Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

August 8

1775 The Georgia Whigs' Council of Safety wrote a letter to royal governor James Wright asking that members of Georgia militia companies be allowed to elect their own officers. The reason – "many of the commissioned officers in the militia are disagreeable to the people over whom they command." Wright would turn the request down, fearing that Whigs were attempting to take over Georgia's militia.

1776 A printed copy of the Declaration of Independence reached Savannah, and Archibald Bulloch read it to the Council of Safety.

1899 Former Georgia governor William Y. Atkinson died during a trip to Florida. See Nov. 11 entry for biographical information on Atkinson.

1913 In day eleven of the Leo Frank trial, the defense had civil engineer T. H. Willett draw a diagram of the National Pencil Factory showing how the murder could have been committed on the first floor without the knowledge of anyone (including Leo Frank) working on the second floor. Daisy Hopkins, one of the women C.B. Dalton had claimed he met for immoral purposes at the factory, denied having ever met Dalton or Leo Frank. Two street car conductors testified Mary Phagan had ridden alone the morning of her murder, contradicting the testimony of George Epps. Assistant factory manager N.V. Darley said he believed Conley and Dalton were lying about trysts in the basement, as he worked most Saturdays and would have known of such actions. Factory timekeeper E.F. Holloway said he worked every Saturday and had never seen Conley and Frank interact, and that he had never seen a woman other than Frank's wife in his office. Click here for a detailed accounting of the case.

1925 Gov. Clifford Walker signed an act prohibiting dancing on Sunday at any public place in the state of Georgia. Any owner of a public place allowing dancing could be convicted of a misdemeanor.

1941The U.S. Army Air Corps awarded a contract to Griffin, Mion, and Shepherd of Atlanta to begin construction of an aircraft supply and repair depot at Wellston, a small community in Houston County, Ga. This new facility would eventually become the Robins Air Force Base.

1957 In Montgomery, Ala., Martin Luther King and over 100 black leaders met for a two-day conference. Out of their meeting would come the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Source: Georgia Public Broadcasting

1958 Television host and former Today Show anchor Deborah Norville was born on this day in Dalton, Georgia.

Source: Publicity Photo, Photographer Unknown
Taken from Speaker Resource Center

1959 Inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame were Ray Beck, Sam Burke, Dickie Butler, George Mathews, Mark Smith, and Drane Watson.

Source: Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

1959 Stonewall Jackson – and yes, that's his real name – went to number one on the popular and country music charts with "Waterloo" – a song he wrote and recorded. Born in North Carolina, Jackson grew up on a sharecropping farm near Moultrie, Georgia.

Source: Publicity Photo of Album Cover, Photographer Unknown

2002 With a full month left in the season, relief pitcher John Smoltz got his 40th save as the Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-1 in Phoenix. Relieving Tom Glavine to pitch the final inning, Smoltz's save broke the Braves franchise record for season saves.

Source: Wikipedia Public Domain Image

2009 Cairo, Georgia native and two time UGA All American Teresa Edwards was selected for induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. Edwards is the only American basketball player – male or female – to participate in five Olympic games. She won four gold medals and one bronze.

Source: Hoopedia

Georgia cities and towns incorporated by acts approved on Aug. 8:

1912 Bethel (Dodge County)

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1776 Georgia's Council of Safety finally received a copy of an important document that had been adopted in Philadelphia the previous month:

"At a meeting of the Council of Safety, Aug. 8th, 1776. . . . The President laid before the Board a letter from the Honorable John Hancock, Esqr., together with a copy of the Declaration of Independency [sic], which being read it was agreed that it be proclaimed in this Town on Saturday next at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and that orders do issue to the Commanding Officers of the Militia to assemble the people accordingly. . . ."

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, (Savannah: Savannah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 1901),Vol. V, Part 1, p. 89.

1862 The Georgia Weekly Telegraph of Macon printed an editorial expressing the belief that the Northern intent in the Civil War was extermination of the South:

Source: Digital Library of Georgia

1864 From his headquarters north of Atlanta, Sherman sent Army of the Cumberland commander Maj. Gen. George Thomas a letter with instructions for the next day:

"Orders for to-morrow, August 9: All the batteries that can reach the buildings of Atlanta will fire steadily on the town to-morrow, using during the day about fifty rounds per gun, shell and solid shot. General Schofield will, during the cannonading, completely develop the enemy's strength and position on his left flank."

Source: U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (originally printed 1891, reprinted by The National Historical Society, 1971), Part 5, Vol. 38, p. 431.

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