Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

November 5

1813 Peter Early was sworn in as Georgia governor. Born in Virginia on June 20, 1773, Early was elected governor by the General Assembly in 1813 and served one two-year term. He died in Greene County on Aug. 15, 1817. The next year, the General Assembly created Early County in the southwest corner of the state from lands ceded by the Creeks. [See Aug 15 entry for more biographical information on Early.]

1819 John Clark was sworn in as Georgia governor. Born in North Carolina on Feb. 28, 1766, Clark was elected governor by the General Assembly in 1819 and served two two-year terms. He died in St. Andrews Bay, Florida, on Oct. 12, 1832.

1833 Confederate general Edward D. Tracy was born in Macon, Ga. [See May 1 entry for biographical information on Tracy.]

1852 Howell Cobb was sworn in as Georgia governor. Born in Georgia on Sept. 7, 1815, Cobb served four terms in Congress (1843-51) with the last two years as Speaker of the House, was elected governor by Georgia voters in 1851 for one two-year term, returned to Congress for one additional term (1855-57), and was appointed by Pres. Buchanan to be U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1857-60). Cobb served as a general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He died while on a visit to New York City on Oct. 9, 1868.

1912 Georgia voters ratified constitutional amendments creating Bleckley and Wheeler counties as Georgia's 147th and 148th counties. Constitutional amendments were necessary because Georgia's constitution then limited the number of counties in the state to 145. Rather than raise that limit, Georgia lawmakers chose to create additional counties through a constitutional amendment for each new county.

• Bleckley County, created from portions of Pulaski County, was named for former Georgia Supreme Court chief justice Logan Bleckley.
• Wheeler County, created from portions of Montgomery County, was named for former Confederate and U.S. Army general Joseph Wheeler.

• Atkinson County, created from portions of Clinch and Coffee counties, was named for Georgia governor William Y. Atkinson (1894-1898).
• Truetlen County, created from portions of Emanuel and Montgomery counties, was named for John A. Truetlen, Governor's first governor (1777-1778).
• Cook County, created from portions of Berrien County, was named for Gen. Philip Cook, who served in the Seminole War and Civil War, represented Georgia in Congress (1872-1882), and served as Georgia Secretary of State for over two decades.

1932 In the midst of the Great Depression, Atlanta mayor James L. Key announced that the last $250,000 in the city's payroll account would be disbursed to the city's 4000 employees, paying them for the last half of October. But no more funds were available or likely to become available for November and December; city employees would have to wait at least until after the new year to get paid again.

1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his third term as President. At the time there was no constitutional prohibition against seeking more than two terms as President.

1948 Georgia Congressman Bob Barr was born in Iowa City, Iowa. He obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California (1970), an M.A. from George Washington University (1972), and a J.D. from Georgetown (1977). Working as a CIA analyst (1971-78), Barr moved to Georgia in 1978 to practice law. In 1978, he became U.S. attorney for the North Georgia federal district. In 1992, Barr ran for the U.S. Senate in the Republican primary, but lost to Paul Coverdell. Two years later, he challenged Democratic incumbent Buddy Darden in the 7th congressional district and won. In 1996, he won reelection in the race against Democratic challenger Charlie Watts.

1960 The U.S. Post Office released a new 4-cent Walter F. George commemorative stamp honoring the former U.S. Senator from Georgia. First-day-of-issue ceremonies were held in his hometown of Vienna, Georgia.

2002 For the first time in over 130 years, Georgia elected a republican governor - Sonny Perdue. In another surprising development, long time Georgia state House of Representatives speaker Tom Murphy was defeated in his bid for re-election.
 
2003 Georgia native Alan Jackson won three awards at the Country Music Association's annual awards presentation in Nashville, TN. Jackson was named Male Vocalist of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, and he and Jimmy Buffett won the Vocal Event of the Year award for their song "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere."
 
 

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1759 Thomas Raspberry ran a mercantile firm in colonial Savannah, and kept a detailed letter book of his transactions. His entry for this day, a letter to two ship captains, shows how difficult communication, and thus his bill paying, could become:

". . . I receiv'd the few Goods from Glasgow which you were so kind as to forward to me, and must beg you to send away the 2 enclosed Letters per 2 separate Conveyances for that Port; they contain 2 bills of a Draft on London, and must I apprehend if landed in some Parts of England take a very long Tour before they are Paid & as my remittances to Glasgow must always be of this Kind (i.e.) in Bills on London I was thinking whether it might not be Suitable to make immediate payments there for what things I may hereafter receive from Glasgow. . . ."

1868 For the second time in four days, H.C. Morrill in Americus wrote Georgia's Freedmen's Bureau about the difficulty blacks were facing in trying to vote:

"I have the honor to state that on the morning of the 3rd instant there seemed to be a preconcerted action with the whites that there should be no election. No officers were present to open polls and no movement made until about 10 o'clock, when I went to the courthouse at the request of three freeholders (colored) who had in my office previously qualified and requested of the Ordinary [present-day probate judge] that a place be furnished to open the polls and that three colored freeholders had taken the necessary oaths and were ready to commence the voting in accordance with law. The Ordinary replied that he had given the necessary papers to citizens who had announced their intention to open polls. At this time, Captain Thomas and one Foster, special police, wanted to know if niggers were going to open polls. I replied that was their intention, when they swore they (freedmen) should not, Foster saying that if they attempted it they would get the contents of this (opening his coat and touching a large cavalry pistol). At this time others came up and said it should not be done and, if I wanted trouble, that was the way to begin it. In the meantime, citizens began to crowd around and the most moderate told me they would see that polls were opened, and I desisted from any further attempt. After this there seemed to be some attempt to open a voting place and at quarter of 12 the voting commenced, the whites at one window and the freedmen at another. It would be useless for me to attempt to describe the voting. Every freedman was asked by the managers questions not pertinent to the case, such as where do you live, where did you work last year, then hold a consultation, then ask if he had paid taxes and if not was immediately rejected and not allowed to vote. Out of 1500 freedmen that was here to vote, only 137 could vote except those they could bribe to vote the Democratic ticket, who voted without a challenge or tax paid or any other delay, so that the vote stood 967 majority for the Democrats. The whole affair was such a farce and everything connected with it so illegal I do not see how it is possible it could stand as legal vote showing the sentiment of this country."

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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