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EIGHTEENTH CENTURY GEORGIA WOMEN By HELEN R. BARTLETT i Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland in partial fulfillm ent of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosonhy 1939. UMI Number: DP70066 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI* Dissertation Publishing UMI DP70066 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 I wish to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to my adviser, Dr. Hayes-Baker Crothers, who suggested the topic of this thesis and who at all times encouraged and assisted me, in the long and tedious hours of its preparation, with deepest kindness and utmost patience, to its ultimate conclusion. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE I The Influence of Women in the Founding of Georgia and its Early Development ................... 1 I I Mary M usgrove.................................................................... 10 III The Legal Status of the Women of Georgia in the Eighteenth Century..................................... 41 IV A Sketch of the Economic Conditions in Georgia in the Eighteenth Century,................. 53 V The Economic Status of the Women of Georgia in the Eighteenth Century..................................... 62 VI Women of Georgia in the Revolution, .. 77 VII Amusements in the Eighteenth Century................ 89 VIII Education for Women in Georgia in the Eighteenth Century.. ............................................ 101 IX The Everyday Life of the Women of Georgia in the Eighteenth Century...................................... 116 CHAPTER I THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN IN THE FOUNDING OF GEORGIA AND ITS EARLY DEVELOPMENT• Georgia, the last of the thirteen American Colonies, was founded through the influence and under the leadership of the soldier-philanthropist, James Edward Oglethorpe. His interest had been aroused in the many people in the prisons of England, due to the laws which made criminals of all men who could not pay their debts. He proposed to establish these debtors in a colony in the new world. Also, as a soldier fighting in Europe under Eugene of Savoy, he had learned of the persecutions of the Protestants in Germany. He hoped that they, too, would find a haven in his new colony. With an eye for economic gain, he wished to establish a colony which would serve as a base for a profitable fur trade with the Indians. Although the above motives were very powerful in the colonization of Georgia, the real reason was a military one. Oglethorpe, a soldier, wished to establish a buffer state against the im perialistic ambitions of Spain, and to keep her within the boundaries of Florida. With such an aim, it was easy to secure the interest of the British Government, as well as financial aid. A charter was issued, similar to the proprietary grants in Maryland and the Karolinas except for the grantir^; of the land to a hoard of trustees instead of the individual pro prietor s, The government was to he in the hands of these trustees for a period of twenty-one years, when it would revert to the crown, A committee of the trustees was to form the council, and this body, in turn, was to appoint the governor. The governor and the council were empowered to make the laws, which must not he contrary to those of England. The people could suggest laws, hut had no way of compelling the lawmakers to accept them. Religious freedom was granted. Slavery was forbidden. One reason for pro hibiting slaves was, TTProduce designed by the trustees to he raised in the colony, i.e., Silk and. Other produces were such as women and children would be of as much use as negroes”if . 1 In the original charter women were not allowed to hold land or to inherit land. Benjamin Martyn, the Secretary, gives the following reasons for this: The lands in the charter were granted to men only; because, if women were allowed to hold or inherit land they TOM 181 por^fon of one soldier. Also, by intermarriage several lots might have been united into one. And again, if a man lied several daughters his lot would have to be divided among them all. Also — women being equally incapable to act as soldiers or serve on juries, these duties ^ Benjamin Martyn, An Account Shewing the Progress of the Colony of Georgia in~lwnerica from I t ’ s First Establish - ment (London, 1741), p. 9. 3 and many o th e rs , such a s w atchings and wardings, should return so much oftener in proportion to the number of the men in the township was lessened, and by th a t means be very burdensome to tiie remaining male lot-holders. And in case of any attack from Indians, French or Spaniards, the township g would be less able tc make an escape. However, in this case,, as in many other instances later, the trustees found it was far easier to make rules and regulations than to enforce them. When they made known the objects and terms of the charter to the one hundred fourteen persons whom they had resolved to send, they received protests from four. These desired their daughters, as well as their sons, to inherit. The trustees decided that these and all others of like mind should have the privilege of naming a successor to 1he lands granted them, who, in case the possessor should die without male issue, should hold same to their male heirs forever. They also agreed that widows should have their thirds as in England. These concessions satisfied the people for the time being. Thus the Georgia colonists struck a' blow for WomenTs rights before they ever set sail for the new world. p Benjamin Martyn, An Account ^hewing the Progress of the Colony of Georgia in America from It"’"s'First Tistablish- medi (London, 1741), pp. 5-6. ~ 4 South Carolina welcomed the news that a colony was to be established to the south# Her people had suffered severe ly from both Indian raids and marauding parties of Spaniards, and this new colony would serve as a buffer state to protect them# Oglethorpe was invited to land first in the Carolina colony and to remain there at its expense until a suitable site for settlement should have been selected# Accordingly, Oglethorpe and his colonists landed first in Charlestown# From there they went to Beaufort, where the colonists, by courtesy of Governor Johnson, occupied the new barracks until Oglethorpe, accompanied by William Bull and Jonathan Bryan, could visit the future settlement* The prospecting party left in an Indian canoe*, and after winding in and out among the small islands at the mouth of the Savannah River they at length espied, some miles up the stream, a bluff crowned with pine trees, at the western end of which was a v illa g e , calleci^ Yamacraw# The chief of the trvbe to which the village belonged was named Tomo-chi-chi# There was here a trading post owned by a man named John Musgrove, whose wife Mary was an Indian half breed# At first the old chief refused to grant the request of the Europeans for land on which to settle but through the good offices of Mary Musgrove he f i n a l ly consented to enter into treaty negotiations, after which the land was surveyed and the party returned to Beaufort for the colonists# ® F.D. Lee and J . l . Agnew, H is to ric a l Records of Savannah (Savannah, 1868), pp. 3-4# Two years later, to protect Savannah from the ravages of enemy In d ia n s, th e tr u s te e s l a i d out, to the so u th , a new town which was called Frederica* For some time after this the Savannah settlement was known as the Northern Province and the one around Frederica as the Southern Province* In March, 1734. a group of Salzburgers came to Georgia and settled at Ebenezer, the translation of which is, "Here we r e s t " . Augusta was s e ttle d in 1737* Thus Georgia was settled; but, from the very beginning the struggle to establish a prosperous colony was not successful* Many reasons may be given, among which are the following: Oglethorpe was a military despot; there was no Assembly until 1751; the regions of settlement were fertile but malarial; the land grants were small; slavery was pro hibited. The.Se may have been only contributing factors toward the fa te of a p ro je c t which was doomed to f a i l , even as a similar experiment in the Garolinas had done. The trustees planned the colony in England with no real knowledge of the land or the nature of the settlers when placed in a new environment. They made a pattern which Just failed to fit. In 1737 the tr u s te e s receiv ed word o f u n easin ess among the people about the confining of land holdings to male heirs. They, being apprehensive of the success of their undertaking, hurried to make further concessions in regard to the holding of land by women. They considered that the 6 colony had heen established long enough efad that the people were numerous enough; and, since a regiment was stationed in it for defense, that former tenures were unnecessary.