USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia: containing brief sketches of the most remarkable events, up to the present day, Vol. I > Part 2
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
colony, except such officers as should be ap- pointed for managing, collecting and receiving such of his majesty's revenues as should arise within the said province, with a proviso, that every governor so appointed, should be appro- ved by his majesty, and qualify himself, as of- ten as governors in America, are by law re- quired to do, and give security for observing the acts of parliament relating to trade and navigation ; and obeying all instruction from his majesty or any acting under his authority, pursuant to the said acts. And granted, that the said corporation, for the said term of twen- ty-one years, from the date of the said letters patent, should have power by any commander or other officer for that purpose appointed, to train, instruct, exercise and govern the militia, for the special defence and safety of the said colony ; to assemble in martial array, and put in war- like posture, the inhabitants of the said colony ; and in time of actual war, invasion or rebel- lion, to use and exercise the law martial, and also to erect forts, and fortify any place or places within the said colony, and the same to furnish with all necessary ammunition, provi- sion and stores of war for offence and defence, and from time to time to commit the custody and government of them to such person or per- sons, as to them should seem meet ; declaring that the governor or commander in chief of South-Carolina, should have the chief command
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
of the militia of Georgia, and that they should observe his orders. And granted, that the said corporation should have power to import or export their goods, at or from any port or ports that should be appointed by his majesty within the said province for that purpose, without be- ing obliged to touch at any other port in Caroli- na. And declared, that after the end of the said twenty-one years, such form of government and method of making laws, statutes and ordinan- ces for the government of the said province and its inhabitants, should be observed and establish- ed within the same, as his majesty, his heirs and successors should ordain and appoint, and should be agreeable to law ; and that after the end of the said twenty-one years, the governor and all of- ficers, civil and military, within the said province, should be appointed by his majesty, his heirs and successors.
In pursuance of this charter, the trustees (of whom lord Purcival was president) met in London about the middle of July, for the purpose of fixing on some fit person to superintend the settlement of the colony, and to establish rules for its govern- ment : and in order to fulfil the intents and pur- poses therein expressed, it was thought neces- cessary for the trustees to send over such poor people and foreign protestants, as were willing to live in Georgia, not only to cultivate the lands, but at the same time to strengthen the other colonies. The inhabitants were to be conside
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
ered as planters and soldiers, and were provided with arms for their defence, as well as tools for cultivation ; and a due portion of attention was occasionally to be turned to the exercise of both. Towns were to be laid out for their settlements, and lands allotted to each of them for their main- tenance as near to these towns as convenient, that they might never have occasion to be too far dis- tant from their towns, which were to be regarded as their garrisons, so that each man might reach his post of defence at short notice, in case of emergency. As the military strength of the pro- vince was particularly to be taken care of, it was deemed necessary to establish such tenures of lands as might most effectually preserve the num- ber of planters, or soldiers, equal to the number of lots of land within a narrow compass; there- fore each lot of land was to be considered as a mil- itary fief, and to contain so much in quantity as should be deemed equal to the support of a plan- ter and his family-fifty acres were judged suffi- cient, and not too much for that purpose, and pro- vision was made to prevent an accumulation of several lots into the claim or possession of any one person, lest the garrison should be lessened and the defence weakened; and likewise to pre- vent a division of these lots into smaller parcels, since each lot when entire, was deemed no more than sufficient for one planter, but if sub-divided, would be too scanty for a subsistence, and be- come useless. -
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732:
. In the infancy of the colony, the lands were to be granted in tail male, in preference to any other tenure, as the most likely to answer these purposes; for if the grants were to be made in tail general, it was thought that the strength of each township would soon be diminished, in as much as every female heir in tail, who was un. married, would have been entitled to one lot, and consequently have taken from the garrison the portion of one soldier ; and by intermarriages, several lots might have been united into one ; and if such tenant in tail general, had several daughters, his lot must have been divided equal- ly amongst them as coparceners. Other incon- veniencies were thought likely to arise from es- tates in tail general : women being incapable of acting as soldiers, or serving on juries ; these duties and many others, such as watchings, ward- ings, &c. would return so much oftener to each man, in proportion as the number of the men in the township was lessened, and by that means become very burthensome to the remaining male lot holders ; and in case of an attack from an ene- my, the township would be less able to make a defence ; and as it was not thought proper to grant estates in tail general, it appeared to be more inconvenient to grant them in fee simple, which estate would have been attended with all the objections before mentioned, incident to es- tates in tail general. The right of alienation be- ing inseparable from any estate in fee, the grantee
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
might have sold, mortgaged, or aliened his lands to whomsoever he thought fit, which was a pow- er not to be intrusted with the people sent over, for the following reasons :
- Ist. From a consideration of their condition.
2d. From a consideration of the purposes for which they were sent.
3d. From a consideration of the persons to , whom lands might be aliened .- And
4th. From a consideration that it might occa. sion a monopoly of lands contrary to the true in. tent and meaning of the charter.
As to the first ; the persons to be sent over were poor indigent people, who had for the most part, so indiscreetly managed what they had previous- Jy been the owners of, that it did not seem safe or proper to entrust so absolute a property in their hands, at least in the infancy of the colony ; until by a careful and industrious deportment, they had given some evidences to induce a belief that they would prove more judicious and dis. creet managers for the future.
As to the second ; they were sent over to inha. bit, cultivate and secure by a personal residence, the lands granted to them within the province ; and they voluntarily engaging so to do, and in expectation that they would perform these en- gagements, they were to be maintained at the ex. pense of the public, or the trustees, during their voyage, and their passages paid, and were provid- . cd with tools, arms, seeds, and other necessaries,
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
and supported from the public store ; for which reasons the public may be said to have purchased these people, for a valuable consideration. Their personal residence and all the industry and la- bor they would bestow in the cultivation of the province, for a considerable time, would not com- pensate the public and the proprietors for their expenses.
As to the third ; it was thought unsafe to grant them such an estate, as it might be the means of introducing such sort of people as would defeat what the trustees had always at heart, viz. the preservation of the protestant religion in that province, which was necessary to be taken care of, both on a political and religious account ; the French lying on the west, and the Spaniards on the south of the province of Georgia.
As to the fourth ; a monopoly of several lots into one hand would necessarily have been the consequence of a free liberty of buying and sel- ling lands within the province, which would have been directly contrary to the objects, intent and meaning of the charter, whereby the grant of lands to any one person, is limited to five hun- dred acres.
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And a further inconvenience seemed likely to arise in every case, where the tenant in fee died without issue, or without having disposed of his lot by will ; the heir general who might have the right to it, might not happen to be found out for many years after, especially if he was a foreign
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1752.
protestant, and in that time the buildings and improvements might fall into ruins, to the great damage and inconvenience of the adjoining lot- holders. These restraints were intended for the good of the whole, and whenever particular cases required it, they were to be taken off and dis- pensed with : and upon any application for leave to alienate lands, licences were always to be granted under certain restrictions for that pur- pose ; and when the succession of females be- came less dangerous to the province, by the growing strength and increase of the people, and by the security provided for it by his majesty's forces, the trustees resolved then, to enlarge the tenures of the lands to estates in tail general.
The tenures being thus settled, it was thought necessary to require of the inhabitants, that they should cultivate their lands within such given time as should be specified in their grants; and in order to raise raw silk, which was contem- plated as one of the principal objects of attention, a certain proportion of white mulberry trees were to be planted, and in their respective grants, ten years were to be allowed for the cultivation, and one hundred white mulberry trees were to be planted on every ten acres of land when cleared ; with a power. vested in the trustees to re-enter such lands as should remain uncultivated. And as other persons applied to the trustees for grants of land, in order to come over and settle at their own expense, particular grants were made under
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
the same tenure, and on the following conditions : viz. that they should within twelve months from the date of their grants, go to and arrive in Geor. gia, with one man servant for every fifty acres granted them, and should with such servants a. bide, settle, inhabit and continue there for three years : that they should within ten years, clear and cultivate one fifth part of the land granted them ; and within the next ten years, clear and cultivate three fifth parts more of the said lands, and plant one thousand white mulberry trees up- on every one hundred acres thereof when clear. ed ; and that they should not at any time hire, keep, lodge, board or employ any negro within the colony of Georgia, on any conditions what. soever, without special leave from the trustees : which conditions were readily approved of, and counterparts executed by all such as chose to become adventurers ; and to those who desired to name their successors on failure of male issue, special covenants were entered into by the trus- tees for that purpose, agreeable to their own pro- positions; and by way of encouragement to their male servants to behave well, like cove- nants were entered into, to grant to every such man servant, when requested thereunto by any writing under the hand and seal of the master, twenty acres of land under the same tenure.
In the execution of this laudable plan, the trus- tees having first set the example themselves, by largely contributing towards the scheme, under-
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
took to solicit benefactions from others, and to apply the money towards clothing, arming, pur- chasing utensils for cultivation, and transporting such poor people as should consent to go over and begin a settlement. They did not confine their views to the subjects of Great-Britain alone, but wisely and humanely opened a door also, for oppressed and indigent protestants from oth- er nations. To prevent any misapplication or abuse of the charitable donations, they agreed to deposit the money in the bank of England, and to enter in a book to be kept for that purpose, the names of all the charitable benefactors, to- gether with the sums contributed by each of them ; and to bind and oblige themselves, and their successors in office, to lay a statement of the money received and expended, before the lord chancellor of England, the lords chief justi- ces of the king's bench and common pleas, the master of the rolls, and the lord chief baron of the exchequor.
When this scheme of the trustees with respect to the settlement of Georgia, was made public, the well wishers of mankind in every part of Great-Britain, highly approved of an undertaking so humane and disinterested. To consult the public happiness, regardless of private interest, and to stretch forth a bountiful hand for the re- lief of their distressed fellow-creatures, were considered as examples of uncommon benevo- lence and virtue ; therefore worthy of general
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
imitation. The ancient Romans, famous for their courage and magnanimity, ranked the plan- ting of colonies amongst their noblest works, which added greater lustre to their empire, than the most glorious wars and victories. By the latter, old cities and countries were plundered and destroyed ; by the former, new ones were founded and established : the latter ravaged the dominions of enemies, and depopulated the world; the former improved new territories, pro- vided for unfortunate friends, and added strength to the state. The benevolent founders of the colony of Georgia, perhaps may challenge the annals of any nation, to produce a design more generous and praise-worthy than the one which they had undertaken. They voluntarily offered their money, labor and time, for promoting what appeared to them, the good of others, leav- ing themselves no other reward, than the gratifi- cation arising from virtuous actions. Amongst other great ends which they had in view, was the civilization of the savages : if their regula- tions were not effectual in accomplishing the laudable purposes they had in contemplation ; if their plan of settlement proved too narrow and circumscribed, they are nevertheless, enti- tled to all the credit due to their praise-worthy intentions, and disinterested motives. In con- formity with the charter, a common seal was ordered to be made ; the device was, on one side, two figures resting upon urns, representing
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
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the rivers Alatamaha and Savannah, the north- eastern and south-western boundaries of the province ; between them the genius of the co. lony was seated, with a cap of liberty on her head, a spear in one hand, and a cornucopia in the other, with the inscription, COLONIA GEOR. GIA AUG ! on the other side was a representa- tion of silk worms, some beginning and others having finished their webbs, with the motto, NON SIBI SED ALIIS ; a very proper emblem, sig- nifying that the nature of the establishment was such, that neither the first trustees, nor their successors, could have any views to their own interest, it being entirely designed for the benefit and happiness of others. The intentions of the trustees, principally, in forming this colony, were to provide for poor people, who were incapable of subsisting themselves and families in Europe, and to settle a frontier to South-Carolina, which was much exposed by the small number of its white inhabitants ; it was therefore determined to prohibit the use of negro slaves : it was also thought impossible that the poor who should be sent from hence, and the foreign persecuted pro- testants, who must go in a manner naked into the colony, could be able to purchase or subsist ne- groes if they had them, and that it would be a charge too great for the trustees to undertake; and they would thereby be disabled from sending white people, whose habits they intended to change to industry. The first cost of a negro
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
would be about thirty pounds sterling, and this sum would be sufficient to pay the passage over, provide tools and other necessaries, and defray the other charges and subsistence of a white man for one year ; in which time it might be hoped that the planters own labor would produce him some subsistence ; consequently the purchase money of every negro, abstracting the expense of subsisting him as well as his master, by being applied that way, would prevent the sending over a white man, who would be a security to the province ; whereas the negro would render that security more precarious. It was thought the white man, by having a negro slave, would be less disposed to labor himself, and that a great portion of his time would be employed in keep- ing the negro at work, and in watching against any danger he or his family might apprehend from the slave ; and that the planters wife and children would by the decease or absence of the husband, be at the mercy of the negro. It was also apprehended that the Spaniards at Augus- tine, would be continually inveigling away their negroes and encouraging them to insurrections : That the first might be easily accomplished, has been confirmed in many instances in Carolina, and an asylum furnished by the Spaniards in times of profound peace; and insurrections had been excited from the same source to the great terror . of the people, and even endangered the loss of the province, though it had been established so
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
many years. The white population was scarcely equal to a secure defence against internal inva- sion. It was also calculated that the sort of pro- duce designed to be attended to in the colony, would not require such labor as to make the as. sistance of negroes necessary : the produce of Carolina was chiefly rice, consequently required the labor of that description of people, to make it profitable ; whereas the silk and other products, intended by the trustees, to be encouraged in Georgia, were of that light kind of work, where poor women and children might be usefully and advantageously employed. It was also appre- hended that if the persons who would go over to Georgia at their own expense, were permitted to own negroes, it would dispirit and ruin the poor people who could not purchase them, and who by their numbers, were intended to give strength to the province. That upon the admis- sion of negroes, the wealthy planters would, as in other colonies, be induced to absent them- selves to more pleasant places of residence, leav- ing the care of their plantations and negroes to overseers ; that the poor planter sent on charity, from a desire to have slaves as well as those who settled at their own expense ; if leave was given to alienate, and mortgage his land to the negro merchant for the eventual payment, or at least become a debtor for the purchase of negroes ; and under these weights and discouragements would be induced to sell his slaves again upon
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any necessity, and would leave the province and his lot to his creditors ; consequently all his property would be swallowed up and himself ruined. The admission of negroes in Georgia, would also fa- cilitate the desertion of Carolina slaves, and in- stead of proving a frontier, would promote the evil which was intended to be checked, and give strength to the Spanish force at Augustine. In fine, it was the intention of the trustees, to peo- ple the new colony with industrious farmers, who should by their example, bring up their children in the same habits. The introduction of negroes would increase a propensity for idleness among the poor planters and their families, contrary to the fundamental principles of their charter and constitution.
When the trustees had made these dispositions and arrangements, and were enabled by benefac- tions from several private persons ; on the 3d of October, 1732, it was resolved to send over one hundred and fourteen persons, men, women and children, being such as were in decayed circum- stances, and thereby disabled from following any business in England, and who if in debt, had leave from their creditors to go, and such as were recommended by the minister, church wardens, and overseers of their respective parishes. James Edward Oglethorpe, esquire, one of the trustees. accompanied them at his own expense, for the purpose of forming the settlement. On the 24th of the same month, the people were all question.
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MSTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732.
ed, whether any of them had any objections to the terms and conditions proposed : four of them desired that their daughters might inherit . as well as their sons, and that the widows dower might be considered. The trustees resolved, that every person who should desire it, should have the privilege of naming a successor to the lands granted to them, who in case they should die without male issue, should hold the same to them and their male heirs forever ; and that the wid- dows should have their thirds as in England ; with which resolutions the people being made ac- quainted, were well satisfied, and executed arti- cles under their hands and seals, testifying their consent thereto, which agreements were deposit- ed in the office of the trustees.
The trustees prepared forms of government, agreeably to the powers given them by the char- ter. They established under their seal, a court of judicature for trying criminal and civil causes, by the name and stile of the town court. They also appointed magistrates, bailiffs, a recorder, constables and tything-men.
On the 16th of November, 1732, the reverend Mr. Herbert, a clergyman of the church of Eng. land, and a man from Piedmont, engaged by the trustees to instruct the people in the art of wind- ing silk, and one hundred and fourteen persons, embarked on board of the ship Anne, captain Thomas. Several of the trustees went to graves- end, for the purpose of ascertaining whether .
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1732-33.
they were well accommodated and provided for, and left them well satisfied. At the time of their embarkation, five thousand acres of land were granted to three of the colonists, in trust for them or their survivors ; to make grants from time to time to every man of twenty years of age or upwards, who might afterwards arrive in Geor. gia ; to be divided into fifty acre lots, on the terms heretofore specified. Having every thing furnished them by the corporation, which was requisite for building and cultivation, and having nothing to risque but what arose from a change of climate, they could not properly be called ad- venturers. Mr. Oglethorpe was clothed with power to exercise the functions of a governor over the new colony, and proved a zealous and active promoter of the settlement.
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CHAPTER II.
ON the 13th of January, 1733, the ship Anne arrived in Charleston, where Oglethorpe and his party were received with the greatest hospi- tality by the governor and council. Governor Johnson, sensible of the great advantages that must accrue to Carolina from this new colony, gave all the encouragement and assistance in his
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
power to forward the settlement. Many of the Carolinians sent them provisions ; also hogs and cattle to begin their stock. William Bull and Jonathan Bryan, men of knowledge and ex- perience, accompanied Oglethorpe, and the ran- gers and scout boats were ordered to attend them to Georgia. The general assembly on the mo- tion of governor Johnson, voted that Oglethorpe should be furnished at the public expense with one hundred and four head of breeding cattle, twenty-five hogs and twenty barrels of rice ; and sent boats to carry these supplies to Savan- nah . some scout boats were also ordered with a body of rangers, to protect the adventurers from the insults of the natives, while they were pre- paring houses and fortifications, to defend them- selves. Oglethorpe had written to the trustces, informing them of his safe arrival in Charleston, with the loss of only two children at sea. After they had landed at Yamacraw bluff, Oglethorpe, Bryan and Bull, explored the country, and hav- ing found this high spot of ground, situated on a navigable river well suited for the purpose, they fixed on it as the most convenient and healthy v situation for the settlers. On this hill he marked out a town, and from the Indian name of the river, which run past it, called it Savannah.
The following letter was written by governor Oglethorpe, to the trustees in London :
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1733.
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