Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

June 9

1732 Georgia's royal charter was witnessed at Westminster "by Writ of Privy Seal," suggesting that this is the date the charter was officially issued. Actually, the charter was approved by the Privy Council in January 1732, signed by King George II on April 21, 1732. It was not until June 20, 1732, that the charter received all the approvals from boards, committees, and offices required for official promulgation.

1806 Gov. John Milledge called for a special session of the legislature to dispense lands recently ceded by Creek Indians. This session would produce Georgia's second land lottery act.

1825 Gov. George Troup signed legislation creating what would become Lee, Muscogee, Troup, Coweta, and Carroll counties. The act did not name the counties but rather designated the boundaries of five numbered sections and provided for the survey of each section into land districts and lots. Naming of the counties did not occur until Troup signed an act of Dec. 14, 1826. However, if the date of the 1825 act establishing their boundaries is considered the date of the five counties' creation, they are respectively Georgia's 61st - 65th counties.

The five counties were created from land ceded by the Treaty of Indian Springs on Feb. 12, 1825 by a group of Creeks led by William McIntosh. McIntosh had signed away all Creek lands in Georgia (except for four reserves) without approval of other Creek factions, an action which led to his assassination. On Jan. 24, 1826, the Creeks signed a new agreement -- the Treaty of Washington -- in which they again ceded the lands in question but declared void the Treaty of Indian Springs.

Lee County probably was named for Revolutionary War hero Richard Henry Lee, though it may have been named for Col. Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee. Muscogee County was named for the Muscogee (or Creek) Indians that inhabited the area. Troup County was named for Georgia governor George M. Troup, who signed the legislation creating the five counties. Coweta County was named for the Coweta band of the Creek Indians. Carroll County was named for Maryland's Charles Carroll, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.

1913 The Atlanta Journal reported that the prosecution's case against Leo Frank in the murder of Mary Phagan was complete and that no further questioning of Jim Conley was anticipated before the trial. But R.P. Barrett, a foreman at the National Pencil Factory, was quoted as saying he and "practically all" the factory's other employees believed that Conley was the guilty party. Click here for a detailed accounting of the case.

1976 Jimmy Carter was assured the Democratic nomination for the presidency when former rivals George Wallace and Henry Jackson, along with Chicago mayor Richard Daley, released their delegates to Carter and endorsed him for president.

1980 Twelve year old Christopher Richardson of Decatur left his home to go swimming, but never arrived at the pool. He was the latest victim in the Atlanta Child Murders case.

1987 A mistrial was declared in the third trial of Jim Williams, accused of killing Danny Hansford in Savannah in a case dramatized in both a book and movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1737 Thomas Causton, bailif of Savannah, met two of early colonial Georgia's leading figures on this day, but one of the meetings was not pleasant:

"9 June: Mr. Wesley intimated to me that I stood accused among the People of Several Acts of injustice, and intending Revenge to Several people, which by his discourse he Seemed to believe; . . . but I defied him to mention anything wherein I had not kept within yet bounds of Civility. . . . I asked Mr. Wesley, if he found me charged with so many crimes of injustice & Revenge; and whether he had heard no Accusations of me in regard to the Magistracy; his answer was, 'An artfull [sic] man could avoid that.' I did not think it worth my while to shew any uneasiness to him, because he had now fully discovered himself; but I let him know, if I was charged at any time with behaviour in a Sour manner it might be a just charge, because I had so many unreasonable demands. . . . Mr Boltzius arrived, having received my letters, & took with him several parcells which came in Captain Dymond from England, & promised to come down next week to Settle the General accounts. . . ."

Source: [no author or editor cited], Our First Visit in America: Early Reports from the Colony of Georgia, 1732-1740 (The Beehive Press, Savannah, 1974), pp. 250-251.

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

If you have a date related to Georgia history or people that ought to be included, or if know of entries that should be corrected, send a note to Ed Jackson or Charles Pou.

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