USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 36
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Laughter is sometimes premature; and, though Rome was once saved by the cackling of Juno's geese, it was not decreed that Georgia should be kept within the British allegiance by the same musical notes. The loyalists could well afford to employ mild explosives until the real cannonade commenced. Further down the road lurked heaviness of spirit ; and before Yorktown sealed eventually the bloody volume which Lexington opened many an ounce of vermilion was destined to redden the king's highway and many an anxious sigh was fated to fill the Tory lungs which were then seeking by forced mirth to drown the young voice of Yankee Doodle.
Georgia until now had been conservative. Perhaps, of all the orig- inal thirteen colonies, she had been the favorite of the mother-country : an affectionate distinction quite often conferred upon the youngest mem- ber of the household. Yet, it could not be said that Georgia was less ardently devoted to the cause of liberty than was either Virginia or Massachusetts. The very charter of the colony committed her to the love of freedom by making her an asylum for indigent but honest pris- oners for debt. She cherished the traditions of Runnymede; and she lacked neither the bold initiative nor the patriotic fearlessness which was needed for the approaching crisis.
But there were good reasons for tempering the rash counsels of impa- tience with the prudent safeguards of conservatism. Under the original charter, Georgia, for twenty-one years, had been faithfully served by the old trustees, without fee or emolnment; and some of them were still in life, including the illustrious founder of the colony, General Oglethorpe. She bore the Tentonic name of the Brunswick house and she felt con- strained by the obligations of the baptismal vow to respect the scepter of the Georges. Moreover, she had been peculiarly fortunate in most of her dealings with the British Crown. Prosperity had filled the coffers of the thrifty merchants and enlarged the smokehouses and the corn- cribs of the industrious planters; immigration had commenced to pour into the fertile lowlands from the other colonies; and she had experi- enced none of the ill-usage which nurtures the spirit of discontent. Governor Reynolds, though dominated by an infamous secretary, was not himself an unworthy man. His faults lay chiefly in sins of omis- sion. Governor Ellis, in his watchful care of the province, had set a standard which his successor, Governor Wright, was zealous to equal, but could not hope to surpass. Indeed, until the passage of the obnoxious Stamp Act, the royal governor was well beloved by the people of Georgia ; and even then it was freely admitted that the zeal of the old royalist was not inspired by unfriendliness toward the colonial aspirations, but
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was born of fidelity to the Crown interests of the realm. Such consider- ations served to keep Georgia in the loyal ranks, though twelve colonies were represented in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia and were inclined to shoot reproachful glances toward the loyal province which, solitary and alone, still floated the English colors.
Nevertheless, when the news of the battle of Lexington summoned the patriots together at Tondee's Tavern, the fighting blood of the colony was at last aroused. Delegates were chosen to the Continental Congress; an executive council was named to direct the affairs of the colony in the pending crisis, and other radical measures were adopted indicative of the change of mind which had come over the youngest of the colonial group. True to the filial instinct of allegiance, the convention, before adjourn- ing, petitioned the king once more to heed the protest of the aggrieved colonies; and, even with the Macedonian ery from the New England hills ringing in the ears of the defiant patriots, the way was paved for return- ing, in the course of time, to the ancient shelter of the Crown. But the olive branch was rejected. The issue of grim battle was joined; and the bloody grapple was soon to commence. Though it was not an act of formal separation from the mother country, it virtually slipped the bonds of allegiance and committed Georgia to the great revolt, whose opening challenge was the Declaration of Independence and whose cul- minating scene was the surrender at Yorktown.
Despite the conservatism which delayed the action of Georgia, it must not be supposed that there was any prevalence of apathy within the province toward the unjust impositions of the British Parliament. On the contrary, it was maintained that an imperial tax upon the colonies without voice in the home councils was most unjust; and formal protest was made in London through Benjamin Franklin. The passage of the Stamp Act provoked universal indignation. Governor Wright's life was threatened; and James Habersham, president of the King's Conneil, was actually waylaid and forced to seek shelter behind the royal guns. On the anniversary of the king's accession to the throne, the Liberty Boys took possession of the streets of Savannah, perverting the governor's proclamation into an opportunity for burning in effigy some of the king's representatives; and no stamps were used in Georgia, under the Act of 1765, except such as were needed to clear the vessels which left the har- bor of Savannah and which were liable to seizure upon the high seas, if unable to produce certificates.
Of course the repeal of the Stamp Act temporarily improved the situation. But the fires were only smoldering; and, when Governor Wright, who thought it wise to keep an armed force at the executive elbow, made requisition upon the Provincial Assembly for supplies, under the provisions of the mutiny bill, the sleeping spirit of resistance was once more in flames. If England was determined to employ force, some of the patriotic lawmakers at least were resolved that Georgia should not pay for the luxury of being coerced into submission ; and the Lower refused to join the Upper House in voting the appropriation.
To explain the terms used, the Lower Honse was the popular branch or Honse of Commons, whose members were elected by the people; while the Upper House was the King's Council or House of Lords, whose vacancies were filled by royal appointment. Naturally the former, being
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in touch with the masses, was inclined to be radical; and Governor Wright, like old King Charles, spent more than one sleepless night in grieving over the stubbornness of the Commons. To show the strong feeling of discontent which prevailed in Georgia in consequence of the colonial policy of Great Britain, the Legislature was not in session when the Massachusetts circular addressed to the Provincial Assemblies of America, advising union against the oppressive acts of Parliament, was received; but ex-Speaker Alexander Wylly, who afterwards became an avowed Tory on the issue of separation, undertook to answer the letter iu sympathetic terms.
However, under the speakership of Dr. Noble W. Jones, the Lower Ilouse took an aggressive stand, which greatly angered Governor Wright. Certain communications from other colonies were spread upon the min- utes and strong resolutions of endorsement were adopted. Governor Wright was anxious to conciliate the Liberty Boys because he knew that republican sentiment was growing in the colony, but one issue succeeded another until finally, in sheer desperation, he was compelled to exercise the royal prerogative of dissolution.
Nothing of special interest now occurred until developments at last brought to the front an intrepid old patriot who was marked to become the first victim of political persecution in Georgia: Jonathan Bryan. It did not occur to the royal governor when he dissolved the Lower ITouse that trouble might be brewing in the King's Council. He took it for granted that the sober-minded old men who sat in the upper cham- ber were too well inoculated with the royal virus to become infected by the heretical epidemic. But he was destined to be regaled with an unex- pected dish.
In repealing the iniquitous Stamp Act the British Parliament had not relinquished the right to tax the colonies; and in 1768 various arti- cles of merchandise were subjected to burdensome duties. The people of Savannah, in mass meeting assembled, agreed to use none of the arti- cles upon which the tax was levied. Jonathan Bryan presided over the gathering; and the spectacle which he presented was somewhat anoma- lous. He was an old man whose locks were snowy white; and, at this time, the fires of liberty burned chiefly in the veins of the ardent youth of the province. Besides possessing large means, he also belonged to the King's Council; and, if most of the graybeards were disposed to be conservative by reason of the frosty touch of age, this proneness to sub- mit to the oppressive yoke was doubly true of the grave elders whose enjoyment of the royal dispensations made them lean unconsciously toward the golden circlet.
But there was no unction in the speech and no charm of magic in the gift of sovereigns to flatter this old patriarch of liberty. Bent though he was with age, he was yet ablaze with zeal in the sacred cause of freedom. He dared to protest against the British exactions. Con- sequently, orders soon came from London commanding the old man's suspension ; and Jonathan Bryan quit the King's Council. Time went on. Eventually he was restored to favor; but again he incurred the royal displeasure. He was present at the meeting held in Savannah to protest against the passage of the Boston Port Bill and to raise funds for the sufferers. It put the offender beyond the pale of forgiveness, in
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the eyes of the graybeards whose legs were crossed under the king's mahogany, and as soon as Governor Wright called the council together some one moved to expel Mr. Bryan. The old man arose.
"If such is the feeling which the council entertains," said he, "I will retire at once. It is unnecessary to put the motion."
Thereupon he withdrew to engage no more in the service of King George.
Included among the heirlooms of the Bryan family in Georgia, there is still preserved an old silver piece of priceless value inscribed to the sturdy patriot for espousing the liberties of the people of Georgia at the sacrifice of high official position. Joseph Bryan, the father of the old patriot, was living in South Carolina when General Oglethorpe landed on the bluffs of the Savannah River; and, being in sympathy with the philanthropie spirit of the colonial enterprise, he crossed over into Georgia and helped to clear the wilderness in which the colony was planted. He then returned to South Carolina. But Jonathan Bryan, when he was old enough to shift for himself, came to Georgia to live. Joseph Bryan, his son, afterwards represented Georgia in the United States Senate, and his descendants are still numbered among the best citizens of the state.
Though past the patriarchal limit of years at the time of the Revo- lutionary outbreak, Mr. Bryan participated in the defense of Georgia soil ; and, upon the fall of Savannah, was captured, sent to New York and imprisoned on Long Island. The circumstances of the old man's arrest are too interesting to be omitted. Three nights after the reduc- tion of Savannah, a party of armed men were secretly dispatched from the Phoenix, a man-of-war lying in the harbor, and given instructions to take the old man a prisoner. He was supposed to have sought refuge on his plantation across the Savannah River, and the arresting officers, moving stealthily up Union Creek, under cover of darkness, found him at the place indicated, and with his son, James, placed him on board one of the prison ships.
In vain his daughter, Mrs. Morel, sued for the release of her aged father. She even went down on her knees, it is said, to the British com- mander. But Commodore Hyde Parker was obdurate. The old man had been too great an offender against the British Crown. Consequently, feeble though he was with advanced years, Mr. Bryan was sent North ; and, after being transferred from one prison ship to another, he was eventually incarcerated on Long Island. However, an exchange was effected in the course of time, and, returning home, he survived the Revolution, witnessed the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and died in 1788: Georgia's Pylean-Nestor of Independence.
Another conspicuous landmark among the early patriots whose name must now be mentioned again was Noble Wymberley Jones. He was the son of Noble Jones, one of the pioneer settlers who came to Georgia with the illustrious founder; and, although the elder Jones at an advanced age still held the office of colonial treasurer and espoused the king's side to the very last, the younger Jones was an uncompromising Whig. The first of Georgia's long line of patriotic physicians, Dr. Jones had for
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some time been prominent in the Lower House; and Governor Wright, in reporting to the London authorities, had complained of the obstrep- erous rebel. In 1768 he had been elected speaker; but when, in 1770, he was re-elected, Governor Wright refused to sanction the choice and ordered another ballot.
However, instead of obeying the executive behest, the House passed resolutions commending Dr. Jones for the courageous stand which he had taken in support of the people against the Crown. Moreover, it declared that the sentiment of approbation which was entertained for the speaker could not be lessened by any slight which might be put upon him in opposition to the unanimous voice of the Commons. The answer of Governor Wright was an act dissolving the House.
Matters stood still for some time; and Governor Wright, taking ad- vantage of the lull, sailed for England, leaving a Georgian in charge of the colony, James Habersham, who, to quote the language which he used in writing to the Earl of Hillsboro, was no Liberty Boy. Mr. Haber- sham was president of the King's Council; and, though he shared to some extent the popular feeling, he felt constrained to act as an oath- bound officer of the Crown. . Again the Lower House met and twice elected Dr. Jones, only to have its action vetoed by the lieutenant- governor, who had received positive instructions from the king. Thereupon, Dr. Jones stepped aside, and Archibald Bulloch was elected. This was substituting a Roland for an Oliver; but the House having receded, the election was approved. However, on looking over the min- utes, Mr. Habersham observed discourteous items and frictional irrita- tion followed which caused him to dissolve the House. At this stage Governor Wright returned, decorated with baronial titles. But he found that the cause of the king had not suffered from any lack of loyalty on the part of James Habersham.
This faithful old servitor of the Crown came to Georgia to aid White- field in the work of the Orphan Asylum at Bethesda, and in time suc- ceeded the great divine in control of the enterprise. Later he engaged in business activities and established the first large commercial house in Savannah. He died in 1775, leaving two sons, John and Joseph, both of whom were among the boldest of the whigs. Dr. James Habersham, whose name also appears in the Revolutionary lists, was another son.
Dr. Jones continued to be an active worker in the patriotic ranks, despite the loss of the speaker's gavel and the parental admonitions of an aggrieved sire. He was subsequently included among the bold whigs whose names were attached to the calls for the first provincial meetings in the interest of liberty, and he was also chosen on the first delegation to represent Georgia in the Continental Congress, but, on account of the illness of his father, who at the time was lying at the point of death, he was detained at home. An uncompromising patriot, he possessed abili- ties which gave him an influence of unusual character and extent; and, in view of the courageous stand which he took in the forefront of what was undoubtedly at the start an unpopular movement in the youngest of the royal colonies, he well deserved the poetic sobriquet which, reach- ing back to the earliest gray dawn of liberty in Georgia, describes him as one of the morning stars.
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Notwithstanding the frequent and emphatie protests of the bold patriots of Georgia against the arbitrary course of the British Crown, there was little talk of actual separation and little desire for any- thing beyond mere redress of grievanees, exeept on the part of some few violent extremists, until Parliament passed the Bos- ton Port Bill in 1774. This was, perhaps, the most drastie measure enacted by the London lawmakers to punish the rebellious colonies ; but, to make matters still worse, Parliament revoked the charter of Massachusetts and required all persons charged with crime to be sent to England for trial. Though the heaviest suffering was entailed upon New England, whose eommeree it suspended, the other colonies were given due warning of what they, too, might expect; but the harsh legis- lation also served to develop a sense of kinship which separate colonial eharters, rival interests, and inadequate facilities of travel, had tended to obseure.
What called for the Boston Port Bill was the famous episode of the tea chests. While the imperial tax now rested only upon tea, the Puri- tan colonists of New England were determined to eliminate the beverage from the bill of fare, until the oppressive duty should be removed ; and only the most pronouneed Tory deigned to moisten his throat with the forbidden liquid. The story of the Boston tea party is one of the famil- iar classics of American history. To the youthful imagination it rivals the legends of the adventurous Spaniards, DeSoto and Ponce de Leon; and the youngest ehild in the nursery can prate of the bold men who, in the guise of Indians, went on shipboard and plunged the outlawed mer- chandise into the sea. This provoked the retaliatory aet, which was designed to elose the Boston harbor; but, instead of reducing the indig- nant patriots to submission, it fired the whole Atlantic seaboard into grim resistance and foreshadowed the banners of the Continental army under George Washington.
Even the loyal colony of Georgia felt the tie of allegiance yield; and nothing except the most persistent efforts on the part of Governor Wright prevented the provinee from sending delegates to Philadelphia. On July 20, 1774, there appeared in the Georgia Gazette a eall for the patriots to meet in Savannah for the purpose of taking radical aetion ; and the stout Whigs who sounded this earnest bugle-note were Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloeh, John Houstoun and John Walton, the signer's brother. Pursuant to this eall, the patriots met at Tondee's Tavern on July 27th following and John Glen, the chief justice of the colony. pre- sided. To give some idea as to who the early patriots were, the following committee of thirty-one, which includes the colonial aneestors of many present-day Georgians, was appointed to report resolutions : John Glen, Joseph Clay, John Smith, Noble W. Jones. Lyman Hall, William Young, Edward Telfair, Samnel Farley, George Walton, Joseph Habersham, Jonathan Bryan, Jonathan Cochran, George MeIntosh, John Benefield. William Gibbons, Benjamin Andrew, John Winn, John Stirk, Archibald Bulloch, John Sereven, John Staey, Henry Davis Bourquin. Elisha But- ler, William Baker, Parmenus Wey, John Baker, John Mann, Sutton Banks, David Zubly, and John Morel. The resolutions were outspoken in character, condemning as tyrannous the closing of the Boston harbor, and emphasizing the injustice of taxation without representation. More-
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over, English subjects in the wilds of North America were held to be entitled to the same rights and privileges as English subjects in the environs of London. But action upon the resolution was delayed. It appeared that some of the upper parishes were not represented and it was desired to give the whole province an opportunity to be heard. Con- sequently, an adjournment was taken until August 10th, but, in the meantime, a committee was appointed to raise funds for the Boston sufferers. William Ewen, William Young, Joseph Clay, John Houstoun, Noble W. Jones, Edward Telfair, John Smith, Samuel Farley and An- drew Wells were given this task to perform, and in due time 600 barrels of rice and several bags of money were forwarded to Boston.
On August 10th the assemblage met again, but the counteractive agencies of Governor Wright were apparent; and only five out of eleven parishes were represented. It was known that heroic measures of redress were sought. This deterred many parishes from sending delegates, espe- cially since the royal governor had issued warning proclamations. More- over, some of the delegates who responded to the call thought it best to be conservative. It has already been stated that the Sons of Liberty were, with few exceptions, young men whose fathers were staunch old royalists ; and some of them were doubtless held in check by the fear of parental displeasure. Besides, it must be added that the growth of the Revolutionary doctrines had been much more rapid in the towns than in the rural districts; and the colony had recently undergone an expansion which considerably increased the area of the latter. Savannah and Sun- bury were the chief incubators of liberty, while the new parishes, which Governor Wright had lately opened up, were almost wholly the abodes of conservatism. Consequently, the utmost which could be done was to adopt the resolutions above mentioned, and even this mild course was disapproved by the stern elders who thought that Georgia was ill-requit- ing the royal benefits. If some of the wealthy aristocrats were upon the side of liberty, most of the landed gentry still posed as the bulwarks of the Crown. Yet, even among the poorer classes, there was an inclination toward the reigning sovereign whose father was the Brunswick prince for whom the colony was christened and whose name was George III.
Indignant because the most radical action was not taken by the provincial assemblage, the representatives from St. John's Parish with- drew. This left the patriotic body still feebler, and it was decided to adjourn until the Legislature should meet, the idea being to get the Lower House, which represented the whole province, to elect delegates to the Continental Congress. But the plan failed to work. Governor Wright thwarted the designs of the patriots by adjourning the Legis- lature at the critical moment, and the provincial assembly was forced either to adjourn without further ado or to go through the mock for- mality of choosing delegates whose credentials would be comparatively worthless. It was decided to take the latter course, and Noble W. Jones, Archibald Bulloch. and John Houstoun were elected.
However, since the question of legality might be raised upon minority credentials, the delegates did not repair to Philadelphia. Instead, they dispatched a communication informing the Continental Congress of the
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facts and stating that, while Georgia seemed to be tardy and irresolute, the province would be ready to evinee at the proper time an uncompro- mising devotion to the patriotie cause. This document bore emphasis, from the most radieal standpoint, to the faet that Georgia was sincerely attached to the mother-country, regardless of the influenees which were slowly but surely goading her to defy the edicts of the Crown.
But there was one parish in Georgia which needed no further time for preparation and which was altogether too impatient to abide the slow processes of conversion which were necessary to bring the colony at large to the patriotic altars. This was the parish of St. John, one of the wealthiest of all the political subdivisions of the province. Per- haps the zeal of the parish was due largely to the sympathetie bond of kinship between the Puritan settlers at Midway and the Puritan suf- ferers in New England : and decidedly the largest contributions to the New England fund eame from St. John's Parish, which was later to fur- nish two signers to the Declaration : Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett. But Dr. Hall was destined to be Georgia's first representative in the Continental Congress, and to sit alone for several months in this august assemblage of patriots. On withdrawing from the Provincial Congress the parish of St. John decided to take independent action. Aeeordingly, Dr. Hall was sent to Philadelphia; and, in due season, he took his seat in the Continental Congress as the aceredited delegate from the parish of St. John in the colony of Georgia. This bold leadership among the parishes is today monumentalized in the county which includes the his- torie Midway settlement and which bears the saered name of Liberty.
Within the next few days came the news of the battle of Lexington. It brought the appeal of blood which Georgia could not resist. On the evening of May 11, 1775, six young adventurers broke into the powder magazine at Savannah and took possession of the stores of ammunition. The beardless captain of the band was Maj. James Habersham. He was the son of the old royalist. James Habersham, who ran the colony while Governor Wright was in England. Ile fought through the Revolution. and, when the Federal Government was duly organized, he became post- master-general under Washington. The other raiders were Noble W. Jones, Edward Telfair, Joseph Clay, William Gibbons and John Mil- ledge. Some of the captured booty was stored in secure vaults and eel- lars for future use, some sent to South Carolina, and some forwarded to Boston where, in the great battle of Bunker Hill, it was destined to weave the heroie shroud of General Warren.
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