Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

April 30

1789 In inauguration ceremonies at Federal Hall in New York City, George Washington was sworn in as the the first president of the United States under the new national constitution.

1825 Creek chieftain William McIntosh died at his plantation home, Lockchau Talofau, in what is now Carroll County, Georgia. [Some sources – such as the Dictionary of Georgia Biography – incorrectly cite May 1 as the date of his death.]

McIntosh was the son of a Creek Indian mother and a Tory officer father. Through his father he was related to several notable Georgia officials, including his cousin George Troup, governor from 1823-1827. But the Creeks traced lineage through the mother; thus McIntosh became a chief among the Lower Creeks, who lived near and interacted more with whites than did the Upper Creeks, who lived along the Alabama, Tallapoosa, and and Coosa Rivers.

McIntosh was successful in the white man's world, operating a tavern and a large plantation. Much of his land was obtained through treaties he helped to negotiate, treaties that ceded more and more Creek lands to Georgia. McIntosh believed in living amicably with whites, which earned him many enemies among the Upper Creeks. Civil war actually broke out between the Creek factions in 1813, requiring federal intervention led by General Andrew Jackson. McIntosh fought with the Americans, eventually rising to the rank of brigadier general. In 1821, McIntosh helped negotiate the first Treaty of the Indian Spring, which ceded to Georgia all lands between the Ocmulgee and Flint Rivers. The Upper Creeks took a stand, vowing death to anyone who agreed to cede any more Creek land. When McIntosh's cousin Troup became governor he intended to remove all Indians from Georgia soil. No upper Creeks would negotiate with American officials, but a group of Lower Creeks, led by McIntosh, signed the second Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825 which ceded all remaining Creek lands to Georgia, giving them equal acreage in Arkansas, but also rewarding McIntosh with more money and land. The negotiations were rife with bribery and corruption; when the Upper Creeks received word of the treaty they took immediate action. Surrounding McIntosh at his plantation, they set the house on fire. When McIntosh was forced from the building he was attacked and killed, being stabbed numerous times, then scalped.

Due to the circumstances in which the Indian Springs treaty had been negotiated and signed, president John Quincy Adams refused to present it to the Senate for ratification, but separate treaties in the next two years completed the Creek removal from Georgia. William McIntosh remains an enigmatic figure in Georgia history, viewed by some as a talented businessman and military leader who foresaw the inevitable advance of the white man and tried to salvage what he could for the Creeks, while being viewed by others as a traitor to his people.

1861 John Archibald Campbell resigned from the U.S. Supreme Court to serve the Confederacy as Assistant Secretary of War. Born June 24, 1811 near Washington, Georgia, Campbell attended the University of Georgia, graduating at an early age. Campbell later practiced law in Alabama. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed Campbell to the U.S. Supreme Court, where four years later he sided with the majority decision in the Dred Scott case, adding his own concurring opinion in the important case. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Campbell resigned from the high court and became Assistant Secretary of War for the Confederacy. Imprisoned briefly after the war, Campbell was released by President Andrew Johnson. Afterwards, Campbell practiced law in New Orleans until his death in 1889.

For more, see This Week in Georgia Civil War History.

1886 Aboard a special train decorated with flags and bunting bound from Montgomery to Atlanta to participate in the unveiling of a monument to his loyal friend Benjamin Hill on May 1, former Confederate president Jefferson Davis stopped in LaGrange, Hill's birthplace, and briefly addressed the crowd that had turned out to honor him. Accompany Davis was his daughter, Winnie, and former Confederate general John B. Gordon.

Jefferson Davis's Train Stopped in LaGrange, Georgia

Jefferson Davis (center beneath crossed flags) Speaking to LaGrange Crowd

1913 At an inquest into the death of Mary Phagan, more suspicion began to fall on Leo Frank, superintendent of the pencil factory where Phagan had worked.

George Epps, a fifteen-year-old friend of Phagan, testified that she had been afraid of Frank because he had flirted and made advances toward her. Newt Lee, the night watchman who had discovered her body, testified that Frank was nervous the day of the murder and had telephoned to see if everything was all right at the factory – which Lee said was not Frank's usual practice. But two mechanics who had worked on the top floor of the factory that morning disputed Lee's story, saying Frank had acted normally. For more, see the Leo Frank Case page.

1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Georgia for his twenty-third visit to his "second home." This was his first trip to Warm Springs after announcing the previous January that he would seek the Democratic nomination for President.

1953 A major tornado damaged all operations at Robins Air Force Base and other areas of middle Georgia. The tornado left 18 dead, 350 injured, 1000 homeless, and $10 million in damages.

1975 Elvis Presley opened a three-night concert in Atlanta's Omni. This was the third of four Presley concerts in Atlanta.

1985 Atlanta Brave Dale Murphy ended the month of April by knocking in two runs in an 8-4 victory over the Cincinnati Red. These two runs gave Murphy 29 runs batted in for the month of April, tying a National League record.

1996 The Carter Center launched the Global 2000 River Blindness Program in order to expand its efforts to fight river blindness disease.

2000 Playing in San Diego, the Atlanta Braves tied a franchise record of 13 consecutive wins by beating the Padres 7-4 behind the pitching of Tom Glavine.

2001 The Athens Daily News published its last edition. The daily publication began publication on June 17, 1965, giving Athens a morning newspaper to compete with the evening The Banner-Herald. On the initial staff was 19-year-old University of Georgia student Lewis Grizzard, who would later become nationally famous as a columnist, author, and speaker. In 1967, Morris Communications, owner of The Banner-Herald, purchased the Daily News. After 34 years, the publishers felt that Athens was not large enough to support two daily newspapers, so effective May 1, 2001, the two were combined into the Athens Banner-Herald.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1740 The Duke of Newcastle was Britain's Secretary of State for the Colonies. On this day, from Ft. Frederica, James Oglethorpe wrote Newcastle on the status of his plans to try to capture St. Augustine, as directed by King George II:

"Having received His Majesty's orders from Your Grace to make an attempt upon the town and castle of Augustine with what number of men I could be able to raise in Carolina, at Purrysburg and in Georgia, and also with what Indians I could be joined by, I have prevailed with the people of Carolina to raise and pay a regiment of 400 men, of which only 20 yet have joined me. I raise in Georgia one troop of Highland Rangers on horseback, one troop of English Rangers on horseback, one company of Highland foot and one company of English foot, of which the Establishments are enclosed. I am obliged to give this high pay because Carolina has given the same, but after four months they will be upon the same Establishment as the rest of the regiment, if His Majesty is pleased to order them to be continued. I have taken into service the sloops and boats mentioned in the enclosed schedule, besides those which come from Charles Town, being necessary for the transporting the regiment, the other forces and the Indians with their provisions, &c., and for defending the rivers, which would otherwise be open to the insults of the Spanish half-galleys who lately ventured to attack one of the King's ships under the command of Captain Warren and afterwards saved themselves in shoal water. If Augustine is not taken, the rowboats are the only means of protecting the plantations upon the islands of Carolina from the Spanish half-galleys and launches. For by putting on board them 100 men of the regiment we can fight their galleys in shoal water or defeat their men if landed. Upwards of 100 Indians have already joined me. I expect 1000 in all. The presents and food for the Indians for four months will amount to, by computation, £ Sterling per head. I hope by these, with the assistance of the stores sent from the Office of Ordnance and His Majesty's ships, to give a very good account of Augustine, though the place is much stronger and better garrisoned than, I believe, was represented at home. My chief dependence is upon the courage of His Majesty's subjects and the bad situation of the enemy from the crowd of useless mouths, the noneffectives and the discontent of the soldiers, some of whom are taken or desert daily and take on service with us. I hope Your Grace will represent this matter in such a light to His Majesty that provision may be made for payment of the expenses incurred here upon this occasion.

"I am, My Lord, Your Grace's most obedient, humble servant."

Mills Lane (ed.), General Oglethorpe's Georgia: Colonial Letters, 1733-1743 (Savannah: Library of Georgia, 1990), Vol. II, pp. 458-459.

1772 This letter from James Habersham to one of the king's secretaries shows that, while disputes between the Crown and colonies were brewing, Habersham himself had not yet become a revolutionary. The dispute arose over the Commons House's repeated attempts to name Noble Wimberly Jones, an outspoken critic of British policies, as Speaker of the House:

"Savannah in Georgia the 30th April 1772 My Lord The 21st Inst [Instant], I met the General Assembly, and am very sorry to inform your lordship, that after a fruitless Attempt on my Part to make the Commons House sensible of their Duty to the King, in acknowledging His Majesty's just, undoubted and indisputable Right to negative a Speaker and their Folly in attempting to violate our happy Constitution, I failed, and was obliged to dissolve them as your Lordship will observe by a Copy of the Journals of both Houses, which I now transmit to your Lordship."

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, The Letters of the Hon. James Habersham, 1756-1775 (Savannah, The Georgia Historical Society, 1904), Vol. VI, p. 174.

1861 From a new training camp for Georgia recruits at Marietta, Georgia, Tom Dowtin wrote his sister:

"Your very kind and affectionate letter of the 21st was forwarded to me at this place from Cassville and received on yesterday. It afforded me much pleasure to hear from you and to know that you sometimes think of your absent Brother. As you can perceive from the heading of my letter, I am now in encampment five miles below Marietta. We have been here a week today. Only the officers of the companies are here. We came here for the purpose of drilling and becoming well qualified to march our men against the enemy. We are daily expecting to receive orders to go to Virginia, when we will go home, get our men and pitch into the heat of battle. I am quite anxious to receive orders, as I should not like for any fighting to be done unless I had some hand in it. I hope that, if I am compelled to go, that you will often think of me and write to me at every opportunity. I guess that David will soon be enabled to return unless he goes to Virginia.

"We are living here like regular soldiers, sleeping on the ground under tents and eating beef, bacon and loaves [of] bread. We also have to stand guard. We rise at 5 in the morning and retire at 10 in the night. There are about thirty-five companies represented here. If you could see them marching around and hear the drum and fife, you would be compelled to say that the North can never conquer the South whilst there lives a man to fight. I trust that the God of battles will be on our side and conducts us safely through the wars and crown us with victory! I am determined to fight if there is any done, as I had rather die on the battlefield than live and see my country needing my services. I am ready and willing to devote my all to my country. Governor Brown is here today reviewing the troops. As my ankle is badly sprained, I am compelled to stay in my tent today. I sent to see Nannie just before I came down here. She is getting on finely. I must close, as I am tired writing. I have written this on my trunk, whilst I am sitting on the ground.

"Give my love to all. Write me and believe me as ever your Brother."

Source: Mills Lane (ed.), "Dear Mother: Don't grieve about me. If I get killed, I'll only be dead.": Letters from Georgia Soldiers in the Civil War (Savannah: Beehive Press, 1990), p. 7.

1865 On this day in 1865 Eliza Frances Andrews and family received the word her brother had been wounded in battle:

"April 30, Sunday.– We were all standing under the ash tree by the fountain after breakfast, watching the antics of a squirrel up in the branches, when Gen. Elzey and Touch [name by which the general's son, Arnold, a lad of 14, was known among his friends] came to tell us that Garnett [her brother] was wounded in the fight at Salisbury, N.C. Mr Saile brought the news from Augusta, but could give no particulars except that his wound was not considered dangerous, and that his galvanized Yanks behaved badly, as anybody might have known they would. A little later the mail brought a letter from Gen. Gardiner, his commanding officer, entirely relieving our fears for his personal safety. He is a prisoner, but will soon be paroled."

Source: Eliza Frances Andrews, The War-Time Journal of a Georgia Girl, 1864-1865 (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1908), p. 190.

For more, see This Week in Georgia Civil War History.