Ed Jackson and Charly Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

June 19

1717 The Carolina Proprietors granted Sir Robert Montgomery the territory between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers to create a new province which he proposed be named the Margravate of Azilia (a "margravate" was a military colony along the German border). [Click here to read text of land grant.] However, Montgomery was unable to raise money or colonists for Azilia, and his plans for a buffer colony on Carolina's southern frontier died.

1732 At age 70, Lady Eleanor Wall Oglethorpe died in London. She was born in 1661 in Ireland, but at age 17 became a maid to Madam Carwell in the court of Charles II of England. In 1680, Eleanor -- or Ellen, as she was known -- became head laundress to the king. In her new post, she was given lodging at the rear of the palace -- opposite the quarters of a young major in the Dragoons, Theophilus Oglethorpe. Before year's end, the two were married. Their union produced a series of ten sons and daughters beginning with Lewis in 1682 and ending with James Edward in 1696. After the death of Charles II and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Theophilus and Ellen went to France to be with the deposed James II. By 1696, however, they reconciled with England's new monarchs -- William and Mary -- and returned to live permanently in their Surrey County estate in Godalming. At the time of Sir Theophilus' death on April 10, 1702, Ellen was left to raise the seven Oglethorpe children (though some of the daughters continued to live as Jacobites in Framce. In Ellen's final years, all of her children were dead or in France except for James Edward, who alone was left to care for his mother (perhaps a reason why he remained unmarried). Her death, however, changed the life of her 35-year-old son, who by now was a member of Parliament. Now he quickly devoted his life to making Georgia a reality. In the fall of 1732, James decided to personally lead the first shipload of colonists to America -- and the rest is history. Had Lady Oglethorpe lived but five months longer, James likely would not have been aboard the Anne with the first colonists. Without James Oglethorpe present to lead (and often personally finance) the colony, who knows how Georgia history would read today?

1786 American Revolution general Nathanael Greene died at his Mulberry Grove plantation near Savannah. Eight months earlier, Greene and wife Catharine had taken residence at the plantation, which was a gift from the Georgia legislature in appreciation for his victorious campaign against British forces in the southern theater of war. Unfortunately, at age 44, General Greene died from overexposure to the Georgia sun. In a second tribute to the war hero, the Georgia legislature created Greene County in 1786. In one sense, Nathaniel Greene's death would lead to the Civil War. In 1792, his widow, Catharine, hired a young New Englander named Eli Whitney to tutor her children at Mulberry Grove, where he invented the cotton gin, which made growing short-fiber cotton possible, which led to the growth of cotton plantations and farms throughout the South, which led to a growing need for slaves, which intensified sectionalism and ultimately split the nation. [For more information on Nathanael Greene click here.]

1843 Georgia's Whig party held its first state convention in Milledgeville. With John M. Berrien presiding, delegates nominated George Crawford as Whig candidate for governor and voted to send ten delegates to the national Whig convention scheduled to meet in May 1844 in Baltimore, Md.

1864 Johnston pulled Confederate forces back from Pine Mountain and Lost Mountain toward Marietta. [Click here to see a map of the area.] For the third week, heavy rains and Johnston's policy of strategic retreats had avoided a major battle during this phase of Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. Still, heavy skirmishes between Union and Confederate troops were taking place daily. That fighting could be deadly is indicated by the following account of fighting near Marietta on June 19 in a letter Georgian A.J. Neal wrote to his father the next day:

"To give you some idea of how steady and close was the fire, our flag that floated from our parapet had thirty-one holes through it. The flagstaff, no much larger than my thumb, was hit seven times. The trees behind us were riddled with balls. On one little sapling, I counted about eight balls on the body. The face of the [field artillery] pieces, upper part of axles and wheels have hundreds of marks made by balls shot through the embrasures of the works, while our canteens, blankets, &c just in rear of the portholes were shot to pieces. . . .

"The artillery fire was bad, as the Yankee batteries could not seem me or the smoke of my guns, as the rain poured down all day. . . . Our loss along the line was light, about fifty captured and one hundred killed and wounded. . . . About night I received orders to get away as quickly and quietly as possible, and I am certain I never obeyed any thing with more cheerfulness and alacrity. . . ."

1877 Veteran motion picture actor Charles Coburn was born in Macon, Georgia. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved to Savannah [which is why some sources incorrectly cite Savannah as the city of his birth]. Here, Coburn attended the Massie School and became involved with the Savannah Theater. Star of over 40 films, Coburn won the Academy Award in 1941 as best supporting actor in "The Devil and Miss Jones." [Click here for his filmography.] A proponent of professional training for actors and actresses, he spent the summer of 1941 lecturing on the art of acting at UCLA. During the 1950s, Coburn performed on radio and television, while continuing his theatrical and film roles. Throughout his career, Coburn exhibited his versatility by playing a wide range of roles, ultimately becoming one of the most respected actors of his generation. Coburn died in New York August 30, 1961. The Charles Coburn Manuscript Collection, composed of his personal papers and photographs, is housed at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

1933 With a civil court withholding the dispersement of $2.5 million in state highway funds, Governor Eugene Talmadge declared martial law over the state highway department, the comptroller general's office, the state treasurer, the secretary of state, and the office of the supervisor of purchases.

1939 A new Atlanta city ordinance went into effect making pinball machines illegal in the city limits.

1971 A civil rights lawsuit was filed today in Columbus, Ga. alleging racial discrimination against the city for the firing of seven black police officers on June 1. Also today, Hosea Williams led a Southern Christian Leadership Conference protest march in Columbus, which turned violent with 19 different buildings set afire. Mayor J.R. Allen declared a state of emergency in Columbus.

1992 World heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield won a 12-round decision over Larry Holmes.

1996 In his Cy Young Award year, Braves pitcher John Smoltz allowed only two hits as Atlanta beat San Diego. Smoltz retired the first 19 Padres on the way to his 14th straight win -- a franchise record for consecutive victories.
 
 

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1776 It was a rather routine day for the Council of Safety, Georgia's temporary ruling body during the Revolution. After affirming one man as a lieutenant and three others as Justices of the Peace, they issued the following order:

". . . Capt. Woodruffe attended the Board and laid before them sundry papers and affidavits, respecting a vessel that arrived in Sapelo River, loaded with rum, sugar, osnabergs [?], etc., that as the said sloop was registered at St. Augustine, he, the said Woodruffe took possession of the said vessel, etc. The Board taking the premises into consideration issued the following orders to Capt. Woodruffe. 'Sir: - You are hereby ordered immediately to discharge the sloop and Schooner with their cargoes which you boarded in Sapelo River and brought round to Sunbury, as also all the hands and every other thing belonging to the said vessels. (Signed) A. Bulloch'"

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society (Savannah: Savannah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1901), Vol. V, Part 1, p. 63.

1861 From Wrightsville, James Hicks wrote Georgia governor Joseph E. Brown about concerns for the safety of their families after the men who had volunteered to serve in behalf of the Confederacy left for duty:

"I am requested by several citizens of this place and vicinity to inquire of Your Excellency how they are to manage a certain class of persons who are not disposed to enter the service of their country and whom it would not be safe to trust with the black population while honest men have to leave to go into the service. One person in this vicinity was heard to boast to his bacchanalian friend that he and the Negroes would have fine times with the wives of the volunteers after they, the volunteers, left for the service! Our people are law-abiding people and if, by any civil legal process, they can render themselves and families secure from the hellish designs of such characters as the above, they wish to be informed how it is to be done."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.) Georgia: History written by Those who lived It (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1995), p. 143.

1864 From Confederate ranks near Marietta, Bolton Thurmond wrote to his sweetheart Frances Porterfield:

"I have been in the rain day and night and been exposed and treated worse than any dumb brute ought to be, but I most consider it is in war time. . . .Frances, I have no good news to write. The fight is still going on. It gets worse every day. They fought very hard on our left yesterday, killed and wounded [a] great many of our men.The enemy loss is unknown. This war is a terrible one. It seems to me that [it] is carried on to slaughter up the poor class of people and get them out of the way. I don't call it fights. I call it a perfect slaughter."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.), "Dear Mother: Don't grieve about me. I I get killed, I'll only be dead.": Letters from Georgia Soldiers in the Civil War (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1990), p. 308.

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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