Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II, Part 38

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166

USA > Georgia > Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II > Part 38

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

him naturally an eager revolutionist-so much so that when the British overran South Carolina he, then on the bench, eagerly embraced the excuse and became a soldier. Drifting then into Georgia with the fortunes of the war he was a favorite here, as he had been in South Carolina and, as you will remember by the date, was elected chief justice just before the peace, but as we find him back in South Carolina and upon its bench shortly after the end of the war, the natural presumption must be that he could not bring himself to consent to break off the ties that bound him to South Carolina, and to live permanently south of the Sa- vannah river. Subsequently he served in congress from South Carolina, and died in 1802. In his own state his memory has come down fragrant of wit and fun, but the production which brought him most into notice in the world was a pamphlet published by him about the Order of the Cincinnati shortly after its organization, in which he fiercely assailed it. He mercilessly ridiculed the aris- tocratic ideas and notions of this society which was considered a self-created no- bility in a democratic country, and directed against its members such universal laughter that in haste to hide themselves from the mirth he raised, they hurriedly threw away most of the borrowed feathers with which they had adorned them- selves, and made their society the modest and decent republican institution which it now is. Mirabeau afterward translated this skit into French and used portions of it with great effect in his speeches in the national assembly that changed the government of France.

RICHARD HOWLEY.

As we have noted while Burke was elected in 1782 he did not take his seat, for it was not he who held the first courts in Savannah after the re-occupation by the victorious provincials. On Oct. 1, 1782, we find the courts opened and its busi- ness in full blast under Richard Howley, chief justice of Georgia, with Jos. Clay, Wm. O'Brien and Win. Gibbons, assistant justices. Why Chief Justice Howley has been ignored by historians and no allusion made to him as the first chief justice of Georgia after the revolutionary war, we cannot understand. But chief justice he was and presided in Savannah with great regularity, and under him the courts and bar were organized. Historians have depicted the circumstances of that day as woeful, and such they must have been. The greater part of the colony occu- pied and re-occupied by both sides, business destroyed, plantations broken up and many of the best men on both sides dead or removed away, Chief Justice Howley must have sat in his court with saddened heart. This gentleman had been no inconspicuous figure in colonial affairs. In 1779, when affairs in Georgia were at their worst, d'Estaing defeated and gone away, and little hope of the success of the revolutionary party, Richard Howley, Geo. Walton and others constituted themselves the general assembly of Georgia at Augusta. Wm. Glass- cock was its speaker, and it elected Geo. Walton governor of the state; they chose also Geo. Walton as delegate to congress, and selected an executive council. We find, therefore, at the same time, in the state, two executive councils, one under John Werriat, as president of the state, and the other under Geo. Walton, as gov- ernor. There was some dissension between them, but the feelings arising from the conflict could not have lasted a very long time, inasmuch as the persons engaged in both executive councils were within a few months afterward acting in perfect accord. Walton remained governor not quite two months, being succeeded in January, 1780, by Howley, who was governor scarcely more than a month, leaving then to take his seat in the continental congress, to which he had been elected. Mr. Howley's career in congress need not be commented upon here. He re- mained in congress until he was elected chief justice. Like his other offices, his

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judicial career was short, for upon Jan. 31, 1783, Geo. Walton was elected chief justice and Gov. Howley took his place as a member of the bar, at which he had a large and lucrative practice, until his death in December, 1784. We find his name in all the most important cases immediately following the war. With the election of Richard Howley we get upon safe ground, for now we first have rec- ords of judicial proceedings in the state of Georgia, and from that time the minutes of the various courts will show the names of the officers who have filled the seat of justice.

GEORGE WALTON.

As we have said, Chief Justice Howley was succeeded by George Walton. The career of this governor and chief justice has been written by the able hand of Jones. So much the foremost man in Georgia was Walton that perfunctory no- tice of him should not be taken. Here is abundant reason for extracts fron Jones' biography:

"Born in Prince Edward county, Va., in 1749, and becoming an orphan at a tender age, he passed under the care of a guardian who, as the family tradition runs, unwilling to assume the burden of his custody and education, apprenticed him to a carpenter. The industry and fidelity of the lad were commendable, and his desire for intellectual improvement attracted the notice both of employer and companions. Unable during the day to give any attention to his books, and too poor to afford the luxury of a lamp, he read them nightly by the light of fat fagots which he collected and husbanded for the purpose. Intent upon his studies he refrained from those nocturnal sports which too often lead the young and inex- perienced into dissipation, idleness and sometimes ruin. By judicious use of his evening hours he made under the circumstances rapid advancement in knowl- edge, eagerly perusing all good books which could be borrowed from friends and neighbors. So favorably impressed was the master with the character, intelli- gence and ambition of his apprentice that long before his articles were concluded he relieved him from their obligation and permitted him to retain the fruits of his daily industry. Thus young Walton accumulated some money, which enabled him when about twenty years of age to leave Virginia and seek new fortunes in Savannah. Arriving at this little commercial metropolis of the colony of Georgia, he resolved to become a lawyer. Henry Young, Esq., received him into his office and gave him the benefit of his library and ot his instruction. After suit- able preparation he was called to the bar, and at once entered with zeal upon the * practice of the profession of his choice.

"Responding to a public call, a respectable number of the householders and inhabitants of the province assembled at the watchhouse in Savannah on July 27, 1774. After an animated discussion a committee was raised, of which George Walton was a member, to prepare resolutions similar to those adopted by the northern colonies, declaratory of Georgia's condemnation of the oppressive meas- ures inaugurated by parliament. That there might be an expression of opinion from some of the more distant parishes, unrepresented in this convention, the meeting 'stood adjourned' until the tenth of the following August. *

"On June 21, 1775, a call was published, signed by Noble Wymberly Jones, Archibald Bulloch, John Houstoun and George Walton, requesting the inhabi- tants of the town and district of Savannah to meet at the Liberty pole on the fol- lowing day at ten o'clock in the forenoon for the purpose of selecting a committee to bring about a union of Georgia with her sister colonies in the cause of free- dom. The alarming situation of affairs in America, and particularly in Georgia. was urged as a reason for punctual and full attendance. At the appointed place and designated hour many were present, and a council of safety, consisting of

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

William Ewen, William LeConte, Joseph Clay, Basil Cooper, Samuel Elbert, William Young, Elisha Butler, Edward Telfair, John Glen, George Houstoun, George Walton, Joseph Habersham, Francis H. Harris, John Smith, John Morel and Seth John Cuthbert, was selected, with instructions to maintain an active correspondence with the continental congress, with councils of safety in other provinces, and with committees raised in Georgia parishes. This business con- cluded, a number of gentlemen who had attended the meeting, dined at Tondee's * * * * * " tavern. %

Memorable in the political annals of Georgia were the proceedings of this provincial congress, which convened in Savannah on July 4, 1775. Every parish was represented, and the delegates were fitting exponents of the intelligence, the dominant hopes, and the material interests of the communities from which they respectively came. This was Georgia's first secession convention. It placed the province in active sympathy and confederated alliance with the twelve other American colonies, practically anulled within her limits the operations of the objectionable acts of parliament, questioned the supremacy of the realm, and inaugurated measures calculated to accomplish the independence of the planta- tion and its erection into the dignity of a state. In all the political agitations and movements which antedated and led up to this important convocation, George Walton had borne a prominent part. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Archi- bald Bulloch, Noble Wymberley Jones, John Houstoun, the brothers Joseph and John Habersham, Jonathan Bryan, Joseph Clay, Edward Telfair, and others who were specially influential in dissipating the power of kingly rule. This congress perfected its organization by electing Archibald Bulloch president and George Walton secretary. While it lies not within the compass of this sketch to enumerate its proceedings, we may state in a general way that it proclaimed, in terms most emphatic, a just conception of the natural and constitutional rights which appertained to Georgians as citizens of the colony and subjects of Great Britain; testified determined opposition to the late objectionable acts of parlia- ment; expressed admiration for the heroism of New England, and a stern resolve to share the fortunes of the sister colonies; appointed delegates to, and mani- fested a willingness to observe all orders promulgated by, the continental con- gress; professed unswerving loyalty to the principles of American liberty, and suggested measures deemed appropriate in the present perplexed condition of public affairs.

Mr. Walton was appointed upon the "committee of intelligence," and was also named as one of the members to present the "articles of association" then adopted, to the inhabitants of the town and district of Savannah for signature by them. In association with the Rev. Dr. Zubly, Dr. Noble W. Jones and William Young, he was commissioned to prepare and submit to the people of Georgia an address containing an account of the state of American affairs and a narrative of the pro- ceedings of this provincial congress. This address, which is said to have been framed by Mr. Walton, is a model of its kind. In defiance of the protest of Gov. Wright, Mr. Walton and his associates of the council of safety thoroughly purged the militia of the loyal element which lurked in the ranks of its commissioned officers. . By a resolution of this provincial congress he was continued as a member of the council of safety, and of that body he was in December, 1775, chosen president, with Edward Langworthy as secretary. *- *

"Archibald Bulloch was elected president of the provincial congress, which assembled in Savannah on Jan. 20, 1876. That sterling patriot, and John Houstoun, Lyman Hall, Button Gwinnett, and George Walton were then chosen as delegates to the continental congress."

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.

With the exception of an interval in 1779, when he filled the gubernatorial chair of Georgia, Mr. Walton was continued as a member of the continental congress until October, 1781. In association with Button Gwinnett and Lyman Hall he affixed his signature to the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the treasury board, of the committee on naval affairs, and of other committees, he rendered intelligent and willing service. With Robert Morris and George Clymer he was commissioned to transact such continental business as might be found necessary to be done in Philadelphia; and George Taylor and himself were appointed commissioners to make presents to, and confer with, the Indians at Easton, Penn. It was upon his motion, in 1780, that the treasury board was empowered to draw bills of exchange, aggregating $100,000 in specie, at ninety days, upon the Hon. Benjamin Franklin, minister plenipotentiary of the United States near the court of Versailles. With Edward Telfair and Edward Lang- worthy, on July 9, 1778, he signed the articles of confederation, and on Dec. 17 following he and Dr. Lyman Hall, as special commissioners from Georgia, waited upon Gen. Lincoln at Charleston "to inform hint of the true situation of matters in this state, and saw how essentially requisite it was that some vigorous and decisive measures should be taken for its defense against the incursions of its southern neighbors."

When Col. Campbell, late in December, 1778, effected a landing at Girardeau's Bluff and moved upon Savannah, defended by Gen. Robert Howe, George Walton, who then held the rank of colonel of the First battalion of the First regi- ment of foot militia, formed for the defense of Georgia, with 100 men, was posted on the south common, on the right of the American line, to guard the road leading to Great Ogeechee ferry. Although informed by Col. Walton that there was a private way through the swamp, by means of which the enemy could pass fron the high grounds of Brewton Hill plantation and gain the rear of the American right, and although urged by him to have that route properly observed, Gen. Howe neglected to give the matter any attention. The consequence was that Sir James Baird, with the light infantry, supported by the New York volunteers under Col. Trumbull, conducted by a negro guide, following this unguarded route, gained the rear of the American right, and, falling heavily upon the militia detachment commanded by Col. Walton, dispersed it with great loss. In this shock, Col. Walton, severely wounded in the thigh, fell from his horse and was captured. At the sound of these guns, Col. Campbell, running his field pieces to the front, opened fire upon the brigades of Huger and Elbert and orderd a vigorous charge all along his line. Attacked in front and rear Gen. Howe's forces gave way. A retreat was sounded, a panic ensued, and the Americans retreated in a dis- orderly manner through Savannah, made their way as best they could to the high ground beyond the Springfield plantation swamp, leaving the town and all it con- tained open to the victor. By the musket ball which he received while endeavor- ing with his militia to stay the onset of Sir James Baird Col. Walton's thigh was broken. Judge T. U. P. Charlton says that he never recovered from the effect of this wound but limped to the day of his death.

The following letter (the original of which lies before us), penned with a trembling hand from his couch of pain, and addressed to his young wife, will be read with interest:

"Savannah, Jan. 4, 1779, II o'clock p. m.

"My Dear Girl: I was very happy to hear just this moment, by a flag, that you were safely arrived in Carolina. It is my earnest desire that you keep with your sister until you hear from me again. Your dear mamma continues still extremely ill at our house, and I am afraid she cannot long survive.

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

"The day you left your brother and myself, my dear Dolly, in the chances of it I received a wound in the thigh. The bone is broke, but cures of this kind are quite common. I have every possible comfort from my conquerors, their hospital surgeons to attend me, with Trail, Irvine, and Brydie. And they tell me that they expect to see me do well. Be therefore of good spirits, and let me not hear by every flag that you are inconsolable, which will only operate to depress mine. At any rate, you ought to recollect that in these troublesome times you have no right to expect a life of superior tranquillity to your neighbors.

"My love to Polly. Brisbane is in town, perfectly well. I suppose he writes by this flag, though I know nothing about it, having just been apprised of it myself.

"God bless you, my dear, and remember that you are sincerely loved by a man who wishes to make honor and reputation the rule of all his actions.

"GEORGE WALTON."

When so recovered from his hurt as to be able to walk Col. Walton was allowed to proceed to Sunbury, where for sometime he remained a prisoner of war. In consideration of the fact that he was a member of the continental congress, that he had signed the Declaration of Independence, and that he was a prominent citizen, the British authorities at first demanded in exchange an officer with the rank of brigadier-general. His term of service in the continental congress having expired he was finally exchanged for a captain in the navy, and proceeded to Augusta, which was then the capital of republican Georgia.

By the general assembly which convened in that town in November, 1779, Col. Walton was elected governor of the infant commonwealth. There were then two executive councils actually organized and claiming to exercise important functions within the limits of the state wasted by a common enemy and rent by internal feuds. Violent were the collisions of parties, and confused was the ad -. ministration of public affairs. Southern Georgia was in the hands of the enemy, and the republican government of the upper portion of the state was impecunious, weak and peripatetic. Fortunately little necessity existed for the office either of legislator or of governor.

Short and uneventful was the gubernatorial career of Mr. Walton in 1779. By the ensuing general assembly Richard Howley was, on Jan. 4, 1780, elected governor, and Edward Telfair, George Walton, Benjamin Andrew, Lyman Hall and William Few were appointed delegates to the continental congress. While members of and in attendance upon this congress, Messrs. Walton, Few and Howley apprehended that it was the design of the British ministry to submit overtures of peace upon the basis of freedom to such portions of America as were then in possession of the revolutionists and of retention by the crown of such other parts as were actually held by the king's forces. As Georgia at that time was largely under the dominion of the enemy, deeming it their duty promptly and emphatically to protest against acquiescence by the continental congress in any such proposition, they prepared and caused to be printed in Philadelphia in Jan- uary, 1781, over their own signatures, a pamphlet entitled Observations Upon the Effects of Certain Late Political Suggestions by the Delegates of Georgia. Re- ferring to the fact that Georgia had been in great measure reduced by conquest they entered a forcible plea against the entertainment of the doctrine of uti possi- detis, and urged that inasmuch as the inhabitants of that province had united in the common cause and had expended their blood and fortunes in its support, it would be unjust and inhuman for the other parts of the Union separately to em- brace the result of the common efforts, and leave them under the yoke of bankrupt and enraged tyrannv. "To preserve the states entire is the object of the alliance

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THE BENCH AND BAR OF GEORGIA.

with France, and it cannot be the interest of the other great branch of the family compact that we should again make a part of the British empire. Georgia is a material part of the Union, and cannot be given up without affecting its essential interest, if not endangering its existence. * ** *

As to America, no part of it could expect to be free while England retains both ends of the conti- nent." Whatever may have been the effect of this political tract, certain it is that if memorialized on the subject, the continental congress declined to entertain the rumored basis of pacification. With the authorship of this manly protest the pen of Mr. Walton is credited.

"In January, 1783, that sterling patriot and worthy gentleman, Dr. Lyman Hall, was chosen governor of Georgia, and on the 3Ist of that month the Hon. George Walton was elected to fill the position of chief justice, with Samuel Stirk as attorney-general. * * * -* * *

"In 1787 Judge Walton was appointed a delegate from the state of Geor- gia to the Federal convention charged with revising the articles of confederation, and reporting such alterations and provisions as might be deemed adequate to the emergencies of government and the preservation of the Union. Prevented by judicial engagements, he did not attend. The year previous he had represented Georgia in the preliminary settlement of differences touching the boundary line between that state and South Carolina.

"In 1789 he occupied for a second time the gubernatorial chair. The term of service then lasted for only one year. It was during this administration that Georgia remodeled her constitution. Augusta was still the capital of the state, and it was here that Gov. Walton received from the president of the constitu- tional convention the constitution then adopted, affixed the seal of state to it, and proclaimed its provisions for the information of the inhabitants. * *

"In 1795 and 1796 Mr. Walton represented Georgia as a senator in the con- gress of the United States. He was a member of the Union society of Savannah, and a trustee of the Richmond academy. As one of the trustees of the university of Georgia he rendered valuable service in formulating plans and adopting meas- ures for the promotion of higher education in Georgia.

"For many years and at the time of his death he was judge of the middle cir- cuit of this commonwealth. The state was then divided into three judicial districts-the eastern, the middle and the western. The middle circuit embraced the following counties: Screven, Burke, Montgomery, Washington, Warren, Richmond, Columbia and Jefferson. As a judge, few men in this commonwealth ever attained unto and none transcended the reputation acquired and maintained by Mr. Walton."

To this need only be added that Walton was also appointed the first judge of the superior courts of the eastern judicial circuit in 1790, and so remained until the autumn of 1791. He seems to have removed to Augusta shortly afterward. We find him there as judge of the middle circuit from 1799 to 1804, when he died.

WILLIAM STITH.

Chief Justice Walton resigning in the summer of 1786, William Stith was elected chief justice in his place in October of that year. Here we have another name, which is nothing but a name, except so far as the discharge of judicial duties is shown by the records of court, but of Chief Justice Stith there is no other public record known to us.

JOHN HOUSTOUN.

His term of office was very brief, cause not appearing. John Houstoun suc- ceeded him in the same year. This chief justice did not even take his seat upon

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MEMOIRS OF GEORGIA.

the bench. Had he done so a worthy name would have been added to the active list of Georgia's justices. He was an able lawyer, a politician of enlarged views and great experience, governor of the state twice, and always possessing the confidence of its people; came from one of Savannah's oldest families, born in 1744, dying in 1796, and buried at White Bluff, near Savannah.

HENRY OSBORNE.

In March, 1787, Henry Osborne was elected chief justice in the place of John Houstoun. Little exists in any recorded form of this chief justice. He presided as such for nearly two years-from March, 1787, to January, 1789-went to his courts with regularity and seems to have omitted nothing in the due discharge of his functions. Of his career we cannot speak except so far as to note that he was a satisfactory judge. So much we may infer, for we find him again the first superior court judge of the western circuit after the constitution of 1789, presiding with Walton at Savannah, and often sitting alone in the eastern circuit, sat in Savannah down to September, 1791, and then disappearing, the time of his death not appearing.

NATHANIEL PENDLETON.

The career of Nathaniel Pendleton, twelfth and last chief justice of Georgia before the last organization of a supreme court, is much more varied and inter- esting than those of his predecessors. He came of a sound stock-that family of Virginia Pendletons which has furnished so much brains to the United States, both before and after him, his uncle being the eloquent Pendleton of revolutionary fame, and the rival of Patrick Henry; and his grandson George H. Pendleton of Ohio, for a long time the favorite aspirant for the national presidency in the minds of democrats, when democrats could not elect presidents of the United States. Judge Pendleton was born in Virginia in 1756, and entered the revolu- tionary army in 1775, serving on the staff of Gen. Nathaniel Greene; doing doughty service at all times, and especially at Eutaw, for which last exhibition of gallantry congress thanked him. The war over he came to Georgia-as we now send our sons to western territories-studied law, and practiced in Savannah. His abilities were nothing extraordinary, but sufficient to make him first the attorney-general of the state, and then chief justice in January, 1789, so remaining until his office was abolished by the constitution of that year. In 1787 he had represented the state in the national convention which adopted the Federal constitution; and it was in that way that his good qualities so commended him to Gen. Washington that he suggested Pendleton to his own advisers for the national office of secretary of state. But the name did not please Alexander Hamilton. Too much Virginia -too much of Jefferson and Madison, and not enough of Hamilton and New York, objected Hamilton. So the appointment was not made, and thus through Hamilton, Pendleton was not secretary of state. Afterward Pendleton became district judge of the United States at Savannah, but did not remain long in Georgia. Was carried by ambition and love in 1796 to New York, where he took a high place at the bar. Hamilton living in the same place at the same time got to know Pendleton better, who was magnanimous enough to forgive him for defeating him with Washington, and even went farther in generosity-so far as to volunteer his services as his second on that fatal day when he fell before Burr's bullet. As to Pendleton, it is recorded that he then went on the supreme

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Memoirs of Georgia; containing historical accounts of the state's civil, military, industrial and professional interests, and personal sketches of many of its people. Vol. II, Part 38

Author: Publication date: 1859 Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association Number of Pages: 1166

Author:
Publication date: 1859
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga., The Southern historicl association
Number of Pages: 1166