USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > A history of Savannah and South Georgia, Volume I > Part 56
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SPECIAL ORDER OF GENERAL SHERMAN
General Sherman did not enter the city until the 25th of December, and then he telegraphed to the President the oft-repeated message offer- ing to the chief magistrate Savannah as a Christmas gift. Hle issued the following order concerning the government of the city the next day :
"Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi,
"In the Field, Savannah, Ga., December 26, 1864.
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"Special Field Order "No. 143.
"The city of Savannah and surrounding country will be held as a military post and adapted to future military uses, but as it con- tains a population of some 20,000 people who must be provided for, and as other citizens may come, it is proper to lay down certain gen- eral principles, that all within its military jurisdiction may under- stand their relative duties and obligations.
"I. During the war the military is superior to civil authority, and where interests clash the civil must give way, yet where there is no conflict every encouragement should be given to well disposed and peaceful inhabitants to resume their usual pursuits. Families should be disturbed as little as possible in their residences, and trades- men allowed the free use of their shops, tools, etc. Churches, schools. all places of amusement and recreation should be encouraged, and streets and roads made perfectly safe to persons in their usual pur- suits. Passes should not be exacted within the lines of other pickets, but if any person should abuse these privileges by communicating with the enemy or doing any act of hostility to the government of the United States, he or she will be punished with the utmost rigor of the law.
"Commerce with the outer world will be resumed to an extent com- mensurate with the wants of the citizens, governed by the restrictions and rules of the treasury department.
"II. The chief quartermaster and commissary of the army may give suitable employment to the people, white or black, or transport them to such points as they choose, where employment may be had, and may extend temporary relief in the way of provision and vacant houses to the worthy and needy until such time as they can help them- selves. They will select, first, the buildings for the necessary uses of the army; next, a sufficient number of stores to be turned over to the treasury agent. for trade stores. All vacant storehouses or dwellings and all buildings belonging to absent rebels will be construed and used as belonging to the United States until such times as their titles can be settled by the courts of the United States.
"III. The mayor and city council of Savannah will continue to exercise their functions as such and will, in concert with the command- ing officer of the post and the chief quartermaster, see that the fire com- panies are kept in organization. the streets cleaned and lighted. and keep up a good understanding between the citizens and soldiers. They will ascertain and report to the chief C. S., as soon as possible, the names and members of worthy families that need assistance and support.
"The mayor will forthwith give public notice that the time has come when all must choose their course, viz .: to remain within our lines and conduct themselves as good citizens or depart in peace. Ile will ascertain the names of all who choose to leave Savannah and report their names and residences to the chief quartermaster that measures may be taken to transport them beyond the lines.
"IV. Not more than two newspapers will be published in Savan- nah, and their editors and proprietors will be held to the strictest av. countability, and will be punished severely in person and property for
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any libelous publications, mischievous matter, premature news, exag- gerated statements. or any comments whatever upon the aets of the constituted authorities: they will be held accountable even for such artieles though copied from other papers.
.By order of Major-General W. T. Sherman,
"L. M. Drayton, aid-de-camp."
General Sherman occupied the spacious mansion then owned by Mr. Charles Green, a wealthy Savannah merchant, now the property of Hon. Peter W. Meldrin.
RESOLUTIONS OF COUNCIL SEEKING PROTECTION OF CITIZENS
Submitting to the inevitable in the way that true Southerners always do, and determined to make the best of the condition in which they found themselves, the citizens held a meeting in Masonie Hall on the 28th, and, as seemed proper, the mayor, Dr. R. D. Arnold, presided. The eall stated that it was "to take into consideration matters apper- taining to the present and future welfare of the city." The following action was proposed and adopted :
"WHEREAS, By the fortunes of war and the surrender of the city by the civil authorities, the eity of Savannah passes once more under the authority of the United States; and
"WHEREAS, We believe that the interest of the city will be best subserved and promoted by a full and free expression of our views in relation to our present conditions; we, therefore, the people of Savan- nah, in full meeting assembled. do hereby
"Resolve, That we accept the position, and, in the language of the President of the United States, seek to have 'peaee by laying down our arms and submitting to the national authority under the constitution. leaving all questions which remain to be adjusted by the peaceful means of legislation, conference, and votes:'
"Resolved, That laying aside all differences, and burying by-gones in the grave of the past. we will use our best endeavors once more to bring back the prosperity and commeree we once enjoyed.
"Resolved, That we do not put ourselves in the position of a eon- quered eity, asking terms of a conqueror, but we elaim the immunities and privileges contained in the proclamation and messages of the Presi- dent of the United States, and in all the legislation of congress in reference to a people situated as we are, and while we owe on our part a strict obedience to the laws of the United States, we ask the protec- tion over our lives and property recognized by these laws."
On the 11th of January, 1865, couneil adopted a resolution provid- ing that all city officers and employes should eease to be considered as in the service of the city, and the mayor was authorized to appoint such officers as he might deem necessary to attend to the administration of the municipal affairs.
When the Confederate troops left a large quantity of cotton was stored in Savannah, some of which was elaimed by the officers of the United States government to be the property of the Confederate States. Besides 30,500 bales of short staple, or upland, cotton, there were about 8,000 bales of the sea island class. It was all seized by the United States quartermaster and shipped to New York where it brought by
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sale the large sum of $28.000,000, the upland grade selling for $1.25 a pound and the long staple, or sea island, $3.00 a pound.
The people for a while endured the hardships of the new rule under which they were governed, and there was distress also on account of the short supply of provisions in store at the time. Added to their annoyances was the destructive fire which occurred on the 27th of Jan- uary, 1865, by which one hundred buildings were swept away. A building used by the Confederates as an arsenal, and known as "Granite Hall," situated in the western section of the city. soon caught fire from a stable in its rear, and, before the ammunition stored within could be removed, many loaded shells exploded, sending their fragments in all directions, doing great damage; and one piece struck the reser- voir of the water works. rendering useless the entire fire department. A negro woman was killed, and several citizens were wounded.
FAMILIES OF CONFEDERATE OFFICERS REQUIRED TO LEAVE
By order of General Sherman, all families of Confederate officers were required to leave the city, and such persons were compelled to register.their names within a certain period. Some failed to do so, and on the 28th of March, 1865. the provost marshal issued an order that "the wives and families of Confederate officers who have not registered their names at this office will do so at once."
The order was carried out three days later. The people were taken to Sister's Ferry in the steamer Hudson, and from that point they were conducted in wagons in charge of Col. Edward C. Anderson to Augusta, and it was not long after their forced departure from Savan- nah that, by the surrender of the armies of Generals Lee and Johnston, the war was ended, and they returned to their homes.
Savannah had passed through the period of war, and suffered in common with other cities of our Southland; but her condition when the end came was not as deplorable as that of many which more fully realized the actual horrors of war.
Vol. 1-30
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CHAPTER XXXVIII RECONSTRUCTION
GENEROSITY OF BOSTONIANS AND OTHERS-MAYOR ANDERSON'S REPORT ON CONDITION OF CITY AT END OF WAR-BOARD OF EDUCATION CHARTERED-ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TAKEN INTO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM-CHARTER AMENDED TO INCLUDE EDUCATION OF COLORED PEOPLE.
The reconstruction period in Savannah was more disastrous to the people and brought more uneasiness and heartburnings than the dread- ful years of war. Such was the condition of affairs. that, on account of the unruly conduct of the negroes, led and encouraged by the notorious Aaron Alpeoria Bradley and others of the race, as well as some unseru- pulous white men, at first it became necessary to prohibit political gatherings without previous notice to the mayor as well as to the com- mander of the military post of twelve hours, which had to be increased subsequently to twenty-four. On the 30th of September, 1867, a meeting was held in Chippewa square which became so disorderly that both the civil and military authorities had to interfere in order to prevent a riot.
GENEROSITY OF BOSTONIANS AND OTHERS
Before this state of affairs began, however, some noble people of Boston and New York, learning the condition of the citizens remaining in the city when General Sherman's army entered it, took steps to give im- mediate relief to the distressed by furnishing an abundant supply of food. Col. Julian Allen, as soon as the necessity of prompt action was seen by him, offered his services gratuitously to go to New York and arrange for an exchange of rice for other provisions for the destitute of the city. Before he could put his plan in action, on the 18th of January, 1865, the steamer Rebecca Clyde arrived with a cargo of provisions and other things necessary to the support of the suffering "as a good will offering from their fellow-countrymen of the city of New York." That act of relief was the result of efforts put forth by the New York Chamber of Commerce, the Commercial Association, and the Produce Exchange, and the supplies were contributed by all classes of people. The New York and Washington Steamship Company kindly gave the use of the steamer for the trip, and she was in charge of Messrs. Archibald Baxter, C. H. P. Babcock and Frank Lathrop. The articles were distributed through ward committees composed of prominent citizens.
When Colonel Allen proposed to give his time to the work of collect-
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ing provisions, General Sherman issued an order to Albert G. Browne, supervising special agent of the treasury department, confirming the appointment of Colonel Allen, and directed the quartermaster to give the latter transportation. and requesting the collector of the port of New York to grant clearance for provisions for the use of the citizens of Savannah to the extent of fifty thousand dollars. Colonel Allen arrived in Boston January 7th, 1865, and the people of that city met, by invita- tion through the newspapers, at noon on the 9th, in Faneuil Hall, to take measures in behalf of the object. The hall was filled with gentlemen at the appointed hour, and many ladies were seated in the galleries. Mayor T. W. Lincoln. Jr., presided, and, in his opening address, said : "The doors of Faneuil Hall have not been opened in the last four years on a more auspicious occasion. The city of Boston hails with joy the sentiments of loyalty and fealty to the old flag which Savannah, freed from her thraldom, is now permitted to utter: and as her mayor pre- sided over the formal announcement of her renewed devotion to the coun- try, so I acknowledge that it is fit that one hokling similar official rela- tions to Boston should participate in the proceedings of this meeting." The following resolutions were adopted. and Mayor Lincoln was deputed to forward them to the mayor of Savannah :
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"Resolved, That the citizens of Boston have heard with sincere satis- faction of the course pursued by the authorities and people of Savannah, since the occupation of their city by the federal forces under Major- General Sherman ; and especially of their distinet and hearty recognition of the duties resting upon them, and of the immunities resulting to them as citizens of the United States-their country and ours.
"Resolved, That we extend to the people of Savannah our congratu- lations on their deliverance from the irresponsible power of the rebel gov- ernment, and on the re-establishment over them of lawful and constitu- tional supremacy.
"Resolved, That we esteem it a privilege to extend assistance to the suffering poor of Savannah, of whose destitution we are informed by the mayor and council of the city, and by the statement of Colonel Allen, made on this occasion.
"Resolved, That we invite the people of Boston to furnish such con- tributions of money and provisions as the necessities of the case require, and that a committee of thirty, of which the mayor shall be chairman, be appointed by the presiding officer to receive them, and to make dis- tribution as they shall judge proper."
The committee to whom was intrusted the collecting and forwarding of the supplies reported subscriptions as follows :
"At their first meeting on Tuesday, amounting to $3,700.00
That the subscriptions on Wednesday were 17,607.00
" Thursday were 8,529.00
" Friday were 3.955.50
Making a total of $33,791.50"
The executive committee appointed to carry out the object for which the citizens gathered and to publish a permanent record of the matters
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in relation thereto, mentioned in their report that they could not "omit from this report the last appeal of Edward Everett in Faneuil Hall- the appeal with which he closed his public labors on earth ; in itself one of the most touching which ever fell from his lips." Mr. Everett made his speech on the 9th of January, 1865, and he died on the 15th of the same month.
. The report of collections given above was made on the 13th of Jan- uary, but contributions continued to be made for several days, and the total amount as afterwards corrected, was $34,495.07. In the letter of the Boston committee to the mayor of Savannah, announcing the result of their labors, this language was used :
"The history of former days is not forgotten. It has rather been deepened by the later trials of our nation. We remember the earlier kindness and liberality of the citizens of Savannah towards the people of Boston in the dark colonial days. We recall the meeting held there on the tenth day of August. 1774. when a committee was appointed 'to receive subscriptions for the suffering poor of Boston,' as to which it is recorded, 'There are large donations of rice for the sufferers in Boston, and, had we the means of sending it to them, with very little trouble much more would be collected and sent to them. Few have subscribed less than ten tierces of rice.""' The rice was sent to New York, sold there, and the proceeds. £216 Os 5d. were remitted to the Boston com- mittee, and by them applied to the relief of the poor here.
"We remember that Nathanael Greene, the noble son of Rhode Island, sleeps in your beautiful cemetery. We recall the scene on the banks of the Savannah river. when 'the military and municipality met the mourn- ful procession at the landing in your city; the whole body of citizens joining with one accord in this last demonstration of respect to him who, of all those who have distinguished themselves during the War of the Revolution, was, next to Washington, the one who held, at this moment, the highest place in public esteem.' "
MAYOR ANDERSON'S REPORT ON CONDITION OF CITY AT END OF WAR
Perhaps in order to the saving of the city's resources and owing to the want of proper facilities for printing, the reports of the mayor of Savannah did not appear in printed form for the years 1864 and 1865; but Mayor Edward C. Anderson, elected in December, 1865, mentioned the condition of the city in this way, after stating that the board headed by himself had been elected by virtue of an ordinance of the state con- vention : "At that time our city had been set back in her progress by the vicissitudes of four years' civil war. Her finances were disordered and her revennes appropriated by the military tax gatherers then domi- ciled in our midst. There were then but $2.000 in the treasury, and the outstanding accounts for past due conpons alone amonnted. to $371.570. Of this there was funded in new bonds to run twenty years $227,094.90 and redeemed for taxes and ground rents $68.048.35, leaving outstanding $76.426.75."
Of course, the first matter of importance to the city was the removal . of . obstruetions placed in the river during the war and the deepening of the channel. Before the matter conld receive proper attention through
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congressional aetion, the city expended all the money it was possible to raise for the purpose.
BOARD OF EDUCATION CHARTERED
The next item of interest and importanee was the question of the education of the children. Accordingly an act was passed by the legis- lature of Georgia and approved by the governor as early as the 21st of March, 1866, through the efforts of a few public-spirited eitizens, incor- porating "The Board of Public Education for the City of Savannah." naming as member of said board Richard D. Arnold, John Stoddard, Solomon Cohen, Henry Williams, Edward J. Harden, John L. Villalonga, John Williamson, Edward C. Anderson, and John C. Ferrill, together with the commissioners of the Massie School, who, by the action of council adopted nearly at the same time, became members of the board, in these words: "The mayor shall appoint three commissioners of the Massie School, one of whom shall be the mayor, when he is not a regular member of the board of education for the city of Savannah, and the said com- missioners may be selected from the aldermen, or citizens, or both, as the mayor inay elect." At the time usual for opening the schools of the city that year, October 1st, the board was fully organized, and free tuition was established, the city agreeing to provide an amount annually which, added to the county appropriation and the county's share of the state school fund, was deemed sufficient to meet all expenses. The charter was amended next year, changing the name so as to make the corporation "The Board of Publie Education for the City of Savannah and the County of Chatham." In 1867 the Roman Catholic bishop. Augustin Verot, applied to the board for the appointment of three addi- tional members of that body, representing the Catholic church, one of whom should be a priest. To that request a negative reply was made in which it was stated that "No member of this board holds Ins seat in any similar capacity, nor is any sect or faith specially represented in it." and other reasons for declining to grant the request were given with this closing remark: "For these reasons the board finds it impracticable to comply with your requests in the shape and upon the terms expressed in your present application." The bishop and other Catholics petitioned council on the 28th of October, 1868, to divide the educational fund granted by the city in proportion to free scholars found in each school. and the petition was by council referred to the board of education, which reported back that it "does not desire and does not feel anthorized to mingle in the practical arrangement of the publie school system the doctrines or tenets of any particular faith or creed with the general topics of school education in this county * The board has no right to make discriminations or distributions among pupils or to classify them according to the religions tenets in which their guardians max desire them to be instructed. Any exclusiveness upon such subjects mais be chargeable to those who assert and practice it, and not to any condet. rule or principle of the board of education, or to any act of the les lature or municipal authority." The contined and repeated claim that the Catholic schools should be incorporated in the public educational system brought forth a plan which was submitted to council on the 1st.
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of August, 1869, on which majority and minority reports were made, and on the 25th of the same month the majority report was adopted together with the following resolution, offered by Alderman William H. Burroughs :
ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TAKEN INTO PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
"Resolved, That the council adopt the majority report of the com- mittee on education, and that the same be referred to the board of edu- cation, with the recommendation from couneil that the children of our Roman Catholic fellow-citizens he received under the charge of the public school system at the earliest day possible, and with the further recommendation that as vacancies ocenr in the board of public education such vacancies be filled so that all classes of our community now entitled to be educated under the charter of the board of public education may be fairly and indiscriminately represented in said board of education." The plan of union is thus summarized in the next report of the superin- tendent of schools: "In order to satisfy our Catholic fellow-citizens that there was no intention or desire on the part of the board of public education to interfere with their religious faith, the board was willing to elect only Catholics to positions as teachers in the schools which are composed of Catholic children. At the same time, to prevent the employ- ment of incompetent teachers, it very properly reserved the right to examine into the qualifications of all applicants for places. By the terms of agreement, the introduction into the schools of books containing anything inimical or prejudicial to the Catholic faith was prohibited. On the other hand, it was agreed and distinctly understood between the two parties that religion was not to be taught in the schools during the hours which, by the rules of the board, are set apart for proper school work. After the work of the session is completed there could be no objection to the room being used for religions purposes, provided no compulsion was used to secure the presence of such Protestant children as may be in the schools."
CHARTER AMENDED TO INCLUDE EDUCATION OF COLORED PEOPLE
In 1878 the charter of the board of education was amended by the superior court of Chatham county, in accordance with a change in the laws of Georgia authorizing the courts of the state to take jurisdiction in such matters, giving power to said board to take in charge the educa- tion of "colored children, or children of African descent, in the city of Savannah and county of Chatham, between the ages of six and sixteen years."
At this time Hon. Samuel B. Adams is president of the Board of Edu- cation and Mr. Otis Ashmore is the superintendent, secretary and treas- urer.
CHAPTER XXXIX
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRIES
BEGINNING OF COTTON CULTURE IN GEORGIA-RAPID GROWTH OF COTTON BUSINESS IN SAVANNAH-SAVANNAH SECOND COTTON PORT IN THE WORLD-FIGURES SHOWING BUSINESS OF SEVERAL DECADES -- NAVAL STORES AND IMPORTANT TRADE-SAVANNAH'S BUSINESS RECORD FOR PAST FOUR YEARS-CENTRAL OF GEORGIA RAILWAY-ITS FIRST PRESIDENT, W. W. GORDON-SAVANNAH'S BANKS-SAVANNAH AND THE PANAMA CANAL.
When it was well ascertained that the production of silk, of which it was hoped that Georgia would export large quantities, was not to be depended on, the amount of rice produced in the territory adjacent to Savannah was considerable. In 1760, the shipment of that grain amounted to 3,283 barrels. But even then the attention of planters was to a certain extent directed to the culture of cotton. Four years later, in 1764, the first shipment of that great southern product was consigned by the pros- perous Savannah merchant. James Habersham. to Mr. William Rathbone, of Liverpool, and it consisted of eight bales. It was sent by way of New York and forwarded from that point by Mr. Habersham's agent, a Mr. Dillon, and when it reached Liverpool it was seized by the custom house officers on the ground that so much cotton could not have been raised in the American colonies and was therefore liable to seizure as not having been imported in a vessel belonging to the country in which it was grown. The original manifest of the shipment was preserved for one hundred years, but during the war between the states it was sent, with other valuable papers, to the interior of Georgia for safe keeping, and in 1864 it was burned by some of General Sherman's army.
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