Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

July 24

1775 In Savannah, members of the Sons of Liberty seized loyalist John Hopkins from his house and publicly tarred and feathered and taken on cart through the streets of Savannah for three hours. Hopkins was not a government official but rather a local ship pilot. His offense the previous night was drinking to loyalist toast the Sons of Liberty found offensive. In addition to being tarred and feathered, Hopkins escaped hanging by drinking to the toast: "Damnation to all Tories and success to American liberty!" [Click here for Hopkins' account of the event.]

1778 Georgia completed ratification of the Articles of Confederation. On Nov. 15, 1777, delegates to the Second Continental Congress had agreed to the Articles. Meeting on July 9, 1778, a number of delegates--acting with full authority to ratify on behalf of their respective states--ratified the Articles. However, for the Articles to go into effect, every state's delegation had to approve. As the Revolutionary War was then under way, not all delegates were in attendance on July 9, and signing continued until March 1, 1781, when the last state ratified the Articles. Georgia's John Walton was present on July 9, 1778, and signed the document then. Georgia's other two delegates--Edward Telfair and Edward Langworthy--did not sign until July 24, 1778, which is the date most often used for Georgia's ratification of the Articles. However, Georgia's legislature appears to have unofficially ratified the Articles over a year earlier, as evidenced by a July 15, 1777 executive proclamation of Georgia Governor John Treutlen which refers to the Articles of Confederation as having already been "entered into, ratified, and confirmed by this State as a cement of union between the same and the other United and Independent States of America. . . ."

1897 Former Confederate general Lafayette McLaws died in Savannah, Ga. [See Jan. 15 entry for biographical information on McLaws.]

1913 A panel of 144 Fulton County men was selected, from which list the jury for the Leo Frank trial would be drawn. Click here for a detailed accounting of the case.

1919 Georgia's General Assembly rejected the 19th Amendment, which grants women the right to vote.

1939 NBA Hall of Fame center Walt Bellamy was born. He would play for several professional teams--including the Atlanta Hawks, and end his career with 20,941 total points. Also, with 14,241 rebounds, he was one of the top rebounders in NBA history. Before turning professional, Bellamy played on the U.S.'s 1960 gold-medal-winning Olympic basketball team. After his career in professional basketball, Bellamy chose to make Atlanta his home, and for a time he was sergeant-at-arms for the Georgia Senate.

1962 Collegiate and professional football place-kicking great Kevin Butler was born in Savannah, Georgia. He later had an outstanding career with the Georgia Bulldogs, where after each field goal the stadium scoreboard would flash "the Butler did it." In 1985, he was drafted in the fourth round by the Chicago Bears, where he played for eleven seasons. In 1996, he signed with the Arizona Cardinals.

1996 This was the sixth day of the 1996 Summer Olympics -- and day 5 of Olyimpic competition. 

1998 Former University of Georgia running back Terrell Davis confirmed that he had just signed a nine-year contract with the NFL Denver Broncos totaling $56.1 million -- making him the highest paid running back in the National Football League at that time. Davis, a sixth-round draft choice of the Broncos in 1995, still had three years remaining on his earlier contract, but the Broncos had agreed to renegotiate if he had consecutive 1,500-yard seasons. Davis rushed for 1538 and 1,750 yards in the 1996 and 1997 seasons, followed by being named MVP of the 1998 Super Bowl.

2000 Zell Miller was appointed to the vacant U.S. Senate seat of Paul Coverdell (who had died July 18) by Georgia governor Roy Barnes, until an election could be held.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1772 James Habersham wrote to William Knox, former Georgia agent in England who still owned land in Georgia, of the attempts at producing rice on his land, along with some other catastrophes:

". . . [H]e plants 140 Acres of Rice, and that 25 acres are without Banks -- In my last I was sorry to inform you, that the Lightning has struck your House at Knoxsborough, broke down the Chimney level with the Eaves of the House, shattered one of the Posts, and killed one of your fine Lads. . . .The foolish Gimcrack of a Machine that was put up at Knoxsborough to pound your Rice was not only expensive and useless, but has greatly hurt your Barn by undermining it. . . ."

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. VI, The Letters of the Hon. James Habersham, 1756-1775 (Savannah: The Georgia Historical Society, 1904), p. 194.

1864 Lt. Col. Fredrick Winkler of the 26th Wisconsin Infantry wrote to his wife of the previous day's fighting in the Atlanta Campaign:

"I was interrupted about twenty-four hours ago by sudden and lively fire at our skirmish line, which brought us all to our feet and under arms. It proved to be nothing but a weak, unsuccessful attack to drive in our pickets. This had scarcely subsided when an order came to get ready to march at once, as we were to go to the right and take up our position between the Marietta road and the railroad. Half a mile's march brought us to the new position, by the principal road that leads into Atlanta from the north. We are now more exposed to the enemies fire, as all their batteries in position here seem to be batteries of twenty pound Parrotts, which keep up a slow, steady fire on the City of Atlanta, their especial aim, but we are protected by strong works and there is not much danger. Our battery kept up a fire on the city all night. We could plainly see the burning fuse of the shell as it sped on its way. At one time there was a fire in the city, probably caused by our shell. The tall kind sergeant, you remember, was wounded in the breast last Sunday, I fear fatally. Few that were not with us will ever appreciate the fierceness of our struggle that afternoon; besides a strong enemy in front and on the left, we were exposed to the sun, which was literally scorching. After we had won the field and were at last relieved, the men were so exhausted that they could hardly move, and some had to be carried back though not wounded; among these was my Adjutant, who seemed to be in hysterias, and for a time I almost feared that he was dying. One Captain and Lieutenant, who had worked splendidly, were in about the same condition. I had not strength to speak above a whisper, but soon recovered. Our guns were so hot from rapid firing that the men could not touch the barrels. Our brigade commander is not in the habit of going into a very hot field and was not on this occasion where he could see the fight. What little management there was in front of my brigade was mine. I sent for regiments to come up, and this much Colonel Wood did; he sent them when requested by me, and when they came up they took the positions I designated as most important. In fact, if it had not been for Lieutenant Colonel Hurst's, 73rd Ohio, and my exertion, I doubt whether we would have advanced at all; we would have remained in the low corn fields, leaving all the hills to the enemy, and defeat would have been inevitable. I was the first to advance, and I did it rather by permission than under orders."

Source: Civil War Letters of Major Fredrick C. Winkler, in 26th Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers Home Page