A State of the Province of Georgia

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/colonial/georgia/province.html The following description of Georgia colony was published in a pamphlet titled "A State of the Province of Georgia." What are some of the economic accomplishments to which to author refers? How does author describe the towns in Georgia? What is the author's attitude toward the Indians in the region? THE Province of Georgia lies from the most Northern Stream of the River Savannah (the Mouth of which is in the Latitude of 32 Deg.) along the Sea-coast, to the most Southern Stream of the Alatamha (the Mouth of which is 301/2 Deg.) and Westward from the Heads of the said Rivers, respectively in direct Lines to the South Seas. This Province was Part of South-Carolina; but the Eastern and Southern Parts of it, inhabited by the Creek-Indians; the Northern by the Cherokees and Chickesaws; the Western by the Chactaws; the Blewmouths, and other Indian Nations, to the South-Sea. The Creek-Indians, who always acknowledged the King of England for their Sovereign, yet made War with the People of Carolina, to obtain Satisfaction for Injuries done by their pedling Traders: The War was concluded by a Peace, which obliged the People of Carolina not to settle beyond the River Savannah; and no Englishman was settled within this District, that we know of, when the first Colony of Georgia arrived. The Country was then all covered with Woods. Mr. Oglethorpe agreed with the Indians, and purchased of them the Limits mentioned in the Treaty. The Town of Savannah was laid out, and began to be built, in which are now 142 Houses, and good habitable Huts. The Soil in general, when cleared, is productive of Indian Corn, Rice, Peas, Potatoes, Pumpions, Melons, and many other Kinds of Gourds, in great Quantities; Wheat, Oats, Barley, and other European Grains, 'tis found by divers Experiments, may be propagated in many Parts (more especially in the Uplands toward Augusta) with Success. Mulberry-Trees and Vines agree exceeding well with the Soil and Climate, and so does the Annual Cotton, whereof large Quantities have been raised; and it is much planted: But the Cotton, which in some Parts is perennial, dies here in the Winter; which nevertheless the Annual is not inferior to in Goodness, but requires more Trouble in cleansing from the Seed. Cattle, Hogs, Poultry, and Fruit-Trees of most Kinds, have increased even beyond Imagination. Ships of about three hundred Tons can come up to the Town, where the Worm (which is the Plague of the American Seas) does not eat; and the River is navigable for large Boats, as far as the Town of Augusta, which lies in the Latitude of 33 D. 5 M. and is 250 Miles distant from Savannah by Water; small Boats can go 300 Miles further, to the Cherokees. There is already a considerable Trade in the River; and there is in this Town a Court-House, a Goal, a Store-House, a large House for receiving the Indians, a Wharf or Bridge, a Guard-House, and some other publick Buildings; a publick Garden of ten Acres cleared, fenced, and planted with Orange-Trees, Mulberry-Trees, Vines, some Olives, which thrive very well, Peaches, Apples, &c. . . . Three Miles up the River there is an Indian Town, and at six Miles Distance are several considerable Plantations: At ten Miles Distance are some more, and at fifteen Miles Distance is a little Village, called Abercorn. Above that, on the Carolina Side, is the Town of Purysburgh, twenty-two Miles from Savannah; and on the Georgia Side, twelve Miles from Purysburgh, is the Town of Ebenezer, which thrives very much; there are very good Houses built for each of the Ministers, and an Orphan-House; and they have partly framed Houses and partly Huts, neatly built, and formed into regular Streets; they have a great deal of Cattle and Corn-Ground, so that they sell Provisions at Savannah; for they raise much more than they can consume. Thirty Miles above Ebenezer, on the Carolina Side, lies the Palachocolas Fort: Five Miles above the Palachocolas, on the Georgia Side, lies the Euchee Town (or Mount Pleasant) to which about a hundred Indians belong; but few of them stay now in the Town, they chusing rather to live dispersed. All the Land from Ebenezer to the River Briers, belongs to those Indians, who will not part with the same, therefore it cannot be planted. . . . Seven Miles above New Windsor, on the Georgia Side, lies the Town of Augusta, just below the Falls; this was laid out by the Trustees Orders in the Year 1735, which has thriven prodigiously; there are several Warehouses thoroughly well furnished with Goods for the Indian Trade, and five large Boats belonging to the different Inhabitants of the Town, which can carry about nine or ten thousand Weight of Deer-Skins each, making four or five Voyages at least in a Year to Charles-Town, for exporting to England; and the Value of each Cargo is computed to be from 12 to 1500l. Sterling. Hither all the English Traders, with their Servants, resort in the Spring; and 'tis computed above two thousand Horses come thither at that Season; and the Traders, Packhorse-men, Servants, Townsmen, and others, depending upon that Business, are moderately computed to be six hundred white Men, who live by their Trade, carrying upon Packhorses all Kinds of proper English Goods; for which the Indians pay in Deer-Skins, Beaver, and other Furs; each Indian Hunter is reckoned to get three hundred Weight of Deer-Skins in a Year. This is a very advantageous Trade to England, since it is mostly paid for in Woollen and Iron. Above this Town to the North-West, and on the Georgia Side of the River, the Cherokees live, in the Valley of the Appelachin Mountains; they were about five thousand Warriors; but last Year it is computed they lost a thousand, partly by the SmallPox, and partly (as they themselves say) by too much Rum brought from Carolina. The French are striving to get this Nation from us, which if they do, Carolina must be supported by a vast Number of Troops, or lost: But as long as we keep the Town of Augusta, our Party in the Cherokees can be so easily furnished with Arms, Ammunition and Necessaries, that the French will not be able to gain any Ground there. The Creek Indians live to the Westward of this Town. Their chief Town is the Cowetas, two hundred Miles from Augusta and one hundred and twenty Miles from the nearest French Fort. The Lower Creeks consist of about a thousand, and the Upper Creeks of about seven hundred Warriors, upon the Edge of whose Country, the French Fort of Albamahs lies: They are esteemed to be sincerely attached to his Majesty's Interest. Beyond the Creeks lie the brave Chikesaws, who inhabit near the Mississippi River, and possess the Banks of it; these have resisted both the Bribes and Arms of the French; and Traders sent by us live amongst them. At Augusta there is a handsome Fort, where there is a small Garrison of about twelve or fifteen Men, besides Officers; and one Reason that drew the Traders to settle the Town of Augusta, was the Safety they received from this Fort, which stands upon high Ground on the Side of the River Savannah, which is there one hundred and forty Yards wide, and very deep; another Reason was the Richness and Fertility of the Land. The great Value of this Town of Augusta occasioned the General to have a Path marked out, through the Woods, from thence to Old Ebenezer; and the Cherokee Indians have marked out one from thence to their Nation, so that Horsemen now can ride from the Town of Savannah to the Nation of Cherokees, and any other of the Indian Nations, all on the Georgia Side of the River; but there are some bad Places which ought to be causewayed and made good, and which the General says he has not yet Capacity to do. This Road begins to be frequented, and will every Day be more and more so, and by it the Cherokee Indians can at any Time come down to our Assistance. ~END~

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/timeline/colonial/georgia/settlers.html The pamphlet from which the following excerpt came, A State of the Province of Georgia, was written about seven years after the first colonists landed in Georgia. According to this author, is the colony prospering? Who are the settlers and what had they been doing? Did they face any particular problems? As the Boundaries of the Colony are now known, together with the Climate, and Manner of Agriculture, more might be done henceforward in one Year, than could in several Years before we attained to that Knowledge; but our People are weak, being decreased, by great Numbers having been decoyed away to other Colonies: Many having taken to Idleness, upon shutting up the Store went away; but those who stayed, and now remain are still a Body of the most valuable People, that find Means to live comfortably, some by their Trades, some by Planting, and raising live Stock, and some by their Labour, either by Land or Water; and one of those remaining, are worth three that left us, for such Work: And if an Embarkation was to come in with the next Year, it would be of great Service to the Colony, the Saltzburghers wishing for more of their Countrymen, and having been very industrious. The Persons sent from England on the Charity were of the Unfortunate, many of whom have by their Industry proved that they deserved better, and have thriven; many also shewed they were brought into those Misfortunes by their own Faults; and when those who quitted their own Country to avoid Labour, saw Labour stand before their Eyes in Georgia, they were easily persuaded to live in Carolina by Cunning, rather than work: This has been a great Misfortune also upon many Persons, who brought over Servants indented to serve them, for a certain Number of Years, who being picked up in the Streets of London, or some such Manner, their Masters found them unfit for Labour, and many of them took such Opportunities as they could get, to desert and fly into Carolina, where they could be protected. Indeed, good and bad which came from England, were mostly Inhabitants of Towns there; but such seldom turn out good Husbandmen with their own Hands; yet some of them proved very useful in a new Colony, since they most readily compose Towns, which is the first Thing necessary to be a Receptacle for new Comers: And from thence, when all Demands of Labour, for Building and Trade are supplied, the laborious People may enlarge into the Country, and raise Provisions for the Use of the Towns: Whereas, if the first were all labouring Countrymen, they would naturally disperse to the most fertile Land, and perhaps succeed for a While; but for Want of Neighborhood and Markets, would force most of them to remove, and the Country remain little or nothing the better improved, as it happened in Virginia, till the Government, with great Difficulty at last, raised Towns in that Province. It ought not here to be passed over, how ready the Country is to receive a Number of German Families, accustomed to Husbandry, such as usually come once a Year down the Rhine to Holland, and embark thence for America, or the East-lndies; some of these we have already had Experience of, insomuch that the People here would take off a good Number of them: And it would be of great Service (as we apprehend) to this Colony, at present, to send a Ship over, loaden with Germans, on the same Terms Mr. Hope does to Philadelphia, only taking Care that Provisions for them on their Passage be more plentiful, and that they are less crowded than on board his Ships: The Terms are, they pay Half their Passage themselves on embarking, and six Weeks after their Arrival, to pay the other Half, which they Generally do, with private Contracts to People; but in case they do not, then they may be bound by the Ship's Master for four or five Years, if they are above twenty-one Years of Age; but if under, they may be bound until the Age of twenty-one if Men, and eighteen if Girls. It must be at the same Time confess'd, that divers of these Foreigners have, during the Time of their Servitude, shewn themselves of a dogged Disposition, surly and obstinate, discovering an Averseness to their Masters Orders, which proceeds (as we imagine) from a Dislike of their being subject to Strangers; whilst others again have behaved well; but it may be alledged with Truth, that when, or wheresoever among us, any of them have worked for their own Benefit, they are indefatigable, and out-done by none, which joined with great Parsimony, fits them for excellent Settlers when free. To enable the industrious English Settlers to go on with Planting, who are truly desirous of Cultivating Land; we humbly conceive nothing could be a greater Inducement to it, than that the honourable Trustees would please to import yearly, so long as they see good, a Number of English or Welch Servants, such as are used to hard Labour in the Country, and Strangers to London, to be contracted with in England to serve the Trustees for five Years, from two to four Pounds yearly Wages, according to their Ability, for finding themselves in Apparel. Those Servants, on their Arrival, to be hired, by the Inhabitants for one Year, the Person hiring to pay over and above the contracted Wages, one Pound yearly to the Trustees, so that in five Years the Passage-Money will be paid. And to enable the Planters to pay the said Wages, it is humbly proposed, that a Bounty be settled on every Product of the Land, viz. Corn, Pease, Potatoes, Wine, Silk, Cotton, Flax, &c. to what Value the honorable Trust shall judge meet to be limited in the following, or any other Manner, viz. For the first Years the said Bounty to be payable for Corn, Pease, Potatoes, &c. only; and thenceforward to cease wholly, and the Residue of Years wherein any Bounty should be allowed, to be payable only for Silk, Wine, Oil, &c. by which Means the Planter so assisted might be able to live, whilst at the same Time he propagates Vines, Mulberry-Trees, &c. from which he can expect no immediate Benefit before they come to some Maturity. A Rule to be made, that they who hire the said Servants shall employ them only in Plantation-Work of their own, and not let then out at Hire to Work at handicraft Trades, or any other Business, &c. That each Servant shall serve one whole Year; and if they part at the Year's End he shall find himself another Master within Days to serve for one Year also, and so on to the End of their respective Times to serve; by which Means good Masters will not want good Servants, and 'twill be a great Means to make other Masters become good, in order to get good Servants, or else be content with the bad, or none. If any Disputes arise between Masters and Servants, such to be determined by the Magistrates, according to the Laws of England, wherein the Magistrate concerned as a Party shall not appear as a Judge, or offer to interfere with the Opinion of the others, but acquiesce in their Determination, if it happens to be in Favour of the Servant, whom they ought to defend from cruel Usage, and where they find such evil Treatment either thro' too severe Correction, or want of sufficient wholsome Food, according to the Custom of the Colony, the Magistrates to have Power of vacating such Services, and obliging the Servants to find another Master. The kind Intention of the honourable Trustees to extend the Tenure of Lands in the manner proposed (as signify'd to their Secretary here) gave great Satisfaction to all reasonable Persons who seem'd to desire no more, and only wish to find that ratify'd, which they apprehend to be not yet done, and that occasions some Anxiety about it. Whether these Helps, or whatever other, the honourable Trustees shall be pleas'd to afford us, the Ability of The Inhabitants to support themselves must still in a great Measure depend on the Industry and Frugality of each. Divers in the Province who understand Planting, and are already settled, provided they can attain to some live Stock, can and do support themselves. Men working for Hire, Boat-men, Pack-horse-men, &c. support themselves very well, if they will work; and more such would, were they to be found. Shopkeepers, Tradesmen, and Artificers, such as Tallow-Chandlers, Soap-Boilers, Brasiers, Sadlers, Shoe-makers, Tanners, &c. live very well on their Business here, and many more might, were there more Merchants to import Goods for supplying the Indian Traders, which would increase the Resort to Savannah; whereas those Traders are now obliged to get the greatest Part of what they want from Charles-Town in Carolina. New Planters, and such as go on upon particular Improvements, such as Wine, Silk, &c. will need some Assistance. Magistrates, Constables, and Tything-men, and others whose Time is taken up in the publick Service, require some Allowance for the same. It is also needful for the Well-being of the Colony, that Roads should be maintain'd: Posts for communicating of Letters, and Forts upon the Frontiers, as well towards the Indians as Spaniards, be supported: As likewise other publick Works, which the People here are in no Degree able to bear. When the East Part of the Province of Georgia was taken Possession of under the Trustees Charter by Mr. Oglethorpe, according to the Limits of the British Dominions in America, Forts were erected upon the Extremities to keep up Marks of Possession: The Strength and Materials were of such a Nature, as the Men he had with him could make, and sufficient for Defence against any Strength that could be brought against them by the neighbouring Indians, or Spaniards in Florida. ~END~

LETTER FROM THE REVEREND MR. FREDERICK MICHAEL ZIEGENHAGEN Included with 1740-11-10 A State of the Province of Georgia The Copy of a Letter from the Reverend Mr. Frederick Michael Ziegenhagen, German Chaplain to his Majesty, dated at Kensington, January 11, 1741-2, and sent to the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America. Gentlemen, HAVING seen Paragraphs in Print representing the Saltzburghers as being uneasy with their Settlement at Ebenezer in Georgia, and desirous to remove therefrom; and fearing such Reports (if credited) might give just Offence to your Honors their Guardians, as well as to their Benefactors in Germany, and thereby deprive them from having yours, and their Favors continued. I thought it my indispensible Duty to acquaint your Honors, That by all the Letters and Journals I have received since their Settlement at New Ebenezer, they have express'd quite different Sentiments; and not to trouble you with many Particulars, I beg Leave herewith to inclose you two Extracts of the latest Accounts I received from them in November last.

1741-7-1 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM MR. Thomas JONES AT SAVANNAH Addendum to 1740-11-10 A State of the Province of Georgia [Edited for readability by Amy] Extract of a Letter from Mr. Thomas Jones at Savannah in Georgia, to the Trustees Accountant, dated July 1, 1741. The Trustees German Servants in general behave well, and are industrious: Of these, eight or ten Families are more remarkably c 18 so, and have this last Year purchased a good Stock of Cattle, some having six Cows, the least two; and each having a Garden, where they raise some Corn, Pease, Pumpkins, Potatoes, &c. which with the Milk of their Cows is the chief Part of their Food: They are at little Expense in Clothing, but this exposes them to the Envy and Hatred of our Negro-Mongers, and such who seek the Extirpation of the Colony, as well as of the drunken, idle Sort amongst us. I am informed by Francis Harris and William Russell (who are very conversant with them, and can talk the German Tongue) That they have lately joined, in a Letter writ and sent to their Friends and Acquaintance in Germany, persuading them to come to Georgia, where they may, by their Industry, live in greater Plenty, and more comfortably than they can elsewhere. These Servants are very desirous that (when the Time of their Service is expired) they may have Lands allotted them within twelve or fifteen Miles of Savannah, where they may bring Things by Land-Carriage in a Vicinage, and that they may make one common Fence (as the People of Ebenezer have done) and be assisting to one another.

Addendum to 1740-11-10 A State of the Province of Georgia 1741-7-23 EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM THE REVEREND MR. BOLTZIUS AT EBENEZER Extract of a Letter from the Reverend Mr. Boltzius at Ebenezer, dated the 23d of July, 1741, to the Reverend Dr. Francke, Professor of Divinity at Hall. “TOGETHER with these spirtual Blessings, and the salutary Effect of the Word of God to the Conversion of many “ Souls, we enjoy also this Year, by the Mercy of God, many “temporal good Things. The present War, and the Burden of it hath not affected “ us yet, and we don't feel the least of it; and in the great “ Dearness the Colony suffered last Year, we have not been in “ Want of necessary Provisions. As to the present Year, we “ have a very hopeful Prospect of a good Harvest, every Thing “ in the Fields and Gardens growing so delightful, as our Eyes “ hardly have seen in this Country before. * If Isaac, by the “ Blessing of the Lord, received from what he had sowed, an “ hundred Fold, I believe, I dare say, to the Praise of the great “ Mercy of God over us, our Saltzburghers will get thousand “ Fold, notwithstanding that the Corn, when it came out of the “ Ground, was eaten quite up two or three Times by the Worms, “ of which nobody can hardly form a right Idea, except he sees “ it with his own Eyes. Wheat, Rice, and other Grain, must be “ sowed very thin, because each Grain brings forth fifty, an hundred, “ or more Stalks and Ears. The Land is really very “ fruitful, if the Sins of the Inhabitants, and the Curse of God “ for such Sins, doth not eat it up, which was formerly the unhappy “ Case of the blessed Land of Canaan. * Gen. xxvi. 12. And I am heartily sorry to acquaint you, that I don't find “ in some of the Inhabitants of the Colony, a due Thankfulness, “ for, and Contentment with the many Benefits bestowed on “ them for several Years together; although those who are industrious, “ and will labor for their Maintenance, may, as we “ do, live contentedly, and subsist under the Blessing of God, “ promised by St. Paul, Heb. xiii. 5. I will never leave thee, “ nor forsake thee. Which Blessing the Idle and Unthankful “ are not intitled to.” Extract out of the Journal of Mr. Boltzius, Minister of the Gospel at Ebenezer in Georgia “ THE 10th of August, 1741. We have this Year Plenty ”of Peaches, and as this Fruit doth not keep, some of 20 “ our People try to make a certain Sort of Brandy of them, “ others give them to the Swine: This is more than any body “ could have promised to himself, or others, some Years ago. “ Even at this Time, when I am writing this, a Man brings a “ large Dish of blue Grapes to me, grown wild in the Woods; “ they are of a sweet Taste, and pretty like our European “ Grapes; that I am very apt to believe, the wild Vine-Trees, “ if properly managed, would give good Wine. Thanks be to “ our gracious God, who gives us here every good Thing for our “ Support. “ The 9th of September, 1741. Some Time ago I wrote to “ an honored Friend in Europe, That the Land in this Country “ if well managed and labored, brings forth, by the Blessings “ of God, not only hundred Fold, but thousand Fold; and “ I this Day was confirmed therein. A Woman having two “ Years ago picked out of Indian Corn, brought at Purysburgh, “ no more than three Grains of Rye (called here German Corn),‘ and planting them here at Ebenezer, one of these Grains produced “ an hundred and seventy Stalks and Ears, and the three “ Grains yielded to her a Bag of Corn as large as a Coat-Pocket, “, the Grains whereof were good and full grown; and she “ desired me to send Part of them to a kind Benefactor in “ Europe. One of our Saltzburghers brought to me also a like “ Bag of Beans all grown out of one Bean. “ True it is, notwithstanding the Fertility of the Land, the “ first Tillagers of it must undergo and struggle with great “ Difficulties; but them that come after them will reap the Benefit “ thereof, if they go on to do their Labor in the Fear of “ God. “ The Land is able to provide every good Thing, and more “ particularly is Pasturage very plenteous.”