USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 41
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Though memorialized in the county which bears her name, there seems to be little certainty concerning the precise spot in which the heroine lies buried; but she needs no help from the device of bronze or marble to keep her memory ablaze about the hearthstones of the Georgia commonwealth. She has ever been the fireside favorite of the Georgia home. In the drama of the Revolution she claims the enthusiastic plaudits of the Georgia youngster above all the other characters. She outstrips Washington and overtops LaFayette and surpasses Sergeant Jasper; and, though only an ill-favored country dame, yet in childhood's verdict, hers is the Instiest shout and hers the truest weapon of all the hurrying host whose quick-step answered the battle-cry of Lexington.
Granting that her eyes were crossed, they were true enough to sentinel the Georgia forest in the hour of danger, and, like twin stars upon the morning sky, they were glorious enough to light the dawn of liberty. Wherever she lies buried it is hal- lowed earth in which she rests. Even Westminster Abbey might sue to enshrine the ashes of this homely heroine of the Georgia backwoods, who, on the historic page, shares the austere company of sceptered sovereigns and receives the kneeling vows of subject princes from afar. It is enough to know that the courts of liberty are all the brighter for the luster which she lent te the annals of the Revolution; and, borrowing the beautiful illusion of the old Germanic myth, it is easy to imagine how the entrance to the great Valhalla must have swarmed with the spirits of the brave departed as the Georgia heroine mounted the immortal hill, and how the solitude of Jean d'Arc, unbroken through the lapse of seven centuries, must have brightened with the electrical announcement that Nancy Hart had come .- "Reminiscences of Famous Georgians," L. L. Knight, Vol. II.
FORT MORRIS: THE LAST TO LOWER THE COLONIAL FLAG .- Occupying an eminence somewhat to the south of old Sunbury, on lands belonging to the Calder estate, are
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still to be seen the ruins of the old stronghold which played such an important part in the drama of independence: Fort Morris. Large trees are today growing upon the parapets. Even the footpaths which lead to it, through the dense thickets, are obscured by an undergrowth of weeds and briars, bespeaking the desolation which for more than a century has brooded over the abandoned earth-works. But the massive embankments of the old fort can still be distinctly traced. It commands the entrance to the Midway River, from which, however, both the sails of commerce and the ironclads of war have long since vanished.
To one who is in any wise familiar with the history of the Revolution in Georgia, it is pathetic to witness the wreckage which time has here wrought; but the splendid memories which cluster about the precinets, like an ever-green mantle of ivy, are sufficient to fire the dullest imagination. There is little hope for the Georgian who can stand nnmoved upon these heroic heights. It was here that Gen. Charles Lee assembled his forces for the expedition into Florida. It was here that Col. Samuel Elbert, under executive orders from Button Gwinnett, embarked his troops for the assault upon St. Augustine. It was here that Col. John McIntosh, refusing to sur- render the fort to an overwhelming force of the enemy, sent to the British commander his defiant message: "Come and take it!"'
But what invests the old fort with the greatest interest perhaps is the fact that when the State of Georgia was overrun by the British, consequent upon the fall of Savannah, it was the very last spot on Georgia soil where the old Colonial flag was still unfurled. Even an order from General Howe, directing an abandonment of the stronghold, was disregarded by the gallant officer in command, who preferred to accept the gage of battle. It was not until beleaguered and stormed and overrun by superior numbers that it finally yielded to the terrific onslaught; and the next memorial erected by the patriotic women of Georgia should be planted upon these brave heights to tell the world that when Savannah and Augusta were both in the power of the British there was still waving from the ramparts of the old fort at Sunbury the defiant folds of an unconquered banner.
It is safely within the bounds of historic inference to state that the famous earth- works must have been constructed at some time prior to the Revolution. There was probably at least an excellent beginning made for the future stronghold on this identical spot.
At any rate, the structure which came to be Fort Morris was erected chiefly by the residents of Bermuda, now Colonel 's, Island, who, in building it, employed almost exclusively the labor of slaves. It was called Fort Morris, in honor of the captain who here commanded a company of Continental artillery raised for coast defense, on the eve of hostilities with England. The old fort was located about 350 feet outside the sonthern limits of Sunbury, at the bend of the river. Though an earthwork, it was most substantially built and enclosed fully an acre of ground. It was 275 feet in length on the water front. The two sides were somewhat irregular in shape and were respectively 191 and 140 feet in length. The rear wall was 240 feet in length. The" parapets were ten feet wide and rose six feet above the parade of the fort, while the superior slope of the embankment toward the river was twenty- five feet above high water. There were seven embrasures, each about five feet wide. Surrounding the pile was a moat ten feet wide at the bottom and twenty feet wide at the top. The sally port was in the rear or western wall.
Says Doctor Stacy: "The guns have all been removed. One was carried to Hinesville when the place was first laid off sixty years ago, and has been often and long used on Fourth of July and other public occasions and may still be seen there in the court-house yard. Two of them were carried to Riceboro during the late war between the States, but no use was made of them. Two more were taken by Captain Lamar and, after being used as signal guns at Sunbury, were transported to Fort Bartow at Savannah and fell into the hands of the Federals. Two more were left lying half buried in the soil of the parade ground, and still another in the old field half way between the fort and the site of the town. These have all since been removed. At least the writer did not see them when he visited the spot. One of the two carried to Riceboro was removed by the late Col. Charles C. Jones in 1880 to his home on the Sand Hills near Augusta, and now adorns the lawn in front of the residence which has passed into the hands of his son, Charles Edge-
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worth Jones. Like the one at Hinesville, it is undoubtedly genuine: one of the number which took part in the defense of Georgia soil in Revolutionary time." *
During the War of 1812, the famous old fortification at Sunbury was remodeled by the local committee of safety and called Fort Defense, but the name soon passed. Capt. John A. Cuthbert organized a company of citizens, some forty in number, while Capt. Charles Floyd commanded a body of students, in readiness for an attack. But the enemy failed to appear .- " Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends," L. L. Knight, Vol. II.
MEADOW GARDEN: THE HOME OF GOVERNOR WALTON .- With the single exception of old St. Paul's, the most ancient landmark of Augusta is Meadow Garden, the home of Gov. George Walton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia. The structure itself is much older than the present edifice of St. Paul's, the latter having been built in 1819; but since the present church building occupies the site of the original house of worship, it is consequently linked in asso- ciation with the earliest pioneer days. Meadow Garden is situated on the banks of the Angusta Canal; and here, amid surroundings which suggest an era of industrial enterprise, with its ceaseless hum of spindles and with its mad rush after things material, this quaint old mansion preserves the antique look of the olden times. It is not known when the present building was erected; but Governor Walton was living at Meadow Garden in 1797, according to his own statement made in letters which have been preserved; and, moreover, it was from Meadow Garden that the old patriot, in 1804, was borne to his burial. The remains of Governor Walton were first interred in the Cottage Cemetery, on the old Savannah Road, some seven miles from Augusta; and here they rested until 1848 when the body was exhumed and placed under the monument erected to the signers, directly in front of the court- house in Augusta, where today sleeps the illustrious citizen who held nearly every important office in Georgia's gift.
There is not perhaps in the entire State of Georgia a shrine of historie memories more frequently visited by tourists. This is because it is one of the few homes in America whose connection with the Colonial period can be distinctly traced. It was here that much of the social life of two centuries ago centered. Its spacious hallway -its antique furniture-its open fireplaces-its atmosphere of dignified repose- these all bespeak the time when knighthood was in flower. It carries the imagina- tion back to the days when the belles of Augusta danced the minuet-to the days when the powdered wig and the knee-buckle were worn by an old-fashioned gentry whose stately forms have vanished. The abodes of most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence have long since crumbled into dust. Time has not dealt kindly with them; but around the hearthstones of Meadow Garden still linger the recollections of an old patriot whose name is attached to the immortal seroll of freedom.
It is not invidious to state in this connection that the credit for the restoration of Meadow Garden belongs to an Augusta lady whose unwearied exertions were devoted to the cause, without a moment's rest or relaxation, until success at last crowned it-Mrs. Harriet Gould Jefferies. She first conceived the idea soon after joining the Daughters of the American Revolution, during the infaney of this patriotic order. The famous old landmark was rapidly falling into decay, when Mrs. Jefferies came to the rescue. The task of preserving it became literally her pillar of cloud by day and her pillar of fire by night. She first turned to the City of Augusta. But the commercial spirit was dominant in its councils. The town was deaf to the claims of its old Revolutionary patriot. She then turned to the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Here another defeat was encountered. But she retired from the contest only to renew the gage of battle. At the next annual meeting she won. The opposition was pronounced. Even the president- general was antagonistic; but the majority was on the side of Mrs. Jefferies. Thus the home of George Walton became the property of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In due time the old Colonial mansion was opened to the publie, its original features having been fully restored. The wisdom
* James Stacy, in "History of Midway Congregational Church, " pp. 232-238; Charles C. Jones, Jr., in Chapter on Sunbury, in "Dead Towns of Georgia."
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of the purchase has been amply justified by results. It has become the depository of many precious relies and mementoes of the struggle for independence. Nor is the portrait of Mrs. Jefferies which hangs upon the walls accounted among the least of the treasures of Meadow Garden. In presenting it to the board of management, an eloquent address was made by the distinguished Mrs. S. B. C. Morgan, one of the charter members of the national organization .- "Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends, " L. L. Knight, Vol. II.
THE CONSTITUTION OF 1777 .- The first constitutional convention of Georgia met in Savannah on the first Tuesday in October, 1776. No journal of its proceedings is in existence, and no list of its members can be found. All that remains is the result of its labors-the Constitution of 1777, which was not finally adopted and promulgated until the 5th day of February of that year. Many of its provisions still survive in the organic law of the state.
The first article consists of the celebrated Maxim of Montesquien concerning the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, which is expressed in these words: "The legislative, executive and judiciary departments shall be separate and distinct so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other." It was provided that the governor was to be elected by the Legisla- ture, and an executive council was to be chosen by it out of its own members; the executive prerogative of pardon was limited by the denial of the right in the gov- ernor to grant pardons and remit fines, leaving him only with the authority to reprieve criminals and suspend fines until the meeting of the assembly, when the granting or refusing of the pardon or the remission of the fine was to be finally determined by that body; and the power of appointing justices of the peace and registers of probate was exercised by the Legislature. It may be observed, however, that under this Constitution the governor was without a legislative function which has been conferred upon him by later Constitutions-that of the veto. Laws passed by the Assembly were referred to the executive council for their examination in order that they might propose alterations or amendments, but the council was required to return such laws within five days with their remarks thereon, and the final passage or rejection of the law rested with the Legislature.
This Constitution contained no separate declaration or bill of rights, but the liberties of the people, in six most important particulars, were enclosed within constitutional bulwarks by provisions guaranteeing "the inherent privilege of every freeman-the liberty to plead his own cause; " protection against excessive fines and excessive bail; the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act; the freedom of the press; and the right of trial by jury. The freedom of religious belief and "the free exer- cise of religion (not repugnant to the peace and safety of the State)" was guar- anteed, and the church was practically disestablished by the provision that no persons unless by their consent should "support any teacher or teachers except those of their own profession."
Under the provincial government in Georgia, residence in the parish in which he desired to vota was one of the qualifications of an elector, but the franchise was limited to those who owned as much as fifty acres of land in the parish. The Consti- tution of 1777 conferred the franchise npon "All male white inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years, and possessed in his own right of ten pounds value, and liable to pay tax in this State, or being of any mechanic trade, and shall have been resi- dent six months in this State."
The Constitution of 1777 was a constitution very nearly in the strict sense of that term; that is, its provisions were almost entirely fundamental and it contained little matter of a legislative character. The most notable exceptions were the pro- visions for the stay of executions; the limitations upon court costs; and the pendency of cases in the Superior Court; the provision against the entailing of estates and the establishment of rules of inheritance. The Legislature was given the broad power "to make such laws and regulations as may be conducive to the good order of the State; provided such laws and regulations be not repugnant to the true intent and meaning of any rule or regulation contained in this Constitution." But practically no limitations were laid upon the legislative powers except as the subject matter of legislation was already occupied by the creation of the organic laws contained in the Constitution and by the provision for the separation of the legislative, executive and
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judicial departments which we have seen the Constitution itself did not strictly adhere to, and such further limitations as were contained in the six provisions already referred to as constituting the bill of rights of this Constitution. It provided that schools should "be erected in each county and supported at the general expense of the State, " as the Legislature should point out and direct. No provision was made by this Constitution for the creation of a state institution of higher learning, and by an act entitled "An Act for the more full and complete establishment of a public seat of learning, " passed on January 27, 1785, there was created what is now the University of Georgia, the first chartered State University in America.
The salaries of the publie officers were left to be fixed by law. No limitations were laid upon the powers of taxation either as to amount or as to the manner of its exercise. A comparison with the Constitution adopted a century later will show how little comparatively the domain of legislation was encroached upon. Besides the largeness of its legislative powers, the Legislature performed other important duties of a politieal, administrative and judicial nature, such as the election of the governor and the appointment of the governor 's council; the appointment of registers of pro- bate and of justices of the peace; the admission of attorneys at law to practice before the courts of the state, their trial and suspension for malpractice, and the right to call every officer of the state to account .- " MeElreath on the Constitution, " pages 67-77.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY DURING THE REVOLUTION .- The government of the state continued to be administered by the president and the council of safety until the convening of the General Assembly and the organization of the government under the new Constitution. During the latter part of February, 1777, the president, Archibald Bullock, died, and Button Gwinnett was elected by the council of safety as president and commander-in-chief to succeed him. The Constitution having been proclaimed, President Gwinnett issued his proclamation ordering elections to be held under the Constitution in all of the counties for members of a General Assembly to convene in Savannah on the 8th day of May, 1777. The elections were held in accordance with this proclamation, and the Legislature met at the time and place designated. It promptly entered upon the task of organizing the government by the election of John Adamı Treutlen, governor; Noble Jones, speaker of the House of Assembly, and Jonathan Bryan, John Houston, Thomas Chisholm, William Holzendorf, John Fulton, John Jones, John Walton, William Few, Arthur Ford, John Coleman, Benjamin Andrew and William Peacock, members of the exeentive eonneil. This Legislature remained in session almost continuously until September, and enacted a number of laws necessary to put the government under the Constitution into operation, and to provide for the publie defense. One of the first of these laws was "An Act defining Treason," aimed at the "Tories, " who took sides against the state and aided or abetted its enemies in the war with Great Britain.
The second Legislature under the Constitution met in Savannah on the 6th day of February, 1778, and on the 10th day of that month elected John Houston, governor. The first aet passed was a bill of attainder, approved on the first day of March, 1778, attainting Sir James Wright and 116 other persons of high treason, and declaring their estates, both real and personal, confiscate to the state. After Savannah fell on the 29th of December, 1778, Governor Wright returned and reestablished the royal government, and in March, 1780, writs of election were issued for the election of a Commons House of Assembly, returnable on the 5th of May. The election was accord- ingly held and on the 9th of May the house was organized, although a constitutional quorum was not present, the governor and council deeiding, "That, from the neces- sity of the thing, they should be taken as a house and proceed to business. " The two principal bills passed by this house were "An Act to Attaint of high Treason the several persons hereinafter named, who are either absent from this province, or in that part of it which is still in rebellion against his Majesty, and to vest their real and personal estate in his Majesty, etc.," and "An Act to disqualify and render incapable the several persons hereinafter named, of holding or exercising any oflice of trust or profit in the Province of Georgia." The first of these acts contained the names of twenty-four civil and military officers of the state, and the latter act contained the names of 151 officers and citizens who had espoused the cause of the republican government.
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From the fall of Savannah the republican government of Georgia for some time lead an uncertain and fugitive existence. Governor Houston and the executive coun- cil withdrew to Augusta and summoned the General Assembly to meet in January to elect a governor, but within ten days the City of Augusta was taken by the British. After the abandonment of Augusta the Legislature met there, but did not have a quorum. However, like the Royal Assembly in Savannah, they organized in August, 1779, and elected a new executive council and elected John Wereat as president of the council, and authorized him to act as governor. On the 4th of November he issued a proclamation calling for a regular election on the first Tuesday in December for members of a General Assembly to meet in Augusta, in January, 1780, and authorizing the citizens of the southern counties which were under the occupation of the British to cast their votes for delegates wherever it might be most convenient for them to do so.
A faction led by George Walton declared the election of Wereat and the council as "illegal, unconstitutional and dangerous to the liberties of the state," and not- withstanding the executive council had issued heir writs of election for deputies to the assembly as provided by the Constitution, these malcontents called upon the people to choose delegates to an assembly to be convened in Augusta in November, 1779. The friends of Walton met in Augusta on the 4th of November and elected him governor for the remainder of the year. Thus; in the most critical period of her history, when patriotism should have been united, the state had, for a month, two acting governors. The General Assembly met in Augusta on the 4th of January, 1780, and elected Richard Howley governor. On account of the defenseless condition of Augusta, the General Assembly designated Heard's Fort, where Washington, Wilkes County, now stands, as the capital of the state, if it should be necessary to remove the seat of government from Augusta. The necessity arose within a month and Heard's Fort became the temporary capital of the state. When Augusta was recaptured, the capital was reestablished at that place, where the Legislature met in Angust, 1781, and elected Nathan Brownson governor. In January, 1782, the General Assembly met in Augusta and elected John Martin governor. When General Wright surrendered the City of Augusta and returned to England in May, 1782, the governor and the General Assembly returned to that city, and it became again the seat of government.
On the 4th of May, 1782, the Legislature passed an act entitled "An Act for inflicting penalties on, and confiscating the estates of such persons as are herein declared guilty of treason, and for other purposes therein mentioned," by which 280 persons who had aided and abetted the royalists' cause were banished from the state on the pain of death if they returned, and their estates declared confiscate to the state. This and similar acts passed by the legislatures of other states in the heat of resentment at injuries and cruelties inflicted upon them were the occasion of the fifth article in the treaty of Paris, and served, when the passions of the times had somewhat cooled, to warn the people of the danger of such a power and contributed to the prohibition by the Federal Constitution of bills of attainder and the passage of ex post facto laws, and to the incorporation of similar prohibitions in the Con- stitution of Georgia .- "MeElreath on the Constitution, " pp. 78-81.
CHAPTER IV
THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAHI, CONTINUED-DISAPPOINTMENT AT THE DEFEAT . -COLONEL WHITE'S GALLANT EXPLOIT-SERGEANT JASPER-THE SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF AUGUSTA-NANCY HART-CORNWALLIS OVER- THROWN AT YORKTOWN-GENERAL WAYNE ENTERS SAVANNAH-THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE ENDS-CONCLUDING REMARKS.
NOTES: THE STORY OF AUSTIN DABNEY-COLONEL JOHN WHITE- EBENEZER IN THE REVOLUTION-GEORGIA JEWS IN THE REVOLUTION- GEORGIA PATRIOTS OUTLAWED BY THE TORY GOVERNMENT-THIE STEWART-SCREVEN MONUMENT-THE DEATHI OF GENERAL SCREVEN- HEARD'S FORT.
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