USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. II > Part 24
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This was the first step taken by the General Govern- ment, which brought it into seeming conflict with the State Government; and was the beginning of a series of difficulties respecting the jurisdiction of the United States within the limits of the State, which, as they
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advanced, assumed, at times, even threatening aspects ; and which were only really quieted when the Indians were, within a few years back, removed altogether from the Commonwealth of Georgia.
Among the pleasing duties which pertained to Gene- ral Elbert, at a time when the occupancy of the guber- natorial chair was attended with self-denial and ha- rassing cares, was the notifying the Count d'Estaing of the action of the Legislature, in granting him twenty thousand acres of land, "in testimony of their respect for his meritorious services ;" and their further action, in empowering him to receive and hold the grants of land, and in admitting him " to all the privileges, liber- ties, and immunities of a free citizen of this State."
The letter of the Governor, as well as the official papers concerning the grant, were sent to the Vice- Admiral by the hands of a special agent, John Mc- Queen, Esq., who was directed to deliver them to him in person. The Count received the intelligence with emotions of gratitude. "The mark of its satisfaction," he writes, " which the State of Georgia was pleased to give me, after I had been wounded, was the most healing balm that could have been applied to my pains whenever they were the most acute." "Nothing," he adds, " could be more flattering than to be admitted as a proprietor in a State that has so much distinguished itself in supporting the common cause." And he au- thorized the Chevalier De La Luzerne to take charge of the property in his name.
From a letter to the Chevalier, by Count d'Estaing, he intimates, as a purpose to which he intended to devote a part of the proceeds of this estate, "to erect to the States, at the entrance of Paris, a monument to
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the glory of the King, and those patriots who have most contributed to the epoch of liberty."
What the specific design of the Count was we know not. The rising troubles in France, and his own duties, as a Vice-Admiral of the navy, so absorbed his time, that but little was left in which to think upon his American estate. And when, at length, the French Revolution began its reign of terror, d'Estaing was one of the victims of republican proscription, and perished under the guillotine.
On the 9th of January, 1786, Edward Telfair was elected Governor of Georgia. Mr. Telfair, though a native of Scotland, had resided in America nearly thirty years; twenty of which he had passed in Savan- nah. Engaged there in mercantile business, he gained, by his high and honorable course, wealth and influence ; he early took a decided course upon the great ques- tions which agitated America, and openly ranked him- self among the friends of liberty. From the time that he attended the first meeting of the "Liberty Boys," he had been uniform, consistent, and earnest in his efforts to protect, make free, and elevate the State of his adoption. As a member of the Council of Safety, as one of the delegates in Congress, and as a commis- sioner to treat with the Indians, he had proved the integrity of his character, and his great capacity for business; and, having been found faithful in these, he was, by the Legislature, raised to the highest office in the State.
It was a time which required sagacity, promptness, and firmness; and he was enabled to bring to his exe- cutive duties not only these qualities, but a ripe and large public experience, so that he was enabled to pre- side over the State with wisdom and dignity.
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Much of the time of Governor Telfair was taken up in preparing for, and warding off, by his prompt and vigorous measures, a threatened war with the Creek Indians. A timid, or a wavering course, at this time, would have proved disastrous to the frontier settle- ments, and greatly retarded the growth of Georgia. The proceedings of the Council, and commissioners, and military, in reference to these threatened difficul- ties, will be found briefly stated in the chapter on Indian affairs.
About the middle of 1786, Governor Telfair received notice, from the Secretary of State, that certain books of record, belonging, as was alleged, to the office of the Secretary of State, were detained in Savannah, con- trary to an order of the Executive Board, who had directed their removal to the seat of government, at Augusta. To this, it was replied, that the fiftieth Article of the Constitution made each county the cus- todian of its own records; that the papers, which the assistant of the Secretary had orders to remove, were the records of Chatham County, from the very first settling of the State; that the removal of them would give "great distress" to the inhabitants of that county, as nine-tenths of the records related to the property of the lower counties only ; and that a careful inventory had been made of them, and that they were deposited in the office of the Clerk of the County. This letter, to the Governor and Council, was signed by Joseph Clay, William O'Brien, William Gibbons, William Stephens, Richard Wylly, Samuel Stirk, James Jack- son, and George Walton,-names of the greatest influ- ence and respectability. " We hope," say these gentle- men, " this measure will meet with your Honor's, and
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the Honorable Council's approbation, being entirely consistent with justice, public convenience, and the spirit of the Constitution."
The Council, however, thought otherwise. This event, in their eyes, assumed peculiar magnitude, from the character of the actors, and the official position which many of them held; and therefore, on the 17th of March, after a preamble, setting forth that " affairs seemed tending to anarchy, and an infringement of the leading principles of the Constitution, the Board, from the urgent necessity occasioned by such unwar- rantable proceedings, and in order, therefore, that the fountain of justice may run pure, and the laws and ordinances may be fully executed in the county of Chatham, have, and do solemnly and unanimously resolve thereupon, as follows :-
"That John Houstoun, Esq., appointed to the office of Chief Justice, be and he is hereby suspended from exercising the duties of the aforesaid office ; that Joseph Clay, William O'Brien, and William Gibbons, Esqrs., be and each of them are hereby suspended from the office of Assistant Justice or Justices for the county of Chatham; that William Stephens, Richard Wylly, Peter Deveaux, Samuel Stirk, and James Jackson, Esqrs., be and each of them are hereby sus- pended from the office of a Justice or Justices of the Peace for the county of Chatham."
This summary proceeding was followed by equally vigorous measures. Eminent counsel were retained by the State, in aid of the Attorney-General; who, without delay, was "required to notify the Chief Jus- tice and Assistant Justices in the county of Chatham, his having in charge, for their deliberation, matters of VOL. II. 24
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State importance ; and, upon a court being constituted, that, among other matters and things, he make and demand, in the name of the State, and by the express command of the Executive authority thereof, the immediate surrender of certain State records, now said to be in the hands of James Bulloch, Clerk of the aforesaid Court; and that their honors be in- formed, that the dignity, interest, and peace of the State, require immediate order to be taken that the aforesaid records be delivered to the State Secretary."
These proceedings, however, did not produce the desired effect; for the several Assistant Justices re- signed their commissions; and among these was Gene- ral Nathaniel Greene, who, having become a citizen of Georgia, was, on the day after the issuing of the order for the suspension of the Chief Justice and Assistant Justices, appointed an Assistant Justice in the new Court. So soon, however, as he learned the true state of things, he refused to serve, and on the 16th April, together with Joseph Habersham, resigned the commis- sions which had been sent them by the Governor.
The affair caused no little popular commotion ; and the real merits of the case were very much distorted, in the personal bickerings and party animosities which it fomented. The Governor laid the matter before the Assembly in July ; though it was not until the 20th of November that the Secretary, having in- formed the Governor that he had received the books, the Council, on the same day, " removed every order and process directed in consequence thereof," and the affair was amicably settled. The gentlemen of Sa- vannah were evidently in the wrong; for, by their own showing, the documents which they retained,
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were not merely those pertaining to Chatham County; but papers of the Trustees and President and Assist- ants of the Colony, acting for the whole territory em- braced in the chartered limits of Georgia, and also records relating to property in other southern counties. Their action was indeed " disorganizing in its ten- dency;" and it showed the promptness and vigor of Governor Telfair's administration, that he took such effective measures to sustain the dignity of the Go- vernment and the majesty of law. The circum- stance is an instructive one, as it shows how a small question, of local interest, can act as the sharp edge of a wedge, which, if driven home with force, may cleave asunder whole communities.
In the midst of these transactions, an event occurred which caused mourning, not in Georgia only, but throughout the land.
At the close of the war, General Nathaniel Greene came to Georgia, to reside, bringing his family with him. They took up their residence, in October, 1785, at the plantation called "Mulberry Grove," fourteen miles above the city, which had been presented to the General, by the Legislature, as a tribute of respect for his merits and services.
In this beautiful place, once the residence of the royal Lieutenant-Governor of Georgia, John Graham, General Greene looked for peace, usefulness, and honor. At the age of forty-three he had achieved a national reputation, and had received almost a nation's ovation, as he journeyed northward the previous year to his native State of Rhode Island. With a mind, so masculine in its power, that he was fitted to command on the broadest scale of military power, he yet possessed
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sensibilities, which war had not deadened, and which long absence from his loved ones had not crushed ; but which, so soon as he had sheltered his family under the rooftree of their new Georgia home, manifested themselves in the sweetness of domestic bliss, and the longing after those social pleasures, which peace now permitted him to enjoy.
Soon after his arrival at "Mulberry Grove," he writes : "We found the house, situation, and out- buildings more convenient and pleasing than we ex- pected. The prospect is delightful, and the house magnificent. The garden is in ruins, but there are still a great variety of shrubs and flowers in it."3
" This," says his grandson,4 " was the happiest period of his life, the months of purest enjoyment that he ever passed : they were destined to be the last."
In consequence of undue exposure to the sun, at the plantation of Mr. William Gibbons, on Tuesday, the 13th of June, 1786, he became quite sick; and though he reached "Mulberry Grove" that evening, and was immediately attended by skilful physicians, yet the disease proved incurable; and, on Monday following, he died. General Wayne and Major Pendleton, a former aid, were with him in his last moment; and the former, in a letter characteristic of his ardent nature, and indicative of his deep affection, thus announced to Colonel James Jackson, the melancholy event :-
" MY DEAR SIR : I have often wrote you, but never on so distressing an occasion. My dear friend General Greene is no more. He departed this morning, six
3 Johnson's Life of Greene, ii, 418.
4 Life of Greene, in Sparks's American Biography, new series, 392.
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o'clock A. M. He was great as a soldier,-greater as a citizen,-immaculate as a friend. His corpse will be at Major Pendleton's this night; the funeral from thence in the evening. The honors-the greatest honors of war are due his remains. You, as a soldier, will take the proper order on this melancholy affair. Pardon this scrawl, my feelings are but too much affected, because I have seen a great and good man die."
It may well be supposed what sadness and regret would be felt in Savannah, at so sudden and unex- pected an event. One emotion of sorrow seemed to pervade all hearts. The town, almost instinctively, put on the habiliments of mourning, and prepared itself to receive his precious remains. His body was brought down the river in a barge, and was met at the town landing by the military, by the civil and judicial officers then in the place, and by the whole populace, which had resorted to the riverside to gaze upon the coffin which contained the remains of him, whom but one week previously, they had seen walking their streets, in the full vigor of healthful and honorable manhood. The funeral procession, long and sad, marched with muffled drums to the graveyard; where, in the absence of a clergyman, the funeral service of the Church of England was read by the Honorable William Stephens, and the remains deposited in the vault prepared for their reception.
This is not the place to enlarge upon the military character of General Greene. His fame was purely military ; but, in that, he stood next to Washington. This fame he secured, not by victories, brilliant and important, but by a series of services, skilful manœu-
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vres, and prudent, yet vigorous, generalship, which enabled him to secure, at length, advantages, greater perhaps than would have resulted from a few brilliant conquests. Had he lived, he would doubtless have been called to the councils of the nation; and, though he had already refused to be a member of the Cabinet, yet his countrymen would have demanded, in the Senate, the wisdom and the zeal which were so con- spicuous on the field.
At the meeting of the Legislature, in July, 1786, Governor Telfair brought to the notice of that body the complicated state of the finances, and the necessity for taking such action as would afford immediate re- lief. The State owed nearly a million of dollars, under various claims, which the Governor thought might soon be extinguished from the receipts of moneys and certificates due and owing to the State, if there could at once be established a proper system in the Trea- surer's department. To meet, however, "the present pressure upon the treasury, and to make provision for the sum outstanding in gratuitous claims," the Assem- bly, on 14th August, directed that " paper bills of credit be struck, under the direction of the Governor and Executive Council, in such form, with such de- vices, and of such denominations, as they shall judge fit, not exceeding £30,000;" and declared that these should be a legal tender in all cases whatsoever. On the 24th October, the Executive Council appointed Thomas Napier, Thomas P. Carnes, William Moss, William Daniell, and Joseph Jackson, to sign the bills of credit, which were issued in denominations of twenty shillings, ten shillings, five shillings, two shillings, one shilling, and sixpence.
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It was at the very time that Georgia was issuing these bills of credit, to relieve her debt-burdened trea- sury, that Washington, writing to Jefferson, says : "Some of the States are, in my opinion, falling into very foolish and wicked plans of emitting paper money." That many extravagances were committed on this subject, by legislative enactment, in several States, is true ; and that thereby much financial injury was done to the country, by showing upon what a flimsy foundation its credit stood, is also true; yet, it must be remembered, that the whole currency of the country was deranged, and in a transition state; that the war had been carried on mostly by issues of Con- tinental bills out of the national treasury for nearly three hundred and sixty millions of dollars ; that these bills, or, at least, three hundred and fifty-seven mil- lions of them, had so depreciated that five hundred dollars of paper money only passed for one of specie ; that these losses fell most heavily on the suffering sol- diery and civil officers; that the several States also raised money by issuing Provincial bills ; that, after a while, these partook of the general depreciation, were not received as legal tender in sister States, and, at length, caused enormous losses, in which the public faith of each State seemed almost compromised, and its credit hope- lessly ruined. Influenced by considerations like these, Governor Telfair hoped that, by gathering up the differ- ent liabilities, calling in these Auditors' certificates and Continental certificates, Governor's and Speaker's war- rants, &c., and funding them, upon the basis of a new issue of money, secured by new and adequate securities, to replenish the exhausted treasury, and give confidence to the languishing credit of the Commonwealth. At the
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time that the Assembly in Georgia ordered these bills in English money, Congress was just legislating upon the question of changing the currency of the nation; so that, instead of pounds, shillings, and pence, the money of accounts should be dollars, dimes, cents, and mills, and had not yet established its national mint, where these decimal coins were to be struck, though this institution was founded and its officers appointed in October of the same year.
At the expiration of the year for which Telfair was elected Governor, the Assembly chose to succeed him a man who had but recently come into the State, but who had rendered good service in the Continental cause during the war, as a distinguished officer of the Virginia line,-George Matthews. Whether fighting with the Indians at Pleasant Point; with the British at Germantown; or contending with the malaria on the Chesapeake; or the hardships of a prison-ship in the harbor of New York; General Matthews had dis- played singular courage, sagacity, and fortitude. Hav- ing served in the southern army under General Greene, he imitated his great commander, by settling in Geor- gia, and had been but little over two years a resident in what is now Oglethorpe County, when, so conspi- cuous were his merits, that he was elevated to the highest office in the State.
The Governor was soon called upon to act with vigor, in suppressing a corps of runaway negroes, the leaders of which, having been trained to arms by the British during the siege of Savannah, still called them- selves the King of England's soldiers,5 and ravaged
5 Jackson's letter to the Governor.
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both sides of the Savannah River, plundering and murdering, to the great alarm of the people; who also feared that the presence of this body of freebooters would lead to a general and bloody insurrection of the slaves in that vicinity. Colonel Gunn was ordered to break up their camp, and disperse or capture them.
On the morning of the 6th May, 1786,6 Lieutenant- Colonel Howell discovered their encampment on Bear Creek, and informed Gunn of the fact. A space of ground, about half a mile long and less than four hun- dred feet wide, had been surrounded by a kind of breastwork, four feet high, made by piling up the logs and cane, which they gathered from the cleared ground. The only entrance to this inclosure was by a place which would admit but one person at a time ; and a hundred and fifty yards in advance of this was placed a sentinel, to give warning of the approach of danger. As soon as Gunn discovered the sentry, he ordered Lieutenant Lewan, with eight men, to rush on, followed by fourteen of the light infantry, with charged bayonets. These brisk movements were fol- lowed up by Captain Tatnall, with a detachment of men, on the right, and Major McPherson, with some South Carolina troops and fifteen Catawba Indians, on the left. As soon as the negroes saw the troops within their lines, they fled ; and were pursued for about two miles, in all directions. Many were killed, many more wounded, their baggage and provisions were taken, and, having sent Lieutenant-Colonel Howell to search the swamp with a detachment of men, which they did as high as Zubly's Ferry, Gunn, at 5 P.M., burnt all
6 Letter of Gunn to Jackson.
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their houses, twenty-one in number, and destroyed their crops. Thus, in a tour of duty of four days, and without the loss of a man, was the State cleared of one of the most dangerous and best-disciplined bands of marauders which ever infested its borders. Great praise is due to Colonel Gunn, for the prompt- ness and judiciousness of his operations in this impor- tant affair.
In the course of his efforts for the prevention of a war with the Creek Indians, Governor Telfair was brought into an interesting correspondence with John Sevier, the first Governor of the so-called State of Franklin. The history of the State of Franklin be- longs to the annals of Tennessee; yet, being in some points interlaced with the proceedings of the Legisla- ture and Executive of Georgia, it is important to know briefly the facts connected with its organization and temporary existence, in order to understand aright the policy and measures pursued by Georgia.
At the close of the war, the United States were burdened with an enormous debt, and harassed by un- fortunate, and really needy, creditors. To relieve itself of these, Congress proposed that such of the States as · owned vacant and unappropriated lands, should cede them to the United States; that these should be dis- posed of, for the benefit of the United States; and thus, out of what was now waste territory, the debts of the General Government could be paid. North Carolina, having large tracts of land, embraced in Sullivan, Washington, Greene, and Davidson Coun- ties, lying west of the Alleghanies, did, in June, 1784, cede them to Congress, and authorized her delegates to execute a deed of conveyance to the United States.
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Thus virtually cut off from the parent State by the law, as the western counties had long been from all sympathy, with the more favored east; and being placed in that peculiar position, of what has been well termed "political orphanage," when the mother State had offered to give up the west, and the Con- gress had not as yet accepted the cession, and extended over it its paternal care; the inhabitants took the matter of government into their own hands, and called a Convention, to decide upon what measures should be pursued in their anomalous position. At this Convention, it was resolved " to declare the three western counties independent of North Carolina," and a committee was appointed to draw up articles of association.
While these western settlers were rapidly progress- ing in their movements towards the formation of an independent State, the Legislature of North Carolina repealed the cession act, and made other provisions in favor of these ultramontane counties, which it was thought would be agreeable to them. Despite these conciliatory measures, a new Convention met, orga- nized, adopted a Constitution, gave to the new State the name of FRANKLIN, elected its officers, placing John Sevier in the Governor's chair, and thus launched it upon the troubled waves of political existence. It was not long suffered to float there. The mother State did not tamely brook this rebellion to its autho- rity ; and after various and laborious efforts ; after many and serious conflicts as to courts of judicature and the authority of laws; and after a struggle which continued until the last stronghold of Sevier's govern- ment had been by force of arms taken, the year 1788
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saw the extinction of the State of Franklin, and the return of the western malcontents to the bosom of the mother country.7
During the existence, however, of this unique State, there were several circumstances which brought it into somewhat close relations with Georgia, and thus places it under our historical purview. On the 27th August,8 Governor Telfair addressed a letter to Go- vernor Sevier, in which he states that "the Creek Indians have committed murders and depredations on the persons and property of citizens of this State, which have caused the Legislature to adopt measures for the better security thereof." "It being suggested," he adds, "that you intend to march a body of men against the Creek Indians, I flatter myself it will tend greatly to the success of both armies to begin their movements at one and the same time." The time designated by the Governor, was the 1st of November, though that was to be a subject of conference between him and Messrs. Dixon and Lett, who had been ap- pointed, by the Legislature, Commissioners on the part of Georgia. Sevier was greatly pleased at this communication, reposing, as it did, confidence in him, and a desire for co-operation ; and he responded cour- teously to Telfair; though the correspondence had resulted in no practical benefit, when Governor Tel- fair's term of office expired, and George Matthews succeeded him.
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