USA > Georgia > A standard history of Georgia and Georgians > Part 55
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
On December 14, 1799, the great Washington died at Mount Ver- non, his country-seat on the Potomac River. Profound sorrow was felt in Georgia, where the memories of his recent visit still lingered. On every hand the sables of grief were displayed and mass meetings were held at which appropriate resolutions were adopted. The first town in the United States to be named for the Father of His Country was Washington, Georgia, founded in 1782.
Georgia's four electoral votes in 1800 were given to Jefferson and Burr. As we have already seen, each state was required at this time to vote for two candidates. The candidate receiving the highest vote was declared to be elected President, the one receiving the next highest vote, Vice-President. The contest of 1800 resulting in a tie, the elec- tion was thrown into the national House of Representatives, ending finally in Jefferson's election as President, with Aaron Burr as Vice- President.
CHAPTER X
GOVERNOR JACKSON, ON RELINQUISHING THE EXECUTIVE CHAIR, IS RETURNED TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE-DESPITE A FIERY TEM- PER AND A HOST OF POWERFUL ENEMIES, HIS POPULARITY WITH THE MASSES REMAINS UNDIMINISHED JOSIAH TATTNALL IS CALLED TO THE HELM-ONE OF HIS FIRST OFFICIAL ACTS IS TO APPROVE A MEASURE RESTORING TO HIS FATHER AN ESTATE CONFISCATED BY REASON OF THE LATTER'S LOYALTY TO ENGLAND DURING THE REVO- LUTION-BONAVENTURE-THIS PROPERTY IS RESTORED IN RECOGNI- TION OF THE SON'S PATRIOTIC DEVOTION TO LIBERTY-GOVERNOR TATTNALL'S ILL HEALTH-SEEKS TO REGAIN HIS STRENGTH IN THE BAHAMA ISLANDS-DIES AT NASSAU-JOHN MILLEDGE BECOMES GOV- ERNOR-MEANWHILE, IN 1801, Two NEW COUNTIES ARE CREATED CLARKE AND TATTNALL-FRANKLIN COLLEGE AT ATHENS IS OPENED TO STUDENTS-AMERICA'S OLDEST STATE UNIVERSITY-AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN-ABRAHAM BALDWIN AND JOHN MILLEDGE, TWO STAUNCH FRIENDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION-THE FORMER IS RECOG- NIZED AS THE FOUNDER OF FRANKLIN COLLEGE-THE SENATUS ACADEMICUS-JOSIAH MEIGS-THE FIRST COMMENCEMENT EXER- CISES-JUDGE EMORY SPEER, IN 1901, DELIVERS THE CENTENNIAL ORATION.
Governor James Jackson relinquished the executive chair in 1801, after a turbulent administration. His enemies, some of whom were men of powerful influence in the state, did not lapse into inactivity upon his elevation to the official helm; nor did the old governor himself while occupying the executive chair forget his mortal hatred of the Yazooists. On more than one occasion, as we have already noted, he displayed a vindictive spirit. But his popularity with the masses re- mained unimpaired, and, on resigning the office of governor, he re-entered the United States Senate, this time succeeding his former col- league, Senator Gunn. The latter's political career was at an end because of his complicity in the sale of the Yazoo lands.
As chief magistrate of the state, Governor Jackson was succeeded by a revered patriot of the Revolution, Josiah Tattnall. The son of a stout old royalist, who bore the same name, he escaped from a school in England, where his father had placed him, and made his way back to America in time to lend a helping hand to the rescue of his native state from British domination. Bonaventure, the beautiful country- seat of the Tattnalls, near Savannah, had been confiscated by the Whig government because of the elder Tattnall's pronounced Tory senti- ments. He had refused to take up arms against the Crown of England and had left the state rather than draw his sword against Georgia.
414
415
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
When the younger Tattnall came to the governorship, an act of belated justice was performed. In recognition of his own gallant part in the Revolution, the Legislature lifted the edict.of outlawry which had kept his father in England for twenty years, restored to him the ancient. family seat at Bonaventure and accorded to the old royalist full rights as a citizen. Too feeble to return to America, however, the elder Tatt- nall remained in England; but the grateful son made due acknowledg- ment when he came to approve the measure, adding thereto these words: "With lively expression of gratitude I affix my signature to this act."
Governor Tattnall had been a member of the Legislature of 1796 and had supported the famous Rescinding Act. Some few days later, his colleagues in this body elected him to succeed James Jaekson in the United States Senate. Again, after a lapse of five years, he was called to succeed this same illustrious Georgian in the office of governor.
But ill health necessitated an almost immediate relinquishment of the executive helm. Resigning the governorship, he repaired to the Bahama Islands; but the change was made too late. After lingering for more than a year, he died at Nassau, New Providence, but his ashes were brought back to Georgia, to rest among the trailing mosses of his beloved Bonaventure.
To succeed him as governor, the Legislature in 1802 eleeted John Milledge, of Augusta, a zealous champion of education, then serving a term in Congress.
Meanwhile, the Legislature of 1801 created two new counties: Tatt- nal and Clarke. The first of these was named for Josiah Tattnall, then governor of the state. It was detached from Montgomery, in a fertile region of pines. Clarke was named for an illustrious soldier of the Revolution, General Elijah Clarke, of whom we have already spoken at some length. Its county seat, Athens, was the site of Franklin College, an institution whose doors were first opened to students in the fall of 1801. With this great school the name of Governor Milledge is immor- tally associated.
To the credit of Georgia be it said-though the youngest of the original thirteen states-that she heads the long list of American com- monwealths extending state aid to higher education." Georgia was the first state in the entire Union to provide by legislative enaetment for an institution of learning to be supported either in whole or in part by popular taxation and to be of college rank. This step was taken four years prior to the adoption of the Federal Constitution, when the states were still bound together by the loose Articles of Confederation. The close of the Revolution found the far-sighted lawmakers of Georgia looking toward the future. They reasoned that the success of repub- lican government depended in the last analysis upon the intelligence of the people; and not only were leaders demanded to supply the vacant places in the ranks, but germinal centers of influence were needed to stimulate the development of thought.
Accordingly, on February 25, 1784, an aet was passed by the Legis-
* These facts have been collated from an official volume entitled "A Historical Sketch of the University of Georgia, " by A. L. Hull, Atlanta, 1894.
416
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
lature, from which the legal conception of the University of Georgia may be said to date.
The measure in question provided for the creation of two counties amid the virgin solitudes of the state to be called, respectively, Washing- ton and Franklin, both of which at the time of organization embraced extensive areas. It was furthermore provided that in each of these counties 20,000 acres of land should be set aside for the purpose of endowing a college, the land to be of the very best quality, and to be subdivided into separate tracts or parcels, containing 5,000 aeres each. The titles to the property were to be vested in the following well- known Georgians, who were authorized to take whatever steps were necessary to put the resolution into effect, to-wit: John Houstoun, James Habersham, William Few, Joseph Clay, Abraham Baldwin, and Nathan Brownson. In pursuance of the authority given to them by the Legislature these gentlemen proceeded to survey the lands.
There were originally eight tracts. But one of these was eventually lost to the state when the boundary line dispute between South Caro- lina and Georgia was adjusted. It was known as the Keowee tract and was for years a bone of contention. As soon as the surveys were completed, the Legislature passed a bill, approved January 27, 1785, providing in formal terms for the establishment of a public seat of learning; and this act-drawn by Abraham Baldwin-constitutes the charter of the University of Georgia. The first meeting of the trustees under this aet was held in Augusta, on February 13, 1786, at which time the board consisted of the following members, to-wit: Abraham Baldwin, William Few, William Glascock, John Habersham, Nathan Brownson, Hugh Lawson, and Benjamin Taliaferro. Until the insti- tution was formally launehed, Abraham Baldwin was chosen to act as president. This position he held until 1801, due to the exigencies of the times. During this interval of fourteen years between the grant- ing of the charter and the opening of the college, there was little for the trustees to do except to dispose of the lands in such a way as to accumulate a fund for the erection of the buildings.
Unfortunately, at this early period, lands were cheap and rents uncertain. To show what lands were really worth at this time, Gov- ernor Wilson Lumpkin informs us that his father, John Lumpkin, who received handsome grants of land from the state, in requital of his services in the Revolution, sold 400 aeres at one time for a shot gun and an equal amount later for a saddle horse. Says Mr. Hull: "If this be taken as a criterion, the munificent gift of the state was worth at the time it was made only fifty rifles and as many saddle horses, from whiel, however, twelve horses should be dedueted for the 5,000 acres lost." But impoverished by the Revolution there was nothing for Georgia to give except lands, in which she possessed an imperial domain.
On one of the tracts of land the trustees in 1798 laid off the town of Greensboro, at which time 1,000 aeres were offered for sale or lease in the immediate neighborhood.
Some of the trustees desired to locate the college at Greensboro, but there was difficulty in getting a quorum together; so the matter drifted.
417
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Finally, a body called the Senatus Academicus was formed, con- sisting of the governor, the judges of the Superior Courts, and the trustees, the duty of which body was to sit in review upon the action of the trustees, with power to confirm or to reject. On November 23, 1800, the Senatus Academicus formally organized the university by the election of a president, at a salary of $1,200. Mr. Baldwin recom- mended for this position Prof. Josiah Meigs, of IIartford, Conn., an old acquaintance whom he had met when a tutor at Yale. Final action was not taken by the board at this time, but Professor Meigs was elected professor of mathematics, with an intimation that he might be asked to take the presidency later on. The curriculum of studies embraced little more than the classie languages, re-enforced by mathematics, with perhaps an occasional lecture on mental and moral philosophy; but this small segment of the circle of knowledge represented the whole range of the liberal arts in pioneer days.
Without delay the trustees were authorized to select a site for the proposed institution.
Pursuant to these instructions, the trustees met and, after repeated ballotings, decided to locate the college somewhere within the limits of what was then Jackson, now Clarke County; and accordingly a com- mittee consisting of John Milledge, Abraham Baldwin, George Walton, John Twiggs, and Hugh Lawson was appointed to choose a site for the buildings. During the summer months thereafter this committee met at Billup's Tavern on the Lexington road, and proceeded thence to visit a number of localities. At last, by a unanimous vote, they chose a site belonging to Mr. Daniel Easley, at Cedar Shoals, on the north fork of the Oconee River. The property in question was not embraced within the lands which belonged to the university, but it was purchased by Mr. John Milledge, who deeded the same to the university as a gift. There were 633 acres in this tract, beautifully situated on the heights above the river and thickly wooded with luxuriant forest trees.
As an appropriate name for the locality which was to become the state's capital of culture, it was decided by the trustees to call the new seat of learning Athens.
The institution itself was called Franklin College in honor of Ben- jamin Franklin, the New England philosopher and statesman, who, at one time had acted as agent for Georgia in adjusting Colonial affairs.
While the Legislature's gift of land to the university was valueless at the time, it eventually yielded to the institution an income of $100,000, in addition to which the donation made by Governor Milledge produced, first and last, something like $30,000, and proved to be the main dependence of the college at sundry times, when in dire distress. The greater part of the town was built upon the Milledge tract, thus providing the institution an income from the sale of lots; and in recog- nition of the debt due to her earliest benefactor the university created the Milledge Chair of Ancient Languages, which still exists.
On the arrival of Professor Meigs in Georgia the office of president was relinquished by Mr. Baldwin and at his direction the former was placed at the helm of affairs. Under the direction of Professor Meigs temporary buildings constructed chiefly of logs arose in the virgin wilderness; and these furnished the crude beginnings out of which Vol. 1-27
418
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the present beautiful campus has flowered. In the fall of 1801 the college was formally opened for the reception of students. Professor Meigs at this time not only acted in the capacity of president but con- stituted within himself the entire corps of instruction.
In addition to the clearing made for the campus, a street was laid out under the supervision of Professor Meigs, lots were staked, homes commenced, and other steps taken looking toward the evolution of the future town. The first settler to locate in Athens was the Rev. Hope Hull. the founder of Methodism in Georgia. He came from Washing- ton, in the county of Wilkes, where he had taught a select school for several years and where, with great unction of spirit, he had preached the doctrines of Wesley. If he was not at this time a member of the board of trustees he became one later and continued until the hour of his death to be the most loyal and steadfast friend of the college, be- queathing his love for it to his children after him. In 1808, he offered to build on the campus a chapel forty by fifty feet in dimensions, if the board would give $100 for a belfry, a proposition which the trus- tees accepted; and accordingly a chapel was erected by Mr. IFull which served the purpose for twelve years. At the same time, on the out- skirts of the town, he built Hull's Meeting House-the fame of which reached up and down the whole range of the Alleghany Mountains.
It was to meet immediate needs that the first temporary structures of log were built on the campus. As soon as funds could be provided the erection of permanent quarters was commenced. For this purpose a loan was negotiated from the state, to secure which mortgages were given to lands in Hancock. Luckily, at this time, a gift in cash of $1,000 was made to the university by James Gunn, Jr., of Louis- ville, Georgia ; and without delay the erection of the building after- ward known as Old College was started, under the supervision of Gen. Jett Thomas. The first commencement exercises were held under a bush arbor, on May 31, 1804, at which time the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred upon the following graduates, ten in number, to-wit :
Gibson Clarke, Augustin S. Clayton, James Jackson,
Jeptha V. Harris, Jared Irwin, Thomas Irwin,
William H. Jackson,
Robert Rutherford,
William Rutherford,
William Williamson.
Gibson Clarke was a son of the old Revolutionary hero, Gen. Elijah Clarke. Augustin S. Clayton afterwards became a judge of the Supe- rior Court and a member of Congress. The Irwin boys were sons of Gov. Jared Irwin. One of them became a doctor. The Jackson boys were sons of Gov. James Jackson. Of these, William H. Jackson was afterwards a trustee and a State Senator, while James Jackson was a professor in the college. Jeptha V. Harris became a trustee and a Con- federate colonel. William Rutherford was the grandfather of Professor Rutherford, who long filled the chair of mathematics.
Glancing at an old program of exercises, it appears that Augustin S. Clayton read a poem descriptive of the means by which the lands of the Oconee were obtained. His wonderful gift of satire seems to have
419
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
budded at an early period. Ile became the most brilliant of Georgia's ante-bellum statesmen in the use of the pen. Gibson Clarke was the valedictorian. It fell to the lot of William HI. Jackson to deliver the salutatory address; Jeptha V. Harris pronounced an oration in favor of liberty ; Robert Rutherford spoke on the dignity of man; James Jackson counseled a sentiment of gratitude to France; and William Williamson dilated in praise of representative government. There was also a dia- logue in which several members of the class took part. At commence- ment, in 1901, the centennial anniversary of the formal opening of Franklin College was observed with impressive ceremonies, at which time the centennial oration was delivered by Judge Emory Speer, an alumnus of the institution.
Today the University of Georgia is one of the greatest institutions in America. It includes the old original Franklin College, the College of Agriculture, the Lumpkin Law School, and the State Normal School, all of which are located at Athens; the Georgia School of Technology located in Atlanta ; the Georgia College of Medicine located in Augusta; the Georgia Normal and Industrial College located at Milledgeville; the South Georgia Normal College at Valdosta ; and the Industrial School for Colored Youth located at Savannah. The prophecy of President Meigs has been realized. Said he, in a letter to Governor Milledge in 1805: * "Your institution has taken a strong root and will flourish; and I feel some degree of pride in reflecting that a century hence, when this nascent village shall embosom a thousand of the Georgia youths, it will now and then be said that you gave this land and I was on the forlorn hope."
* "History of Georgia," L. B. Evans, p. 158.
CHAPTER XI
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CEN- TURY-EPISCOPACY IN GEORGIA COEVAL WITH THE COLONY'S ESTAB- LISHMENT -- CHRIST CHURCH-THE DIVISION OF GEORGIA INTO PARISHES INDICATES ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE CHURCH OF ENG- LAND- THE WESLEYS BOTH EPISCOPALIANS-WHITEFIELD ALSO BE- LONGS TO THE ESTABLISHMENT-BUT THE ISSUES RAISED BY THE REVOLUTION WEAKEN THE TIE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE MOTHER CHURCH-PRESBYTERIANISM COMES INTO GEORGIA WITH THE SCOTCH HIGHLANDERS-FOUR CENTERS OF INFLUENCE-DARIEN, MIDWAY, SAVANNAH, AND A GROUP OF CHURCHES IN BURKE-THE PRESBY- TERIAN POPLAR-REV. JOHN SPRINGER-THE FIRST EVANGELIST TO BE ORDAINED IN GEORGIA-PIONEER PREACHER AND EDUCATOR-HIS FAMOUS SCHOOL-REV. JOHN NEWTON-ORGANIZES THE OLDEST CHURCH IN THE SYNOD OF GEORGIA-PRESBYTERIANISM A SPLENDID DISCIPLINE FOR PIONEER DAYS, BUT TOO COLDLY INTELLECTUAL TO SUIT THE MASSES-THE LUTHERAN CHURCH AT EBENEZER-THE JEWS-CONGREGATIONALISM ENTERS THE STATE WITH THE MIDWAY PURITANS, BUT ITS OFFSPRING IS MAINLY PRESBYTERIAN-HOW Ex- PLAINED-METHODISM IN GEORGIA-ITS RAPID GROWTH-CAMP-MEET- INGS RECALL THE ARCADIAN DAYS OF THIS DENOMINATION-PIONEER EVANGELISTS-THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH BUILT IN WILKES -- REV. HOPE HULL-THE BAPTISTS-KIOKEE CREEK WITNESSES THE FIRST IMMERSION-REV. DANIEL MARSHALL-HIS ARREST FOR PREACHING BAPTIST DOCTRINES-KIOKEE CHURCH ORGANIZED-THE CATHOLICS IN GEORGIA-DENIED ADMISSION UNTIL AFTER THE REVO- LUTION-BISHOP KEILEY'S ACCOUNT-LOCUST GROVE THE CRADLE OF CATHOLICISM IN GEORGIA-THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SAVANNAH.
Episcopacy in Georgia was coeval with the colony's establishment. The Church of England, to which Oglethorpe himself belonged, was its foster-mother. Though firm in her precepts, it was not with an ungentle hand that she rocked its cradle on the bluff at Yamacraw and gave it a religious impulse, an indoctrination, so to speak, in moral values, in spiritual ideals, and in reverence for sacred things, to which our whole subsequent life as a state has been one prolonged echo, re- verberating even down to the present day. Georgia's relationship to the Church of England is shown in the earliest division of the province into parishes. Christ Church, at Savannah, is the state's oldest ecclesiastical organization, reaching back to the pious devotions held in Oglethorpe's tent, on the night of his arrival, when the little band of immigrants knelt for the first time beneath the stars of a new world. Rev. Henry Herbert, who accompanied these immigrants on the galley Anne, was
420
421
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
the colony's first spiritual shepherd. The missionary zeal of the devout young Wesleys in preaching to the Georgia Indians and in planting at Savannah the world's first Sunday school-fifty years in advance of Robert Raikes-may have presaged the reform work of coming itiner- ants; but the great movement known as Methodism was still to be organized. These emissaries of the Cross came to America as Episcopal divines, and what they here wrought for humanity's sake was wrought within the bounds of the Church of England. Whitefield was also an Episcopalian, with strong Calvinistic leanings.
But the issues raised by the Revolution between the Crown and the colony, eventually weakened though it could not wholly sever this tie. Georgia was loath to lower her colonial flag. She loved the historic island of which she was the youngest offspring, whose language she spoke, whose traditions she revered. She loved the established church, its splendid ritual, its noble history. But when, to gain her independ- ence, she found herself at war with England, it was difficult for her to avoid a certain feeling of antagonism toward a church so intimately related to a kingdom against which her sword was drawn; and while fighting England political she began to relinquish England ecclesiastical. Consequently, it was not until years after the Revolution that Episco- pacy began to revive. Even then its renaissance came by slow degrees. This was due in part to the fact that certain aristocratic elements ill-adapted it to pioneer conditions. Years were still to elapse before it was strong enough to form a separate diocese; but finally, in 1841, Dr. Stephen Elliott, of South Carolina, was consecrated its first spiritual head. Bishop Elliott was one of the choice spirits of all time. He came of a family illustrious for its scientific attainments and was himself a man of broad scholarship, of ripe culture, and of spiritual vision. But having already discussed the beginning of the Episcopal Church, we cannot in this connection treat the subject further.
Presbyterianism came into Georgia with the Scotch Highlanders. Efforts to connect Oglethorpe himself with this household of faith appear to rest solely upon the fact that, in his political sympathies, he was a Jacobite, friendly to the cause of the exiled Stuarts. In the absence of any positive proof as to his religious affiliations, there are numerous intimations which point to his connection with the established church. According to Dr. James Stacy,* there were four centers of early Presbyterianism in Georgia: (1) The community at Darien, founded in 1735. John McIntosh, sometimes called John Mohr MeIn- tosh, was the head or chief of a clan which settled at this point, on the upper bank of the Altamaha River; but the pastor of the flock was Rev. John McLeod. (2) The Midway settlement, in Liberty County, dating back to 1752. Though organized upon Congregational lines, the church at Midway became a center of Presbyterian influence in Georgia. With only two exceptions, it was served by Presbyterian ministers; and all of the churches to which it gave birth were of the Presbyterian faith and order. But a full account of the Midway settlement is elsewhere given. (3) The Independent Presbyterian Church, of Savannah, founded in 1755. This is the oldest Presbyterian church in the state, the one at
* "History of the Presbyterian Church in Georgia," James Stacy, pp. 7-10.
422
GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
Darien having been obliterated by the Spanish wars, and the church at Midway having ceased to exist as an active religious organization. But the Independent Presbyterian Church at Savannah is without organic connection with the Synod of Georgia. (4) In colonial times there was a group of Presbyterian churches in Burke County, on Brier and Beaver creeks. These afterwards united to form a single church in the town of Waynesboro. There was also a Presbyterian community at Queens- boro, on the Oconee River, a few miles to the south of the present town of Louisville, near the site of a trading post afterwards known as Galphinton. On the outskirts of the town of Washington, there still stands an immense poplar under which the first Presbyterian evangelist to be ordained in Georgia, Dr. John Springer, took the vows of ordina- tion, on January 21, 1790. Georgia was then a part of the old Presby- tery of Hopewell, in the Synod of South Carolina. This tree measures 155 feet in height. The circumference of the trunk is 28 feet, its diameter 9 feet, and the lowest branches are 50 feet from the ground. To state the size of the tree somewhat differently, it is said that a man on horseback stationed behind it is entirely screened from the view of persons on the side opposite. This famous old landmark in Wilkes is not only one of the largest but also one of the oldest poplar trees of the tulip-bearing variety in the United States.
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.