Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

January 23

1775 Georgia's Commons House of Assembly elected Noble Wimberly Jones, Archibald Bulloch, and John Houstoun as delegates to the Second Continental Congress.

1845 Congress enacted legislation directing states to hold all national elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

1861 Except for Joshua Hill, all of Georgia's members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter to the Speaker of the House announcing that they were no longer members of that body, since Georgia had withdrawn from the Union and had repealed the 1788 ordinance ratifying the U.S. Constitution. Hill withdrew by sending the Speaker a letter of resignation on the grounds that Georgians no longer wished to be represented in Congress. Because Georgia's senators had resigned earlier, this left the state without any representation in Congress.

1861 Gov. Joseph E. Brown demanded that U.S. Army Capt. Arnold Elzey, commander of the federal arsenal at Augusta, surrender the facility to the state of Georgia [see letter below in "In Their Own Words. . .". Elzey, who had a small force of 80 soldiers, refused Brown's demand. Rumors that Georgia was going to take the arsenal by force led 800 Augustans to volunteer for military duty. Gov. Brown, however, decided give Elzey a chance to reconsider. Elzey telegraphed Army officials in Washington D.C. of his situation and asked for further instructions.

1893 Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Supreme Court justice Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar died at age 77 in Vineville, Georgia. [Click here and here for biographical information.]

1933 Gov. Eugene Talmadge signed a joint resolution of the General Assembly ratifying the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prescribed that the terms of president and vice president end at noon on Jan. 20th, that terms of members of Congress end at noon on Jan. 3, and that Congress shall convene at noon on Jan. 3 of each year. The amendment also provided for presidential succession should the president-elect before taking office.

1942 South of Macon, the U.S. Army Air Depot was officially named Robins Field in honor of Brig. Gen. Augustine Warner Robins.

1962 Jackie Robinson and Bob Feller were selected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.

1977 The television mini-series "Roots," filmed largely in coastal Georgia, debuted on ABC.

1986 Two Georgians -- James Brown and Ray Charles -- were among the first eight musicians or groups honored at the first annual induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Joining them were Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley.

1993 Thomas A. Dorsey, known as the father of black gospel music, died in Chicago at age 93.

2005 The Atlanta Falcons lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the National Football Conference title game, falling one game short of the Super Bowl.

2008 The Atlanta Falcons hired Mike Smith, formerly defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, as their new head coach. Bobby Petrino had resigned thirteen games into his first season as coach.

Georgia towns and cities first incorporated by acts signed on this day:

1866 Wrightsville (Johnson County)

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1782 Six months before Savannah was recaptured by American forces, Georgia's royal governor wrote the British Board of Trade:

" . . . I wish it were in my Power to give your Lordships any agreeable Accounts of our Situation here, but that from a Variety of Unfortunate Events, I Cannot do. We are now Confined almost to our Lines round the Town, & are Expecting a Powerfull attack every day, & Probably a Siege. And thus is this Most Valuable Province Ruined, & I fear lost, for Want of that Protection, & attention, which I Conceive the Loyalty of the Inhabitants, Intitled them to."

Source: Kenneth Coleman and Milton Ready (eds.), Colonial Records of the State of Georgia, Volume 28, Part II (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1979), p. 408.

1861 At the direction of Gov. Joseph E. Brown, his aide-de-camp Col. Henry R. Jackson wrote Capt. Arnold Elzey, U.S. commander of the Augusta Arsenal, demanding him to surrender the facility:

"Sir -- I am instructed by his Excellency, Governor Brown, to say to you that Georgia, having seceded from the United States of America, and resumed exclusive sovereignty over her soil, it has become my duty to require you to withdraw the troops under your command at the earliest practicable moment, from the limits of this state.

"He proposes to take possession of the Arsenal, and to receipt for all public property under your charge, which will hereafter be accounted for, on adjustment between the State of Georgia and the United States of America.

"He begs to refer you to the fact that the retention of foreign troops upon the soil of Georgia, after remonstrance is, under the laws of nations, an act of hostility; and he claims that the State is not only at peace, but anxious to cultivate the most amicable relations with the United States Government.

"I am further instructed to say that an answer will be expected by tomorrow morning, at nine o'clock."

Source: Walter G. Cooper, The Story of Georgia (New York: The American Historical Society, 1938), Vol. II, pp. 534-535.

1883 City government has changed dramatically in terms of budget, work force, and services over the past century, as evidenced by this reporter's account of the annual report for Decatur, Ga. published two days later in the Atlanta Constitution:

"Decatur, Jan. 23 -- The last meeting of the mayor and council of Decatur was held last night for the purpose of making their annual reports, and to turn over to their successors the reins of the town government for 1883.

"H.R. Jewett, treasurer, submitted his report showing receipts and disbursements. Receipts from former treasurer J.A. Mason, $119.40; balance on liquor licenses, 1881, $50; liquor licenses to Crockett & Hunter, June 1882-June, 1883, $100; street tax, 1882, $275.20; property tax, 1882, $378.73; fines, $112.40; cemetery lots, $27.70; other sources, $, making total $6,698.43. Of this amount, the mayor, clerk, treasurer, marshal and sexton received for salaries $545. Paid expenses were -- quarantine, $61.90; vaccination, $67.50; appropriation on town clock, $400; schools, $25; street lamps and posts, $50; work on streets and in cemetery, and for bridge. lumber, nails, working implements, record books, trees, hitching posts, printing, etc., $431.87 -- leaving a balance in the treasury of $387.11

"The report of Captain T.B. Watkins [town marshal[ shows 134 persons in town subject to street tax, which amounts to $335, of which $275.29 was paid in money, $49.25 in work, and $10.55 uncollected. There were 729 days work done on the streets, 24 of convict labor, 98 in payment of street tax, and 607 of hired laborers. The marshal made 29 arrests, 32 cases by summons; fines paid were $127, all collected except $4.

"The number of interments during the year was 38; 15 whites, 23 colored; 17 were males, 21 were females; 14 in early infancy (under 1 year); 5 between 5 and 10 years old; 4 between 10 and 25 years; 10 between 25 and 50 years old; 2 over 50 years of age; 3 age unknown. Four died from consumption, 5 from pneumonia, 10 from teething and troubles incident to infancy, 3 still births, 2 disease of heart, 2 from croup, 1 each from congestion, inflammation, erysipelas, scrofula and dropsy; 1 from violence, 6 from causes unknown.

"Mayor Word, who was reelected, has conducted a prosperous and successful administration of one year."

Source: Franklin M. Garrett, Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1969 reprint of 1954 original volume), Vol. II, p. 54.