USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia: containing brief sketches of the most remarkable events, up to the present day, Vol. I > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22
1 49
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
he had made on his estate, was on the 5th of Fe- bruary 1735, paid in pursuance of an order to that effect, for the use of his daughter in England, who being destitute, would have been absolutely unable to proceed in the cultivation of her fa- ther's lot.
The addition to the population this year, at the trustees expense, were eighty-one ; princi- pally Saltzburghers, who joined their country- men at Ebenezer. Two thousand five hundred acres of land was granted this year to the poor, and one thousand nine hundred acres were grant- ed to such persons as came over on their own account : the contributions for this year amounted to 31,4161. 7s. 7d. sterling.
The attention of Oglethorpe, was at an early period after his arrival in the colony, directed to the opening of a communication to the source of navigation on the Savannah river. He ac- cordingly extended his settlements up that ri- ver as far as his claims by treaty would justify. The Saltzburghers, a hardy race of people who had been driven out of the electorate of Bavaria, by persecution, on account of their adherence to the tenets of the protestant religion, were settled about Ebenezer, twenty-five miles from Savan- nah-the lands between Ebenezer and the river of briers, (brier creek) belonged to a tribe of In- dians called . Uchees, who refused to dispose of them. Two forts were built on the north-east side of the river which answered the purpose.
=
50
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
Establishments were made at. mount pleasant, silver bluff -Moore's fort was built at a place called by the natives Savannah Town, seven miles above New-Windsor, and near the falls. The trustees ordered the town of Augusta to be laid off in 1735, and garrisoned in 1736: several ware-houses were built and furnished with goods suitable for the Indian trade-boats were built by the inhabitants calculated to carry about ten thousand weight of peltry ; making four or five voyages annually to Charleston. Augusta be- came a general resort for the Indian traders in the spring, where they purchased annually about V two thousand pack-horse loads of peltry : and ' including towns-men, pack-horse-men and ser- vants, it was calculated that six hundred white persons were engaged in this trade. A path was opened to Savannah which was passable on horse back : a stock of cattle was placed at Eebene- zer belonging to the trustees, but were neglected for want of horses to attend to them. Amongst the emigrants of the last year (1734) were twenty families of Jews, for whom land was laid off in the neighborhood of Savannah.
The next colonists in 1735, were principally Saltzburghers, who joined the settlement of their compatriots at Ebenezer ; these were honest in- dustrious farmers, never complained of their con- dition or treatment, and appeared to be duly im- pressed with a sense of their obligationis to the trustees.
?
.
un
0
51
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
The Rev. Mr Boltzius in his letters to Ger- many, represents Ebenezer to be very healthy- he says that his congregation consisted of one hundred and thirty persons, by which it is sup- posed he meant grown people, and that only one death occurred in a whole year, and the deceased was a youth : he afterwards mentions their being afflicted by disease, occasioned by opening rice lands, and making a cross-way through Ebene. zer swamp ; and that the only part of the settlers who were generally unhealthy in the colony, were the idle and dissipated who lived in and about Savannah.
When Oglethorpe left Georgia, which was in April 1734, the charge of the colony was confided principally to Thomas Causton, who was a bailiff or magistrate, and store-keeper. Other magistrates were associated with him, who were considered nominal characters, entirely under his control. The settlers preferred against him such charges as these-that he had threatened jurors, whose verdicts did not correspond with his inclination or humor ; and being of low ori- gin he became intoxicated with the powers vest. ed in him : he was proud, haughty and cruel ; that he compelled eight freeholders with an officer, to attend at the door of the court-house while it was in session, with their guns and bayonets ; who had orders to rest their firelocks as soon as he appeared : that juries from ter- ror of him could not act according to their con-
-
L
52
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
sciences : that his head was turned by power and pride ; and that he threatened without dis- tinction, rich and poor, strangers and inhabitants, who dared to oppose his arbitrary proceedings, or claimed their just rights and privileges, with the jail, stocks and whipping post : that he thus rendered his name a terror to the people-he was charged with mis-applying the public money and other property, giving more than their due to his favorites, and withholding the just claims of those who dared to oppose the injustice of his proceedings. The inhabitants of Carolina, had in public and private donations, contributed up- wards of 13001. sterling, to aid and encourage the settlement of Georgia ; and seeing the funds dissipated uselessly by Causton, and out of regard to the welfare of their fellow-creatures, persuaded many of them to abandon their settlements in Georgia, and pass over into their province.
In December 1734, Mr. Gordon as chief ma- gistrate, was sent over by the trustees to Savan- nah : he is represented to have been a man of some talents, and soon became a favorite with the people-they laid their grievances before him, and he made an effort to restore harmony and good order; but old Causton's cunning soon pointed out an expedient to remove his adver- sary-Gordon was refused either money or pro- visions from the public store, which in a short time rendered him incapable of supporting him- self and family ; and he was obliged after a stay
53
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
of six weeks to return to England-he promised to represent the grievances of the people to the trustees : whether he resigned, or was removed from the office of first bailiff, is not known- Causton however was appointed in his stead. There was amongst the bailiffs, one Henry Parker, a man of mild temper and moderate capacity, of a large family and was dependant on the public store for subsistence-therefore whenever Caus- ton designed to gain a favorite point, he threaten- ed him with the exercise of his power, in with- holding subsistence from himself and family : Mr. Christie, the recorder was easily over-ruled by the other two. After Gordon's dismission or re- signation, Mr. Durn was appointed ; he was said to be seventy years of age, and crazed both in bo- dy and mind; he died soon after he was appointed : his successor Robert Gilbert, could neither read nor write, so that after Gordon's departure, Caus- ton met no formidable opposition to his arbitrary proceedings. Captain Joseph Watson, is menti- oned amongst the victims of Causton's tyranni- cal administration : he had brought a charge against this militia officer, for stirring up animosi- ties in the minds of the Indians : he was indicted and brought to trial, in which Causton is repre- sented in the three-fold capacities of witness, ad- vocate and judge. The jury returned twice with- out finding the prisoner guilty of any crime, but that of having used some unguarded expressions : Causton desired the jury to return, find him guil-
54
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735 ..
ty, and recommend him to the mercy of the court, immagining or supposing he might be lu- natic : the jury then found him guilty of lunacy : the judge ordered him to prison, where he re- mained near three years (though he had offered good security) without pronouncing any sen- tence. Many other instances of the cruelty of this judge are mentioned amongst the grievances of the colonists-among other matters are, that the British nation was deceived with the fame of a happy flourishing colory, and of its being free from that pest and scourge of mankind called lawyers ; for want of whose legal assistance, the poor miserable inhabitants were exposed to a more arbitrary government, than was ever exer. cised in Turkey or Muscovy. Looks were cri- minal, and the grand sin of opposing justice to authority, was punished without mercy : that a light-house was commenced of wood and the frame was rotten before it was erected ; that the lofty fabric had never been covered and was go- ing to ruins : that prisons and log-houses of vari- ous sorts were alternately built and razed, and that most part of them were better calculated for dungeons in the Spanish inquisition, than British goals. Irons, whipping-posts, gibbets, &c. were . provided to keep the inhabitants in perpetual terror; innocence afforded no protection; and for some time there were more imprisonments, whipping. &c. of the white people, in this colony of liberty, than in all British America besides:
. .
-
-
55
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
Corn-mills, saw-mills, public roads, trustees plan- tations, (as they were called) wells, forts, &c. were commenced for the purpose of amusing the world, and maintaining a few creatures who as- sisted in keeping the poor colonists in subjection. Such were the complaints against the trustees and civil authority, while Oglethorpe was absent. If the code of English law was found unequal to the government of a majority of these people, it was not to be supposed that their vices could be con- 'trolled by a mild system, under the administration of a few ignorant magistrates.
During the absence of Oglethorpe from the colony, exertions had been made to cultivate the vine and mulberry, to make wine and silk : those best acquainted with the cultivation of them had been employed, with the assistance of common laborers, on a spot of ground which was enclosed at the east end of Savannah, called the trustees garden ; and perhaps a more improper place could not have been fixed on. After being dug up and exposed to a few rains, they found themselves cultivating a poor bed of sand, which in the heat of summer would have roasted an egg. The trees did not flourish and the vines were parched with heat. Having laid off the fifty acre lots for each farmer indiscriminately, several of them in point of quality, corresponded with the garden : the people grew dissatisfied and became clamo- rous against the trustecs, while the colony was yet in the bud. Drunkenness and irregularities
dreilins
56
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1755.
began to, prevail in a formidable degree. The law prohibiting strong drink could not be enforc- ed ; the people deemed the use of ardent spirits necessary for the preservation of health.
The principal part of the people who had been sent over at the trustees expense, were picked up in the streets of London, and outcasts from other parts of the kingdom, and would probably have been dissatisfied with the best possible arrange- ' ments which could have been made for them ; and that industrious farmers were to be formed out of such materials, immediately after their ar- rival in Georgia, was one of these extraordinary events, which on common calculation, could not have been expected.
Admitting the humane intentions of the trus- tees, and allowing them all the credit which is due for their laudable intentions ; perhaps the im- magination of man could scarcely have framed a system of rules worse adapted to the circumstan- ces and situation of the poor settlers, and of more pernicious consequence to the prosperity of the province.
The colony was designed to be a barrier to South-Carolina, against the Spanish settlement at Augustine ; they immagined that negroes would rather weaken than strengthen it ; and that the poor colonists would run in debt and ruin themselves by the purchase of slaves. The use of rum was judged pernicious to health, and ru- inous to an infant settlement : a free trade with
---
----
57
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
the Indians, was considered as a thing that would produce quarrels with a powerful nation of sava- ges : such were probably the motives of the trustees in imposing such ill judged and ridicu- lous restrictions on the colony of Georgia, from which the adjoining colony of South-Carolina, separated only by a narrow river, was entirely free. There the people could buy as many negroes as they pleased ; possess by a fee simple title several hundred acres of land, and choose it from the best that was vacant; purchase as much rum as they might desire, deal with the Indians without restriction, and in short they enjoyed all those privileges which were denied to Georgia. The trustees like other distant legislators, who framed their regulations upon speculative princi- ples, were liable to many errors and mistakes ; and however good their design, their rules were found unwise, and indeed impracticable.
The Carolinians plainly perceived that these regulations must prove insuperable obstacles to the progress and prosperity of the colony, and therefore from motives of pity, invited the - Georgians to cross the Savannah river and settle amongst them, convinced that they could never succeed under such impolitic and oppressive re- strictions. Remonstrances were made to the trustees that their garden would neither produce mulberries or grapes, from its extreme poverty, and they sreming sensible of their error, gave · orders to choose another spot of ground of better
I
58
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
:quality. Abraham De Leon, a jew, who had been .many years a vigneron in Portugal, and was a free. holder in Savannah, cultivated several kinds of · grapes in his garden, and amongst others, reared .the Oporto and Malaga to great perfection : of this he sent home an attested account to the trus- tees, proposing that if they would lend him, upon such security as he offered, two hundred pounds sterling for three years without interest, he would employ that, and a farther sum of his own, in bringing across the atlantic from Portugal, vines and vignerons ; that he would bind himself to re- turn the money within the time mentioned, and have growing within the colony, forty thousand such vines, which he would furnish to the free- holders at moderate rates-the trustees were sa- tisfied with the security, and accepted the propo- sal, but the advances were neglected and the de. sign relinquished.
While Oglethorpe was in England in 1735, rules were drawn up by the trustees, for further encouraging the settlement of Georgia ; and that the persons who were transported at the expense of the trustees, might not be misled, copies of these rules were printed and circulated. The trustees intended to lay out another county and build a new town in Georgia. That they would give to such persons as they sent upon their cha- rity ; to every grown male, a watch-coat, musket, and bayonet, hatchet, hammer, hand-saw, shod- shovel or spade, broad-hoe, narrow-hoc, gimblet,
احافات
59
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
and drawing knife ; and a public grind-stone to : each ward or village; and to each man an iron pot, pot-hooks and frying pan : and for his main- . tenance for one year, three hundred pounds of . beef or pork, one hundred and fourteen pounds of rice, one hundred and fourteen pounds of pease, one hundred and fourteen pounds of flour, forty-four gallons of strong beer, sixty-four quarts of molasses for brewing beer, eighteen pounds of cheese, nine pounds of butter, nine ounces of. spice, nine pounds of sugar, five gallons of vine -. gar, thirty pounds of salt, twelve quarts of lamp oil, and twelve pounds of soap-and to the mo- thers, wives, children and other females, of twelve years of age and upwards, the same allowances of provisions, &c. with the exception of beer : half allowance for children of seven and under twelve years, and from two to seven years of age, one third : passage paid, sea stores allowed, &c. And the said persons to enter into the following covenants before embarkation-That they would repair on board such ship as should be provided for carrying them to the province of Georgia ; and during the voyage, demean themselves qui- etly, soberly and obediently, and go to such place in the said province of Georgia, and there obey all such orders as should be given them for the better settling, establishing and governing the. said colony : and that for the first twelve months. from their landing in the said province, would work and labor in clearing their lands, making ha-
F 1
7
1
60
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
bitations, and necessary defences, and on all other works for the common good and public weal of the said province, at such times, in such manner, and according to such plans and directions, as should be given them. And that they, from and after the expiration of the said twelve months, would, during the next succeeding two years, abide, settle and inhabit in the said province of Georgia ; . and cultivate the lands which should be to them and their male heirs severally allotted and given, by all such ways and means as ac- cording to their several abilities and skill, they should be best able and capable : all such persons were to be settled in the same colony, either in new towns or new villages : those in the towns should have each of them a lot, sixty feet in front and ninety feet in depth, whereon they were to build a house, and have as much land in the coun- try, as in the whole, would make up fifty acres- those in the villages, would each of them have a lot of fifty acres, upon which they were to build their houses ; the tenure, fencing, cultivation, &c. of the lands as heretofore mentioned, with a rent charge of two shillings and six-pence sterling on every fifty acre lot, for the support of the colony ; but the payment was not to commence until ten years after the grant. None were to have the benefit of the charity fund for their transportation, subsistence, &c. except those of the following description :- Ist. Such as were in decayed cir- cumstances, and thereby disabled from following
61
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
any profitable business in England, and who if in debt, must obtain the consent of their creditors. 2d. Such as have numerous families of children, if assisted by their respective parishes, and recom- mended by the minister, church-wardens and overseers thereof. The trustees expected to have a good character of the emigrants, because no drunkards or vicious persons would be taken .- The better to enable the said persons to build the new town, and clear their lands, the trustees al- lowed every freeholder to take over with him, one male servant or apprentice of the age of eighteen years and upwards, to be bound for no less than four years ; and by way of loan to such freeholder, advanced the charges of passage for such servant or apprentice, and furnished him with the clothi- ing and provision hereafter mentioned, to be de- livered in such portions, and at such times, as the trustees should think proper to direct :- A pallet, bolster, blanket, a frock and trowsers of linsey- woolsey, a shirt, frock and trowsers of ozna- burgs, a pair of shoes from England, and two pair of country shoes ; two hundred pounds of meat, three hundred and forty-two pounds of rice, pease, or Indian corn-the expenses of which pas- sage, clothing and provisions, were to be reim- bursed to the trustees by the master, within the third year from their embarkation from England. And to each man servant and the male heirs of . his body forever, and after the expiration of his service, upon a certificate from his master, of his
-
-
-
·
62.
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
faithful.services, were to be granted twenty acres of land, under such rents and agreements, as shall have been then last granted to any other man ser- vant in like circumstances.
These rules and regulations were entered into the 2d of July, 1735 : other conditions were added; to such persons as would carry over ten men ser- wants and settle with them in Georgia, at their own expense, and whose characters the trustees, upon enquiry, should approve of, would be grant- ed five hundred acres of land in tail male, and to descend to the male heirs of their bodies forever, under the yearly rents of twenty shillings ster- ling for every hundred acres, for the support of the colony ; the payment not to commence until ten years after the grant ; and the land is so grant- ed upon the following conditions and covenants : that such persons should pay. the rent reserved as the same became due, and no part to be unpaid six months after due ; that they, within a month of the grant should register the same, or a memo- rial thereof, with the auditor of the plantations ; that they, within twelve months from the grant, should go to and arrive in Georgia, with ten able bodied men servants, being each of the age of twenty years and upwards : that they should abide in Georgia with such men servants three years from the time of registering the grant, build- ing their houses and cultivating their lands : that they should clear and cultivate within ten years from the date of their grants, two hundred acres,
1
63
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
part of the said five hundred, and plant two thou- sand white mulberry trees, or plants thereupon ; and on every hundred of the other three hundred acres, one thousand white mulberry trees, or plants, when cleared, and preserve the same quantity from time to time thereupon ; the trus- tees, obliging themselves to furnish the plants ; that they should not alienate the said five hun- dred acres of land, or any part thereof for any term of years, or any estate or interest in the same, to any person or persons without special leave ; that they should not make pot-ash in part- nership without leave, but might make it them- selves, not in partnership. On the termina- tion of male descendants, who alone could inherit the land thus granted, the land to re- vert to the trust, and that they should not de- part the said province without licence. Each ser- vant serving four years, should be entitled to twenty acres of land, on the conditions before mentioned.
In the year 1735, the British parliament granted large sums of money, for settling and securing the colony of Georgia. The trustees thought it prudent to strengthen the southern part of the province by making a settlement on the Alatamaha river, to which they were the more strongly inclined by a memorial sent to the king from the governor and council of South-Caroli- na, dated 9th April 1734, wherein ; after thank- ing his majesty for his peculiar favor and protec-
1
L
.64
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735.
tion, and especially for his most benign care, so wisely calculated for the preservation of South- Carolina, by his royal charter to the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia ; and after representing the practices of the French and Spaniards, to seduce the Indians who were in amity with South-Carolina ; the attention of the French to improve their settlements, and their late increase in number, near ( arolina ; the defenceless condition of the province, and the danger of the inhabitants from their slaves, and the ruinous situation of the West India trade, in case the French should possess themselves of Carolina ; they add that the harbours and ports of Carolina and Georgia, enable his majesty to be absolute master of the passage through the gulf of Florida, and to impede at his pleasure, the transportation home, of the Spanish treasure, which, should his majesty's enemies possess, would then prove so many convenient harbours for them, to annoy a great part of the British trade to America, as well as that which was car- ried on through the gulf to Jamaica.
The British government having appropriated large sums of money to the settlement of Geor- gia, and deeming its rapid increase in population of the utmost importance to the other colonies, became more vigorous in their efforts. The first embarkations of poor people, collected from towns and cities, had been found equally idle, and useless members of society abroad, as
65
HISTORY OF GEORGIA, 1735-36.
they had been at home, and their conduct tend- ed rather to destroy than to promote the trus- tees intentions. A hardy bold race of men, ac- customed to rural economy, and laborious pur- suits, they were persuaded would be much bet- - ter adapted, both for cultivation and defence. To find men possessed of these qualifications, the trustees turned their eyes to Germany and the high lands of Scotland, and resolved to send over a number of Scotts and Germans to their infant province. When they published their terms at Inverness, one hundred and thirty high- landers accepted the proposals, and were trans- ported to Georgia-a township on the Alatama- ha, was allotted for the residence of the former ; on which dangerous situation they settled and built a town, which they called New Inverness, (now Darien)-about the same time one hun- dred and seventy Germans embarked with Ogle- thorpe, who settled at Ebenezer : so that Geor- gia had received from the old world, in the space of three years, about six hundred inhabitants, near two hundred of whom were Germans. Af- terwards several adventurers from Scotland and Germany, followed their countrymen, and the trustees flattered themselves with the hope of soon seeing their colony in a flourishing condi- tion.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.