Augusta, Georgia - History (part 6 of 17)

In 1859 and i860 Foster Blodgett was mayor. His administration is signalized by the introduction of the waterworks system. As far back as 1818 the waters of Turknett Springs had been used. Mayor Hale, among his other public services, had much enlarged and improved that system, and from him the city bought it; but, with the development of the municipalty, other resources became necessary and these Mayor Blodgett supplied. Since his administration, and notably since the enlargement of the canal, the water supply of Augusta has been largely increased. The source of supply is the Savannah River It is a tradition that " the man who once drinks the water of this river is certain to return to it," and the purity of the element, as shown by an analysis made by Dr. Joseph Jones, an eminent chemist, may be one reason for the old saw. The analysis is as follows :

Silicic acid, silicate of alumnia, silicate of potassa, silicate of soda, together with a small proportion of organic matter and traces of ammonia 3. 12 10

Purity of water is not the only requisite of a water supply. Quantity available is an important consideration, and in this too Augusta is in the front rank, comparing favorably not only with other Georgia cities but with most cities of the entire country. Before the river water is pumped through the city it goes from the canal into large settling basins covering acres of ground, where all suspended matters settle to the bottom, and it is furnished clear and free from impurities. The waterworks pumps have a capacity of 8,000,000 gallons per day, if such a mammoth supply should be needed. The daily

In .861 the great drama of the war opened. On the ,9th of January ,86r the n ^' Convention adopted an ordinance of secession, and on the Ith the United S ates arsenal at Augusta was surrendered to the State troops of the post was continued. The sentry paced his round, and the Starrld Stnpes were regularly hoisted at sunrise to flutter in the breeze ah dtr Thk was too much for the excited mind of the day. Had not G o^gi Leeded and resumed her sovereignty ; and why then were another unifL and flal o be seen upon her soil ? On the ..d of January Governor Brown arrivd n Augusta with a staff officer and on the next day the following commun ica tion was sent to the Federal commandant : ^ communica- tha Georgia having seceded from the United States of Americ;, and resumed exclusive sovereignty over her soil, it has become his duty to equte yorto

" He proposes to take possession of the arsenal, and to receipt for all oublic property under your charge, which will hereafter be accounted o on adius ment between the State of Georgia and the United States of Africa 'h; begs to refer to the fact that the retention of foreign troops upon he soil of Georgia, after remonstrance, is under the laws of nations an act of host^L expected that your defense should be desperate. If forced to surrender by violence or starvation, you will stipulate for honorable terms, and a free passage by water with your company to New York.

On the refusal of Captain Elzey to surrender the arsenal Governor Brown had ordered out the troops about the city, and 800 were soon in line, but after the letter written giving the captain till next day to reply, the volunteers were dismissed till 9 A. M. on the 24th. At that time they re-assembled when the following communication came in :

" Georgia, January 24, 1861. " Sir - I have the honor to inform you that I am directed by Captain Elzey, commanding this post, to say, in reply to the demand of the governor of the State of Georgia, made through you yesterday, requiring him to withdraw his command beyond the limits of the State: he begs to request an interview with his excellency, the governor, for the purpose of negotiating honorable terms of surrender at as early an hour this morning as practicable. I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

Governor Brown and his staff, Colonel H, R. Jackson, Colonel William Phillips, Lieutenant-Colonel M. C. Fulton. Lieutenant-Colonel C. V. Walker, and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Cleveland, rode out to the arsenal, and the following terms of surrender were agreed on: the United States flag to be lowered and saluted ; the company to march out with military honors ; a receipt to be i^iven for the public property, with a view to future adjustment ; and the company to retain its arms and property, to stay in its quarters till removal from the State, and to have passage to New York from Savannah. After these terms had been agreed on, Colonel William Henry Walker crossed the room to where Captain Elzey was standing and assured him he had done all a brave officer could have done. A silent pressure of the hand was the reply. The two officers had been classmates at West Point. Colonel Walker afterwards became a major-general in the Confederate service ; was repeatedly desperately wounded and was finally killed in the battles around Atlanta. The preliminaries being settled, the garrison was drawn out and a salute fired from four field pieces to the United States flag. Thirty-three guns were fired, one for each State, including Georgia, and between the thirty-second and thirty-third discharge the flag descended from the staff. At three o'clock Brigadier- General Harris, with a detachment of the Washington Artillery and cele°r Z7l"' ' P-T'''^''""^'' "'"' ' '"Se. red five pointed star in the center. Salutes were hred vv.th two guns belonging to the Washington Artille y : one or the sovereignty of Georgia ; five for the seceded states - and fifteen for the prospective Southern Confederacy. '

A regiment was soon called for to go to Pensacola, and two hundred and fifty companies volunteered their services. The State was wild with military ardor, and Augusta, as in times past, stood out among the foremost Of the ourteen companies selected, Augusta furnished two. the Oglethorpe Light Infantry Captain Clarke, and the Walker Light Infantry. Captain Camp The ?/!/ H r 7 - '-'y through Augusta; the sound of marching feet and the sharp command of the drill officers were heard everywhere From April ist to July ,, ,86,, Augusta had sent forward eleven companies' LlTTh 'f^^='"'^°f*^ «-' Manassas, which exalted the spirits of the

Irdo of?h > rVV^' ''"'= """= ' ""'"'"'"e "P--. The military ardor of the cty already fervent, was stimulated to white heat. Other companies were hurried forward, and by July 1, ,862, Augusta and Richmond county had twemy.four companies, or over two lull regiments in the field The commands were Oglethorpe Infantry, Company A, 69 men ; Company B, 66 Walker L'ght Infantry, 60; Blodgett Volunteers, 95; Confederate Ugh Guards, 76; Clinch Rifles, 94; Irish Volunteers. 80; Letcher Guards. 80; fndependent Blues. 54; Montgomery Guards. : Georgia Light Guards 94- Wilson Tigers. Richmond Hussars. Company A, 86 ; Company B 90

Volunteers, Augusta Rangers and Milledge Artillery. Some six other companies were organized and sent forward. Out of a white population of ,0 - 000 over 2,000 soldiers were raised ; and of these 292 were killed or died in the service. The streets were crowded and depots thronged with commands from other parts of the State and from Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi luirrying to the front. Soon train loads of sick and wounded came back. Augusta became a great hospital center. Wayside homes were established for the disabled soldiers, and the ladies of the city strained every nerve to fit out the volunteer on his way to the front and nurse the wounded who returned.

The legislature of the State " Resolved, That the thanks of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia are due, and are hereby tendered to the ladies of the whole State, for their active, untiring and successful efforts to aid in clothing and making comfortable our soldiers in the field, and for their zeal and devotion in ministering to the wants of the sick and wounded, by which they have demonstrated that God's last, best gift is woman, and by which they prove, too, that they merit the Bible appellation of 'blessed.' " - " Georgia Laws, 1862," page 107.

This care ceased not with the war. When the struggle was over a Ladies' Memorial Association was formed which erected in Broad street the Confederate Monument, one of the handsomest war memorials in the country. It is seventy-two feet high, and from the top of the second section, twenty-five feet from the base, rises a simple, unbroken shaft forty-seven feet, presenting a singularly graceful and dignified aspect. At the tour angles of the first section are placed statues of Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Thomas R. R. Cobb and William Henry Walker ; the first two typifying the Confederacy, the third the State of Georgia, and the fourth Richmond county. On the North side of the monument is the inscription :

On the pinnacle of the shaft is a statue, heroic size, of a Confederate private soldier. He is standing at ease, leaning on his musket, and gazing intently out in front of him, as if waiting the command to move forward into action.

The base of the monument is of granite, the shaft and statues of pure Italian marble. The work was executed in Carrara, Italy, and in its design, execution, and general appearance the monument is deservedly the subject of general admiration. It was erected by the Ladies' Memorial Association, at a cost of $17,331 35 ; and was unveiled on October 31, 1878, amid imposing ceremonies. The governor of the State, Hon. Alfred H. Colquitt, the hero of Olustee, and the widow of Stonewall Jackson, honored the occasion with their presence. The volunteer battalion, headed by the band of the Thirteenth United States Infantry, and a large number of cavalry commands, escorted the Confederate survivors, and about the platform hung the scarred and smoke- begrimed battle flags of the Stonewall Brigade, Cobb Legion, Washington Artillery, Fifth Georgia, Eighth Georgia, and Fifth and Twenty-seventh Virginia Infantry, as also the Confederate flag which was in the hands of General Bartow when he fell at the first battle of Manassas. The oration was delivered by Colonel C. C. Jones.

This beautiful monument is the result of untiring efforts on the part of the Ladies' Memorial Association. The original of this society was the Ladies' Relief and Hospital Association, organized during the war for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiery. When the war ended and the hospitals were closed, the association took upon itself the duty of annually decorating the soldiers' graves in the city cemetery with flowers on the 26th of April, the anniversary of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. In 1868 it was proposed to form a society for the purpose of taking care of those graves, and also of erecting a Confederate monument, and the Ladies' Memorial Association was organized with Mrs. Dr. John Carter, as president; Mrs. Dr. H. H. Steiner, as vice-president, and Mrs. John T. Miller, as secretary and treasurer. The financial depression following the war and the death of both president and vice-president prevented the association from doing more than taking care of the soldiers' graves, but in 1873 a reorganization was effected, and the following officers elected: President, Mrs. M. E. Walton (now Mrs. F. A. Timberlake); vice-pres- idents, Mrs. J. M. Adams, Mrs. John M. Clarke, Mrs. J. J. Cohen, Mrs. J. T. Derry, Mrs. A. E. Dortic, Mrs. DeSaussure Ford, Mrs. H. W. Milliard, Mrs. J. L. Lamar and Mrs. M. E. Whitehead ; and secretary and treasurer, Mrs. John T. Miller. The association proceeded systematically to work. The Confederate dead were gathered into the soldiers' section of the cemetery, which was enclosed with a substantial stone coping. A fountain was placed in the center, and at each of the five hundred and forty graves a marble headstone. The cost of the work was $2,606 46 ; and when accomplished, the association turned its attention to the erection of a monument, with the result above stated.

In front of St. James Methodist Episcopal Church on Greene street, is another Confederate monument, erected in 1873, by the Sunday-school of that church, in memory of the twenty-three teachers and scholars who fell in the war. This monument is a very handsome cenotaph of white marble, and bears on it the names of two hundred and ninety-two slain Confederates. The cenotaph cost $5,400, and was unveiled on December 31, 1873.

A third Confederate monument is the huge chimney of the Confederate powder works on the canal. The works have been long taken down, but the chimney was preserved and still towers above the great factories which now surround it, while a marble tablet let into its side tells what it was and why it is preserved.

The vigorous blockade of the Southern ports by the United States navy was soon felt in the home life of the Confederacy and especially in the cities,, always dependent on outside sources for supply. That prime necessary, salt, became almost unattainable. What would now be called salt "corners" and "syndicates" were formed by speculators. The price of the commodity rose enormously. The Legislature at once intervened, and at first tried to stimulate production by a system of bounties, offering a loan of $50,000, without interest, and repayable only on the restoration of peace, "to any company or corporation, which has been or may hereafter be established in this State for the manufacture of salt." This failing to meet expectations, the sum of $500,000 was appropriated for the purchase of salt for distribution among the people, and to enable the State to enter on the production of the article. Much other legislation was had to benefit the soldiers and protect the people from monopoly and speculation. No judgment was to be enforced against a soldier until three months after his discharge : the statute of limitations was suspended ; it was made a crime to purchase clothing, shoes, leather, cloth, provisions, wheat, corn, flour, corn meal, meat, bacon, hogs, cattle, salt, bagging, twine, rope, or other articles of general use under false pretense that they were for the army; or to monopolize or charge extortionate prices for such articles; it was forbidden to raise more than three acres of cotton to the hand; it was also forbidden to make any spirituous or malt liquor out of corn, wheat, rye, or other grain, except for medicinal, hospital, chemical, or mechanical purposes;.

and by subsequent legislation this inhibition was extended to sugar, molasses, syrup, sugar cane, honey, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, peas, Irish potatoes, or dried fruit, the penalty being a fine of from $500 to $5,000 and twelve months imprisonment. The sum of $400,000 was appropriated for the Georgia Relief and Hospital Association in providing medical attendance, hospital rooms, stores, supplies, accommodation and transportation for the sick and wounded, suffering and destitute soldiers of the State of Georgia; in establishing wayside homes for the same ; and in collecting claims of Georgia soldiers or their estates. To provide clothes, shoes, hats, and blankets $1,500,000 were appropriated. At one time 97,000 bushels of corn were distributed in fifteen of the most needy counties to the families of living or deceased soldiers; at another, and later period when the general distress became appalling, $6,500,000 were voted to indigent families of the soldiers, " the term indigent to include wives, mothers, grandmothers, and all those who have to leave their ordinary business in the house, and to labor in the field to support themselves and children." The enormous prices of articles in general use may be seen when it is known that yarn was eight dollars per bunch ; and the State was thought to be conferring a great favor in selling it at six dollars. The municipal authorities of Augusta strained every nerve to co-operate with the State. They issued $50,000 in bonds for a gunboat, and. it may be here added, paid every dollar after the war, over the objection of the military authorities that such debt being in aid af rebellion was noL enforceable. They obtained permission to issue $100,000 in change notes in denominations of five, ten, twenty-five, and fifty cents and one dollar. The city became a hive of industry in making shoes, clothing, wagons, and other supplies. Its moneyed men started a new bank called the Traders and Importers Bank, two insurance companies. The Augusta Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and The Commercial Insurance Company of Augusta ; a gold mining company The Augusta and Dahlonega Mining Company ; and projected a new railroad. The Columbia and Augusta Railroad Company. The State ceded the Augusta arsenal and all the realty of the United States at Augusta to the Confederate government, and under the superintendency of Colonel Rains, a huge powder manufactory was erected on the Augusta Canal. This is said to have been the largest and most complete establishment of its kind in the world, and turned out a powder of most excellent quality, supplying the armies with abundant ammunition. The chimney of these works still stands on the bank of the canal, a towering monument of the past. The pressure and agony of the times were something appalling. The State had its entire arms-bearing population in the field. There were 119 "war indigents" at home; 45,718 children, 22,637 P^°^ kinswomen of soldiers, 8,462 orphans, 4,003 widows, in the first two years of the war. The papers were full of reports of battles, lists of killed and wounded, calls for troops, appeals for food, clothing and shoes, proclamations doling out salt by the peck, impressment orders for negroes to work on fortifications, piteous supplications for hospital funds. It was a fearful and dreadful time. The soldier dead of the State, up to the close of the year 1863, numbered 57,905. The white polls had fallen from 52,764 to 39,863, showing war's ravages. The war indigents rose from 84,119 to 117,889. Confederate money had gone down, down until almost as worthless as the old Continental currency. June 15, 1862, it took $2 to buy $i in gold ; on June 15, 1863, $7-50; on June 15, 1864, $18; on January i, 1865, it was $60 for one; April 26, $200 for one, April 27, $300, April 28, $500, April 30, $i,OQO. In 1864 hats were worth hundreds of dollars; a horse, thousands; a drink of whisky, $10; a pair of suspenders, $150; a cake of toilet soap, $25.

As of historic interest we here give the fluctuations of Confederate money as kept by Mr. J. C. Barber, a broker of Augusta, commonly known as Barber's tables, which have been recognized as correct in the courts of Georgia.

When Sherman swun,s: loose from Atlanta and started on his way through Georgia to the sea, it was apprehended that Augusta would see what it had not yet witnessed, amid all the other agonies of war, a hostile force in her streets; but the storm passed by. A marauding party of Federal cavalry would no doubt have swept through the city, but was met by General Wheeler and driven back upon the main body. In anticipation of the entrance of Sherman's troops immense quantites of cotton were brought out and piled in the street. On Broad street, from Jackson to Mcintosh was a solid wall about five or six bales high and covering the bulk of that unusually wide thoroughfare. It lay there exposed to the elements, eaten into by the cows spat tered with mud, so valuable and yet so worthless ! The chances of its ever being made available were considered so hopeless that thousands of bales were offered at one dollar per bale in gold, with few takers. When it seemed as if nothing could avert the advent of the enemy the Confederate commandant issued orders to have it burned on their approach. The execution of this command would have almost necessarily involved the destruction of the city and fully alive to this awful peril Hon. Robert H. May, then mayor, used Jvery exertion to have the order rescinded and by extraordinary exertions finally prevailed. At the same time and from the same idle policy of destruction barrels of tar and heaps of combustibles were placed on the city brid-e to* reduce that, too, to ashes, but here again the danger was averted As"" has been said, Augusta had the largest powder mills in America under the auspices of the Confederate government. Besides these, machine shops and -un factories belonging to the government were located, and the city was one of the most important posts in the Southern States during the civil struggle. It was for this reason that it was considered by Edwin M. Stanton, LincoL's war secretary, to have been a vital point in the seceding states, and he was horrified to find that General Sherman, instead of destroying the great manufacturing plant in Augusta, turned off and pursued an empty and vainglorious march to the sea. So long as Augusta remained intact, the army in Northern Virginia, under General Lee, was furnished with ammunition and materials from the government workshops, and the Southern armies were enabled to hold their ground, and it was believed that had Sherman made Au-usta the base of his operations instead of Atlanta, the civil war would have come to an end at least a year before it did.

It is a current belief in the city that Sherman turned his course aside because in his early days he was stationed at the Augusta arsenal and had a child buried there, and while it is not likely sentiment controlled him, we give the story for what it is worth.

One day in April, 1865, a disarmed and footsore soldier of Lee's army reached town. There could now no longer be any doubt that the valiant army of northern Virginia had at last succumbed. A mob gathered, intent on sacking the Confederate quartermaster and commissary departments. It was argued that as the Confederacy was gone, its few remaining assets had better fall into the hands of its own poor than go to the enemy, and acting on this belief the mob soon " looted " the government repositories. Then, as mobs will, other places in no way connected with the government were marked for plunder. It was proposed to sack the factories, and some private stores were broken into. A guard of citizens and returned soldiers was hastily assembled, and after a collision in which one life was lost, the mob dispersed and order was restored.

Soon after the Federal forces entered the city, a detachment being sent up from Savannah, and the city was placed under the rule of a provost marshal. None could walk the streets at night without a pass. Then the Freedmen's Bureau was established, and the colored population recognized that they were free. To their credit, it is to be said, they made no disorder and attempted no violence. Mr. Davis, president of the Confederacy, was brought captive through the streets of Augusts on his way to Fortress Monroe. He rode in a carrriage surrounded by a strong guard of cavalry and was carried up Broad street to the headquarters of the post commandant. The military authorities insisted on all civilians taking the oath of allegiance, and no one, not even the ladies, were allowed to receive letters without doing so. Owing to the lack of other clothes the returned soldiers were allowed to wear their uniforms, but the military buttons were ordered cut ofif. All arms were ordered delivered up, and the press was put under surveillance. Each editorial was required to be submitted to the post-commandant, and for one fiery article the office of the Augusta Constitutionalist was closed and a sentry put in the composing room.

Finally order began to evolve out of chaos. The State government was reorganized on the plan of reconstruction, devised by President Johnson. Hon. James Johnson, a lawyer of Columbus, was appointed provisional governor, and a convention ordered at Milledgeville on October 25, 1865. Charles J. Jenkins, John P. King, and A. C. Walter were sent as delegates from Richmond. Hon. Herschel V. Johnson was elected president of the convention, which, under instructions from Washington, repealed the ordinance of secession and repudiated the State's war debt. It adopted a new constitution which recognized the abolition of slavery, and provided for the organization of a State government thereunder ; made provision for the support of the poor of the State, and appealed to President Johnson for clemency to President Jefferson Davis,

Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens, and other Confederates then prisoners at Fort Pulaski. On the reorganization Hon. C. J. Jenkins was elected governor, and the State government was completed in all its parts.

During the war Hon. Robert H. May, the present chief magistrate of the city, was mayor of Augusta. As has been stated the tread of hostile forces never resounded in the streets of the city, but all during the war thousands and tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers marched through going to battle ; trains upon trains of sick and wounded were brought back. The maimed and disabled were to be nursed, the dead to be buried, the impoverished to be fed, the unruly to be kept in order. Time after time, as the city was menaced, almost every available man was marched out to assist the regular forces, and women and children were left behind almost defenseless, but in every exigency Mayor May was found adequate to the occasion. At one time, when the Confederate forces were about to burn the cotton piled five bales high on the streets, which would have been to destroy the city, Mr. May averted the useless and appalling destruction. When, in 1865, a terrific freshet flooded the he quickly repaired its damage; and when later in the year, at the downfall of the Confederacy, a mob sacked the Confederate commissary and quartermaster departments and seemed ripe for further pillage, the mayor's firm hand and active measures restored order and obedience to law.

In the spring of the next year the scheme of congressional reconstruction of the South was initiated. Major-General John Pope overturned civil rule and established military domination, and for the first and only time in its extended municipal history Augusta saw its mayor designated by the sword. Foster Blodgett was made mayor by General Pope in May, 1867, and acted as such till December, 1868, when reconstruction was completed, and an election held at which Henry F. Russell, a prominent merchant, was chosen mayor. Mayor Russell was succeeded in 1869 by J. V. H. Allen, who reorganized the police force of the city on a military footing, the men being uniformed, and armed and drilled as infantry. This discipline has since been maintained and the force of the city is not only available for the ordinary duties of police, but, at a moment's notice, becomes the drilled and organized nucleus of a military body. In this year another railroad, the Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta entered the city.

In 1870 Charles Estes became mayor and was re-elected year after year till 1876. During Mayor Estes' extended administration, the city was rapidly rehabitated and materially enlarged and improved. In 1870 the area inclosed by the Savannah Road, the Turknett Springs Road, Carnes Road, and South Boundary street was added to the city, and the street railway system put upon a permanent basis. In 1871 the Legislature authorized the enlargment of the

Augusta Canal. Mayor Allen had urged such an enlargment, but it was reserved for Mayor Estes to beghi and complete the work. The work was commenced in March, 1 872, and completed in July, 1 875, at a cost of $972,883. i 5 . The present length of the main canal is seven miles; including second and third levels, nine miles. The minimum water way is 150 at surface, 106 feet at bottom, and li feet deep, making an area of cross section of 1,408 square feet. The area of the supply openings is 1,463 square feet ; and, by means of a colossal dam the entire waters of the Savannah River are made available. There is a bottom grade of descent on the main canal of one hundredth of a foot in one hundred feet, giving a theoretical mean velocity of two and seventyfour one hundredth feet per second, or a mechanical effect of 14,000 horse power, the old capacity being but 600. The result of the enlargement has been to give an immense impetus to cotton manufacturing in Augusta, to largely stimulate other industries, and to add wonderfully to the wealth and population of the city. In 1873 the Macon and Augusta, and the Port Royal, and Augusta Railways tapped the city. During this administration the requirement of a registry fee as a condition precedent to voting in municipal elections was abrogated ; the lien for city taxes was made second in dignity only to State and county taxes; and the style " marshal " was changed to chief of police. Provision was also made for extension and improvement of the waterworks system.

In 1876 the mayor's term was extended from one year to three years, and in this year John U. Meyer was elected for that term. During his time a board of health was created which is still in operation and has accomplished valuable results. Of its operations we speak elsewhere in detail.

In 1879 Hon. Robert H. May, the war mayor of Augusta, was again elected and has been continuously re-elected at each recurring triennial election ever since. In 1877 Mr. May was one of the delegates sent from Richmond county to the State convention which framed the present constitution of Georgia. This instrument has many important provisions looking to the improvement of the science of municipal government, and from his long experience in this field, Mr. May's counsels were of great service to the convention. During his administration from 1879 Augusta has almo.st became a new city. The development of business and increase of population have been unprecedented. Among other important matters of legislation in this time it may be mentioned that a board of police commissioners was organized, and the limits of the city were very largely extended in 1882 so as to take in that extensive territory on the west of the city, north of the Turknett Springs road to the line of the village of Summerville, thence along that line across the head of Lake Olmstead,. to the head of the canal, so as to throw the entire length of that great work within the municipal limits; and again, in 1883, so as to include the territory lying south of the Turknett Springs road to the Milledgville road, and thence east to the line of the Central Railroad. These additions bring in an immense area on the west and southwest of the city, and where fields lately waved in grain, streets run and houses glow with life. In Augusta, as elsewhere, "westward the star of empire takes its way."

In September, 1888, Augusta was visited with the worst freshet known in her history. During the latter part of August and the early part bf September heavy rains, extending above the city for many miles, almost incessantly prevailed. On Sunday, September 9th, the Savannah River began to rise, but as this was not unexpected, no particular attention was aroused. All Sunday night the rise continued, and by the morning of the loth it became apparent that a freshet of unprecedented magnitude was imminent. All that day and until late at night the water rose. About one P. M. the canal banks gave way, precipitating that immense volume suddenly upon the already submerged city. Finally, not a foot of dry land remained, the water obtaining a depth of from two to five and in some places six feet throughout the city. All night long the angry rush of the waters was heard, hurrying past the very thresholds of the astonished and alarmed citizens. About three o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, the water came to a stand and then began to fall, at first very slowly, an inch or so an hour, then more and more rapidly, until on Wednesday morning the I2th, the land again appeared. But the city looked as if built in the bed of a river. Huge holes, especially at street corners, made travel impossible for vehicles and difficult for pedestrians. Some ten persons were drowned, and the damage done to property is estimated at about two millions of dollars. The city was just about completing arrangements for a grand exposition, intended to display Augusta's many natural and industrial advantages and in particular her vast water power and flourishing manufacturing interests. In a moment, as it were, the water power was wrecked, the huge cotton mills silenced, and a busy, hopeful, ambitious city crushed prone to the earth. But in less than forty-eight liours a programme was devised which met instant popular acceptance. There was to be no call for outside aid ; the city was to bear its own burden ; the exposition was to proceed ; the canal was to be rebuilt; the mills were to be run at the earliest possible moment; and the citizens were to impose on themselves an extra tax, which with the ordinary rate then already levied, made a total of three years' taxes in one. This tax was unflinchingly voted ; the exposition was held; the canal repaired ; and on December 26 the mill wheels began to revolve, and the looms to work anew. Such a record is, surely, honorable to any people.

The exposition of which mention has been made, was determined upon at a meeting held on November 8, 1887, when $29,245 was raised. By November 19, the subscriptions reached the sum of $55,000; on January 3. 1888, they amounted to $65,000. A charter was procured and the following officers elected: President, James Tobin ; vice-presidents, Patrick Walsh, Charles H. Phinizy, and Clement A. Evans; secretary and treasurer, J. H. Alexander;.

general solicitor, Sanford H. Cohen. A tract of land was purchased near the city; a costly building, 944 feet by 400, with dome 154 feet high, erected ; numerous exhibits and attractions arranged for, and the exposition was within a short time of opening when the flood overwhelmed the city. This terrible disaster postponed the opening some si.xty days, but the enterprise was finally carried out, its crowning and peculiar glory being that the fact of its being held at all under the circumstances, was commented on throughout the country as an unparalleled instance of energy and courage.

Rounding up the history of one hundred and fifty odd years, Augusta is now a great railroad center, a great manufacturing center, and a great commercial center. As has been seen in the review taken of her history, one prominent characteristic of this particular city has been its indomitable energy under every possible form of adversity to which municipalities are subject. We have seen it drenched in blood and scorched with fire in the Revolution ; but hardly had the smoke of the British guns dissipated on the air before the citizens of that day were at work with unabated courage, re-erecting churches, laying the corner-stone of seminaries, surveying out streets and annexing new territory. A little later, and when business had begun to revive, the Yazoo freshet floods the town, and, in carrying away the Savannah River bridge, cuts the town off from its valuable Carolina trade ; but almost instantly the bridge, a stupendous undertaking in those days, is ordered rebuilt. In 1829 the greater portion of the city is laid in ashes, but in 1833 we find it laying the foundations of the immense railway system of the State by a line from Augusta to Athens, another undertaking which merely ordinary as it seems to us now, was at that time of the first magnitude. In 1839 the yellow fever claims many victims, at least one-third of the population having an attack, and the very next year the river rises thirty-seven feet, again flooding the town, and inflicting damage to the amount of a million dollars, but, girding up its loins Augusta sets about another enterprise, the canal, and a few years later has it built and in active operation.

In 1854 there is another access of fever, but in that very year the Central Railroad is brought to Augusta and the city limits largely extended, as if nothing were further from the minds of the people than a cessation of municipal growth. Then came on the agony of war, and, after it, the turmoil of reconstruction ; but, close upon the heels of these disturbing and discouraging eras, the city proceeds to extend its railway system, and enlarge its canal to proportions greater, in all except length, than the famous Erie Canal. Contemporaneously, the city limits are extended more widely than ever before. Lastly, within two years of this writing, the city is visited in 1886 by a terrific shock of earthquake and almost to a day two years later, by a flood which throws even the far-famed Yazoo freshet far in the shade. And yet what effect have these terrific and quick succeeding calamities on Augusta ? With the earth trembling beneath their feet, the people of Augusta go on about their daily business, stout of heart. The street-cars run, the daily paper comes out, the court, the counting-room, the workshop, the factory, the store witness the same unabated toil. The motto of Augusta, now as ever, seems to be, "sorrow endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

Straightway after the freshet, the city looks about it ; seems to say like the man in the story, " Well, it was not so much of a shower after all ;" and composedly goes to work to vote a double tax upon itself, the year 1888 presenting the spectacle of Augusta not only meeting its usual annual tax, but an additional tax equal to that of two ordinary years, making three years taxes in one. Such a spectacle of financial fortitude is not often seen.

Another striking feature in Augusta's history is the unvarying good faith it has always exhibited in its monetary transactions. It has never in all its long history evaded or repudiated an obligation. Nor in any of its troubles, disasasters and calamities has it ever invoked outside aid. Its own shoulders have always borne the burden of the hour. Such a record is honorable to any people, and in closing this sketch of Augusta's history, it can be truly said that the city of Augusta has, at all times, and in all circumstances, for a century and a half consistently maintained the reputation of an upright, self-respecting, faith-abiding and courageous municipal commonwealth. It was named after the Princess Augusta, one of the daughters of King George the Second, and has always been as its name imports, the proud city.

Chapter Xvhi Bench And Bar

Judicial Establishment of Georgia Under the Trustees - Judicature Court - The Rum Law - Law Against Fine Clothes - Free Labor Law - Tenure by Tail Male -Surrender of the Charter - Judicial Establishment Under the King's Colonial Government - The Royal Governor, the Chancellor - Court of Chancery - Fee Bill - "Thirteen Chancellors."

THE history of the bench and bar of Augusta is indissohibly united with the judicial history of Georgia. Some of the ablest lawyers and most celebrated judges in the annals of the State presided and practiced at Augusta; for many years here were the headquarters of the Middle Judicial Circuit, in which lay the State capital; and the solicitor- general of this circuit was exofficio, the attorney-general of the State, so that for a long course of years Augusta may be said to have been the legal center of Georgia. To speak of the judges and lawyers who in times past have been eminent in the city is to speak of the courts in which they presided and of the laws under which they practiced, and we will, therefore, in this part of this work, consider first the judicial establishment of Georgia as it existed in colonial days ; then of its reorganization under the State government, and lastly of the many learned and brillant men who have adorned the legal annals of the city.

Of the judicial establishment existing in Georgia from the first colonization in 1733 until the trustees surrendered their charter to the crown in 1754 we have meager information. By the charter it was ordained that the trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America " shall and may form and prepare laws, statutes, and ordinances fit and necessary for and concerning the government of the said colony, and not repugnant to the laws and statutes of England, and the same shall and may present, under their common seal, to us, our heirs, and successors in our or their privy council, for our or their approbation or disallowance ; and the said laws, statutes, and ordinances, being approved of by us, our heirs and successors, in our or their privy council, shall, from thenceforth, be in full force and virtue within our said province of Georgia." It was also provided that the trustees "shall have full power and authority for and during the term of twenty-one years, to commence from the date of these our letters patent, to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of record, or other courts, to be held in the name of us, our heirs and successors, for the hearing and determining of all manner of crimes, offenses, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, matters, causes, and things whatsoever arising or happening within said province of Georgia, or between persons of Georgia ; whether the same be criminal or civil, and whether the said crimes be capital or not capital, and whether the said pleas be real, personal, or mixed; and for awarding and making out executions thereupon ; to which courts and judicatories we do hereby, for us, our heirs and succesors, give and grant full power and authority, from time to time, to administer oaths for the discovery of truth in any matter in controversy or depending before them, or the solemn affirmation to any of the persons commonly called Quakers, in such manner as by the laws of our realm of England the same may be administered."

The charter further provided " that all and every the persons which shall happen to be born within the said province, and every of their children and posterity, shall have and enjoy all liberties, franchises and immunities of free denizens and natural born subjects, within any of our dominions, to all intents and purposes, as if abiding and born within this our kingdom of Great Britain, or any other dominion."

At that time the law of England held that English colonists carried with them the laws of the mother country, the birthright of every subject, meaning thereby " so much of the English law as is applicable to their own situation and the condition of an English colony;" and that "what shall be admitted and what rejected, at what times and under what restrictions must, in case of dispute, be decided in the first instance by their own provincial judicature, subject to the revision and control of the king in council; the whole of their constitution being also liable to be remodeled and reformed by the general superintending power of the legislature in the mother country." This view was considered particularly applicable to Georgia as we learn from a valuable work published in 1783 by Anthony Stokes, for many }'ears royal chief justice of that province.

Under the charter then, and the general law of England, the first settlers of Georgia brought with them all the English law applicable to their new situation ; and after their arrival were subject to have those laws, and such other laws as the trustees nught see fit to enact, if approved by the crown, administered by courts erected b}^ the trustees. The traditional loyalty of Englishmen to the common law seems to have withheld the trustees from much legislation, and accordingly the records of their judicial establishment are bare and jejune. They satisfied themselves with the erection of a few courts and the enactment of a very few laws

The trustees organized under their charter in July, 1732, and in the August following appointed a committee, of which General Oglethorpe was chairman, to propose laws for the benefit of the colony. It does not appear what report, if any, was made by this committee, nor is it at all clear but that mere by-laws for the management of the board were meant. In November, 1732, a court of judicature was established in Savannah, with power to try all causes, civil and criminal. At a later date it was provided with a seal, and was conducted by three judges called bailiffs, who, to ensure greater respect, wore purple robes trimmed with fur. Their executive officer was termed constable and, as has been seen by the charter, they could pass even on capital cases. A like court was also established at I'^rederica. In 1744 the method of procedure was ordered to be c^ccording to the laws and customs of the realm of England and of the laws enacted for the province. The laws enacted by the trustees were few in number, and most of them gave rise to great dissatisfaction. One absolutely prohibited the drinking of brandy and rum, and ordered all vessels containing such liquors to be staved immediately on being brought within the colony The settlers vociferously insisted that in that hot and close climate it was absolutely necessary to have these beverages for the slacking of their parched clay ; but the trustees were inexorable, and repeatedly admonished the courts to rigidly enforce the statute. From the number of these instructions it may fairly be inferred that the judicial establishment partook of the general drought, an inference which becomes almost certainty in view of a certain passage in the minutes of a legislative body some years later where it is gravely set down that the house adjourned "to take a drink." The traders of South Carolina, where no prohibitory legislation prevailed, were quite ready to supply all the rum needed, and at one time a serious inter-colonial difficulty arose from the officers at Augusta staving a cargo which had just been brought into that port. Great was the popular outcry at so heinous a waste of so much precious material. From the incident we may gather that there was some sort of court at this time at Augusta, also, though no express mention of such a tribunal appears.

Another act of the trustees was leveled at " the use of gold and silver in apparel and furniture in Georgia, and for preventing extravagance and luxury." The date of this statute was 1737, but four years after the foundation, and the law seems to infer either that some wealthy colonists had then come over, or that the first settlers had prospered wonderfully. Still another act prohibited the purchase or use of negro slaves in the colony. It was supposed that this kind of labor would enervate the colonists, and not only render them averse to building up the settlement with their own hands, but form an element of danger in the infant commonwealth. Here again, the example of South Carolina, where slavery obtained, was ever before the Georgians, and rendered them grievously discontented with their own less favored status.

A fourth act, and possibly the most obnoxious of all, was the tenure of lands. By the charter the crown had granted the land to the trustees, with power to sub-let; and in portioning out the soil, the trustees rigidly insisted on making the tenure tail male, that is to a man and his heirs male. The object was the same as on the establishment of the feudal system, namely, to have the tenant always a man fit for military service. If a settler died, leaving only daughters, the land reverted to the trustees, to be regranted to some tenant capable of bearing arms. Again and again the colonists petitioned and remonstrated, demanding lands in fee simple. For a long time the trustees steadily resisted the appeals of the settlers on the matter of the tenure of lands, use of negroes, and allowance of rum. In 1742 steps were taken to repeal the prohibition act, and in the same year Governor Stephens was instructed to examine into and report upon the real views of the people as to negro slavery, and how far and under what restrictions it might be advisable to rescind the original statute. Rum and slavery were finally allowed, and some modifications made in the law of entails, and, pleased with these concessions, the colonists went to work and soon improved the condition of affairs. The trustees seem not to have taken the repeal of their laws so well, and were evidently not ill pleased at the approach of the time, when under their charter, the form of government and appointment of officers for the colony was to devolve upon the crown. By the charter it was provided that the trustees " shall, from time to time, for and during and unto the full end and expiration of twenty-one years, to commence from the date of these our letters patent, have full power and authority to nominate, make, constitute, commission, ordain, and appoint, by such name or names, style or styles, as to them shall seem meet and fitting, all and singular such governors, judges, magistrates, ministers, and officers, civil and military, both by sea and land, within the said districts, as shall by them be thought fit and needful to be made or used for the said government of the said colony, save always and except such officers only as shall by us, our heirs and successors, be from time to time constituted and appointed for the managing, collecting, and receiving such revenues as shall from time to time arise within the said province of Georgia, and become due to us, our heirs and successors;" and " from and after the determination of the said term of one and twenty years, such form of government and method of making laws, statutes, and ordinances for the better governing and ordering the said province of Georgia, and the inhabitants thereof, shall be established and observed within the same, as we, our heirs and successors, shall hereafter ordain and appoint, and shall be agreeable to law; and that, from and after the determination of the said term of one and twenty years, the governor of our said province of Georgia, and all officers, civil and military, within the same, shall, from time to time, be nominated and constituted and appointed by us, our heirs and successor^."

It is not the case, therefore, as is currently supposed, that the trustees voluntarily surrendered their charter, whereby Georgia, from a proprietar}', became a royal government. The charter having been granted on June 9, 1732, by the terms thereof, as just seen, the government of the colony reverted on June 9, 1753, to the crown.

It is true that the trustees did execute a formal written relinquishment and surrender of their charter to the crown, but that instrument expressly recites that they were to have the government of the colony for twenty-one years and no more by the terms of their charter, so that this was not the ground on which the surrender was based. The charter gave them seven- eighths of the territory specified therein, and by indenture of February 28, 1732, from Lord Carteret, afterwards Karl Granville, they had previously obtained the other one- eighth. There was no provision in tiie charter that the title to the territory owned by the trustees sliouUl revert to the crown, and hence an indenture was requisite to convey the same. The indenture, therefore, conveys all and singular the rights of tile trustees under the charter of whatsoever nature ; and, in particular all the territory conveyed them by the crown and by Lord Carteret, " together with all the soils, grounds, havens, ports, gulphs and bays, mines, as well, royal mines of gold and silver, as other minerals, precious stones, quarries, woods, rivers, waters, fishings, as well, royal fishings of whale and sturgeon as other fishings, pearls, commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, franchises, privileges, and pre-eminences, within the said territories and the precincts thereof, and thereunto in any sort belonging or appertaining .... subject nevertheless, and without prejudice to all such grants, leases, contracts, estates, and interests, in law or equity as have been heretofore lawfully made or granted by the said trustees for establishing the colony of Georgia in America, or by any acting in authority under them in America, and which are now subsisting according to letters patent."

On the surrender of the charter the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations were directed to lay before the privy council a plan for the government of the colony of Georgia, which they did early in 1754. This plan was approved, and by it the government was modeled on that of the other royal governments, or king's colonies ; or, as nearly as practicable, on that of the home government. The governor represented the king ; there was a colonial parliament called the Assembly, consisting of an upper house, representing the House of Lords, and a Commons House of Assembly, representing the House of Commons ; and a regular judicial establishinent of law, equity, admiralty and other courts. The governor was appointed by, and held office at, the pleasure of the crown. He was officially styled His Excellency, and was " Captain- General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Province of Georgia, and Chancellor. Vice Admiral, and Ordinary of the same." He had the power to veto all bills ; convene, adjourn, prorogue, and dissolve the Assembly; could appoint to fill all vacancies ; paidon all crimes except treason and murder, but could reprieve or suspend in the excepted cases until the king's pleasure was known; he exercised chancery, probate, and admiralty jurisdiction ; and collated, or appointed, to churches all clergymen of the Church of England. The Council, or Upper House of Assembly, consisted of twelve " members in ordinary "and two " extraordinary members," all appointed by the crown, one of the extraordinary members being the surveyor-general of the customs and the other the superintendent-general of Indian afl'airs. In its legislative capacity the council formed one branch of the Assembly and were presided over by the lieutenantgovernor. In its executive capacity it was the governor's privy council. When in legislative session it was governed by the rules of the House of Lords. The Commons House of Assembly was composed of members elected from the various parishes into which the State was divided. The qualification of an elector was fifty acres of land in the parish where he voted ; and of representative, five hundred acres of land in any part of the province. The commons elected their own speaker, messenger, and doorkeeper, but the governor appointed the clerk. They remained in session until adjourned by the governor; claimed the exclusive right to originate money bills, and had most of the privileges of the British House of Commons ; and, like the Commons, received no pay.

Of the judicial establishment we may speak more at large. As has been stated, the royal governor was ex- officio chancellor of the province. He had, like his English prototype, the custody of the great seal, and, when sitting as chancellor, had the same powers of judicature as the lord high chancellor in England. The proceedings in the colonial Chancery were similar to those of the High Court of Chancery in England, and the books of practice then used in England governed the colonial practice, except in a few instances of local import. One notable exception, however, was that the subpoena was made returnable immediately ; and " in case of a contempt," says Chief Justice Stokes, " the plaintiff (when a commission of rebellion is returned non est inventu 5)^^x0- ceeds to sequestration, without an order for a sergeant- at arms." In drawing a bill in the Georgia Chancery the form was thus :

" Georgia,. ) To His Excellency, A. B.,Esq., Captain General and Gov- "In Chancery. S ernor in Chief in and over his Majesty's province of Georgia, and Chancellor, Vice- Admiral, and Ordinary of the same : Humbly complaining, sheweth unto your Excellency, your Orator &c. &c."

From the decision of the governor sitting as chancellor, an appeal lay to the king in council, in causes where the value of the property in dispute exceeded five hundred pounds sterling; but where the matter in question related to the taking o'* demanding of any duty payable to the king, or to any fee of office, or annual rent, or other such like matter or thing where rights in future might be bound, an appeal lay, irrespective of the amount involved. The appeal was required to be made within fourteen days from the pronouncing of the decree ; and the appellant was to give good security that he would effec- . tually prosecute his appeal, and also pay such costs and damages as might be awarded by the king in case the decree of the chancellor was affirmed. On lodgement of the appeal, the prothonotary was to copy out all the proceedings in a fair hand on large paper and make affidavit that he had compared the copy with the original, and that the same was a true copy. Copy and affidavit were then attached together and handed the governor, who affixed the great seal thereto, when they were ready for transmission to the crown. One year was allowed for the transmission after entrance of appeal. Should the chan- cellor doubt of his decree he could take such time as he saw proper to deliberate thereon ; and from any decree rendered, whether interlocutory or final, the defendant could appeal, for which reasons a chancery cause of moment in Georgia was almost interminable.

The Court of Chancery had a master ; also an e.xaminer and register ; and the fees of these officers, as also those of the chancellor himself are set down in an ancient statute.

The Chancellor's Fees. - Sealing every writ, three shillings and sevenpence; signing a decree in chancery, fourteen shillings and twopence ; every order on motion or petition, three shillings and sevenpence ; signing and sealing an exemplification of a decree, fourteen shillings and twopence ; hearing and determining every cause, one pound eight shillings and fourpence.

The Master in Chancery's Fees. - Every summons, one shilling and tenpence halfpenny ; copies of charges and discharges brought before the master, each side containing fifteen lines and six words in a line, fourpence halfpenny; taking affidavits in writing, if drawn by the master (the oath included),. one shilling and tenpence halfpenny; every other oath, ninepence ; taxing a bill of costs, two shillings and fivepence; all accounts referred to him for examination or settling, to be allowed for at the discretion of the Court of Chancery; taking a recognizance, three shillings and sevenpence; every day's attendance upon a final hearing, three shillings and sevenpence.

Fees of the Examiner and Register in Chancery. - Filing a bill, petition, affidavit or other paper, fourpence halfpenny; every writ of subpa'ua, one shilling and tenpence ; attending the chancellor or Court of Chancery on the hearing a petition or motion, three shillings and sixpence ; attending the chancellor at his chambers, and for every other necessary attendance, one shilling and ninepence; reading every paper, one shilling and ninepence; a writ of Ne Exeat Provincia, injunction, or other special writ, ten shillings; every order on a petition or motion, two shillings ; entering a rule or order, per copy sheet, fourpence halfpenny; every search, eightpence; copy of an order, bill, answer, or other paper, per copy sheet, fourpence halfpenny ; every rule, two shillings; taking depositions of a witness, per copy sheet, sixpence halfpenny; copying such depositions, per copy sheet, fourpence halfpenny; setting down a cause or demurrer for hearing, one shilling and one penny; attending at the hearing a cause or pronouncing a decree each day, three shillings; entering a motion, one shilling and one penny; entering the minutes of a decree, each copy sheet, fourpence halfpenny ; drawing a decree, each copy sheet, fourpence halfpenny; every attachment, one shilling and tenpence; entering an appearance, each defendant, two shillings.

In his famous work on "Equity Jurisprudence," Mr. Justice Story says that "in many of the colonies, during their connection with Great Britain, equity jurisprudence had either no existence at all, or a very imperfect and irregular administration ; " but, however this may have been in the other provinces, what has been said is sufficient to show that the Court of Chancery had a very early existence and complete operation in Georgia.

The Chancery Bar was a recognized institution, and we find in an old court roll the names of the following as solicitors in the Chancery before the Revolution : Robert Hamilton, James Roberts, Thomas Ross, William McKenzie John Houstoun, and George Walton. Both of the latter rose in time to be governor of Georgia as a State, and Mr. Walton was for years judge of the Superior Court of Augusta. That the Chancery Bar was in active practice, appears from their fee bill, yet extant.

Fees of the Solicitors in Chancery. - A retaining fee, fourteen shillings and twopence ; every attendance at court when any business is done, three shillings; court fee at hearing the cause, seven shillings and one penny; drawing every bill, answer, plea, demurrer, replication or other paper, each copy sheet, sixpence halfpenny; fair copy and engrossing same, per copy sheet, each copy sheet containing ninety words, fourpence halfpenny; signing thereof, three shillings and sevenpence ; every motion in court or defending same, three shillings and sixpence ; a brief or abstract of the proceedings, each copy sheet of such proceedings, fourpence halfpenny ; every brief on hearing the cause, or arguing demurrer or exceptions, fourteen shillings and twopence ; drawing a bill of costs and attending taxation thereof, two shillings and fivepence ; copy of the same and notice, one shilling and threepence ; attending the master on any reference to him by order of the court, three shillings and sevenpence ; drawing every decree, each copy sheet, ninepence.

It may here be remarked that the colonial Court of Chancery obtained its highest degree of excellence while Sir James Wright was governor, and exofficio, chancellor. During the administration of this able man, the colony increased rapidly in wealth and population, it being recorded that he found an export trade of ;^3o,ooo per annum, and left one of i;200,ooo. Governor Wright had been bred a lawyer, and was at the time of his appointment in practice in Charleston, S. C, and from this training and experience made an excellent chancellor. Chief Justice Stokes, who had considerable experience in a number of the colonies, having from time to time held judicial appointments therein, speaks very highly of Governor Wright's legal abilities, and contrasts the reputation made by the Georgia Court of Chancery with the chancery in other colonies, particularly in South Carolina, quite unfavorably to the latter. He states that one governor of South Carolina was inadvertently drawn in to approve a bill which made the twelve councillors judges of the Court of Chancery, so that the spectacle was presented of thirteen chancellors in a row. Justice Stokes states that this was the rule in Barbadoes, Antigua and Montserrat, and that in its operation it caused great inconveniences. It led to delays, because it was necessary to call on the council from difterent parts of the province at every cause; it led to hasty judgments, as in difficult matters, the temptation was to decide off-hand, lest by consideration another meeting would become necessary; and, lastly, it lowered tbe tone of the court by dividing the responsibility of the decree. " A chancellor," says he, " when he sits alone (be his disposition what it may), will hardly venture to commit any flagrant acts of injustice. Jkit when a dozen councillors are placed on the bench with him, defendit numerus ; and, if they are inclined to do mischief, they keep each other in countenance, and there are thirteen to divide the censure amongst them."

This ill opinion of thirteen chancellers survived in Georgia long after Chief Justice Stokes had been relegated back to his royal master, and it was only by a sort of tacit connivance, finally ripening by usage into a rule, that it became established in Georgia as a State. In 1847 the judge of Muscogee Superior Court finally decided an equity cause without the intervention of a jury, and his right so to do was the question before the Supreme Court. That tribunal decided for the thirteen chancellors, saying " it was at one time a question in Georgia whether a jury was at all necessary in trials in equity. That is to say, whether the act of 1799, conferring chancery powers on the superior courts, did not clothe the judge with the powers of a chancellor in England. I advert to this not for the purpose of discussing the question, but of saying that such a doubt no longer exists - that the usage of the Superior Courts for a long series of years has been to submit the facts in all trials in equity to a jury, and that this usage has been sanctioned by repeated acts of the Legislature recognizing it. I have no doubt that it had its origin in quite sufficient authority of law. In Georgia the judge and the jury constitute the chancellor." - 3 Georgia Reports, 163 - 4.

Bench And Bar Continued

Common Law Courts - The Chief Justice of Georgia - Grover, Simpson and Stokes, Chief Justices - Commission - Fees - The General Court - Origin of Superior Court - Judges - Attorney-General - Provost Marshal - Clerk of the Crown - Court of Ordinary - Couri of Conscience - Justices of the Peace - Early J. P's. in Augusta - Oyer and Terminer - Court of Admiralty - -Appeals - Court of Errors - Writ of Error - Appeal to the King - The Colonial Bar - Pomp, Form and Circumstance - Robes, Seals and Precedence.

THE common law courts under the royal establishment were divided into superior and inferior, all under the superintcndency of a chief justice. The first of these functionaries was William Grover, commissioned April 13, 1759, under the administration of Governor Ellis, and removed by Governor Sir James Wright, on November 5, 1762, for conduct unbecoming a- judicial officer. The second chief justice was Wilham Simpson, appointed December 15, 1766, but of whose career we have no information. The third and last of the royal chief justices was Anthony Stokes, who held from September i, 1769, until the independence of the United States was recognized in 1783. Chief Justice Stokes was an English barrister, and in 1762 left Westminster Hall to practice in the West India colonies of Antigua and the Leeward Isles. Here he seems to have obtained prominence, and from his familiarity with provincial jurisprudence was appointed in 1769 to be his majesty's chief justice of Georgia. In this position he acted acceptably, and much to the improvement of the jurisprudence of the colony, till Savannah was taken by the American forces at the outbreak of the Revolution, and Governor Wright and Chief Justice Stokes both made prisoners. The governor effected his escape to a British man-of-war, but the chief justice remained a prisoner for some weeks, and was finally exchanged, with liberty to leave the country. He returned to England and there set about the preparation of a work on the political and legal institutions of the American and West India colonies, but while so engaged, Savannah was retaken by the British in 1778, and the justice received the royal mandate to return to Georgia, and there resume his functions. He set out accordingly in a king's ship, which had not voyaged far before it was attacked by a French cruiser, and in the engagement so much damaged that it became neccsssary for her to return to England to refit. Starting on a second voyage, Justice Stokes reached Georgia in safety in 1779, and there remained till May, 1783, when he again went back to England on the conclusion of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States. During the siege of Savannah by the allied French and American forces, the quarters of the chief justice were burned by a shell, and many of his papers destroyed by the conflagration, so that, as he tells us, in his work "A View of the constitution of the British Colonies in North America and the West Indies," published in London in 1783, much of the material he had prepared perished, but his book is esteemed valuable for all that, in giving us an insight into the Colonial establishments, particularly as to the judiciary. The chapters on the admiralty practice are specially valuable, and have been cited as authority by the Supreme Court of the United States. As a lawyer. Chief Justice Stokes was well grounded in his profession, and as a judge sought diligently to do justice. There can be no question but that he rendered a service to the jurisprudence of Georgia which has never been acknowledged or appreciated. The manner of the appointment of a chief justice in those days of form and ceremony, was by the issuance to the appointee of a warrant under the royal sign manual, whereupon the governor of the colony issued him a commission in the form of letters patent. The warrant and letters read as follows :

"George R. Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Whereas we have taken into our royal consideration the loyalty, integrity and ability of our trusty and well-beloved A. B., Esq.; we have thought fit hereby to authorize and require you forthwith to cause letters patent to be passed under the to be our chief justice of, and in our said Province, in the room of L. M., Esq., deceased : To Have, Hold, Execute and Enjoy the said office unto him the said A. B., for and during our pleasure, and his residence within our said province, together with all and singular the rights, profits, privileges and emoluments unto the said place belonging, in the most full and ample manner, with full power and authority to hold the Supreme Courts of Judicature, at such places and times as the same may and ought to be held within our said Province : and for so doing, this shall be your warrant : and So we bid you farewell. Given at our Court at St. James the. . . .day of. ... 17. . .in the

" George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, defender of the faith, &c., to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: Know ye that we, taking into our royal consideration the loyalty, integrity and ability of our trusty and well-beloved A. B., Esq., have constituted and appointed him the said A. B. our chief justice of and in our province exectite, and enjoy the said office unto him the said A. B., for and during our pleasure, and his residence within our said province, together with all and singular the rights, profits, privileges, and emoluments unto the said place belonging, in the most full and ample manner, with full power and authority to hold the Supreme Courts of Judicature at such place, and times as the same may and ought to be held within our said Province. In witness whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness, His Excellency D. E., Esq., our captain general and governor in chief in and over our said Province

The emoluments of the royal chief justice were by no means inconsiderable, consisting of a salary of ^500 from the crown, and fees for almost every judicial act. The fee bill is of interest as manifesting the then practice of the law courts.

The Chief Justices' F"ees. - For every writ of habeas corpus, two shillings and sixpence ; every other writ or process, original, judicial, or mesne, and

other writ or process whatsoever in a civil or criminal case, one shilling and tenpence halfpenny; every summons at chambers, one shilling; every order or rule, whether at chambers or at court, sixpence ; every recognizance taken before him in a civil or criminal case, three shillings and sixpence ; every warrant by him, two shillings and tenpence; every mittimus by him, one shilling and tenpence; every affidavit in writing taken before him, one shilling and fivepence ; administering an oath in court or at chambers, ninepence ; every deposition taken before him to send out of the province, one shilling ; every copy of a record under the seal ©f the court to send out of the province, two shillings and sixpence ; every other exemplification under the seal of the court and for signing the testimonial thereof, five shillings and fivepence ; taking acknowledgment of satisfaction, ninepence ; judge's books on an issue of law or fact in a civil or criminal case, three shillings and sevenpence; taxing a bill of costs in a civil or criminal case, two shillings and fivepence ; drawing a special jury, five shillings and ninepence; drawing a special jury at a special court, five shillings and ninepence; every special court and attendance thereon» fourteen shillings and twopence ; the admission of an attorney, two pounds, seventeen shillings and sixpence; every judgment confessed out of court, six shillings ; taking the private examination of a feme-covert and signing the testimonial thereof, seven shillings and one penny ; cross-examination of any witness out of court, three shillings and sevenpence ; every attachment for a contempt and seal of court, seven shillings and one penny ; every judgment in -a civil or criminal case, one shilling and tenpence halfpenny ; every motion in arrest of judgment or demurrer in law on special verdict, or for a new trial in a civil or criminal case, one shilling; hearing every motion, six shillings and a penny ; every indictment found, three shillings and sevenpence ; the examination of a person committed for a contempt of court, ten shillings and ninepence ; the admission of a guardian to prosecute or defend a cause for a person under age, two shillings ; entering an action in the judge's book that is to be tried by a jury, one shilling ; receiving a private verdict, one shilling and sixpence ; for allowance of a writ of error, three shillings and sevenpence ; returning a writ of error, one shilling and tenpence halfpenny ; for the trial or hearing of any cause whether civil or criminal or writ of enquiry, three shillings and sevenpence ; discontinuing of any action, one shilling ; prohibition granted, four shillings and ninepence ; a dedimiis potestateni, seven shillings and one penny ; marking the roll that a writ of error is allowed, one shilling ; transcript of the record, examined by the judge to be annexed to a writ of error, three shillings and sevenpence ; return oi certiorari in a civil or criminal case, two shillings ; allowance of a writ of audita qtierela, three shillings and sevenpence; every appeal to the General Court Trom an order or adjudication of any justice or justices of the peace, one shilling; for every capias against defauting jurors, one shilling.

The distribution of the law courts was as follows : The chief court of law was termed the General Court, sometimes the General Court of Pleas, and, in time, was commonly known as the Superior Court, to distinguish it from inferior judicatories. It had all the powers of the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer, and is. therefore, the lineal progenitor, in name and common law jurisdiction of the present Superior Court of Georgia, the highest tribunal of original jurisdiction in the State. This court was held by the chief justice and two assistant judges, but any one of themvvas competent to try causes. The letters patent creating this tribunal will be of interest : " Georgia.

" George the Second, by the grace of GOD, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the faith, and so forth : To all to whom these present letters shall come, greeting: Know ye that we, tendering the state and condition of our province of Georgia, and being willing and desirous that justice be duly and regularly administered therein, have thought fit to erect and constitute and by these presents do erect and constitute a Court of Record, by the name and style of the General Court to be holden yearly at Savannah, within our said Province on the second Tuesday in January, the second Tuesday in April, the second Tuesday in July, and the second Tuesday in October* before our trusty and well beloved Noble Jones and Jonathan Bryan, Esquires, or one of them, whom we hereby appoint our justices thereof, during our pleasure, and others our justices appointed for the time being. And we do hereby give and grant unto the said Noble Jones and Jonathan Bryan, and each of them, and all others our justices of the said General Court, for the time being, full power, jurisdiction, and authority to enquire by the oaths of good and lawful men of the province aforesaid, and by other ways and means by which the truth of the matter may be better known and enquired into, of all treasons, felonies, and other crimes and criminal offences whatsoever, done or committed within our said Province by any persons whomsoever, and the same to hear and determine according to the laws and customs of our said Province, saving to us and our successors all fines, forfeitures and amerciaments, and all other things to us on account thereof belonging and appertaining. And, further, we give and grant to the said Noble Jones and Jonathan Bryan, and each other, our justices of our said General Court for the time being, full power, jurisdiction, and authority to hold pleas in any and all manner of causes, suits, and actions whatsoever, as well criminal as civil, real, personal, and mixed, arising, happening, or being within our said province where the sum or thing demanded shall exceed the value of forty shillings sterling, except only where the title to any freehold shall come in question, and to proceed in such pleas, suits, and actions, by such ways, means, and process, as may with the greatest safety, dispatch, and justice, bring the same to a final determination and also to hear and determine all such pleas, suits, and actions, and judgment thereupoa to give, and execution thereof to award and issue, and this as fully and amply as can or may be done by our Court of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer in England, doing therein what of right and justice ought to be done. In testimony whereof we have caused these our letters to be made patent^^nd the seal of our said province to be affixed thereto. Witness our worthy and well beloved John Reynolds, Esq., captain-general and governor-in-chief, in and over our said province of Georgia, the twelfth day of December in the twenty-eighth year of our reign. J. REYNOLDS.

Judge Jones was in some sort a provincial Lord Mansfield, having, like the great English jurist, been a soldier in his earlier days. He came into the colony with Oglethorpe as an officer of marines, and did some valorous fighting" in the war with the Spaniards at Bloody Marsh and the attack on St. Simons. Later he was made commander of the colony militia, and still later was commissioned colonel of the regiment raised for defense of the province. In 1751 he was made register, or, as we would say, chief of the land office ; and two years after was a member of the proprietary governor's council. In 1754 he became a king's councillor and so remained till raised to the bench in 1759. Judge Jones died at an advanced age just at the outbreak of the Revolution.

Jonathan Bryan, the other assistant judge, was born in South Carolina in 1708. In 1752 he settled in Georgia, and on the establishment of the king's government was raised to the bench. Unlike his associate Judge Jones, whowas an unswerving loyalist to the last, Judge Bryan was the first man in Georgia to fall under the royal ban in the Revolutionary struggle. He presided over a meeting called in Savannah in 1775 to denounce the action of the crown in seeking to oppress America, and when Sir James Wright called his council together and a motion was made to expel the judge for disloyalty, he at once handed in his resignation as councillor. The king, highly incensed, removed him from the bench ; and, after the fall of Savannah Judge Bryan was taken prisoner by the British and sent prisoner to New York. Having been exchanged he returned to Georgia and at a subsequent period, though then eighty years old, fought under General Wayne, closing his life as his associate had begun it, in the tented field.

The practice in the General Court was, for the most part, similar to that in the English courts of law. The action was commenced by suing out a writ, which was made returnable on a day certain, and after the return of the writ, the plaintiff filed his declaration ; all original writs issued out of the General Court (except audita querela, which issued out of the chancery) and were tested in the name of the chief justice. No real actions were used except actions for dower ; titles to land being tried by ejectment, trespass, or replevin. The

The General Court was attended by the attorney- general, and had for its executive officer a provost- marshal, who discharged the duties of sheriff. It had also a " Clerk of the General Court," on the civil side of the court, and a "Clerk of the Crown and Peace" on the criminal side. There was also a crier. Fee bills were provided for all these functionaries. Among other items the attorney-general received fourteen shillings on each true bill ; seven shillings and a penny for each brief; and the same for each opinion on matters submitted by the governor. The clerk of the crown had ninepence for every indictment, and sixpence for every cause entered on the trial book ; swearing the grand jury, each juror fourpence halfpenny; arraignment, two shillings and tenpence, and sentence same. The clerk of the General Court had ninepence for each writ; swearing jury, four shillings and threepence; entering verdict, tenpence. The provost-marshal had three pounds for swearing jury ; mileage twopence one farthing ; dieting white prisoners, tenpence ; negroes, sixpence three farthings; executing a criminal, fourteen shillings and twopence; levy, eight shillings and sixpence; executing bench warrant, three shillings and sevenpence. The crier had sixpence for each cause, and every attorney was bound to give him a shilling at the end of each term of court.

Next is the Court of Ordinary. The royal governor was, as has been seen, ordinary of the province, and had the exclusive power of granting probate of wills and administration of intestate estates. The governor not infrequently appointed a deputy to attend to these matters, and the procedure was this : the executor producing the will to the ordinary made oath that it was the last will and testament of deceased, and that he would truly administer the estate and pay debts and legacies. Appraisers were then appointed on the estate, and their report filed in the office of the secretary of the province. No letters of administration were granted until a citation had been issued and read in the church by the minister during the time of divine service on the Sunday before letters were granted; the administrator was then sworn and appraisement of the estate had as in the case of executors. Some of the fees in the Court of Ordinary were: Marriage license, fourteen shillings and twopence; letters of administration, if under fifteen pounds, three shillings and sixpence ; if over, double; probate of will, three shillings and sixpence; letters of guardianship, seven shillings and a penny; letters dismissory, same; litigated cause, fourteen shillings and twopence.

There were also Justice Courts, and it may be here noted that as early as 1773 we see the original of the Georgia Militia District, which is now synonymous with the territorial jurisdiction of a Justice Court. An act of that year provides that the officers of each regiment are "to fix and ascertain the districts or bounds of every company."

The provincial Justice Courts had jurisdiction in actions on contracts, or for damages, up to eight pounds sterHng. If the debt or damages claimed were under forty shillings two justices and three jury men were required to sit; if over that amount, two justices and a jury of twelve. Where the debt or damages were under forty shillings there was no appeal from the judgment ; if over that amount an appeal might be taken to the General Court. These courts were not officially styled Justice Courts, but Courts of Conscience, but the popular designation was Inferior Courts, just as the General Court came to be known as the Superior Court, whence those names have been transplanted into the present judicial nomenclature of Georgia. The jurisdiction of the Inferior Court was limited to the parish where thinly peopled, or to the subordinate divisions or districts of the parish where more thickly settled. They disposed of a great deal of business, having in addition to their civil jurisdiction authority as courts of inquiry in criminal matters. Some of the items of the justices fee bill illustrate the practice: For a warrant and oath in criminal case, one shilling and fivepence ; recognizance, same ; commitment, ninepence; warrant in civil cases, one shilling ; examining witnesses and hearing and determining a cause, one shilling and fivepence ; " a hue and cry, one shilling and tenpence halfpenny."

The Inferior Courts had a constable, who performed duties analogous to the officer of the same name of the present day, and had among his fees the following : Serving warrant, one shilling ; poundage, threepence in the pound on all levies ; search warrant, two shillings and tenpence ; " carrying on an hue and cry, five shillings and fourpence."

Early in the history of Augusta we find James Fraser acting as justice in this city, though under the title of Conservator of the Peace, in which office he was assisted b)^ three freeholders. Under the royal establishment the justices were more numerous. St. Paul's is reported as one of the most populous parishes and had quite a number of justices, among others John Oliver, William Harding, James Marshall, James McFarland, and James Seymour. The office seems to have been one of dignity and importance ; and Button Gwinnett, afterwards governor of Georgia, appears in the commission at one time for the parish of St. John. There was also a coroner, and this officer and the local justices were the jury commissioners for all courts held in their respective jurisdictions. In addition to all these courts, special terms of the General Courts were not infrequently held for the expediting of civil business, the court beingthen termed Courts of Common Pleas, and Courts of Oyer and Terminer were held for the trial of criminal causes. Special taxes were imposed to meet the expenses of these latter tribunals, and among the collectors of this tax at various periods in Augusta were tlie following : John Rae, Martin Campbell, Patrick Brown, David Douglass, Daniel Clarke, Lachlin McGillivray, John Williams, William Sluthers, Dugald Campbell, John Fitch, Robert Germany, Dr.

William Day, John Pettigrew, and John Walton. Tlie expenses of the Court of Oyer and Terminer were ;i^ii5 for 1757; for 1758, iJ'iSS; and for 1760 the same. In this latter year James DeVeaux was senior judge of the court. In 1768 the expenses were ^^190.

There was also a Court of Admiralty, whereof the governor was judge. We have already seen that, among other attributes, he was vice-admiral of the province. The jurisdiction of this court was quite extensive, and in the separate commission which the governor received as vice-admiral its main features were set out. The commission declared the governor " our vice-admiral, commissary and deputy in the office of vice-admiralty in our Province of Georgia," and empowered him to take cognizance of all maritime causes, of wrecks, pirates, marine forfeitures, " flotson, jetson, lagon," derelict, anchorage, lastage, ballast, " fishes royal, namely, sturgeons, whales, porpoises, dolphins, kiggs, and grampusses, and generally of all other fishes whatsoever, which are of a great or very large bulk or fatness ; " to preserve the rivers and ports of proper depth ; to reform nets too close, and abate all unlawful engines for the catching offish ; to enforce the trade and revenue acts for the colonies; and determine all matters of prize.

The Court of Vice-Admiralty had exclusive jurisdiction of all maritime cause and matters of prize, and concurrent jurisdiction with the General Court in cases of forfeitures and penalties for breach of any act of parliament relating to the trade and revenue of the British colonies in America, the informer having the option of filing his information in either court. The Vice- Admiralty was fully organized with an advocate general, the attorney general acting as such, proctors, a register, and marshal. As judge of the Admiralty the governor, or his deput}', he ordinarily appointing one, had, among other fees, for admitting a libel, three shillings and sevenpence ; citation, one shilling and tenpence ; hearing the cause, fourteen shillings and twopence; interlocutory decree, seven shillings and a penny; definitive sentence, fourteen shillings and twopence; issuing letters of marque, two pounds and two shillings. The advocate-general had, retainer, fourteen shillings and twopence ; arguing point of law, seven shilhngs and one penny; brief, three shillings and seven pence; court fee in each cause, seven shillings and one penny. The proctors had same fees as the advocate- general. The register had, for each warrant, one shilling and tenpence; citation, ninepence ; decrees, fourpence halfpenny per sheet; services on letters of marque, four shillings and threepence. When pirates were tried he had, for reading the commission of piracy, one shilling and one penny halfpenny; accusation, ninepence; sentence, one shilling and tenpence halfpenny. The marshal had five shillings and ninepence per day for keeping a ship, and tenpence halfpenny for a person, with same for supplying him with one pound of flesh and two pounds of bread ; hanging pirate, fourteen shillings and twopence.

A system of appeals in civil causes was provided for all these tribunals. The appeal from the decrees of the governor sitting in chancery has already been mentioned. It lay from the chancellor to the king, where the amount involved was over iJ^500. The appeal from the Inferior or Justice Courts to the General Court has also been mentioned, as lying when the debt or damage in question was over forty shillings.

An appeal lay from the General Court to the governor and council, sitting as a Court of Error, in any cause where the sum involved exceeded .;^300, or where any duty payable to the crown or any fee of office, annual rent, or other such matter which might determine rights in future, was involved. The appellant was to enter his appeal in fourteen days after rendition of the judgment complained of, and give good security for prosecuting his appeal effectually and payment of the eventual condemnation money and all costs and damages assessed against him by the appellate court. On this being done, the governor issued a writ of error to the General Court, the form whereof was as follows : " Georgia :

" George the Third, by the grace of GoD, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth : To our trusty and well beloved Anthony Stokes, Barrister at Law, our Chief Justice of our Province of Georgia, Greeting, Whereas by our fifty-second instruction to our Governor and Commander-in-Chief of our said Province or Colony of Georgia, we have thought fit to authorize him, or the commander-in-chief of our said Province for the time being, to permit and allow appeals from any of the Courts of Common Law. in our said Colony, and to issue a writ for that purpose returnable before him, and the Council of our said Colony ; provided that in all such appeals the value exceeds the sum of three hundred pounds sterling, and that security be first duly given by the Appellant, to answer such charges as shall be awarded m case the first sentence be affirmed, as in the said in part recited instruction is more fully contained. And Whereas Richard Roe, of our said Province of Georgia, Esquire, hath by his petition alleged that in the record and process, and also in the giving of judgment of the Plaint, which wasin our General Court of our said Province of Georgia, before you the said Anthony Stokes, our Chief Justice of our said Province of Georgia, and your fellows, our Justices of our said General Court, by our writ, between John Doe (on the demise of Matthew Stiles) and the aforesaid Richard Roe, of a certain trespass and ejectment of farm, manifest error hath intervened to the great damage of him the said Richard Roe, as we from his complaint are informed. And whereas by the affidavit of the said Richard Roe made before you, our said Chief Justice, it is alleged that the premises mentioned in the declaration filed in the cause aforesaid, with the improvements, are worth five hundred pounds, lawful money of our said Province: We, therefore, being willing that the error, if any there be, should be corrected in due manner, and that full and speedy justice should be done to the parties in this behalf, do command j^ou that, if judgment thereof be given, then (on the said Richard Roe's giving before you such security as by our said in part recited instruction is directed) the record and process of the plaint aforesaid, with all things concerning them, to his Excellency, our trusty and well beloved Sir James Wright, Baronet, our Captain, General and Governor- in- Chief in and over our said Province of Georgia, and Chancellor, Vice-Admiral, and" Ordinary of the same; and the Honorable Council of our said Province, under your seal, to wit: on the ....