Notes

INTRODUCTION

1. For further information on this manuscript, see “Gordon’s Manuscript,’’ near the end of this Introduction.

2. Robert G. McPherson, ed., “The Voyage of the Anne—A Daily Record,’’ in Georgia Historical Quarterly, XLIV (June, 1960), 227.

3. E. Merton Coulter, ed., “A List of the First Shipload of Georgia Settlers,” ibid., XXXI (December, 1947), 285; E. Merton Coulter and Albert B. Saye, eds., A List of the Early Settlers of Georgia (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1949), 19.

4. For instances, see Thomas Causton, Savannah, March 12, 1732/33, to his wife, in Egmont Papers of the Phillipps Collection (in University of Georgia Library), No. 14200, p. 53; William Kilbury, Yamacraw Bluff (Savannah), February 6, 1732/33, ibid., 29.

5. “The Minutes of the Common Council of the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America,” being Volume II of Allen D. Candler, comp., The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia (26 volumes, less volume 20 which was never published. Atlanta: The Franklin Printing and Publishing Company, 1904–1916), II (1904), 11.

6. South Carolina Gazette, August 18 to 25, 1733.

7. Historical Manuscripts Commission, Manuscripts of the Earl of Egmont, Diary of the First Earl of Egmont (Viscount Percival) (3 volumes. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1920, 1923), II (1923), 36–37; Robert G. McPherson, ed., The Journal of the Earl of Egmont. Abstract of the Trustees Proceedings for Establishing the Colony of Georgia, 1732–1738 (Wormsloe Foundation Publications, Number Five. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1962), 44.

8. Noble Jones to Trustees, July 6, 1735, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia (typescript on microfilm in University of Georgia Library), 203. See also Egmont Diary, II, 36; Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 35–36 ff., 65.

9. What appears to be an original reprint of the Gordon engraving is in the De Renne Collection in the University of Georgia Library.

10. A copy of this plan is in the De Renne Collection in the University of Georgia Library.

11. George Dunbar to the Trustees, November 5, 1734, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XX, 11. See also Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 72; McPherson, ed., Journal of the Earl of Egmont, 66; MS Colonial Records of Georgia (typescript on microfilm in University of Georgia Library), XXIX, 69.

12. Coulter and Saye, eds., List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, 101.

13. Ibid.

14. For an extended account of Watson, see Sarah B. Gober Temple and Kenneth Coleman, Georgia Journeys (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1961), 82–88.

15. Thomas Causton, Savannah, March 24, 1734/35, to the Trustees, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XX, 546.

16. Ibid., 554.

17. James Ross McCain, Georgia as a Proprietary Province. The Execution of a Trust (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1917), 209–12.

18. Elisha Dobree, Savannah, January 15, 1735, to the Trustees, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XX, 107.

19. Elisha Dobree, Savannah, January 27, 1735, to the Trustees, ibid., 176.

20. Thomas Causton, Savannah, April 2, 1735, to the Trustees, ibid., 576–77. Peter Gordon is listed as a Malcontent in a volume supposedly written by Thomas Stephens, one of the Malcontents, entitled A Brief Account of the Causes That have retarded the Progress of the Colony of Georgia, In America; Attested upon Oath. Being a proper Contrast to the State of the Province of Georgia. Attested upon Oath; And some other Misrepresentations on the same Subject (London, 1743), 95.

21. Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 102.

22. Patrick Houstoun, Savannah, March 1, 1735, to Peter Gordon, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XX, 592–600.

23. Susan Bowling, Charles Town, March 20, 1735, to Peter Gordon, ibid., 335–37.

24. Robert Parker, Sr., Savannah, March 2, 1735, to Peter Gordon, ibid., 332–34. See also Patrick Houstoun, Savannah, January 21, 1735, to Peter Gordon, ibid., 494–96; S. Quincy, Savannah, March 3, 1735, to Peter Gordon, ibid., 600–603.

25. John West, Savannah, March 10, 1735, to Peter Gordon, ibid., 605–606.

26. Joseph Watson, Savannah, March 10, 1735, to Peter Gordon, Charles Town, ibid., 603–605.

27. Patrick Houstoun, Savannah, March 1, 1735, to Peter Gordon, ibid., 592–600.

28. Thomas Christie, Savannah, March 19, 1735, to the Trustees, ibid., 626.

29. Clarence L. Ver Steeg, ed., A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia, By Pat. Tailfer and Others with Comments by the Earl of Egmont (Wormsloe Foundation Publications, Number Four. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1960), 54, 55.

30. Peter Gordon, London, May 7, 1735, to the Trustees, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XX, 489–94.

31. Egmont Diary, II, 169.

32. Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 102. See also McPherson, ed., Journal of the Earl of Egmont, 85; Egmont Diary, II, 174; Herman Verelst, Georgia Office (London), May 15, 1735, to Thomas Causton, Savannah, in MS Georgia Colonial Records, XXIX, 103–104.

33. Egmont Diary, II, 187; Thomas Causton, Savannah, July 25, 1735, to the Trustees, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XX, 226.

34. Herman Verelst, London, July 18, 1735, to Thomas Causton, Savannah, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XXIX, 142–43.

35. Egmont Diary, II, 191; McPherson, ed., Journal of the Earl of Egmont, 101–102.

36. Egmont Diary, II, 194; Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 31 f., 120.

37. “Journal of the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America,” in Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, I (1904), 236.

38. Ver Steeg, ed., True and Historical Narrative, 54, 55.

39. Ibid.

40. Egmont made a slip in writing that Gordon “quitted” Georgia, April 12, 1738. See Coulter and Saye, eds., List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, 19.

41. Egmont Diary, II, 417; McPherson, ed., Journal of the Earl of Egmont, 286–87.

42. Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 209; McPherson, ed., Journal of the Earl of Egmont, 310.

43. Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, II, 229. See also, “Original Papers, Correspondence, Trustees, General Oglethorpe and Others,” in Candler, comp., Colonial Records of Georgia, XXI (1910), 468, 469; Herman Verelst, May 19, 1738, to Thomas Causton, in MS Colonial Records of Georgia, XXIX, 529–30; Egmont Diary, II, 478; McPherson, ed., Journal of the Earl of Egmont, 345.

44. Coulter and Saye, eds., List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, 69.

45. Ibid., 19.

46. After this paragraph had been set in type, Mr. John Wyatt Bonner, Special Collections Librarian at the University of Georgia, found in the Keith Read Collection an intriguingly interesting letter relative to the Peter Gordon journal, from Anne Allison of New York, N. Y., to Keith Read, dated July 19, 1934. Efforts have been made without success to determine whether Anne Allison was a book dealer or an agent for one, or in what way she came into possession of the Gordon journal; but this letter does seem to establish the fact that Read secured it in 1934.

The pertinent part of the letter follows: “I am sorry you wouldn’t ever come to see me so I could tell you about P. G. [Peter Gordon]—and with your unconquerable aversion to detail there’s no use my writing you all the interesting things I’ve established after a large number of days at the library and fascinating hours digging through Georgia source material. However this much perhaps you will note—So far as I’ve been able to check up—all possibilities not yet exhausted but the major and important ones have been—Peter Gordon’s journal has never been published and for the very good reason that the Trustees like N. R. A. [National Recovery Administration of the Franklin D. Roosevelt era] just weren’t having any criticism. In addition to its being unpublished it is really an exceptionally interesting piece beyond its connection with Georgia beginnings and it is probably more valuable than the rest of your entire collection. Incidentally I was so impressed with its probable potential value after I had begun to check up on it that I have been keeping it in the vault of the bank.” She notes that she is sending the journal to Read from Washington where she was stopping over for a week on her trip to Chicago, where she would be indefinitely.

THE JOURNAL OF PETER GORDON

1. This reference is to Some Account of the Designs of the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America (London, 1732?). This is a brief account in four pages, with a map of southern North America at the end.

2. The full title is Reasons for Establishing the Colony of Georgia, with Regard to the Trade of Great Britain, the Increase of our People, and the Employment and Support it will Afford to Great Numbers of our Poor, as well as Foreign Persecuted Protestants. With Some Account of the Country, and the Design of the Trustees (London: W. Meadows, 1733). This booklet contains 48 numbered pages and ends with a repetition of the map which appeared in the Designs, listed in note 1, above.

3. Jean Pierre Purry, a Swiss colonial promoter, sought to induce the Georgia Trustees to give him permission to plant a settlement in Georgia. Some years before the Georgia project had been conceived of, he had written a pamphlet in 1724, which Gordon here alludes to, under the title of Memorial Presented to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle (London, 1724), describing the Carolina country and urging the English to push their settlements southward and westward. The Trustees refused Purry’s request, and he then got permission from the South Carolina authorities to make a settlement on the Carolina side of the Savannah River a few miles above Savannah. This place became known as Purrysburg.

4. An account that might be considered official gives the total number of passengers as 114, instead of 96 as Gordon has it. See Coulter, ed., “List of First Shipload of Georgia Settlers,” 282–88.

5. There are several biographies of James Edward Oglethorpe. The standard and most recent one is Amos Aschbach Ettinger, James Edward Oglethorpe, Imperial Idealist (Oxford, England: The Clarendon Press, 1936).

6. Henry Herbert, who falling ill in Georgia, died at sea on his return to England, June 15, 1733.

7. John Warren (Warrin) was a flax dresser by trade. He died in Savannah, August 11, 1733.

8. Samuel Parker died in Savannah, July 20, 1733.

9. Joseph Fitzwalter became a man of some importance in Georgia. In 1735 he married an Indian girl, who ran away from him. Later he married Penelope Wright, a widow. Fitzwalter was a gardener and was in charge of the Trustees Garden at Savannah several times. He died on October 28, 1742.

10. Richard Hodges was appointed a Conservator of the Peace and also, provisionally, a Bailiff, but he never served in the latter office. He died in Savannah, July 20, 1733.

11. Joseph Hughes was for a time the keeper of the Trustees Store. He died on September 30, 1733.

12. Richard Cannon died in Savannah, May 27, 1735.

13. William Kilberry’s name does not appear in the list of passengers on the Ann, referred to in footnote 2, above; but he is included in another list as having arrived in Georgia, February 1, 1732–33, which list is in part the basis for Coulter and Saye, eds., List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, 81. Gordon’s listing him as being on the ship seems to be definite proof of his presence; and the fact that he came to Georgia at his own expense may account for the fact that he did not appear on the list referred to in footnote 2, however illogical that may be. In compiling that list, the Earl of Egmont may purposely or by accident have omitted his name. It would, therefore, seem that there were 115 passengers instead of 114 in that first embarkation.

14. Probably escritoire, a writing table.

15. Dr. William Cox was the first of the Georgia settlers to die—April 6, 1733. His loss was sorely felt by those needing medical attention, though Noble Jones, another passenger on the first embarkation, administered to the sick when he could spare time from his several official duties.

16. Anne Coles was the wife of Joseph Coles, who died in Savannah, March, 4, 1735. Anne re-married.

17. Francis Scott was appointed provisionally a Bailiff, but he never served. He died in Savannah, January 2, 1734.

18. Paul Amatis was an Italian silk man and gardener, from the province of Piedemonte. Soon after landing at Yamacraw Bluff he was sent to Charles Town to cultivate the Trustees Garden there, which was to be a sort of feeder for a time to the main Trustees Garden which was developed at Savannah. Amatis was brought to Georgia for the principal purpose of establishing the silk business, but he considered himself to be the head of the Trustees Garden in Savannah, too, where he planted a great many mulberry trees. In this assumption he had a long and bitter quarrel with Joseph Fitzwalter, who claimed to be the director of the Savannah garden. Eventually the Trustees settled the quarrel by making Amatis the director. Later he became disgruntled with Savannah, and went to Charles Town, where he died in December, 1736.

19. There is some confusion as to whether or not Oglethorpe was on board the Ann in its voyage from Charles Town to Port Royal. According to the following two works Oglethorpe had gone ahead by land: Temple and Coleman, Georgia Journeys, 7 and Henry Bruce, Life of General Oglethorpe (New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, 1890), 102; but Oglethorpe himself in a letter to the Trustees dated January 13, 1732/33, in a postscript which he added after having gone ashore in Charles Town, said “I am just going to return on board 2 of the Clock in the Morning.” Egmont Papers of the Phillipps Collection, No. 14200, p. 7 (typescript). Although this statement is anticipatory, there is no reason to believe that he did not board the ship. The confusion probably arises from the fact that Oglethorpe did set out from Port Royal in company with some South Carolinians to go on to Georgia ahead of the settlers, in order to locate a spot for their first town. This discussion as to whether or not Oglethorpe was on board the Ann has been considered of importance, for if he were not on board, then Gordon’s account of the pirate ship would be suspect, for he says that Oglethorpe ordered preparations for the attack. Ettinger’s Oglethorpe does not go sufficiently into details to make a statement one way or the other.

20. There are various ways in spelling the name of this particular kind of water craft, which are more-or-less accepted; but Gordon adds a few more spellings, using whatever combination of letters which suited his fancy at the time, without ever arriving at an accepted spelling. Spellings which have acceptance are: piragua, pirogue, pettiagua, and pettiauger. Piragua was the Spanish word, derived from the Caribs and Arawak Indians of the West Indies. The French transformed it into pirogue; and others in the course of time added the other spellings given above. This craft was a canoe made by hollowing out the trunk of a tree, and in a larger size, a flatboat with two masts without a deck or with one at each end. This latter version was the craft generally used by the colonists in trading along the coast and between Savannah and Charles Town.

21. February 12, “Georgia Day.” The calendar problem has been discussed in the Introduction.

22. John Musgrove, a South Carolina trader, who had married a half-breed Indian girl, who later called herself “Queen of the Creeks” and caused the Colony much trouble.

23. Tomochichi (generally so spelled) was a remarkable chief of the Yamacraw Indians, who became a great friend of the Georgians. For an extended account of his life, see Charles C. Jones, Jr., Historical Sketch of Tomo-Chi-Chi, Mico of the Yamacraws (Albany, N. Y.: Joel Munsell, 1868).

24. William Bull, a prominent South Carolinian, who helped Oglethorpe lay out the town of Savannah. The principal street was named for him.

25. Peter de St. Julien (or James?), Benjamin Whitaker, Col. Nathaniel Barnwell, and Richard Woodward were prominent South Carolinians.

26. Thomas Causton, a calico printer by trade, was successively third, second, and first Bailiff (a term for judge or magistrate). Also he became the keeper of the Trustees Store. From almost the first he was a stormy figure in the history of Savannah and was finally turned out of office in 1739. His store accounts were much mixed up, and he went to England in 1743 in an attempt to straighten them out. In a further effort to do so, he was ordered by the Trustees to return to Georgia. In 1745 on his voyage back he died of spotted fever.

27. Noble Jones was one of the most important men in colonial Georgia, holding at one time or another almost every office in the Colony, except the governorship. He died in 1775. For an extended sketch of his life, see E. Merton Coulter, Wormsloe, Two Centuries of a Georgia Family (Wormsloe Foundation Publication, Number One. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1955), 1–107.

28. James Goddard, one of the principal carpenters in the first embarkation, died in Savannah in July, 1733.

29. Thomas Christie had a long and turbulent career in Georgia, holding in succession several offices, including Recorder and Bailiff. For details of his life in Georgia, see Temple and Coleman, Georgia Journeys, 145–60.

30. Richard (John) Cameron was a servant to Francis Scott. He soon absconded to South Carolina.

31. William Osborne (?), a South Carolina patroon and pilot.

32. Apparently a South Carolina trader.

33. Jonathan Bryan (1708–1788) was born in South Carolina. He met Oglethorpe at Beaufort, and with others, accompanied him to the site on Yamacraw Bluff, where the town of Savannah was founded. Although much interested in Georgia, he did not move there until 1750. He held important offices under the Crown when the King took over Georgia. In the events leading up to the Revolution and in that struggle he was an outstanding Patriot. Although he was 67 years old at the outbreak of war, he joined the army and was captured and imprisoned by the British. See “Brampton Plantation,” in Georgia Historical Quarterly, XXVII (March, 1943), 28 ff.; Frank B. Screven, “The Georgia Bryans and Screvens, 1681–1861,” ibid., XL (December, 1956), 325 ff.

34. Samuel Quincy arrived in Georgia in July, 1733, and returned to England two years later. A troublemaker and an unsatisfactory minister, he was recalled by the Trustees.

35. Unidentified.

36. William Waterland presided as Second Bailiff at this first session, but was dismissed the next month for misbehaviour (probably drunkenness). In February, 1734 he left for South Carolina, where he set up as a schoolteacher.

37. Robert Johnson, governor of South Carolina, 1730–1735.

38. Chrisledon was an eminent English surgeon in London.

39. In May, 1734 Oglethorpe set out for England, taking with him Tomochichi, his wife, his wife’s brother, his nephew, Hillispilli (the war chief of the Lower Creeks), several other chiefs, and their attendants. After a visit of four months they returned, except one who had died of the smallpox. See Jones, Jr., Tomo-chi-chi, 58–71.