USA > Georgia > Georgia as a proprietary province; the execution of a trust > Part 4
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Three members elected to the Trust during its declining years deserve special mention. These were Samuel Lloyd, Edward Hooper, and Anthony Ewer, all of whom were of great assistance to Vernon and Shaftesbury in maintaining the work of the board at a time when some of its older friends were falling away.
On the whole, the Trustees were an able set of men. They represented well the leading political and religious beliefs of England, and they included persons of varied experience and occupations in life. Since they were thus varied in their personnel, it is not strange that there were among them
50 C. R. V: 230.
51 C. R. II: 506.
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The Personnel of the Trustees
causes of misunderstanding and disputes. The most serious of the disagreements among the members of the Trust grew out of politics centering about the support of Walpole or opposition to him. We have seen that feeling over this mat- ter caused the withdrawal of some members from the Com- mon Council. Perhaps next in importance to the political differences were those over religious matters. The large majority of the Trustees were members of the Church of England, and they were anxious that it prevail in Georgia; but there were also many Presbyterians and other non- conformists on the board,52 and these were disgusted with the resolution of the majority of the corporation to support a church establishment. Whether this difference caused the withdrawal of members or not, it produced a coolness among some of them.53
Less can be said of the self-sacrifice of the Georgia Trus- tees than of their ability. Of the seventy-one who were chosen, thirty-six seem to have contributed no money to the enterprise, and the whole sum contributed, according to their own accounts, was only about nine hundred pounds from their own resources.5+ The test of contributing money is not final as to the interest a man may have in an enter- prise, but when the undertaking is charitable in its aims and dependent on charity for its support, the amount given by the Trustees may be some measure of the regard in which the colony was held by its managers. The attendance per- centage of the whole body of Trustees on the meetings of the corporation was only 17 per cent. of what it might have been, as shown on pages 31-34 herein. It was the case
52 Wright 165.
53 C. R. V: 116.
" Bouverie, one of the Trustees, gave £1000; but it was from a fund in his possession left for charity; it did not come out of his own resources.
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
with many of the Trustees that as soon as their vanity was satisfied by their election to so honorable a body as the Georgia board they lost much of their interest in the work ; and when affairs in the colony went badly and when debts began to accumulate, such members ceased entirely to act with their colleagues. It was only a small handful that stuck to their duty through fair weather and foul until the end. And yet who can blame the Trustees for quitting their task? No financial rewards awaited them, and little honor was attached to the office after the early years. The duties were arduous and the performance of them was greeted with criticism from the government at home and complaints from the colonists in Georgia.
The criticisms just made apply only to the whole body of seventy-one members. The self-sacrifice of the working members of the Trust-Oglethorpe, Vernon, Egmont, L'Apostre, Smith, Hales, Shaftesbury, and a few others like them-cannot be too highly praised. To these few may be applied the words used by a historian of Georgia in summing up the work of the whole body: "At every stage of progress and in every act, whether trivial or important, these trustees, capable and worthy, evinced a clear concep- tion of duty, a patience of labor, a singleness of purpose, an unselfish dedication of time and energy, an integrity, and a rigid adherence to all that was pure, elevated and hu- manizing, which become quite conspicuous when their pro- ceedings are minutely and intelligently scanned." 55
"Jones-Hist. of Ga. I: 443.
CHAPTER III
THE RELATION OF OGLETHORPE TO GEORGIA
O NE of the interesting problems of the colonial his- tory of Georgia is the relation and importance of James Oglethorpe to the settling and developing of the province. Was he the father of the enterprise? Was he responsible for the plans and rules under which it was at- tempted? What motives prompted him to accompany the colonists to America? Was his presence of real benefit to the colony? What were his legal powers in Georgia? What led to the later friction between him and the Trustees and to his withdrawal from participation in Georgia affairs? The answer to at least a portion of the questions may be found by examining the principal facts of his life and by following in order the various entries in the records of the Trustees regarding his activities under their directions.
No detailed account of Oglethorpe's life is necessary, and indeed the facts are not sufficiently established to warrant a full summary of his life before he went to Georgia. He was born on June 1, 1689. He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, though the date of his entrance is in doubt, but he soon left his college work for service in the army. In 1710 he was an ensign in the British army and served till the war ended in 1713. It was in this war of the Spanish Succession that he got his first contact with the Spanish, a contact which was to be hostile when renewed in America. Soon after the Treaty of Utrecht, he entered the
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
service of Prince Eugene of Savoy, with whom he continued until 1718, when he returned to England. There is no definite information available as to the amount or the quality of the service rendered by Oglethorpe during the time he was connected with the army. Many conjectures have been made as to his attainments in military science and experi- ence; but they are inferences from his later career rather than actual facts.1
On the death of his brother Theophilus, he inherited a considerable estate at Westbrook, and he settled down to what gave promise of being the ordinary life of an English gentleman. His manor was situated near Godalming in Surrey county and was sufficient to enable him to live in independence and comfort. Like so many of the country gentlemen of the period, he was a Tory in politics, though his later career indicates that he was not an extremist in his political faith. In 1722 he was chosen as one of the repre- sentatives in Parliament of the town of Haslemere, which was located in Surrey county not far from the Oglethorpe estate, and he continued in this relation until he was de- feated in 1754.2 His father and both his older brothers had formerly represented the same borough, and this was probably a help to him in gaining the position, but the fact that he held it so long indicates that he must have been satisfactory to his constituents.
Oglethorpe seems to have taken no active part in parlia- mentary affairs during the first six or seven years after his election. It was not until 1729 that he attracted any con- siderable attention. In that year he was made chairman of a committee of the House of Commons whose business it was to visit and report on the condition of the Fleet, Marshalsea,
1 Wright 5, 7.
'Ibid., 12, 373.
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The Relation of Oglethorpe to Georgia
and King's Bench prisons. The committee was composed of fourteen members, and it seems to have been appointed on the motion of Oglethorpe, who had learned something of prison conditions through a visit to one of his friends who was incarcerated for debt. It is not entirely clear that he inaugurated the movement, but as chairman of the committee he was active in the work and he presented to Parliament the results of the investigations.3 The first of these reports was submitted to the House on March 20, 1729, and the last was on May 11, 1730. With details of the reports we are not now concerned, but it is worth noting that the work seems to have been done with expedition and thoroughness. Bills were introduced by Oglethorpe to ameliorate the wretched conditions which the committee had found and to punish the worst offenders among the prison wardens.4
In other respects Oglethorpe began to show himself inter- ested in the unfortunate or the oppressed. On January 13, 1732, he made a speech in the House of Commons in which he showed sympathy for the persecuted Protestants of Europe and expressed the wish that something might be done for their relief.5 He was also a member of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and in addition he was on a council of fifty who looked after the support and education of exposed and deserted children. In "The Sailor's Advocate," he defended seamen against the worst evils of impressment. He ably advocated the peti- tion of the Moravians for assistance, and he sustained a mo- tion to relieve the poor of certain of their most burdensome taxes.6
ª Cobbett VIII: 706 et seq.
* Ibid., 706-753, 803-826.
" Ibid., 875-876.
· Stevens I: 82-83.
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
As to whether or not Oglethorpe first thought of or sug- gested the scheme of making the settlement of Georgia, the evidence is not sufficient for a definite decision. Original documentary evidence that he fathered the idea is lacking. "The Political State of Great Britain," a periodical of the day, in referring to the colony in August, 1732, soon after the charter was made public, mentions Viscount Perceval as "one of the principal Promoters of that Great and Generous Design." It makes no mention of Oglethorpe or other Trus- tees as being especially prominent in the work." "The Castle-Builders," a life of William Stephens, states that Thomas Coram and William Sloper, two of the original Trustees, "at first projected the colony." There is no apparent reason for falsifying in the matter; but the book is generally unreliable, and no great importance should be perhaps attached to its testimony. It is only noteworthy that Oglethorpe in neither of these publications is credited with originating the project.8 In none of the lists of those interested in the matter is his name mentioned first. In the charter three men are named ahead of him on the rolls of both the general board and the Common Council. Neither was he made the first president of the corporation or the first chairman of the Common Council. In some of the ref- erences to the petitioners for the charter as recorded in the "Acts of the Privy Council," his name does not appear at all, though it is quite likely that he was included under the general term "and others." After the petition for the charter had been referred to the Board of Trade for inves- tigation, Oglethorpe wrote to the Board a number of sug- gestions. Among other things he proposed for the new corporation the name, "Corporation for Establishing Char-
" Polit. State XLIV: 149-151.
"Castle-Builders 106.
٦
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The Relation of Oglethorpe to Georgia
itable Colonies," which was for a while considered but was finally discarded. Just what were his other suggestions and whether they were adopted or not cannot be ascertained.9 After the Board of Trade had made its report, Oglethorpe in company with others appeared before a committee of the Privy Council to ask for certain changes in the report in order that the trustees might have more power than was proposed in the matter of selecting the civil and military offices of Georgia.10
In no case above cited does Oglethorpe seem to have exer- cised more influence than any other of the active petitioners for the charter. That is not proof positive at all that he was not more influential, nor would it prove that he was not the originator of the project. There are a number of indi- cations that such honor ought to be given him. By com- mon consent the historians of Georgia and the biographers of Oglethorpe agree that he was the first to propose the settlement and that it was through his efforts that the other men who later became Trustees became interested in the work. The literature of the time paid tribute to him as pre-eminently benevolent of soul, but the compliments paid him in nearly every case came after he had gone to Georgia, and they were seemingly called forth on that account rather than because he was the author of the scheme. The fact that he had shown already indications of interest in impris- oned debtors and in foreign Protestants, and the additional fact that he was prominently connected with several other charitable enterprises, are perhaps the best reasons for thinking that he would and did originate the plan for settling the new province. Whatever may be the facts about its
" Abstract of Board of Trade (Cited B. T.) Papers, S. C. Hist. Collec. II: 127.
10 Acts of Privy Council, 1720-1745: 301-303.
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
origin, Oglethorpe was indisputably earnest in helping to carry forward the project.
It has been incidentally mentioned that he was a member both of the general corporation and of the Common Council which was to do so much of the actual work of government. He was faithful in attending the meetings of these bodies. Before he left England, there were nineteen meetings of the general Board of Trustees, and Oglethorpe was present seventeen times. Only one other member of the Board equalled him in faithfulness. There were, in addition, seven meetings of the Common Council, and he was present at six of these, being surpassed by two members and equalled by four others in regard to the number of times in attendance. He was also active in the committee work of the early or- ganization. For the Common Council he served in this capacity six times before leaving England, being . equalled in this particular by only two others. For the general Board he also served on six committees, having only one man to surpass him in activity. In this connection it is worthy of note that Oglethorpe served on the most impor- tant committees. He was the chairman of the one to draw up laws and regulations for the colony,11 and we shall have occasion to discuss later whether or not the work of this committee was wisely done. He was appointed a committee of one to see that the project was given the proper pub- licity through the newspapers and also to prepare commis- sions and boxes for those who should be willing to solicit funds for the enterprise.12 He seemed for the time being to have charge of the receipts and disbursements, for which he rendered a regular account.13 Whether on account of his
" C. R. I: 70. 12 C. R. II: 3. 13 Ibid., 9.
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The Relation of Oglethorpe to Georgia
financial relation to the undertaking or because of his greater interest in it, he reported more names to the Board of those who were willing to solicit money for the work than any other Trustee. In addition to the activities already noted, he is thought to have written in behalf of the new colony the pamphlet entitled, "A New and Accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia." 14
When preparations for the first embarkation of colonists to Georgia were being made, Oglethorpe decided to accom- pany the new settlers in person. His object as stated in the papers of the time was merely to see that the colonists were safely located in their new homes.15 This determina- tion seems to have been entirely voluntary on his part; but, while the Trustees had not urged him to the course, they were glad to avail themselves of his generous offer. The people who were going to Georgia were almost all of good character, but they had not hitherto been successful as a rule in managing their private affairs; and so it could not be reasonably expected that they would be capable of direct- ing a whole settlement. Some guiding hand was needful. The normal thing to do was to appoint a governor who would be strong and experienced enough to put into opera- tion the various plans of the Trustees; but the latter were unwilling to appoint such a governor lest they should lose some of their authority, since the charter provided that a governor must be obedient to the Crown as well as to the Trustees. They seemed to feel that if Oglethorpe went over to get things well started the colony could prosper without much government ; and they certainly acted on this theory whether they consciously held it or not. Oglethorpe probably sympathized with his fellow Trustees in desiring
14 Ga. Hist. Collec. I: 42.
" Gent. Mag. 1732, Vol. II: 1029.
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
to keep independent of government control, for this was ever his later policy whenever it was possible. Another rea- son why he may have been induced to undertake the journey was his love of adventure. He had served as a gentleman volunteer on the Continent before entering the English army, and he had later joined the Austrians against the Turks, as we have noticed; and the establishing of a buffer colony against his old opponents, the Spanish, would doubtless appeal to him on the military and adventurous side. There is no good reason for doubting, however, that he was greatly, and perhaps mainly, moved by compassion for the poor debtors and other unfortunates who were preparing to go to a new country, and who would need all the help and advice obtainable in order to succeed. His action was re- garded in this light at the time; and he was highly eulo- gized for leaving his home and the comforts of society and the pursuits of ambition in order to do a work from which he could hope to receive no private advantage.16
It has frequently been stated on high authority that Ogle- thorpe was the first governor of Georgia. It was impossible that he should hold that office. He was forbidden by the terms of the charter, as were all the Trustees, to hold "any office, place, or employment of profit under the corporation." Further, as a Trustee, he was forbidden to receive or take, directly or indirectly, any salary, fee, perquisite, benefit or profit whatever by reason of service rendered the corporation in any manner or capacity.17 It might be urged that these requirements forbade the holding of only those offices which were "of profit," and that he might well have occupied the office of governor because he went at his own expense.18
1ª Polit. State XLV: 181.
17 C. R. I: 16.
"C. R. III: 378.
The Relation of Oglethorpe to Georgia 65
It is difficult to dissociate the idea of a salary from that of a governor in any ordinary sense; but whatever the possi- bilities in the case might have been, the fact remains that Oglethorpe was not granted authority or powers that would entitle him to be called the governor of a province or even of a single settlement. It seems not to have been anticipated that he would remain longer in the colony than might be necessary to actually establish the colonists in their homes in peace ; and so the powers given him were in a measure tem- porary and by no means extensive. For example, he was given power to set out and divide 5,000 acres of land that had been deeded in trust to three of the settlers, and he was to give directions to these holders of the land in trust how to proceed with their business of assigning it to the other settlers. He was authorized to grant licenses to those desir- ing to leave the province of Georgia so that they might not forfeit their grants.19 He was entrusted with the special authority to administer the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration to the various officers appointed in the new colony ; but it was not a general power to administer oaths, since the individuals were specified by name.2º He was also granted the power as attorney for the Trustees to name officers for the militia of Georgia.21 The last appointment gives the keynote of the relation that Oglethorpe bore to the Trustees. He was not a governor under them, but their attorney to act in their stead. Nor was he an attorney with general power to act, but he was limited to the special matters in which authority was assigned him.
It is beyond question that it would have been a wiser pol- icy for the Trustees to give to him or to some other man
1º C. R. II: 9-10.
" Ibid., 11.
" B. T., Ga., XII: 25.
..
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
larger powers specifically or, better still, more general pow- ers to act. In the nature of things, there would arise many circumstances demanding prompt action which could not be foreseen and specifically provided for by the Trustees. Many such occasions did arise ; and Oglethorpe usually acted as he thought best, though not authorized to do so. For instance, none of the records indicate that he was author- ized to draw on the Trustees for money; but he did so, and no protest was made in the beginning at least,22 though we shall see that it led later to unfortunate mis- understanding.
Having noticed the part played by Oglethorpe in getting the project launched in England, and understanding the powers granted him and his relations to his fellow Trustees, we must next estimate some of the services he rendered in actually planting the settlement in Georgia. This side of his career has been so fully developed in his biographies and in the histories of Georgia that we shall merely refer to the various incidents without giving details. It has already been noted that in going to Georgia Oglethorpe could hope for no financial remuneration on account of provisions in the char- ter; but it would be a strict interpretation of the provisions that would necessitate his paying his own expenses for the journey, and so his expenditures in this particular must be considered as a gift to the cause. Not only did he furnish his own cabin and provide for his servants, but he also re- lieved the burdens of the voyage by contributing to the com- forts of his fellow passengers.23
When the colonists reached Port Royal, South Carolina, Oglethorpe proceeded with Colonel William Bull to the Savannah River for the purpose of selecting a site for the
"C. R. II: 27.
" Wright 58.
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The Relation of Oglethorpe to Georgia
proposed settlement. This was a matter of prime impor- tance, affecting every person who might locate in the town to be established. This work was well done; the spot chosen was perhaps the best possible one for the town of Savannah. It is very likely that credit is due both to Oglethorpe and Bull for the decision made; but, as the former had final authority in the matter, he is entitled perhaps to the greater commendation.24
In his personal contact with the early settlers, and in his handling the details of the settlement, Oglethorpe seems to have been very successful. He worked hard himself and spared no pains to get the town started properly. He was much beloved of the people, who gave him the title of "Father." He visited the sick and took care of them. If there were differences, he decided the matters at issue him- self; and for the time at least there seemed to be little dis- satisfaction with his judgments. He was strict in disci- pline, allowing neither drunkenness nor swearing. He laid out a great deal of work and was successful in getting much of it done, permitting no idlers around him.25
Oglethorpe showed as much tact in dealing with the In- dians as he exhibited good judgment in the choice of a site and industry in getting the settlement started. There had been a former treaty between the Indians and South Carolina that no white settlements were to be made south of the Savannah without the consent of the natives; and they were at first inclined. to object to the coming of the Georgians. On his first visit for the purpose of selecting the location for the town, Oglethorpe had held an interview with Tomo- chichi, the chief of the small Indian tribe living near the river; and with the aid of a half-breed interpreter, Mary
"C. R. III: 380.
" Polit. State XLV: 543-544.
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Georgia as a Proprietary Province
Musgrove, had persuaded him that it would be advan- tageous to the Indians that the white men should come. This interview was the beginning of a firm friendship which lasted between the English and the Indians during almost all of the proprietary history of the colony. Through the in- fluence of Tomochichi, the other Indian tribes within the limits of Georgia were gathered for a conference, at which Oglethorpe treated them with so much candor and tact that they readily ceded to the English the lands desired and en- tered into a treaty of friendship and commerce.26 For the weak and struggling settlement, the friendship and assist- ance of the natives were worth more than fortifications or troops; and nobody could have been more successful than was Oglethorpe in bringing about the cordial relations.
These were the most valuable achievements of the leader of the Georgians, but there were a number of things besides which occupied his attention. He provided for the defence of the town of Savannah by planting a battery and estab- lishing a few outposts like Fort Argyle and Thunderbolt. He laid out the town into convenient wards and tithings. He explored the lower coasts of the province and made notes of the best methods of fortifying it. Just before leaving Georgia for England, he accompanied the newly arrived Salzburghers for the purpose of selecting a site for their town; in this he was not so fortunate as in his choice of a location of Savannah, but for the time being the Germans were well pleased with it. When he finally set sail on March 23, 1734, the people could hardly restrain their tears, be- cause he had cared for them much like a father both by night and by day for more than a year.27
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