Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

November 21

1733 In response to an Aug. 12, 1733 letter from James Oglethorpe stating that rum drinking was responsible for much of the sickness and death in Georgia, the colony's Trustees voted to prohibit the drinking of rum in Georgia and directed that all barrels or other containers of rum brought into the colony be destroyed.

1860 Following the Nov. 6 election of Abraham Lincoln as President, Gov. Joseph E. Brown signed an act calling for a secession convention in Georgia. According to the legislation, on the first Wednesday in January 1861, elections would be held throughout the state to elect delegates to the convention, which would convene in Milledgeville on Jan. 16, 1861.

1864 Ten miles east of Macon, Sherman's forces entered the small community of Griswoldville and burned Samuel Griswold's pistol factory, which had supplied thousands of Confederate sidearms. Also burned was a mill and a soap and candle factory, a train of railroad cars with locomotive driving wheels, and apparently one third of the town.

1922 Rebecca Latimer Felton attended the first of two days she would serve as a U.S. Senator from Georgia--the first woman to serve in that body. (See Oct. 3 entry for more information.)

1935 President Frankin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga. for his twenty-ninth visit to his "second home."

1938 - President Frankin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga. for his thirty-fourth visit to his "second home."

1980 While the Atlanta school bus drivers' strike continued (see Nov. 20 entry), Fulton County schools re-opened.

1997 The Atlanta Braves announced the signing of Colorado Rockies power hitting first baseman Andres Galarraga to a three-year contract that will pay the 36-year-old slugger $24.75 million over the three years. In 1997, Galarraga hit .318, including 41 home runs and 140 RBIs.

1998 One day before the 134th anniversary of the Battle of Griswoldville, the Georgia Civil War Commission dedicated the 18-acre site in Jones County east of Macon where the battle was fought on Nov. 22, 1864 as a Georgia state historic site.
 
 
 
 

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1760 At a meeting with Creek chiefs in Savannah, newly-arrived lieutenant governor James Wright addressed the delegation expressing concern over recent killing of white colonists by Creek Indians:

". . .It is not yet four Moons since I came from the great King [George III], he has sent me here and charged me to take Care of all his Children both white People and red People, and to keep Peace among you, and see that no Blood is shed, but that the whole Countrey be kept white, the Chain of Friendship between Us brightened, and the Path strait and clear; and that the white People and red People should be as one, and their Children increase and mix together and be a great and happy People. And he directed me to tell you that he will order Goods of all Kinds in Plenty for all his Children on this Side of the Water, and as long as you, the red people are good to the English he will be a Father to you as well as to the white People. . . .

"And now, my Friends and Brothers, I will speak to you from myself; I was very sorry to hear at my coming that some of our People had been killed in your Towns, and am sure it will give the great King much Concern when he hears it, because he always looked upon the Creeks as the most true and faithfull of all his red Children. I should be glad to know the Reason of it, and how it happened to be done, for I never heard that the white People did you any Harm, or gave you any Reason to hurt them. And if you had any Thing to complain of, or any Grievance, why did you not apply to the Governour, or if you have any now why don't your Nation apply to me, I am ready to hear you and to redress you. And you know that you can't live nor support your Selves without the white People, for you can't make Guns, Powder Bullets, Cloth of different Sorts, Knives, Looking Glasses, Beads, nor any Thing else that you are supplied with by Us. And you know also that the French cannot supply you, they are now ruined and destroyed, all but a few at the Southward. And if our people should not carry any Goods into your Countrey what would you do, or how could you live, or get any thing that you want? You know all this to be true, therefore Consider of it and don't forget it. And you must remember that all the Good Talks and Treaties which our Forefathers made have been renewed by different governours, and that we have them all in writing and can never forget them. And I hope that all you head Men now present will remember those Treaties and good Talks and explain and inculcate them in the Minds of all your young People that they may know what is for their own Good, and not listen to the bad Talks and Lyes of the Cherokees and French; who want to ruin your Nation as well as themselves. . . ."

Source: John T. Juricek (ed.), Georgia Treaties, 1733-1763 [Vol. XI in Alden T. Vaughan (gen. ed.), Early American Indian Documents: Treaties and Laws, 1607-1789] (Frederick, Md.: University Publications of America, 1989), pp. 338-339.

1771 Writing to a friend in London, Savannah merchant James Habersham commented on a proposed visit of John Wesley to America. Wesley had spent some time in Georgia over thirty years earlier, before he became famous. His time in Georgia was not a happy one, for either him or the colonists he served. Perhaps because of this Habersham did not think such a a visit was a good idea (though he was polite about it), and indeed Wesley never again came to America:

". . . I think it rather late in life for Mr. John Wesley to revisit America, but if he comes, I shall be happy in shewing him all the respect in my Power -- Be pleased to present my best regards to him..."

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. VI, The Letters of the Hon. James Habersham, 1756-1775 (Savannah, Georgia Historical Society, 1904), p. 149.

1864 From Camp Marion, Va., Georgian J.W. Rheney wrote his father about an aspect of duty not usually associated with a soldier's duty:

". . . We have been for twelve or fourteen days down on the bay gathering corn, fodder, wheat, &c. There was between 3000 and 4000 of us at the business. I suppose we have gathered about 75,000 or 100,000 bushels of as fine corn as I [have] ever seen. It will average from 25 to 75 bushels per acre. There are some of the prettiest farms on this peninsula I have seen. The land is almost level, and is of a rich red brown color. The object of having so many to gather was to guard the wagons. For we went below our line of pickets. Therefore, it being so close to Newport News, the wagons would have been liable to be taken by the Yankee scouts. . . ."

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), p. 87.

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© Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia

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