USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Elbert County was detached from Wilkes and named for Gen. Samuel Elbert, of the Revolution. Elberton was designated as its county-seat. The rich lands in this neighborhood were early settled by wealthy Vir- ginia planters. This county contained the famous Broad River dis. triet. In the angle of land which the Broad River forms by its conflu - ence with the Savannah, may still be found the ruins of an old colonial stronghold, Fort James, built to defend an old settlement called Dart- mouth. William Bertram, the famous naturalist, who was engaged at this time in studying Georgia's flora, visited the old fort in 1776, as the guest of its commanding officer. He describes it as a four-square stock- ade, with salient bastions at each angle, surmounted by a blockhouse, and guarded by a number of swivel guns. These were planted one story higher than the curtains. The latter were pierced with loop-holes, breast high, and defended by small arms. The stockade of Fort James was an acre in extent. It enclosed a substantial house for the com- mandant, quarters for the various officers, and barracks for the garrison. The entire force consisted of fifty rangers, each of them well mounted and armed with the following weapons: a rifle, two dragoon pistols, a hanger, a powder-horn, a shot-pouch, and a tomahawk. Three miles above Petersburg, this same noted traveler discovered an Indian mound .*
In the neighborhood of Fort James was an old tobacco town known as Petersburg. It was once quite an important market for the up- country and was also a seat of culture, the home of Dr. W. W. Bibb, afterwards one of Georgia's United States senators and still later the first territorial governor of Alabama. Here, too, lived the Hillyers, the Caseys, the Walkers, the Watkinses, the Popes, the Whites, the Coulters, and other prominent families. This county contained the old family seat called Heardmont, the home of Gen. Stephen Heard, who founded the town of Washington. It also contained the home of a still more famous resident : Nancy Hart of the Revolution.
Elbert became in after years the seat of a famous rural community known as Ruckersville, founded by Joseph Rucker, a pioneer banker, merchant, planter and man of affairs; and in this neighborhood was born the gifted Georgia novelist, Mrs. Corra White Harris, and the late distinguished jurist and gentleman. Associate Justice Joseph Rucker Lamar, of the Supreme Court of the United States.
*"Travels," pp. 321-322.
CHAPTER III
DURING GOVERNOR TELFAIR'S ADMINISTRATION, PRESIDENT WASHINGTON VISITS GEORGIA-TRADITIONS OF HIS SOJOURN STILL FRAGRANT IN MANY HOMES-LEAVES PHILADELPHIA ON MARCH 21, 1791, FOR A SOUTHERN TOUR, ACCOMPANIED BY MAJOR JACKSON-REACHES GEOR- GIA ON MAY 12-DIARY OF THE PRESIDENT'S VISIT, PRESERVED IN HIS OWN HAND-WRITING-NINE DAYS A GUEST OF THE STATE-HOW HE WAS GREETED AT SAVANNAH-FETES AND BALLS-LEAVES FOR AUGUSTA-EN ROUTE, HE STOPS AT WAYNESBORO-RECEPTION AT THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT-GIVES A NUMBER OF PRIZES TO TIIE BOYS AT THE RICHMOND ACADEMY-ONE OF THESE WAS AWARDED TO AUGUSTIN S. CLAYTON, AFTERWARDS A NOTED CONGRESSMAN AND JURIST.
During Governor Telfair's administration an event occurred the delightful memories of which have lingered, for more than a century, like ineense in a vase of roses: the visit of President Washington. Revered as the victorious commander-in-chief of the American armies in the great struggle for independence and as the first chief magistrate of a nation destined to take its place among world powers, the illustrious statesman and soldier was received with marked demonstrations of respect. Savannah and Augusta-the principal towns at which he stopped-are still fragrant with the recollections of his sojourn. Tradi- tions cherished in many of the homes of our state tell of the brilliant rounds of social gaiety, of the rare old laces worn, of the rare old wines uneorked, of the splendid figure made by the Georgia Continentals on dress parade, of the festive seenes and gala events, associated with this visit from the nation's first citizen. Nor let us forget to mention the dazzling ballrooms where
"bright
The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men."
Washington himself was a starched aristocrat; and to meet him all the tiaras of the commonwealth sparkled at these elegant receptions, all the ancient pedigrees were there, some of them reaching back to Eng- lish manor-halls and French chateaus. Remembering how prone we are, in dealing with a remote past, to exaggerate the tinsel on our family erests and to impute an imaginary value to our ancestral heirlooms, some of the stories which have percolated down the years are, of course, subject to a liberal discount; but with all due allowance for the magni- fying spell of time and distance, Washington's visit was an event singu- lar in its uniqueness. It holds to this day a place apart, an isolated niehe all its own, in the historie background; and for all time to come its influence will doubtless be felt upon our civic annals.
362
363
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
President Washington left Philadelphia for his tour of the Southern States at 11 o'clock in the forenoon of March 21, 1791. Besides his coach, drawn by four horses, an equipage which he not inaptly styled his chariot, the outfit for this journey included a light two-horse wagon which carried the baggage, four saddle horses, an extra horse, led by the bridle, provided for the President's convenience in the event he wished to ride horseback. He was accompanied by Major Jackson, lately a representative from Georgia in the First Congress, who had either remained at the seat of government or else had made a special trip from Savannah to Philadelphia for the purpose of accompanying the President to Georgia. There were also five servants in attendance, to wit, a valet de chambre, a postilion, a coachman and two footmen. Washington's private fortune enabled him to travel in a manner almost regal in its ostentatious display. Moreover, he was not trained in the school of democracy which produced the great man of the people, Thomas Jefferson. Ilis vast landed estates, increased by the handsome property acquired through his marriage to the rich Widow Custis, made him easily the wealthiest man of his day in America, the foremost pluto- erat as well as the first citizen of the land; and though called by the spontaneous voice of the people to govern a nation of pioneers he was in every sense of the word a born patrician.
Soon after leaving Philadelphia the presidential party encountered rough roads. Travel was necessarily slow and little progress was made ; but no serious mishap occurred to mar the pleasure of the trip. En route to Georgia, the President visited Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. Wednesday night, May 11, 1791, he spent with Judge Heyward, on the east side of the Savannah River. From this point the narrative will be continued in the President's own lan- guage, copied verbatim from the diary of his trip, the original of which is preserved in the Library of Congress, at Washington, District of Columbia. Here is the detailed record of his visit, entered with the greatest care in the President's own hand-writing. It will be observed that he did not fail to note how the ladies were dressed.
"Thursday 12th. By 5 o'clock we set out from Judge Heyward's and road to Purisburgh, 22 miles to breakfast. At that place I was met by Messrs. Jones, Coln, Habersham, Mr. John Houstonn, Genl. MeIntosh and Mr. Clay, a eomee. from the city of Savanna to conduct me thither- Boats also were ordered there by them for my accommodation ; among which a handsome 8 oared barge rowed by & American Captns. at- tended .- In my way down the River. I called upon Mrs. Green. the Widow of the deceased Genl. Green (at a place called Mulberry Grove). I asked her how she did -- At this place (2 miles from Parisburgh) my horses and carriages were landed. and had 12 miles further by land to Savanna-The wind & tide being against us, it was 6 o'clock before we reached the city where we were received under every demonstration that could be given of joy & respect .- We were seven hours in making the passage, which is often performed in 4, tho the computed distance is 25 miles-Illums. at night. I was conducted by the Mayor & Wardens
364
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
to very good lodgings which had been provided for the occasion and partook of a public dinner given by the Citizens at the Coffee Room.
"Friday 13th. Dined with the members of the Cincinnati at a public dinner given at the same place-and in the evening went to a dancing assembly at which there was about 100 well dressed & handsome ladies. "Saturday 14th. A little after 6 o'clock, in company with Genl. McIntosh, Genl. Wayne, the Mayor and many others (principal Gentle- men of the city) I visited the city and the attack & defence of it in the year 1779, under the combined forces of France and the United States, commanded by the Count de Estaing & Genl. Lincoln-To form an opinion of the attack at this distance of time, and the change which has taken place in the appearance of the ground by the cutting away of the woods, &c, is hardly to be done with justice to the subject ; espe- cially as there is remaining scarcely any of the defences-Dined today with a number of Citizens (not less than 200) in an elegant Bower erected for the occasion on the bank of the River below the Town- In the evening there was a tolerable good display of fire-works.
"Sunday 15. After morning service and receiving a number of visits from the most respectable ladies of the place (as was the case yester- day) I set out for Augusta, Escorted beyd the limits of the city by most of the Gentlemen in it, and dining at Mulberry Grove the gest of Mrs. Green-lodged at one Spencer's-distant 15 miles.
"Savanna stands on what may be called high ground for this Coun- try-It is extremely sandy, wch makes the walking very disagreeable; & the houses uncomfortable in warm and windy weather, as they are filled with dust whenever these happen-The town on 3 sides is sur- rounded with cultivated Rice fields which have a rich and luxuriant appearance. On the 4th or backslide it is a fine sand-The harbour is said to be very good & often filled with square rigged vessels, but there is a bar below over which not more than 12 water can be brot except at sprg tides-The tide does not flow above 12 or 14 miles above the City though the River is swelled by it more than double that dis- tance-Rice and Tobacco (the last of wch is greatly increasing) are the principal exports-Lumber & Indigo are also exported but the latter is on the decline, and it is supposed by Hemp & Cotton-Ship timber, viz. live Oak & Cedar is (and may be more so) valuable in the exptn.
"Monday 16th. Breakfasted at Russells-15 miles from Spancer's- dined at Garnet's 19 miles further & lodged at Pierces 8 miles more; in all-42 miles today.
"Tuesday 17th. Breakfasted at Spinners 17 miles-dined at Lam- berts 13-and lodged at Waynesborongh (wch was coming 6 miles out of our way) 14, in all 43 miles-Waynesborongh is a small place but the Seat of Burkes County-6 or 8 dwelling houses is all it contains ;- an attempt is making (without much apparent effect) to establish an academy at it, as is the case also in all the Counties.
"Wednesday 18th. Breakfasted at Tulcher's, 15 miles from Waynes- borough ; and within 4 miles of Augusta; met the Governor (Telfair), Judge Walton, the Attorney Genl. and most of the principal Gentlemen of the place; by whom I was escorted into the Town & reed under a discharge of Artillery-the distance I came today was about 32 miles-
365
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Dined with a large Company at the Governors, & drank tea there with many well dressed ladies.
"The road from Savanna to Augusta is for the most part through Pine barrens; but more uneven than I had been accustomed to since leaving Petersburg, in Virginia, especially after riding about 30 miles from the City of that name; and here & there indeed a piece of Oak land is passed on this Road but of small extent & by no means of the first quality.
"Thursday 19th. Received & answered an address from the Citizens of Augusta ;- dined with a large Company at their Court IIo-and went to an assembly in the evening at the Academy; at which time there were between 60 & 70 well dressed ladies,
"Friday 20th. Viewed the Ruins or rather small Remns of the Works which had been erected by the British during the War and taken by the Americans-Also the falls which are about 2 miles above the Town; and the Town itself .- These falls (as they are called) are nothing more than rapids-They are passable in their present state by boats with skillful hands but may at very small expense be improved by removing a few rocks only to straighten the passage-Above them there is a good boat navigation for many miles; by which the produce may be & in some measure is transported-At this place, i. c. the falls, the good lands begin ; & encrease in quality to the westward & no. ward. All below them except the interval lands on the Rivers and Rice Swamps which extend from them, the whole country is a Pine barren-The town of Augusta is well laid out with wide & spacious streets-It stands on a large area of a perfect plane but is not yet thickly built tho surpris- ingly so for the time; for, in 1783 there were not more than half a dozen houses; now there are not less than-containing about-souls of which-are blacks. It bids fair to be a large Town being at the head of the present navigation & a fine country back of it for support, which is settling very fast by Tobacco planters-The culture of which article is increasing very fast and bids fair to be the principal export from the State; and from this part of it, it certainly will be so.
"Augusta, though it covers more ground than Savanna, does not contain as many Inhabitants, the latter having by the late census be- tween 15 and 1500 whites and about 800 blacks.
"Dined at a private dinner with Govr. Telfair today; and gave him dispatches for the Spanish Govr of East Florida, respecting the Counte- nance given by that Governt to the fugitive Slaves of the Union- wch dispatches were to be forwarded to Mr. Seagrove, Collector at St. Marys, who was requested to be the bearer of them, and instructed to make arrangements for the prevention of these evils, and if possible for the restoration of the property-especially of those slaves weh had gone off since the orders of the Spanish Court to discountenance this practice of recg. them.
"Saturday 21. Left Augusta about 6 o'clock and takg leave of the Governor & principal Gentlemen of the place at the Bridge over Savanna River where they had assembled for the purpose I proceeded in Company with Colns Hampton and Taylor & Mr. Lithgow, a com- mittee from Columbia (who had come to meet & conduct me to that place) & a Mr. Jameson from the Village of Granby on my Rout-Dined
366
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
at a house about 20 miles from Augusta and lodged at one Oden about 20 miles further."
To the foregoing extracts from Washington's diary, it need only be added that, according to traditional accounts, he was greeted upon his arrival in Savannah by a vast gathering of people assembled from all parts of Georgia, but chiefly from the settlements along the coast. On the journey from Savannah to Augusta, an escort of horse accompanied him; and to meet the distinguished visitor, on the outskirts of the latter town-then the capital of the state-Governor Telfair headed a com- mittee of citizens, which included a signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendenee, Judge Walton, besides a number of prominent state officials. While at Augusta, he visited the famous Richmond Academy, where he was entertained by the students in a contest of declamation. Sev- eral prizes were awarded by Washington as a result of this visit. He was so delighted with the exhibition that, obtaining the names of the young orators, he sent them each a handsomely bound book on his return to Philadelphia. One of these trophies, a copy of Sallust, inscribed with the President's autograph, was presented to Augustin Smith Clayton, afterwards a judge of the Superior court and a member of Congress. Washington's visit to Georgia lasted only a week; but after a lapse of more than a century we still find it a well-spring of perennial interest, one of those rare forget-me-nots of subtle aroma which tradition delights to preserve, a blooming immortelle of Georgia's his- torie past.
CHAPTER IV
LONGSTREET'S EXPERIMENTS WITH THE STEAMBOAT-TWENTY YEARS IN ADVANCE OF FULTON HIE WAS SUCCESSFULLY APPLYING STEAM TO NAVIGATION ON THE SAVANNAH RIVER-PATENT GRANTED TO BRIGGS AND LONGSTREET IN 1787-AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DOCUMENT- STILL PRESERVED IN THE ARCHIVES OF GEORGIA-THIE ONLY PATENT EVER ISSUED BY THE STATE FOR AN INVENTION-GRANTED BEFORE TIIE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION-DESCRIPTION OF LONG- STREET'S STEAMBOAT-HOW PROPELLED STRUGGLES AND MISFOR- TUNES-LONGSTREET'S GRAVE IN OLD ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD OVER- LOOKING THE SCENE OF HIS EXPERIMENTS ON THE SAVANNAH RIVER.
At least twenty years before Robert Fulton became known to the scientifie world as the inventor of the steamboat, William Longstreet was making crude experiments with a steam propeller on the Savannah River, near Augusta. It was fully as early as the year 1787 when he first coneeived the idea of applying steam as a motive power to naviga- tion ; and, after tinkering all day, he would sometimes lie awake all night thinking of the wonderful engine which he felt sure would in time revo- lutionize the commerce of the globe. The inspired prophets of the olden time could not read the future more distinctly than did William Long- street. He could see the ocean greyhounds plowing through the high seas. He could almost hear the screech of the steam whistle.
On February 1, 1788, an aet was passed by the General Assembly at Augusta conferring upon two inventors, Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet, exclusive patent rights for a term of fourteen years, to a steam engine, constructed by them for the purposes of navigation. There are eertain things, in regard to this legislative act, which give it a peculiar interest to students of American history. In the first place, it constitutes the only patent ever issued by the State of Georgia. At this time, the Articles of Confederation were still in vogue, but within a few months a new central government was organized, under the Federal Constitution of 1787, after which the right to issue patents became a special prerogative of the United States.
We must furthermore observe that the date of this patent is anterior. hy nearly two full deeades, to the sueeessful experiments made by Robert Fulton on the Hudson River, in 1807. It was also the first patent for a steamboat ever granted. Just what part Isaae Briggs took in the con- struction of this pioneer steamboat is unknown; but tradition credits William Longstreet with a series of experiments on the Savannah River,
367
368
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
extending over a period of twenty years. The proposition at first ex- cited only ridicule. As an indication of this popular attitude, the musty old volume in which the patent is recorded in the secretary of state's office contains this entry, on the first page of the index: "Briggs and Longstreet : Steam Nothing, 245." On the page thus indicated in Book "C," Bills of Sale and Deeds of Gift, this earliest patent for a steam- boat is recorded as follows :
"AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND PRINCIPLES OF BRIGGS' AND LONGSTREET'S STEAM ENGINE, FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF WHICH A PRIVILEGE WAS GRANTED TO THE INVENTORS, FOR FOURTEEN YEARS, BY AN ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE PASSED AT AUGUSTA, THE FIRST DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1788.
"This engine consists of a Boiler, two Cylinders and a Condenser, con- structed in the following manner, viz. :
THE BOILER
"Consists of two metallic vessels, globular, or nearly so, placed one within the other, so as to leave a small interstice between, in which interstice the boiling water is contained. The inner vessel contains the fuel, the flame of which passes through a spiral flue winding round the outside of the outer vessel from the bottom to the top. The steam is con- veyed by a pipe from the boiler into an interstice between
THE TWO CYLINDERS,
"Which are placed, horizontally, one within the other, from whence it is admitted alternately into each end of the inner cylinder, in which it impels a piston to vibrate both ways with equal force. It is also admitted alternately to pass from each end of the inner cylinder (all the communications, to and from which, are opened and shut by a single cock) by means of pipes into
THE CONDENSER,
"Which is a metallic vessel having a large surface in contact with cold water. The condensed steam or warm water is drawn out of it by a pump.
"I. BRIGGS, "WM. LONGSTREET.
"Recorded 30th Jan. 1789."
When the renowned inventor, James Watt, in 1774, perfected a patent which embodied the essential features of the modern steam engine, an effort to apply its principles to navigation followed at once. Simul- taneously, in various places, men with a genius for mechanics began to make experiments. James Rumsey, on the Ohio, in 1784, and John Fitch, on the Delaware, in 1785, both succeeded in obtaining definite and brilliant results. However, it may be gravely doubted if either of these pioneer inventors forestalled William Longstreet. The Georgian
369 .
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
was probably engaged in experimenting with his steamboat on the Sa- vannah River, for some time before receiving his patent from the state, in 1788; and he continued for years thereafter to improve his invention, in the hope of making it commercially successful. There were still others who, at this early date, were active in this same line of endeavor. But, while they demonstrated the feasibility of steam navigation, they came short of the coveted goal. Dame Fortune eluded them at every turn; and it was reserved finally for Robert Fulton, a New Yorker, with his little boat, the Clermont, on the waters of the Hudson River, in 1807, to overtake the fleet wings of the fickle goddess.
Says a well-known historian, in speaking of the first crude experi- ments of the Georgia inventor: * "Longstreet's boat, like other great inventions, was made sport of; indeed, it must have been a queer-looking craft. His idea was to have the boat propelled by a series of poles, so arranged on a shaft that as the shaft turned on its axis the poles would strike the bottom of the river and push the boat along. This was cer- tainly very clumsy; but a boat of this kind was made and put on 'the Savannah River in 1806, and moved by steam power. Robert Fulton's boat, the Clermont, made its trial trip on the Hudson River in August, 1807. He made use of paddle-wheels to strike the water instead of poles to strike the river bottom. Paddle-wheels were a great improvement, and Robert Fulton is called the inventor of the steam-boat. To him belongs the idea of paddle-wheels. while to William Longstreet belongs the honor of having first made a boat run by steam power."
But let us go back. It is by no means nncertain that William Long- street failed to inherit the money-making instinets of his Dnteh ances- tors, bnt devotion to his ideal kept him poor. To obviate unnecessary expense he construeted his boilers of heavy oak timbers girt about by strong iron bands, and managed to do most of the work himself. IIe was not successful at first. but year after year he toiled away at his task with an undiminished enthusiasm.
The world eventually pays its debts, but ofttimes the first installment is paid in ridicule. Ever since the time of Noah the man who has built in advance of his generation has been obliged to encounter the sharp note of derision. Longstreet's repeated failures with the steamboat made him a target for the shallow wits of the neighborhood. The idea of making iron swim on the water in an age not given to miracles, at least of the Biblical sort, was treated as the vagary of an eseaped lunatic ; and his neighbors stood by and harassed him pretty much as the amused antediluvians did the old patriarch when he was building the ark. But nevertheless in both cases the craft floated. IIe was told that it contra- dieted every law of reason to suppose that iron could be made to move about at will npon the water without oar or sail. In the local prints appeared frequent squibs dedicated to the persistent inventor; and one of them, which has floated down to the present time, showing how the near-sighted skeptics ridienled the experiment, is cast in doggerel verse with frequent variations of the question :
"Can you row the boat ashore, Billy boy. Billy boy ?"
* " History of Georgia, " Lawton B. Evans, p. 167.
Vol. 1-24
370
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Such an assault was enough to undermine the patience of Job, even had the assailants confined themselves to prose; but, good-naturedly reminding his critics that his time to laugh would soon come, he con- tinued to prosecute his labors with grim earnestness. However, if energy refused to lag, money sometimes gave out. Now and then he would have to turn his hand to other lines of work in order to replenish his funds. At one time he applied to Governor Telfair for state aid, and the letter, dated September 26, 1790, is still preserved in the executive archives. But the chief magistrate shared the prevailing infidelity and returned an answer in the negative.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.