Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

January 21

1733 James Oglethorpe and a small party of Carolina rangers sailed from Beaufort southward along the inland coastal waterway spending the night on one of Carolina's barrier islands -- most likely Trench's Island. [See map] Their destination was the mouth of the Savannah River, at which point they would sail upriver looking for a sight for the Georgia colony's first settlement.

[Note: Letters, diaries, and records of this time show dates based on the Julian calendar (referred to as "Old Style") then in effect in Britain and the American colonies. The Gregorian calendar ("New Style") was adopted in 1752. Thus, Jan. 21, 1732/33 (Old Style) represents Feb. 1,1733 under the calendar now in effect. For a fuller explanation, click here.]

1806 Henry Ellis, Georgia's second royal governor (1757-1760), died in Naples, Italy. Born Aug. 24, 1721 in Ireland, left home to become a seasoned traveler. In 1756, he was appointed Georgia's second royal governor. He arrived in Savannah on Feb. 16, 1757 to replace Gov. John Reynolds, who was extremely unpopular with the colonists. Ellis inherited a lot of left over strife and bitter feelings, but he worked through these feelings and earned the respect and backing of most Georgians. He realized the major problems facing the colony -- need for better defense, more colonists, and better sources of wealth -- and worked diligently to address them. Though popular with the colonists, Ellis was not happy in Georgia -- primarily because of the summer heat, which often left him in poor health. Despite having visited equatorial Africa, Ellis believed the heat in Savannah to be worse than any place on earth, even publishing an article - "An Account of the Heats and Weather in Georgia" in London Magazine. Because of his inability to abide the Georgia weather, Ellis was replaced as royal governor by James Wright in October of 1760. Despite his short tenure in the colony, his tact and natural leadership qualities helped restore good relations between colonists and Georgia's royal government. After leaving Georgia, Ellis traveled extensively, dying in Italy in 1806.

1844 Then stationed at Charleston, S.C., Lt. William T. Sherman received orders to report to Marietta, Ga. [For information on the nature of his military assignment in Georgia, see Feb. 17 entry.]

1846 Future governor Nathaniel E. Harris was born in Jonesboro, Tenn. His family moved to Georgia after the Civil War, with Harris studying at the University of Georgia under the sponsorship of Alexander Stephens. Harris graduated at the top of his class, was admitted to the bar, and began a successful law practice (with future University chancellor Walter B. Hill) in Macon. After holding local political office, Harris was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1882. As a representative he was the driving force behind the establishment of the Georgia School of Technology (later Georgia Institute of Technology). Harris went on to serve one term in the Georgia Senate, before retiring to his law practice.

 

Harris took a long break from politics -- but not a permanent one. At the urging of Tom Watson and many of the state's Confederate veterans, Harris entered the democratic primary for governor in 1914. Harris won the election and was inaugurated amidst turmoil -- five days after Governor John Slaton had commuted the death sentence of Leo Frank. After Frank was kidnapped and lynched, Harris offered a reward for the capture of the culprits and ordered the Cobb County Superior Court to investigate the matter. Much of the rest of Harris's term was taken up with the prohibition debate. Harris was defeated in his attempt to win a second term as governor. He then retired permanently from politics, devoting most of his attention to the growth and development of the Georgia Institute of Technology, even serving as interim president in 1918. His health soon began to decline; he died at home in Macon on September 21, 1929.

1854 Gov. Herschel Johnson signed an act creating Fannin County as Georgia's 107th county. Created from portions of Gilmer and Union counties, the new county was named for Col. James Fannin. Fannin, a Georgian, had gone to Texas in the mid 1830s to help Texas win its independence from Mexico. In 1836, his regiment was captured at Goliad, with every man then killed by the Mexican Army.

1861 At the secession convention in Milledgeville, Georgia's Ordinance of Secession was signed by all but six delegates.

1865 Gen. Sherman and his staff left Savannah for Beaufort, South Carolina. Although Union troops would be left behind in Georgia, Sherman's Carolina Campaign was now underway.

1931 Writer and educator Eliza Frances Andrews died in Rome, Georgia. She was the daughter of Judge Garnett Andrews, who hosted many dignitaries in his home and traveled extensively during the Civil War. His daughter kept a diary of the events, people, and emotions she experienced during the course of the war. Determined to be more than a wife, Andrews turned to teaching and writing after the war. She attacked Reconstruction in an article published in the New York World in 1865. Moving on to novels she published three: A Family Secret (1876), A Mere Adventurer (1879), and The Romance of a Rich Young Man (1882). All three works reflect her own independence in that the heroines also seek independence in the arts or literary pursuits.

Andrews taught in girls' schools in Yazoo City, Miss. and in her hometown of Washington, Ga. -- but her longest teaching job was at Wesleyan College in Macon, where she taught French and literature for eleven years. Andrews continued to publish articles, often under a male pseudonym, until 1903 -- when she turned to textbook writing. Long having had an interest in botany, Andrews published Botany All Year Around in 1903, followed up with A Practical Course in Botany in 1911. But by far her most famous work was published in 1908, when she edited the diary she had kept as a young girl during the Civil War and published it as War-Time Journal of a Georgia Girl. This work remains one of the better primary sources for historical study of the Civil War and its effects on families. Andrews moved to Rome, Ga. in her latter years, dying there in 1931.

1934 Atlanta's Citizens Trust Bank became the city's first African-American bank to be a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

1942 Singer/songwriter Mac Davis was born in Lubbock, Texas. Later, he moved to Georgia, attending Emory University in the late 1950s. He worked for the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, but his real love was music. He formed a band and became a singer and songwriter in the Atlanta area. He gave up his music career in 1961 to become Atlanta regional manager for Vee Jay Records. He later moved to Hollywood and a successful singing career with such songs as "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me."

1959 A tornado struck the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, destroying 2,000 trees.

1971 U.S. Senator Richard Russell died. [See Nov. 2 entry for biographical information.]

1977 Jimmy Carter issued an unconditional pardon to Vietnam draft resisters. The pardon affected between 100,000 and 500,000 people.

1977 President Carter urged Americans to set their home thermostats to 65 degrees as the maximum winter heat to ease the energy crisis.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1839 From her plantation home on Butler Island near the mouth of the Altamaha River, Fanny Kemble Butler wrote about a potential family tragedy for a slave family. Fanny's husband -- Pierce Butler -- had decided to give one of his male slaves (known only as Joe) to plantation overseer Roswell King, who was planning to move west to Alabama. Joe, however, was married to a young slave woman known as Psyche. Together, they had two young children under age six. Upon hearing that he had been given to King, Joe was desperate -- as Fanny recorded in her journal:

". . .Early in the morning, while I was still dressing, I was suddenly startled by hearing voices in loud tones in Mr.'s [a reference to her husband] dressing room, which adjoins my bedroom, and the noise increasing until there was an absolute cry of despair uttered by some man. I could restrain myself no longer, but opened the door of communication and saw Joe, the young man, poor Psyche's husband, raving almost in a state of frenzy, and in a voice broken with sobs and almost inarticulate with passion, reiterating his determination never to leave this plantation, never to go to Alabama, never to leave his old father and mother, his poor wife and children, and dashing his hat, which he was wringing like a cloth in his hands, upon the ground, he declared he would kill myself if he was compelled to follow Mr. K[ing]. I glanced from the poor wretch to Mr. [Butler], who was standing, leaning against a table with his arms folded, occasionally uttering a few words of counsel to his slave to be quiet and not fret, and not make a fuss about what there was no help for. I retreated immediately from the horrid scene, breathless with surprise and dismay, and stood for some time in my own room, with my heart and temples throbbing to such a degree that I could hardly support myself. . . ."

Source: John A. Scott (ed.), Frances Anne Kemble, Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984 reprint of 1961 reprint of 1863 original volume), p. 136.

1865 A month earlier, Confederate forces defending Savannah had retreated across the river into South Carolina. Sherman's forces were now in pursuit. From Coosawhatchee, Confederate soldier J.H. Jenkins wrote his wife back in Georgia:

". . . Sallie, there was a flag of truce come over yesterday to bring some doctors of ours that was captured at Fort McAllister. They say our prisoners is a-faring badly, get only ten ounces of cornbread a day and a few pickles, don't get any meat. . . .

"Sallie, I see the citizens of Savannah has held a Union meeting and passed resolutions in favor of going back into the Union. They say they are going to send one copy to the Mayor of Augusta, one to the mayor of Atlanta, one to Macon, one to Columbus and one to the President of the United States. I suppose they treat them very well in Savannah!

". . . Sallie, I had the chance of [a] lieutenant['s] position the other day and would not accept it. I don't care anything about promotion. All I want is to get out of this war. Salle, when you write me let me know the people's notions at home about the war. Let me know what your notions are. I will tell you what mine are: I am whipped. Sallie, we are a ruined people. There is no chance for us. Good many of our regiments are deserting. They are in low spirits. Tom Sanders from our county has deserted, but I don't think I will ever desert. I will stay with them until the war ends or they kill me. I think the best thing we can do is to go back into the Union. The Negroes are certain to be set free. Sallie, we have done all that we can. That's my notion, Sallie. Remember me in this dark hour of trial."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.), "Dear Mother: Don't grieve about me. If I get killed, I'll only be dead.": Letters from Georgia Soldiers in the Civil War (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1990), pp. 339-341.

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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