Ed Jackson and Charles Pou

The University of Georgia

March 23

1734 James Oglethorpe sailed from Savannah aboard the man-of-war Aldborough for Charleston, where he would catch another ship for London.

His return to England was prompted by the desire of other Trustees to have him report more completely on the state of affairs in the colony. In particular, they were concerned with Oglethorpe's lack of communication and what was perceived as excessive expenditures. In a bit of showmanship, Oglethorpe decided to bring a contingent of Yamacraw Indians with him. So aboard the Aldborough with Oglethorpe were chief Tomochichi, Senauki (Tomochichi's wife), Toonahowi (Tomochichi's great nephew and successor), five Yamacraw warriors, and John Musgrove (who would interpret).

The voyage to Charleston took a week, after which they waited until May 7 to catch a ship to London.

1738 At the urging of William Stephens, a committee of the Trustees recommended adopting a modified form of female inheritance in Georgia. However, at the April 12 meeting of the Trustees, James Oglethorpe led the opposition to changing the tail male policy.

1861 Meeting in Savannah, Georgia's Secession Convention adopted a proposed new state constitution for Georgia – the Constitution of 1861. The convention voted to submit the constitution to the public for ratification on the first Tuesday in July (which marked the first time Georgia voters were allowed to vote on the state constitution). Following this action, the convention adjourned. For more, see This Week in Georgia Civil War History.

1868 Fiddlin' John Carson was born in Fannin County, Ga. Carson was the first person to broadcast country music – when he performed live on WSB radio in 1922. The next year, he became the first person to record country music.

1916 Governor Nathaniel Harris stayed in touch with Augusta's mayor constantly by phone, saying the state was prepared to help in any way possible after the devastating fire the previous day.

1935 Governor Eugene Talmadge signed legislation providing for the licensing and taxing of beer and other malt beverages. Initially, an excise tax of $1.25 for a 31-gallon container was imposed, with fractional amounts for smaller containers – but this amount was doubled to $2.50 at the 1937 session. The tax was paid by the seller rather than the consumer, although businesses passed the tax on in setting the retail price. The State Revenue Commission, which administered the law, provided stamps to retailers to document that the state tax had been paid on each container.

1935 Governor Eugene Talmadge signed the Georgia Products Wine Act allowing local option approval for Georgians to to produce light wine for personal use or for sale free from any taxation. The legislation provided for a referendum to be held on May 15, 1935, in which voters of each county would for or against the act applying in that county.

1938 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech [see text] in Gainesville, GA. The speech was ostensibly to celebrate the rededication of Gainesville's Courthouse Square, which had been destroyed by tornadoes two years earlier. But Roosevelt used the occasion to launch a veiled attack on Georgia Senator Walter George, making this one of the few controversial speeches he made in the state of Georgia. This marked the beginning of Roosevelt's thirty-second visit to his "second home."

1938 Atlanta politician Maynard Jackson was born in Dallas, Texas. Jackson was the nephew of famed opera singer Mattiwilda Dobbs, who sang at his inauguration as mayor in 1974. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, where he was admitted at age fourteen as a Ford Foundation Early Admissions Scholar. He studied history and political science at Morehouse, graduating in 1956. He earned a law degree from North Carolina Central University in 1964 and held several legal positions before he actively entered politics. After serving as vice-mayor of Atlanta, he was elected to consecutive terms as mayor, running from 1974-1982. He was elected to another term in 1989.

In 1990 he established the Maynard Jackson Youth Foundation to aid disadvantaged children of Atlanta. In 1994, Jackson retired from elective politics and began practicing law in Atlanta. He suffered a heart attack visiting Washington D.C. and died June 23, 2003. He was buried in a modest grave in Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery.

1956 Testing the U.S. Supreme Court's earlier decisions on integrating public schools, two African-Americans applied for admission to the Georgia State College of Business Administration. Their applications, however, were denied.

1972 In a split decision in the case of Gooding v. Wilson, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Georgia statute making unprovoked use of "opprobrious words or abusive language, tending to cause a breach of the peace" a misdemeanor crime was unconstitutionally vague in violation of the 1st and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

1990 The U.S. Postal Service issued a 25-cent stamp commemorating the movie "Gone With the Wind." [Click here to read more about the stamp.]

1998 Athens, Georgia's Kim Basinger won the 1997 Academy Award for best-supporting actress for her role in "L.A. Confidential."

2011 Atlanta based AirTrain Airways' stockholders voted to approve the sale of the airline to Texas based Southwest Airlines. The sale would require federal antitrust clearance.

In Their Own Words on This Day. . .

1734 Lutheran minister Johann Martin Boltzius was duly impressed with the apparent religious motivation of James Oglethorpe, who had delayed his planned trip to England to personally assist in the settlement of the Salzburger emigrants:

"Although Mr. Oglethorpe had planned to leave here yesterday evening, he delayed his departure until this morning because several important matters had come up. As far as we can tell from our short association with him, he is a gentleman who has great respect for God, His holy word and the Holy Sacraments. And he has great love for the servants and children of God and wishes to see the name of Christ glorified everywhere. God has so blessed his presence and his work in this country that he has accomplished in one year what others could not do in many years. And because the people have learned to know his fatherly spirit, his untiring work for their well-being, and all of his other excellent qualities, they were deeply moved when had to leave. May God give him His blessing and guide him to his destination, and may He answer all our prayers for him. He has also taken care of us to the best of his ability. . . ."

Source: George Fenwick Jones (ed.), Detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America . . . Edited by Samuel Urlsperger: Volume I, 1733-1734 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1968), p. 66.

1737 In London, the Earl of Egmont wrote in his journal of Trustee proceedings about Spanish threats to the security of Georgia and South Carolina. At the time of his entry, James Oglethorpe was in England:

"Mr. Wrag the Mercht. came to Shew us a letter he had received from his brother in Carolina confirming the Same, and that the Spaniards design'd to publish a Proclamation, declaring all Negroes free who Should not assist their Masters."

"Mr. Oglethorpe recd. other letters that the Province of Carolina was much alarm'd and had order'd the Creek Indians to go down against the Florida Indians to keep them in Play, that they might not joyn the Spaniards. . . .

"Our condition at that time was bad: For tho we had about 700 men in our Province capable to bear arms, not above 300 could be got together to defend either Savannah or Frederica, in either of which places we had but little ammunition, and no military Man fit to command."

Source: Robert G. McPherson (ed.), The Journal of The Earl of Egmont: Abstract of the Trustees Proceedings for Establishing the Colony of Georgia, 1732-1738 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1962), p. 248.

1779 Savannah merchant and Revolutionary soldier Joseph Clay had fled to South Carolina to escape the British occupying Savannah. From there he wrote to friends of the dire military situation in Georgia and the need for more support there:

". . . I wrote you sometime ago with the Situation of our State, & of the progress of Enemy in it. They are still in possession of all the Sea Coast, more than half of the best part of the state, & for any Force we have at present they may remain there as long as they please. And shoud they get reinforced before any Troops arrive to our Assistance from your part of the world, I make no doubt they will attempt to penetrate into this, & its more probable, succeed in it; & shoud that unfortunately happen, its consequences to the United States must be very alarming. If we had rec'd the least support in Georgia, the Enemy woud never have got the footing in it they have nor woud they have kept possession of it till this time...had they been Active the Enemy woud have been drove out of our Country or at least confined to the Town of Savannah. . . . If General Lincoln can once have as many regular Troops under his Comm'd as they have, I have not the least doubt he woud soon give a very good Account of them. . . . "

Source: Collections of the Georgia Historical Society, Vol. VIII, Letters of Joseph Clay, Merchant of Savannah, 1776-1793 (Savannah: Georgia Historical Society, 1913), pp. 129-130.

1852 The death of a mother or infant during childbirth was a common occurrence. On this day, such a tragedy struck Gertrude Clanton in Richmond County, when a new-born brother died during delivery. It was a painful experience that she herself would later face -- four of the ten children she bore did not survive infancy:

". . . I was interrupted last evening while writing . . . when I returned I found Ma quite sick. She had been taken while we were at church. We sent for Dr. Joe Eve. He came and remained until three o'clock. I was up until five the next morning when I lay down on the sofa in the sitting room and slept till after seven. Ma being so ill Sister and I remained in the nursery. About three Ma gave birth to an infant boy but mortality ne're gained immortality for he never breathed. Early yesterday morning I arose for the purpose of seeing to breakfast as I now occupy the responsible situation of housekeeper in lieu of Ma. After giving out dinner I was engaged in conversation till near dinner when I dressed for the day. . . . Although death is at seasons and places solemn yet never having known and loved this child I could not lament as I would otherwise have done. After returning I took my writing desk and seating myself upon a footstool in the small balcony wrote for some time in my Journal. After tea I intended writing but Mr. Thomas called. He remained until after ten oclock. Thinks of leaving off the practice or rather the study of medicine for another year. . . ." [Editor's note: Mr. Thomas would eventually become her husband. He never returned to the study of medicine, a decision they both regretted deeply as financial problems beset them throughout their marriage.]

Source: Virginia Ingraham Burr (ed.), The Secret Eye: The Journal of Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas, 1848-1889 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990), p. 102.

1864 After the loss of Chattanooga, Confederate forces spent the winter at Dalton, Ga. There was no question that with spring, General William T. Sherman would mount a new campaign on Georgia. But for right now, Confederate spirits were high, as A. J. Neal wrote his sister:

". . .The snow covers the ground four or five inches, and it is cold enough to make a mud chimney pleasant. We had plenty of fun yesterday and from the noise around I suppose all the army did. Before breakfast we had a company [snow ball] fight, one row against the other. . . . Everything was taken in good fun, but it was rough play. The ground was speckled with blood from bruised noses. . . . "About half of the men are in the wood after rabbits this evening. We are kept busy with drills, inspections, reviews, &c. [with] hardly any time to spare. We are to have target practice tomorrow and on Friday a sham battle with blank cartridges. . . . These sham battles are exciting, but I like them better than the other kind! ". . . I never say this army in such fine spirits, everything is hopeful and confident since we repulsed them [the Yankees] above Dalton. . . . Trains of pontoon wagons are ready at this place, and we can move rapidly. "I anticipate brilliant successes this spring and after a few hard fights a glorious peace. . . ."

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. 285.

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

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