USA > Georgia > A true and historical narrative of the colony of Georgia, in America, from the first settlement thereof until this present period > Part 4
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The first of February, 1732-3, Mr. Oglethorpe arrived at Georgia with the first embarkation, consisting of forty families, making upwards of one hundred persons, all brought over and supported at the public charge. The first thing he did after he arrived in Georgia was to make a kind of solemn treaty with a parcel of fugitive Indians, who had been formerly banished their own nation for some crimes and misdemeanors they had committed, and who had, some months before this, got liberty from the governor of South Carolina to settle there. ¡ Some of these he afterwards carried home with him under the title of kings, etc., and all of them have been ever since maintained at the public charge, at vast expense, when many poor christians were starving in the colony for want of bread; and we may safely affirm (and appeal to the store-books for the truth of it) that a larger sum of money has been expended for the support of those useless vagrants, than ever was laid out for the encouragement of silk, wine, or any other manufacture in the colony.
* How precarious must this security be in such unfortunate persons, when their behavior must be judged of by information and representation !
+ They built a small number of buts on a bluff called Yamacraw ; Savannah now stands on the same bluff.
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Secondly, he prohibited the importation of rum, under pretense that it was destructive to the constitution, and an incentive to debauchery and idleness. However specious these pretences might seem, a little experience soon convinced us that this restriction was directly opposite to the well-being of the colony, for in the first place, we were cut off from the most immediate and probable way of exporting our timber (the only poor product of export that we could ever flatter ourselves with) to the Sugar Islands, rum being the principal return they make. In the second place, the experience of all the inhabi- tants of America will prove the necessity of qualifying water with some spirit (and it is very certain that no province in America yields water that such a qualification is more neces- sary to than Carolina and Georgia), and the usefulness of this experiment has been sufficiently evident to all the inhabitants of Georgia who could procure it and use it with moderation. A third reason which made this restriction very hurtful to the colony, was that though the laws were in force against it (which put it in the power of magistrates to lay hardships upon every person who might be otherwise under their resentment), yet great quantities were imported,* only with this difference, that in place of barter or exchange, the ready money was drained from the inhabitants. And likewise, as it is the nature of mankind in general, and of the common sort in particular, more eagerly to desire and more immoderately to use those things which are most restrained from them, such was the . case with respect to rum in Georgia.
The third thing he did was regularly to set out to each free- holder in Savannah lots of fifty acres, in three distinct divisions, viz .: the eighth part of one acre for a house and garden in the town, four acres and seven-eighths at a small distance from town, and forty-five acres at a considerable remove from thence. No regard was had to the quality of the ground in the divisions, so that some were altogether pine- barren, and some swamp and morass, far surpassing the strength and ability of the planter. And indeed, what could · be done at any rate with such small parcels of land separate from one another. These lots were likewise shaped in long
*Viz: from Carolina and New England, who would take money only.
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pointed triangles, which considerably increased the extent of inclosure, and rendered great part of each lot entirely useless. But these and many other hardships were scarcely felt by the few people that came there so long as Mr. Oglethorpe staid, which was about fifteen months. They worked hard indeed, in building some houses in town, but then they labored in common and were likewise assisted by negroes from Carolina, who did the heaviest work. But at .* Mr. Oglethorpe's going to England, the growing fame of the colony was thereby greatly increased, so that as it has been before observed, people in abundance from all parts of the world flocked to Georgia. Then they began to consider and endeavor, everyone according to his genius or abilities, how they might best subsist themselves. Some with great labor and expense essayed the making of ttar. This, as it is well known to the trustees, never quitted costs. Others tried to make plank and saw boards, which, by the great price they were obliged to sell them at, by reason of the great expense of white servants, was the chief means of ruin- ning those who thought to procure a living by their buildings in town, for boards of all kinds could always be bought in Carolina for half the price they were able to sell them at, but few were capable to commission them from thence, and those who were so, we prevented from doing it upon pretense of dis- couraging the labor of white people in Georgia. Those who had numbers of servants and tracts of land in the county, went upon the planting of corn, peas, potatoes, etc., and the charge of these who succeeded the best, so far exceeded the value of the produce, that it would have saved three-fourths to have bought all from the Carolina market. The falling of timber was a task very' unequal to the strength and constitution of white servants, and the hoeing the ground, they being exposed to the sultry heat of the sun, insupportable, and it is well known that this labor is one of the hardest upon the negroes, even though their constitutions are much stronger than white people, and the heat no way disagreeable or hurtful to them ; but in us it created inflammatory fevers of various kinds, both
*Before he departed, a vessel with about twenty families of Jews arrived, all of whom had lots assigned them, and likewise a vessel with forty transported Irish convicts, whom he purchased, although they had been before refused at Jamaica, and who afterwards occasioned continual disturbances in the colony.
tMr. Causton, the trustees' store-keeper, mostly at their charge, made a tar kiln, which turned out to no advantage.
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continued and intermittent, wasting and tormenting fluxes, most · excruciating colics, and dry belly-aches, tremors, vertigoes, ' palsies, and a long train of painful and lingering nervous dis- tempers, which brought on to many a cessation both from work and life, especially as water without any qualification was the chief drink, and salt meat the only provision that could be had or afforded. And so general were these disorders that during the hot season, which lasts from March to October, hardly one- half of the servants and working people were ever able to do their masters or themselves the least service, and the yearly sickness of each servant, generally speaking, cost his master as much as would have maintained a negro for four years. These things were represented to the trustees in the summer of 1735, in a petition for the use of negroes, signed by about seventeen of the better sort of people in Savannah. In this petition there was also set forth the great disproportion betwixt the main- tenance and clothing of white servants and negroes. This petition was carried to England and presented to the trustees by Mr. Hugh Sterling, an experienced planter in the colony, but no regard was had to it, or to what he could say, and great resentment was even shown to Mr. Thompson, the master of the vessel in which it went.
Whilst we labored under those difficulties in supporting ourselves, our civil liberties received a more terrible shock. For, instead of such a free government as we had reason to expect, and of being judged by the laws of our mother country, a *dictator (under the title of bailiff and store-keeper) was appointed and left by Mr. Oglethorpe, at his departure, which was in April, 1734, whose will and pleasure were the only laws in Georgia. In regard to this magistrate, the others were entirely nominal, and in a manner but ciphers. Some- times he would ask in public their opinion, in order to have the pleasure of showing his power by contradicting them. He would often threaten juries, and especially when their verdicts did not agree with his inclination or humor. And in order the more fully to establish his absolute authority, the store and disposal of thé provisions, money, and public places of trust, were committed to him, by which alteration in his state and circumstances, he became in a manner infatuated, being before
*Mr. Thomas Causton.
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that a person of no substance or character, having come over with Mr. Oglethorpe amongst the first forty, and left England upon account of something committed by him concerning his majesty's duties. However, he was fit enough for a great many purposes, being a person naturally proud, covetous, cun- ning, and deceitful, and would bring his designs about by all possible ways and means.
As his power increased, so did his pride, haughtiness, and cruelty, insomuch that he caused eight free-holders with an officer, to attend at the door of the court, every day it sat, with their guns and bayonets, and they were commanded by his orders, to rest their fire-locks as soon as he appeared, which made people in some manner afraid to speak their minds, or juries to act as their consciences directed them. He was seldom or never uncovered on the bench, not even when an oath was administered, and being perfectly intoxicated with power and pride, he threatened every person without distinction, rich and poor, strangers and inhabitants, who in the least opposed his arbitrary proceedings, or claimed their just rights and privileges, with the stocks, whipping-post, and log-house, and many times put those threatnings in execution, so that the Georgia stocks, whipping-post, and log-house soon were famous in Carolina and everywhere else in America where the name of the province was heard of, and the very thoughts of coming to the colony became a terror to people's minds. And now the province of Carolina, who had in private and public donations given us upwards of 1300/. sterling, seeing these things, and how the public money was thrown away, began to despise the colony, and out of a regard to the welfare of their fellow-crea- tures, persuaded everybody they could from settling in it. That this absolute power might be exercised without the least inter- ruption, the other magistrates were such that they either were unable or incapable to oppose it. It's true, in December, 1734, Mr. Causton met with a little interruption, for the trustees then sent over to Savannah one Mr. Gordon, as chief magis- trate, who being a person of a very winning behavior, affable, and fluent in speech, soon got the good will of everybody, and a great many of the people laid their grievances and hardships open to him, which seemed a little to eclipse Mr. Causton, but he soon found out an expedient to remove this adversary, viz.,
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by refusing him provisions from the store, which in a little time rendered him incapable to support himself and family, whereby he was obliged, after about six weeks' stay, to leave the place, in order, as he said, to represent our grievances to the trustees, and soon after returned to London, but he did not perform his promise, for what reason we shall not pretend to determine ; and some time thereafter he either resigned or was dismissed from his office of first bailiff, and Mr. Causton was appointed in his stead. As to Mr. Henry Parker, who was appointed third bailiff when Mr. Gordon came over, he was, in the first place, a man who had nothing to support himself and large family but his day labor, which was sawing, and consequently as soon as his time was otherwise employed, he must be entirely depend- ant on the store for his subsistence. In the second place, he was a man of no educatian, so that Mr. Causton soon moulded him to his own liking, and infused into him · what notions he pleased. Thirdly, he was and is an absolute slave to liquor, and he who plies him most with it (which Causton always took care to do, and whose example has been since followed by his successor, Jones) has him, right or wrong, on his side. As to Mr. Christie, the recorder, he was easily overruled by the other two, and the same practice was always continued ; for he who was appointed third bailiff after Gordon's dismis- sion or resignation, was one Darn, nigh seventy years of age, crazed both in body and mind, who died not long after his appointment, and his successor, R. Gilbert, could neither read nor write, so that Causton had never after Gordon's departure any opposition made by the other magistrates to his arbitrary proceedings. If we should allow ourselves to enter into a detail of the particular instances of such proceedings, we should exceed. much our proposed bounds. We shall therefore confine ourselves to two only, which may serve as a specimen of the many others. . One is that of Capt. Joseph Watson. This person having incurred Mr. Causton's displeasure, was indicted for stirring up animosities in the minds of the Indians, etc., tending to the ruin and subversion of the colony. Upon his trial the jury, in . their verdict, found him only guilty of some unguarded expres- sions (although twice returned and hectored by Mr. Causton, who acted both as witness and judge in the matter), and · verbally recommended him by their foreman to the mercy of
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the court, imagining or supposing he might be a lunatic. How- ever, as it afterwards appeared, it was represented to the trustees that the jury found him guilty of lunacy in their verdict, whereupon he was immediately confined by Mr. Caus- ton, although sufficient bail was offered, and kept prisoner near three years, without any sentence. But, as we are informed, this affair now lies before a proper judicature, we shall say no more of it.
The other instance is that of Mr. Odingsell, who was an inhabitant of Carolina, and had been a great benefactor to the infant colony of Georgia, having given several head of cattle and other valuable contributions towards the promoting it. This person having come to Savannah to see how the colony succeeded, after he had been there a few days, being abroad some time after it was night, as he was going to his lodgings was taken up in the street for a stroller, carried to the guard- house, and threatened with the stocks and whipping-post, the terror and fright of which, he being a mild and peaceable man, threw him into a high fever with a strong delirium, crying out to every person who came near him that they were come to carry him to the whipping-post; and after lying two or three days in this distracted condition, he was carried aboard his boat in order to be sent home, and died in the way somewhere about Dawfuskee sound.
Thus, while the nation at home was amused with the fame of the happiness and flourishing of the colony, and of its being free from lawyers of any kind, the poor miserable settlers and inhabitants were exposed to as arbitrary a government as Turkey or Muscovy ever felt. Very looks were criminal, and the grand sin of withstanding, or any way opposing authority, as it was called when a person insisted upon his just rights and privileges, was punished without mercy. Nevertheless, we bore all these things patiently, in full hopes that the trustees' eyes would soon be opened, and then our grievences be re- dressed, and still continued exhausting our substance in pur- suing an impracticable scheme, namely, cultivating land to advantage in such a climate with white servants only, not doubting but that the Parliament who yearly repeated their bounty would make up our damages. But alas, their bounty was applied in Georgia rather to the hurt than benefit of the
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colony, as we shall here briefly relate. First, a lighthouse was set about, but before the frame was erected it was almost half rotten, and has not been carried on any farther, nor never even covered, which has likewise greatly contributed to its decay ; and now that lofty fabric, so highly useful to vessels which make that coast, is either fallen or must fall very soon. Log houses and prisons, of various sorts, were built and erased successively, and most part of them were fitter for dungeons in the Spanish inquisition than British goals. Irons, whipping- posts, * gibbets, etc., were provided to keep the inhabitants in perpetual terror, for innocence was no protection. And for some time there were more imprisonments, whippings, etc., of white people in that colony of liberty, than in all British America besides. Corn-mills, saw-mills, public roads, trustees' plantations, as they were called, wells and forts, in different places were all set about, but, as is evident from the event, with no design to serve the public, but only to amuse the worid, and maintain some creatures who assisted in keeping their neighbors in subjection, for few or none of these things were ever brought to perfection ; some of them were left off half finished, and of those that were finished some were erased, being found of no service, and others fell of themselves for want of proper care. To carry on the manufactures of silk and wine, a garden was planted with mulberries and vines, which was to be a nursery to supply the rest of the province. But this was as far from answering the proposed end as everything else was, for it is situated upon one of the most barren spots of land in the colony, being only a large hill of dry sand. Great sums of money were thrown away upon it from year to year, to no purpose. This was remonstrated to the trustees, and they seemed to be sensible of the error, and gave orders to choose another spot of ground, but the ruling powers in Georgia took no notice thereof. And now, after so great time and charge, there are not so many mulberry trees in all the province of Georgia as many one of the Carolina planters have upon their plantations ; nor so much silk made there in one year as many of those planters do make. Nor could they ever, in that gar- den, raise one vine to the perfection of bearing fruit. And here
*It was a very usual thing with General Oglethorpe, when any persons had incurred bis dipleasure, to threaten to hang them.
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it may be observed, that the silk Mr. Oglethorpe carried over for a present to Queen Caroline, was most of it, if not all, made in Carolina. Though no proper measures were ever taken for advancing the silk and wine manufactures, yet private persons made several essays towards the culture of European grapes; but even such attempts met with no suitable encour- agement from Mr. Oglethorpe, as will appear from the following fact : Abraham De Leon, a Jew, who had been many years a vineron in Portugal, and a freeholder in Savannah, cultivated several kinds of grapes in his garden, and, amongst others, the Porto and Malaga to great perfection. Of this he sent home an attested account to the board of trustees, proposing further, that if they would lend him, upon such security as he offered, two hundred pounds sterling for three years without interest, that he would employ the said sum, with a further stock of his own, in sending to Portugal and bringing over vines and vine- rons, and that he should be bound to repay the money in three years, and to have growing within the colony forty thousand such vines, which he would furnish the freeholders with at moderate rates.
The trustees were satisfied with the security, and accepted the proposal, and wrote him, that they had remitted the two hundred pounds by Mr. Oglethorpe for his use, which he did not deny when applied to by the said Leon for the same, but said that he could not advance more than twenty or thirty pounds, in regard he had other uses for the money, and so that design dropped.
In February, 1735-6, Mr. Oglethorpe arrived in Georgia for the second time, with great numbers of people, in order to set- tle to the southward, where he soon after carried them. Upon the island of St. Simons he settled a town, which he called Frederica ; and about five miles distance from thence, towards the sea, he placed the independant company which he removed from Port Royal in Carolina, their former station. On one of the branches of the Alatamaha he settled the Highlanders in · a village which was called Darien. Then he settled a fort on Cumberland which he named St. Andrews ; and sometime after he caused a garrison of about fifty men to be placed upon a sandy island, without fresh water, in the mouth of St. John's . river, opposite to a Spanish look-out, where possession was
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kept for about six months, and several fortifications built, but .at last he was obliged to abandon it, after several people had lost their lives by the inconveniences of the place, besides great sums of money thrown away in vain.
While things thus passed in the southern part of the prov- ince, Mr. Causton was not idle at Savannah, and one would have thought that he made it his particular design further to exasperate the people of Carolina. He stopped their boats who were going up to New Windsor, and not content with that, he caused them to be searched and whatever rum was found there- in, was directly staved, in pursuance of an act, as he alledged, entitled, "An Act against the importation of rum into the colony of Georgia." To complain of this, and to represent the bad state of the Indian trade, a committee from the assembly of South Carolina arrived at Savannah in July, 1736, where Mr. Oglethorpe then was. But their coming was of little conse- quence, for after this the differences and animosities between the two provinces rather increased than diminished, and we shall only observe, that one thing is certain, that ever since Mr. Oglethorpe intermeddled in the Indian trade it has decayed apace, and at this time is almost entirely good for nothing either in one or the other province.
Thus, while the province of Carolina resented the bad treatment they had met with from the leading powers in Georgia against the colony in general, the poor inhabitants were doubly unfortunate, being ill looked upon by their nearest neighbors and friends, for the actings of their governors, while they themselves were still the greatest sufferers by those very actings.
While Mr. Oglethorpe staid in Georgia, great complaints were made against the arbitrary proceedings of Mr. Causton, but to no purpose. Likewise several persons endeavored to show the impossibility of the colony's succeeding, according to its then present constitution. But if this was done in his hear- ing, he either always brow-beat the person or evaded the discourse ; if by letters, he never made any answer to them, .even although he had given public orders that every person . should give in their grievances and complaints to him in writing, and that he would consider and answer the same. But that we might not be entirely ignorant of his thoughts, Mr. Causton,
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who always spoke his sentiments, publicly declared that we had neither lands, rights, nor posessions ; that the trustees gave and that the trustees could freely take away. And again, when he was told that the lighthouse wanted a few spike nails to fasten some of its braces which were loose, and which might occasion the downfall of the whole fabric, he answered that he would say as Mr. Oglethorpe said, it might fall and be d-d. Mr. Oglethorpe staid in Georgia until November, 1736, most of which time he spent to the southward, and then embarked for England, leaving Mr. Causton with the same authority he had formerly invested him with and in the same power he then exercised, and the colony under the same difficulties and hard- ships.
In March thereafter we had advice of the Spaniards' intentions of attacking the colony from the Havannah. This. put the whole province in great consternation, especially the town of Savannah ; they having neither fort, battery, nor any other place to shelter themselves in, in case of any actual attack ; therefore they immediatly set about building a wooden fort, and all sorts of people labored continually until it was in some measure finished ; only Mr. Causton never came to the work, but did all he could to retard it, making light of the information, although it was sent express by Commodore Dent, with a letter directed to the commander-in-chief of Georgia ; and has since been put out of all manner of doubt, the Spaniards having at that time four thousand men embarked and ready to sail, if an extraordinary accident had not pre- vented *them. People now seeing the little care that was likely to be taken in case of a real attack ; and likewise find- ing, to their cost, that the improvement of land was a vain and fruitless labor with white servants only, and with such restric- tions and precarious titles, many began to withdraw and leave the colony, and very little was planted this season.
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