Ed Jackson and Charly Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

March 10

1734 Salzburgers were persecuted German Protestants forced to flee their home in Salzburg, an independent church-state governed by a Catholic archbishop located in what today is Austria. [Click here and here for more information on the history of the Salzburgers.] Georgia's Trustees had agreed to send a group of the Salzburgers to Georgia, and Baron Philipp Georg Friedrich von Reck personally escorted the first transport of Lutheran emigrants. On March 7, they had arrived in Charles Town, S.C., where they were met by James Oglethorpe. They sailed south on March 9 and reached the mouth of the Savannah River on March 10.

1735 In the House of Commons, James Oglethorpe presented the Trustees' petition for Parliamentary funding of Georgia. Oglethorpe, who still held his Haslemere seat in Commons, had returned from Georgia to help marshall financial support for the colony, which had quickly evolved from a humanitarian enterprise to a military buffer to protect England's southern colonies from Spanish, French, and Indian attack. On the floor of the House of Commons, the Trustees' petition was seconded and then sent to committee.

1866 Gov. Charles Jenkins signed legislation making it lawful for married women to maintain bank accounts independent of their husbands so long as the total balance was less than $2,000. This act doubled the amount a wife could maintain separately -- first set at a limit of under $1,000 by an act of 1861.

1920 Kenneth Burns was born in north Georgia, though at age three his family moved to Knoxville, Tenn. An accomplished musician, some of his peers called him the greatest mandolin player in the world. Yet, Burns is best remembered not for not his musical abilities so much as his humorous persona during the 39 years he teamed with Henry "Homer" Haynes as part of the comic duo of "Homer and Jethro." He died on Feb. 4, 1989.

1924 Lawyer and politician Tom Murphy was born in Bremen, Ga. Murphy graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1949, after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He began his political career on the Bremen Board of Education, befor being elected as a state representative in 1961. On December 19, 1973 he became Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, a post he held through the 2002 legilative session. Murphy became one of the most powerful men in Georgia politics through his many years of service, and his twenty-eight years as Speaker marks the longest tenure of any such state office in the country.

1969 In a Memphis court, James Earl Ray pled guilty to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray later recanted his guilty plea, unsuccessfully attempting to obtain a new trial.

1990 Howard "Doc" Ayers, furman Bisher, Mel Blount, Pete Brown, Lamar Davis, William "Bo" Johnston, Steve Lundquist, and Henry Wagnon were inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.
 
 

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1734 Escorting the Salzburger emigrants to Georgia, Baron von Reck recorded their first siting of their new homeland from the mouth of the Savannah River:

"Mar. 10. God blessed us this Day with the Sight of our Country, our wish'd-for Georgia, which we saw at ten in the Morning; and brought us unto the Savannah River, and caused us to remember the Vows we had made unto him, if He did through his infinite goodness bring us hither. . . . At Noon, we cast Anchor because of the Tide: at eight, during the Evening Prayers, we enter'd the River of Savannah; and were shelter'd by the Divine Goodness, from all Dangers and Inconveniences of the Sea. This River is in some Places broader than the Rhine, and from 16 to 25 foot deep; and abounds with Oysters, Sturgeon, and other Fish. Its Banks were cloathed with fresh Grass; resounding with the Musick of Birds, who sung the praise of their Creator."

1856 Gertrude Thomas expressed her disappointment with her husband to her journal, foreshadowing what would become serious problems later in their marriage. This entry also shows that the financial problems which plagued the family for many years after the Civil War actually began before the war:

"Tonight is Mr. Thomas' birth night. He is twenty-five tonight. Since supper we have been holding an animated conversation with regard to Mr. and Mrs. Harris. I was arguing that had I a husband who gambled and drank to excess, that I should spend more and have my expenses more in proportion to his own. I was perhaps wrong yet it is just so. As it is I endeavour to economise in some degree and assist Mr. Thomas in disengaging himself from his embarrassments. Fearful that some of the remarks I had made had wounded Mr. Thomas' feelings I approached and took my seat near him. Just then he remarked that tonight and not last night was his birthnight as he has supposed. With a heart filled with kind wishes and affectionate emotions filling my thoughts I bent towards him and requested him 'to kiss me.' He was reading and probably engaged, made rather an impatient gesture and did not appear inclined to respond with alacrity to my request. I drew back offended I confess. I felt the blood rush to my face and tears of wounded pride filled my eyes - I am proud - know and feel it and am sensitive in an exceeding degree. The idea of it having occurred on Mr. Thomas' twenty fifth birth night caused within me the feeling that perhaps this might, some years hence, perhaps two or more, this remark might be remembered. . . ."

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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 Charly Pou.

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