Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

January 7

1755 After the Trustees gave up their charter in 1752, Georgia began a two-year transition to the status of royal colony. On Mar. 5, 1754, the British Board of Trade proposed a new form of government for Georgia -- one that included a royal governor and the colony's first real legislative body. On Jan. 7, 1755, Georgia's new General Assembly met for the first time -- in Savannah. The lower chamber, known as the Commons House of Assembly, consisted of elected representatives. The upper chamber, known as the Upper House of Assembly, consisted of 12 members appointed by the royal governor plus 2 additional members named by the king. These 14 members also served an executive role as a Governor's Council -- advising the royal governor on the administration of government.

1789 Georgia voters, participating in the first U.S. presidential election, cast their vote for electors. A month later, Georgia's electors met in Augusta and voted for George Washington as the nation's first president.

1795 Gov. George Mathews signed a laudable-sounding piece of legislation that had as its title:

An Act supplementary to an Act entitled 'An Act for appropriating a part of the unlocated territory of this state for the payment of the late state troops, and for other purposes therein mentioned, declaring the right of this State to the unappropriated territory thereof, for the protection and support of the frontiers of this State, and for other purposes.'

This was the formal description of what would become known as the Yazoo Act -- the most controversial single piece of legislation ever enacted by the General Assembly. Four private land companies had bribed state legislators to pass the law, which allowed them to purchase 35 million acres of Georgia's western lands for less than 2 cents per acre [see map]. Because many of the legislators who voted for the act owned stock in the land companies, this became known as the Yazoo Land Fraud. Once the people of Georgia learned what had been done, there was immediate reaction, resulting in election of a new legislature which not only repealed the Yazoo Act but demanded that every copy of the law be destroyed. However, attempts to reclaim lands sold by the companies by refunding the purchase price were less successful, with some purchasers refusing to sell the land back. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court would rule against Georgia's attempts to reclaim land sold as a result of the Yazoo Act.

1821 Georgia Congressman Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell was born in Wilkes County, Ga. He became a lawyer, and in 1856 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served until resigning on Jan. 23, 1861. In the Civil War, he helped raise the 7th Georgia Infantry, and in May 1861 he served as a colonel during the Battle of First Manassas. In January 1862, Gartrell resigned from military service to serve in the Confederate Congress. He later returned to military service, and in August 1864 was promoted to brigadier general. After the fall of Atlanta, Gartrell commanded four Georgia reserve regiments that tried to hamper Sherman's March to the Sea. Gartrell died on April 7, 1891 in Atlanta, Ga.

1839 The Georgia Female College opened in Macon with ninety students in the initial class. Chartered by the General Assembly on Dec. 23, 1836, it was the first female college with degree-granting powers to be chartered by any state. In 1919, the school's name was changed to Wesleyan College.

1861 Georgia Senator Robert Toombs gave his farewell speech to the U.S. Senate. In it, he warned that if northern states refused to grant southern states their constitutional rights, "We shall then ask you 'Let us depart in peace.' Refuse that, and you present us war. We accept it; and inscribing upon our banners the glorious words, 'Liberty and Equality,' we will trust in the blood of the brave and the God of Battles for security and tranquility."

1868 Shortly after assuming command of the Third Military District, Gen. George Meade wrote Georgia's provisional governor Charles Jenkins requesting that Jenkins issue a warrant for $40,000 from the state treasury to cover the expenses of the constitutional convention then meeting in Atlanta. Jenkins, however, declined on the grounds that Georgia's constitution did not authorize him to pay expenses of a convention called by military authorities. This refusal led Gen. Meade to remove Gov. Jenkins from office six days later [see Jan. 13 entry].

1911 Actress Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen was born in Tampa, Florida. She lived part of her youth in Augusta, Ga., but graduated from high school in New York. She became a dancer (where she earned the "Butterfly" nickname), but is better remembered for her acting on stage, radio, television, and motion pictures. Though she graduated from college in 1975, McQueen will always be remembered for her role as Prissy in the movie Gone With the Wind--in particular her line, "Oh, Miss Scarlett, I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies"). She died near Augusta on Nov. 25, 1995, when her clothes caught on fire while trying to light a lantern.

1913 Major league baseball hall of famer John Robert ("The Big Cat") Mize was born in Demorest, Ga. As a youth he was an accomplished tennis player, but baseball was his real sport. He went straight from high school into professional baseball, where he played first base for the St. Louis Cardinals (1936-41), New York Giants (1942-49), and New York Yankees (1949-53). Mize was the only major league player to hit three home runs in a single game six times. During his career, he tied or lead the National League in home runs in four different seasons (with a career high of 51 in 1947). Mize retired from baseball in 1953 with a career batting average of .312. He was inducted into the Baseball of Fame in 1981. He died in his hometown of Demorest on June 2, 1993.

1961 On a Saturday, Hamilton Holmes drove from Atlanta to Athens to begin registration at the University of Georgia. His enrollment proceeds without incident, and a group of student leaders pledges to try to assist in the peaceful desegregation of the University.

1997 Despite criticisms by some Republican colleagues, Newt Gingrich became the first Republican to be reelected as Speaker of the House in 68 years. This would prove his last term. Voters of Georgia's 6th congressional district seat gave Gingrich an overwhelming win in the November 3, 1998 general election. However, nationally, Republicans did not do as well as expected -- and some Republicans suggested that Gingrich might be the reason. Consequently, on Nov. 6 he announced his intention to resign his seat.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1797 From Cusseta on the Chattahoochee River, Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins wrote Col. Henry Gaither at Fort Fidius on the Oconee River about his successful trip through the Creek Nation. Hawkins also indicated his plans to begin the long-delayed surveying of the Indian boundary agreed on in 1794 in the Treaty of Philadelphia:

". . . I have visited the Cussetas; several of the chiefs were at home, and 3 of the Mico's, two of whom you know, Fusatchee Mico and Tussekiah Mico. They are as friendly as I could wish. . . . I shall probably visit you some time next month, as I have fixed the 10th of March for running the line from the Apalatchee over the Currahee Mountain to Tugalo. . . . It has been expressly enjoined on all Indians now out not to cross the Oconee, on any account whatever. If you should see any of them you will oblige me by repeating this prohibition to them. . . ."

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. IX, Letters of Benjamin Hawkins, 1796-1806 (Savannah: Georgia Historical Society, 1916), pp. 58-59.