USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. I > Part 19
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noon, when the " silver cord was loosed, and the golden bowl was broken." He had gone to his long home, and the mourners went about the streets.
Henry Parker succeeded him as President of Geor- gia ; and his former office of secretary for the affairs of the Trust, was filled by the appointment of James Habersham. The people still laboured under many grievances, and sought for redress; but the Trustees, deceived by their agents in Georgia, and wedded to a system which was beautiful in theory, kept back the helping hand, or only conceded what was wrung from them by the glaring necessities of the impoverished and fast-depopulating country.
One of these plans, which necessity thrust upon the Trustees, was the establishment of an annual repre- sentative assembly, to be held in Savannah. In the preamble of the report of the committee of correspond- ence to the common council of the Trustees, dated March 14, 1750,16 they state, that " having taken into consideration that many settlements are made in dif- ferent parts of the province, the true state of which in particular, as well as of the province in general, it is necessary the Trustees should from time to time be acquainted with, the better to enable them to procure all the advantages they can for the good of the people, and provide for the welfare and security of the prov- ince, they had resolved upon a proposal to be offered to the common council."
The plan of this proposal was, that an " assembly be formed, and authorized to meet in the town of Savan- nah, in Georgia, every year, at the most leisure time, and such time as shall be appointed by the President
16 Minutes of Common Council, iii. 235.
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246
PLAN OF AN ANNUAL ASSEMBLY.
and assistants; no such meeting to continue longer than three weeks, or a month at farthest.
" That every town, or village, or district, in the prov- ince, where ten families are settled, be empowered to depute one person; and where thirty families are set- tled, to depute two persons, to the said assembly.
" That for the town of Savannah there be four depu- ties ; for the town of Augusta, two deputies ; for Eben- ezer, two deputies ; and if thirty families are settled at Frederica, that they be empowered to send two also.
"That the power of making laws being, by His Majesty's charter, vested solely in the Trustees, the assembly can only propose, debate, and represent to the Trustees what shall appear to them to be for the benefit, not only of each particular settlement, but of the province in general.
"That the deputy or deputies from every place shall deliver to the assembly, within three days after their meeting, an account, in writing, of the state of his or their settlement, signed by such deputy or deputies, which account shall contain the number of people, as well of negroes as of whites, (distinguishing men from women and children, of either kind, and the children's sex and age,) the quantity of land cultivated by each inhabitant of such settlements, and in what manner; the number of negroes kept, and the number of mul- berry trees standing (properly fenced) on each planta- tion ; and the progress made by each man or family in the culture of wine, silk, indigo, cotton, etc.
" That the said accounts, as likewise the proposals and representations of the assembly, shall, when signed by the person presiding in it, be delivered to the Pres- ident and assistants, in order to be transmitted to the Trustees for their consideration.
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QUALIFICATIONS OF DEPUTIES.
"That the person to preside in the assembly be chosen by them, to be approved or disapproved of by the President; and if disapproved of the President, that he be obliged, if it is demanded by any three of the assembly, to give his reasons for so doing, and trans- mit the same, in writing, to the Trustees.
" That the assembly be empowered and called to meet as soon as conveniently may be ; but that from and after the 24th day of June, 1751, no person shall be capable of being chosen a deputy who has not one hundred mulberry trees planted, and properly fenced, upon every fifty acres he possesses ; and that from and after the 24th day of June, 1753, no person shall be capable of being chosen a deputy who has not strictly conformed to the limitation of the number of negro slaves in proportion to his white servants, who has not at least one female in his family instructed in the art of reeling silk, and who does not yearly produce fifteen pounds of silk upon fifty acres of land, and the like quantity upon every fifty acres he possesses.
" But as the Trustees are desirous of seeing some immediate good effects from this assembly, and are sen- sible that at present there are not many in the province who may have the aforesaid qualifications, they do not insist on requiring any of these in the deputies who meet in the assembly within the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty."
Thus tenaciously did the Trustees cling to some of the original purposes of their settlement; and so strangely did they engraft upon the legislature of Georgia the unusual qualifications, not of freehold and income, but of mulberry trees and raw silk, as consti- tuting eligibility to a seat in the assembly. This was sealed, and became the law of the Trustees, on the
248
ASSEMBLY MEETS.
27th of March, 1750; and the first assembly was called by the President and assistants to sit on the 15th of January, 1751.17
The assembly, which met on the day appointed, was organized by the choice of Francis Harris as Speaker, a gentleman of sound judgment, right intentions, and large practical knowledge.
The formalities customary on such occasions in the other provinces, of being addressed by the Executive, and replied to by the assembly, was for the first time gone through in Georgia. The President opened their deliberations with a speech, setting forth the reason of their being called together; and the deputies replied in courteous terms, and offered to him sincere con- gratulations on his appointment to the supreme com- mand in Georgia. The Sunday after, they, in conjunc- tion with the President and assistants, went in a body to church, when the Rev. Mr. Zouberbuhler, at the request of President Parker, " preached a sermon suit- able to the occasion."
On the 30th of January the assembly delivered to the President and assistants a paper entitled, " Heads of grievances which we are of opinion the President and assistants may have in their power to redress," which set forth their wants under eleven specifications, viz. :-_ 18
1st. The want of a proper pilot-boat.
2d. The want of leave to erect a building under the bluff for the conveniency of boat's crews, negroes, &c.
3d. The want of standard weights and measures.
4th. The want of a survey of the river.
17 MS. Documents from Board of 18 Journal of the President and As- sistants, 88.
Trade, iv. 81.
249
SETS FORTH HEADS OF GRIEVANCES.
5th. The want of an order to prevent the masters of vessels from heaving their ballast into the river, &c.
6th. The want of commissioners for the regulation of pilots and pilotage.
7th. The want of an inspector and sworn packer to inspect the produce of the colony.
8th. The want of a clerk of the market.
9th. The want of a regulation of the guard.
10th. The want of proper officers to command the militia.
11th. The repairs of the court-house.
To which the following answers were returned : " The first article requiring a larger expense than the Board could comply with, the assembly were left to represent it to the Trustees. To the second, the Board would readily allot them the ground, provided the Trustees should be at no expense in building, which they said was not desired, intending to be done by subscription. To the third, the Board acquainted them that they had applied to the Trustees for regular standards of weights and measures, and expected soon to receive them. To the fourth, they were answered that the river should be surveyed as soon as persons qualified could be procured. To the fifth, that an order should be published to prevent it, and delin- quents, upon proof, should be severely prosecuted. To the sixth, that the Board would endeavour to find proper persons, whom they will appoint to regulate the same. To the seventh, one to be appointed. To the eighth, they would appoint a clerk as soon as a market place was prepared. To"the ninth, the Board under- took to regulate the same. The tenth was likewise promised to be done. To the eleventh, they were
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250
MILITIA ORGANIZED.
acquainted that materials were provided, and the workmen had orders to do it forthwith."
They continued in session until the 8th of February, and, as it was more of an advisory than a legislative assembly, they could only make representations to the Trustees of what things they thought proper for the benefit of the colony; and accordingly they made eleven representations, and an address, to the Trustees, relating to various matters connected with the magis- tracy, the river, the Indians, the introduction of negroes, the silk culture, the continuance of the charter, and others of similar import, and were then dissolved, never again to be convened.
Agreeably to the promise made by the President and assistants to the assembly, the Board, on the 16th of April, 1751, proceeded to organize and commission the militia of the province. All who possessed three hundred acres and upwards of land, were directed to appear well accoutred on horseback as cavalry ; and those who owned less property, armed as foot. The militia was thus comprised in four companies, viz., one troop of horse, and three of infantry, amounting in all to nearly three hundred men.
This arming and organizing of the militia was ren- dered especially necessary, by reason of the disband- ing of the regiment of Oglethorpe, and the constant perplexities and alarm created by the neighbouring Indians. The first general muster in the lower dis- tricts was held at Savannah, on Tuesday, 13th of June, 1751, when about two hundred and twenty men, horse and foot, under command of Captain Noble Jones, appeared on parade, properly armed and equipped; and the official records of the colony state, that "they behaved well and made a pretty appearance."19
19 Ib. 106, 119.
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SOME DESIRE TRUSTEES TO CONTINUE.
The period at which the charter was to expire by limitation, was now at hand; and in the relaxing of their energies for the support of that which they were soon to relinquish, the Trustees did little else than make grants of land, settle their accounts, and prepare for their corporate dissolution. Some good men in the province, knowing the well-disposed intentions of the Trustees, notwithstanding all their mismanagement, wished them to renew the charter, preferring to live under evils already known and measured, than run the risk of introducing new and perhaps greater ones, by a change of government. By the Trust's revoking of several of their early and oppressive laws relating to the tenure of land, the labour of slaves, and other oppressive burdens, the colony was beginning to re- cover from that civil marasmus under which it had so long wasted away. They believed that the Trustees, uninfluenced by mercenary aims, would, with their sad-bought experience and enlarged views, legislate only for the well-being of the colony, while they feared that royal officers would seek to subserve their own interests, and only use the colony as the means of their personal aggrandizement.
" We have been," says Habersham, " like a sickly child, which the Trustees, by great application and care, have nursed and brought to a healthy and thriving state ; and if we should fall into the hands of unskilful physicians, they may obstruct the cure being truly perfected."20 The same desire was urged in the official letters to the Trust of the President and assist- ants, they telling them that unless the charter was renewed, their condition would be " deplorable," and assuring them that were they to do so, " a few years
20 Board of Trade, iv. 96.
252
COMMITTEE ON SURRENDER OF CHARTER.
will evidence that the colony will not only support itself, but be a benefit to our mother country."
Another fear which they had was, that if the Trus- tees resigned the charter, the colony would be an- nexed to South Carolina.21 This greatly disturbed the people, believing that, should it be done, " they might expect to be treated as persons only fit to guard her frontier ;" and they dreaded annexation to Carolina more than the erection of the colony into an inde- pendent province.
In order to arrange the surrender of the charter with proper care and deliberation, a committee con- sisting of twelve persons, at the head of whom was the Earl of Shaftesbury, was appointed by the common council of the Trustees on the 25th of April, 1751, " to adjust with the administration the proper means for supporting and settling the colony for the future, and to take, from time to time, all such measures as they shall find necessary for its well-being." On the 8th of January, 1752, the Earl of Shaftesbury reported from that committee, " That, being informed22 that the Lords of the Council had appointed Thursday evening, December the 19th, to take into consideration the Trustees' memorial to His Majesty, and the reports thereon from the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury and the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, the said committee had, at a meeting, De- cember 14th, desired and empowered the Earl of Shaftesbury, Mr. Hooper, Mr. Vernon, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Tracy, and Mr. Frederick, to attend and deliver to
21 This scheme was boldly advo- Board of Trade, iv. 96.
cated in " The Present State of Great 22 Minutes of Common Council, Britain in North America," &c., 8vo, iii. 266.
London, 1767, 233. Document from
253
PAPER DELIVERED TO PRIVY COUNCIL.
the Lords of the Council the following paper in the name of the Trustees, for establishing the colony of Georgia in case they should be called upon by their lordships," viz. :-
" To the Right Honourable the Lords of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.
" The Trustees for establishing the colony of Geor- gia in America, who are ready, for the service of the crown, to surrender their trust for granting the lands in the said colony, think it their indispensable duty to offer the following considerations to your lordships on behalf of the people settled there.
" That the colony of Georgia be confirmed a sepa- rate and independent province, as it is expressly declared in His Majesty's charter it shall be, (in con- fidence of which the inhabitants, both British and foreign, have gone thither,) and as the assembly of the province of Georgia have petitioned for in a represen- tation to the Trustees, dated January 15th, 1750.
" That the inhabitants of the colony be confirmed in their titles and possessions which have been grant- ed to them under the charter.
" That the arrears of quit-rents due at this time be remitted, since most of the inhabitants have been pre- vented by the war and the various obstacles that always occur at the first settling of a colony, from cultivating so much of their lands as it might be ex- pected they would have done; and that the quit-rents for the future be reduced from four to two shillings for each hundred acres ; this last sum being as much as is usually reserved in any of His Majesty's prov- inces in America.
" That as there will be occasion for a secretary or agent in England, to transact the affairs of the prov-
1 Ser Ango
20 line
254
FURTHER REPORT OF COMMITTEE.
ince here, and to carry on the correspondence with the government in Georgia; and as the Trustees' sec- retary, Mr. Martyn, has served them ably and faith- fully in that capacity from the very date of the charter, and is much better acquainted with the state of the colony than any other person residing in England ; and as the Trustees have the greatest reason to be- lieve it will be very agreeable and encouraging to the people there, they humbly desire your lordships will be the means of recommending him to His Majesty for the said employment, with such an appointment as may be thought proper."
The Earl of Shaftesbury further reported, "That on the 19th of December the committee attended the Lords of the Council, and being called in, they were acquainted that the Lords have read the Trustees' memorial to His Majesty, and the reports thereon from the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, and the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations; and that the Lords of the Council had observed in the report from the Lords Commis- sioners for Trade, that the Trustees who attended them had said, that if it should be expected that for the service of the crown they should surrender their trust for granting the lands in the colony, they should have some conditions to offer to the council on behalf of the people settled there; and therefore the Lords of the Council desired to know if the Trustees had such conditions ready to lay before them. Upon which the committee delivered, in the name of the Trustees, the aforesaid paper, drawn up by the com- mittee December the 14th, and then ordered to be delivered in case it should be called for; after which the committee withdrew, and after some time being
255
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER PROPOSED.
called in again, they were acquainted that the Lords of the Council could not advise His Majesty to recom- mend to Parliament the granting any sum of money to the corporation of the Trustees, unless they were de- sirous to make an absolute surrender of their charter ; and if so, they were asked in what manner they pro- posed to make the surrender."
" Upon which the committee again withdrew, and then taking into consideration the present state of the colony, and the total inability of the Trustees to defray the civil government thereof from Lady-day, 1751, to furnish the troops stationed in Georgia with provis- ions, or to give any encouragements for the produce of raw silk, without a further supply ; they immedi- ately drew up the following paper and severally signed the same, viz .:-
"' We, whose names are hereunder written, being a committee appointed by the common council of the Trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia, in America, and being fully authorized by them, do hereby signify that we are ready and willing to make an absolute surrender of all the powers, rights, and trusts vested in the said Trustees by His Majesty's Royal Charter, bearing date the 9th day of June, 1732, without any condition or limitation, humbly recommending the rights and privileges of the inhabi- tants of the said colony to His Majesty's most gracious protection.
SHAFTESBURY, ROBERT TRACY, JOHN FREDERICK, SAMUEL LLOYD, EDWARD HOOPER.
' December 19th, 1751.'
256
FURTHER POWERS GIVEN TO COMMITTEE.
" That committee were then called in again, and they presented the said paper to the Lords of the Council and then withdrew, and were soon after acquainted by Mr. Sharpe, clerk of the council, that he was ordered by their lordships to inform them that they had referred the said paper to the attorney and solici- tor-general, to consider thereof, and report to their lordships in what manner the same might be most effectually carried into execution."
The common council concurred, and adopted as their own act, the paper delivered by their committee to the Lords of the Council, and in their vote of thanks to this committee, particularized " their care in recom- mending the rights and privileges of the inhabitants" of Georgia to His Majesty's protection.
They also empowered the same committee " to take all such further measures as they shall judge necessary in order to perfect the surrender of the trust, in confi- dence that His Majesty's subjects inhabiting the col- ony of Georgia, will suffer no diminution of their rights and possessions by the Trustees' delivering into His Majesty's hands the charter which they received from His Majesty, on behalf of and for the benefit of his said subjects."
On the 21st of March, 1752, a report was read in the common council from the attorney and solicitor- general, in answer to a reference from the Lords of the Committee of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council for Plantation Affairs, directing them to con- sider in what manner the Trustees' offer to surrender their trust into the hands of his Majesty might best be carried into execution, setting forth that it was their opinion a deed of surrender should be executed by
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LAST MEETING OF COMMON COUNCIL.
the Trustees with the privity and by the direction of the common council, under their common seal, thereby to surrender their charter, and likewise to grant to His Majesty the one-eighth part of the lands in Georgia granted and sold to the Trustees by the Right Honour- able John Lord Carteret. Accordingly a resolution was passed to the intent that the Trustees, or any three or more of them, do, at such time, and in such manner, as they shall think fit, surrender and yield up to His Majesty the charter granted to the said Trustees, bearing date the 9th of June, 1732; and likewise that they do grant to His Majesty the one-eighth part of the lands and territories lying within the limits described in the said charter, granted and sold to the Trustees by the Right Honourable John Lord Carteret, by an indenture bearing date the 28th of February, 1732; and they further
Resolved, That the Trustees, or any three or more of them, be empowered, and they are hereby empow- ered, accordingly, to fix the seal of the corporation to such surrender and grant, which shall be prepared by the attorney and solicitor-general in pursuance of an order of the lords of the committee of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council for Plantation Affairs, bearing date the 19th day of December, 1751.
The last meeting of the common council was held on the 29th of April, 1752. The closing up of the affairs of the Trustees was steadily continued until June 23d, 1752, when this body met for the last time, made their last grant of land, sent their last directions to the President and assistants, paid their last bills, and rendered in to the Lord High Chancellor and the Master of Rolls their last annual account.
The secretary then acquainted the Trustees that he
17
258
TRUSTEES DISSOLVED.
had laid before the Lords Justices the memorial and representation, setting forth the manner in which the Trustees have discharged their trust, and the present state of the colony and its produce, particularly the raw silk, and the necessity of giving proper encour- agements to carrying on the culture of this, and of giving early and satisfactory assurances to the people that such encouragements will be granted. He like- wise acquainted them that he had laid the memorial and representation of the same before the Lords Com- missioners for Trade and Plantations.
The resolution of the common council of the 21st of March was then read, after which the secretary laid before the Trustees a counterpart of an indenture expressing and declaring the said surrender and grant, which indenture he had received from William Sharpe, Esq., by order of the Lords of the Committee of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council for Plantation Affairs, and which, when sealed, was to be exchanged with a counterpart under the great seal signifying His Majesty's acceptance of the said surrender and grant. The seal of the corporation was then affixed to the counterpart ; and having thus effected a surrender of their charter, the seal was ordered to be defaced,23 and the corporation which had planted and nurtured Geor- gia ceased to exist.
The number of gentlemen who served as Trustees under the charter was seventy-two, more than one- third of whom were noblemen, distinguished alike by their birth, their official rank, and their public zeal. The remainder were clergymen, members of Parlia- ment, officers of the army, eminent lawyers, and exten- sive merchants.
23 Journal of Trustees, iii. 195.
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JAMES VERNON.
Of the original Trustees, six only remained in the Board to its close : General Oglethorpe, James Vernon, Rev. Dr. Burton, Rev. Samuel Smith, Mr. Anderson, and Rev. Dr. Hales. Of these, after General Ogle- thorpe, none did greater service to Georgia than Mr. Vernon-the only one of the Trustees at the first and the last meetings of that body. . Constant in his attend- ance, unfailing in his endeavours to promote the inter- ests of the colony, the organ through whom most of the negociations with the German and other foreign Prot- estants were carried on, he laboured with untiring diligence and disinterested zeal through an arduous service as a trustee and common-council man for twenty-one years, doing more, perhaps, than any one but Oglethorpe to plant, encourage, and protect the colony of Georgia. His services deserve a grateful remembrance, for he was one of the noblest of the founders of our State.
There was but little pleasure to be enjoyed, and but little reputation to be gained, by being one of the Trus- tees. They held office, but without emolument; they held power, but its sway was across the ocean; they laboured in a service that was often little better than drudgery ; they toiled through tedious examinations of claimants for their bounty ; through long and com- plicated accounts, from the settling of the charter party of ships, to the buying of beer or pills for the emi- grants; through irksome processes of granting lands and arranging settlers ; through the vexing annoyances of complaining letters, and representations, and memo- rials ; through the wearisome business of framing laws, constructing constitutions, and erecting judi- ciaries ; through the painful reverses occasioned by turbulence, discord, and deceitful rulers ; through the
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