Oglethorpe had implicit faith in the enterprise, and with the first shipload, on board the Ann, he sailed from Gravesend November 17, 1732, and arrived at the bar, outside of the port of Charleston, South Carolina, January 13, 1733. Having accepted of a hearty welcome, he weighed anchor, and sailed directly for Port Royal; and while his colony was landing at Beaufort, he ascended the boundary river of Georgia, and selected the site for his chief town on the high bluff, where now is the city of Savannah. Having established his town, he then selected a commanding height on the Ogeechee river, where he built a fortification and named it Fort Argyle, in honor of the friend and patron of his early years.
Within a period of five years over a thousand persons had been sent over on the Trustee's account; several freeholders, with their servants, had also taken up lands; and to them and to others also, settling in the province, over fifty-seven thousand acres had been granted. Besides forts and minor villages there had been laid out and settled the principal towns of Augusta, Ebenezer, Savannah, New Inverness, and Frederica. The colonists were of different nationalities, widely variant in character, religion and government. There were to be seen the depressed Briton from London; the hardy Gael from the Highlands of Scotland; the solemn Moravian from Herrnhut; the phlegmatic German from Salzburg in Bavaria; the reflecting Swiss from the mountainous and pastoral Grisons; the mercurial peasant from sunny Italy, and the Jew from Portugal.
The settlements were made deliberately and with a view of resisting any possible encroachments of Spain. It was a matter of protection that the Highlanders were induced to emigrate, and their assignment to the dangerous and outlying district, exposed to Spanish forays or invasions, is sufficient proof that their warlike qualities were greatly desired. Experience also taught Oglethorpe that the useless poor in England did not change their characters by emigration.
In company with a retinue of Indian chiefs, Oglethorpe returned to England on board the Aldborough man-of-war, where he arrived on June 16, 1734, after a passage of a little more than a month. His return created quite a sensation; complimentary verses were bestowed upon him, and his name was established among men of large views and energetic action as a distinguished benefactor of mankind. Among many things that engrossed his attention was to provide a bulwark against inroads that might be made by savages and dangers from the Spanish settlements; so he turned his eyes, as already noted, to the Highlands of Scotland. In order to secure a sufficient number of Highlanders a commission was granted to Lieutenant Hugh Mackay and George Dunbar to proceed to the Highlands and "raise 100 Men free or servants and for that purpose allowed to them the free passage of ten servants over and above the 100. They farther allowed them to take 50 Head of Women and Children and agreed with Mr. Simmonds to send a ship about, which he w'd not do unless they agreed for 130 Men Heads certain. This may have led the trust into the mistake That they were to raise only 130."[80]
The enterprising commissioners, using such methods as were customary to the country, soon collected the required number within the immediate vicinity of Inverness. They first enlisted the interest and consent of some of the chief gentlemen, and as they were unused to labor, they were not only permitted but required also to bring each a servant capable of supporting him. These gentlemen were not reckless adventurers, or reduced emigrants forced by necessity, or exiled by insolvency and want; but men of pronounced character, and especially selected for their approved military qualities, many of whom came from the glen of Stralbdean, about nine miles distant from Inverness. They were commanded by officers most highly connected in the Highlands. Their political sympathies were with the exiled house of Stuart, and having been more or less implicated in the rising of 1715, they found themselves objects of jealousy and suspicion, and thus circumstanced seized the opportunity to seek an asylum in America and obtain that unmolested quietude which was denied them in their native glens.
These people being deeply religious selected for their pastor, Reverend John MacLeod, a native of Skye, who belonged to the Dunvegan family of MacLeods. He was well recommended by his clerical brethren, and sustained a good examination before the presbytery of Edinburgh, previous to his ordination and commission, October 13, 1735. He was appointed by the directors of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge (from whom he was to receive his annual stipend of £50) "not only to officiate as minister of the Gospel to the Highland families going hither," and others who might be inclined to the Presbyterian form of worship, but "also to use his utmost endeavors for propagating Christian knowledge among natives in the colony."
The Trustees were greatly rejoiced to find that they had secured so valuable an acquisition to their colony, and that they could settle such a bold and hardy race on the banks of their southern boundary, and thus establish a new town on the Florida frontier. The town council of Inverness, in order to express their regard for Oglethorpe, on account of his kind offers to the Highlanders, conferred on him the honor of a burgess of the town, through his proxy, Captain George Dunbar.
Besides the military band, others, among whom were MacKays, Bailies, Dunbars, and Cuthberts, applied for large tracts of land to people with their own servants; most of them going over themselves to Georgia, and finally settling there for life.
Of the Highlanders, some of them paid their passage and that of one out of two servants, while others paid passage for their servants and took the benefit of the trust passage for themselves. Some, having large families, wanted farther assistance for servants, which was acceded to by Captain Dunbar, who gave them the passage of four servants, which was his right, for having raised forty of the one hundred men. Of the whole number the Trustees paid for one hundred and forty-six, some of whom became indentured servants to the Trust. On October 20, 1735, one hundred and sixty-three were mustered before Provost Hassock at Inverness. One of the number ran away before the ship sailed, and two others were set on shore because they would neither pay their passage nor indent as servants to the Trust.
These pioneers, who were to carve their own fortunes and become a defense for the colony of Georgia, sailed from Inverness, October 18, 1735, on board the Prince of Wales, commanded by Captain George Dunbar, one of their own countrymen. They made a remarkably quick trip, attended by no accidents, and in January, 1736, sailed into Tybee Road, and at once the officer in charge set about sending the emigrants to their destination. All who so desired, at their own expense, were permitted to go up to Savannah and Joseph's Town. On account of a deficiency in boats, all could not be removed at once. Seven days after their arrival sixty-one were sent away, and on February 4th forty-six more proceeded to their settlement on the Alatamaha,—all of whom being under the charge of Hugh MacKay. Thus the advanced station, the post of danger, was guarded by a bold and hardy race; brave and robust by nature, virtuous by inclination, inured to fatigue and willing to labor: