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Autograph letter signed by George Gilmer. 2+ pp. on 4-page plain paper lettersheet, inlaid into large sheet so all sides are visible. 20.2x12.7 cm (8x5").

George Gilmer, who served two non-consecutive terms as governor of Georgia (1829 to 1831 and 1837 to 1839), aggressively pursued Indian removal, laying claim to Federal assistance promised by the Compact of 1802. In this letter, to Edward Harden, Gilmer seems to have had second thoughts about his action. “I suppose that the Cherokee had occupied for an unknown time the territory which they possessed in the upper part of North Carolina, So. Carolina, & Georgia when they became known to the colonists.  I was stationed for some months among them in 1814 and was a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs in 1833 – 4 -- 5.  I conversed often and freely with their principal chiefs about the country occupied by their tribe.  I do not recollect ever to have heard a suggestion that the tribe had occupied any country but that alluded to until they removed to the West of the Indians in our country.” Despite Gilmer’s admiration, the Cherokee suffered greatly during his tenure as governor. With his support and direction, Georgia’s General Assembly dissolved the Cherokee government, annulling their laws and taking possession of all their lands in Northern Georgia. During his second term as Governor of Georgia, beginning in 1837, Gilmer supported and expedited the Federal government in the final removal of Indians from Georgia. This process came to be termed the Trail of Tears.