval English word was Botehurst, thought to date at least from the 13th century. Bote is the origination of Battle, although the family ma ...

to prevent the visit from causing tensions with the United States after the Treaty of Ghent. Earle remained in England, and Col. Nicolls made several requests for a subsidy for the boy's keep and education, but his requests were to no avail. There is no record as to what ultimately happened to the boy. The government representative in charge of American policy, Earl Bathurst, refused to see him until a year had gone by; the meeting was to tell Francis the Creeks should make peace with the Americans, as he could give no support if another war between the two parties occurred in the future . Nicolls was chastised for exceeding his authority; he was posted, apparently as punishment, to remote

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

, and later to Fernando Po. Bathurst gave Francis "a brace of pistols", a commission as a brigadier general, and sent him home but not without Francis meeting several prominent people, the story of which has not been written. A hint of it is in this report in the American press: His shoulder bag is in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Also in the British Museum are "a long hunting shirt of deer skin,

moccasins A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional pane ...

leggings Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting High-rise (fashion), high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg ...

and a belt". The following spring he received £200 of "clothing and agricultural implements" of which a list has survived.

Hanging by Andrew Jackson

Francis arrived at

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

in January 1817, where the governor, by order of Lord Bathurst, gave him another £100 in cash. He returned to Florida in 1817 to settle at his new home on the Wakulla River, near the fort San Marcos de Apalache (modern St. Marks, Florida). His daughter Milly Francis in 1818 famously rescued a U.S. soldier, Douglas McCrimmon, who had been captured by the Indians, a story that received national newspaper publicity. After his release, McCrimmon told General

in person (Jackson was on a ship off St. Marks) that Francis, the leader of the Sinquefield massacre, was nearby. Jackson lured Francis aboard the U.S.

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Thomas Shields'' by falsely flying a British flag. He was placed in irons and immediately hanged at St. Marks by Jackson, without a

court-martial A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

or any other

legal proceeding Legal proceeding is an activity that seeks to invoke the power of a tribunal in order to enforce a law. Although the term may be defined more broadly or more narrowly as circumstances require, it has been noted that " e term ''legal proceedings ...

, in sharp contrast with the "court of inquiry" he set up in the Arbuthnot and Ambrister incident. His daughter witnessed his hanging and later turned down McCrimmon's offer of marriage, possibly as a result of the capture.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Joseph (Hillis Hadjo) Muscogee slave owners Seminole Wars Pre-statehood history of Florida Native American history of Florida Native Americans in the War of 1812 Spanish Florida 18th-century Seminole people 18th-century Native American leaders 19th-century Seminole people 1770 births 1818 deaths Executed Native American people People from Wakulla County, Florida People from Montgomery County, Alabama Native Americans of the Seminole Wars People of the Creek War Andrew Jackson administration controversies