ORIGINAL PAPERS OF GOVERNOR WRIGHT, PRESIDENT HABERSHAM, AND OTHERS, 1764-1782

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Jan. 17, 1764, Savannah, read July 9, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 90, relating Indian murders in South Carolina.

My Lords

Since mine of the 23rd of December an unfortunate affair has happened; fourteen People have been murdered in South Carolina by some Runagate Creek Indians. The first Information I received was on the 1st instant, from Lieut. Barnard at Augusta, whose letter was dated the 28th Decr. and who wrote as follows, “late last night arrived at my House Elisha Brazet from Long Cane Settlement in Carolina and Acquainted me that a Party of Creek Indians came near that Settlement on Saturday last, and had Actually killed 14 white People, but he would not give me the Particulars on oath, and this morning Arthur Coodey came here and gave upon oath a more full Account of the affair, whose affidavit I have sent your Excelly by Express. “ A Copy whereof your Lordships have, inclosed No. 1. Notwithstanding this my Lords I had some doubt who the Murders were committed by and was very clear that if they were Creeks who had done the Mischief, yet the Nation in genl. was not Concerned. That it was no Concerted Measure, and that it had not been done even with the Privity of the Nation. And [I] wrote Governor Boone my sentiments on it to this Effect in answer to a Letter received from him and that when the real Certainty was known, it might be Proper to make a demand of satisfaction agreeable to the 3d. article in the late Treaty. And I Immediately sent the necessary orders to all the Militia Officers, and put the People in general upon their guard. And thus the matter rested my Lords till the 13 instant, when I received letters from Mr. Galphin (a very substantial intelligent man, largely Concerned in the Indian Trade) Informing me that he had been out in the Hunting grounds, and seen several Parties of Indians, who were all much alarmed on being told of the Murder of the White People in Carolina and disavowed the thing, and declared their Apprehension that it might be some Stragglers who keep chiefly amonst the Cherokees and have been Influenced by them to Commit those Murders, with a view to Involve the Creeks in a War with the white People and I also received a Talk or Message from a Creek Indian, a Head Man of very Considerable Connections amongst the Lower Creeks, a copy whereof your Lordships have also Inclosed No. 2, and my Lords since this affair happened, I have had several Parties of Creek Indians here at Savannah with me, who are all wholly Ignorant of the affair, and from all Circumstances I am Confirmed in my first Idea and Opinion of this matter.

Yesterday I consulted the Council, and after laying the matter fully before them, I desired their advice and opinion on the whole and whether any & what Measures were necessary to be taken by me in this Province and they were all Clearly of Opinion that the Proper Measure to Pursue is a demand of Satisfaction in His Majesties Name agreeable to the 3rd Article in the late Treaty,¹ and as mentioned in my letter to Governor Boone, but that it cannot Properly be done from this Province, The offence being committed in South Carolina and the People murdered being Inhabitants of So. Carolina. Therefore the demand will more Properly go from that Province and not from me, and that no other Measures are necessary to be taken here at Present than have been already Pursued. Thus your Lordships See how this matter stands, which I thought it my duty to give you the Earliest intelligence of.

Copy of affidavit of Arthur Coodey of Dec. 28, 1763, Augusta in Georgia, read July 9, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 91, respecting murders by the Creeks. Enclosure No. 1 in Wright to Board of Trade, Jan. 17, 1764.²

N.B. Notwithstanding what Coodey mentions of seeing several Scalps yet no People were killed but those at Long Canes, of which only one was scalp’t, so that he must have been Mistaken. Talk of Tugulkey to the Governor, C.O. 5/648, E. 92, read July 9, 1764, respecting murders by the Creeks. Enclosure No. 2 in Wright to Board of Trade, Jan. 17, 1764.³

N.B. Abraham Mentioned within is a very sensible Trusty Creek Indian.

The Young Warriour of Estatoe is a Cherokee who is supposed to have spirited on the Creeks.

Memorial of Dennys Rolle to the Board of Trade, Old Palace Yard, Westminster, Jan. 30, 1764, received Jan. 30, read Jan. 31, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 77, concerning trade in America.⁴

Humbly Sheweth

That in pursuance of the general views of the government of these kingdoms, the establishment of colonies in North America has been offered to be encouraged on a foundation that will lead to the most beneficial consequences to the Mother Country. The Petitioner humbly offers to the consideration of the honourable board a proposal for a joynt settlement by one connected interest on the Alatamaha River or it’s branches in Georgia, and the River Apalachicola it’s branches of Flint, or other in Florida as far up the said Rivers as convenient navigation will permit on the one hand, or Indian Interest suffer on the other, and the goodness of the land will render most eligible, preserving thereby more effectually the health of the settlers and establishing a shorter land Portage from the Atlantic to the Gulph of Mexico. And that whereas one most profitable commerce is carried on with the Indians, whereby large quantities of wollen goods, Cutlery, and Haberdashery wares of English manufacture are exchanged for Skins and other things, and that as Augusta is situated more particularly convenient for the trade with the Cherokee nations, Forts on the Halibama adapted for the Chickesaws and Chactaws, That a trading Fort for the Creek nations may perhaps be conveniently situated on the greater Sitilla, and may be a relay between the two settlements proposed on the two other Rivers constructing thereby a safe communication not only for the immediate benefit of this settlement, but for the western Florida likewise. It is not known to the Petitioner the resolution of Government respecting the restriction or freedom of permission as to the use of Negros, the exceeding improportion to the Whites was sometime near fatal to Carolina as the total disuse of them an heavy obstruction to the Georgian improvements, was at another. It is humbly conceived that the great means now in our possession of Engines shortening labour will render the whites able to clear and cultivate the lands though in so hot a climate by themselves or with a small assistance of those necessary but dangerous hands of slaves.

The Swiss Engine for eradicating trees soon prepares a quantity of land free enough for the introduction of the Drill Plow and Horse How [hoe], this with the improved Saw Mill, and others, all receiving a great perfection from the encouragement given by the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce; these will be sent over, and a strict correspondence kept with the Society, that every other improvement recommended by them may be adopted, particularly the Provincial Garden for the culture of East Indian Commodities, as far as Government shall think fit to allow shall be promoted by the Petitioner and his friends.

Respecting the growth of Naval Stores for the use of his Majesty’s Fleet the memorialist apprehendeth the great destruction of the woods near Boston and Philadelphia has rendered timber scarce in those parts, tho’ some is still remaining in these kingdoms, and there may seem at a distant day a want of sufficient supply. Yet if the Sea Coasts are thus disforrested care may be necessary for to preserve in the more inland parts on Navigable Rivers a sufficiency for the day of necessity; as to masting and particularly as to knee Timber from the live Oak - a sort not the most plenty and which being of extream slow growth the trusting to a supply from future produce would be imprudent. The encouragement for its preservation such as may seem most proper to your Lordships is humbly submitted, and as the Freight of Lumber is vastly enhanced by the British Merchants so as to render the Planter incapable of delivering it in Great Britain. Whether Government Storeships might receive it as delivered at the Store houses at the Mouths of the Rivers where the Petitioner hopes for a small spot to be granted for these and the purposes of collecting the commodities to be prepared ready against the arrival of the shipping.

For the good conduct of the whole the protecting of liberty and property the Memorialist wishes that the inconveniences of the distance from the seat of Government may be remedied by some power created for the administration of justice in the settlement solicited, that the Setlers may render all justice to the Natives, and live in peace among themselves.

Your Lordships need not be informed of the probable Products of those Climates, but beg leave to remark on the supposed benefits that may arise from the connected Interests on the Rivers running into both Seas. The immediate income in clearing the lands on the Apalachicola by the nearer communication of trade with the lumber to the Islands in small craft which otherwise would be chiefly burnt on the spot.

The light articles of produce, but however, very valuable, such as Silk, Cotton, Cochineal, Indigo, Drugs and others, can suffer a transmission of a hundred and twenty Miles in Land Carriage, and arrive in England with cheapness sufficient for the market. The careful attention to the Manufacturers of Great Britain will lead the undertaker to diminish the strength of the manual labour as little as possible, he only asks for a few necessary for the first establishment; and the gradual supplies, (for he wishes for gradual only) afterwards from those whose hasty youthful slips may have rendered them disagreeable to their friends and Relations, and thus neglected become either a dead weight on the publick or an absolute loss to it, but to whom a possibility to reestablish their character may reduce them to useful subjects in this retreat and Asylum; and also to the emigration of foreign Protestants retiring from persecution and Arbitrary power. The Petitioner says few at the first embarkation, as he might by a personal attendance more probably preserve them in a good state of health, than larger numbers most commonly but injuriously stowed in small vessels to the laying a foundation for the destruction perhaps of half the number soon after their arrival, and he can with these then well provide healthful accommodations for future fresh comers. That whatever extent the grant may be it is to be understood, as containing among good cultivatable grounds a great deal of irretrievable swamp and some that is covered with Ponds of water which when the woods are cleared will be nevertheless some years under the power of the Sun before the waters will subside, and the ground rendered arable. The Memorialist doubts not the candour of your Lordships in recommending such a Grant as may be adequate to the risque and expence of such an undertaking and may transmit to posterity a different view of those Ideal Castles so estimated at this time by the generality. The Petitioners general desire of promoting the publick weal at the same time he creates future prospects of his Successor’s emolument, and as this will be transacted under his own inspection ‘tis hoped will coincide with your Lordships most sanquine expectations.⁵

Memorial of Isaac Levy to the Board of Trade, read May 14, 1764, London, C.O. 5/648, E. 78, desiring copies of papers on Creek Indian Conference in Georgia in 1755 about Bosomworth claims.

Sheweth

That your Memorialist sometime since presented a Petition to his Majesty in Council accompanied with another Petition of your Memorialists Agents both of which stand referred to your Lordships.

That before your Memorialist can lay his Case before your Lordships in such Manner as he could wish in Order to have the merits thereof considered He is advised it will be necessary for him to obtain Copies of sundry papers in your Lordships Power.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Feb. 4, 1764, Savannah, received March, read July 9, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 93, relative to the silk culture, South Carolina grants south of the Altamaha, transmission of public papers, illicit trade, Creek murders, and legislative business.

My Lords

The last I had the Honor of writing to your Lordships was of the 23d Decr. & 17 Janr. which went with several of the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council & other Papers by the Greenwich Capt. Marshall by way of Bristol. I then acknowledged the receipt of your Lordships of the 30th of September, & the 7th, 10th & 11th of October. Our last years Silk was shipt on Board the Snow Augusta which sailed from this Place the 4th of December & I hope was received Safe & is approved of. I have at length fixed on a Proper Person to be instructed by Mr. Ottolenghe, as his Successor, and have talk’t the matter over fully with them both and shall consult the gents of the Council on the Respective Allowances to be made them, and the necessary Articles, or Engagemt on the part of the Person to be instructed and endeavour to put this affair on such a footing as may best promote the Public Service.

The Arrangements in Consequence of the Definitive Treaty seem extremely well Calculated to make these Southern Colonies become considerable, & beneficial to Great Britain. But your Lordships Views, and those of the Other Branches of the Ministry will be greatly obstructed unless the enormous Purchases or pretended Purchases, from the Spaniards are set aside.⁶

It gives me great satisfaction my Lords to be Informed by your Lordships, That in order to remove all obstacles to the Improvement of the Lands to the Southward of the River Alatamaha which are annexed to this Province, every Measure that can be Legally taken to set aside the grants Unwarrantably made in that Country by the Governor of South Carolina will be Pursued and hope your Lordships will pardon me for again Repeating That I am perfectly Clear, the Consequences of a Confirmation of those grants will be as suggested by me in my letter in April & Decr. last, let it be Represented as it may, by the Parties Concerned.

Your Lordships letter of the 7th of October is entirely confined to a matter of neglect or omission in not regularly transmitting the several Papers and Accounts required by His Majesties Commission & Instructions. In answer to which my Lords, I beg leave to Observe, that the Copys of the several Bills assented to in April last, with my Notes & Observations thereon, were transmitted from hence, in the Ship Richard & Benjamin Capt. Robinson which Vessel sailed for England in July last at which time I also sent Copys of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 5th of October 1762 to the 31st of Decr. following and from the 4th of January 1763 to the 28th of March 1763, and the Journals of the Upper House from the 18 of October 1762, to the 7th of April 1763, also the list of Ships Enterd & Cleared from the 5th of January 1763 to the 5th of April, all which I Presume your Lordships received, as I know the Vessel arrived safe. And by the Greenwich Capt. Marshall who sailed for Bristol last Month, I transmitted your Lordships the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 5th of April 1763 to the 29th of September 1763, also Lists of all the Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at Savannah from the 5th April 1763 to the 4th of January 1764 and Lists of all the Vessels Enter’d and Cleared at the Port of Sunbury for the whole year 1763, also did myself the Honor to send your Lordships a Copy of the late Treaty with the Indians at Augusta and a Map of the lands ceded by them, all which I hope your Lordships will receive safe. And I now Transmit to your Lordships abstracts of Grants Register’d from the 25th of Sepr. 1763 to the 25th Decr. 1763, and the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 9th of September 1763 to the 8th of Decr. 1763 also the Journals of the Lower House of Assembly during their last Session, to the 7th of April 1763 which I must Acknowledge ought to have been Transmitted much Sooner. But my Lords it was not in my Power to get them, on account of the Clerks long sickness and Indisposition, and the Original Minutes & Entries were so made that no Person could Perfect them, but the Clerk himself, who made & enter’d them. I have Reprimanded him most severely & threatned him with a Removal and shall take care that he is more Regular for the Future. The Papers now sent my Lords (I think) Compleat the year 1763. If I have omitted any that your Lordships Expected, or which I ought to have sent, it is not intentionally and if your Lordships will be Pleased to let your Secretary inform me what they are (if any) I shall pay the utmost attention & regard to such Information, but believe those I have already sent are all that are usually Transmitted, and presume your Lordships do not require duplicates in time of Peace. But if they are to be sent, I shall take care to do so in Future. Your Lordships Letter of the 10th of October directing His Majesties printed Proclamation to be published throughout this Government was immediately complied with, and I shall take Especial care to Conform exactly to the Orders & Regulations therein contained in so far as depends upon me, and have strictly enjoined all Persons whatsoever whom it may concern, to pay due Obedience thereto, on their parts, agreeable to His Majesties Royal Commands.

Your Lordships of the 11th of October Relative to His Majesties Revenue of Customs, I shall certainly give my most serious attention to, and have already given the strictest orders possible to the several Officers concerned therein, and Notified to all Persons in general that the Laws of Trade would be most punctually adhered to & enforced, and a Total & Effectual stop put to all Smuggling attempts. It was my Lords with this very view, and to prevent Supplies of Provision to His Majesties enemies, that I thought of making Sunbury a Port of Entry, for an Account of which, I beg leave to refer your Lordships to my letter of the 2nd of October 1762. But my Lords the officers I appointed will not continue to act until they are confirmed from Home with the usual Salaries & Allowances, either this, or sending out officers from Home, my Lords seems necessary, otherwise if smuggling attempts are made there, I don’t know how it will be possible to prevent their Succeeding. The only Contraband Trade that I ever had any Reason to suspect being Carried on here was by small Vessels from St. Croix with Foreign Rum & Sugar which they avoided paying the duty for, and this my Lords I am Perfectly satisfied was only to a very small Trifling amount and even that Trifle I think will be essentially prevented in Future. No other illicit Trade I believe has ever been attempted here tho largely to the Northward. Your Lordships may rely that I shall exert every means & authority to Enforce his Majesties Commands and give the Officers of the Revenue all Possible Protection & support, and be very watchfull over their Conduct, and in every respect Endeavour to Acquit my Self in such manner as I hope your Lordships will be of opinion becomes a faithfull & vigilant servant of the Crown.

In my next I hope to furnish your Lordships with a Sketch of the State of the Trade & Produce &c here, from the year 1760, at which time I came to this Government.

The Indian affairs continue as when I had the Honor to write your Lordships last, it now appears to have been as I at first Conceived, not a National design, but the act of a few villains. If they do not make satisfaction, I conceve nothing but Force will reduce them to order, they are People who have no Notion of beneficence, or Principle of gratitude. I daily Expect to hear from the Nation on this subject, and when I can with any degree of certainty Acquaint your Lordships further, I shall embrace the first Opportunity that offers. The Tax Bill is now under Consideration, and I expect that, and some other Bills that appear necessary & usefull, will be ready to pass in ten days or a fortnight, and shall as Soon as Possible afterwards transmit them to your Lordships.

James Wright to the Commissioners of Customs, Jan. 14, 1764, Savannah, received March, read July 9, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 94, about illicit trade. Enclosed in Wright to Board of Trade, Feb. 4, 1764.

Having received His Majesties orders to Endeavour to put a total & effectual stop to the Clandestine running of Goods, lest my letter to you of the 2nd October 1762 should not have Come to your Hands, I again think it necessary to Acquaint you that in Septr. 1762 in order to prevent clandestine Trade, and His Majesties Enemies from being supplied with Provisions, I judged it necessary for His Majesties Service that Sunbury a very well settled Town (about 25 miles South in a direct line from Savannah, but as the Road is made, at least 40 miles, and also about that distance by the Water Passage) and having an exceeding good Harbour & inlet from the Sea, should be made a Port of Entry, and therefore Pursuant to the Powers given me by His Majesties Royal Comm. I did with the Advice of the Council accordingly declare & Establish the Same to be a Port of Entry and Appointed Mr. Thos. Carr Collector, John Martin Naval Officer & Francis Lee Searcher and Obliged them to give security in £500 Sterl. each for the faithfull discharge of their duty of all which by letter of the 2d. of Oct. 1762. I acquainted the Lords of Trade, and your Honble Board and would beg leave to Observe that this Port lying at so great a distance from me, its Impossible that I can be so watchfull over them as may be necessary and as the Officers are on a very uncertain footing by my Appointment, and have no Salaries, I submit it to your Consideration whether it may not have a good effect if you were to send out Officers, or to Confirm those I have Appointed, with the usual allowances in such Cases, as I Conceive there cannot be that dependance on the Conduct of an Officer who receives little or rather no Emolument & the Continuance of whose appointment is so uncertain as theirs at Present is. Indeed I could not Prevail on them to continue, but in Expectation of being Confirmed with the usual Salaries.

I now transmit you the Coll. & Naval Officers Accounts down to the 5 inst. and have given directions that for the future, the Accounts be regularly transmitted Quarterly. I believe very little of the smuggling business has been Carried on here, altho’ its very difficult in a young unsettled Country to Prevent it if attempted, as Vessels may get into Creeks or inlets a distance undiscovered.

I have heard of an irregularity being Committed by Mr. Spencer the Collector here, in admitting a Vessel to an entry before the Master had produced the Register, or been with me. In Fact the Master had a Legal Register (which was afterwards brought to me, and the owner made Oath before the Collector of the Built & Property and that there was a Register on Board) but had left it in the Vessel, which lay at a Place called Cockspur, near the inlet from the sea, about 12 Miles down this River below the Town, and on Board which an Officer had been put from one of the Kings Ships. However for this I gave the Collector a most severe Reprimand. He is an old Man, has a large Family & little or nothing to Subsist on but his Office, has always behaved very well & I believe him to be perfectly honest.

Since the receipt of His Majesties Orders I have given the strictest Charge & directions to the officers to be very vigilant in the discharge of their duty, and informed them that no Neglect or Omission for the Future can or shall pass unnoted and can only assure you that my best Endeavours in every Respect shall be exerted to Fulfil His Majesties Royal intention and put an effectual stop to such Infamour Practices.

An Abstract of Grants of Lands Registered in Georgia from March 25, 1763, to Sept. 25, 1763, received March 1764, C. O. 5/675, E. 95, enclosed in Wright to the Board of Trade, Feb. 4, 1764.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Clement Martin for 80 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 14th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Clement Martin for 50 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 14th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Clement Martin for 50 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 14th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To James Deveaux for 80 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 16th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Matthew Mauve for 300 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 16th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To John Bowles for 200 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 16 April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To John Dohart for 100 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 18th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To John Davis for 200 Acres of Land in St. Phillip’s Parish. Registered 18th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Frances Graham for 200 Acres of Land in St. Phillip’s Parish. Registered 18th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Pickering Robinson for a Town Lot & 50 Acres of Land in the Township of Frederica. Registered 20th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To William Swinton for 200 Acres of Land in St. John’s Parish. Registered 20th April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Thomas Carter for 100 Acres of Land in St. John’s Parish. Registered 22d April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763

To Daniel Rose for 100 Acres of Land in St. Andrew’s Parish. Registered 22d April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763

To Charles Neal for 100 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 22d April 1763.

Grant Dated 5th April 1763.

To Samuel Wright for 100 Acres of Land in St. Paul’s Parish. Registered 22d April 1763.

Grant Dated 3d May 1763.

To Abraham Williams for 100 Acres of Land in St. Philip’s Parish. Registered 10th May 1763.

Grant Dated 3rd May 1763.

To James Habersham for 100 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 10th May 1763.

Grant Dated 3d May 1763.

To Levi Sheftal for 150 Acres of Land in St. Andrew’s Parish. Registered 12 May 1763.

Grant Dated 3rd May 1763.

To Charles Hawkins for 300 Acres of Land in St. John’s Parish. Registered 12th May 1763.

Grant Dated 3rd May 1763.

To Elizabeth Ellis Widow for a Town Lot & 45 Acres of Land in the Township of Savannah. Regd. 12th May 1763.

Grant Dated 7th June 1763.

To Elizabeth Butler Widow for 900 Acres of Land in St. Philips Parish. Registered 14th June 1763.

Grant Dated 7th June 1763.

To David Truan for 100 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 14th June 1763.

Grant Dated 5th July 1763.

To John Middleton for 300 Acres of Land in St. Andrew’s Parish. Registered 12th July 1763.

Grant Dated 5 July 1763.

To Josiah Powell for 250 Acres of Land in St. Philips Parish. Registered 12th July 1763.

Grant Dated 5th July 1763.

To Jon Joachim Zubly for 250 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 12th July 1763.

Grant Dated 5th July 1763.

To John Asbell for 50 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 14th July 1763.

Grant Dated 5th July 1763.

To Thomas Lloyd for a Town Lot in Savannah. Registered 14th July 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To William Handley for 300 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 4th August 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To William Handley for 100 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 4th August 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To James Cuthbert for 300 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 6th August 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To James Cuthbert for 300 Acres of Land in St. Matthew’s Parish. Registered 6th August 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To Mary McCullough Widow for 500 Acres of Land in trust for her Children in St. Andrs. Parish. Regd 8th Aug. 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To Samuel Wallace for 100 Acres of Land in St. Philip’s Parish. Registered 10th August 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To William McKenzie for 500 Acres of Land in St. Philip’s Parish. Registered 10th August 1763.

Grant Dated 2d August 1763.

To Joseph Perry for 100 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 10th August 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To Raymond Demere Esqr for a Town Lot & 50 Acres of Land in the Township of Frederica. Registered 16th Sepr 1763.

To Raymond Demere Esqr. for 200 Acres of Land in St. James’s Parish. Registered 16th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To Charles Watson for 400 Acres of Land in St. Philip’s Parish. Registered 16th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To Charles Watson for 400 Acres of Land in St. Philip’s Parish. Registered 17th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To Roger Lawson for 300 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 19th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To John Perkins for a Town Lot in Frederica. Registered 20th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To David Guindre for 50 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 20th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To William Clemm for 200 Acres of Land in St. Paul’s Parish. Registered 22d Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To Benjn Sheftal for 250 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 22d Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Sepr 1763.

To Elizabeth Mchugh for 500 Acres of Land in St. Phlip’s Parish. Registered 22d Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 1st July 1760.

To Jeremiah Green for 100 Acres of Land in St. John’s Parish. Registered 23d Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 7th Augt 1759.

To Henry Calwell for 450 Acres of Land in St. Andrew’s Parish. Registered 23d Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 7th July 1761.

To Esther Minis for a Town Lot & 50 Acres of Land in the Township of Savannah. Registered 24th Sepr. 1763.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761.

To William McIntosh for 50 Acres of Land in St. Andrew’s Parish. Registered 24th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761.

To John McIntosh for 66 Acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 24th Sepr 1763.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761.

To George McIntosh for 88 Acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 24th Sepr 1763.

The aforesaid Abstract of the Grants Registered from the 25th of March 1763 to the 25th of Sepr 1763 Compared with the Registers Book at Savannah this 1st Day of Novemr 1763.

Jas. Houstoun, Depy. Regr.

Sir Mathew Lamb’s Report to the Board of Trade, Feb. 5, 1764, Lincoln’s Inn, received Feb. 14, 1764, read July 9, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 102, on thirteen acts passed in Georgia in April 1763.

My Lords

In Pursuance of your Lordships Commands Signified to me by Mr. Pownall’s Letter wherein you are Pleased to Desire my Opinion in Point of Law upon the following Acts Passed in the Province of Georgia in April 1763, I have Perused and Considered the same (vizt. )

James Wright to the Board of Trade, March 27, 1764, Savannah, read July 9, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 98, relative to Indian troubles, fear of a Creek War, and shortage of troops in Georgia.

My Lords

By this Opportunity I have the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships the Accounts of all Monies raised & to whom paid, beginning with the first grant to His Majesty after my arrival in this Province. That is towards the Support of this Government from the 29th of Sept. 1760, to the 29th of Sept. 1761 [and] from that to the 29th of Sept. 1762. Particularizing the Sumes______________ & to whom paid. Agreeable to the 26th Article of His Majesties Royal Instructions to me, they are Audited [by] the Deputy Auditor and I believe my Lords there is no error in substance. If there should be any in Form, it being [the] first instance that I have known in America, and consequently no Rule to go by. I rely on your Lordships goodness to excuse Informalities, and if a Precedent is but set out, I shall take care that it be duely Observed for the future.

I have ordered the Treasurer to Prepare an Account from the 29th of Sept. 1762 to the 29th of Sept. 1763 which shall be transmitted as soon as ready, also the Bills lately passed & the Journals of the Proceedings during the last Session are preparing & I hope will be dispatched in due time.

Mr. Stuart the Superintendant of Indian affairs is now here with me and our sentiment entirely agree. He has not yet received the final answer of the Indians, relative to the Murders Committed in So. Carolina, but that your Lordships may the more Clearly see how things are at Present circumstanced and what Plan I proposed in Case it should be necessary, I have taken the Liberty to send your Lordships an Extract out of a letter I wrote to Mr. Stuart, and a copy of a letter I received from Governor Boone with my answer thereto.

And I have wrote fully on the subject to General Gage, Govr. Dobbs, Govr. Fauquier,⁷ Coll. Ogilvie at St. Augustine and Major Farmar at Mobille. If there should be a War with the Creek Indians, this Province will Certainly stand in great need of assistance, for my Lords if an Handfull of Indians at the Northward have been able to Massacre so many People & so greatly to distress those Populous & Opulent Countries Pensilvania, New Jersey &c. &c. where there are also a great number of His Majesties Troops, What may or may not, be the Fate of Georgia, if attack’t by the Creeks only, who alone consist of at least 3000 Gun Men. And my Lords instead of assistance at this time, we are threatened, for the Commands that were here of the Independent Companys, are in a Manner taken away. The Command at Frederica, used always to be a Capt. 2 Sergeants, 3 Corporals & 52 Private Men, who are relieved by a Sergeant & ten Men only, and the Command at Augusta used to be sometimes a Capt. & at other times a Lieut. or Ensign & 30, but never less than 25 men and they are relieved by a Corporal & 4 Men. I wrote to Capt. Prevost who Commands the 3 Companys about it, who answered that it was done by Gov. Boones Advice, and that he had reported it to General Gage, & could not alter it without his Orders, that their Companys only Consist of 45 men & are not yet Compleat and I have now stated the matter to General Gage. Thus your Lordships see how Georgia is attempted to be distressed & injured from South Carolina.

The Receiver General and Register of Grants informed me some days ago, my Lords, that the Rent Roll is near finished, and the deputy Auditor will very soon transmit it but ‘till we have a Law to enable the Receiver to Collect and Compell Payment, there will be very large Arrears. I transmitted a Sketch of a Bill upwards of 2 years ago, and His Majesties Revenue will certainly suffer till I receive your Lordships Pleasure on that Head.

Extract and copies of letters between Gov. Wright, Gov. Boone, and Indian Superintendent John Stuart, Feb.-March 1764, C.O.

5/648, E. 99, read July 9, 1764, relative to Creek murders, enclosed in Wright to Board of Trade, March 27, 1764.

Extract of Wright’s letter to Stuart, Feb. 23, 1764.

“I don’t know what messages or demands may have gone to the Creeks from you or Gov. Boone, but its very clear to me that this affair must not be put up with or passed.

If a General Resolution was taken to stop the trade from every Quarter, this, together with such other annoyances as may be given them without much difficulty or Expence, I imagine would soon bring them to a Compliance without other Measures. But the People are not yet returned from their Hunts. They will not all be in, till the Middle or end of next Month, so that their final Answer or Resolution cannot be known till sometime after that, and the traders will require previous time to withdraw their Effects &c. ”

Remark [by Gov. Wright]. Mr. Stuart received this Letter in 3 or 4 days after it was wrote, and told me he Communicated it to Mr. Boone. The Annoyance meant is Setting the Chactaws Chickesaws &c upon the Creeks and which I Conceive a few Presents might Effect. But no Trade [is] to be stop’t till every thing is properly concerted & settled with the other Provinces, & the final Ansr. first had.

Copy of a Letter from Gov. Boone to Wright, March 7, 1764.

Sir

The Answers sent by the Creeks to the Superintants Talks, on the Murders committed since the Congress, in the Long Canes settlement are so trifling & unsatisfactory, that it appears to me highly Expedient that some more effectual Step should be taken to bring this insolent Nation to reason, upon a Supposition that what has, might happen. I sometime ago proposed to the Commander in Chief in America, such a Correspondence on Indian affairs, and such a Concurrence in Measures also, with the officers commanding the Posts in the two Florida’s, as I apprehended would be Productive of the very best Effects to all the Provinces, having Intercourse with the same Indians, and he approved so much of my Proposal, as to direct the Respective Officers accordingly. Now I am firmly of Opinion, that an absolute restraint of the Creek Trade, would soon procure that Satisfaction for the outrages done us, which is, & ever will be denied. I am afraid to Talks & Expostulations, whilst sitting down tamely under the Provocations & injuries we so frequently receive, can only Conduce to the Repetition of them. Should you be of the same opinion, & will concur with me, in not only restraining the Trade from our two Provinces, but in requesting also the Respective Commanding Officers of St. Augustine, Pensacola and Mobile, to stop it in their Commands, it cannot I think be denyed by them. And if you will write to this effect, & send it me by an Express (whom I will pay) I will dispatch your letters with mine on the same Subject, by some Opportunities which offer very Soon for Mobile & Augustine. And if you think Proper to let me have a Copy of your letter to the commanding Officers, that I may write as conformably as Possible, I will transmit you a Copy of mine by the return of your Express. I leave the day when the Prohibition shall take Place to you.

Remark [by Gov. Wright]. I am well Informed that the Mode of Correspondence Proposed by Mr. Boone to General Amherst was, that the Military Officers in the 2 Floridas should Correspond with him Mr. Boone alone.

Copy of a letter from Wright to Boone, March 21, 1764.

Your letter of the 7th instant I received by Capt. Stuart on the 17th and altho the Answers in genl. hitherto received by him are rather unsatisfactory, yet it appears from the Answer of the Lower Creeks of the 14 of last Month that their final Resolution could not be taken or enter’d into, untill all the Head men were returned from Hunting, and they acquaint Mr. Stuart that he shall then hear from them again, and Expressly say “they will give the great King satisfaction for what has happened. “ And altho the final answer or determination of the Indians may Possibly prove as unsatisfactory as the former yet I conceive it should be first had. With respect to what you have proposed to the Commanding Officer relative to a Correspondence on Indian Affairs, as you have not thought proper to mention the Particulars, I can say Nothing. But I received a letter from Coll. Robertson dated at St. Augustine the 25 of Sept. in which he Acquaints me, that amongst the Instructions he had received from General Amherst, he had one to correspond with me.

The Measure of putting a total & effectual stop to the Creek Trade, will certainly be proper, if we cannot obtain Justice without. And this Measure is exactly what I mentioned in a letter to Capt. Stuart of the 22d. of February and which I understand was Communicated to you. But altho this was, & is my clear opinion, yet its a matter that I apprehend ought not to be too hastily done, for its very Probable it may bring on a War, as I Concieve the Indians will either comply with our demands, or be enraged & very soon begin to Commit Hostilities, and if the latter, this Province is nearest, weakest & most exposed to their Ravage. For which Reason I think it will be Necessary for me Previously to know whether any assistance may be expected from General Gage. I fear not, but think it my duty to state the matter clearly to him before I take a step which may bring on a War. I should also know what Part your Province, & the other neighbouring Provinces will take in that Event, whether offensive, or barely defensive. And I think Gov. Dobbs & Gov. Fauquier should be wrote to on the Occasion, and the Answers or Resolutions of the Military Commanding Officers in the two Florida Governments should also be known. For if they should not agree to Cooperate, and restrain or put a total & absolute stop to all Trade with the Creeks, and to supply the Chactaws sparingly, so that every Channel of Supply may be stop’t, and they may not have it in their Power to get any thing either from White People or Indians or restraining it from our Provinces would rather be Injurious than Salutary. And as this is a Point which may in its Consequences be tantamount to a Declaration of War, I shall not determine upon it, untill I first lay the matter before His Majesties Council, and know their sentiments thereon, and which I shall take an Early Opportunity of doing unless the Indians by further outrages Oblige us in all events to endeavour to Enforce this measure without delay. I think it should not be done yet and tho our Sentiments are the same as to the thing to be done, yet a difference in Places and Circumstances, may make a difference in Opinion as to the time when. Your Province is Populous and Opulent compared with this, and therefore on my part every Precaution is necessary. However that no time may be lost in case the Measure should finally be Resolved on, I shall send a letter to Major Farmar at Mobile, by a Vessel which I am told go’s from hence next week, and have inclosed you the Substance agreeable to your request and have also dispatched one for the Commanding Officer at St. Augustine by Land.

[Remark by Gov. Wright.]

This Letter I showed to Mr. Stuart who said he intirely agreed with me in the whole.

C. Jenkinson, Secretary to the Lords of the Treasury, to the agents for Georgia, East and West Florida, May 24, 1764, London, C.O. 5/648, E. 79, concerning payments from the Treasury.⁸

I am directed by the Lords Commrs. of his Majesty’s Treasury to signify to you their Lordships disapprobation of Your Conduct in applying to this Board for issuing the Monies voted in the last Session of Parliament for the Service of the Colony of Georgia, to which you are Agent, when you had been before the Board of Trade on this Subject, and knew they had objections thereto and had under their Consideration certain regulations concerning the payment of this money which were to be Communicated to this Board, without apprizing My Lords thereof; and their Lordships direct me to acquaint you that they will not grant you a Warrant for any payments out of the said Money (without which you are not Authorized to dispose of any part of the same) unless you first procure a Certificate for every such payment from the Board of Trade and that you therefore govern yourself accordingly.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, May 26, 1764, Savannah, received Aug., read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 5, relative to laws passed by the assembly, reports to London, smallpox in Savannah, trade with the Creeks, recommendation of Henry Yonge for surveyor general, and repairs on the fort at Augusta.

My Lords

By Capt. Kemp in the Ship Wolfe which Sailed from hence on the 8th of April I did my Self the Honor of Writing to your Lordships, and then Transmitted the Public accts. Audited from the 29th of Sept. 1760 to the 29 Sept. 1762 and have now the Pleasure to Transmit to your Lordships Copys of the Several Bills assented to by me on the 29 of Feb. last with my observations on Such as require any, Vizt. a Bill for Raising & Granting to his Majesty £2117.13.0 3/4 Ster. for the use & Support of the Government of Georgia for the year 1764, a Bill for the Punishment of Vagabonds, & other Idle & disorderly Persons, & for Erecting Prisons or Places of Security in the Several Parishes of this Province, & for Preventing Trespasses on Lands of the Crown, or Lands Reserved for the Indians, and for the more Effectual Suppressing & Punishing Persons Bartering with Indians in the Woods. This my Lords is a Bill intirely adapted to the Local Circumstances of our affairs here, Particularly Relative to Indians. I being Clearly Convinced that most of our Broils with & Insults received from them, have been Occasioned by the Persons Trading with the Indians, & other Vagabonds who have Neither Property nor Habitation, who Live as the Indians do, are worse than the Indians themselves. I have had this Some time in View my Lords, but was at a Loss on what Plan or Footing to put it, at Length Resolved on the Present from which I Expect the best Consequences, tho Possibly being the 1st attempt, it may Prove defective & require amendment but my Lords I really Consider it as a very Salutary Measure.

A Bill to Suppress Lotteries & Prevent Excessive and Deceitfull Gaming. Notwithstanding the Infancy of the Colony my Lords I found the Vice of Gaming Creeping in apace, & Judged it best to nip it in the Bud.

A Bill to direct Executors and Administrators in the Manner & Method of Returning Inventories & Accounts of their Testators & Intestates Estates & for Allowing them, & all other Persons who shall or May be intrusted with the Care & Management of Minors & other Estates, to Charge Commissions thereon.

This Law my Lords altho with Respect to Obliging Administrators as Creditors to Pay the debts of the Intestate in Equal Proportion, is not Strictly Agreeable to the Common Law, yet my Lords Seems grounded upon & Consistent with Equity & Justice. It does not Extend to Executors, nor to Administrators as next of Kin, but only to Administrators as Creditors & to Prevent the Largest Creditor, or Such as may Catch at an Opportunity of getting Letters of Administration from Swallowing up the whole assets, or retaining them in their own Hand to pay themselves, to the Prejudice of every other Creditor. The whole my Lords Seems to me to be on a Just & Equitable Plan, and I believe Some of the Other Colonies have Laws to the Same Effect and hope your Lordships Will approve of the Same.

A Bill to Enable the Commissioners Appointed in & by an Act of the general assembly of this Province, Intitled an Act for the Repairing of Christ Church in Sav. to dispose of Such Materials as have already been Provided for Building of the Said Church in Sav. and to Place out at Interest the Monies Arising by Sale thereof, together with the Monies Provided by Several Acts of Assembly for Repairing & Rebuilding of the Said Church, & now in the Hands of the Treasurer. It had been intended my Lords to Build a New Church, the old one being very Ruinous & not Large Enough to Accommodate all the Inhabitants, but on having a Plan drawn & an Estimate of the Expense, it was found So far to Exceed the Money in Hand for that Purpose, that the Commissioners were Obliged to Lay aside the intention & instead thereof have Repaired the Old Church, & are going to Build a Rough Gallery at the West End, which will be Sufficient for Some years, and by the Repairs already made, the old Church will Stand very well for 6 or 7 years to Come. And it was thought Advisable that the Public Should Receive & Pay an interest for this Church Money during that time, Part of which is Applied in Ease of, & to keep down the Tax on Lands & Negroes in Order to Encourage New Comers & Settlers. And the Rest is Appropriated towards Building an Handsome Brick Court House. And these things Appearing Rather Convenient, & agreeable to the People, I assented to it.

A Bill for Appointing Commissioners to Rebuild the Court House in the Town of Sava. with Jury Rooms, & other Conveniencies Necessary for the Said House, and to Empower the said Comrs. to dispose of the Materials of the old Court House.

This my Lords Seemed a very usefull & Necessary work, which I was glad to Promote, and altho £600 will not be Sufficient to Compleat the Building, yet it will go a great way towards it and we must find ways and Means to Finish it.

A Bill for Farther Continuing an Act to Prevent Masters of Vessels for Carrying off Persons in debt from this Province.

A Bill for Further amending & Explaining an Act intitled an Act for better Regulating the Market in the Town of Savannah.

A Bill for Further Amending an Act intitled an Act to Empower the Several Surveyors therein Named to Lay out Public Roads in the Province of Georgia.

An ordinance Reappointing Wm. Knox Esqr. Agent to Sollicit the affairs of this Province in Great Britain.

These last my Lords seemed all usefull & Proper, and doubt not but to have the Pleasure of Receiving your Lordships approbation of all the Bills herein Mentioned.

I also now Transmit to your Lordships the Journals of the Council as an upper House, & of the assembly during the last Session. Also the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council for January, February & March 1764. Also the Register of Grants Acct. to the 25 of last March, and the Naval Office list to the 5th of April 1764. Also the Public Accounts Audited from the 29 of Sept. 1762 to the 29th of Sept. 1763. And I have the Pleasure to Acquaint your Lordships that the Rent Roll of His Majesties Lands Granted in this Province is Finished, and will by this Opportunity be Transmitted to Mr. Cholmondeley by the Deputy Auditor. An Acct. of the Lands granted in Each Parish as Sumed up at the Foot of the Rent Roll. I also Inclose your Lordships and Conceive I have now Transmitted to your Lordships every Paper whatever, Mentioned in any of His Majesties Instructions to me, and I believe Some that your Lordships have not had yet from any other Province.

We have now the Misfortune my Lords to have the Small Pox at Savannah, which I’m afraid will Prove very Injurious, Especially if it Should Spread into the Country. This is a hard Stroke upon us, as very few of the Inhabitants have had it, I believe not one that was Born in the Province.

I very Lately Sent your Lordships Copys of a letter Wrote by me to Mr. Stuart the Superintendant, and of a letter I received Soon after that from Govr. Boone with my Answer to it, Relative to Indian Affairs,⁹ and now inclose your Lordships an Extract from the Minutes of the 4th of April when I Laid every Circumstance Relative to Indian Affairs before the Council, & desired their Sentiments thereon.¹⁰ By my last accounts everything was quiet in the Creek Country and the Nation in General had Confirmed the Cession of Lands made at the Congress but my Lords there is no answering for these wretches. I mean as to their Continuing quiet. Tho if they really Mean’t Otherwise as they have now the Small Pox amongst them (got from Mobile) that will keep ‘em so.

I take Liberty my Lord to Recommend to your Favour Mr. Henry Yonge who is now I Presume (Since the Appointment of Mr. De Brahm to be Surveyor General of the Two Florida’s) Alone Surveyor General of this Province. He is very ingenious, able & Cleaver in his Office, a Well disposed Man, and very usefull in the Assembly.

Since my last to your Lordships Vizt. on the 18 of April I received a letter from Capt. Prevost who Commands the 3 Companys doing duty in this Province and Carolina, by which he acquaints me he has ordered an Officer & 24 Men to Fort Augusta, and I have given orders for Some Repairs to be made, and hope at the next Meeting of the assembly they will think it a Necessary Service to Provide for Rebuilding, or making a New Fort there, which never Could have been Expected to Accommodate a Corporal & 4 Men, which was all the Command at first intended for that Place, as your Lordships will see from Capt. Prevosts letter to me of the 1st of March, an Extract of which I furnished your Lordships with in mine of the 27 of March.¹¹

P.S. The Box with the Laws &c. go by Capt. Hill who sailes from hence in 2 or 3 days, this go’s by way of Charles Town.

Amount of lands granted and quit rents due in Georgia to March 25, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 7, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, May 26, 1764.

Georgia

An abstract of land grants registered in Georgia from Sept. 25, 1763, to Dec. 25, 1763, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/675, F. 10, enclosed in Wright to the Board of Trade, May 26, 1764.

Grant Dated 4th October 1763

To James McHenry for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 10th October 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To George Galphin for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 11th Oct. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763.

To Barbara Galphin for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 11th October 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To William Clark for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 12th October 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To William Clark for a Lot in Augusta. Registred 12th October 1763.

Grant Dated 5th Sept. 1758

To Walter Fleming for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 2d Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To James Love for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 5th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To James Love for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 5th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To Henry Kennan for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 5th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 2d Oct. 1759

To George Hogue for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 7th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To Noble Jones Esqr. for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 8th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To Robert Smallwood for 70 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 10th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To William Tinley for 46 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 10th Novem. 1763.

Grant Dated 4th Oct. 1763

To William Stephens for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 8th Nov. 1763.

Grant Dated 7th July 1763

To Thomas Rasberry for 45 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 28th Novr. 1763.

The aforesaid Abstract of the Grants Registered from the 25th of Sepr. 1763 to the 25th Decem. 1763 compared with the Registers Book at Savannah this 1st Day of Feb. 1764.

Jas. Houstoun Depy. Reg.

Thomas Whateley, Secretary to the Lords of the Treasury, to John Pownall, Secretary to the Board of Trade, June 2, 1764, read July 23, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 106, concerning payment of the salary of William Grover, Chief Justice of Georgia.

The Lords Commrs. of his Majts. Treasury having taken into their Consideration the inclosed Memorial¹² of Mr. Garth Agent for the Colony of Georgia; concerning the payment of Mr. Grover’s Salary late Chief Justice of that province, are pleased to direct me to transmit the same to you, desiring you to lay it before the Lords Commrs. for Trade and plantations, and to return their Lordships Opinion thereupon to My Lords.

Memorial of Charles Garth, Crown Agent for Georgia, to the Board of Trade, June 22, 1764, read June 25, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 80, concerning payment of salaries of pilots in Georgia.

Sheweth

That your Memorialist has had brought to him a Certificate from the Governor of Georgia certifying that Francis Goffe and Painter Dickenson have acted as Pilots for the Barr of Tybee and River of Savannah in ye Province of Georgia from the 20th Feby. 1763 to the 20th Feby. 1764.

That endors’d thereon by the said Goffe & Dickenson is an Order of Payment for ye Salary allotted for a Pilot.

That no Bill has been drawn for ye said Salary since ye 20th of Feby. 1763, And as your Memorialist has Reason to believe ye Name annex’d to the sd. Certifycate to be of the Handwriting of Governor Wright, he prays your Lordships Order and Direction (without which he cannot regularly pay the same, the Bill not being drawn on the Agent) and hopes for yr Lordships Certificate.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, July 5, 1764, Savannah, received Sept. 10, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 12, relative to stopping the Creek trade, Creek Indian relations, and South Carolina grants south of the Altamaha.

My Lords

The Vessel with the Box of Papers not being yet ready to Sail, I take this Opportunity by way of Charles Town to Acquaint your Lordships that I very lately received a letter from General Gage dated the 2d of May wherein he says “That Stopping the Trade with the Creek Indians is a Measure which Seems to him at Present rather unadvisable, as it would be Look’t upon as a declaration of War” and this I am very Clear in, as I have been long Acquainted my Lords with Indian Affairs and he is in General of my Opinion not to take any Step whatever which may Occasion a Rupture between us & the Indians but on the Contrary to use every Means Possible to avoid it, and in my last I Inclosed your Lordships the Opinion of His Majesties Council here on that Point. I now inclose your Lordships the last Indian Talk, but Notwithstanding what they Say there, the upper Creeks joined with the Lower Creeks in everything that Passed at the Congress & Expressly declared themselves to be fully Authorised by the Upper Towns to Represent them & as your Lordships will See by the Proceedings Transmitted by me, I dont know of any such Presents being Promised as are Mentioned. Possibly the Superintendant might after I came away. What they mention of Abuses by the People Employed by the Traders as Packhorsemen &c I believe is very True, and a most difficult thing to Prevent while the Trade is on such a general Footing.

I shall hope to receive your Lordships directions as to the Carolina Grants, for His Majesty having been graciously Pleased to Declare an Extension of the South Boundary of this Province, I Expect Soon to have applications for taking up Lands to the Southward of the River Alatamaha, & shall be at a Loss to know how to Conduct my self with respect to those Grants, whether I am to Consider them as Valid, or to look on the Lands as Vacant Notwithstanding those Grants. There is According to the Account I have received from the Office in Carolina 56 Grants Signed, Containing in the whole 89,400 Acres of Land, which is the finest Land & indeed almost the Whole in that Tract which will be worth Settling for many years. There is not yet a Single Negro brought into the Province by any one of the Persons who have obtained Grants, or any Application or Notice taken about the Payment of the Land Tax or any one Man that I can hear of removed into the Province. I Humbly Conceive my Lords that if His Majesty is Pleased to allow these Grants to remain as effectual & Valid, Yet agreeable to the Royal intention & Instructions those who hold them Should bring into this Province either a white Person or a Negro for every 50 acres that is Contained in their Grant, and this my Lords they are not by the Tenor of their Grants obliged to do or can be Compelled to as without Some further Method or order is taken for that Purpose, the Grants being only in the usual Manner to Clear & Cultivate so many Acres & Pay the Quit rents. And as these Surveys were made in the greatest hurry for fear of being interrupted by the Indians, & to get the Grants Signed before they were forbid, which they were very Apprehensive of, it is asserted by Some very Creditable Person that few or none of the Lands were actually Surveyed or the Lines Run, but that for the Tracts on the Rivers, they only Mark’t a Tree at each Corner & Plotted off the rest, without going on shore, and if so my Lords there may Probably be a much Larger Quantity Contained within the Lines than Expressed in the Plots returned, & Consequently in the Grants, to Prevent any abuses of which Sort Resurveys by the Sur. Genl. of this Province might be Ordered from Home at the Expence of the Party’s Grantees, and that the grants should be all Enter’d & docketted in this Province, or otherwise neither his Majesties Quit rents or Taxes can be Regularly ascertained. These things my Lords Occurred to me as Necessary to Lay before your Lordships for your Consideration & Order therein, and it is Submitted whether the Partys should not by Some Law be Compelled to bring into the Province a white Person or a Negro for every 50 acres within a limited time, & Comply with such other Matters as your Lordships may Judge Necessary, or otherwise the Grants to be void.

Talks at a meeting between traders and Headmen of the Creek Indians at Little Tallassie, April 10, 1764, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 13, enclosed in Gov. Wright to Board of Trade, July 5, 1764.

Present

Emistisegoes Talk

We now send this answer to the Governor & Superintendant as we had not many headmen with us to hear the Great Kings Talk at Augusta, we are the Chief part of the Upper Creeks now present. It is true that when we were at Augusta, we gave you no answer, our reason for so doing, was that some Conversation passed between Governor Boone & half breed Abraham at Mr. Golphins, which we were informed of, but now we will Answer your Talk.

We were informed that the Great King George tho we are a poor Sort of people yet allowed us to be Masters of our own Land; altho the Governor of Charlestown seems to love our Days from us, By information of half breed Abraham, we hear that Alix yawillie wiannie & half breed Abraham should say, that they looked upon these Upper Town & Chickasaws as there Younger Brothers; & that they were there Guardians, & had already saved their lives, a speech we do not understand. The Lower Creeks gave you there answer at Augusta. We Upper & Tallipussie Creeks are all here now Present, & you may believe this to be a Talk, Without Doubt you expected an answer from us & now the Day is come, we send you this answer. You may think that the heads of the Nation were at Augusta, they were not we are now present. You may depend we will abide by this Talk, & we desire you will make it known to your People. Tho we did not outwardly confess our approbation of the Great Kings Talk, we were pleased with it, & what we now say we hope will stand for three or four years; if it does we will think it a Talk, & hope it will always abide so. The Talks gave you by the Lower Creeks we thought was good, but we were Dubious of their Intentions for all. As to the Lands Granted you by the Lower Creeks we said Nothing; however we agree to that, providing that you keep your slaves & cattle within that Bounds. If they do for four years & not Exceed it; we shall think you sincere to us. I was promised Six Cags Rum, to treat the Headmen at this Talk, but I have received none. I likewise was promised Ammunition, & other Articles for the old people, to distribute to the Young people by there Elders, & to acquaint them the reason of these Presents to Establish a good understanding between the English & us. But we have failed of them Presents, likewise in regard to the old times, its certain that what Trade we had with your Country formerly, that we were obliged to carry our Goods on our Backs, & that these present times we are much Assisted by the Traders in bringing horses amongst us. The Young people its certain daily have Pilfered & Stole horses from the Traders; which horses we regard as our property, as they are wholly employed in the Service of Trade to the Nation; we will do our endeavors to get all returned to the owners that can be found. When we do that, we hope you will send us up the things promised us. This answer that I send to you in Consequence of my promise, that I would assemble the Upper Creeks & Tallipussee; which I have now done. It is not me alone that send you this Talk; its with the Consent of the Oakchoy King & Mortar who now sets by me, who agrees to this & all the Headmen present agrees to the same. We hear that Alix, & half breed Abraham Frequently Converses with you; & that there is a good understanding between you. We hope you will likewise think favourably of us, & that we may live & lengthen one anothers Days.

We have been long Silent but now we open our Mouths, we heard your great Talk; & tho a White Man Robt. Sallit has run out of this Nation & occasioned much Disturbances, I was resolved not to throw away the Great King George’s Talk, before I would bring the Talk to be heard by this Nation. Some white people raised bad talks, & they have occasioned Disturbances; but we hope you will take Notice of them; as they will not mind the Headmen that has Commissions from your Provinces. I mean Robt. Sallit who has occasioned much uneasiness & we desire to know whether you will not take Notice of that person who pays no regard to your Talks. Unexpected soon after your good Talk, the Cowetas committed on your people what they ought not to have done; however we are determined that nothing further of the kind shall happen. There is some runnagading people that make bad Talks. This is not a very great Talk but you may depend on it to be sincere, tho Mischief by the Cowetas Occasioned the white people running out of the Nation, but we hope they will return, & nothing of the kind will again happen. When we were at the meeting in your Country we lost many horses. We hope if we do our endeavor to get the white peoples horses, you will likewise give orders to your people to return ours, which we Expect. There is Likewise Traders who make a Practice of loading our horses to Augusta, & when they come back, near the Towns turn them loose, a matter not at all proper so to do. We have lost many People by former Wars, we have red people all round us, & the Mortar has settled Peace with them. We desire to live in peace with all people white & Red.

We desire that all the Governors & Superintendant may all see this, & if it stands for four years, which we sincerely hope will be the case, then we shall hope it will be forever, which we now Sincerely wish & hope to receive a favourable answer from all of you & Speedily; & as I promised to return you an answer I now do it. I hope you will look on it as one Talk & not as two, & I hope your Talk will be the same. The French lived in this place & had a Fort before I was born. Its true they were of some assistance to us. They are now gone, & what houses are left, belongs to us. Some of this Nation intends to move there & make a Town of it, & therefore we desire you will have no thoughts of Erecting any Fort about here. This being the last of our Talk we desire you will Dispatch an answer as soon as possible. I promised that John Proctor should be Interpreter, but as he was drove off & the rest of the white people, by the Talk John Wiggin brought us; Joseph Cornall has acted in his room.

Oakchoys King Talk

You have had a meeting with all Nations of Indians and you desire us to live in peace with one another, which we intend to do and to hold the English fast friends. The head Warriors that went down to your Talk, its true had a good deal of fatiegue, but they think nothing of it, as it served so good an end as to hear a good Talk, & you may likewise see, that we are all well satisfied with it. Our forefathers lived in perfect friendship with you. They had room to hunt, to kill Game to supply their wants & cloath themselves. We desire nothing else, & we hope you’ll not encroach upon our Lands; as hunting is our only dependence. We are sensible that you are settled round us, but we hope it is for our good. We desire our young people to behave civil to white people wherever they go. I have formerly been reckoned your younger Brother, I remain so still. Its true my head Warriors may get in a Passion, but its my business to stop them; which I constantly strive to do; & let your Traders bring Ammunition and Goods among us as usual & we shall be satisfied. As to the English taking possession of Mobille & the former Spanish settlements, we are satisfied, providing they keep within the Bounds that the french and Spaniards did. If so we shall be well Contented, & that we may have a Trade as usual. I have not, forgot the old Talks. I was allways a well-wisher to the English, & I never heard an English King desire us to take up Arms against one another. We are now hoping the Breed¹³ and Choctaws are in same mind, who we are going to send our Talks. Many of these disturbances is owing to white men, who are very guilty with Women that have husbands. If a woman brings any thing to the House of a white man, let him pay her, & let her go again, or if a free single woman chooses to live with a white man, we have nothing to say against it, but many white men who are very Impudent & occasions uneasiness. I do not mean all white people. Red people are subject to our Laws, & they must be the same provided they are guilty of the same Errors. Robt. Sallit reported that there was a bad Talk from you, & that no body but the Wolf & Wills friend of Oakfuskee was acquainted with it. I said I had often walked to your Country, & that I was certain I should hear it if any come, & therefore did not believe it. We hope there is nothing in this Talk that will be dissagreeable to you. We are like other Nations, in want of Necessarys; I look upon myself now as an old man, & talk what I think is for the good of us both. My head warriors are now taking pains to put things on a good footing, & I hope we shall live in better friendship than ever.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, July 5, 1764, Savannah, received Sept. 24, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 14, relative to Creek Indian relations, South Carolina grants south of the Altamaha, and meeting of the assembly.

My Lords

The Inclosed letter of the 26th of May was to have been sent with the Box of Papers by the Brign. Rose Capt. Hill, but after that Vessel was Loaded she Proved Leaky & was obliged to unlade & be repaired, and this opportunity offering so soon by a much better Vessel, I kept the Box till now.

[Here follows the identical letter of July 5, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 12, given above pp. 37-39.]

Pardon me my Lords but it is the bringing in a Number of People that will be of Real use to the Province, & not Complying with the terms of Cultivation in the Grant, that will be of little use or benefit. And it is the Number of Persons only that His Majesties Instructions Seem to make the Qualification, or give the Partys a Right to ask for Lands.

The Small Pox my Lords being here I Issued a Proclamation with the advice of the Council for Calling together the Assembly to meet the next day, being the 26th of May, when a Bill was Framed on the Occasion & Passed the 29th a Copy of Which, and a Bill to Continue the Militia & Negro Lawes also Passed then. I now Transmit.¹⁴

Memorial of Isaac Levy to the Board of Trade, read July 5, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 81, respecting his interest in Thomas Bosomworth’s claims to Georgia lands.

Sheweth

That your Memorialist in the Month of December 1759 caused an humble petition of himself to be presented to his Majesty in Council accompanied with another of his Agents both of which were referred to your Lordships By which Petitions your Memorialists Right to a Moiety of the three Islands of Ossaba Sappola and Saint Catherines was humble insisted upon jointly with one Thomas Bosomworth and his Wife. And Stating that he had given Notice of his Right to Henry Ellis Esquire then Governour of Georgia and humbly Submitting his Case to his Majesties Justice and Goodness he offered, if the public service required to take such Recompence from his Majesty as therein mentioned.

That since presenting the said Petitions and Reference it is come to your Memorialists Knowledge and which he submits appears to your Lordships from the Records of your Office that during all the Treaty between Governour Ellis on his Majesties Behalf and the said Thomas Bosomworth the Title and Claims of your Memorialist were fully stated and declared. Notwithstanding which Governour Ellis on the 19th of April 1760 took a Conveyance of two of the said Islands (Ossaba and Sappola) and of some Lands therein mentioned for the Use of his Majesty.

That it is also Evident that the Indians ratified the title of the said Thomas Bosomworth and his Wife and declared the Grant made by Malatchi Opyia Mico to be good and that they might do therewith as they chose which is confirmed as your Memorialist humbly submits by the Grant and Conveyance taken from them by Governour Ellis for the Use of the Crown.

That in the Conveyance of the 19th of April 1760 It is mentioned That the Sum of £2050 therefore paid to the said Thomas Bosomworth was paid him as a Recompence for the Services of himself and his Wife. Whereas your Memorialist humbly Submits to your Lordships this could not be the true Consideration as he received the very Money the Islands sold for and as on a former Application for Services and Demands of the said Thomas Bosomworth and his Wife preferred to your Lordships in the Month of February 1755 they only claimed £400 for a Ballance and since which they had not even a pretence of Services and which very Sum of £400 or any part whereof your Memorialist believes that your Lordships did not think proper to recommend to his Majesty to give but which may more plainly appear by the Minutes of those Transactions in your Lordships Power.

That your Memorialist finding that about February 1758 an Act of Assembly passed in Georgia to forbid the purchasing of Lands of the Indians adjoining to that Province and requiring all Persons claiming under Indian Titles to register their Claims within a Time limited of which Notice was given in the London Gazette your Memorialist caused his claims to be entered in Georgia in due Time of which having demanded a Certificate he could not obtain the Same and therefore humbly referrs himself to the Authentic Account thereof transmitted to your Lordships.

That your Memorialist in the Year 1754 underwent very heavy losses from the Depredations of the Indians to the Amount of £2500 Sterling and upwards for which he hath received no Recompence whatsoever.

That as the Islands of Ossaba and Sappalo were purchased by Governour Ellis of Thomas Bosomworth for the Use of the Crown and are now held under Grants of the Crown and as his Majesty hath also Confirmed Saint Catherines to the said Bosomworth and as it hath been much desired that these Islands should be quietly settled as they would be in that Light of public Utility your Memorialist in Order to avoid any Contest with the Crown or its Grantees hath humbly represented his Case and these several Facts hoping in the Justice of his Majesty and your Lordships for Redress and the rather as your Memorialist hath been given to understand that no persons will chuse to undertake any Case for him in Georgia against the Interest of his Majesty.

Memorial of Charles Garth, Crown agent for Georgia, July 16, 1764, Inner Temple, read July 16, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 103, respecting payment of a Georgia bill.

Sheweth

That he has received a Bill for acceptance drawn by Governor Wright upon account of the Contingencies, accompanied with the proper & usual Vouchers.

That as the Bill bears date the 4th of May, previous to the date of your Lordships Directions to the Governor of Georgia vizt. 29th of May, and being upon the same Plan as heretofore, Your Memorialist prays your Lordships Directions to accept the same, and hopes for a Certificate thereof.

Endorsement

Whitehall July 16th 1764

The foregoing Memorial having been laid before the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantation, their Lordships upon examination of the Bill therein mention’d and of the Account and Vouchers there with transmitted, approve thereof, and have no objection to the said Bill being accepted and paid.

John Pownall
Secretary [Board of Trade]

Thomas Le Breton, counsel for Isaac Levy, to John Pownall, Secretary to the Board of Trade, July 16, 1764, Sun Court, Cornhill, read July 16, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 104, respecting Isaac Levy and the Bosomworth claims.

Sir

We herein inclose you a Copy of the Summons mentioned to their Lordships on Friday last, whereby it will appear that the further Hearing which their Lordships intended them to have had was for the further Consideration of the Order of the Lords of the Committee of Council of the 20th of December 1759, Referring the petitions relative to the Claim of Isaac Levy.

We presented a Memorial to their Lordships about the 29th of May last, stating the further Circumstances of the Case of Mr. Levy which had happened since the presenting of our petitions to his Majesty in Council, or which were unknown to us at that Time, and thereby prayed a short day to be appointed, for hearing the said Isaac Levy his Council, or Agents on the Matter of the said Memorial and Referrence.

Your Experience of Business will readily inform you, that in all Courts of Justice or elsewhere, whenever any fresh matter arises, or is discovered, after a first Hearing, a second Hearing is granted. This is what we desire in the present Case and that their Lordships, by your Intercession, will please to fix a Day for the hearing Mr. Levys Council on the Matter of the Referrence and his Memorial.

Copy of summons of John Pownall to Messrs. Le Breton & Whiteside, Jan. 9, 1761, Whitehall, respecting Isaac Levy’s claim. Enclosed in Le Breton to Pownall, July 16, 1764.

Gentlemen

The Governor of Georgia having transmitted to the Lords Commissioners for Trade & Plantations an Account of his Proceedings in the sale of the Islands of Usseba & Sappola & other Indian Lands in that Colony ceded to his Majesty by the Creek Indians in 1758, their Lordships have appointed Wednesday next the 4th Inst. for the further Consideration of the Order of the Lords of the Committee of Council of the 20th of December 1759, referring your Petition relative to a claim of Isaac Levi to a part of the said Lands, of which their Lordships have directed me to acquaint you and that they desire your Attendance at their Board on that Day at eleven o’clock in the forenoon.

N.B. The 10 Janry. 1761 Mr. Whiteside prayed Mr. Pownall to have it putt off by a Letter as Mr. Le Breton was out of England & had some Papers relative to ye Claim in his Custody.

The Committee for Plantation Affairs of the Privy Council, to the Board of Trade, July 17, 1764, Whitehall, read July 20, 1764, C.O. 5/648, E. 105, requesting a report on the petition of the Earl of Eglinton and others for a grant of land in Georgia and the two Floridas.

His Majesty having been pleased to refer unto this Committee the humble Petition of Alexander Earl of Eglinton and others praying for a Grant of the Soil of the Provinces of Georgia and the two Floridas under the Conditions therein mentioned, in order to a speedy and perfect Settlement thereof. The Lords of the Committee this day took the same into their consideration and are hereby pleased to refer the said Petition (a Copy whereof is hereunto annexed) to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, to consider thereof, and Report their opinion thereupon to this Committee.

Petition of the Earl of Eglinton and others to the King in Council, for land in Georgia and the two Floridas. Enclosed with the order of the Committee for Plantation Affairs to the Board of Trade, July 20, 1764.

Humbly Sheweth

That your petitioners being desirous to Contribute towards a speedy and a perfect Settlement of Georgia and the two Floridas most humbly beg leave to lay the following proposal at Your Majestys feet.

They are willing to introduce into these provinces 100,000 settlers Vizt. 10,000 the first five years and 18,000 every five Years after till the whole is compleated, at their own expence for the property of the Soil only the Crown reserving the intire Jurisdiction with power to Order and direct the proprietors to give what Grants Your Majesty shall be pleased to signify to them by Your Secretary of State or the Lords of Trade and Plantations.

1st.    We most humbly beg that One of the Royal Family will be graciously pleased to be at the head of this great and expensive undertaking.

2d.    We are willing to oblige ourselves to comply with the Terms of Your Majestys late proclamation for encouraging the Settlement of that Country.

3d.    We desire all legal Grants of Lands already made in these Countrys may be confirmed and that the proprietors may be restrained from making Grants to any One person exceeding 500 Acres (except to such as have greater Allowance by Your Majestys Proclamation) which Grants to contain indespensable terms and Conditions of Cultivation and to subject the new Settlers to no higher Quit Rents than what is at present paid in those provinces.

4th.    We will give full and sufficient Security to pay into your Majestys Exchequer free of all Charges and deductions One Shilling pr Ann. for every 100 Acres that is already and may hereafter be granted away Provided such Quit Rent be not exacted or payable till fifteen Years from the Date of the respective Grants.

And all these Conditions we will be obliged to perform upon penalty of a resumption of the Grants and the loss of whatever We may have laid out previous to the forfeiture together with any other Security that may be judged necessary for the performance of this Task particularly against a Monopoly of the Lands by being subject to such Directions respecting Grants as Your Majesty shall from time to time signify to Us by your Secretary of State and Lords of Trade and Plantations whereby We shall be as much under the Control of Your Majestys Government as the present Governours and Councils of those provinces or any other part of the Continent of America who are now vested with a power of granting Lands under Your Majestys Commissions and Instructions and We are also ready to submit to any other Measures for the true and reasonable interest of the Colonys and Mother Country which can be contrived so as to make the one grow and flourish under the protection and Superintentancy of the other.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, July 23, 1764, Savannah received Oct. 15, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 15, respecting Indian peace and last year’s silk production.

My Lords

I Embrace this opportunity by the Grenville Packet to Acquaint your Lordships that my Box with my letters & our Laws Passed in February last, & all other Public Papers, is on Board the Elizabeth Capt. Scott Bound for Cowes. Which I hope your Lordships will receive Safe.

By my last Accounts from the Indian Country, all appearances were Peaceable. There has been delivered in at the Filature this Season 15126 lb. of Cocoons, which is 360 lb. less than the last year, altho’ we Expected a Considerable Quantity more, as a Great many People went upon it, who had not done so before. But the Weather Proved unfavourable in the beginning of the Season, and to my knowledge one who in March Expected to make from 5 to 700 lb. of Cocoons did not make above 100. And Several others Suffered in Proportion, so that your Lordships see it depends greatly on the weather in March & April, and very Particular Care & Management during that time. I beg leave to refer your Lordships to my letter by Capt. Scott.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Aug. 6, 1764, Savannah, received Oct., read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 16, respecting quality of silk and Indian peace.

My Lords

My last to your Lordships was by the Elizabeth Capt. Scott who Sailed from hence the 30th of last Month & by which Conveyance I wrote your Lordships very fully & Transmitted the Copys of our Laws Passed the 29th of Febr. & the Accounts Audited &c. Mr. Garth Lately wrote me “That the Silk Broker told him our Silk is too Round & Spungy, owing to its being Reeled from too great a Number of Cocoons,” and Sent me a Sample of what he Calls Nova Silk, Reeled from only 6 or 7 Cocoons. Since the Receipt of which I have had Several Conversations with Mr. Ottolenghe on the Subject. The Silk here is Reeled from 16 to 20 Cocoons, and never was taken from a less Number as Ottolenghe assures me. Mr. Martyn frequently Informed me as a Proof of its Goodness, that Georgia Silk Sold for 2/6 a lb. more than Italian Silk. And Mr. Ottolenghe avers that the Silk which went from hence made in 1762, was the finest & best in Quality that ever he made, or sent from the Province, and yet the Broker Complains of it. Ottolenghe Says if your Lordships Choose to have it Reeled from 6 or 7 Cocoons, it may Certainly be done, but then the Expence will be 3 times as much, & the Work will Continue about 9 Months instead of 3 and the Losses & damage other ways, he apprehends will amount to much more than any Advantage Arising from the Goodness of the Silk, and he finds it difficult to get Hands to Reel. The usual Price is one Shil. per day, which they Say is too Little, & they can’t work for that next year. The Working Hours are from 5 in the morning to 8, from 9 to 12, & from 1 to 6 & Sometimes 7 at Night & Ottolenghe Complains that the Seed degenerates. If your Lordships would be Pleased to direct the Agent to Send out Some Fresh Seed, it would be of Great Service. The Method My Lords of Applying the Bounty Money is the Same as was Practiced before my Arrival here & which I have followed ever since, Supposing it to have been directed by your Lordships Board, & approved of. I Frequently go to the Filature my Lords during the Season, tho’ I must Confess I am no Connoisseur yet, have therefore directed Mr. Ottolenghe to write fully & Clearly on this Subject, it being a matter I Conceive more Immediately within his department.

Every thing Continues quiet amongst the Indians, I shall be very hopefull to receive your Lordships directions in answer to mine for the 5th of July.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Aug. 27, 1764, Savannah, received Nov. 15, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 17, concerning methods of Indian trade and the Mortar.

My Lords

I have the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council for April, May, and June 1764, also the Naval Officers Accounts of Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at this Port from the 5th of April to the 5th of July.

As I think my Lords it would be Clearly for His Majesties Service by Promoting & Continuing Peace and quietness amongst the Indians if the Trade Carried on Amongst them was more Limited and Confined than it is at Present, I Cannot Consistent with my duty, and the Trust Reposed in me, Remain any Longer Silent on the Subject, and humbly hope it will not be thought Presumptuous in me to Propose some matters that may Seem Contrary to His Majesties Royal Proclamation of the 7th of October last.

My Lords soon after my arrival here, I found the Indian Trade Running into Great Confusion, Numbers of People were Applying for Licences, and 3 or 4 Persons were Trading in one & the Same Town, which was Productive of almost Continual disputes & Quarrels between the Traders & the Indians. By so many Persons Trading in one Town, the Indians were over supplied with Goods, which I Conceive to be bad Policy. The Traders who go Amongst them are not the honestest or Soberest People, and I found they were in General Undermining one another, and in Order to get the greatest Share of the Trade, each Endeavoured to make the Indians believe that the other Cheated them, which Raised Jealousies & ill Blood Amongst them all, & disorders were frequently Committed, & I had Continual Complaints as well from Indians as the Traders. In order to Remove and Prevent which for the Future my Lords, I got as Exact & Correct a list as I Possibly Could of all the Real Indian Towns, and the Number of Gun Men or Hunters in each Town, and then Endeavoured to divide & Proportion the Trade as Equally as I could amongst all the People Concerned in that Trade and with the advice & assistance of His Majesties Council made such Regulations therein, as Appears by the Journal of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council for July 1761 and to which I beg leave to Refer your Lordships. After this I found the Trade went on easier, and I had fewer Complaints, altho it was not Possible to make such a Division of the Trade as was Satisfactory to all Parties Concerned in it. But Really my Lords with great deference & Submission, I apprehend Some Plan of this Sort will be found better adapted to the Nature of Indians & Local Circumstances of these Countries, than Such a General Freedom & Liberty of Trading as His Majesty has been most Graciously Pleased to direct, unless it should be thought more advisable to take the Trade into the Hands of the Government, & Suffer no Private Traders to go Amongst them. Clear I am beyond a doubt, that almost every disturbance & injury that has happened from the Indians has in a great Measure, if not totally Proceeded from the great Misconduct & abuses Committed Amongst them by the Traders & Packhorsemen Employed there. Who I may with Truth say are the very worst & most abandoned Set of Men. Few others will enter into Such Service, and my Lords however it may Sound, or Seem, it is very difficult almost next to Impossible to bring any Offenders in those Remote Parts to Justice.

I have the Pleasure to Acquaint your Lordships that every thing is now Perfectly quiet & easy amongst the Indians, as your Lordships will Perceive by the Inclosed Talk from the Mortar & Others, which I only received on the 23d instant. This Fellow my Lords who is Called the Mortar, is a Creek Indian of Considerable Family Connections Amongst them, a Man of Great Influence and who for Several years Past has been our greatest & most active Enemy.

P. S. The Rent Roll is Finished & was attested before me the 25th instant, and I believe Mr. Elliott the deputy Auditor Transmits it by this Conveyance.

Talk of the Mortar, Creek chieftain, delivered at Fort Augusta, Aug. 24, 1764, and Gov. Wright’s reply of Aug. 24, read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 18, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Aug. 27, 1764.

I the Handsome Fellow with Some others of the great Men of the Oakfuskees are come down here in the Name of the Mortar with a Peaceable Talk which we hope will be Agreeable to the great King over the Large Lake, as also to the Governors & the beloved Man.

1st. That I the Mortar am thoroughly Sensible of the Many Outrages & hostilities that I have Committed Against the English, during my Attachment to the French interest, but am now Extremely Sorry for it, & humbly Beg forgiveness of the great King, The Governors, & the beloved Man.

2nd. I Present you with a white Wing as a Pledge of my firm Friendship and Fidelity for the time to Come. And I beg that the Governors & beloved Man, may Acquaint the great King, That I am determined to be for Ever his most Faithfull Friend.

3d. I Likewise Present you with this String of white Beads at the request of the Great Men of the Nation. That its their desire, That the Great Old Path between Augusta and the Nation, may be kept White & Clean, and that they may be Supplied with goods &c by that Path, as they want to know no Other.

4th. It’s my Particular desire that the White Wing be sent to Governor Wright by the Warriour Captain at Augusta, likewise the String of White Beads to be Sent to Governor Bull, as True Emblems of my Attachment & Everlasting Friendship to the great King &c. &c.

Note. The Indian Called the Handsome Fellow is a Man of Consequence, and who was Sent from the Nation with a Train of followers to bring this Talk.

The beloved Man is the Superintendant.

My Answer to the Above.

Georgia.

Friend and Brother the Mortar

I have received your Talk Sent down by the Handsome Fellow, Oakfuskee Captain & others, and am very Glad to find that the Great being, and Master of Breath has opened your Eyes, and that you now See & are Convinced that the English are your Real & best Friends, and that the French only Instigated you against the English to Involve you in Misery and Ruin, with Private Views to their own Advantage, and not out of Friendship to you. And this is what I have been Endeavouring to Convince all your People of ever Since the Great King George Sent me to be Governor of this Province, and that it was & is your True interest to be good Friends with, & Hold fast by the great King & his English Subjects, in him you will always find a Father, & a Friend to Supply all your Wants, but he will Expect a Gratefull Return, and that you Protect his white Children, and not Suffer any of your People to kill them, or in any Manner disturb them, and that you Observe the Treaties & Agreements made between him, and your Nation.

The Great King forgave you all your Past Offences at the Meeting at Augusta in November last, and which I now Again Repeat. I will Encourage the Traders to Continue the Trade by the Great Old Path from Augusta to your Nation as usual, but this must depend Greatly on yourselves, & According to your behaviour to the White People, who will not Carry Goods into your Towns unless they find they can do so with Safety and are Protected from all injuries & Abuses Whatever.

In the Name of the Great King George I accept the White Wing you have Sent me, as a True Emblem of your firm Friendship & Fidelity to him & his white Children and from this time Shall Consider you the Mortar, as my Particular Friend & Brother, and this Talk as a further Confirmation of the Pacific & Good intentions of all the Creeks in General. Given under my Hand & Seal at Savannah

the 24th of August 1764

Ja. Wright

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Sept. 13, 1764, received and read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 19, transmitting the Naval Officer’s report for Sunbury.

My Lords

I have the Honor to Transmit to Your Lordships the Naval Officers Quarterly Accounts of all Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at the Port of Sunbury from the 30th of December 1763 to the 5th of July 1764.¹⁵ Everything is well here at Present. Only the Small Pox Still in Town & some few Places in the Country. I have not had the Honor to receive a Single Line from your Lordships, Since yours of the 11th of October last.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Sept. 26, 1764, received and read Dec. 17, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 20, concerning the expenses of the silk culture.

My Lords

I did my Self the Honor of Writing to your Lordships by His Majesties Packet Boat Suffolk on the 27th of last Month, Since which Nothing Material has Occur’d. I have this day given Certificates on Account of the Silk Culture to the Amount of £2577.8.3¼ Sterl. Expended as Appear by the General Account Examined and Passed by me in Council on the 4th instant, which Account together With all the usual Vouchers has been Transmitted to Mr. Garth the Agent by Mr. Baillie the Commissary here. I think it Necessary to Mention Particularly to your Lordships the Article of £200 to Mr. Ottolenghe & of £20 to Mr. Baillou. These Additional Articles my Lords are in Consequence of letters I rece’d from your Lordships Board of the 10th of May & 30 of Sepr. 1763 Authorising & directing me to Come to an agreement with Mr. Ottolenghe for Instructing Persons in the Superintendancy & Management of the Silk. This Matter I Consulted the Gentlemen of the Council upon, and came to a Resolution thereon, one the 6th of March last as Appears by the Minutes of that day when it was Unanimously agreed that Mr. Ottolenghe deserved to have the Sum of £200 Sterl. over & above all other usual Allowances to him, in Consideration of his Covenanting to Instruct Such Persons as he shall from time to time be required to do, by the Governor of this Province for the time being, and Pursuant to which Mr. Isaac Baillou was Immediately put under Mr. Ottolenghe for his Instructions, and with whom I believe he has taken all due Pains. I transmitted your Lordships a Copy of the agreement at Large & wrote you on the Subject the 12th of March last which went by His Majesties Ship Epreuve to all which I beg Leave to Refer your Lordships, that Mr. Garth may receive your Lordships Orders to Pay the Amount of those two Certificates. The Silk that was made this year my Lords was Shipt on Board the Henrietta John Raines Master, which Sailed from this Port on the 13 of last Month, and by which Vessel I wrote your Lordships dated the 6th of August I have not had the Honor to receive a Single Line from your Lordships Since yours dated the 11th of October last.

Memorials of Charles Garth, Crown Agent for Georgia, to the Board of Trade received Nov. 15, read Dec. 4, 1764, C.O. 5/648, F. 2, regarding payment of the salaries of Crown officials in Georgia.

Sheweth

That the Bill annex’d, drawn by Chas. Pryce Esqr. appointed to be His Majesty’s Attorney General in the said Colony by Warrant bearing Date at Westminster the 24th of Jany. 1764, hath lately been tender’d to Yr. Memorialist for Acceptance, being for Salary due from the Date of his Appointmt. to Ye. 24th. of June 1764.

That the said Bill appears to have been drawn, before Your Lordship’s Letter to the Governor, regulating the Disbursement of the publick Money granted for the civil Establishment of Georgia, have been rec’d in that Colony.

That, Yr. Memorialist declining to accept it, not being accompanied with a Certificate from the Governor, nor, as Yr. Memorialist is inform’d, any Advice thereof transmitted to your Lordships. The said Bill has been left in his Custody in Order for him to receive Yr. Lordships Directions upon the Premises.

Sheweth

That several Gentlemen resident in Great Britain, authoriz’d, by Power of Attorney from the Officers of the Crown respectively within the said Province of Georgia, to receive their Salaries from the Agent as they shall severally become due, have lately apply’d to Yr. Memorialist for the same.

That Yr. Memorialist has declin’d Payment untill he shall have receiv’d the Directions of Yr. Lordship’s Board, whether such Attornies shall be entitled to receive the same on producing only the Handwriting of the Officers respectively, bearing Date subsequent to the Period for which such Salary shall be demanded, (this having been the Usage hitherto;) or not till they shall produce a Certificate sign’d by the Governor for the Time being of such Officers being alive and in actual Execution of the Office for which the Salary is claim’d.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 4, 1764, received Jan. 30, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 28, concerning abstracts of grants and quit rent rolls.

My Lords

Your Lordships letter of the 13 of July Requiring me to Transmit an abstract of all Grants from the first Establishment of the Province, I had the Honor to receive the 3d. Instant, and Beg Leave to Acquaint your Lordships that ever Since I have been here, I have duely Transmitted a Quarterly Account or Abstract of all Grants for Lands, Such as I now Send from the 25th of December 1763 to the 25th of Sepr. 1764, and am Informed by the Officers such have been always duely Transmitted before my Arrival here. And as these Abstracts contain & Specify the Names of the Grantees, the time when each Grant was made, the Quantity of Acres, and the Parish where Situate, I Humbly Conceive your Lordships are already Possessed of all the Materials required by this letter. As to the Quit Rent my Lords, all Lands are Granted on the Same Rent that is 2/Sterl. for every 100 Acres.

Your Lordships will also receive a further Satisfaction on this Head from the Rent Roll made up to the 1st of January 1764 & duely Attested and transmitted Some time Past, and which will be Continued Annually, and the Registers Accounts Quarterly or half yearly. But if any thing further should Appear to your Lordships to be Necessary on this Occasion whatever orders you are Pleased to Give Shall be Punctually Obeyed.

An abstract of land grants registered from Dec. 25, 1763, to March 25, 1764, C.O. 5/675, F. 29, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 4, 1764.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Thomas Eatton for a Wharff Lot in Savannah. Registred 27th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Anne Barbara Sigfret for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 27th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Abraham Gable for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 27th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 3d Decemr. 1760

To William Frances for a Wharff Lot in Savannah. Registred 28th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 1st May 1759

To Peter Blyth for a Lot in the Town of Savannah. Registred 28th Decemr. 1764. [1763 ?]

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Peter Grant for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 29th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Archibald McDonald for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 29th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Townsend Robinson for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 30th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6 Decemr. 1763

To Robert Humphrys for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 30th Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To Mordecai Sheftall for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 31st Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 6th Decemr. 1763

To David Huguenin for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registred 31st Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761

To James Edward Powell for a Wharf Lot in Savannah. Registred 31st Decemr. 1763.

Grant Dated 7th July 1761

To Nathaniel Miller for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 10th Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761

To John Lawson for 200 Acres of Lands in the Parish of St. John. Registred 10th Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761

To John Conyers for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 20th Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 5th March 1756

To James Parris for 350 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul, Registred 20th Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 3d Janr. 1764

To Lachlan McGillivray for a Lot in Augusta. Registred 23 Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 3d Janr. 1764

To James Gray for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 23d Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 3d Janr. 1764

To John Scheraus for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 24th Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 3d Janr. 1764

To Abraham Williams for 133 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 24th Janr. 1764.

Grant Dated 5th Febr. 1760

To Joseph Burton for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 4th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 13th April 1761

To Joseph Massey for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 14th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To Mathew Roche for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 15th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To John Peter Briton for a Lot in Savannah. Registred 22d Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To David Fisher for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church Registred 22d Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To John Clark for a Lot in Augusta. Registred 23d Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To John Clark for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 23d Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To John Clark for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 24th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To John Clark for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 24th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To Donald McDonald for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 27th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To John Lynn for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 27th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To Edward Barnard for 450 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 28th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To Peter Blyth for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 28th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Febr. 1764

To Peter Blyth for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 28th Febr. 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To Lachlan McGillivray for a Town Lot in Augusta. Registred 14th March 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To Lachlan McGillivray for a Town Lot and 45 Acres of Land in the Township of Savannah and Parish of Christ Church. Registred 14th March 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To Lachlan McGillivray for 392 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 14th March 1764.

The aforesaid Abstract of the Grants Registred from the 25th of Decemr. 1763 to the 25th of March 1764 compared with the Registers Book at Savannah this 2d Day of April 1764.

Jas. Houstoun Dep. Reg.

An abstract of land grants registered from March 25 to September 25, 1764, C.O. 5/675, F. 30, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 4, 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To Beatrix the Wife of Thomas Hartley for a Town Lot in Savannah. Registred 6th April 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To James Edward Powell for a Town Lot & 45 Acres of Land in the Township of Savannah. Registred 6th April 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To John McCleland for 118 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 7th April 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To John McCleland for 86 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 7th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Lieut. Harry Munroe for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 9th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Lieut. Harry Munroe for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 9th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To William Gibbons for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 10th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Milledge for 128 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 10th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To George Galphin for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 11th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To William Russell for 45 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 11th April 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Rae Galphin & McGillivray for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Paul. Registred 13th April 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To John Witherspoon for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 18th April 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To William Kennedy for 14 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 7th Mary 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To James Butler for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registred 7th Mary 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To William Donnam for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 8th May 1764.

Grant Dated 6th March 1764

To James Ducker for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 8th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Stephen Clark for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 12th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Florence McCarty for 250 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 12th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Alexander Wood for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 12th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Samuel Hudson for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 12th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Thomas Caudery for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 22d May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Conyers for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 22d May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Baker for 50 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 22d May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Stevens for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 23d May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Sylvanus Robinson for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 23d May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Joseph Barns for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 28th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Joseph Barns for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 28th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Charles Herring for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 29th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Charles Herring for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 29th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Peter Blake for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 30th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Peter Blake for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 30th May 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To James Habersham for 340 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 4th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To James Hambersham for 328 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 4th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To James Habersham for 332 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philips. Registred 4th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Claudia the Wife of John Mullryne for 800 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 6th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Claudia the Wife of John Mullryne for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 6th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Josiah Tatnell for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 8th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To Josiah Tatnell for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 8th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To William Kennedy for 68 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 18th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Gasper Wertsch for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 18th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To James Thomas for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 19th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Goldwire for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 20th June 1764.

Grant Dated 3d April 1764

To John Goldwire for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 20th June 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To William Williamson for 260 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 26th June 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Philip Delegal for 103 1/2 Acres of Land in the Parish of Christ Church. Registred 26th June 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Abraham Odum for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 27th June 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To William LeConte for 350 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registred 24th July 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Thomas Eatton for 1000 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registred 24th July 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Mathew Smallwood for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 26th July 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Daniel Donovan for 500 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 26th July 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To John Gasper Griener for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 1st August 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To John Walters for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 1st August 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Nicholas Fisher for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 2d August 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To John Burnsides for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 2d August 1764.

Grant Dated 1st May 1764

To Alexander La Mar for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 2d August 1764.

Grant Dated 5th June 1764

To Samuel Alexander for 48 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 16th August 1764.

Grant Dated 5th June 1764

To Samuel Alexander for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 16th August 1764.

Grant Dated 5th June 1764

To Josiah Phrisby for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 17th August 1764.

Grant Dated 5th June 1764

To William McCormack for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrews. Registred 17th August 1764.

Grant Dated 5th June 1764

To Jonathan Woodland for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Andrew. Registred 18th August 1764.

Grant Dated 5th June 1764

To Hugh Kennedy for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 18th Augt 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Augt 1764

To Benjamin Williamson for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 20th August 1764.

Grant Dated 3d July 1764

To William Ducker for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 6th Sepr. 1764.

Grant Dated 3d July 1764

To Urban Buntz for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Mathew. Registred 15th Sepr 1764.

Grant Dated 3d July 1764

To Danl Donovan for 150 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. John. Registred 15th Sepr 1764.

Grant Dated 3d July 1764

To Robert Houstoun for 200 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. Philip. Registred 15th Sepr 1764.

Grant Dated 3d July 1764

To James Anderson for 400 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 17th Sepr 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Augt 1764

To Derby Kennedy for 100 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 17th Sepr 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Augt 1764

To John Williams for 300 Acres of Land in the Parish of St. George. Registred 18th Sepr 1764.

Grant Dated 7th Augt 1764

To Lewis Johnson Esqr for 5 Acres of Land in the Township of Savannah. Registred 18th Sepr 1764.

The foregoing Abstract of the Grants registered from the 25th March to the 25th Sepr 1764 Compared with the Registers Book at Savannah this 8th Day of October 1764.

Pat Houstoun Register.

Memorial of Charles Garth, Crown Agent for Georgia, to the Board of Trade, Dec. 10, 1764, received and read Dec. 10, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 3, concerning payment of Gov. Wright’s bills.

Sheweth

That a Bill for £77.8s.2d has been brought to him for Acceptance, drawn by Governor Wright upon Account of the Contingencies, accompany’d with the proper and usual Vouchers.

That the Bill, bearing Date the 7th of September ultimo; (upon the 26th of which Month your Lordships directions to the said Governor had not been received by him as per Advice of that Date to your Memorialist and being upon the same Plan as heretofore Your Memorialist prays Your Lordships Permission to accept the same.

Memorial of Charles Garth, Crown agent for Georgia, to the Board of Trade, Dec. 10, 1764, received and read Dec. 10, 1764, C.O. 5/649, F. 4, concerning payment of expenses for silk culture and the Board’s approval thereof.

Sheweth

That He has lately receiv’d from the Governor of the said Province an Accompt of the Moneys expended by him for defraying the Expences of the Silk Culture in the Province of Georgia, amounting to the Sum of £1577.8S.3 1/4D over and above the Sum of £1000 granted by Parliament for the said Purpose in the last Sessions.

That the net Profit upon the Sale of the Raw Silk imported from Georgia of the Produce of the year 1763 amounted to £881.3S. 8D, that a like Profit upon the Produce of this Year 1764 amounts to £899. 13S. 2D, both which said Sums are now in the Hands of yr. Memorialist, and to be apply’d to such Purposes as Your Lordships shall be pleas’d to direct and which said Sums are the whole that yr. Memorialist has the Possession of over and above both the Estimate granted for ye civil Establishmt of Georgia in the last Session of Parliament; The late Agents Accounts not having yet been pass’d in the Auditor’s Office.

That the Governor of Georgia having given Certificates in the Nature of Bills of Exchange upon yr. Memorialist to the Amount in the whole of £2577. 8S. 3 1/4D, Your Memorialist prays Your Lordships Warrant authorizing him to pay out of the aforesaid Moneys the said Sum of £1577. 8S.3 1/4D, being the Surplus expended for defraying the Expences of the Silk Culture in Georgia in the Year 1764, over and above £1000 granted by Parliamt for that Purpose.

Decr. 10 1764

The foregoing Memorial having been laid before the Lords Commissioners for Trade & Plantations, their Lordships approved thereof and the Agent was directed to present it to the Lords Comissioners of His Majestys Treasury for their Lordships orders upon it.

J. Pownall
Secry.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 10, 1764, Savannah, received Jan. 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 31, relative to correspondence with the Crown agent.

My Lords

I had the Honor to Receive your Lordships letter of the 29th of May last, on the 3d instant by the Hillsborough Packet, in which your Lordships are Pleased to Mention that Persons appointed by His Majesty to be Agents for the Receipt & Payment of Public Money Granted by Parliament for the Support of the Civil Establishment of Several of the Colonies, have taken upon them to Transact the Public Affairs of such Colonies, and to Carry on a Correspondence Relative thereto, with the Officers of Government &c. and Your Lordships are Pleased to declare that you Shall on no Account receive any application on Public affairs (other than what may Relate to the Grants of Parliament) through the Channel of Such Agent, and desiring that I will not Deviate from the directions Contained in his Majesties Instructions in Respect to the Mode of Correspondence.

In answer to which I beg Leave to assure your Lordships that I have never wrote a Single Word to Mr. Garth the Present Kings agent for this Province, on the Public Affairs. Except only Such as Relate to the Money Granted by Parliament in doing which I have Occasionally, & I conceived Necessarily Mentioned Some matters Relative to the Silk Culture.

I shall with due Caution Observe the directions contained in his Majesties Instructions for Carrying on a Correspondence Relative to the Affairs of this Government.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 10, 1764, Savannah, received, Jan. 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 32, acknowledging acts of Parliament relative to colonies.

My Lords

Your Lordships letter of the 11th of May last Inclosing Sundry Acts Passed in the last Session of Parliament Relative to the American Colonies, I Received on the 3d, Instant by the Hillsborough Packet, and Shall give all due attention to Such Matters therein, as any way Relate to this Province.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 11, 1764, Savannah, received Jan. 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 33, relating to fees of public officers in Georgia.

My Lords

I had the Honor to Receive your Lordships letter of the 10th of July Inclosing your Plan for Regulating the Indian Trade, also Copys of your Lordships letters to Sir Wm. Johnson & Mr. Stuart. The well Regulating that Trade is Certainly an object of Great Consequence, & I Conceive will be Found a Matter of difficulty. Certain I am the Present Footing under His Majesties Proclamation of the 7th of October 1763 Will by no means answer the Purpose. I shall Endeavour to give your Lordships the fullest Satisfaction in my Power on this Subject & that as soon as the Nature of the thing will admit of.

In Obedience to His Majesties Royal Instruction of the 6th of June last Relative to abuses by the Officers in taking Fees. I have Issued a Proclamation as required, and Sent written Orders to all the Officers to put up Tables of Fees in their Respective Offices, (which I found they had done & always observed) I have never heard the least Complaint against any of the Officers in this Province on Account of Fees. But the Officers have frequently Complained to me of the Fees in this Province being at least 10 per Cent less than in Carolina, and that many Articles are omitted in the table of Fees, that are contained in the Fee Law in So. Carolina, and I did intend to take the Matter into Consideration, and with the Concurrence of the Council Settle a New Table of Fees agreeable to the Power given by His Majesties Instructions. However I shall now delay it for some time till I can hear from your Lordships and Shall Transmit (by this Opportunity if it can be got Ready) a Certified Copy of the Fees Established by Order in Council and which are all that are at Present taken by any of the Officers in this Province and which my Lords are Really very Trifling.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 14, 1764, Savannah, received Jan. 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 34, concerning Creek Indians, grants south of the Altamaha, the law for partition of lands and register of deeds, and enclosing an extract of Gen. Thomas Gage’s letter on Indian affairs.

My Lords

Your Lordships letter of the 12th of July I had the Honor to receive on the 3d instant by the Hillsborough Packet and with Respect to our Indian Affairs, I have the very Great Satisfaction to Acquaint your Lordships that the Storm did blow over, but had the Measures Proposed by the Governor of Carolina been agreed to by me, I’m firmly Persuaded we Should have had a War with the Creek Indians, instead of their Chearfully & Unanimously Confirming the Cession of Lands made at Augusta.

In my letter to your Lordships of the 27th of March last I Sent your Lordships a Copy of Govr. Boone’s letter to me on that Subject of the 7th of March & my Answer to it and your Lordships will see I was not Single in my Opinion by the Advice of His Majesties Council to me of the 4th of April, which I long ago Transmitted to your Lordships, and by the Inclosed Extract of a letter I received from General Gage. Upon the whole my Lords I hope & really think we shall keep things very quiet & Easy with the Indians, If Nothing happens in the New Governments¹⁶ to disgust them on Account of the Lands they Call theirs, and of which they are very Jealous & Tenacious.

The Propositions your Lordships Mention I Presume are those that were made by Durn. But the Indian alarm So Terrified them, that when the People who Resided in Virginia heard of it, they withdrew their Petition, but my Lords we are Picking up Inhabitants daily.

With Respect to the Carolina Grants to the Southward of the Alatamaha, I am clearly my Lords of the Same opinion I at first was, That so far from being an Advantage, they will on the Contrary be highly Injurious to this Province, unless Some Such Method is taken as I Mentioned to your Lordships in my letter of the 5th of July last, which I Trust Your Lordships will be of opinion is Just & Reasonable, & am in daily Expectation of Receiving your Lordships answer to it, and hope to have your Concurrence & Support therein. Surely my Lords it Cannot be Said to be either Unjust or Unreasonable, that People who have got Grants for Some of the best & most Valuable Lands in the Province, Should be Compelled to Comply with his Majesties Royal Instruction & intention by bringing into the Province either a White Person or a Negro, for every 50 acres of Land, and this is the thing my Lords that will be of Real use to the Province, and is what I Conceive gives them a Right to ask for & have Lands Granted to them. The Terms of Cultivation or Improvement required by the Grant (if Complied with) is not the thing that will be of any Material use or benefit to the Province in this Case, and my Lords I every day hear of Abuses in the Surveying of these Lands, and believe in Fact, few or none were Actually Surveyed.

With Respect to the Law for Partition of Land & Register of Deeds, I shall not Say further till I See Sir Mathews Reasons against them. Will only take Liberty to Repeat that those Laws or to that Effect Would not only be very Salutary, but Really Seem Necessary. The Tedious Mode of Partition in England will not answer here. One Grand Objection is, the Value of the Lands will not Answer the Expence.

P. S. If your Lordships would be Pleased to order all letters for me, to be delivered to Mr. Knox the Agent I Should receive them in half the time that I get them in by the Packets. Its Sometimes 6 to 12 months before I get them by way of New York & your Lordships see how Long these were Coming by the Hillsborough Packet.

Extract of a letter from Major General Gage dated at New York August the 11th 1764.

“On the 28th Ult. I had the Honor of your letter of the 6th of June, and it gives me great Satisfaction that my Sentiments on the Situation of the Indian Affairs Coincided so intirely with your own, and it appears already that by not being too hasty & Precipitate, you have avoided an Indian War. ”

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 14, 1764, Savannah, received, Jan. 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 35, respecting the payment of his salary and the details of the payments for silk produced in Georgia.

My Lords

The Hillsborough Packet Arrived here the 3rd Instant by which I had the Honor to receive your Lordships Letter of the 29th of May last Inclosing a Copy of the Estimate for Supporting the Civil Establishment of this Colony to Midsummer 1764 and a Particular account of the distribution of the Said Grant as Settled by your Lordships.

With Respect to the Salary Allowed me, my Lords I gave a letter of Attorney to Mr. John Watsone Merchant in London to receive that from the Agent as it may from time to time become due, which he has hitherto done, & I Presume will continue to do. And I have acquainted all the Officers who have any Salary or Allowance from the Crown, with your Lordships Notification, that no Bill hereafter to be drawn will be Paid unless it is accompanied with a letter to your Lordship advising you thereof.

With Respect to the Expence attending the Silk Culture and the Purchase of Cocoons, the whole matter Relative to that to midsummer 1764 was all Settled & Finished, and Certificates given for the amount thereof on the 26th of Septr. last past, upon the same Plan & Regulations as formerly, and of which I then wrote & advised your Lordships. The Plan my Lords that I found Settled on my arrival here, and which I have Pursued ever Since, is barely & Simply as Follows. In April or as Soon as any Cocoons are made, Mr. Ottolenghe opens the Filature where he gives Constant Attendance every day to receive whatever Cocoons may be brought there by any Persons, and all Cocoons brought are Weighed by him & Enter’d in a Book kept for that Purpose, the Persons Name & the Weight, and he at the same time gives the Person a Ticket or Note, on which is Mentioned the quantity of Cocoons delivered in, and whether of the Production of this Province or Elsewhere, and when each Person has delivered in at the Filature the whole Quantity that he has got in the Season, he then Applied to the Commissary with his Several Tickets from Mr. Ottolenghe, & delivers them to him, with whom Mr. Ottolenghes Book is Lodged, and these tickets are then Compared with the Book by the Commissary, who at the Same time Swears the Person to the declaration whether Such Cocoons were Produced in Georgia or Elsewhere. The Reason of this my Lords is, because for all the Cocoons Produced in this Province, the Partys receive 3/ Sterl. per lb. and for those Produced in Carolina only 1/6 per lb. How, or by what direction this was so Settled at first, I know not, but I have continued to observe the Same Method. All other articles of Expence, Such as Repairs about the Filature, Store Rooms, Ovens, Wells, Reels &c. &c. are done on the Easiest Terms that workmen can be got to do them at. Mr. Ottolenghe Represents to me what is out of Repair, or Necessary to be done before the opening of the Filature and then he agrees with the workmen in the best Manner he can. The Workman attests his account upon Oath, and Mr. Ottolenghe also Certifies that the work has been done by his direction. Ottolenghe also my Lords hires and agrees with the Sorters, Turners, Reelers & others Necessary to be Employed about that business, and also Furnishes Wood for heating the Stoves &c. and returns an Account thereof to the Commissary, who then Makes out the Account of the whole, and they Attest that they have been Employed so many days, weeks, or Months, at so much per day. The usual Price hitherto has been a Shilling a day, but the last year they declared they Could not Come again next year at that Pay, and my Lords when the Commissary has received all the Accounts of every kind he Lays them with a General State of the whole before me in Council where the Same are Carefully Examined, Check’t and Passed. After which & not before Bills are drawn or Certificates given to the Several Partys for the Sumes they have Respectively advanced, and Paid into the Hands of the Commissary. And this leads me to Acquaint your Lordships with the Method used by me to Raise Money for discharging the Expence attending this affair. The Commissary is Ordered to Advertise that Such a Sume of Money is wanted for Payment of the demands on account of the Silk Culture, and for which on Closing the whole Accounts either Bills will be drawn by me or the Kings Agent, or Certificates Given on which the Merchants & others Pay in their Money, and take his Receipt in order to intitle them to a Bill or Certificate for the Same.

From the above I hope your Lordships will Receive that Satisfaction you require of the Circumstances, Conduct, & Present Regulation Relative to the Silk Culture, and I would also beg Leave to Refer your Lordships to the Accounts & Vouchers Transmitted to the Kings Agent, with the Silk last Sent Home, or at any time Since my being here, which will further Elucidate this Matter. 2 Sets of Accounts & Vouchers were Sent to Mr. Garth.

And this Method I understand by your Lordships letter I am Still to Pursue till I Receive further, or other directions on the Subject. But if I am Mistaken in this, I must Entreat your Lordships that I may be Set Right by the very first Opportunity. For if the People Continue to bring in their Cocoons to the Public Filature on the Faith of being Paid for them as usual, they will Expect Payment of me.

I apprehend your Lordships will See & be Convinced from the above Cautious Manner in which this affair is Conducted, that its not Possible for any Fraud or abuse to be Committed. And I am Perfectly Satisfied that the Whole Matter of Expence & Accounts throughout is Conducted with Strict Justice and integrity.

Your Lordships are Pleased to Say That no Exceedings upon the Several Branches will on any Account be Allowed, and that I shall Stand Accountable in my Private Fortune for any draught or Expenditure beyond the Allowance made in the last Grant of Parliament and that no Bills whatever drawn on Account of Contingencies, or for the Silk Culture will be Paid without Letters of Advice to your Lordships accompanied with a Particular account of the Expenditure of the Money for which the Bill is drawn, is Transmitted. On this Head I must beg leave to observe to your Lordships, That only the Sume of £1000 Sterl. is allowed in the Grant of Parliament for the Encouragement of the Silk Culture. And I have this last Season given Certificates to the amount of £2577. 8. 3 1/4 Sterl on that Account, as per the Particulars Transmitted to Mr. Garth. And I Suppose next year if we meet with no Extraordinary Misfortune, it may amount to that Sume or more. And I am Certain its not Consistent with your Lordships Justice that I should be injured or suffer in my Private Fortune, for doing that which I conceive to be my duty, and which were I to refuse doing, might bring me under His Majesties Displeasure, as well as your Lordships. Therefore I trust it is not your Lordships Meaning that my Private Fortune should be subject to the Payment of £1577. 8. 3 1/Sterl being the amount of the Exceeding drawn, or Certified for by me on Account of the Silk Culture.

As on the one Hand I am Confident not one farthing of the Public Money has been Misapplied Since I have had the Honor of being Governor here. So on the other my Lords I Cannot Suppose that I am to be Subjected to any hardships, when I have honestly & Conscientiously discharged my duty to the King and People. I must beg to be Favoured with your Lordships Answer, by way of direction on this Point as Soon as Possible that I may neither Subject my Self, nor others to Inconveniences. If my Lords I am to receive no more Cocoons than what will amount to the £1000 which I Presume will be granted by Parliament to Midsummer 1765, after deducting out of that £1000 the Expence of Repairs, Sorters, Reelers, Turners, Attendants & Firewood &c. I Conceive My Lords in that Case the Affair will Soon dwindle to Nothing and so if my Bills or Certificates meet with any demur in being Accepted, or Paid, it will Soon put a Stop to the Culture, for my Lords the Merchants and Others will not advance & Pay their Money into the Hands of the Commissary here (for the Support of that Affair) at least 3 Months before they receive Bills or Certificates Home for what they so advance. If after those Bills come to the Hands of the Persons to whom they are Remitted, they meet with any demur or Mark of discredit and without the Money being thus advanced the Culture of that Commodity Cannot be Supported. For the Poor People must have their Money, and a Bill 3 or 4 Months after, will not Serve their Turn, nor do I Suppose if the People were Content to take it, your Lordships would approve of drawing Perhaps 300 Sets of Bills of Exchange (the Number of People who Received Payment on Account of the Silk Culture this year) insted of about 20 and from this your Lordships will also See that it is totally Impossible to Settle the Accounts of the Silk Culture Otherwise than once a year.

With Respect to the Accounts of Contingent Expences these may if your Lordships Choose it be Settled & Drawn for Quarterly insted of half yearly as now Practised. I found my Self under a Necessity my Lords of being thus full on this Subject, That your Lordships According to your Desire might be Exactly and Minutely Informed of Every Circumstance Relative to it and Shall hope for your Lordships full Clear & Express directions as Soon as Possible, how I am to Govern myself for the Future, which shall be Literally Observed, and am Certain Nothing will be Expected or required by your Lordships that can Possibly Subject or injure my Private Fortune for doing that which as a Servant of the Crown, I am Laid under the Necessity of doing.

Copy of an address of both houses of the Assembly of Georgia to Governor Wright, Dec. 20, 1764, Savannah, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 37, in favor of the Rev. George White field’s application for lands to endow a college in Georgia. Enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, Dec. 21, 1764.¹⁷

James Wright to Board of Trade, Feb. 20, 1765, Savannah, received April 24, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 38, lists of vessels entered and cleared at Sunbury, July 5, 1764, to Jan. 5, 1765.

My Lords

I have the Honor to Inclose your Lordships the Naval Officers Accounts of Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at the Port of Sunbury from the 5th of July 1764 to the 5th of January 1765.¹⁸

James Wright to Board of Trade, Feb. 20, 1765, Savannah, received April 11, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 39, lists of vessels entered and cleared at Savannah, Oct. 10, 1764, to Jan. 5, 1765.

My Lords

I have the Honor to Send your Lordships the Naval Officers list of Vessels Enter’d & Cleared at this Port, from the 10th of October 1764 to the 5th of January 1765.¹⁹ I have Nothing Material to Acquaint your Lordships with.

Copy of an Order in Council, March 4, 1765, Whitehall, received March 8, read June 1, 1765, C.O. 5/649, F. 21, concerning William Knox’s petition for 5,000 acres of land in Georgia.

Upon reading this day at the Board, the Petition of William Knox, humbly praying, that His Majesty will be graciously pleased to grant to him Five Thousand Acres of Land in the Province of Georgia, subject to such Conditions as His Majesty shall think fitting to prescribe, in order to make Settlements thereupon. It is Ordered in Council, that the said Petition (a Copy whereof is hereunto annexed) Be, and it is hereby referred to the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, to consider the same, and report to a Committee of the Lords of His Majestys most Honourable Privy Council, what they conceive adviseable for His Majesty to do therein.

To The Kings most Excellent Majesty in Council

The humble Petition of William Knox

Most humbly Sheweth

That Your Majestys Petitioner during his Residence in Your Majestys Province of Georgia settled and improved a Plantation in the said Province and by his Attorneys there still continues to cultivate the same.

That Your Petitioner conceives himself to be of Ability to make further Settlements in Your Majestys said Province, but for as much as Your Petitioner does not now reside therein he cannot as he is informed obtain any Grant of Lands by Application of his Attorneys to Your Majestys Governor and Council of Georgia.

Will Knox²⁰

Memorial of John Campbell, crown agent for Georgia, to Board of Trade, read August 21, 1765, C.O. 5/649, F. 22, requesting permission to pay bills drawn by Governor Wright.

Sheweth,

That your Memorialist received on the 28th of June last a Letter from His Excellency James Wright Esquire, Governor of the Province, dated the 1st of May preceeding containing an Accoun’t of his having drawn a Bill for the Sum of Forty Four Pounds, Seventeen Shillings, and Seven Half-Penny Sterling for Contingencies to Christmas 1764, and at the same time transmitted an Account of the several Particulars with proper Receipts and Vouchers, all of which Your Memorialist has produced.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, April 4, 1765, Savannah, received May 29, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 40, relating to South Carolina grants south of the Altamaha.

My Lords

On the 25th of last Month our Session of Assembly Ended when I assented to 16 Acts & 2 ordinances Copys of which will be Transmitted to your Lordships as Soon as they can be Prepared, with my observations thereon.

I have now the Honor to Send your Lordships only a Copy of the Law Relative to the Carolina Grants, and of the Ordinance appointing Mr. Knox Agent of this Province from May 1765 to May 1766.

And Notwithstanding it is your Lordships Opinion that the Power Exercised by the Govr. of So. Carolina in Granting Lands Lying to the Southward of the River Altamaha was unwarrantable, and declaring that Proper Measures Should be Pursued to Set those Grants aside. Yet in Consequence of your Lordships letter to me of the 12 of July 1764 wherein you are Pleased to Say “you hope some Means may be found either to Set them aside or to Oblige the Grantees to Proper Terms of Cultivation and improvement, and that you Shall be Willing to Concur in any Reasonable Law which the Legislature of this Province may Enact for Compelling Such Cultivation” and least the said Grants Notwithstanding your Lordships Opinion & intentions Should not yet be Vacated, I have Framed the Law which your Lordships will receive herewith, to Compel the Grantees to Settle, & for Remedying Several abuses & inconveniencies attending those Grants, and hope your Lordships will be of Opinion that the Same Corresponds with the True Spirit of His Majesties Instructions for Granting Lands, and Contains Nothing in it but what is Just & Reasonable, in which Light it appears to me, and there is not anyone thing whatever required of these People, but what every Inhabitant of this Province is Obliged to Comply with on applying for & taking up Lands. Your Lordships will Observe the Law Says to Cultivate & improve the Lands Granted, or other Lands within this Province. These words are inserted that there may be no inequality or hardship put upon the Carolinians, but that if they choose to Purchase other Lands & improve them in Proportion, or on the footing of the Kings Instructions Relative to those they take up in Family Right, they May do so, if they think fit, & not be Compelled to settle every tract they take up in Family Right, Provided they actually bring in the Number of Negroes, & improve as much Land any where Else in the Province, as the Proportion required by the Kings Instructions.

Your Lordships See Clearly that these People being Allowed to Hold Lands in this Province in Right of Negroes Employed in So. Carolina, is of no kind of benefit to us, no more than if they were Employed in Virginia, therefore if the Carolina People are Suffered to hold Lands in this Province by which they keep out a white Inhabitant or Negro for every 50 Acres they hold, to the Manifest Prejudice of the Province, it Seems but just & Reasonable that to Prevent that injury they Should themselves be Obliged to bring or Send into the Province Such a Number of Persons as is required by this Law & agreeable to the Kings Instructions.

It is my Lords an undeniable fact that most if not all the Tracts of Land taken up by the Carolina People upon any River were not Surveyed, but the Method was to Stop their Boat & Set up a Stake or Mark a Tree, and then Row a guessed distance, & there Stop again, & put in another Stake (which they Carried in their Boats ready Mark’t & Notched) or Mark another Tree, and then made a Plot of the Land all at Random without ever Stretching a Chain upon the Land. This Information I have had from many Persons of Reputation, Some of whom were Present, and indeed must Partly Appear from the Plots themselves. And very few if any of the inland Tracts are surveyed, but only a Corner & a few Trees Mark’t from it, & the rest laid off in the Plot without ever going over or Surveying the Lands. So that my Lords our Surveyors don’t know how or where to Lay out any Lands in that part of the Country with any Certainty, as they can find no Lines to Regulate their Surveys by. And this my Lords is a further Grievance & injury to the Province, as well as the Crown in the Manner Set forth in the Bill, and which will make Resurveys Necessary.

If it Should be Pretended my Lords that the Swamps or Low Lands were Impassable, Such Pretence is without Foundation in Truth, and the Contrary is a Fact known to Hundreds of People. Upon the whole my Lords this Bill Seems to me to be altogether Just & Equitable. I think more so than the Carolina People had any Right to Expect, but as your Lordships were Pleased to Say you Would concur in any Reasonable Law, I was determined to Frame this on the most Reasonable & Favourable Terms, and so that it might be totally unexceptionable & Agreeable to your Lordships. And I presume it will be thought Reasonable & Equitable by every one, unless it be some of the Partys Concerned.

In order that the People of Carolina may be Prepared to make any Application they Shall See fit to your Lordships or Elsewhere Relative to this Matter I have furnished Lieut. Governor Bull (who is a Party Concerned having a Grant of 2000 acres of Land Signed the 16th of May 1763) with an attested Copy of this Act, So that he May either in a Public Character or as a Party Notify it in the Province and take his Measures Accordingly, which I hope your Lordships will Regard so far as to Prevent any delay of obtaining His Majesties Royal Approbation till Notice be given in the Province, as the Governor (who is a Party) has had a Copy and I also take Liberty to inclose your Lordships a Copy of my Letter Sent him with the same.

I Shall only further Observe to your Lordships on this Head that I Cannot to this day Learn that any Settlements are made on those Lands, and believe I may affirm it as Fact that None have yet Removed either Family or Negroes, nor has one Shill. Tax been Paid or offered to be Paid in this Province Notwithstanding his Majesties Royal Proclamation of Annexation in Octr. 1763, and that the Partys have now had those Lands for a year & 10 Months, a Specimen my Lords of the great advantage this Province is like to Receive from the owners of 90,000 acres of the best Land in it.

I now Transmit to your Lordships the Proceedings of the Governor in Council to the End of the year 1764, also the Journals of the Council as an Upper House, the short Session in May last, & their Journals in the Session Ending the 25 of last Month, also the Register’s Account of Grants from 25 of Sepr. 1764 to the 25 of March 1765.

I have not received a Line from your Lordships Since the 3rd of Decr. by the Hillsborough Packet. The Greenville Packet is Lost & all the Mails.

P.S. I have not yet received any directions from your Lordships about the Quit Rent Bill Sent Home 2 years ago & a very Necessary Law for His Majesties Service.

James Wright to Lt. Gov. William Bull of S.C., March 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 41, relative to Carolina grants south of the Altamaha, enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, April 4, 1765.

Sir

Having on the 25 inst. given my assent to a Bill Intitled an Act for the better Strenthening & Settling of this Province, &c. I now inclose your Honor an Attested Copy thereof, in Case you Should either as Govr. of the Province of Carolina, or as a Party (having a Grant for 2000 acres of Land to the Southward of the River Alatamaha in this Province) be disposed to write Home on the Subject, and a further Reason for my Troubling you on this affair is, that it may avoid any delay at Home in Obtaining His Majesties Royal Approbation of the Said Act on account of your Province, or the Partys, being unacquainted with, or uninformed of its being Passed here, and in my Letter to the Lords of Trade I shall Mention that I have Furnished you with a Copy.

An abstract of land grants registered from Sept. 25, 1764, to March 25, 1765, received May 29, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/675 [no folio number], enclosed with Wright to the Board of Trade, April 4, 1765.

Grant dated 4th September 1764

To Caleb Burton for 100 Acres of Land in Saint Mathews Parish. Registered 17th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th September 1764

To Darby Kennedy for 100 Acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 17th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To George Gardiner for 250 acres of Land in St. Phillips Parish. Registered 17th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To Darby Kennedy for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 17th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To John Kennedy for 200 acres of Land in Saint Pauls Parish. Registered 18th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To John Kennedy for 100 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 18th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To John Adam Treutlen for 150 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 18th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To Henry Yonge for 2 Garden Lots in Savannah Township. Registered 18th October 1764.

Grant dated 4th Septr. 1764

To John Fyffe for 50 acres of Land in Saint Pauls Parish. Registered 18th October 1764.

Grant dated 2d October 1764

To Noble Wimberly Jones for a town lot in Savannah. Registered 18th October 1764.

Grant dated 2d October 1764

To William LeConte for 400 acres of Land in St. Philips Parish. Registered 30th October 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To William Clemm for 150 acres of Land in St. Pauls Parish. Registered 30th Octr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To James Carter for 350 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 30th October 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To William Gibbons for 320 acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 31st October 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Robert Heaton for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 31st October 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To James McHenry for 250 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 31st Octr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Edmund Pearse for 150 acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 31st Octr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Jonathan Fox for 100 acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 1st November 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Solomon Kemp for 100 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 1st November 1764.

Grant dated 2d October 1764

To Ludwig Ernst for 100 acres of Land in Saint Matthews Parish. Registered 2d November 1764.

Grant dated 2d October 1764

To Nicholas Hanner for 50 acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 2d Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d October 1764

To Christian King & Peter Blyth for 400 acres of Land in St. George parish. Registered 8th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Robert Brisbane for 500 Acres of Land in Christ Church parish. Registered 8th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Nathaniel Miller for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s parish. Registered 9th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Matthew Zetler for 200 acres of Land in St. Matthews parish. Registered 9th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Gilshot Thomas for 200 acres of Land in St. George’s parish. Registered 9th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d Octr. 1764

To Samuel Craus for 150 acres of Land in St. Matthews parish. Registered 10th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 2d October 1764

To Christopher King for a town Lot in Savannah, No. 9. Registered 10th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Grey Elliott Esqr. for 230 acres of Land in Christ Church parish. Registered 22d Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Grey Elliott Esqr. for 100 acres of Land in Christ Church parish. Registered 22d Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Thomas Camber for 200 acres of Land in St. Phillips parish. Registered 23d Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Robert Baillie for 50 acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 23d Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To William Dunham for 300 acres of Land in St. Andrews parish. Registered 24th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To William Dunham for 200 acres of Land in St. Johns Parish. Registered 24th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Daniel O’Cain for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s parish. Registered 24th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To James Mutter for 150 acres of Land in Christ Church parish. Registered 26th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Nathaniel Miller for 250 acres of Land in St. George’s parish. Registered 26th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To James Nesmith for 150 acres of Land in St. George’s parish. Registered 27th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To James Nesmith for 250 acres of Land in St. George’s parish. Registered 27th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To John Royal for 200 acres of Land in Saint Georges Parish. Registered 28th November 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Samuel Royal for 200 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 28th November 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To John Niess for 200 acres of Land in Saint Matthews Parish. Registered 29th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Michael Paner for 150 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 29th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Joseph Leitner for 100 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 30th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To John Adam Treitlen for 250 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 30th Novr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To John Mainer for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 1st December 1764.

Grant dated 20th Novr. 1764

To Thomas Palmer for a Garden Lot in Savannah township. Registered 1st Decr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To John Mackay for a town & Garden Lot in Savannah. Registered 1st December 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Samuel Pelton for 50 acres of Land in Saint Matthews Parish. Registered 1st December 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To William Mainer for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 3d Decr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To William Mainer for 100 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 3d December 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Richard Bagley for 100 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 4th December 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To John Raddick for 100 Acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 4th Decr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Jeremiah Vallaton for a town, Garden, & farm Lots in Savannah. Registered 5th Decr. 1764.

Grant dated 6th Novr. 1764

To Elizabeth Pryce for town, Garden, & farm Lots in Savannah. Registered 5th Decr. 1764.

Grant dated 4th Decr. 1764

To Thomas Forster for 503 Acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 9th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 4th Decr. 1764

To Cornelius McCarty for 350 acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 9th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 4th Decr. 1764

To John Waters for 150 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 10th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 4th Decr. 1764

To James Gray for 46 acres of Land in St. Pauls Parish. Registered 10th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 4th Decr. 1764

To Andrew Lambert for 100 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 11th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st January 1765

To John Bostick for 250 acres of Land in Saint Pauls Parish. Registered 11th January 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To William Adams for 300 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 12th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To William Adams for 200 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 12th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Urban Buntz for 300 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 12th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Christian Rumph for 200 acres of Land in St. Phillips Parish. Registered 14th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Christian Rabenhurst for 400 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 14th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Henry Overstreet for 150 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 16th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Joseph Ottolenghe for 197 acres of Land in Christ Church Parish. Registered 17th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To John Meyers for 100 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 17th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Peter Knight for 150 acres of Land in St. Phillips Parish. Registered 18th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To William Colson for 100 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 18th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To Henry Somerall for 100 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 19th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 1st Jany. 1765

To John Baker for 50 acres of Land in St. Johns Parish. Registered 19th Jany. 1765.

Grant dated 5 Feby. 1765

To David Tubear for 250 acres of Land in St. Pauls Parish. Registered 16th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To John Maclean for 460 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 18th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To James Muter for 200 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 19th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Charles West for 200 acres of Land in St. Johns Parish. Registered 19th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Robert Miller for 500 acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 20th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Robert Miller for 500 acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 20th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th February 1765

To Robert Miller for 300 acres of Land in St. Johns Parish. Registered 21st February 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Francis Brown for 300 acres of Land in St. Johns Parish. Registered 22d Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Daniel Douglass for 100 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 22d Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Martin Dasher for 200 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 22d Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To John Gravenstein for 150 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 23d Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To James Gray for 100 acres of Land in Saint Georges Parish. Registered 23d Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To James Gray Junr. for 100 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 23d Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Andrew McCurrie for 100 acres of Land in St. Georges & St. Pauls Parish. Registered 25th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th Feby. 1765

To Andrew McCurrie for 300 acres of Land in St. George’s Parish. Registered 25th Feby. 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To Edward Barnard for 160 acres of Land in St. Pauls Parish. Registered 16th March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To John Talley for 500 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 16th March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To William Porter for 200 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 16th March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To Jonathan Mulkey for 329 acres of Land in St. Georges Parish. Registered 19th March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To David Murray for 500 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 20th March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To David Murray for 500 acres of Land in St. Matthews Parish. Registered 20th March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To Isaac Perry for 100 acres of Land in Saint George’s Parish. Registered 21st March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To James Fletcher for 100 acres of Land in Saint George’s Parish. Registered 21st March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To Donald McDonald for 100 acres of Land in St. Andrews Parish. Registered 22d March 1765.

Grant dated 5th March 1765

To Richard Johnson for a town Lot in Augusta, St. Pauls Parish. Registered 22d March 1765.

Compared with the Register Book at Savannah the 30th March 1765.

Pat. Houstoun, Regr.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, April 10, 1765, Savannah, received, June 19, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 43, regarding letters received and actions taken.

My Lords

On the 8th inst. I had the honor to receive your Lordships letter of the 24th of December last, and having Long Since made my Report to your Lordships on the Plan for Regulating Indian affairs, and also fully answered your Lordships letters of the 29th of May & 12 of July 1764 (Duplicates whereof I have now received) it only remains to acquaint your lordships that I Shall forthwith Lay your Opinion & direction about reducing the Price Paid for Cocoons raised in this Province, before the Council, agreeable to your Lordships letter, and advise with them & Mr. Ottolenghe about Carrying this matter into Execution, the Result of which I Shall by the 1st Opportunity Transmit to your Lordships. Nothing further Material offers at Present.

P.S. I have received an Acct. that the Copy of our Law was delivered to Govr. Bull.

James Wright to John Pownall, Secretary to the Board of Trade, April 19, 1765, Savannah, received June 19, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 44, relative to funds for public use and the silk culture.

Sir

I Received your favour of the 7 of decr. last on the 8 inst. with a Copy of the Report made by the Lords of the Treasury Relative to the Power of Governors drawing for Money Expended for Public uses, which I shall take due care to Observe, and not draw for anything but what is Voted by Parlt. unless it be the Exceeding of the £1000 for the Silk Culture, which Exceeding it is absolutely Necessary for me to draw or give Certificates for, as you will See by my letter to their Lordships of the 14 of december last, and which I Conceive is Paid out of the Money arising by the Sale of the Silk Ship’t.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, April 23, 1765, Savannah, received June 24, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 45, relative to encouragement for the silk culture.

My Lords

On the 10th instant I acknowledged the Receipt of your Lordships letter of the 24th of december last, since which I have had a Meeting with the Council & Mr. Ottolenghe, and after Stating the Matter fully & Clearly to them, desired their advice upon the Reduction of the Price Paid for Cocoons Raised in this Province agreeable to your Lordships directions. Who were all Unanimous in Opinion that the Silk Culture is in a Flourishing State at Present, and that there Seems to be a very Proper Spirit and disposition in the People for advancing that Culture, and were all Clearly of Opinion that if the Price to be Paid for Cocoons was to be now reduced from 3/ to 1/6, it Would Strike to great a damp, & discourage almost every Body of Property from going upon it. And that few or none would Continue to Raise Cocoons for the Future but Poor Indigent People, who have little or no Property, and hardly any other Means of Subsisting or getting Bread and that the Culture Would Dwindle to little or Nothing; and the Money heretofore Expended for the Introduction & Support of that most Valuable Commodity, be all thrown away. On which Considerations they Unanimously advised that instead of Reducing the Price from 3/ to 1/6 as your Lordships Seem to direct, that it Should only now be Reduced 9d in the lb. and 2/3 be Paid for all the Cocoons Raised in this Province & brought to the Public Filature and which Opinion & Advice will Agreeable to your Lordships letter be carried into Execution. And however improper or ineffectual the Present Mode may appear to your Lordships, I doubt much whether any other Would have answered the Purpose better, and how far it may have been usefully your Lordships will Judge from the Quantity of Raw Silk made here the last 3 years Vizt. in 1762, 1047 lb. in 1763, 958 lb. & in 1764, 898 lb. in all 2898 lb. And if no accident happens there will probably be a much Larger Quantity this year from the Present appearance. But the third Stage of the Worms Sickness not being yet come, there is no Certainty as to the Quantity yet. Much Still depending on the Weather & Management so Precarious & uncertain is the Raising of this Commodity. And my Lords in the years 1756, 57, 58, 59, 60, & 61 altogether was made only 2989 lb. weight for Raw Silk so that your Lordships will See Clearly that it is advancing having made near as much the three last years, as the Six Preceeding years. And I Conceive the increase must have Proceeded from the high Price given, how far the Damp by the Present Reduction may effect or Obstruct it another year I shall not attempt to Say, but I think I may Venture to Say that if its Reduced to 1/6 without some other Mode of Encouragement is fallen upon, it will very soon decrease, for my Lords there are few but what can employ their time & Negroes to better Purpose than Raising Cocoons at 1/6 per lb. The Poorer Sort of People as I have mentioned May Continue to Pursue it but for others, altho the Real Value of a lb. of Cocoons as a Commodity or Article or Merchandize is not more than one Shilling.

I was always of the Same Opinion with your Lordships as to the difference made between the Price here & in Carolina, and it was & is most Evident, that if the People in Carolina Could afford to Raise Cocoons at 1/6 the People in Georgia may likewise. This is a matter I never Could get any Satisfaction about but now with the assistance of Mr. Habersham Looking into the & Examining the Correspondence & Instructions from the Trustees, I find a letter from Mr. Martyn wrote by order of the Trustees the 23 of December 1749 and Some Instructions from them Relative to the Silk Culture dated 16 November 1749 as the Foundation of the distinction or difference between the Price to be Paid or Encouragement to be given to the People of Georgia Superior to the Carolinians. And I Presume it might be intended to assist the Poor People in Georgia, who at that time laboured under Many difficulties & Hardships. The Method then directed my Lords was not only to give a Bounty on every lb. of Cocoons Raised in Georgia, but also to Pay the Expence of Manufacturing the Cocoons, and then to Purchase the Silk at Stated Prices Vizt. the Cocoons were to be Sorted into three Classes, as by Particular direction Sent out by the Trustees, and for the 1st Quality they gave a Bounty of 2/ per lb. for the 2nd. 1/, and for the 3d only 8d, and for the Silk of the 1st Quality they gave 14/ per lb. for the 2d 12/ and for the 3d 6/. But this Method was found inconvenient & very difficult & Troublesome on Account of the sorting & keeping each Person Quantity of Cocoons, and also the Different Sorts by themselves in Reeling & C untill the Silk was finished & Weighed. And therefore after making Several Tryals & Experiments as to the Produce of the Cocoons, it was at Length Resolved by the President & assistants here, to give at the Rate of 3/ per lb. for the green Cocoons, which was Judged to be as near as Possible equal to the Encouragement as above directed to be given for the Georgia Cocoons, and by which great difficulty & Trouble was avoided. And by the Same Instructions the President & Assistants were directed to give the Bounty above Specified according to the Respective Qualities for Cocoons brought to Georgia, tho’ Raised in Carolina, but not Mentioning the different Prices to be Paid to the Carolina People for the Silk, in the Same Manner as was directed to be Paid the Georgians. It was by the President & Assistants Settled & agreed to give 1/6 per lb. for all Cocoons Raised in Carolina, and brought to the Filature in Georgia. And this the People acquiesced in as a Price for the Purchase of their Cocoons. There were the Poor Saltzburghers Carried over some years ago, by a Coll. Purry, and Settled at Purrysburgh on the North Bank of Savannah River about 24 miles above this Town. As I found by your Lordships letter that Matter had not been directed by your Board, I was determined to Trace it to its Source, that I might give your Lordships the Clearest Satisfaction Possible.

And now will your Lordships Permit me to Suggest that the Price Paid for the Cocoons for the future after this year Should be the Same both in Georgia & Carolina, and that if your Lordships See fit to Reduce the Price Lower, either to 2/, (which I should hope for a while) or 1/6 that then Some other Encouragement may be given, Suppose by way of Premium to those who make the greatest Quantity. Say for the Ten Largest Quantities Exceeding Such Limited Quantities as your Lordships may Judge Proper, if for the 1st £50, and £5 less on each, down to £ 5. This in the whole your Lordships See would amount only to £275. Something of this kind would Certainly (with Respect to the People of Property) continue or Raise a Spirit of Emulation, or at least Stimulate them to Exert. But the Poorer People would have nothing to depend upon, but the Price your Lordships are Pleased to allow for the Cocoons.

I hope your Lordships goodness will Pardon my Proposing this matter, which I have done from a Clearness in Opinion that if the Price is next year Reduced to 1/6 per lb. on the Cocoons, & no further Encouragement given, the Culture will Soon dwindle away. Another thing that I conceive would greatly Contribute to its advancement is the Certainty of Receiving whatever Bounty or Encouragement may be thought Proper, for a Number of Years Certain, as People will be backward in taking any Particular Pains or Trouble, or going to any Expence on an Uncertainty. And before I conclude I cannot Omit Observing to your Lordships That if the Culture go’s on as it Seems to Promise, £1000 per ann. will not be Sufficient to Purchase the Cocoons, & Pay the Necessary Expences. And as there is a Pretty good Filature &c at Ebenezer though thro disuse is now much out of Repair. Probably the opening that a year or 2 hence Might be of Some use, and Encourage Persons at a greater distance to Raise Cocoons. Ebenezer my Lords is about 25 miles above Savannah, a distance which Seems full far for Carrying Cocoons, not only on Account of the Expence attending it, but the Loss that arises from keeping the Cocoons till they have Quantity Sufficient to Carry to the Filature. In which time many of the Worms or Aurelia [chrysalis] eat their way thro the Cocoons which are Lost.

The Lands about Augusta are Settling fast, and some of the Principal Inhabitants have told me if they could have a Filature there & the Silk Manufactured at the Public Expence as it is here at Savannah, Numbers of People would plant Mulberry Trees & Raise Cocoons. Augusta my Lords is about 146 miles by Land & 300 by Water above Savannah, and as the Seasons are more Equal & the Weather more Steady there, than near the Sea Coast its highly Probable Cocoons might be Raised with more Certainty there than in this Neighbourhood. I don’t at Present Recollect any other Light in my Power to give your Lordships on this occasion but will write on the Subject again as soon as I have made some inquiries in the Country and must desire to know as soon as Possible what Price your Lordships may think Proper to allow for another year, as the Expectation of its being Reduced to 1/6 will I am very apprehensive have a bad Effect. I shall hope for your Lordships Speedy answer, that I may know how to Conduct myself in this affair. I will next Winter Endeavour to get Some Small Provincial Encouragement for the Raising of Mulberry Trees in Nurseries, in Order to be distributed Gratis to all who will Plant them, & some Encouragement likewise to every Person who will Plant them, for every 50 Trees to be Planted Fenced & secured from Cattle &c which I hope will have a good Effect.

Sir Mathew Lamb’s Report to the Board of Trade, May 20, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 78, giving his opinion on eleven acts passed in Georgia in Jan., Feb., and May 1764.

My Lords

In Pursuance of Your Lordships Commands Signified to me by Mr. Pownall’s Letter wherein You are Pleased to Desire my Opinion in Point of Law upon the following Acts Passed in the Province of Georgia in January February and May 1764 I have Perused and Considered the same (Vizt.)

James Wright to the Board of Trade, June 28, 1765, Savannah, received Nov. 10, 1764, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 46, concerning Spanish vessels coming to Georgia.

My Lords

On the 15 inst I had the Honor to receive your Lordships letter of the 15 of February Relative to Spanish Vessels which had been Ordered to be Seized Coming into Port for Refreshment and Signifying his Majesties Commands “That Spanish Vessels Coming into any of the Ports within my Government through distress, or for Refreshment may Receive the Assistance they have been usually allowed in Jamaica. Provided they are not Laden with or attempt in any Manner to bring in Foreign Goods or Merchandize. ”

His Majesties Commands in this Particular Shall be Punctually observed, and the better to Enable me to obey them, I shall write to the Govr. of Jamaica, to desire to be Informed what assistances &c has been usually allowed in Jamaica, as I am at Present unacquainted therewith.

I beg leave to Observe to your Lordships that only 3 Spanish Vessels have put into this Port Since my arrival here, all in distress & for assistance & Refreshment, and as on the one Hand I took care to Prevent Trade, by Ordering the Collector to Send an Officer on Board, who Remained there till the Vessels Sailed, so on the other Hand I allowed all Necessary assistance & Refreshment without the least detention or Molestation on my Part. The last Vessel came in my Lords some time in Febr. last, and when the Capt. had Repaired his Vessel & was ready to Sail, Several of his Men with Some English Sailors, Stole his Boat & went away with it, which Prevented the Spaniard from Sailing, and Capt. Thos. Foley Commander of his Majesties Ship Escorte came here from Charles Town in So. Carolina & Seized the Vessel, and detained her from the 12 of March to the 1st of April, when she was Cleared by the Court of Admiralty as your Lordships will See by the Inclosed Certified Copy of the Proceedings in the Admiralty Court. I was Perfectly Satisfied that no Trade had been Carried on here & as I thought Capt. Foleys Proceedings Pretty Extraordinary, I wrote him a letter on the 27th of March last “That as it was Necessary for me to Transmit to your Lordships an Acct. of every thing of a Public Nature that happens within my Government, I desired he would Inform me, whether he had Seized & detained the Spanish Vessel as an officer of the Customs, or as Commander of his Majesties Ship Escorte, & for what Cause or Offence. “ to which he returned me the following ansr. Escorte at Tybee the 30th of March 1765. Sir “I received your favour of the 27th inst. & in Answer thereto am to Acquaint you that I don’t stop the Brigt. on Acct. of illicit Trade, but on Suspicion of Piracy, by the Confession of his own People, & the Number of Great Guns, & other ammunition he has on Board, and has no Register, or other Papers, at least if he has, it was his duty to have Shewn them to me, on my first going on Board, the Brigt.

I am &c

Signed Thos. Foley

What his Suspicions were on how he Supported them your Lordships will Judge from the Proceedings in the Court of admiralty, but its Certain the Vessel was detained by Mr. Foley for 19 or 20 days & Rummaged from Top to bottom and for which the Spanish Capt. did not get one shilling Satisfaction, and was himself obliged to pay the Court Charges, as the Judge of the Admiralty Informed me, how far such Conduct may be Consistent with his Majesties Royal intention Lyes not with me to Say, nor did I apprehend I had any Authority over Mr. Foley, but as I mentioned in my letter to him, think it my duty to Represent the Facts to your Lordships.

I suppose he had a Custom House Commission but he never Produced it to me, or applied to Qualify, which I Should rather Presume those Gentlemen Should do in every Province they go to, but as the Commissioners of the Customs have not thought Proper to Send a Copy or Mention anything of their Powers or Instructions to me, I am wholly in the dark Concerning the authority of those Gents or whether Producing their appointment & Qualifying, is or is not Necessary.

Copies of papers relating to the seizure and detention of the Brigantine Neustra Senora de’l Rosario in the Georgia Court of Vice Admiralty, March-June, 1765, Savannah, C.O. 5/649, F. 47, read June 27, 1766, enclosed in Wright to the Board of Trade, June 28, 1765.

America

Province of Georgia

To the Honourable Grey Elliott Esquire Judge Surrogate of

His Majesty’s Court of Vice Admiralty in the Province of Georgia.

The Petition of Don Gabriel Garcia Palenzualas.

Humbly Sheweth

That your Petitioner is a Subject of his Catholic Majesty The King of Spain Sole Owner and Commander of a Brigantine or Vessel called Neustra Senora del Rosario lately put into this Port in Distress.

That Thomas Foley Esquire Commander of his britannic Majesty’s Ship of War the Escorte about Tuesday being the twelfth of this Instant did come on board your Petitioner’s Vessel and seize the same under pretences to your Petitioner unknown but your Petitioner on the Saturday following produced to him the Passports, and Papers granted and obtained for the said Vessel at the Spanish Port from whence he last sailed and the said Thomas Foley did thereupon quit Possession thereof and discharge the same.

That on Monday following being the eighteenth Instant the said Thomas Foley did again enter on board the said Vessel and Seize the same and has continued in Possession ever since without acquainting your Petitioner with his Reasons for such Treatment and without proceeding judicially against the Vessel agreeable to the Tenor of the English Laws as your Petitioner presumes in such cases enjoined.

That your Petitioner is not conscious of having transgressed the Laws, or in any Manner subjected himself to their Penalties that on his coming into this Port he obtained his Excellency the Governor’s Permission to repair and refit his Vessel, and had proper Officers put on board to see the same done.

That by Reason of the Seizures aforesaid your Petitioner alledges he is unduly detained and otherwise greatly damnified; that their britannic and Catholic Majestys being in a State of profound Peace your Petitioner cannot consider himself otherwise than in a friendly Port and intituled to claim the Protection of it’s Laws.

Dm. Gph. Gal. Tapiadoa T. Palenzuelas

Savannah 22nd March 1765

The prayer of this Petition

granted & a citation to Issue

Grey Elliott

Court of Vice Admiralty

Eliott Esquire Judge Surrogate of our said Court setting forth that Thomas Foley Esqr. Commander of our Ship of War the Escorte had seized his said Vessel and continues in Possession of her from the eighteenth of this instant March without proceeding judicially against the said Vessel agreeable to the Tenor of our Laws in such Cases enjoined to his great Damage And praying Relief in the Premisses consonant to Justice and the Law of Nations and the several Treaties subsisting between the Crowns of Great Britain and Spain. You are therefore hereby commanded to Cite and admonish and these Presents are to cite and admonish the said Thomas Foley Commander of our said Ship the Escorte to appear by himself or Proctor in our said Court of Vice Admiralty to be held at Savannah in the said Province on Friday next being the twenty ninth Day of this instant March at Eleven o’clock in the Forenoon of the same Day and also then and there to produce such Witnesses as he the said Thomas Foley may be desirous to have examined so that preparatory Examinations may be begun and then taken in Order for the Libelling or Discharging the said Brigantine.

In the Court of Vice Admiralty.

Judge Surrogate of our said Court setting forth that Thomas Foley Esqr. Commander of our Ship of War the Escorte had seized his said Vessel and continued in Possession of her from the eighteenth Day of this instant March without proceeding judicially therein agreeable to the Tenor of our Laws in Such Cases enjoined to his Great Damage And praying Relief in the Premisses. Whereupon a Citation under the Seal of our said Court did issue dated the twenty sixth Day of this instant March directed to you our said Marshall commanding you to cite and admonish the said Thomas Foley to be and appear before us in our said Court by himself or his Proctor on this Day being the twenty ninth instant to justify the said seizure and then and there to produce such Witnesses as he might be desirous to have examined so that Justice might be done in the Premisses. And you having made return on Oath of the due Service thereof and the said Thomas Foley having appeared by our Advocate General acknowledging the Seizure and Detention of the said Brigantine and praying that a further time might be given for him to make his application So that preparatory Examinations might be taken in support thereof which Prayer has been granted. These are therefore to will and require you the said Thomas Vincent forthwith to take into your Possession and Custody the said Brigantine Neustra Senora de’l Rosario, the said Gabriel Garcia Owner and Commander, and the same, together with the Cargo on board, safely to keep until she shall be duly discharged thereof fail not.

Georgia

In the Court of Vice Admiralty

This Respondent saith

That on or about the 12th Day of March now last past, he did enter the said Brigantine, as it was lawful for him to do by Virtue of certain Powers and authorities to him granted.

That this Respondent hath detained the said Brigantine in his Custody, that due Inquiry might be made in this Honourable Court concerning her, for the Causes following Vizt.

First. Because upon the Respondent’s going on board the said Brigantine and demanding her proper Passport and other necessary Papers to be produced and shewn to him, the same were refused or not produced.

Secondly. That because when afterwards, at the time alledged in the said Petition, a single Paper only was produced to this Respondent by the said Petitioner it appeared to this Respondent, that the same was entirely of the Hand writing of one Person, and consequently gave him Reason to suspect the Authenticity of the said Paper.

Thirdly. Because the Navigator or Pilot of the said Brigantine did declare that he was shipped at Campeachy to Navigate and Pilot the said Brigantine to the Port of Charles-town in South Carolina, and not to any Port of the King of Spain’s Dominions.

Fourthly. Because the said Don Gabriel Palenzualas did declare he had but two Cannon on board the said Brigantine; whereas it appears there are twelve Cannon at least, properly slung, and ready for mounting with their proper Carriages, on board the said Brig. And for that the said Brig hath a sufficient Number of Port Holes, pierced for mounting the said Cannon, and a very large Quantity of Warlike Stores on Board her whereby this Respondent is induced to believe the said Brigantine came upon this Coast either to force or carry on an illicit Trade, or with piratical Intentions.

Fifthly. Because it appeared to this Respondent that several Packages were thrown out of the said Brigantine into the River Savannah since she hath been at Anchor there. And for that the said Petitioner hath exposed and offered to Sale his Cargo on board, or some part thereof.

Thos. Foley

Savannah April 1st 1765

The Court taking under Consideration the said Answer, concluded; that the four first Alligations in the same which might be reduced to three were of such a Nature, as considering the Law of Nations, and the particular Treatys subsisting between the Crowns of Great Britain and Spain, could not Justify a Detention, or be Cognizable in any Court of Admiralty or other Court of Judicature in Great Britain or the territories thereunto belonging that part of the 5th however being a direct Infraction as well of the said Treaties as of the Laws of Great Britain, the Court was ready to hear such Evidence as the Respondent might produce in support thereof, and as a foundation for a Libel in this Court against the said Vessel and Cargo but Mr. Advocate General declining to enter therupon, and acknowledging that he had no Evidence to produce. The Court did thereupon pronounce and Decree that the said Vessel the Brigantine Neustra Senora de’l Rosario where of Don Gabriel Garcia Palenzualas is Master and Owner, together her Tackle, Furniture and Cargo be cleared and discharged, and that the said Thomas Foley Esqr. should pay all Costs of Suit and damages arising from his Detention as aforesaid, and that the Marshal of this Court be directed by Warrant to deliver the said Vessel, her Tackle Furniture and Cargo to the said Don Gabriel Garcia Palenzualas.

Georgia

Personally appeared before me William Spencer Esquire Register of His Majesty’s Court of Vice Admiralty for the said Province of Georgia who made Oath on the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God that the above are true Copys of the several Papers relating to the seizure and detention of the Brigantine Neustra Senora de’l Rosario, as exhibited in and issued from this Court, also a Copy of the Decree pronounced by the Court in that Cause.

Wm. Spencer 1765

I do hereby humbly certify that I did serve Thomas Foley Esqr. with a Copy of the within Citation as I am commanded.

Thos. Vincent

Sworn in Court before me this 29th Day of March 1765

Grey Elliott             

James Wright to the Board of Trade, June 29, 1765, Savannah, received, Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 48, concerning acts lately passed, the silk culture, and people from Bermuda who wish to settle in Georgia or East Florida.

My Lords

I have lately done my Self the Honor of Writing to your Lordships Several times, and now Transmit to your Lordships an Act to Prevent as much as may be the Spreading of the Small Pox in this Province Passed the 7th of December 1764. Also Copys of the several other Bills assented to by me on the 25 of March last, having already Sent to your Lordships The Bill for the better Strengthening & Settling of this Province &c and the Ordinance appointing Mr. Knox Agent from May 1765 to May 1766. The Rest of the Bills are as follow Vizt. An Act for Granting to His Majesty the Sume of £1599.7. 1 1/2 Sterl. for the use & Support of the Government of Georgia for the year 1765 to be Raised at Certain Rates & after the Method therein Mentioned & for the more Effectual Collecting of Arrears.

An Act for Building a Fort & Barracks within the Same on the Lands Reserved for the use of the Public near the Town of Augusta, in the Parish of St. Paul, a Guard House in Savanah, and Reparing the Barracks in the Fort in the Town of Frederica, on the Island of St. Simon, and for Granting to His Majesty the Sume of £ 650 Sterl to defray the Expence of the Same, also for appointing & Empowering Commissioners to Issue Certificates for the said Purposes. These my Lords Seemed to me to be very usefull & Necessary Services, and which Measure I Prevailed on the assembly to Come into. The Certificates Issued are to be Sunk by the General Tax on Land & Negroes within the Term of 3 years. This I Propose as a certain & Safe Fund for Sinking them. And to Ease the Inhabitants the Following Law was Passed Vizt. an Act for granting to His Majesty a duty on the Sundry Articles therein Mentioned, that Shall hereafter be Imported from any of his Majesties Colonies to the Northward of the Province of So. Carolina & appropriating the Money Arising therefrom in aid of the General Tax. By this Law your Lordships will Perceive that the Expence of Building the Fort at Augusta & the other Matters Mentioned in the Preceeding Law is intended to be defrayed from these dutys but least there Should be a Failure I chose to have the Security of the General Tax. I have taken care to Confine the duties to the Produce & Manufacture of the Colonies, and Shall only further Observe to your Lordships, that the dutys are very Light and Easy Compared with those Laid on the Same Articles in the next Province, and by which they Raise a very Considerable Revenue, and we may encrease ours hereafter. An Act for the better Ordering the Militia of this Province. An Act for the better Ordering & Governing Negroes & other Slaves in this Province, and to Prevent the Inveigling or Carrying Away Slaves from their Masters or Employers. These two Laws my Lords are the 2 most Material & Capital Laws we have, and I have taken a good deal of Pains, to Examine the former Laws & those of other Colonies, and upon the Whole have Endeavoured to get these on Such a Footing as tis hoped may answer the many Salutary Purposes of Such very Necessary Laws.

An Act to Extend & enforce the Authority of the Several Laws therein Mentioned to & throughout the Territory lately annexed to this Province, for dividing the Same into Parishes, & for adding the Island of Jekyl to the Parish of St. James. This my Lords Seemed Necessary after his Majesty was Graciously Pleased to Extend the Limits of this Province & my Comm. & Jurisdiction. An Act to Prevent Frauds & Abuses in the Admeasuring and Laying out His Majesties Lands in this Province. This Law my Lords I Judged Extremely Necessary & therefore directed the Surveyor General to give in a Memorial on the Subject to the Genl. assembly. Some Frauds may have already been Committed by Employing Negroes as Chain Carriers by which it is an Easy Matter to get 500 acres of Land returned or Contained within a Plot of 3 or 400 Acres, and from the very great defects & irregularities in the Surveys or rather Pretended Surveys made in this Province by the Carolinians to the Southward of the Alatamaha. I thought it my Indispensable duty to Endeavour to Prevent abuses of that kind for the Future.

An Act to amend an act to Prevent Persons throwing Ballast or Falling Trees into the Rivers and Navigable Creeks within this Province, & for keeping Clear the Channels of the Same. The former Law my Lords it appeared would have had an Exceeding good Effect, but that the Penalty was not Sufft. & by this it is Raised & Some further usefull alterations made.

An Act for Raising a Fund by an Impost on Shipping to defray the Expence of keeping in Repair or Rebuilding the Light House & Pilot House on Tybee Island. This Land Mark my Lords is of so great & general use to all Ships and Vessels coming this way or Sailing along this Coast, that it seemed a Matter of Great Moment to Provide a Fund for its Support, & this was thought the Properest Method.

An Act to Empower Commissioners to Lease or let out, for a Certain Term of years, the Lot of Land Commonly Called the spring, near Savanah, & to Rent the Building in Sav. Commonly called the Watch House, & to appropriate the Monies arising thereupon. These Lands my Lords were by a former Law Vested in Trustees for Public uses, and the assembly Choosing this Method of Making them usefull, I had no Objection to it. An Act to Continue Several Acts therein Mentioned, to Prevent Masters of Vessels from Carrying off Persons in debt, to Continue the Sevl. Road Acts, & an Act to Prevent Stealing Horses & Neat Cattle.

An Additional Act to an act Intitled an act to Suppress Lotteries & Prevent other Excessive & deceitful gaming. An Additional Act to an Act Intitled an Act for the better Regulating Taverns, Punch houses, & Retailers of Spirituous Liquors. An Act to amend an Act Intitled an Act to Prevent Private Persons from Purchasing Lands from the Indians; and for Preventing Persons Trading with them without a Licence. An Act to amend an Act Intitled an Act to Prevent as much as may be the Spreading of the Small Pox in this Province. And An Ordinance for Appointing Francis Lee Esqr. Comptroller & Collector of the Country duties at the Port of Sunbury, and for Appointing Daniel Nunes Waiter for the Port of Savanah in this Province. These last 5 acts & the Ordinance my Lords all Seemed usefull & Proper, and I trust I shall receive your Lordships approbation of all the Bills assented to by me, on the 25 of March last. And while I am on the Subject of our Laws, give me Leave to Remind your Lordships of the draught of the Quit rent Bill which I Transmitted about 3 years ago, and on which I have not yet received your Lordships Sentiments. Lest the former Should be mislaid I now Send another Copy & Shall hope for your Lordships direction thereon, as I am Certain the Quit Rents are very ill Paid & fear will Continue to be so, till his Majesties Receiver General is Vested with the Necessary Powers to Compel Payment, and as there are Some absentees who hold Lands without Settling or Improving them, or Paying any Quit rent, & without any Property to distrein on, I have thought a Clause for Selling their Lands or Regranting them if the Quit rents should remain in arrear & unpaid for 3 years, might have a good Effect, but Indeed I Can’t answer whether our Folks might agree to such a Clause in Case your Lordships Should approve of it. Possibly your Lordships may be Pleased to take the Opinion of the Attorney General on this Matter.

On the 23d of April I did my Self the Honor to write your Lordships fully about the Silk Culture & to that letter now beg Leave to refer, and Notwithstanding the great Prospect we had then, yet very Cold Weather for the Season of the year, increased the third Stage of the Worms Sickness so much, that great Quantities dyed, & the whole amount of Cocoons brought to the Filature does not Exceed 12,300 lb. weight, which is about 3000 lb less than last year Altho’ we had Reason to Expect at Least 3000 lb. weight more than last year. I grounded my Expectation on the Following Facts, an ounce of Seed Will Produce from 40 to 50 lb. of Cocoons, & upwards of 3 lb. more seed was given out by Mr. Ottolenghe for this Season than for the year 1764, and the weather Proved very Favourable all the fore part of the year, and Many People applied for Seed, who had never done so before.

In my former Letter I mentioned to your Lordships Opening the Filature at Ebenezer. I have Since inquired more Particularly & find that the Expence of Putting the Present Building, well, oven &c, &c, &c into Proper Repair will come to about £45, or £50, and Building another House with Stages or Shelves for the Cocoons if the whole that is made in that Neighbourhood is Reeled off there may Cost about £50. This will be the first Cost, or outset to put things in Order for Reeling the whole that may be made in that Neighbourhood, and the annual Expence after that may be about £50 per. ann. more than the whole Present Expence of Reeling at Savannah, & will encrease according to the Quantity of Cocoons Raised. This £50 my Lords I suppose would be to one or 2 Persons who would have the Chief care & Management of the whole business at Ebenezer, for Mr. Ottolenghe will Continue to direct at Savanah. The other article of expence will be Just the Same, I mean that of the Sorters, Reelers, & Turners, baking the Cocoons &c. as it will make no difference whether these People are Employed at Savanah or at Ebenezer. If my Lords they only Reel 3 or 4000 lb. for the 1st year or 2 at Ebenezer by way of Tryal, there will be no Occasion for another Building & the other Expence will be Less. Upon the whole my Lords I cannot be of Opinion that so Long as the Reeling of the Silk is Confined to Savanah only, the Culture can be Improved to anything Considerable, and if your Lordships approve of Opening the Filature at Ebenezer, I am Pretty Clear it will be an Encouragement to Many at a greater distance to go upon it, and if it Should be attended with Success, then others May be opened. Suppose one at Halifax, Another at Augusta, & another at the Medway Settlement in St. Johns Parish, & by degrees Small Filatures all over the Province, but while its Confined to Savanah it will not much Exceed what it has done. I must intreat your Lordships not to be too hasty in Lowering the Premium or rather Price of the Cocoons, for as I mentioned before the damp is great, and Many People have declared to me that they will not Concern themselves with it any more even at 2/3 per lb. and this I much fear will be the Case with Several People of Substance or Property. I hope to have your Lordships Speedy directions or Answer to my last & this letter on the Subject of the Silk, & that you will be Pleased to be full & Express, as I am very clear much depends upon it. I don’t know whether I may go too far in Saying that whether it shall or shall not be an Article or Commodity of any Consideration or Consequence in this Province, depends on your Lordships Resolution & further directions to me. On the 27th of May Mr. Ottolenghe wrote me a Letter that he could not get Women & others to Sort the Cocoons, & Turn & Reel off the Silk on Acct. of the Low Wages on which I found it was absolutely Necessary to Raise their Pay or the Cocoons must have Perished, for Some of the few that came there, had Actually left it, and accordingly I Promised them an addition of 2d. a day, those who had 18d to have 20d and those who had Is to have l/2d.

I Cannot omit Mentioning to your Lordships that about a fortnight ago, Some Gentl. arrived here from Bermuda, authorised by 150 Families to Come in Search of Lands either in this Province or East Florida. They Want one Tract and Mean to Settle altogether on a River, & Seem most desirous of Settling in this Province, as they assure me, but I doubt very much whether we can Accommodate them, by Reason of the Lands granted by the Govr. of Carolina. It is very Certain we cannot, unless they will take up with Some Ordinary Land on the North Bank of the River St. Mary and if we Lose getting these People to the amount of 5 or 600 it will Certainly be a great Prejudice to the Province arising merely from the Carolina Grants, & at the Same time the Carolinians want to Hold the Lands without Settling them. I am assured by the Bermuda’s Gentl. that Many of the People who Propose Coming are men of Property from 1000 to 5000 lb. Sterl. & that wherever they Settle Numbers more will follow.

I have also now the Honor to Transmit to your Lordships the Naval Officers Account of Vessels Enterd & Cleared at this Port from the 5th of January 1765 to the 5th of April²¹ and the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 18 of December 1764, to the 5th of March 1765.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, July 16, 1765, Savannah, received, Oct. 30, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 49, concerning act for partition of land and register of deeds.

My Lords

In your Lordship’s letter to me of the 12 of September last you are Pleased to Say, “That Your Lordships Counsel had Stated Such Strong Objections to the Law for Partition of Lands & Register of Deeds, that altho’ you wished to Shew all Proper Regard & attention to the Reasons I gave for Passing them, yet your Lordships had been under the Necessity of Laying them before His Majesty for his disapprobation, but hoped that when his Majesty Shall have decided upon your Representation, your Lordships will be Enabled to State those objections to me, in Such a light as to Pave the Way for the Renewal of Laws for the Same Salutary Purposes without being Lyable to the Same Objections. “ Since which I have not been honoured with any letter from your lordships on the Subject of those Laws. And as the Law for Register of Deeds Expires with the next Session of Assembly, and has been found to be of great Utility in preventing Frauds & abuses, Securing People in their Property, and giving an additional degree of Credit & Reputation to the Province, I must Entreat your Lordships will be Pleased as Soon as it may be Convenient to you, to let me know the Objections as it really appears very Necessary to Continue the former Law or Pass another for those Salutary Purposes with Such Variation as your Lordships may think Proper.

I hope the objection does not Lye to the Supplying defects in Deeds & Conveyance, as that Seems from the Necessity of the Case to be Proper, for in Infant Colonies there are not Lawyers & Persons who know how to draw Deeds &c in a formal Manner, and Probably one half of the Transfers of Property in Lands are by Bills of Sale deeds of Gift, Feoffements Executed without Livery & Seisin and others not Strictly formal & Legal Titles. And if these are to Remain Lyable to be Questioned & Set aside after Long Possession under a Valuable Consideration Paid, and Considerable Improvements made, it may be Productive not only of very great inconveniencies but in Some Cases Ruin to the Parties. In So. Carolina a Clause was Inserted in the Quit Rent Law for this very Purpose in the year 1731, and which is Still in Force without any Objection from Home, and has been Found of very great Utility, and is I Conceive Founded on Justice & Equity, and therefore I hope that is not the Exceptionable Part. I beg your Lordships Speedy directions that I may know how to Conduct myself in this Case, at the Next Meeting of the Assembly. I have wrote your Lordships fully in my Box with the Publick Papers sent by this Opportunity, to which I refer.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Aug. 12, 1765, Savannah, received Oct. 19, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 50, concerning former letters and transmitting papers.

My Lords

I have done my Self the Honor of writing to your Lordships Several times lately, and by a Vessel that Sailed from hence the 21st of last Month, one Anderson Master. I Transmitted to your lordships Copys of all the Laws assented to by me on the 25th of March last, with my Observations thereon, and also then Sent your Lordships Several other, of our Papers & Proceedings as usual. I now Transmit your Lordships the Journals of the House of Assembly to the 25th of March, which would have gone by Capt. Anderson but the Clerks Sickness Prevented their being finished. I also now Send your Lordships a Copy of the former Journals, and the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council from the 2nd of April to the 5th of June 1765.

I have Nothing Material to add or Trouble your Lordships with at Present, our Indian Affairs & everything Else Tranquil & Well.

James Wright to the Board of Trade, Aug. 19, 1765, Savannah, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 51, concerning Indian affairs.

My Lords

On the 12 instant I did my Self the Honor of writing to your Lordships & Transmitting the Journals of the Assembly, and Minutes of the Proceedings of the Governor in Council to June. last, and Should not now Trespass on your Lordships time, did I not know your desire to be Informed of every Circumstance Relative to Indian Affairs. And as Possibly your Lordships may yet have the Regulation of those Matters under Consideration, I now inclose Copys of 2 letters received from Mr. Stuart on the Subject, also Copys of Some Regulations Proposed by him, and a Tariff, also Transmit to your Lordships a Copy of my Standing Instructions given with all Licences granted, and for the Observance of which, Bond & Security is taken. Also a Copy of the Tariff or Terms of Trade which has always been observed Since I came here, and I Presume before. So that your Lordships will See on what Footing these Affairs have heretofore been, and what is now Proposed by Mr. Stuart, I also inclose a Copy of my letter to Mr. Stuart in Answer to his, from which & my Answers to your Lordships Articles or Plan Proposed, which went from hence in december last, you will be Clearly Possessed of my Idea of Indian Affairs, and the Manner of Conducting them with the Indians. Pardon me my Lords for Repeating again that the Interposition of Governors in Indian Affairs without the Limits of their Respective Commissions by granting Licences or Otherwise, may & will be Productive of disorder if not worse, and it also Appears very Clearly to me that Lodging the Supreme Political Power, in any other Hands than the Govr. or Govrs. with the advice of the Council may be attended with Embarrassing & bad Consequences. It is a Matter my Lords of the Utmost Importance, to the Provinces, but if your Lordships Should think I go too far in declaring my Sentiments in the Manner I have done, I rely on my zeal for His Majesties Service, the Welfare of the Province, and the uprightness of my intentions as a Plea with your Lordships in my Justification.

Copy of John Stuart to James Wright, March 31, 1765, Mobile, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 52, concerning uniform trade regulations for the Chickesaw and Choctaw Indians. In Wright to Board of Trade, Aug. 19, 1765.

Sir

From the Numberless disorders & Complaints Occasioned by the want of Proper Regulation & order for Carrying on Trade in the Surrounding Nations of Indians, I Consider it as an Indispensable Part of my Duty to Propose to the Governors of the different Provinces within this department, the Laying the Traders to whom they Respectively Shall grant Licences, under one Uniform Set of Regulations which may extend through the whole department, as well for Introducing Some Sort of Government & Order Amongst the Traders themselves, as Procuring them & the Indians Natural Justice. It was with this View that [I] Proposed to the Govr. of this Province, that all Persons hence forward to be Licenced by him, as Traders to the Chickesaw and Choctaw Nations, Shall be bound to the Observation of the inclosed Regulations, by Bonds to be given when Licenced.

As most of the Principal Traders to the above 2 Nations are now here, Governor Johnston & I Summoned them to a General Meeting, when the Articles of the Inclosed Regulations were Read & debated, & after Mature deliberation unanimously approved of as well by the Governor as the Traders.

My intention in forwarding the inclosed Regulations to your Excellency is, that if you Concur with Govr. Johnston in approving of them, you may like him, by Bond Subject such Persons as you shall hereafter grant licences to for Trading to the Choctaws & Chickesaws Nations to the Observation of them.

I Shall as Soon as Proper Persons can be found appoint Commissaries to Reside in those Nations.

Copy of John Stuart to James Wright, July 25, 1765, Charles Town, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 53, concerning his plan for the governance of Indians. In Wright to Board of Trade, Aug. 19, 1765.

Sir

I arrived here from Pensacola the 19th inst after a Tedious Passage of 5 weeks. Before I Sailed from West Florida I was favoured with your Excellencies letter of the 4th of March, but never received the Other of the 13 of December.

My Negotiations with the Choctaw, Chickesaw, Creek, & Small Nations Contiguous to West Florida, were Rendered Extremely Tedious & Fatiquing, by Many Concurring Circumstances, the Season of the year, the great Scarcity of Provisions, the Party differences among the Indians, their Jealousies on account of their Lands. The Machinations, divisions, dissentions, Competition for Trade, & Want of Regulation or Government of any Sort Amongst the Traders & Packhorsemen, all Conspired to Embarrass & impede the Accomplishment of the Objects I had in View and with which I was Charged by Government, which were Principally to Efface the Unfavourable impressions of the British Nation left on the Minds of the Indians by the French, to Procure an Enlargement of Territory for, & distinctly ascertain a Boundary Line between the Provinces of East & West Florida, & the Lands Claimed by them, & to Prepare them for the Introduction of Commissaries into their Nation, by which Some Sort of Police amongst themselves, as well as Rule and Government Amongst the Packhorsemen & Traders Might be Established. In the first & Second, I Succeeded with the Choctaws beyond my most Sanquine Expectations. They delivered up all their French Medals & Commissions, which I replaced with English, they yielded a very Considerable Territory of fine Land to the Province of West Florida, & with Joy Embraced the Establishment of a Commissary in their Country. They Petitioned for a Garrison to Tombegbey not to Exceed 30 men. They made up all differences with the Chickesaws who Returned Home thro the Heart of their Country, and they Parted from me fully Satisfied, & with every Mark of the most Cordial Attachment to their new Masters.

The Mortar & Principal Head Men of the Upper Creeks, arrived at Pensacola the 12th & Continued to the 27 of May. Capt. Alleck, the young Lieutenant, white Cabbin, & about 50 other Principally Leading Men from the Lower Towns were there also. The Mortars behaviour was Manly & Sagacious. I had Seen him before in the Cherokee Nation without knowing him, which he Mentioned, & an intimacy grew between us. He ask’t me for a Commission & Great Medal, which he never Could be brought to Accept of or from the French. He Enter’d Immediately into the Idea of having a Commissary in the Nation, but as his People are Ignorant & Jealous, desired time to Consult & Prepare them for it, before we Should Carry it into Execution. He was Charmed with the Institution of Medal Chiefs & the Prospect of Power to be thrown into the Hands of the Leading Men.

All the Proceedings at Augusta were Confirmed & a Considerable Territory yielded to the Province of West Florida. And from Principles of Self Love as well as the Consideration of Advantage to his Country, the Mortar went away with all the Marks of inclination to Cultivate a good understanding with us, and Introduce order & Regularity into his Nation.

The making of Medal Chiefs among the Creeks will introduce Subordination in their Nation, and will render the Great Chiefs depending on us for their Power while all Commissions of an inferior Nature, to which Some Pre-eminence & Douceur Should be annexed, are to be hencefoward given according to the Recommendation of the Medal Chiefs. Their Influence & Consequence, will thereby be Supported, and the People become dependant on them, which must Render our Governing the Indian Nations more Practicable.

The Chiefs in the Upper & Middle Creeks who received great Medals are Zahatastonake, or the Mortar, Emistisegoe, Oakehoy Mico, or the Gun Merchant, Duvals Landlord & the Old Wolf King of the Mucklasses. Those to whom Small Medals were given are, Tupulga, or Molton, Second Man of little Tallassies, the white Lieutenant, the Beaver Tooth King, and a Small Medal was Sent to the Gun Merchant, to be disposed of as he Shall think Proper. The Commissions which I gave with the Medals &c are in the Kings Name, & Witnessed by me. I have Reserved 3 great & 3 Small Medals to be disposed of at the Ensuing Meeting with the Lower Towns at St. Augustine, and I shall be glad to have your Excellencies Opinion of the Proper Persons. Capt. Alleck Sempiaffee, I think may Pass. The Young Lieutenant, the young Twin, Talligie, half Breed Abraham, will Expect to be taken Notice of. I Shall give away Gorgets with Commissions to be one degrees Lower than the Small Medal Chiefs. Upon the whole your Excellencies Sentiments will Oblige me much.

The Complaints from every Quarter, of the disorders Committed by the Swarms of Packhorsemen in the Nation, and Occasioned by Want of Regulation & the unlimitted introduction of Spirituous Liquors, rendered it incumbent upon me to Propose some Method for Remedying & Stopping evils, which otherwise must infalibly & Soon defeat every Measure that has been taken, & throw Indian affairs back into a State of Confusion, with a View to which I Laid before his Excellency Govr. Johnstone Regulations, of which I had the Honor to Transmit your Excellency a Copy the 31 of March, and which were approved by him & his Council, as well as at general Meetings of the Traders who attended the different Congresses, who Renewed their Licences in West Florida, and Bound themselves to the Observation of the said Regulations. And in Consequence I appointed Mr. John McIntosh to reside as Commissary in the Chickesaw Nation, and Mr. Elias Legardere to reside in the Same Character in the Choctaw Nation.

The Object of these Regulations, the Propriety of Uniformity in the Mode of Granting Licences to Traders from the different Governments, the Necessity of Some Jurisdiction, by which Licentious Traders & other white men may be Restrained, the Conformity of the Steps taken & Proposed by me, to the Idea & Spirit of the Plan for the Future Management of Indians Proposed by the Right Honorable the Lords of Trade, are very apparent. I Shall be Extremely [glad] to hear from your Excellency in answer to Mine of 31 March that I may be Enabled to Report on it, in the State of Indian Affairs within this department, which I am Preparing to Lay before the Board of Trade.

I cannot help thinking it my duty to Represent to your Excellency, that the delegation of Power, from Governors to Particular Merchants & Traders by Virtue of which they Permit whom they Please to Trade indiscriminately in any or every Town of every Nation, as it is Productive of Great Confusion by Creating Competition, Parties, & divisions, so it does not appear to me to be well authorised by His Majesties Proclamation of the 7th of October 1763, which Says “That every Person who may be inclined to Trade with the Said Indians, do take out a Licence for Carrying on Such Trade, from the Govr. or Commander in Chief of any of our Colonies where such Person Shall Reside and also give Security &c. “ The Light which the Lords Commissioners for Trade understand this Part of the Proclamation and their Idea of the Mode of granting Licences, appear & are fully Stated in Article 24 to 34 of their Plan for the Management of Indians, of which Copies were Sent to all the Governors.

I am Convinced Sir, that your Excellency in Considering these matters will only be actuated by your Zeal for His Majesties Service, and Inclination to assist in bringing that Chaos, Indian Affairs into Some Order, which Occasions my being the more Explicit on the Subject, and desirous of being Honoured with your Excellencies Sentiments Concerning them.

If Practicable I will Endeavour to pay my respects to you before I go to St. Augustine.

Copy of regulations for Indian trade in West Florida proposed by John Stuart, March 31, 1765, received Nov. 10, 1765, read June 27, 1766, C.O. 5/649, F. 54. In Wright to Board of Trade Aug. 19, 1765.

Regulations Settled as Necessary for the better Carrying on the Trade with the Indian Nations Surrounding the Province of West Florida, By his Excellency Gov. Johnston Esqr. & the Honourable John Stuart Esqr. and also with the Consent of the Traders themselves, & to which the Trading Bond & Licence Refer.

1st. That no Traders Shall by himself or Substitue or Servant Sell or give to any Indian any Spirituous Liquor of any kind whatsoever.

2nd. That no Trader Shall Employ any Person as a Clerk Packhorseman or Factor in their Service before an agreement is first Entered into between them Specifying the time & Conditions of Service, & also his or their Names Indorsed on the back of the Licence which may be given to such Trader, whereby the Principal Traders Shall then be deemed answerable for his or their Conduct.

3rd. That in Case any Trader by himself, Substitue, or Servant Shall Send more than ten gallons of Rum at any one time, into the Indian Nation, or in Case there Shall be found in the Possession of any one Person above that Quantity in the Indian Country, Such Person Shall be Considered as having Forfeited his Bond & Licence.

4th. That every Trader on Employing any Clerk Packhorseman or Factor as aforesaid shall give Notice within ten days thereafter to the Commissary Residing in the Nation, and whose Permission for his Continuance must also be obtained. Otherwise if not Obtained in the Space of Six Weeks, and Such Clerk, Packhorseman or Factor Still Continuing in the Service of Said Trader, after the Said Six Weeks, then upon Conviction of Such Fact the Bond and Licence to be forfeited.

5th. That no Trader Shall Employ an Negroe or Indian or half Breed, who from his manner of life Shall, to the Conscience of a Jury be Considered as Living in the Indian Government, as a Factor or deputy to Trade in any Town or Village on Account of the Said Trader.

6th. That no Trader Shall Employ in his Service any Clerk Packhorseman or Factor who may have been formerly Engaged with any other Trader, untill a Regular discharge from Such former Master Shall first have been had & Produced to the Person hyring the Said Servant &c Showing the former Contract had been dissolved by Mutual Consent, or Else untill the Said Servant Shall have Produced an Authentic Certificate from the Commissary Shewing that the former Contract is dissolved for Good & Sufficient Reasons before him the Said Commissary.

7th. That no Indian Trader Shall harbour in his House any White Person Exceeding Eleven days, unless under the foregoing Regulations, Except in Case of Sickness.

8th. That whatever Trader, Packhorseman, Factor or Clerk Shall refuse or Neglect to be aiding & assisting to the Commissary on a Legal demand being made for the apprehending of any offender, Such Conduct Shall be Construed as a forfeiture of the Bond & Licence given by the Principal.

9th. That no Trader by himself Servant or Substitute Shall Sell any Swan Shot, or Rifle barrel’d Guns to the Indians.

10th. That all goods Shall be sold to the Indians at the Following Tariff, and if any Trader by himself, Substitute or Servant Shall Sell any Goods Cheaper or dearer than on the Following Tariff, then Such Fact to be Considered as a Forfeiture of the Bond & Licence.

11th. That the Weight & Measure of every Trader Shall Conform Exactly with the Standard Weight & Measure Lodged with the Commissary, and if any Weight or Measure shall be found on Comparison to differ therefrom 1/2 an ounce in Weight or 1/2 an inch in length then Such difference to be Considered as a Forfeiture of the Bond & Licence.

12th. That no Trader Shall Credit any Indian for more than 30 lb. weight of Leather, and that debts above that Amount are not to be Considered as Recoverable. Neither Shall any Trader Credit an Indian for more than 3 lb. of Powder, & 12 lb. of Bullets.

13th. That no Trader by himself, Servants or Substitutes Shall Propagate any Report or Reports Amongst the Indians, or Shall Convene any Meetings with them, or deliver any Messages to them, without the Concurrence of the Commissary first Obtained in Writing.

14th. That the Traders Shall Communicate to the Commissary whatever Reports or intelligence they may hear, which may be of Consequence to the Province.

15th. That any Trader Refusing or Neglecting to Appear at any General Meeting of the Indians, or Congress, when Summoned by the Governor of the Province, or Superintendant or his Deputy, except in the Case of Sickness, that Such refusal shall be Considered as a Forfeiture of their Bond & Licence.

16th. That all Traders, Clerks, Factors & Packhorsemen Shall duely attend the Summons of the Commissary & Conform to Such Regulations as his Majesty may hereafter be Pleased to Prescribe with Respect to this Trade.

17th. That no Trader, Factor Clerk or Packhorseman Shall Beat or abuse any Indian, and that they Shall Pay proper respect to the Medal Chiefs & Captains bearing Commissions.

18th. That no Trader by himself Substitute or Servant Shall Trade with any of the Indians in the Woods, under any Pretence whatever.

19th. That no Trader Shall buy or take in Barter for their goods any Hides in the Hair, Except in the Proportion of four to each Horse Load of dressed Skins.

A True Copy

Ja. Wright