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Promoted to a major-generalcy, and then to a lieutenant- generaley, and finally commissioned as general in the British army, retaining his seat in Parliament until 1754, recognized as governor of the colony of Georgia until the surrender of the charter of the province by the trustees in 1752, and always mani- festing the liveliest interest in the welfare of that plantation, the companion and friend of Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith, Burke, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Miss Hannah More, Boswell, Horace Wal- pole, Mrs. Montagne, Mrs. Garrick, Mrs. Boscawen, Mrs. Carter, and of many others scarcely less distinguished for their social and intellectual qualities, the patron of learning, the soul of honor, the embodiment of loyalty and valor, and the model of manly grace and courtesy, he died on the 1st of July, 1785, full of years and crowned with universal respect. The morning of his life had been stormy, the noon tempestuous, but the evening of his days was full of happiness and tranquillity.
" I have got a new admirer," writes Miss Hannah More from 1 The Annals of America, vol. ii. p. 19. Cambridge. 1829.
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TRIBUTES TO GENERAL OGLETHORPE.
Mrs. Garrick's house in the Adelphi, " and we flirt together pro- digiously ; it is the famous General Oglethorpe, perhaps the most remarkable man of his time. He was foster-brother to the Pre- tender, and is much above ninety years old; the finest figure of a man you ever saw. He perfectly realizes all my ideas of Nestor. His literature is great, his knowledge of the world ex- tensive, and his faculties as bright as ever. He is one of the three persons still living who were mentioned by Pope; Lord Mansfield and Lord Marchmont are the other two. He was the intimate friend of Southern, the tragic poet, and all the wits of his time. He is perhaps the oldest man of a gentleman living. I went to see him the other day and he would have entertained me by repeating passages from Sir Eldred. He is quite a preux chevalier, heroic, romantic, and full of the old gallantry." Dr. Johnson wished to write his life, and Edmund Burke regarded him as the most extraordinary person of whom he had ever read, because he had founded a province and lived to see it severed from the empire which created it and erected into an independent state. A short time before his death he paid his respects to Mr. John Adams, who had arrived in London as the first minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America near the Court of St. James. There was something peculiarly interesting in this interview. He who had planted Georgia and nurtured it during the earliest stages of its dependent condition as a colony held converse with him who had come to a royal court as the repre- sentative of its separate national existence.
His body reposes within Cranham church, and a memorial tablet there proclaims his excellences ; but here the Savannah repeats to the Alatamaha the story of his virtues and of his valor, and the Atlantic publishes to the mountains the greatness of his fame, for all Georgia is his living, speaking monument. 24
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CHAPTER XXIII.
MR. WILLIAM STEPHENS APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF THE PROVINCE. - CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT AT FREDERICA. - STATE OF THE COLONY. - SILK CUL- TURE. - INCREASE AND THRIFT OF THE GERMAN POPULATION. - AFFAIRS AT NEW EBENEZER. -- GRAPE CULTURE.
UPON the settlement and fortification of the southern frontier of the province a new county was carved out and named Frederica. Hitherto, Georgia had contained but one county, and that was known as Savannah. In April, 1741, Colonel William Stephens, who for several years had been acting in the colony as secretary to the trustees, was by them appointed president of the county of Savannah. In the administration of public affairs he was aided by four assistants. As General Oglethorpe spent most of his time in Frederica, the designation of a presiding officer for that division of the province was regarded as superfluous. Bailiffs were constituted whose duty it was, under the immediate super- vision of the general, to attend to the concerns of that county.
At Augusta, Captain Richard Kent was, in November, 1741, commissioned as "Conservator to keep the peace in that town and in the precincts thereof."
In anticipation of the return of General Oglethorpe to Eng- land, and in order to provide for the government of the entire colony, the trustees decided that the president and assistants who had been appointed for the county of Savannah should be pro- claimed president and assistants for the whole province, and that the bailiffs at Frederica should be considered simply as local magistrates ; their powers being subordinate to those conferred upon the president and assistants. They further advised that the salary of the recorder of Frederica be raised, and that he corre- spond regularly with the president and assistants at Savannah, and transmit to them from time to time the proceedings of the town court, and an account of such transactions and occurrences in the southern part of the province as it might be necessary for them to know.1
1 Journal of the Trustees, 1536-1745, pp. 239, 243, 244.
371
4
COLONEL WILLIAM STEPIIENS.
Thus, upon the departure of General Oglethorpe, lie was suc- ceeded in the office of colonial governor by the honest-minded and venerable Colonel William Stephens, whose devotion to the welfare of the colony and fidelity to the instructions of the trus- tees had been for more than five years well approved.1 In asso- ciation with his members of council or assistants, he was directed to hold in Savannah, each year, four terms of the general court for the regulation of public affairs and the accommodation of all differences affecting person or propety. Public moneys could be distributed only under warrant signed and sealed by the president and a majority of his assistants in council assembled. Monthly accounts were to be exhibited to the Board of Trustees showing the amounts disbursed and the particular purposes to which they had been applied.
Although General Oglethorpe's regiment was retained for the defense of the colony, the militia of the province was organized, and all citizens capable of bearing arms were regularly trained and disciplined. Major William Horton remained in command of the troops in Georgia, with his headquarters at Frederica. In the administration of the civil affairs of the province he did not intervene, except where his assistance was invoked to enforce the measures of the president and council. On all occasions he acted with prudence, calmness, and humanity, winning the esteem, con- fidence, and friendship of law-abiding citizens.
Bailiffs or magistrates were commissioned in various and re- mote parts of the province whose duty it was to act as " conser- vators of the peace," hear and determine "petit causes," and commit, for trial by the general court, offenders whose trans- gressions exceeded their limited jurisdictions.
The colony was still at a low ebb. The distractions caused by Spanish incursions, the refusal of the trustees to permit the importation and sale of rum, to sanction the introduction of slave labor and to enlarge the tenure of land, and the failure of crops, disheartened many and induced them to avail themselves of the greater privileges offered in South Carolina where similar restric- tions were unknown. Intent upon the cultivation of silk and wine, the liome authorities discouraged the tillage of rice, cotton, and indigo, from which profit might more readily have been re- alized. The trouble lay chiefly with the English colonists ; not a few of whom, unaccustomed to agricultural pursuits and manual occupations, were easily discouraged and could illy suppress their feelings of disappointment.
1 See Journui of the Proceedings in Georgia, vols. i. ii. iii. London. MDCCXLIL.
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372
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
Notwithstanding the losses sustained during the siege of St. Augustine, and the distractions consequent upon their terms of active service during the hostilities between Georgia and Flor- ida, the Highlanders at Darien made commendable progress and were, year by year, surrounding themselves with comfortable abodes and remunerative fields. The Salzburgers too, at Eben- ezer, mindful of the thrift and industry to which they had been accustomed at home, were prospering in many ways. Already were they producing more than they could consume, and a spirit of contentment pervaded their community. Through the assist- ance of friends in Germany they had been enabled to build two comfortable and substantial houses for public worship, one at New Ebenezer called Jerusalem Church, and the other, about four miles below, on the public road leading from that town to Savannah, named Zion Church. The joy experienced upon the dedication of these sacred buildings was soon turned to grief by the death of one of their faithful pastors, the Rev. Israel C. Gronau, who, in the supreme moments of a lingering fever, desir- ing a friend to support his hands uplifted in praise of the Great Master whom he had so long and so truthfully served, exclaimed, "Come, Lord Jesus! Amen !! Amen !!! " and with these words, the last upon his lips, entered into peace.
Rev. Mr. Bolzius continued to be the principal pastor and, as an assistant, the Rev. Mr. Lembke was associated with him.
With that industry and patience so characteristic of them as a people, the inhabitants of New Ebenezer were among the earliest and the most persevering in their efforts to carry into practical operation Mr. Oglethorpe's wishes in regard to the production of silk. In 1736 each Salzburger there was presented with a mul- berry-tree, and two of the congregation were instructed by Mrs. Camuse in the art of reeling.
Under date of May 11, 1741, Mr. Bolzius, in his journal, re- cords the fact that within the preceding two months twenty girls succeeded in making seventeen pounds of cocoons which were sold at Savannah for £3 8s. The same year five pounds were advanced by General Oglethorpe to this clergyman for the purchase of trees. With this sum he procured twelve hundred, and distributed them among the families of his parish.
On the 4th of December, 1742, five hundred trees were sent by General Oglethorpe to Ebenezer, with a promise of more should they be needed. Near Mr. Bolzins' house a machine for the manufacture of raw silk was erected and the construction of a
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SILK CULTURE.
public Filature was contemplated, Of the eight hundred and forty-seven pounds of cocoons raised in the colony of Georgia in 1747, about one half was produced by the Salzburgers at Eben- ezer. Two years afterwards this yield was increased to seven hundred and sixty-two pounds of cocoons and fifty pounds and thirteen ounces of spun silk. Two machines were in operation in Mr. Bolzius' yard, capable of reeling twenty-four ounces per day. It was apparent, however, that while, by ordinary labor, about two shillings could be earned, scarcely a shilling per diem could be expected by one engaged in the manufacture of silk. This fact proved so discouraging to the colonists that, except at Ebenezer, silk culture was generally relinquished. The Germans persevered, and, as the result of their energy, over a thousand pounds of cocoons and seventy-four pounds and two ounces of raw silk were raised in 1750, and sold for £110 sterling. The community was now pretty well supplied with copper basins and reeling machines. Considerable effort was made in England to attract the notice of the home government to this production of silk in Georgia, and to enlist in its behalf the fostering care of those in authority. In 1755 a paper was laid before the Lords of Trade and Plantations, signed by about forty eminent silk throwsters and weavers, deelaring that "having examined about 300 wt. of Georgia raw-silk they found it as good as the Pied- montese, and better than the common Italian silks." Assur- ance was given that there was the " utmost reason to afford all possible encouragement for the raising of so valuable a commod- ity."1
In 1764 fifteen thousand two hundred and twelve pounds of cocoons were delivered at the Filature in Savannah, then under the charge of Mr. Ottolenghe, of which eight thousand six hun- dred and ninety-five pounds were contributed by the Salzburgers. Two years afterwards, the production of silk in Georgia reached its acme, and from that time, although encouraged by Parliament, continued to decline until it was practically abandoned a little while before the inception of the Revolution. Operations at the Filature in Savannah were discontinued in 1771. Sir James Wright, in his message to the Commons House of Assembly, under date 19th of January, 1774, alludes to the fact that the Filature buildings were falling into decay, and suggests that they be put to some other use.
Disregarding the disinclination existing in other portions of 1 Gentleman's Magazine for 1755, p. 185. London Magazine for 1755, p. 186.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
the colony to devote much time and labor to the growing of trees and the manufacture of silk, the Salzburgers, incited by their worthy magistrate, Mr. Wertseh, redoubled their efforts, and in 1770, as the result of their industry, shipped two hundred and ninety-one pounds of raw silk. At the suggestion of the Earl of Hillsborough, who warmly commended the zeal of these Germans and interested himself in procuring from Parliament a small sum to be expended in aid of the more indigent of the community, Mr. Habersham distributed among them the basins and reels then being in the unused public Filature in Savannah.
"So popular had the silk business become at Ebenezer that Mr. Habersham, in a letter dated the 30th of March, 1772, says: 'Some persons in almost every family there understand its pro- cess from the beginning to the end.' In 1771 the Germans sent four hundred and thirty-eight pounds of raw silk to England, and in 1772 four hundred and eighty-five pounds : - all of their own raising. They made their own reels, which were so much es- teemed that one was forwarded to England as a model, and an- other taken to the East Indies by Pickering Robinson." 1
In the face of the distractions experienced upon the commence- ment of hostilities between the colonies and the mother country, silk culture languished even among these Germans, and was never afterwards revived to any considerable degree. The un- friendliness of climate, the high price of labor, the withdrawal of all bounty, which had been the chief stimulus to exertion, and the larger profits to be derived from the cultivation of rice and cotton, combined to interrupt silk-raising, and, in the end, caused its total abandonment.
The construction of a bridge over Ebenezer Creek materially promoted the interests and the convenience of those residing at Ebenezer, and the erection of churches at Bethany and Goshen, the former about five miles northwest of Ebenezer, and the latter some ten miles below and near the road leading to Savannah, indicated the growth of the German plantations along the line of the Savannah River.
The settlement at Bethany was effected in 1751 by John Gerar William DeBrahm, who there located one hundred and sixty Germans. Eleven months afterwards these colonists were joined by an equal number, " the Relations and Acquaintance of the former." The Salzburgers then numbered about fifteen hundred
1 Silk Culture in Georgia, by Dr. Stevens. Harris' Memorials of Oglethorpe, pp. 410, 411. Boston. 1841.
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THE GERMAN SETTLEMENTS.
souls.1 Alluding to the location and growth of these planta- tions, and the agricultural pursuits of their cultivators, Surveyor- General DeBrahm says : " The German Settlements lave since Streatched S: Eastwardly about 32 miles N : W-ward from the Sea upon Savannah Stream, from whence they extend up the same Stream through the whole Salt Air Zona. They culti- vate European and American Grains to Perfection ; as Wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats ; also Flax, Hemp, Tobacco and Rice, Indigo, Maize, Peas, Pompions, Melons - they plant Mulberry, Apple, Peach, Nectorins, Plumbs and Quince Trees, besides all manner of European Garden Herbs, but, in particular, they Chose the Culture of Silk their principal Object, in which Culture they made such a Progress, that the Filature, which is erected in the City of Savannah could afford to send in 1768 to London 1,084 Pounds of raw Silk, equal in Goodness to that manufactured in Piemont ; but the Bounties to encourage that Manufactory being taken off, they discouraged, dropped their hands from that Cul- ture from year to year in a manner, that in 1771 its Product was only 290 Pounds in lieu of 1,464, which must have been that year's Produce, had this Manufactory been encouraged to increase at a 16 years rate. In lieu of Silk they have taken under more Consideration the Culture of Maize, Rice, Indigo, Hemp & To- bacco : But the Vines have not as yet become an Object of their Attention, altho' in the Country especially over the German Set- tlements, Nature makes all the Promises, yea gives yearly full Assurances of her Assistance, by her own Endeavours producing Clusture Grapes in Abundance on its uncultivated Vines: yet there is no Person, who will listen to her Addresses, and give her the least Assistance, notwithstanding many of the Inhabitants are refreshed from the Sweetness of her wild Productions. The Culture of Indigo is brought to the same Perfection here, as in South Carolina, and is manufactured through all the Settlements from the Sea Coast, to the Extent of the interior Country." 2
On the 19th of November, 1765, the Ebenezer congregation was called upon to mourn the loss of its venerable spiritual guide. the Rev. Mr. Bolzius, who had been at once teacher and magistrate, counselor and friend, during the thirty years of poverty and pri- vation, labor and sorrow, hope and joy, passed in the wilds of Georgia. He was interred, amid the lamentations of his people, in the cemetery near Jerusalem Church and no stone marks his grave.
1 History of the Province of Georgia,
etc., p. 20. Wormsloe. 1849.
2 History of the Province of Georgia, etc. pp. 21, 22. Wormsloe. 1849.
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376
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
After his demise the conduct of the society devolved upon Messrs. Lembke and Rabenhorst. This involved not only the spiritual care of the people, but also the preservation and proper management of the mill-establishments and public property be- longing to the Ebenczer Congregation. " These two faithful men," writes the Rev. P. A. Strobel,1 " labored harmoniously and successfully in the discharge of their heavy civil and religious obligations, and gave entire satisfaction to those with whose inter- ests they were intrusted." During their administration the large brick house of worship, known as Jerusalem Church, was built. The materials used in its construction were, for the most part, supplied by the Salzburgers, while the funds necessary to defray the cost of erection were contributed by friends in Germany.
Upon the death of Mr. Lembke, the Rev. Christopher F. Triebner "was sent over by the religious fathers in Germany as an adjunct to Mr. Rabenhorst. Being a young man of talents, but of an impetuous and ambitious disposition, he soon raised such a tumult in the quiet community that all the efforts of the famous Dr. Muhlenburg, who was ordered on a special mission to Ebenezer in 1774 to heal the disturbances which had arisen, barely saved the congregation from disintegration. The schism was, however, finally cured, and peace was restored." For the better government of the society, articles of discipline were pre- pared by Dr. Muhlenburg, which were formally subscribed by one hundred and twenty-four male members. This occurred at Jerusalem Church on the 16th of January, 1775, and affords sub- stantial evidence of the strength of the congregation.
The property belonging to the church, according to an inven- tory made by Dr. Muhlenburg in 1775, consisted of the following items : -
"1. In the hands of Pastor Rabenhorst a capital of £300 16s. 5d.
" 2. In the hands of John Casper Wertsch, for the store, £300.
" 3. In the mill treasury, notes and money, £229 16s. 2d.
"4. Pastor Triebner has some money in hands, (£400), the application of which has not been determined by our Reverend Fathers.
"5. Belonging to the Church is a Negro Boy at Mr. John Floerls', and a Negro Girl at Mr. David Steiner's.
" 6. A town-lot and an out-lot, of which Mr. John Triebner has the grant in his hands.
1 The Sultzburgers and their Descendants, etc., p. 149. Baltimore. 1855.
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THE CONGREGATION AT EBENEZER.
" 7. An inventory of personal goods in the mills belonging to the estate.
"8. And, finally, real estate, with the mills, 925 acres of land."
Including certain legacies from private individuals and dona- tions from patrons of the colony in Germany, it is conjectured that this church property was then worth not much less than twenty thousand dollars.
So long as the congregation at Ebenezer preserved its integrity, direct allegiance to the parent church in Germany was acknowl- edged, its precepts, orders, and deliverances were obeyed, its teachers welcomed and respected, and accounts of all receipts, disbursements, and important transactions regularly rendered. Its pastors continued to be charged with the administration of affairs, both spiritual and temporal, and were the duly constituted custodians of all church funds and property. Upon their arri- val in Georgia these Salzburgers, wearied with persecutions and stripped of the small possessions which were once theirs, were at first quite dependent upon public and private charity for bare subsistence. They were then unable, by voluntary contributions, to sustain their pastors and teachers and to build churches. Foreign aid arrived, however, from time to time, and this was supplemented in a small yet generous way by the labor of the parishioners and by such sums and articles as could be spared from their slow accumulations. With a view to providing for the future, all means thus derived were carefully invested for the benefit of church and pastor. This system was maintained for more than fifty years, so that in the course of time not only were churches erected, but reasonable provision was made for clergy- man, teacher, and orphan. The education of youths was not neglected ; and DeBrahm assures us that in his day a library had been accumulated at Ebenezer in which "could be had Books wrote in the Caldaic, Hebrew, Arabec, Siriac, Coptic, Malabar, Greek, Latin, French, German, Dutch and Spanish, beside the English, viz : in thirteen Languages." 1
The efforts of the trustees to encourage the cultivation of the grape proved even more futile than those expended in the pro- duction of silk. No practical results were reached except such as entailed loss and disappointment. From the experiment of Abraham DeLyon, who procured vines from Portugal and planted them upon his garden-lot in Savannah, much good was anticipated. Although encouraged by the trustees, the business did not expand
1 History of the Province of Georgia, etc., p. 24. Wormslue. 1849.
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THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
into proportions sufficient to claim public attention, and the col- ony, as a wine-producing community, proved an utter failure.
As illustrating the carly hopes entertained, and as presenting the only picture of a Georgia colonial vineyard which has been handed down to us, we reproduce the following from Colonel Wil- liam Stephens' " Journal of Proceedings in Georgia : " 1 " Tues- day, December 6th, 1737. After dinner walked out to see what Improvement of Vines were made by one Mr. Lyon a Portugese Jew, which I had heard some talk of; and indeed nothing had given me so much Pleasure since my Arrival as what I found here ; though it was yet (if I may say it properly), only a Minia- ture, for he had cultivated only for two or three Years past about half a Score of them which he received from Portugal for an Ex- periment ; and by his Skill and Management in pruning &c. they all bore this Year very plentifully a most beautiful, large Grape as big as a Man's Thumb, almost pellucid, and Bunches exceed- ing big; all which was attested by Persons of unquestionable Credit (whom I had it from) but the Season now would allow me only to see the Vines they were gathered from, which were so flourishing and strong that I saw one Shoot, of this last Year only, which he allowed to grow from the Root of a bearing Vine, as big as my Walking-Cane, and run over a few Poles laid to receive it, at least twelve or fourteen Foot, as near as I could judge. From these he has raised more than a Hundred, which he has planted all in his little Garden behind his House at about four Foot Distance each, in the Manner and Form of a Vineyard : They have taken Root and are about one Foot and a half high; the next Year he says he does not doubt raising a Thousand more, and the Year following at least five Thousand. I could not be- lieve (considering the high Situation of the Town upon a Pine Bar- ren, and the little Appearance of such Productions in these little Spots of Ground annexed to the House) but that he had found some proper Manure wherewith to improve the sandy Soil ; but he assured me it was nothing but the natural Soil, without any other Art than his Planting and Pruning which he seemed to set some Value on from his Experience in being bred among the Vineyards in Portugal ; and, to convince the World that he in- tends to pursue it from the Encouragement of the Soil proving so proper for it, he has at this Time hired four Men to clear and prepare as much Land as they possibly can upon his forty-five Acre Lot, intending to convert every Foot of the whole that is fit
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