|
CHAPTER
X
pages 194-210
By Charles C. Jones
Volume II - Revolutionary Epoch, 1888
Submitted by: Dena Whitesell
The following address, signed by the president of the Provincial Congress, was presented to Governor Wright by
Stephen Drayton, Edward Telfair, William LeConte, John Walton, George Houstoun, and Philip Box, a committee designated
for that purpose:
"To his Excellency', Sir James Wright Baronet, Captain-General, and Governor-in-Chief in and over his Majesty's
Province of Georgia, Chancellor and Vice-Admiral of the same. "May it please your Excellency.
" We, his Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Delegates of this Province in Provincial Congress met,
beg leave to address your Excellency.
"In these very critical and alarming times, the good people of this Province found themselves under an absolute
necessity to take some measures for the security and preservation of their liberties and every thing that is near
and dear to them; and they have accordingly chosen a large number of persons to meet together at Savannah to consult
on the means to obtain redress under our many and- very heavy grievances. These, being accordingly met, (to be
distinguished from the usual representation, have styled themselves a Provincial Congress, and from the number
and character of their names, which your Excellency may see in our last Gazette, your Excellency will be convinced
the Province was never more fully represented in any Assembly; though possibly this measure never would have taken
place had we not, from several successive prorogations or adjournments, but too much reason to fear your Excellency
had received very strong instructions not to suffer the Assembly to enter into any measures to secure the rights
of America, or even to petition for relief, unless in terms which would have been giving up the rights of, and
fixing lasting disgrace on, the petitioners.
" Although there is no doubt but a great majority of the inhabitants of this Province always looked upon the
claim of Parliament to take away the property of Americans as illegal and oppressive, yet, from a variety of causes
not unknown to your Excellency, this Province in the American chain has hitherto been the defaulting link. We have
now joined with the other Provinces in the Continental Congress, and have sent a petition to his Majesty, appointed
delegates to the American Congress, and entered into such resolutions which we mean inviolably to adhere toas
will convince the friends and foes of America that we would not live unworthy of the name of Britons, or labour
under the suspicion of being unconcerned for the rights and freedom of America.
"Extracts of some letters which are inserted in Parliamentary proceedings widely differ from what must appear
to every unprejudiced person to be the real state of the Province.
"We are not acquainted with an individual in Georgia that looks upon the claims of Parliament as just, and
all men speak with abhorrence of the measures made use of to enforce them. Our fellow-subjects who formerly entered
a dissent which we find was transmitted to the Minister in terms that bespeak the great pleasure it gave the transmitter,
now generally say that they never differed from America as to the reality of grievances, but only in the mode of
obtaining redress.
"Though candour must allow these mutilated extracts laid before Parliament were probably rather designed by
the Minister to screen himself and justify his own measures than to give a just and true account of what information
he might have received, yet we cannot help observing, the general purport of these letters seems to have a much
greater regard to the designs of the Minister than to give an impartial account of the real state of things. Other
Provinces, no doubt, if they find themselves mentioned in any part of them, will view them in what light they may
think fit; but as to any prejudicial informations they may contain against many persons in this Province, while
it is not to be expected that they will give up their feelings as private men, your Excellency may be assured we
shall always pay due respect to his Majesty's Representative, and shall with great pleasure acknowledge every service
your Excellency may hereafter render to Great Britain and America whose interest we know, and whose connection
we wish, to be forever inseparable. Your Excellency may be assured these are objects which we have greatly at heart,
and shall ever do what in us lies towards a reconciliation with our Parent State on constitutional principles,
as well as endeavour to preserve the peace and good order of the Province."
Although Governor Wright, to use his own language, would not " condescend to take any notice of this Address,"
which was exhibited to him on the 18th of July, he thought it his duty, five days afterwards, to forward a copy
of it to Lord Dartmouth with a lengthy communication defending himself against the charge of favoring the designs
of the minister instead of giving an impaiv tial account of the true state of affairs in the province. In that
letter he informs his lordship that congress, on the 13th of July, gave to two messengers from the council of safety
in Charles-town five thousand pounds of gunpowder, and also a brass field-piece and carriage belonging to his majesty.
His inability to prevent this action of the " Liberty People tf he freely confesses. Again does he humbly
request royal permission to return to England that he might resign the government of the province. Tn truth, that
government had already been practically wrested from him. He was simply a locum tenens, beholding, reporting, and
criticising, but without power to stay the onward march of events or to shape them to the will of his majesty.
Even this unsatisfactory office was doomed to early extinction.
The Reverend Haddon Smith, rector of the parish of Christ Church, having refused to deliver a sermon and observe
the fast proclaimed by the Continental Congress, was ordered by the vigilance committee to preach no more in Savannah.
He had also reflected upon the conduct of the Provincial Congress, and was deemed an avowed enemy to the liberties
of the province. Heeding the injunction, he did not attempt to officiate any longer in the town but, crossing the
river, sought refuge in Carolina.
On the 13th of July the Provisional Congress unanimously adopted this Abticle of Association:
"Georgia. Being persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, under God, on
the firm union of the inhabitants in its vigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety, and convinced
of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and confusion which attend the dissolution of the powers of government,
we, the freemen, freeholders, and inhabitants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design
of the Ministry to raise a revenue in America, 'and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in the Massachusetts
Bay, do, in the most solemn manner, resolve never to become slaves; and do associate, under all the ties of religion,
and honour, and love to our country, to adopt and endeavour to carry into execution whatever may be recommended
by the Continental Congress, or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention appointed for preserving our constitution
and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation
between Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles, which we most ardently desire, can be obtained;
and that we will in all things follow the : advice of our General Committee appointed, respecting the purposes
aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and private property."
John Smith, Basil Cowper, George Houstoun, Joseph Clay, William Young, Philip Box, Seth John Cuthbert, William
O'Bryan, George Walton, William LeConte, William Gibbons, Samuel Elbert, Edward Telfair, and Oliver Bowen were
designated as a committee " to present this Association to all the inhabitants of the Town and District of
Savannah to be signed." Expedition was enjoined, and these gentlemen were requested to furnish the general
committee with the names of all who de-dined to affix their signatures.
The qualification of voters to elect delegates to future congresses having been discussed it was, on motion of
Mr. Drayton, submitted on the 14th of July, determined that every man who contributed towards the general tax should
be held qualified to vote. The following representation was also agreed upon: "The Town and District of Savannah
shall have seventeen members; District of Little Ogeechee, three; Vernonburgh, two; Acton, two; Sea Islands, three;
Goshen and Abercorn, two; Parish of St. Matthew, seven; St. George, nine; St. Paul, nine; St. Philip, seven; St.
John, twelve; St. Andrew, nine; St. David, three; St. Patrick, two; St. Thomas, two; St. Mary, two; St. James,
two; Ceded Lands, three; and that the President and thirty four members do constitute a Congress to proceed upon
business."
On the 15th, Stephen Drayton, Samuel Elbert, Dr. Nathan Brownson, and Peter Tarlin were commissioned to prepare
a report upon the militia of the province, with such suggestions as they might deem proper for its more efficient
organization.
That the inhabitants of Georgia might be intelligently advised of the disputes existing between Great Britain and
the American provinces, and be correctly informed of the proceedings of this congress, the Reverend Dr. Zubly,
Dr. Noble W. Jones, William Young, and George Walton were selected to frame a suitable address. As published by
those gentlemen that address reads as follows: " To the Inhabitants of the Province of Georgia.
" Fellow-Countrymen, We are directed to transmit to you an account of the present state of American affairs,
as well as the proceedings of the late Provincial Congress. " It is with great sorrow we are to acquaint you,
that what our fears suggested, but our reason thought impossible, is actually come to pass.
"A civil war in America is begun. Several engagements have already happened. The friends and foes of America
have been equally disappointed. The friends of America were in hopes British troops could never be induced to slay
their brethren. It is, however, done, and the circumstances are such as must be an everlasting blot on their character
for humanity and generosity. An unfeeling Commander has found means to iuspire his troops with the same evil spirit
that possesseth himself. After the starving, helpless, innocent inhabitants of Boston delivered up their arms and
received his promise that they might leave that virtuous, devoted town, he is said to have broke his word; and
the wretched inhabitants are still kept to-fall a prey to disease, famine, and confinement. If there are powers
which abhor injustice and oppression, it may be hoped such perfidy cannot go long unpunished.
" But the enemies of America have been no less disappointed. Nothing was so contemptible in their eyes as
the rabble of an American militia; nothing more improbable than that they would dare to look regulars in the face,
or stand a single fire. By this time they must have felt how much they were mistaken. In every engagement the Americans
appeared with a bravery worthy of men that fight for the liberties of their oppressed country. Their success has
been remarkable; the number of the slain and wounded on every occasion vastly exceeded theirs, and the advantages
they gained are the more honourable, because, with a patience that scarce has an example, they bore every act of
injustice and insult till their lives were attacked, and then gave the fullest proof that the man of calmness and
moderation in counsel is usually also the most intrepid and courageous in battle.
" You will doubtless lament with us the hundreds that died in their country's cause ; but does it not call
for greater sorrow that thousands of British soldiers sought and found their deaths when they were active to enslave
their brethren and their country? However irritating all these proceedings, yet so unnatural is this quarrel, that
every good man must wish and pray that it may Boon cease; that the injured rights of America may be vindicated
by milder means; and that no more blood may be shed, unless it be of those who fomented and mean to make an advantage
of these unhappy divisions.
" From the proceedings of the Congress, a copy of which accompanies the present, you will be convinced that
a reconciliation on honorable principles is an object which your delegates never lost sight of. We have sent an
humble and manly petition to his Majesty: addressed his representative, our Governor; provided, as far as in our
power, for internal quiet and safety; and Delegates will soon attend the General Congress to assist and cooperate
in any measure that shall be thought necessary for the saving of America.
" His Excellency, at our request, having appointed the 19th inst as a Day of Humiliation, and news being afterwards
received that the Continental Congress had recommended the 20th inst to be observed as such, both days have been
observed with a becoming solemnity; and we humbly hope many earnest prayers have been presented to the Father of
Mercies on that day through this extensive continent, and that He has heard the cries of the destitute and will
not despise their prayers.
" You will permit us most earnestly to recommend to you a steady perseverance in the cause of Liberty, and
that you will use all possible caution not to say or do anything unworthy of so glorious a cause; to promote frugality,
peace, and good order, and, in the practice of every social and religious duty, patiently to wait the return of
that happy day when we may quietly sit under our vine and fig tree, and no man make us afraid."
The following is the petition which was submitted to the king: " To the King's most excellent Majesty.
" May it please your Majesty: Though we bring up the rear of American Petitioners and, from the fate of so
many petitions presented to your Majesty from America, your great city of London, and others of your European subjects,
have a most melancholy prospect, we still hope that He by whom Kings rule and to whom monarchs are accountable^
will incline you to receive and pay some regard to our most humble and faithful representation.
" In times like these, when the edge of present feelings is blunted by the expectation of calamities still
greater, we must take the liberty to speak before we die. We would acquaint our Sovereign with things which greatly
affect his interest. We would endeavour to waken the feelings and pity of our common father. Hear us therefore,
that God may hear you also.
" Your Majesty is the rightful Sovereign of the most important empire of the universe.
" The blessings of Providence on your arms have put a country in America under you of greater importance and
extent than several kingdoms in Europe. In this large extent of territory, by some late acts, Popery is not only
tolerated (which we conceive would have been but an act of justice), but an indulgence has been granted, little
short of a full establishment, to a religion which is equally injurious to the rights of Sovereign and of mankind.
French and arbitrary laws have there by authority taken the place of the just and mild British Constitution, and
all this has been done with a professed and avowed design to overawe your Majesty's ancient Protestant and loyal
subjects, some of whom had no small share in the merit of that conquest.
" Acts to raise a perpetual revenue on the Americans without their consent have been enacted, which, at one
stroke, turn all your American subjects into slaves, and deprive them of that right which the most oppressive taskmaster
does not deny to the servant bought with his own money. Experience must now have shown, as it will clearer should
these acts be enforced, that instead of increasing the revenue, or lessening the burdens of your European subjects,
they can only serve to increase their taxation.
"Laws which we conceive fraught with so much injustice have been attempted to be enforced by equal cruelty,
and whenever we thought ourselves at the height of our troubles, your Majesty's Ministry have strained their unhappy
ingenuity to find out sew methods of distress; and, it is believed, methods have been more than thought of too
shocking to human nature to be even named in the list of grievances suffered under a British king.
"The goodness of God hath made your Majesty the father of a very numerous issue, on whom we place the pleasing
hopes of a Protestant succession; but your Majesty's arms in America now every day make mothers childless, and
children fatherless. The blood of your subjects has been shed with pleasure rather than with pity, for an action
which amounted to no more, even under the worst construction, than an irregular zeal for constitutional liberty;
and without any step taken to find out the supposed guilty persons, the capital of your American dominions has
been blocked up, deprived of its trade, and its poor of subsistence. Thousands, confessedly innocent, have been
starved, ruined, and driven from, or kept like prisoners in, their own habitations; their cries and blood innocently
shed have undoubtedly reached, and daily do reach, His ears who hateth injustice and oppression. M Believe us,
great Sir, America is not divided; all men (Crown officers not excepted) speak of these acts and measures with
disapprobation, and if there has been some difference of opinion as to the mode of relief, the rigorous experiments
which your Ministry thought fit to try on the Americans have been the most effectual means to convince these of
the iniquitous designs of your Ministry and to unite them all as in a common cause. Your Majesty's Ministers, after
thus introducing the demon of discord into your empire, and driving America to the brink of despair, place all
their dignity in measures obstinately pursued because they were once wantonly taken. They hearkened to no information
but what represented Americans either as rebels or cowards. Time will every day make it clearer how much they were
infatuated and mistaken. Too long, we must lament, have these men imposed on your paternal affection. Deign now,
most gracious Prince, in their room, to hearken to the cries of your loyal and affectionate subjects of this extensive
Continent; let the goodness of yonr heart interpose between weak or wicked Ministers, and millions of loyal and
affectionate subjects. No longer let the sword be stained with the blood of your own children; recall your troops
and fleets; and if any misunderstanding remains, let the Americans be heard, and justice and equity take, place.
Let us be ruled according to the known principles of our excellent
Constitution, and command the last shilling of our property and the last drop of our blood in your service.
" Uncertain as to the event of this our humble representation, it affords us a relief that we may, unrestrained,
apply to the great and merciful Sovereign of the whole earth, who will not despise the prayer of the oppressed;
and to Him we most ardently pray that, the wicked being taken away from before the king, the king's throne may
be established in righteousness. "By order of the Congress, at Savannah, this 14th day of July.
A. Bulloch, President."
Having thus memorialized the General Congress, the governor, the citizens of Georgia, and the king, having framed
a bill of rights and proclaimed the privileges for which they were resolved to contend, having introduced Georgia
into the fold of the confederated provinces, having strengthened the hands of the council of safety and appointed
committees of correspondence and of intelligence, having provided the ways and means for future sessions of congress,
and, above all, having demonstrated the inability of the king's servants to control the province in the present
crisis, this assembly, perhaps the most important ever convened in Georgia, adjourned on the 17th of July, subject
to further call up to the 20th of August.
Official notice that Georgia had acceded to the general union and elected deputies to attend at Philadelphia reached
the Continental Congress on the 20th of July, the day set apart to be observed as a season of prayer and fasting,
and was received with manifestations of profound joy. Welcomed as the thirteenth of the united colonies, she was
at once admitted to all the privileges of the political sisterhood, and the resolutions of the 17th of May, which
had placed her, with the exception of the parish of St. John, under the ban of colonial non-intercourse, were immediately
rescinded.
Of the five delegates selected by the Provincial Congress to represent Georgia in the Continental Congress, Messrs.
Bulloch, Houston, and Zubly repaired to Philadelphia and participated in the deliberations of that body at an adjourned
session held on the 13th of September, 1775. Dr. Lyman Hall, who had been present at a previous meeting as a delegate
commissioned by the parish of St. Paul, was now absent; and Dr. Noble W. Jones, than whom the " Sons of Liberty
" claimed none more competent, courageous, and accomplished, it is said, in deference to the entreaties of
his aged father, Colonel Noble Jones, a trusted friend of Oglethorpe, who, as military officer, surveyor, member
of council, and provincial treasurer, had, during a long life, rendered invaluable aid to the colony and maintained
a faithful allegiance to the Crown, and who, now trembling upon the verge of the grave, bespoke the companionship
of his distinguished and devoted son, postponed for the while his service to the province in this prominent capacity
that he might respond to his filial obligations.
Georgia was ably represented. From the inception of the difficulties between Great Britain and her colonies Archibald
Bui-loch had been a firm friend to the liberties of America. No one stood higher in the respect of his fellow citizens,
and for him the most pronounced honors were in store. John Houstoun too was amongst the most zealous advocates
of the rights of the colonies. Of honorable descent and liberal education, of acknowledged bravery and commanding
influence, his memory is indissolubly associated with some of the best traditions of the epoch and community in
which he dwelt.
Of the early labors of the Reverend Dr. Zubly in the cause of freedom, education, and religion one may not speak
except in praise. His course in the first Continental Congress which he attended was consistent and patriotic.
The acceptable pastor of a large Presbyterian congregation in Savannah, learned and eloquent, public spirited,
and of marked ability, his voice and pen had been freely employed in the vindication of the rights of the colonies
against the encroachments of Parliament. Discussing the suggestions made in England to arm the slaves in order
to reduce their masters to obedience to British rule, he wrote (On the 3d of September, 1775.) to the Earl of Dartmouth
as follows : " Proposals publicly made by ministerial writers relative to American domestics laid the Southernl
Provinces under the necessity of arming themselves. A proposal to put it in the power of domestics to cut the throats
of their masters can only serve to cover the proposers and abettors with everlasting infamy. The Americans have
been called 'a rope of sand,' but blood and sand will make a firm cementation, and enough American blood has been
already shed to cement them together into a threefold cord not easily to be broken." h the deliberations and
utterances of the Provincial Congress in Savannah, no member had borne a more prominent part.
When, however, he found himself confronted with the determination of the Continental Congress to sever the ties
binding tbe American colonies to the mother country, and to erect on these shores a separate, independent, and
republican government, his heart failed him and he opened a correspondence with Sir James Wright in which he revealed
to him the plans of congress and warned him of the impending rupture. His conduct and language exciting suspicion,
he was watched, and one of his treasonable letters was seized. This fact was intimated by Chase of Maryland upon
the floor of congress. So alarmed became Dr. Zubly that he precipitately abandoned his seat and returned to Georgia
where, taking sides against the liberty people, he became so obnoxious that in 1777 he was banished from Savannah
with the loss of half his estate. Taking refuge in South Carolina he there remained until the royal government
was reestablished in Georgia in 1779, whemhe resumed his ministerial charge in Savannah and there abode until his
death, which occurred on the 23d of July, 1781. Broken in heart and fortune, the latest years of his life involved
a ceaseless struggle with 'misfortune. His political defection," says Dr. Stevens, " while it did no
harm to Georgia or the Colonies, brought misery upon himself and family, and tarnished a name which shone among
the earlier patriots of Georgia with peculiar brightness. Savannah still bears the record of this learned man in
the names of two of its streets, Joachim' and Zubly,' and one of the hamlets of the city is called ' St. Gall'
in honor of his birthplace in Switzerland.' His declaration in his place in the Continental Congress that "
a Republic was little better than a government of devils," and his subsequent desertion of his post to seek
shelter under the authority of the Crown, were but the prelude to misery, disgrace, and an early grave. Georgia
was now practically governed by the Council of Safety. Her people, earnest and united in the cause of freedom,
were prepared to practice economy, endure privations, and subdue every murmur in the hope of winning their independence.
On the 2d of August Ebenezer McCarty, charged with enlisting in Georgia recruits for the South Carolina regiments,
was, by Chief Justice Stokes, committed without bail to the common jail of Savannah. A writ of habeas corpus having
beeu applied for and denied, the citizens assembled, forced the jail, and liberated the prisoner. Not content with
this, they marched through the town with drums beating and passed by the residences of the governor and the chief
justice. " Unparalleled insolence, my Lord," exclaimed his excellency when pouring his complaints into
the ear of the Earl of Dartmouth, " and this is the situation liis Majesty's Government is reduced to in the
Province of Georgia."
After its seizure by the " Liberty Boys," a captain and twenty men were posted as a guard at the public
magazine.
The article of association adopted by the Provincial, Congress wis industriously circulated throughout the province,
and an opportunity afforded to all citizens to sign it. Few there were who declined to affix their signatures.
Occasionally, as in the case of Dr. Traill, of the parish of St. Philip, one was found who railed at the liberty
movement and expressed contempt for the paper. He was ordered to depart from the province within eight days. That
some intimidation was used may not be doubted, but it is very true that what Governor Wright called "the contagion"
spread with wonderful rapidity and unanimity throughout the length and breadth of Georgia. The Revolutionists were
in earnest, and it required no little nerve to withstand their arguments and appeals.
It was deemed essential to the success of the liberty cause that we officers should be retained in commission who
refused or neglected to sign the article of association. Still maintaining a show tf respect for the royal governor,
George Walton, William Le Conte, Francis Harris, William Young, George Houstoun, William Ewen, John Glen, Samuel
Elbert, Basil Cowper, and Joseph Clay, on behalf of the Council of Safety, on the 8th of August, 1775, addressed
a communication to his excellency Sir James Wright, asking permission that the several militia companies should
be allowed to elect their own officers. It was suggested that some of them were distasteful to those whom they
were appointed to command. Deeming it an extraordinary application, dangerous in its tendency and calculated to
wrest the control of the military from the Crown officers, Sir James sought the advice of his council. An answer
was returned " that for many very substantial reasons the Governor would not comply with the request."
Nothing daunted, the Council of Safety, who in reality cared but little for the mind of the governor on the subject,
took the matter in their own hands, and proceeded to purge the militia of any loyal element which lurked in the
ranks of its commissioned officers. Thus, in the first company of the first regiment, commanded by Captain Quintin
Pooler, Charles Lncena and John B. Randall, refusing to sign the article of association, were rejected, and William
Jones and Peter Lavein elected lieutenants in their stead. In the fourth company, Captain Stirk and Lieutenants
William Stephens and William Johnson were dismissed for like cause, and the vacancies thus created were filled
by friends to the liberty movement. In the eighth company, James Robertson and James Ross were supplanted by Dr.
David Brydie and Seth John Cuthbert. The reformation proceeded until it was fully ascertained that the militia
of the province was officered by those who were prepared to obey the orders of the Council of Safety and stand
up for the liberties of their country.
Possession was taken of the custom house in Savannah, and an officer appointed to prevent vessels from landing
cargoes from England. The port was practically closed. Governor Wright appealed in vain for a sloop of war to put
an end to this " most disagreeable situation.'
On the 17th of September a vessel arrived from London, having on board two hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder,
most of which had been sent out by his majesty, consigned to Mr. Stuart, the superintendent, and intended as a
royal present to the Indians. This was too valuable an accession to their military stores to escape the notice
of the liberty people. They accordingly boarded the ship at Tybee, removed the powder, and, transporting it to
Savannah, diverted it from its destination and retained possession of it.
A ship coming from Senegal with a cargo of two hundred and four slaves was prevented from landing. Compelled to
depart the port, the captain, in his distress, set out for St. Augustine as affording the only prospect of saving
the Africans on board from death by famine.
The lamentations of Governor Wright, although frequently uttered, were as yet unheeded. "It is really a wretched
State to be left in, and what it's impossible to submit to much longer, Government totally annihilated and assumed
by Congresses, councils, and committees, and the greatest acts of tyranny, oppression, gross insults, &c. &c,
committed, and not the least means of protection, support, or even personal safety, and these almost daily occurrences
are too much, my Lord."
The plight of the governor was truly pitiable. In October the stockade fort on the ceded lands, garrisoned by a
party of the king's rangers, was surrounded by the inhabitants dwelling in that vicinity and its commanding officer
compelled to a surrender. Thus passed away the last shadow of military authority acknowledging allegiance to the
Crown. The occupation of that post being regarded, however, as essential to the security of the region, orders
were issued by the council of safety to restore its command to the rangers, who thenceforward were regarded as
under the control of the Revolutionists. This occurrence upon the furthest confines of Georgia evoked from the
governor the emphatic admission, " The poison has infected the whole Province, and neither Law, Government,
nor Regular Authority has any weight or is at all attended to."
Upon the assembling of the general court on the 10th of October, ten of the jurors summoned refused to be sworn.
Others "behaved very insolently," and the conduct of business was practically obstructed. Mr. Noble Jones,
one of the associate justices, was then " lying extremely ill."
The only functions now exercised by the governor were those connected with proving wills and granting letters of
administration. In view of what had occurred and of what was daily transpiring, he might truthfully say, "
There is hardly a shadow of government remaining." The royal cause was additionally afflicted by the demises
of Clement Martin, Noble Jones, associate justice and treasurer of the colony, and the Honorable James Habersham,
who quickly followed each other to the tomb. These gentlemen were all members of the Common Council, were the trusted
friends and advisers of the governor, and had always been loyal servants of his majesty. The vacancies created
were filled by the appointment of John Hume as secretary of the province in the place of Mr. Habersham, and of
Lewis Johnson as treasurer in the stead of Colonel Jones. For the vacant chairs in council, Josiah Tattnall, Sir
P. Houstoun, Lachlan Mc-Gillivray, and Charles William MacKinen were recommended.
Before an answer to the communication advising the home government of the death of these gentlemen was penned,
Governor Wright was a prisoner, and even the semblance of the king's authority in the province had been abruptly
terminated.
The last branch of the government over which the Provincial Congress assumed control was the judicial. On the 1st
of December, 1775, all courts of law within the colony were taken under its supervision, and a committee of fifteen
was appointed to hold quarterly sessions in Savannah as a Court of Appeals " to hear and determine between
the parties and sanction or prohibit processes according to the circumstances of the case.'
The constitution of the courts of inferior jurisdiction remained unchanged. In the disturbed condition of affairs
to prevent, as far as practicable, debtors from avoiding the payment of their liabilities, all persons intending
to depart from their parishes or beyond the limits of Georgia were required to give such notice of their contemplated
change of residence as would afford their creditors ample opportunity to secure their just demands.
Mr. Hume, the king's attorney-general, declining to obey the mandate of the congress in regard to the conduct of
causes in the courts, and denying the authority of that body, was ordered to quit the province within a month.
The chief justice also was cautioned to observe all congressional instructions which now practically constituted
the supreme law of the land Before adjourning on the 11th of December, 1775, the Provincial Congress appointed
the following persons members of the council of safety: George Walton, William Ewen, Stephen Drayton, Noble W.
Jones, Basil Cowper, Edward Telfair, John Bohun Girardeau, John Smith, Jonathan Bryan, William Gibbons, John Martin,
Oliver Bowen, Ambrose Wright, Samuel Elbert, Joseph Haberaham, and Francis Henry Harris. That body organized by
electing George Walton president, and Edward Langworthy secretary. It was resolved to meet regularly at Tondee's
Long Room in Savannah every Monday morning at ten o'clock, and as much oftener as the emergency demanded.
The Continental Congress having on the 4th of November or-dered that a battalion should be raised at the common
charge of the united provinces for the protection of Georgia, and made an appropriation of five thousand dollars
toward the defrayal of the expenses of this organization the council of safety, at its first meeting, commissioned
Andrew Maybank, Joseph Woodruffe, Hezekiah Wade, and John Dooly as captains; James Cochran, John Morrison, Jeremiah
Beale, and Thomas Dooly as first lieutenants; James Galoche, Moses Way, Jacob Blunt, Zephaniah Beale, and William
Bugg, second lieutenants; and Thomas Dowly, George Philips, and Joshua Smith, third lieutenants. On the 7th of
January, 1776, the battalion was further organized by the appointment of the following field officers: Lachlan
Mclntosh, eolonel, Samuel Elbert, lieutenant-colonel, and Joseph Habersham, major (McIntosh and Elbert subsequently
rose to the rank of bigadier-genearl in the army of the Revolution).
The following gentlemen were then elected and commissioned is company officers:
Francis Henry Harris, captain, and John Habersham, first lieutenant, of the first company.
Oliver Bowen, captain, and George Handley, first lieutenant, of the second company.
John Mclntosh, Jr., captain, and Lachlan Mclntosh, Jr., first lieutenant, of the third company.
Arthur Carney, captain, and Benjamin Odingsell, first lieutenant, of the fourth company.
Thomas Chisolm, captain, and Caleb Howell, first lieutenant, of the fifth company.
John Green, captain, and Ignatius Few, first lieutenant, of the ninth company.
Chesley Bostick, captain, and John Martin, first lieutenant, of the seventh company.
Jacob Colson, captain, and Shadrach Wright, first lieutenant, of the eighth company.
The erection of Georgia into a body politic, apart from and opposed to the government hitherto existing by authority
of the Crown, was now accomplished. The president of the council of safety was virtually the governor of this quasi-commonwealth.
Such laws as were requisite for the preservation of the public peace, the maintenance of order, and the defrayal
of current expenses, were promulgated as resolutions by the Provincial Congress and by the Council of Safety. Courts
competent for the assertion of rights and the redress of wrongs were in active operation. A military force had
been organized for the common defense. A union with the other American colonies had been perfected. A royal governor,
it is true, still resided in Savannah, but he was little else than a prisoner with a barren sceptre in his grasp.
Members of the king's council there were, but their ad-rice was neither asked nor allowed in the conduct of affairs.
Other officers, holding warrants from the Crown, were idle spectators of events. Within the entire circuit of the
province there was none to enforce the will of his majesty. Well might Governor Wright exclaim in behalf of himself
and the other servants of the king in Georgia, " We shall not remain much longer in this distressful condition."
From this period until the erection of Georgia into a State upon the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, there
occurred but little legislation in the proper acceptation of that term. The general assemblies, which convened
at various times during Governor Wright's administration, had given to the statute book no fewer than one hundred
and forty-eight acts and resolutions, covering a wide range of subjects and providing for the growing wants of
a province which had already assumed the proportions. of an important, populous, and profitable dependency. These
laws, where they did not militate against the newly erected government and the changed condition of affairs, were
allowed to remain in active operation.
BACK TO HISTORY
INDEX
©Genealogy Trails
|
