Savannah U.S. courthouse to be renamed for Yamacraw chief

<p>The Yamacraw Indian chief who welcomed the first British settlers to Georgia may soon be get a new honor _ his name on the federal courthouse in Savannah, where the colony was founded in 1733.</p><p>A U.S. House committee agreed Wednesday to rename the 1899 building the Tomochichi United States Courthouse. Approval by the full House should be a formality, as the courthouse currently bears no ones name.</p><p>Among Savannahians, the hospitality of Tomochichi and his tribe are legendary to this day, said U.S. Rep. Max Burns, R-Ga., who sponsored the resolution to rename the courthouse.</p><p>Tomochichi, who died in 1739, was known as a staunch ally to the British settlers and became a close friend of Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe, who founded the nations 13th colony at Savannah.</p><p>The courthouse is located on Wright Square, site of the Yamacraw chiefs burial mound before it was destroyed in 1883 to make way for a monument to Georgia railroad magnate William Washington Gordon.</p><p>A bronze plaque honoring Tomochichi has remained on a large granite rock in the square since 1899, the year the courthouse was built.</p>