Muscogee County GaArchives News.....Oglethorpe April 16, 1978 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Thacker CGT714@aol.co August 29, 2007, 3:48 pm Ledger-Enquirer (Special Sesquicentennial) April 16, 1978 Oglethorpe By Roger A. Martin Guest Columnist James Edward Oglethorpe's name is almost synonymous with the founding of Georgia. His fame lies chiefly in what he contributed in both personal energy and fortune to the establishment and success of the last of the original thirteen colonies In America. On a broader canvas, however, Oglethorpe's life consisted of three distinct phases - his early years in England and Europe, his mature years in Georgia, and his final years in England. Oglethorpe was born in London on December 22, 1696, the son of Theophilus and Eleanor Wall Oglethorpe. Both his parents were devoted to the exiled Stuart line of English kings and were frequently under suspicion of the English government for being involved in various plots to return the Stuarts to the English throne. Such suspicion was well founded, particularly with regard to Oglethorpe's mother, whose Stuart or Jacobite sympathies were so strong that she maintained a vigorous interest in politics all her life and powerfully influenced her children to follow her inclinations. After attending Eton and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, James Oglethorpe held several army commissions and gained some distinction as an army officer. Eventually he went to Europe where he joined his family in their close associations with the court of James III, the exiled Stuart who hoped to regain the English throne. Oglethorpe's military experience served him well later in his career, but his Jacobite associations came back to haunt him even after he had long abandoned them. In 1719 Oglethorpe returned to England to his family estate of Westbrook at Godalming, Surrey. After several years of quiet life he was ready to try for a seat in Parliament; and in 1722 he won a seat from Haslemere which he held for thirty-two years, even while he was in Georgia. As a member of Parliament Oglethorpe filled many committee positions, but his reputation soon came to be that of a man whose primary interests were humanitarian and imperialistic. His humanitarian concerns came to the fore when he was appointed to a committee to investigate the conditions of jails in England. In spite of firerce opposition, Oglethorpe's committee brought In a scathing indictment of the inhumane practices and sordid state of the English penal system. The plight of those jailed because they could not pay their debts received special attention in the committee's report. In 1728, Oglethorpe also published an expose of the brutal practices of the English Navy, particularly the practice of impressment, in a pamphlet entitled The Sailor's Advocate. To aid the released debtors, Oglethorpe and friends of the deceased Dr. Thomas Bray promoted a new colony in America for them. The most logical place for a new colony was to the south and west of Carolina where it would act as a buffer against further French and Spanish expansion. By this sequence of events, philanthrophy and imperialism were united. With characteristic vigor and determination. Oglethorpe threw himself into securing a charter for the proposed colony. This document was granted in 1732 to a group called the Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America. After he led the campaign to raise money for the project and to publicize it, Oglethorpe decided to accompany the first group of colonists to Georgia. This intrepid little band of adventurers, who were not released debtors, left England late in 1732 and by January 13, 1733, they had reached Charleston, South Carolina. On February 12, 1733, they landed at the site of what is now the city of Savannah. and the colony of Georgia was launched. During the early days of the colony Oglethorpe was masterful in his leadership. He quickly gained the trust of the Indians, obtained the rights to the land for the colony from them. and put the colony on a sound footing in Its wilderness setting. Even though the British government did not encourage the immigration of European religious groups to Georgia, Oglethorpe actively sought the admission of the Salzburger Lutherans, Scots Highlander Presbyterians! Moravians, and others. The Indians and the various religious groups that immigrated to Georgia continued to respect and appreciate Oglethorpe for many years, mainly because of his fairness in dealing with them. When Oglethorpe returned to England in 1734, he took along his Indian friend, Tomo-Chi-Chi. mico of the Yamacraws, and several other Indians in what turned out to be a public relations coup. The personal eloquence of both Oglethorpe and Tomo-Chi-Chi, coupled with the dramatic appearances of the Indians in England society, soon increased interest in the colony, Consequently, by 1736 Oglethorpe was back in Georgia wrestling with the problems of that young, growing colony. One of Georgia's major problems arose out of the fact that the colony's existence was bound up with Europe's balance of power conflicts, especially with the struggles of Great Britain, France, and Spain for territory in North America. When Oglethorpe founded Frederica on St. Simons Island in 1736, as an outpost against the Spaniards, he set off furious diplomatic exchanges in London, Madrid, Havana, and St. Augustine. Because of rising wrath of Spain, excessive expenditures for erecting forts on the Georgia frontier, and complaints by South Carolina over Indian trade, Oglethorpe had to return to England again in 1736-37. He was able to mollify the "Trustees and settle the dispute with South Carolina, but the Spanish problem proved more difficult. Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that Prime Minister Walpole was caught between the defense needs of Georgia and diplomatic pressures from Madrid, Oglethorpe finally secured a regiment of men; and In 1738 he returned to Georgia determined to resist the Spanish at St. Augustine. In 1739 England declared war on Spain. The next year Oglethorpe led a military expedition against St. Augustine but was unsuccessful. Two years later, the Spanish attacked Frederica and were repulsed in the Battle of Bloody Marsh. In the defense of Georgia, Oglethorpe borrowed heavily upon his English property and used every resource at his command to save the colony for the empire. While his attention was given to military matters, internal problems in Georgia caused complaints to be registered against Oglethorpe in London. When a second foray against St. Augustine failed in 1743, Oglethorpe went back to England to answer the charges against him and never again returned to Georgia. The last phase of Oglethorpe's life began with his return to England and his marriage to Elizabeth Wright, heiress of Cranham Hall, Essex, on September 15, 1744. He returned to army life and took part in the resistance against the Jacobite invasion of 1745, but his failure to capture a part of the enemy force when ordered to do so led to a revival of old suspicions of Jacobite sympathies. Oglethorpe was brought to trial and acquitted in the court martial proceedings, but his military career was seriously impaired thereafter. In the 1750s he lost his seat In Parliament and his public career declined, but those reversals did not deter him from an active and vigorous life. In his late years he participated in the literary life of England and became a friend of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, and Oliver Goldsmith. When James Oglethorpe died on June 30, 1785, a career- ended that had been characterized by wide interests, courage, life-long stamina, dedication to humanitarian causes, and enduring fame for his extraordinary leadership and personal sacrifices in the founding of the colony of Georgia. Special Sesquicentennial Supplement 1 Ledger-Enquirer, Sunday, April 16, 1978 Page S4 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/muscogee/newspapers/oglethor2335gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 8.5 Kb