Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

Carl Vinson Institute of Government

The University of Georgia

October 12

1492 Christopher Columbus sighted a Caribbean island after a journey across the Atlantic. He mistakenly believed he had reached the Indies in the Far East. Though Columbus died before learning the truth, his discovery was the basis for Spain's claim to the New World (including Georgia).

1732 In London, the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge petitioned the Georgia Trustees to grant persecuted Salzburgers asylum in the newly chartered colony.

1741 A new scheme of government for the colony of Georgia went into effect. Earlier the Trustees had divided the colony into two new counties--Savannah and Frederica. Each county would be governed by a president and four assistants. While naming Frederica's officials was delayed until the Trustees could communicate with Oglethorpe, they had gone ahead and named William Stephens and four assistants to govern the colony of Savannah, which included all of Georgia north of Darien. On Oct. 12, Stephens and his assistants met and assumed powers delegated by the Trustees.

1815 Confederate general William J. Hardee was born near Savannah. He would write a widely recognized infantry manual that was used by both Confederate and Union armies. [See Nov. 6 entry for biographical information on Hardee.]

1832 Former Georgia governor John Clark died in Florida. [See Feb. 28 entry for biographical information on Clark.]

1865 Former Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens was released on parole from Ft. Warren in Boston Harbor, where he had been imprisoned for four months. Stephens returned to Georgia.

1870 News of the death of Robert E. Lee was telegraphed throughout the South. That evening, many Atlanta citizens met for an impromptu session at DeGive's Opera House to begin planning for a proper memorial on Oct. 15.

1918 As fears of Spanish influenza abated and victory neared for allied forces in World War I, a Liberty Loan parade was held. It was a solemn affair, paying tribute to the many who had died in the war effort. At the same time the Atlanta Constitution reported much of the rest of the nation was not so lucky with the flu epidemic claiming significantly more lives than German bullets in Europe. [For more information on the pandemic, see PBS's The American Experience: Influenza 1918 web site.]

1929 The University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium hosted its formal dedication and first game -- a victory over favored Yale University. The new facility was named for Steadman Sanford, who as dean of the university campaigned for a suitable football stadium and arranged the loan that financed its construction.

1958 A dynamite explosion destroyed the interior of the Atlanta Jewish Temple, causing approximately $200,000 in damage. The blast followed a telephone call into WSB radio and television, threatening to blow up Negro and Jewish churches, along with the offices of the Atlanta Journal. Churchmen and state politicians joined in deploring the terroristic violence, while President Eisenhower immediately ordered an FBI investigation into the bombing.

1989 Former University of Georgia Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker was traded by the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikings. The deal set a record--in return for Walker, Minnesota gave Dallas 12 of its players, its 1992 first-round draft choice, plus 6 conditional draft choices.

Georgia cities and towns first incorporated on acts approved by the governor on Oct. 12:

1870 Ackworth (Cobb County), Hogansville (Troup County), and Montezuma (Macon County)
 
 

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1864 During the Civil War, the state of medicine was primitive by today's standards, and doctors frequently treated arm or leg wounds with amputation. Such was the case with James Daniel, who wrote his wife from a Richmond, Va. hospital:

"I write you a few lines the first opportunity to ease your fears in regard to me. It is true I have happened [in] to a bad spot, but it might have been worse. For it was the hottest place I was ever in. I was first shot between the right knee and angle, nearly breaking the leg. I was hardly down when I was again short in the right knee, shattering it all to pieces in a second. I was shot in the left knee slightly. I concluded if I did not get away from that spot I was bound [to die], so I threw off one fine Yankee blanket, two tent flies and one India rubber and dragged myself about twenty yards to behind a stump, where I remained about two hours, exposed to a heavy cross-fire, but I was not hit any more. I was then totted off by Frank Oliver and Zeph peck on a stretcher, suffering dearly. I continued to suffer, until I arrived here, from moving. The doctor, after counsel, amputated my right leg just above the knee. I hope you will not take it too hard. If I live, I can make a living shoe-making. I am considered to be doing well by the doctor and everybody else. You know I am one that never says die while I can move a little.

". . . I was wounded in trying to take the second works, where they had made a desperate stand. I passed through all the first safe and was in hopes I would have my usual luck. I have never spared myself in going into a fight, as I determined long ago to get out of this war if I had to be killed out. . . ."

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. 332.

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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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