When the full meed of recognition to which she is entitled, is given by the historian to the part which woman played in the founding and evolution of the colony of Georgia into one of the sovereign states of the American union—when her part in the bloody tale of the achievement of American Independence is fully told and final justice done on history's page to the hardships which she suffered in freedom's name, to her marvellous courage, to her fortitude, to her patience, to her self-denial and heroic sacrifice, then will the poet find new themes for epic song, the artist fresh riches for his easel, the romancer a new field for historical fiction and every patriotic American a deeper veneration for the flag whose primal baptism was of blood so precious and heroic.
As a curtain-raiser to the story of the heroines of the Revolution, two notable women of colonial days appear and claim the tribute of more than a passing mention by reason of the picturesque place which they occupy in the early history of the province, and because of the unique and momentous service which they rendered to the colony of Georgia.
When General Oglethorpe, dreaming of an empire of the west, attempted to secure a treaty with the aborigines and permission to plant his colony on the virgin soil of Georgia, it was a woman's hand that unlocked the door and bade him enter. It was a woman's diplomatic tact and ascendant influence with the Indian tribes that accomplished the cession of Georgia. Mary Musgrove, an Indian, the wife of a Carolina planter, negotiated with Tomichichi, the Yamacraw Chief, for the sale of the territory whose boundaries ran from the Savannah to the Altamaha and westward to the mythical "South Seas,"—a body of lands so vast that the Georgia of to-day is but a minor part of the territory originally ceded.
Thus we find that the first real estate agent that ever closed a "deal"—the biggest that ever was or ever will be in Georgia—was a woman, and the first Georgia manufacturer was a woman as well—Mary Camuse, the wife of Lewis Camuse.
From the business tact, enterprise and industry of Mary Camuse resulted the first recorded exportation to England of the first manufactured article which left our shores, forty-five pounds, two ounces avoirdupois weight of silk, cultivated and woven by her hand.
A glance at the minutes of the trustees of the colony reveals this quaint and interesting entry:
"August 7th, 1742. Resolved, That it is recommended to the common council, to give Mrs. Camuse a gratuity for every person who shall be certified to be properly instructed by her in the art of winding silk."
The art of wearing silk, with grace and elegance, could, I feel assured, be taught to any one who might seek to profit thereby, by the stately matrons whose names adorn the roster of the Atlanta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, but the art of winding silk, such as the trustees encouraged by their bounty, is, I very much fear, at this time in Georgia what we might call one of the "lost arts."
Passing from Mrs. Musgrove and Mrs. Camuse to the Georgia women of the Revolution, I beg leave to state that I have sought in this paper to give only such names and incidents as are authenticated by historical reference or by well established tradition. I am by no means assured that the list is full,—indeed, I am strongly inclined to the opinion that it is largely incomplete, notwithstanding the somewhat exhaustive research which has been made in ancient archives and time-worn histories.