USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume I > Part 23
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general meeting of the inhabitants of Georgia. Having now given our reasons at large, we enter this our public dissent to the said resolutions of the 10th. and all the proceedings had or to be had thereon, and do earnestly desire that such resolutions may not be taken as the sense of the inhabitants of Georgia."
It was not long after this ( the 24th of August, to be exaet) that Gov- ernor Wright reported that meeting to the Earl of Dartmouth, and he did not treat the matter as so trivial an affair as the dissenters just qnoted tried to make it appear. He wrote in this strain: "Everything, my Lord, was done that could be thought of, to frustrate their attempt. but this did not totally prevent it *
* * and now again, my Lord, as in the time of the Stamp Act. I am to be reflected upon and abused for
opposing the licentiousness of the people * * * : In short, my Lord, at such times as these if a man has resolution and integrity enough to stand forth and attempt to do his duty its like being set up as a mark to be shot at and raising the resentment of great numbers against him." His allusion to "the resentment of great numbers" does not tally with the scoffing charge of the dissenters that the resolutions were the senti- ment of "a few persons in a tavern," and in using those words he con- tradicted the statement inade in the first paragraph of the same letter that "it would appear that these resolutions were not the voice of the people. but unfairly and insolently made by a junto of a very few only."
At the meeting of the 10th of August the proposition to send a dele- gation to the proposed congress of the American colonies was rejected, and the Parish of St. John. not satisfied with the decision, held a eon- vention on the 30th. at which representatives from St. David and St. George were present and passed a resolution "that if a majority of the Parishes would unite with them. they would send deputies to join the General Congress and faithfully and religiously abide by and conform to such determination as should be there entered into, and come from thenee recommended :" but the effort failed. and Georgia had no delegation in the first congress of provincial deputies.
"LIBERTY BOYS" WORRY ROYAL COUNCIL
The young patriots, styled by Governor Wright as "Liberty People." "Sons of Liberty" and "Liberty Folks" bnt whom we now love to honor with the appellation of ". Liberty Boys," kept up a continual round of well laid schemes to worry and annoy the royal council and their asso- ciates ranked among the loyalists, of which the incident of "shutting the door and refusing admittance to any but resolutioners" at Tondee's tavern was only one example. The purpose of these annoyances was fully sustained, but those ardent patriots chafed under the failure of their efforts to seenre representation in the convention of representatives from the other twelve American colonies which they so ardently wished to enter.
As a step in that direction some of the leaders assembled at the Savannah market. on the 8th of December, 1774, and selected John Glen as their chairman, when it was determined that a provincial congress' should be held on the 18th of January following, and the following
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were chosen to represent Christ Church Parish and Savannah in that body ; Joseph Clay, George Houstoun, Ambrose Wright, Thomas Lee, Joseph Habersham, Edward Telfair, John Houstoun, Peter Tondee, Samuel Farley, William Young. John Smith, Archibald Bulloeh, John MeCluer, Noble Wymberley Jones, and John Morel. Great things were expected of that meeting, and a correspondent of the Georgia Gazette said : "It cannot surely at this time admit of a doubt but every Parish and District throughout the Province will, as soon as possible, follow so laudable an example. Every thinking man must be eonvineed how much the honor, welfare and happiness of us and our posterity depend upon a vigorous assertion and claim of our just and natural rights which the arbitrary system of polities adopted by the Administration is undeni- ably calculated to deprive us of."
When the delegates assembled, however, it was found that of the twelve parishes in the province only five were represented. Governor Wright, thinking that he would thwart the designs of the patriots, ealled the general assembly together on the same day, and in his message to both houses he called their attention to "the alarming situation of Ameriean affairs at this juncture," and said further "I shall avoid making any observations on the resolutions adopted by the other Colonies; but hope, through your prudenee and regard for the welfare and happiness of this Provinee, of yourselves and your posterity, none will be entered into here." The upper house sent a message to the commons house of assem- bly showing that "this House having taken seriously into consideration those matters mentioned by his Excellency in his speech to both Houses respeeting the present alarming state of the unhappy dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies," they asked for "a free conference with your House thereon, in hopes of being able to fix on sueh a plan of conduet as may reasonably be expected will prove condueive to the ob- taining the great point which every true friend to Ameriea hath or ought to have only in view, to wit that of seeuring to its inhabitants, on a clear, solid and permanent footing, all the rights and privileges to which, as British subjeets, they are entitled on the principles of the Constitution."
The conference was held, but did not result in the way hoped for by 'the seekers after the joint session, and the lower house took into eon- sideration the resolutions of the provineial eongress then also in session, which resolutions were nearly the same as those adopted by the eon- tinental congress on the 14th of October, three others having been added : one, a tribute to the advoeates of eivil and religious liberty for the de- fenee of the eause of America; the second, thanking the delegates to the Ameriean congress for their efforts in the cause of American liberty; and the third, advocating the sending of commissioners to the Philadel- phia Continental Congress ealled for the 10th of May.
STEPS LEADING TO GEORGIA'S INDEPENDENCE
While the house of assembly was discussing these matters Governor . Wright, on the 10th of February, declared the general assembly ad- journed until May 9th, thus completely frustrating the plan to nominate delegates to the Continental Congress. The provincial congress thus
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found itself almost unable to accomplish anything planned for its accom- plishment ; but after electing Noble Wymberley Jones, Archibald Bulloch and John Houstoun representatives to the Philadelphia congress it ad- journed on the 25th of JJanuary without having taken favorable action on the resolutions adopted by the other twelve colonies, and, owing to the political influence of the governor, not in union with them as a con- gress. The delegates from St. John's Parish had withdrawn when they found that they could not carry the majority with them in the attempt to ratify the resolutions of the Continental Congress, and they "resolved to prosecute their claims to an equality with the Confederated Colonies." They were dissatisfied at the decision of the provincial congress extend- ing the time for closing the port from the 1st of December to the 15th of March, in the ninth article of association, declaring that action to be con- trary to the very object of the association. That parish, on the 25th of March, elected Dr. Lyman Hall to represent the people there in the Con- tinental Congress, and on the presentation of his credentials he was unan- imously admitted "as a delegate from the Parish of St. John in the Colony of Georgia" under certain conditions involving his right to vote. Although elected shortly before this time, Messrs. Jones, Bulloch and Houstoun did not attend the Congress with Lyman Hall, and the province was not as such recognized in that body until the adjourned session on the 13th of September, 1775.
In the meanwhile another provincial congress was held on the 4th of July, 1775, when every parish was represented, and at that time Georgia decided to cast her lot with the other colonies in the determination to break off all allegiance to the mother country, on a motion made and car- ried "that this Congress do put this Province upon the same footing with our sister Colonies." Then it was resolved that five persons be selected to represent the people in Continental Congress, and in addition to those three gentlemen the names of the Rev. Dr. John Joachim Zubly and Ly- man Hall were added. Of those five Messrs. Bulloch, Houstoun and Zubly took their seats September 13th.
CHAPTER XVII
EVENTS PRECEDING THE REVOLUTION
"LIBERTY BOYS" RAID POWDER MAGAZINE-MEETINGS OF PROTESTING CITIZENS-ADDRESS OF PROVINCIAL CONGRESS-GEORGIA RECEIVED INTO THE UNION-UNPLEASANT FOR ROYALISTS-CONTINENTAL BATTALION FOR GEORGIA-ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION.
The news of the conflicts between the British troops and the Massa- chusetts militia on the 19th of April, 1775, was not known in Savannah until the night of May 10th, just twenty-one days after, and created the most intense excitement.
LIBERTY BOYS RAID POWDER MAGAZINE
The Liberty Boys took immediate notice of the way things were going, and promptly let their influenee be felt. Knowing that gunpowder would be needed, and that right soon, they set to work to gain possession of the supply of that useful material then stored in the substantially built brick magazine in the eastern side of the town. They held a meeting at the residenee of Dr. Jones, on the following evening, and a party, formed of their leading members, broke open the structure and departed with nearly all of its contents. The raiding force consisted of Dr. Noble Wymberley Jones, Joseph Habersham, Edward Telfair, William Gibbons. Joseph Clay, John Milledge, and others whose names have not been recorded. On the 12th Governor Wright wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth that the amount taken was about six hundred pounds, leaving in the magazine "not above 300 lbs of the King's Powder, and about as much more belonging to the merchants."' Some ot it was sent for safety to Beaufort, South Carolina. and the remaining portion the captors took care to hide in garrets, cellars, and elsewhere. Governor Wright, of course, issued a proclamation on the subject, and offered a reward of £150 sterling for the arrest of the persons engaged in the capture, but no one ever claimed the reward. There is a tradition that some of the powder taken was sent to Cambridge and was used by the patriots at the battle of Bunker Hill. The truth of this statement cannot be sub- stantiated, but it is certain that on the first of June following sixty-three barrels of rice and $122 sterling in specie were contributed by the eiti- zens of Savannah and sent to the relief of the people of Boston who had. Vol. 1-12
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in consequence of the "late acts of a cruel and vindictive ministry" been forced to leave the town. For that purpose John Eaton Le Conte was chosen to bear the present to those people and he and the stores in his charge were conveyed to Boston in the JJuliana, commanded by Captain Stringham .. Why. then. is it not probable that the same spirit which actuated the Georgians in this instance possessed them to such an extent as to prompt them to send powder for their defence against a common enemy ?
On the 4th of June, according to custom, preparations having been previously made. the king's birthday was celebrated. Orders for that event had been issued on the first; but in the night of the second the liberty-loving people gathered, and, proceeding to the bay, spiked the cannon, dismounted them, and rolled them to the river bank at the bottom of the bluff. Some of them, however, were raised to their places and put in condition to be used in firing the salute. As Sunday was the king's birthday the celebration did not occur until Monday, the 5th, at which time the liberty pole was erected by those who did not believe in his treatment of his subjects on this side of the Atlantic. An account of. this proceeding has already been given.
MEETINGS OF PROTESTING CITIZENS
In the Georgia Gazette of Wednesday, June 14, 1775, the following ac- count of a meeting of the citizens of Savannah and some others appeared, and Governor Wright was so alarmed by its import that he sent it to the home government with these remarks: "They have entered into an Association, as your Lordship will see by the inclosed paper, and what- ever is agreed upon by the Continental Congress will undoubtedly be adopted and carried into execution here, and will meet with little or no opposition."
"A number of the Inhabitants of the Town and District of Savannah and also of several other parishes within this Province having assembled together and taking into consideration the alarming heighth to which the present contest between Great Britain and America is risen, and re- fleeting on the danger of instigated insurrections among themselves, were of the opinion that prudence and common safety suggest the imme- diate adoption of some measures within this Province; They therefore entered into and subscribed the following Association, 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 proscention 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 freemen. freeholders and inhabitants of the Province of Georgia, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the Ministry to raise a revenne 'in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do, in the most solemn man- ner, resolve never to become slaves, and do associate under all the ties of religion, honor and love to our country to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution whatever may be recommended by the Continental Con- gress or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention that shall be ap-
-
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pointed for the purpose of 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, to be ob- tained; 'and that we will in all things follow the advice of onr. General Committee to be appointed respecting the purposes aforesaid the pres- ervation of peace and good order and the safety of individuals and private property.
"And also come into the following Resolves:
"First, That the foregoing Association be strongly recommended to the inhabitants of the several parishes and districts within this Prov- ince ; and also that a Committee be appointed among themselves to carry the said incasures into execution.
"Second, That it is highly expedient that a General Provincial Con- gress be held at Savannah on the first Tuesday in July next, and that it be recommended that each Parish and district elect Delegates to attend the same.
"Third, That the inhabitants of this Town and District meet at Savannah on the twenty-second day of June instant, to choose Delegates to attend in the Provincial Congress, and also to elect a Committee for enforcing the foregoing Association.
"By Order of the Meeting, "N. W. JONES, Chairman." #
Various meetings were held about this time by the people who were advocates of strenuous measures in contesting the policy of England in regard to the affairs of the province. One such was held on Monday, the 26th of June, and ordered another meeting to be held on the 30th, at nine o'clock, A. M. at the house of Mrs. Cuyler. Another was held on the 22d, when it was resolved "that Georgia should not afford protection to, or become an asylum for. any person who, from his conduct, might be properly considered inimical to the common cause of America, or who should have drawn upon himself the disapprobation or censure of any of the other colonies."
ADDRESS OF PROVINCIAL CONGRESS
Delegates having been elected in all the parishes and districts, the Provincial Congress met in Savannah, at Tondee's tavern, in what was called the 'Long Room" on the 4th of July, 1775. Archibald Bulloch was elected President, and George Walton secretary, when the body ad- journed to the meetinghouse of Rev. Dr. John J. Zubly where he preached a sermon on the state of American affairs. On re-assembling at the tavern a resolution of thanks to Dr. Zubly for his excellent sermon was adopted. The next day it was moved and seconded that the governor be requested to appoint a day of fasting and prayer which motion was unani-
* Historians have asserted that the foregoing Article of Association, was adopted July 13, 1775. They are at fault here, as. it was adopted just one month earlier, and appeared in the Gazette of June 14, 1775.
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mously adopted. Among the other aets of this congress was the appoint- ment of the five delegates to the Continental Congress already mentioned, namely John Houstoun, Archibald Bulloeh, J. J. Zubly, Lyman Hall and Noble W. Jones.
In June, a council of safety had been appointed, and the affairs of the province were virtually conducted by that organization. Governor Wright was helpless in his efforts to control the people who so freely took hold of the government, but he did all in his power to assert his authority as the head of the royal government. An address was presented to him by a committee appointed by the congress, signed by President Bulloeh, outlining the course pursued by that body and the reasons therefor, tell- ing him "we have now joined with the other Provinees 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 to-or 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." That address was delivered to him on the 13th of July, and he waited until the 18th to send a copy of it to England. In the letter accompanying it he stated that he had been misrepresented ; that lie had laid it before the council ; and that the assembly was prae- tieally controlled by the liberty people. He goes on to say that : "They have appointed here what they call a Council of Safety, and very nearly followed the example of the Carolinas except as to raising an army * * * I am well informed that the gentlemen who came from Carolina assured the Congress here that if they should on any account want assistance they should immediately have it to the amount of 1,000 men." He elosed with making the request that he be permitted "to return to England in order to resign the Government."
The Provincial Congress sent, through a committee, the following address :
"To the Inhabitants of the Province of Georgia-Fellow-Country- men : 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 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 inspire 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 oppres- sion, it may be hoped such perfidy cannot go long unpunished.
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"But the enemies of America have been no less disappointed. Noth- ing was so contemptible in their eyes as the rabble of an American mil- itia ; 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 ap- peared 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 honorable, 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 in- trepid 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 soon cease; that the injured rights of America may be vindicated by milder means; and that no more blood may be shed, unless it be by 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 repre- sentative, 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 co-operate 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 recommended the 20th inst to be observed as such, both days have been observed with a becoming sol- emnity ; 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 lias 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."
J. J. ZUBLY, N. W. JONES, GEORGE WALTON.
Following the address to the people, this petition was presented to the king :
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"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 subjeets. have a most melancholy prospect, we still hope that He by whom Kings rule and to whom monarchs are account- able, will incline you to receive and pay some regard to our most hum- ble 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 endeavor to waken the feelings and pity of cur common father. Hear us therefore, that God may hear you also.
"Your Majesty is the rightful Sovereign of the most important em- pire 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 king- doms in Europe. In this large extent of territory, by some late acts, Popery is not only tolerated (which we eoneeive would have been but an aet 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.
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