Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

April 9

1793 Educator Alonzo Church was born in Brattleboro, Vermont. After graduating from Middlebury College, Church moved to Georgia in 1816, becoming a schoolmaster in Putnam County. In 1819, he joined the faculty of the University of Georgia. When Moses Waddel resigned the presidency of the university in 1829, Church was chosen to replace him. Church served as president for thirty years, during which time eight new buildings were constructed and the curriculum began to expand from its classical heritage to include more scientific and mathematical study. Church, however, was a strong believer in the classics and firm discipline, which led to conflicts with some students and faculty -- most notably John and Joseph LeConte. Church resigned in 1859 and retired to his home in the Athens countryside, where he died May 18, 1862.

1865 At Appomattox Court House in Virginia, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered an estimated 26,765 veterans of the Army of Northern Virginia. During the Appomattox Campaign, over 13,000 Confederates were captured and 6,266 were killed or wounded. Though other Confederate forces continued to hold out during the weeks ahead, Lee's surrender effectively meant that the South had lost the Civil War.

1932 Naturalist and co-star of Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom" TV series Jim Fowler was born in Albany, Ga. Today, he still lives near Albany.

1936 President Franklin D. Roosevelt briefly visited Warm Springs, Ga. for his thirtieth visit to his "second home," before re-boarding his train for the return trip to Washington, D.C. He made a brief stop in Gainesville, Ga., where deadly tornadoes had struck three days earlier.

1962 Arnold Palmer won his third Masters golf tournament. [Click here for story.] Two years later, Palmer would win his fourth win at Augusta.

1968 The funeral of Martin Luther King, Jr. was held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Around 100,000 people came for the service, though the church would only hold 800. After the funeral, a mule-drawn wagon carried King's body through Atlanta's streets to Morehouse College followed by up to 200,000 mourners.

1972 Jack Nicklaus won his fourth Masters golf tournament. [Click here for story.] Later, he would win two more -- for a total of six green jackets from the Augusta National Golf Club.

1973 Gainesville's Tommy Aaron became the second native Georgian to win the Masters golf tournament. [Click here for story.] Savannah-born Claude Harmon was the first in 1948. Augusta-born Larry Mize was the third native Georgian to win the Masters in 1987.

1978 Gary Player won his third Masters golf tournament. [Click here for story.]

1982 In their phenomenal season kickoff, the Atlanta Braves played their first home game and scored five runs in the first inning against the Houston Astros. Their 6-2 victory pushed them to 3-0 for the 1982 season.

1988 Georgia born Dave Prater, half of the musical duo Sam and Dave, died in an automobile accident on his way to his mother's house in Ocilla, Georgia.

1989 In the second hole of a sudden death playoff, England's Nick Faldo won his first Masters Golf Tournament. [Click here to read the story of Faldo's win.]

1998 America's National Prisoner of War Museum was dedicated at Andersonville National Historic Site in Georgia.

1999 In his first year of eligibility, former University of Georgia running back Herschel Walker was named to the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies will be held in December in New York. Walker was a three-time All American at Georgia, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1982. Following his junior year, he turned pro, playing 16 years before retiring in 1998. [Check Mar. 3 entry for biographical information on Walker.]

2000 In his seventh Masters Golf Tournament, Vijay Singh won his first green jacket at Augusta National golf course. Singh won by three strokes, scoring ten under par for the four-day championship. [Click here to read more about Singh's win.]

2003 Dennis Felton was hired as head basketball coach at the University of Georgia.

2006 Phil Mickelson won the Masters golf tournament for the second time in three years; he also won in 2004.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1738 Writing his journal of Trustee proceedings, the Earl of Egmont wrote on this day of a continuing source of concern for Georgia colonists :

Capt. Thompson lately arrived from Georgia gave me a tolerable Acct. of the Province: But Said the People of Savannah were in general very uneasie at their heirs female not Succeeding to their land, and that it made them for the most part abandon the cultivating their lands."

Source: Robert G. McPherson (ed.), The Journal of The Earl of Egmont: Abstract of the Trustees Proceedings for Establishing the Colony of Georgia, 1732-1738 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1962), pp. 342-43.

1738 One of the problems that plagued early colonial Georgia was the easy availability and frequent drinking of rum. Though legally banned in the colony, rum even found its way into the household of Trustees secretary William Stephens, as he described in his journal entry for this day:

"The first Thing I discovered soon after I rose, was two of my Servants drunk; one of which had been taken up in the Night, and kept upon Guard till morning; but no farther Mischief being done, he was discharged, and sent Home. It was a constant Rule given them to observe, that at the End of the Week they should all come Home, by which I should see what Necessaries in their Clothing, or otherwise, might be wanting; after which they were to return again, taking such Things with them of all Kinds, as would serve them the Week ensuing. These two fellows, it seems, had watched my going to Bed last Night; after which they slipped out into the Town, from a back House where they lodged; and well knowing where to meet Comrades to their Liking, they played their Parts with them over Rum as long as they were able. It was to no Purpose to talk with them at present: But I resolved to make what Scrutiny I possibly could into this dark Work, to-morrow, before the Magistrates, when possibly we might discover something worth our Enquiry, concerning the Sellers of that Liquor, whose number increased daily. . . ."

Source: William Stephens, A Journal of the Proceeding in Georgia ([no city cited]: Readex Microprint Corporation, 1966), Vol. I, pp. 167-168.

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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