Newspaper Page Text
Then Oglethorpe went up the river,
and chose a situation for a town.
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' Map showing Savannah and other early coastal settlements of Georgia.
Note: The following quotations are
from individuals who witnessed, par
ticipated in, and helped to shape
Georgia's history. Taken from pam
phlets, notes, records, and journals
of the time, they open tiny windows
to the past to give us brief glimpses
of the early days of Savannah. This
is the fourth in a continuing series of
' Bicentennial messages spotlighting
Georgia published by Trust Company
of Georgia and its banks in the stale.
(Then Oglethorpe) “went up
the River, and chose a situation
for a Town;,and entered into a
)' treaty with Tomochichi, the
Micco, or Chief of the only na
tion of Indians living near it.
He returned (to Beaufort) on
the 24th day; and they cele
brated the Sunday following, as
a day of Thanksgiving for their
safe arrival; and . . . There
was a great resort of the Gen
tlemen of that neighborhood,
and their families;’and a plenti
ful Dinner provided for the
Colony, and all that came, by
Mr. Oglethorpe; being 4 fat
hogs, 8 turkies, besides fowls,
English Beef, and other pro
visions, a hogshead of punch, a
* hogshead of beer, and a large
quantity of wine; and, all was
disposed in so regular a man
ner, that no person was drunk,
nor any disorder happened.
THE
GENERAL ACCOUNT
or ALL
MONIES and EFFECTS
Efctirtd and E*panned by the
‘trustees
F* Efettitat tte Cata; if
GEORGIA in 'AMERICA.
*
■“Being arrived, on the'lst of
February, at the intended town,
before night they erected 4
large tents, sufficient to hold all
the people, being one for each
tything; they landed their bed
ding, and other little necessa
ries; and all the people lay on
shore. The ground they en
camped upon is the edge of the
river where the key is intended
to be.
•
“Until the 7th was spent in
making a Crane, and unlading
the goods:—which done, Mr.
Qglethorpe divided the people;
employing part, in clearing the
land for seed; part, in begin
ning the palisade; and the re
mainder, in felling of trees
where the Town is to stand—”
■A passenger on the ship Anne, bring
ing colonists to Georgia, wrote this
account of General James Edward
, Oglethorpe’s selection of a site for
Savannah in January, 1733, and the
first few days’ activities of the found
ing group of "about 130 persons.”
A Bicentennial Spotlight on Savannah
1733 18 July
Three Bottles of Bears Oil and
several Parcels of Sea Rod,
Snake Root, Rattle Snake
Root, Sassafras, China Root,
Shumack and Contrayerva.
1734 3d July
Residue of the Twenty one
Pieces of Mahogany, Ash, Syc
amore, Ilex, and Red Bay Tim
ber, the Growth of Georgia.
7 Mar.
i The Stem of a large Vine.
13 Mar.
‘ A Cask of Pot Ash.'
< 2 Novr.
{ A Bag of Raw Silk from Geor
j gia, containing about 20 pounds
" weight.
Savannah lost no lime in establishing
its sea trade. The above entries for
shipments through the port were
made by Harman Verelst, account
ant for the colony.
ttAnd indeed the Blessing of
jt\ God seems to have gone,
along with this Undertaking;
for here we see . . . Justice
strictly executed, and Luxury
and Idleness banished from this
happy Place, . . . where the
good Order of a Nightly Watch
restrains the Disorderly and
makes the Inhabitants sleep se
cure in the midst of a wilder
ness. ... I had like to have
forgot one of the best Regula
tions made by the Trustees . . .
I mean the utter Prohibition
of the Use of Rum, that flatter
ing but deceitful Liquor, . . .
which seldom fails by Sickness
or Death to draw its own Pun
ishment.”
On March 12, 1734, 78 Salzburgers
arrived in Savannah on a mission to
establish their own town in Georgia.
Their leader, Baron Von Reck,
wrote in his journal these words of
lavish praise'for the young settle
ment.
“There are some . . . who have
made but little or bad use of the
Benefit they received, idling
away their time, whilst they
had Provisions from the Pub
lick store, or else working for
hire . . . and spending the money
in Rum and Good Living, there
by neglecting to improve their -
Lands . . . the consequence of
that folly forces them now to
work for their Daily Bread. . . .
Those who have cleared their
five Acre Lotts have made a
very great Profit out of them
by greens, roots, and corn. Sev
eral have improved the Cattle
they had at first, and have now
five or six Tame Cows; others,
who to save the Trouble of
Feeding them, let them go into
the Woods, can rarely find
them, and when brought up,
one of them will not give half
the quantity of Milk which an
other Cow fed hear Home will
give.”
Francis Moore, Keeper of the Stores
and one time Recorder of Freder
icka, made these penetrating observa
tions about the early residents of
Savannah on February 9, 1736. Hu
man nature never changesl
ttOavannah is about j\. mile
and a quarter in circum
ference, it stands upon a flat
of a hill . ... (which they in bar
barous English call a Bluff) . . .
the Town of Savannah is built
of Wood . . . houses are built at
a pretty large Distance from
one another for fear of fire; the
streets are very wide and there
are great Squares left at proper
Distances for Markets and
other Conveniences . . . there
are no lawyers allowed to
plead for Hire, nor no Attor
neys to take Money but every
man pleads his own cause. . . .
“There is near the Town to the
' m 1741^G eo ri cal lay
Oglethorpe 's method of city planning.
“An odd Humour being lately
sprung up among some of our
People for Horse-Racing, . . .
I observed it was promoted by
that desperate Crew, whose
whole Study and Employment
was to disturb the Quiet of the
Place and keep the Spirits of
the Well-meaning in a continual
Flutter. . . . The Race, a little
more than a Quarter of a Mile
from the Gate of the publick
Garden, to the Midst of John
son’s Square.”
This mention of what was probably
the first horse race in Georgia was
entered in the Journal of kVilliam
Stevens on June 26, 1740.
<f^3
. . we have entered and
cleared at the Custom house in
the. Port of Savannah for the
■■. - ... ,
East, a Garden belonging to
the Trustees consisting of 10
Acres, . . i in the Squares be
tween the Walks were vast
quantities of mulberry trees,
this being a Nursery for all the
Province, and every Planter
that desires it has young trees
given him gratis from this
Nursery. These white mulberry
trees were planted in order to
raise silk. ”
This brief description of Savannah,
hardly three years after its birth,
was reported by Francis Moore in
his tract, "A Voyage to Georgia, be
gun in the year 1735.'His remarks
were written about November 13,
1736.
last year one hundred and sixty
one sail of Vessels of Different !
sorts and at Sunbury fifty six.
in the whole two hundred and !
seventeen, the tonnage of which
is computed'at 12,124, and in
all which' Vessels there may be
employed seventeen hundred
seafaring men. In the year 1761
we only entered and cleared in
the whole Province forty five
vessels, the whole tonnage of
which amounted only to 1604
Tons from which the increase
of the Trade and Produce of
this Province since that time is
most evident.”
This excerpt from "Report of Gov
ernor Sir James fVright to Lord
Dartmouth on Condition of the Col
ony on September 20, 1773," indi
cates the rapid growth of Savannah's
port activities and the economic im
portance of the port to England,
“RESOLVED, That the Acts
of the British Parliament, for
raising a perpetual revenue on
the Americans, by laying a tax
on them without their consent,
and contrary to their protesta
tions, are diametrically oppo
site to every idea of property,
to the spirit of the constitution,
and at one stroke deprive this
vast continent of all liberty and
prosperity, and as such must be
detested by every well wisher of
Great Britain and America.
“RESOLVED, That this prov
ince join with the provinces of
America now met by delegates
in Continental Congress, and
that John Houston, and Archi
bald Bulloch, Esqs., the Rev.
Dr. Zubly, Lyman Hall and
Noble Wimberly Jones, Esqs.
be delegates from this province
for. that purpose."
Georgia was thwarted in its attempt
to send delegates to the First Con
tinental Congress in 1774 by Gov.
Janies H eight. But on July 4, 1775,
a determined Provincial Congress
met at Tondee’s Long Room in Sa
vannah and dreu 1 up the above reso
lutions. This meeting has been re
ferred to as "Georgia’s first secession
convention."
U T Tead Quarters, Camp at
FI Gibbons, July 10, 1782.
—As the enemy may be expect
ed daily to evacuate the town,
the troops will take ware to be
provided with a clean shift of
linen, and to make themselves
as respectable as possible for
the occasion. The officers are
particularly called upon to at
tend to this order and see it
executed in their respective
corps. No followers of the army
are to be permitted to enter the
town until the main body has
marched in. Lieutenant Colonel
Jackson, in consideration of his
severe and fatiguing service in
the advance, is to receive the
keys of Savannah, and is al
lowed to enter at the western
gate, keeping a patrole in town
to apprehend stragglers who
may steal in with the hopes of
plunder. Marauders may assure
themselves of the most severe
and exemplary punishment.”
General Anthony IVayne issued
these orders to his American troops
the day before the British evacuated
Savannas/ to end Georgia’s role in
the Revolutionary PTar. At the lime,
Savannah’s 240 houses were occupied
by about 750 inhabitants.
C^J
On Tuesday, ... a whale,
supposed 60 feet long,
came across the hawse of the
ship Charlotte, . . . coming into
the river, passed several times
under the ship’s bottom and
gave her sundry heavy strokes
with its tail ... it afterwards
swam to Captain Higgins pilot
boat, . . . and after repeated
strokes sunk her . . .”
Phis news item was from the March
I, 17H7 issue of the Georgia Gazette,
first newspaper in Savannah and the
Colony founded in 1763. Prior to
1763, the various governors used
broadsides, or handbills, to inform
the people of proclamations.
v V \ ■-* “*1 «
Wvv ■ j}*!
“Another subject which calls
loudly upon public attention, is
the present wretched condition
of many of the streets and
lanes; the quantity of rubbish
and filth that has been suffered
to accumulate in them . . .'can
not fail to produce a putrefac
tion.”
This letter from " Civis" to The
Georgian newspaper printed May 7,
IHI9, was meant to instigate a
"clean-up" campaign before a visit
by President James Monroe to Sa
vannah, then the country's 16th larg
est city.
■■■■■■■HP- 'v|
pppp;
I ...
II
Savannah prepared for
the arrival of America's
President in Ijgi.
“The President of the United
States, it is expected, will honor
the city of Savannah with his
presence this afternoon. A boat
elegantly fitted out, set off yes
t e r d a y for cn o on, having o n
board five of the principal gen
tlemen of this place who arc to
receive him at Purysburgh,
from whence he is to be rowed
by nine captains of vessels, neat
ly dressed in blue silk jackets
and round'hats, with black rib
bon, having the words ‘Long
Live the President’ wrought in
gold. The Mayor and Aider
men have requested the citizens
to illuminate their houses, and
every preparation is making to
welcome this truly illustrious
character to the metropolis of
Georgia.”
General George Washington, Presi
dent of the I failed States, began his
southern tour early in 1791. This
article in the Georgia Gazette an
ticipated his arrival its Savannah.
Saturday the 26th in-
stant this City exhibited
a scene of desolation and dis
tress, probably more awfully
calamitous than any previously
experienced in America.
“Between six and seven o'clock
■ in the evening a small Bake
house ... in Market Square,
was discovered to be on (ire, . . .
The season for two months pre
vious to this incident had been
dry; the night was cold, and a
ligli,t breeze from N. N. W.
• was soon increased by the effect
of the fire. . . .
“Torrents of flames rolled
from house to house with a de
structive rapidity which bid de
fiance to all human control. . . .
“Thus was the little City, soon
after emerging from the rav
ages of a revolutionary war,
and which had lately promised
a considerable figure among the
commercial cities of our sister
States, almost destroyed in a
single night. . . .
“During the conflagration on
Saturday night last in four
hours 229 houses, besides out
houses, etc., were burnt,
amounting to One Million Dol
lars, exclusive of loose property
. . . one hundred and seventy
one houses only of the compact
part of the city art.- standing—
upwards of 490 families are
destitute of houses. Charities
arc solicited.”
More than half of Savannah was de
stroyed by this fire re fair ted in the
Columbian Museum and Savannah
Advertiser on Nrrre/nber 29, 1796.
A second Great Fire, even more
damaging, swept the city in 1820.
f
“Spoke and passed the elegant
steamship 8 days out of Savan
nah to Petersburg byway of
Liverpool. She passed us at the
rate of 9 or 10 knots . . . and
the greatest compliment we
could bestow was to give her
three cheers, as the happiest ef
fort of mechanical genius that
ever appeared on the western
ocean.”
The "Savannah,” first steam ship to
cross the Atlantic, was logged near
the Grand Banks of Newfoundland
by the ship Pluto of Duxbury. The
"Savannah,” which was chased by
several sailing vessels whose captains
thought the steam ship was on fire
and needed rescue, left Savannah on
May 25, 1819, and "dropped her
bower anchor, 29 days II hours from
Savannah" in Liverpool.
Dr. William R. Waring, an aider
man and one of Savannah’s most
noted physicians, was hard put to ex
plain an epidemic of yellow fever
(now known to be carried by mos
quitoes) that claimed 516 lives dur
ing “the sickly months” of 1820. Fol
lowing is the report he prepared in
i 1821 on the supposed causes of the
epidemic.
tt'T’o sum up then all which I
have suggested, it appears
that the causes of the fever of
1820 have been : Ist. A general
epidemic condition of the at
mosphere, of extraordinary vir
ulence, either proved to exist, or
produced, by an uncommon de
ficiency of the electric fluid; 2d.
The early establishment of that
condition of the atmosphere, b)
the reduction of the winter o
1819-20, to the temperature o
spring, and the reduction oi
spring to the heat of summer;
thus bringing upon us in the
spring the usual evils of sum
mer; in the summer a combina
tion of these evils, with tiny
usualevilsof that season,and,in
the fall, an agitation of the evils
which are usually incident to it,
with this extraordinary combi
nation of those which preceded
them; 3d. The prevalence of
easterly winds which has been
predominant, and uncommonly
injurious, in consequence of the
general abundance of moisture
and miasmata; 4th. The
growth of the city within a few
years, and the rapid increase of
its population,' thus producing
a source of internal putridity,
and incorporating it with the
soil; sth. The unnecessary lux
uriance of the trees, by the
shade and protection which
they afford to dews and fogs,
and moisture of the atmosphere
after rain ; 6th. The great num
ber ol small wooden houses un
painted, and in a complete state
of putrescence; 7th. Uncovered
vaults and cellars, the conse
quence of the (ire; Bth. The re
markable number of foreigners
and persons unaccustomed to
the climate, producing not an
aggravation of the cause of the
disease, but of its general grade
and character; 9th. The high
position of the city, on the bor
der of extensive marsh grounds,
thus attracting and concentrat
ing upon itself their products of
unwholesome vapor and mias
mata. All these causes together
give a compound origin to the
disease which is internal and ex
ternal.”
“The kind invitation I first re
ceived from your Lxcellency,
and which, on the meeting of
the General Assembly, was be
stowed on me by both houses in
terms most gratifying, could
not,but confirm my eager reso
lution to visit the State of Geor
gia. This State, Sir, I had not
the good fortune to serve on its
own soil; but our more north
ern movements were not uncon
nected with its Safety and res
cue. 1 have long been attached
to it by my sense of its patriot
ism, suffering and exertions, by
personal obligation, and private
affections. ... I am happy to
witness the improvements
which, within less than a cen
tury of existence and fifty years
of independence, have attend
ed, in this State, the blessings of
Republican institutions. Accept,
if you please, for yourself and
the two houses of the legisla
ture my most affectionate and
respectful thanks."
General La Fayette, Revolutionary
War hero, visited Savannah when he
toured the country in 1824-25. This
was his response to a welcome by
Governor George M. Troup on
March 19. 1825.
For help in assembling these messages
Trust Company of Georgia wishes to
thank the Beehive Press, Savannah;
The University of Georgia, Athens;
Mercer University, Macon; Emory
University—Special Collections Li
p brary, Atlanta ; Georgia Department
of Archives and History, Atlanta; At
lanta Historical Society; The Bettmann
Archive, Inc., New York; and Colum
bus on the Chattahoochee by Worsley.
Published by:
Trust Company Bank, Atlanta
First National Bank & Trust Company
of Augusta
National Bank Sc Trust Company
of Columbus
First National Bank Sc Trust Company
in Macon
First National Bank of Rome
Trust Company Bank of Savannah
IT
Trust Company Banks
in Georgia