A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II, Part 1

Author: Harden, William, 1844-1936
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1208

USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II > Part 1

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Gc 975.802 Sa93h v. 2 1729706

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02314 8437

A HISTORY OF

SAVANNAH

AND

SOUTH GEORGIA

BY WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME II

V. 2

ILLUSTRATED

THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1913 .

1769706

விட்டி-ஜத்தி விடசரி செய்யவும் வேறுரு'கேளினம் உப்புகரிக்குளிர் விப்பரி கைகால்கள்

٠١٩٠٦٥٨٣١ ٢

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016

https://archive.org/details/historyofsavanna02hard

History of Savannah and South Georgia

ANCESTORS OF WYMBERLEY JONES DE RENNE. The first of the Jones family to come out from England to America was Dr. Noble Jones, the great-great-grandfather of Wymberley Jones De Renne, at present living upon the old family estate, Wormsloe Plantation, near Savan- nah. Dr. Noble Jones was the father of Noble Wymberley Jones, the grandfather of Dr. George Jones, and the great-grandfather of George Wymberley Jones De Renne. Hereafter follow accounts in greater or less detail of the lives of each of these gentlemen, who have since their earliest connection with America been makers of her history, and prom- inent and successful in a high degree.

Dr. Noble Jones was bred to the profession of physic and lived at Lambeth, a village in the County of Surrey, situated on the south side of the river Thames, opposite Westminster, in which county his an- cestors were born and resided. Being intimately acquainted with Gen -. eral Oglethorpe, he was induced by the general to accompany him on his first voyage to America in 1732. This friendship lasted all their lives. After General Oglethorpe returned to England to live, he sent Colonel Jones his portrait, with his Indian pupil standing by his side, reading. This portrait was lost when Savannah was captured by the English.

Dr. Noble Jones' family then consisted only of his wife and two chil- dren-a daugliter and a son, Noble Wymberley Jones. It was his first intention to accompany the general without his family, but his wife objected to being left. Having promised the General to accompany him, he concluded to bring his family, not however, with an intention of remaining permanently, but after his arrival he was so pleased with the country that he decided to stay. Before leaving England, Doctor Jones, by deeds, to which the seal of the corporation of the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia was affixed, was appointed, November 7, 1732, conservator of the peace, and on the next day, November 8, 1732, he was appointed recorder in the place of Thomas Christie. How long he remained recorder is not certain, but he still held that office in 1735, and was suceceded by Thomas Christie. He was appointed surveyor by General Oglethorpe February 1, 1734, but did not give satisfaction and was discharged by the trustees and also suspended from the office of constable, which he had held for some time. To the last office he was soon re-appointed. That he was a good' surveyor was testified to by Mr. Stephens in a letter to the trustees December 31, 1740. Other letters endorsed Mr. Stephens' opinion. He was also appointed by General Oglethorpe "Agent for the Indians," and for Tomo-chi-chi in partic- ular.

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During this time he was very active protecting the southern frontier. He writes to General Oglethorpe July 6, 1735: "I have been twice to the most southern parts of the province; the first time upon an alarm with about fifty men (all volunteers except ye scout boat), the particu- lars of which voyage ( for fear of false account comes to your hands) I will send by next. The second time was with Captain Dunbar, who, I do not doubt, has informed you thereof before now."

The constables were responsible for the colonists attending to their military duties, and Jones and Fallowfield are mentioned as the two constables "in whom the civil and military power was lodged." Each of these two controlled three wards.

On the 10th of April, 1738, Mr. Stephens writes: "The two consta- bles, Jones and Fallowfield (which was all we had), came early to town on the present occasion, conferring on the affair they came about, which was more immediately to look into the condition of the arms. It was resolved (for experiment's sake) to order the drum to beat immediately to arms, that thereby we might see how alert the people were and what number would get together on a sudden without previous notice. It was so done, and in less than an hour's time we saw eighty odd men in the center of the town with their proper arms, well appointed, and all able men, freeholders. Such as were absent were, almost every man, abroad busy planting."

When General Oglethorpe invaded Florida and laid siege to St. Augustine, some forty volunteers under Noble Jones joined the South Carolina regiment, in which he held a lieutenant's commission. On their return the company was disbanded in Savannah, according to the Gen- eral's orders, and Noble Jones was sent to Charleston to collect the pay due them.

Soon after Noble Jones' arrival in the colony, he leased from the trustees the southern end of the Isle of Hope; later he received a grant froin the trustees, which, in turn, was exchanged for a royal grant when the crown took charge of the colony. He named his place Wormsloe and built on it a watch house to protect Jones' Narrows. Later he built a large, tabby fort, the ruins of which are still well defined. This fort was successfully defended by his daughter Mary against a party of Indians during her father's absence. The other two-thirds of the Isle of Hope were owned by Messrs. Fallowfield and Parker. All three acted as magistrates at the same time "by Colonel Oglethorpe's orders until the trustees' further pleasure be known." Wormsloe is mentioned in the London Magazine of Angust, 1745; "'We arrived in somewhat more than two days at the Narrows, where there is a kind of Manchic- olas Fort for their defense, garrisoned from Wormsloe, where we soon arrived. It is the settlement of Mr. Jones, ten miles southeast of Savan- nah, and we could not help observing. as we passed, several pretty plan- tations. Wormsloe is one of the most agreeable spots I ever saw, and the improvements of that ingenions man are very extraordinary. He commands a company of marines who are quartered in huts near his place, which is a tolerable defensive place with small arms. From this house there is a vista of near three miles ent through the woods to Mr. Whitefield's orphan house, which has a very fine effeet on the sight."

When the Spaniards invaded Georgia in 1742. Noble Jones who was in command of a company of sconts with General Oglethorpe's regimen! ou St. Simons, prepared to resist the Spanish army which had landed there. It was through his vigilanee that General Oglethorpe was en- abled to surprise and thoroughly defeat them at Bloody Marsh. Cap- tain MeCall gives the following account of this atfair: "Capt. Noble Jones, with a detachment of regulars and Indians, being out on a seont-

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ing expedition. fell in with a small detachment of the enemy's advance, who were surprised and made prisoners. From these prisoners informa- tion was obtained that the whole Spanish army was advancing. This was immediately communicated by an Indian runner to the General, who detached Captain Dunbar with a company of grenadiers to join the Regulars and Indians, with orders to harass the enemy on their advance. These detachments, having formed a junction, observed at a distance the Spanish army on the march, and, taking a favorable position near a marsh, formed an ambuscade. The enemy fortunately halted within one hundred paces of this position. stacked their arms and made fires and were preparing their kettles for cooking when a horse observed some of the party in ambuseade, and, frightened at the uniform of the soldiers, began to snort and gave the alarm. The Spaniards ran to their arms, but were shot down in great numbers by Oglethorpe's detachment. who continued invisible to the enemy, and after repeated attempts to form, in which some of their prominent officers fell, they fled with the utmost precipitation, leaving their eamp equipage on the field, and never halted until they got under cover of the guns of their battery and ships."

The first official notice of the appointment of Noble Jones as a cap- tain was on the 21st of March, 1842-43. Egmont's Journal has this reference: "Noble Jones, made a captain by Oglethorpe," but he ful- filled the duties of a captain, and was so called before that date. After his return from the Spanish campaign he seems to have devoted himself to his seont boat duties (captain of which he had been named by Gen- eral Oglethorpe), and to the improvement of Wormsloe. He raised mulberry trees and silk worms, and the colony in a measure depended . upon him for worm seed.

He and Captain Demetree cruised together with scout boats to in- tereept unlawful trading at Tybee. On December 22, 1739, "with boat well armed he captured a schooner in Ossybaw Sound and carried her around to Tybee."

Meanwhile, he did not neglect his military duties in Savannah, and when in 1749 Mary Musgrave, now Mary Bosomworth, assumed the title of Independent Empress, and, putting herself at the head of a large body of warriors. set out for Savannah to demand from the presi- dent and council a formal acknowledgment of her assumed rights the militia was ready to receive her. President Stephens put the town into the best state of defense possible and received the Indians boldly. Jones' History of Georgia says: "The militia was ordered under arms, and as the Indians. entered town Capt. Noble Jones at the head of a troop of horses stopped them and demanded to know whether their visit was of a friendly or hostile nature. Receiving no reply he commanded them to grond their arms, declaring that his instructions were not to suffer an armed Indian to set foot in the town, and that he was determined to enforce the order at every hazard. The Indians remetantly sub- mitted. Later. at their solicitations, their arms were returned to them, but strict orders were issued not to allow them any ammunition. When at last an amicable adjustment of existing difficulties had been effected, Mary, drunk with liquor, rushed into the Assembly and told the presi- dent that the Indians were her people and that he had no business with them. Mary had been arrested and locked up and had just been released. The president calmly threatened to confine her again. Turning to Mal- achte in a great rage, she repeated to him with some ill-natured com- ments what the president had said. Malatche thereupon sprung from his seat, laid hold of his arms, and calling upon the rest to follow his example, dared any man to touch his queen. In a moment the whole

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house was filled with tumult and uproar. Every Indian having a tomahawk in his hand, the president expected nothing but instant death. During this confusion, Capt. Noble Jones, who commanded the guard, with wonderful conrage interposed and ordered the Indians immediately to surrender their arms. This they reluctantly did. Mary was con- veyed to a private room, where a guard was placed over her, and all further communication with the Indians was denied her during her stay in Savannah."

About this time the expediency of subordinating Georgia to South Carolina was in certain high quarters seriously discussed and gave the trustees some concern. Before they could communicate with President Stephens, Captain Demetree landed at Causton's Bluff with boats, which, having brought the last of Oglethorpe's disbanded regiment to Charleston on their way to England. were returning to Frederica in his charge. He had a small detachment of ten or twelve men and said that he was on his way to Frederica to assume command at that point : that he took orders only from the governor of South Carolina, and that the trustees were cognizant of the fact. As he failed to report to the president and his assistants and disclose to them his orders or his inten- tions, they were at a loss to understand his extraordinary conduct and ordered Capt. Noble Jones to wait upon him and demand an explanation of and an apology for his discourtesy. Captain Demetree's reply to Captain Jones was that he was acting under the instructions from His Grace, the Duke of Bedford. and that he was to receive his orders from and report only to the governor of South Carolina. He reluctantly appeared before the council in answer to their summons. After Cap- . tain Demetree had made ample apology to the council. he was permitted to assume command of the military forces stationed at Frederica. The annexation of Georgia to South Carolina was to be accomplished at this time by stationing officers from three independent South Carolina com- panies in proper places in Georgia, "to preserve the possession of the province."

On July 13, 1750, the trustees recommended to the common council that Noble Jones be appointed an assistant in and for the province of Georgia, and the appointment under seal was sent to him July 16, 1750.

On April 18, 1751, the trustees recommended to the common council his appointment as Register of the Province, and his appointment fol- lowed on May 24. 1751.

About the middle of May of this year news came from Augusta that there was fear of an Indian invasion. "Accordingly the Magazine was examined, officers were appointed and ordered to muster and discip- line the militia, a troop of horses was ordered to be raised composed of such inhabitants as were possessed of three hundred acres of land. Noble Jones was appointed Colonel, and his son, Noble Wymberley Jones, who had been a cadet in Oglethorpe's regiment, was appointed to command the Dragoons."

The alarm was exaggerated, but it served to bring out the militia. which consisted of 220 men. infantry and cavalry, and when they paraded (on the 16th of April, 1751. under the then Capt. Noble Jones) they "behaved well and made a pretty appearance." Noble Jones was appointed to "accompany Mr. Robinson in his inquiry into the state of the colony." According to Mr. Habersham, he was a stiff church- man and took a great deal of voluntary trouble in building the church, and in all church matters greatly aiding his friend. Rev. Mr. Zonber- buhler.

In the last year of the trustee's government of the colony, he was

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captain of the Marines and scout boat at Wormsloe, assistant to the president, register of the provinec, commissioner to treat with the Indians, member of the council to report on the state of the colony, and colonel of the regiment.

The trustees surrendered the colony to the British government onl the 23d of June, 1752, and Benjamin Martin was appointed agent of the colony in England. Upon the death of President Parker, who had succeeded President Stephens (the first president of the colony appointed in April, 1741), Patrick Graham became president. His assistants were James Habersham, Noble Jones, Piekering Robinson and Francis Harris.

On the 6th of August, 1754, Capt. John Reynolds was appointed governor of the province and Noble Jones was confirmed as member of councils. On the 27th of November, 1754, Governor Reynolds, with the advice of the board, appointed Noble Jones and William Spencer, esquires, judges to hold the approaching court of oyer and terminer, and on December 12, 1754, Noble Jones and Jonathan Bryan were appointed as judges to hold the first general court in the province.

On March 29, 1757, "Noble Jones of His Majesty's Council, was appointed one of the new commissioners of the peace." This appoint- ment was made before the Lords of Trade had heard from Governor Reynolds, who on Wednesday, December 15, 1756 "acquainted the board that he had thought proper to suspend Noble Jones, Esq., from all offices, for reasons which he would lay before the king." Governor Reynolds "removed Mr. Noble Jones from the board and bench to gratify Mr. Little, and it is positively affirmed, to promote the establishment of Bosomworth's titles to the Indian lands with a view to sharing the spoils." Governor Reynolds was summoned to England to answer for his conduct in Georgia. He embarked in a merchant vessel in February, 1757, resigning the goverment into the hands of Lieutenant Governor Henry Ellis, who became governor in chief on May 17, 1758. Noble Jones was re-instated by an order of the English council to Governor Ellis May 31, 1759, with his former precedence as councillor and also as senior justice of the general court.

Under Governor Ellis he was one of His Majesty's council, senior justice of the general court, colonel of the regiment and treasurer of the province, having been appointed to this last office by Governor Ellis on the 16th of February, 1760. "He had no salary, but a commission of five per cent, which on the last year's tax amounted to sixty-five pounds sterling, and may this year amount to eighty pounds." Governor Ellis resigned his office on account of ill-health and handed over the government to Lieutenant-Governor James Wright, who was appointed governor in chief on the 20th of March, 1761. In the following letter to the Lords of the board of trade. Governor Wright commends Noble Jones' services as chief justice of the colony after Mr. Simpson's death and before Mr. Anthony Stokes' arrival :

SAVANNAH, GA., Sept. 28, 1769.

"My Lords :- I take the liberty to acquaint your lordships that Noble Jones, Esq., senior judge of the courts here, has in every respect done and performed the office and duties of chief justice from 20th of October, 1768, when Mr. Simpson died, to the arrival of Mr. Stokes: and although Mr. Jones was not bred to the law, vet I believe that justice only was administered during that time and with integrity. and I have not heard any complaint made or fault found with his condnet. I therefore submit to your lordships whether it may not be reasonable that Mr. Jones shall receive the salary from the death of Mr. Simpson to the appointment of Mr. Stokes, and half of it from the appointment

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of Mr. Stokes to his arrival here. I have given Mr. Jones two certificates of his having done his duty here and have the honor to be, my Lords, Your Lordships' most obedient and obliging servant,

JAMES WRIGHT,

The Right Honorable Lords of Trade."

On the 10th of July, 1771, Governor Wright availed himself of a leave of absence, and three days afterward Mr. James Habersham took the usual oath of office and entered upon the discharge of the guberna- torial duties.

In a long letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, Governor Habersham relates that the assembly had against royal orders elected Noble Wym- berley Jones, the son of Noble Jones, three times speaker in succes- sion, and that they refused to leave this fact out of their minutes on the subsequent election of Archibald Bulloch, and that he had dissolved the assembly. Noble Wymberley Jones was as ardent a patriot as Noble Jones, his father, was a thorough Royalist. His opposition to the crown and his upholding of the cause of liberty seems to have embittered Mr. Habersham, who, not able to punish the son, brought his spleen to bear upon the father. He writes to the Earl of Hillsborough, April 30, 1772: "My Lord, it is very painful to me to say or even insinuate a disrespectful word of anyone, and every person who knows me will acknowledge that it is contrary to my disposition to dip my pen in gall ; but I can not help considering Mr. Jones' conduct for some time past in opposing public business as very ungrateful and unworthy of a good man, as his family have reaped more advantages from government than any one I know in this province. He was several years first lieutenant and sergeant in a company of rangers paid by the crown, and in these capacities met with great indulgence. His father is the king's treasurer, and if I am not mistaken. reaps very considerable emoluments from it. But his accounts have never been clearly stated and examined by any assembly that I know of; and such an inquiry may not be agreeable. Governor Wright in his speech to the assembly in October, 1770, recom- mended our financial and public accounts to be examined entire but that assembly was dissolved in February following and no steps taken there- in, and many people suspect that this very necessary examination operates with some to retard and impede progress. I sincerely meant to recommend this inquiry to the late assembly in the strongest terms, and as we now have no assembly I shall require the treasurer to lay before me in council a clear account of the produce of our funds. also the certificates that have been issued for different purposes, and of every account that may be necessary to post me with the state of the treasury, and after that is done I shall pursue such measures as seem necessary for the service of his majesty and the province, of which I shall inform your lordship."

That the treasurer's accounts were examined and approved of at times by the deputy anditor and the governor, is shown by a treasury account signed " Noble Jones, treasurer," February 26. 1767. Audited by Gray Elliott, Det. Aud. Gen., 6th February, and approved by James Wright 10th of February.

On further deliberation Mr. Habersham either found out that the accounts had been audited. or that an investigation was unnecessary, as there is no record of one having taken place-and as Noble Jones continued treasurer until the day of his death, which occurred three years afterward, it would seem reasonable to suppose that Mr. Haber- sham's fears were groundless. During Governor Wright's administra- tion he took part in all important matters appertaining to Georgia,

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and his fidelity and absolute devotion to the crown were unswerving.

In a card appearing in the Georgia Gazette, September 7, 1774. his name appears with James Habersham, Josiah Tattnall and ninety-three others, criticizing the meeting at Tondee's Tavern in Savannah, and pro- testing that the resolutions there should not be adopted as reflecting the sentiments of the people of Georgia. He performed his judicial duties up to the last. Upon the assembling of the general court on the 10th of October, 1775, one of the jurors summoned refused to be sworn. Others "behaved insolently," and the conduet of the business was practically obstrueted. Mr. Noble Jones, one of the associate justices, was then "lying extremely ill." He died on the second of November following, at Wormsloe, and was buried near the fort on the place he loved so well. His remains were removed from Wormsloe to the colonial bury- ing ground in Savannah, and later to Bonaventure cemetery near Savannah. His death was hastened by the dissensions among the Colon- ists; he. could not sympathize with the idea of separation from or independence of the mother country, and he saw nothing but storms and trouble ahead for his beloved Georgia. During a long life, in which he held nearly every office in the province, if he was found fault with he never failed upon investigation of the charges against him to rise higher in the public esteem. Notwithstanding the zealous patriotism of Noble Wymberly Jones, he was a devoted son, and though then first elected a member of the continental congress, remained with his father at Wormsloe until the latter's death. On Noble Jones' tombstone at Bonaventure cemetery is inscribed the following :

NOBLE JONES, of Wormsloe, Esq.,

SENIOR JUDGE OF TIIE GENERAL COURT AND ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE OF TIIE PROVINCE OF GEORGIA.

FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS MEMBER AND SOMETIMES PRESI- DENT OF HIS MAJESTY'S COUNCIL.

COLONEL OF THE FIRST GEORGIA REGIMENT.

DIED NOVEMBER 2, 1775. AGED 73.

W. J. DE RENNE.

Noble Wymberley Jones, already mentioned in connection with some of the more important concerns of the Province of Georgia, was born near London, England, in 1723. Coming to Georgia at a tender age he secured an appointment as a cadet in Oglethorpe's regiment. Hav- ing studied medicine and received his degree, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and with the rauk and pay of surgeon, was assigned to a company of rangers in the pay of the crown. After a few years passed in military service he resigned from the army and entered upon the practice of his profession in Savannah. He arose rapidly in the public esteem as a citizen and physician. winning golden opinions from the community. No idle spectator of passing events or indifferent to politi- cal preferment, he was in 1768 elected speaker of the Lower Ionse of the Assembly of the Province of Georgia. By that body he was placed upon a committee to correspond with Dr. Benjamin Franklin-who had been appointed an agent "to represent. solicit and truthfully account the affairs of the colony of Georgia in Great Britain"-and gave snch instructions as might appear necessary for the public wel-

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A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume II, Part 1

Author: Harden, William, 1844-1936 Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1208

Author: Harden, William, 1844-1936
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1208