In recalling the instances of temporary occupancy, by Europeans, of limited portions of the territory at a later period conveyed to the trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia, we should not omit an allusion to the mining operations conducted by the Spaniards at an early epoch among the auriferous mountains of upper Georgia. Influenced by the representations made by the returned soldiers of De Soto’s expedition of the quantity of gold, silver, and pearls in the province of Cosa, Luis de Velasco dispatched his general, Tristan de Luna, to open communication with Cosa by the way of Pensacola Bay. Three hundred Spanish soldiers, equipped with mining tools, penetrated beyond the valley of the Coosa and passed the summer of 1560 in northern Georgia and the adjacent region. Juan Pardo was subsequently sent by Aviles, the first governor of Florida, to establish a fort at the foot of the mountains northwest of St. Augustine and in the province of the chief Coabá. It would seem, therefore, that the Spaniards at this early period were acquainted with, and endeavored to avail themselves of, the gold deposits in Cherokee Georgia.
By the German traveller Johannes Lederer[839] are we advised that these peoples in 1669 and 1670 were still working gold and silver mines in the Appalachian mountains; and Mr. James Moore assures us that twenty years afterward these mining operations were not wholly discontinued.
Thus, long before the advent of the English colonists, had the Spaniards sojourned, in earnest quest for precious metals, among the valleys and mountains of the Cherokees. Thus are we enabled to account for those traces of ancient mining observed and wondered at by the early settlers of upper Georgia,—operations of no mean significance, conducted by skilled hands and with metallic tools,—which can properly be referred neither to the Red Race nor to the followers of De Soto.
In June, 1717, Sir Robert Mountgomery secured from the Palatine and Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina a grant and release of all lands lying between the rivers Alatamaha and Savannah, with permission to form settlements south of the former stream. This territory was to be erected into a distinct province, “with proper jurisdictions, privileges, prerogatives, and franchises, independent of and in no manner subject to the laws of South Carolina.” It was to be holden of the Lords Proprietors by Sir Robert, his heirs and assigns forever, under the name and title of the Margravate of Azilia. A yearly quit rent of a penny per acre for all lands “occupied, taken up, or run out,” was to be paid. Such payment, however, was not to begin until three years after the arrival of the first ships transporting colonists. In addition, Sir Robert covenanted to render to the Lords Proprietors one fourth part of all the gold, silver, and royal minerals which might be found within the limits of the ceded lands. Courts of justice were to be organized, and such laws enacted by the freemen of the Margravate as might conduce to the general good and in no wise conflict with the statutes and customs of England. The navigation of the rivers was to be free to all the inhabitants of the colonies of North and South Carolina. A duty similar to that sanctioned in South Carolina was to be laid on skins, and this revenue was to be appropriated to the maintenance of clergy. In consideration of this cession, Sir Robert engaged to transport at his own cost a considerable number of families, and all necessaries requisite for the support and comfort of settlers within the specified limits. It was understood that if settlements were not formed within three years from the date of the grant, it should become void.
In glowing terms did Sir Robert unfold the attractions of his future Eden “in the most delightful country of the Universe,” and boldly proclaim “that Paradise with all her virgin beauties may be modestly supposed at most but equal to its native excellencies.” After commending in the highest terms the woods and meadows, mines and odoriferous plants, soil and climate, fruits and game, streams and hills, flowers and agricultural capabilities, he exhibited an elaborate plan of the Margravate, in which he did not propose to satisfy himself “with building here and there a fort,—the fatal practice of America,—but so to dispose the habitations and divisions of the land that not alone our houses, but whatever we possess, will be inclosed by military lines impregnable against the savages, and which will make our whole plantation one continued fortress.”
Despite all efforts to induce immigration into this favored region, at the expiration of the three years allowed by the concession Sir Robert found himself without colonists. His grant expired and became void by the terms of its own limitations. His Azilia remained unpeopled save by the red men of the forest. His scheme proved utterly Utopian. It was reserved for Oglethorpe and his companions to wrest from primeval solitude and to vitalize with the energies of civilization the lands lying between the Savannah and the Alatamaha.
Persuaded of their inability to afford suitable protection to the colony of South Carolina, and moved by the wide-spread dissatisfaction existing in that province, the Lords Proprietors, with the exception of Lord Carteret, taking advantage of the provisions of an act of Parliament, on the 25th of July in the third year of the reign of His Majesty King George II., and in consideration of the sum of £22,500, surrendered to the Crown not only their rights and interest in the government of Carolina, but also their ownership of the soil. The outstanding eighth interest owned by Lord Carteret, Baron of Hawnes, was by him, on the 28th of February, 1732, conveyed to the “Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in America.”
The scheme which culminated in planting a colony on the right bank of the Savannah River at Yamacraw Bluff originated with James Edward Oglethorpe, a member of the English House of Commons, and “a gentleman of unblemished character, brave, generous, and humane.” He was the third son of Sir Theophilus, and the family of Oglethorpe was ancient and of high repute.[840] Although at an early age a matriculate of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he soon quitted the benches of that venerable institution of learning for an active military life. With him a love of arms was an inheritance, for his father attained the rank of major-general in the British service, and held the office of first equerry to James II., who intrusted him with an important command in the army assembled to oppose the Prince of Orange. Entering the English army as an ensign in 1710, young Oglethorpe continued in service until peace was proclaimed in 1713. The following year he became captain-lieutenant of the first troop of the Queen’s Life-Guards. Preferring active employment abroad to an idle life at home, he soon repaired to the continent that he might perfect himself in the art of war under the famous Prince Eugene of Savoy, who, upon the recommendation of John, Duke of Argyle, gave him an appointment upon his staff, at first as secretary and afterward as aid-de-camp. It was a brave school, and his alertness, fidelity, and fearlessness secured for him the good-will, the confidence, and the commendation of his illustrious commander. Upon the conclusion of the peace of 1718 Oglethorpe returned to England, versed in the principles of military science, accustomed to command, inured to the shock of arms, instructed in the orders of battle, the management of sieges and the conduct of campaigns, and possessing a reputation for manhood, executive ability, and warlike knowledge not often acquired by one of his years. His brother Theophilus dying, he succeeded to the family estate at Westbrook, and in October, 1732, was elected a member for Haslemere in the county of Surrey. This venerable borough and market-town he continued to represent, through various changes of administration, for two-and-thirty years.
