F 281 .G358 Copy 1 OF THE CONTAINING ANNUAL REPORTS OF OFFICERS, ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES, BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SOCIETY, LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. ACTS OF INCORPORATION, MISS TELFAIR'S TRUST DEED, EXTRACT FROM THE TELFAIR WILL. ETC. SAVANNAH. GA. THE MORNING NEWS, 1914 OF THE l|tat0rtral B>0rirtg CONTAINING ANNUAL REPORTS OF OFFICERS, ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES, BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SOCIETY, LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS, CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. ACTS OF INCORPORATION. MISS TELFAIR'S TRUST DEED, EXTRACT FROM THE TELFAIR WILL, ETC. SAVANNAH, GA. THE MORNING NEWS, 19U Gift Tbe Society 5£? SO ;8,5 OFFICERS (For the year 1914) WILLIAM W. MACKALL, President. THOMAS J. CHARLTON, M. D., First Vice-President. OTIS ASHMORE, Second Vice-President. OTIS ASHMORE, Corresponding Secretary. CHARLES F. GROVES, Secretary and Treasurer. WILLIAM HARDEN, Treasurer Telfair Trust Fund. WILLIAM HARDEN, Librarian. BOARD OF CURATORS To serve until 1917. WILLIAM W. MACKALL WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON . WILLIAM W. GORDON CHARLES ELLIS To serve until 1916. ALEXANDER R. LAWTON GEORGE J. BALDWIN OTIS ASHMORE WYMBERLEY J. DeRENNE To serve until 1915. J. FLORANCE MINIS HENRY C. CUNNINGHAM BENJAMIN H. LEVY THOMAS J. CHARLTON, M. D. STANDING COMMITTEES Finance : MR. HENRY C. CUNNINGHAM MR. GEORGE J. BALDWIN MR. WILLIAM W. GORDON MR. J. FLORANCE MINIS Printing and Publication: MR. WYMBERLEY J. DeRENNE MR. OTIS ASHMORE DR. THOMAS J. CHARLTON MR. WILLIAM W. MACKALL Library: Term expires: MR. OTIS ASHMORE, Dec. 31, 1916 MR. THOMAS J. CHARLTON, Dec. 31, 1918 MR. CHARLES ELLIS, Dec. 31, 1915 MR. WILLIAM W. GORDON, Dec. 31, 1914 MR. H. WILEY JOHNSON, Dec. 31, 1917 Telfair Academy: MR. ALEXANDER R. LAWTON MR. CHARLES ELLIS MR. BENJAMIN H. LEVY MR. WILLIAM W. WILLIAMSON AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Whereas, The members of a society instituted in the City of Savannah for the purpose of collecting, preserving and diffusing information relating to the History of the State of Georgia in particular, and of American history generally, have applied for an Act of incorporation. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives of the State of Georgia, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same. That J. M. Berrien, James M. Wayne, M. H. McAllister, I. K. Tefft, William B. Stevens, George W. Hunter, H. K. Preston, William T. Williams, C. S. Henry, J. C. Nicholl, William Law, R. M. Charlton, R. D. Arnold, A. A. Smets, J. W. Anderson, William B. Bulloch, William H. Bulloch, J. H. Burroughs, J. Balfour, Joseph G. Binney, William P. Bowen, J. B. Bartow, James Barnard, Morgan Brown, G. B. Gumming, Solomon Cohen, Joseph Gumming, D. C. Campbell, J. H. Couper, W. A. Caruthers, W. H. Cuyler, Edward Coppee, William Crabtree, Jr., Archibald Clark, William Duncan, William C. Daniell, George M. Dudley, J. De La Motta, Jr., J. S. Fay, S. H. Fay, W. B. Fleming, J. F. Griffin, Robert Habersham, W. Neyle Habersham, J. C. Habersham, E. J. Harden, S. L. W. Harris, George Jones, J. W. Jackson, P. M. Kollock, G. J. Kolloch, Ralph King, T. B. King, William McWhir, J. B. Mallard, John Millen, W. H. Miller, C. McArdell, J. S. Morel, M. Myers, J. F. O'Neill, E. Neufville, E. A. Nisbet, A. G. Oemler, A. Porter, J. F. Posey, Thomas Paine, Willard Preston, Edward Padelford, Thomas Purse, R. W. Pooler, William Robertson, L. O. Reynolds, J. Bond Read, R. H. Randolph, F. M. Robertson, George Schley, James Smith, William H. Stiles, B. E. Stiles, J. L. Shaffer, Charles Stephens, William P. White, John E. Ward, George White, and such other persons as now are and may from time to time become members of said Society, be, and they are hereby, declared and constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name of the "Georgia Historical Society," and by that name shall have per- petual succession, and be capable to sue and to be sued, to plead and be im.pleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended in all courts or places whatsoever; to have a common seal and the same at pleasure to change or alter; to make, establish and ordain such a Constitution and such By-laws not repugnant to the Constitution of this State or of the United States, as shall from time to time be necessary and expedient, and to annex to the breach thereof such penalty, by fine, suspension or expulsion, as they may deem fit, and to purchase, take, receive, hold and enjoy, to them and their successors, any goods and chattels, lands and tenements, and to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the same, or 6 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY of any part thereof, at their will and pleasure; Provided, that the clear annual income of such real and personal estate shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars; and, Provided, also, that the funds of the said corporation shall be used and appropriated to the purposes stated in the preamble of this Act, and those only. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said Society shall have power to elect and qualify such officers as may by them be deemed necessary, to be chosen at such time and to hold their office for such period as the Constitution or By-laws of said Society shall prescribe; and that if the election of said officers, or any of them, shall not be held on any of the days for that purpose appointed, it shall be lawful to make such election on any other day. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That it shall be the duty of the Governor of the State to trans- mit, or cause to be transmitted, to the said Society a set of the Acts and also of the journals of the present and future sessions of the Legislature, and also copies of all other documents, papers, books and pamphlets that shall hereafter be printed under or by virtue of an Act of Legislature, or joint resolution of both branches thereof, unless such Act or resolution shall otherwise provide; and that the said Society may, by their agent or agents, have access at all reasonable times to the several public offices of this State and of the corporate towns and cities thereof, and may cause such documents to be searched, examined and copied without paying office fees, as they may judge proper, to promote the object of the Society. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted. That this Act shall be and is hereby declared to be a public Act, and shall be construed be- nignly and favorably for every beneficial purpose therein intended, and that no misnomer of the said corporation in any deed, will, testament, devise, gift, grant, demise or other instrument of con- tract or conveyance, shall vitiate or defeat the same; Provided, the corporation shall be sufficiently described to ascertain the inten- tion of the parties. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, That the Governor be, and is hereby, authorized and requested to confide to the care and keeping of the proper officers of said Society the transcripts of the Colonial records lately taken by the Rev. C. W. Howard in London, until further disposition of the same shall be made by the General Assembly. JOSEPH DAY. Speaker of the House of Representatives. ROBERT M. ECHOLS, President of the Senate. Assented to 19th December, 1839. CHARLES J. McDonald, Governor. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 7 AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO INCORPOR- ATE THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY," AS- SENTED TO 19TH DECEMBER, 1839. Section 1. The General Assembly of the State of Georgia do hereby enact: That the provisos in the first section of the Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Georgia Historical Society," assented to on the nineteenth day of December, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty-nine be, and the same are, hereby repealed. Sec. 2. And it is hereby further enacted. That this Act take effect immediately on its passage; and that al! Acts and parts of Acts, so far as they militate with this Act, are hereby repealed. R. L. McWHORTER, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN J. NEWTON, Clerk of the House of Representatives. BiENJAMIN CONLEY, President of the Senate. J. G. W. MILLS, Secretary of the Senate. Approved October 25th, 1870. RUFUS B. BULLOCK, Governor. MISS TELFAIR'S TRUST DEED. "STATE OF GEORGIA, "Chatham County. "Whereas, The late Margaret Telfair Hodgson, of the City of Savannah, State of Georgia, during her lifetime, commenced the erection of a structure or building on lot number fourteen (14), Forsyth Ward, being the south- west corner of Gaston and Whitaker streets, in the City 8 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY of Savannah, to be called Hodgson Hall, and intended to complete the same on a plan furnished by Detlef Lienau, architect, as a memorial of her late husband, William Brown Hodgson, but for the express use of the Georgia Historical Society, on certain terms and conditions made known to said Historical Society, which are hereinafter enumerated more in detail ; "And, Whereas, The said Margaret Telfair Hodgson departed this life while said building or structure was, as it now is, unfinished and incomplete, leaving a last will and testament without any specific directions therein as to the completion and disposition of said lot and building, and also leaving Mary Telfair as her residuary legatee ; "And, Whereas, The said Mary Telfair is desirous to carry into effect the wishes and intentions of the said Margaret Telfair Hodgson in the premises, and to charge the residuum of said estate with the cost and expense of erecting and completing said building or structure on the proposed plan. "Now, This Indenture witnesseth. That the said Mary Telfair, of the City of Savannah and State of Georgia, for and in consideration of the premises, and of the sum of five dollars to her in hand paid by Alexander R. Lawton, of the same City and State, hath granted, bargained, sold, conveyed and confirmed, and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, convey and confirm unto the said Alexander R. Lawton, his executors and administrators, all that said lot or parcel of land in the City of Savannah and State of Georgia, known as lot number fourteen (14), Forsyth Ward, with the buildings and improvements now thereon, in an unfinished and incomplete state, but to be finished and completed at the proper cost and expense of the said Mary Telfair, for which purpose the said Mary Telfair does here- by charge the entire residuum of the estate of the said Margaret Telfair Hodgson, in her own hands now as residu- ary legatee, or in the hands of her executors after her death, to such extent as will furnish the means and funds necessary THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 9 to finish and complete said building or structure, to be known as Hodgson Hall, on the plan prepared for that purpose, or as nearly so as practicable ; to have and to hold the said lot of land and improvements, now and hereafter to be put upon the same, to him the said Alex- ander R. Lawton, his executors and administrators forever. "In trust nevertheless, to permit the Georgia Historical Society to have the exclusive use, possession, control and management of said building and lot; Provided, said Society will, through its proper officers, accept the same on the fol- lowing terms and conditions to-wit : That the said building shall be known as, and called, Hodgson Hall ; that no public speaking shall be permitted within the walls of said building, except under the auspices or connected with the business of said Georgia Historical Society ; that no enter- tainments or amusements of any kind, which include or involve eating, drinking or smoking, be permitted within the walls of said building; that the building is never to be rented or lent out for any purposes whatsoever ; and, further, that under the portrait of the said William Brown Hodgson, which is to be hung on the wall of said building, shall be inscribed, in permanent letters, the following words : Tn Memoriam, William Brown Hodgson ; this building is erected by Margaret Telfair Hodgson, A. D., 1873,' or other words of similar import; and that the other conditions, on which the use and control of the building are committed to the Georgia Historical Society shall also appear conspicuously on the wall of the principal Hall in the building. "In witness whereof, the said Mary Telfair hath here- unto set her hand and seal this tenth day of June, in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-four. "MARY TELFAIR. (L. S.) "Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of "WILLIAM J. MARSHALL. "D. R. GROOVER, Notary Public, C. C, Ga." 10 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Etif mt Arab? mg of Arta mtib BmmtB EXTRACT FROM WILL OF MARY TELFAIR^ "Fourteenth. I hereby give, devise and bequeath to the Georgia Historical Society and its successors, all that lot or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon, fronting on St. James Square, in the City of Savannah, and running back to Jefferson street, known in the plan of said City as lot letter 'N,' Heathcote Ward, the same having been for many years past the residence of my family, together with all my books, papers, documents, pictures, statuary and works of art, or having relation to art or science, and all the furniture of every description in the dwelling house and on the premises (except bedding and table service, such as china, crockery, glass, cutlery, silver, plate and linen), and all fixtures and attachments to the same, to have and to hold the said lot and improvements, books, pictures, statuary, furniture and fixtures, to the said Georgia Historical Society and its successors, in special trust, to keep and preserve the same as a public edifice, for a Library and Academy of Arts and Sciences, in which the books, pictures and works of art 'herein bequeathed, and such others as may be purchased out of the income, rents and profits of the bequest hereinafter made for that purpose, shall be permanently kept and cared for, to be open for the use of the public, on such terms and under such reasonable regulations as the said Georgia Historical Society may from time to time prescribe; but this devise and bequest is made upon condition that the Georgia His- *Miss Mary Telfair died June 2, 1875. Will of Miss Mary Telfair dated June 1, 1875. Will of Miss Mary Telfair probated June 5, 1875. Messrs. Wm. Neyle Habersham and William Hunter qualified as ex- ecutors June 7. 1875. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 11 torical Society shall cause to be placed and kept over and against the front porch, or entrance to the main building on said lot, a marble slab or tablet, on which shall be cut or engraved the foillowing words, to-wit: TELFAIR ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES the word 'Telfair' being in larger letters and occupying a separate line above the other words ; and on the further condition that no part of the buildings shall ever be occu- pied as a private residence or rented out for money, and none but a janitor and such other persons as may be em- ployed to manage and take care of the premises shall occupy or reside in or upon the same, and that no part of the same shall be used for public meetings or exhibitions, or for eating, drinking or smoking, and that no part of the lot or improvements shall ever be sold, alienated or en- cumbered, but the same shall be preserved for the purposes herein set forth. And it is my wish that whenever the walls of the building shall require renovating by paint or other- wise, the present color and design shall be adhered to as far as practicable. For the purpose of providing more effect- ually for the accomplishment of the objects contemplated in this item or clause of my will, I hereby give, devise and bequeath to the Georgia Historical Society and its suc- cessors, one thousand shares of the capital stock of the Augusta and Savannah Railroad, of the State of Georgia, in special trust, to apply the dividends, income, rents and profits arising from the same, to the repairs and mainte- nance of said buildings and premises, and the payment of all expenses attendant upon the management and care of the institution herein provided for, and then to apply the remaining income, rents and profits in adding to the Library, and such works of art and science as the proper officers of the Georgia Historical Society may select, and in the preser- vation and proper use of the same, so as to carry into effect in good faith the objects of this devise and bequest." Constitution and By-Laws as aAmended to February i4tk, igio. CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 1. Name. The Society shall be called The Georgia Historical Society. ARTICLE 2. Objects. Its object shall be to collect, preserve and diffuse in- formation in relation to the History of the State of Georgia in all its various departments, and American history gener- ally, and to create an historical library for the use of its members and others. ARTICLE 3. Classes of Membership. The Society shall consist of Active, Life, Correspond- ing and Honorary Members. Active members embracing those within the State and such others as may be elected as such ; Life members, those who pay one hundred dollars ; Corresponding members, those at home or abroad who are, or may be, of service to the Society and its objects ; and Honorary members, those distinguished for their public services, or literary, artistic, or scientific attainments, par- ticularly in the department of history throughout the world. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 13 ARTICLE 4. Officers. The officers of the Society shall be a President, two Vice-Presidents, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secre- tary, Treasurer, Librarian and a Board of Twelve Curators, and such other officers as may from time to time be pro- vided for by the Curators. At the annual meeting in 1910 Curators shall be elected as follows : Four to serve for one year, four to serve for two years and four to serve for three years. At each subsequent annual meeting four Curators shall be elected to serve for three years, and others shall be elected for such terms as may be necessary to fill existing vacancies. Elec- tion of Curators shall be by ballot. The Board of Curators may fill all vacancies in their number pending the next annual meeting. All other officers shall be elected by the Board of Curators, and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board. The President, Vice-Presidents and Corresponding Secre- tary shall be elected from among the Curators. ARTICLE 5. Regular Meetings. The Society shall meet annually on the 12th day of February, but if said day fall on Friday, Saturday or Sun- day, the anniversary shall be celebrated on the following Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. The Society shall also meet on the first Mondays of May, August and November. ARTICLE 6. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Society may be called by the Board of Curators, by the President, or by either of the Vice-Presidents and shall be called by the President or 14 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY either of the Vice-Presidents, or the Recording Secretary, upon the request of a majority of the Curators present in the City or of any five active members. ARTICLE 7. Election of Members. The admission of members shall be by ballot, and nega- tive votes amounting to one-fifth of the total number of votes cast shall be sufficient to reject any candidate. When the Society is not in session members may be elected by the Board of Curators. ARTICLE 8. Eligibility. Any person shall be eligible to membership who shall be interested in the objects of the Society as set out in Article II of this Constitution and desirous of aiding in promoting them. ARTICLE 9. Dues. Life members, Corresponding members and Honorary members shall pay no dues. Active members shall pay annual dues of, men, ten dollars, women, five dollars, payable for each calendar year on the 12th day of February of that year. Members elected after July first in any year shall pay only half the dues for that year. ARTICLE 10. Quorum. Five active members, including at least two Curators, shall constitute a quorum and be empowered to transact the regular business of the Society ; except at the annual meeting, when seven shall constitute a quorum. Proxies shall not be counted to make a quorum. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 15 Whenever any question out of the regular routine busi- ness shall come before the Society, particularly any ques- tion involving the management of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, such question shall, upon the demand of any five Active members, be submitted to a subsequent meeting, of which notice ten days previous to the date of the meeting shall be given in a public gazette in the City of Savannah ; and at said meeting so called at least twenty- five Active members of the Society shall be present in person or by proxy for the final decision of such question. ARTICLE 11. Life Members. Any member who shall pay into the treasury of the Society the sum of one hundred dollars thereby becomes a Life member, with all the rights, privileges and disabili- ties of an Active member, but shall be exempt from any further payment. ARTICLE 12. Voting. Corresponding members and Honorary members shall not be entitled to vote. The affairs of the Society shall be managed by Life members and Active members, who may vote either in person or by written proxy. No person not a member shall act as proxy. ARTICLE 13. Board of Curators. Except as otherwise provided herein, all the powers of the Society are vested in the Board of Curators. ARTICLE 14. Term of Office. All ofificers shall hold office until the annual meeting next succeeding their election, and until their successors shall be elected and qualified, subject, however, to the pleasure of the Board. 16 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ARTICLE 15. Library. The Board of Curators are vested with authority to make any contract or arrangement with reference to the Library and the use and management thereof which to them shall seem best. ARTICLE 16. Amendments. This Constitution can be altered or amended only by a vote of two-thirds of the voting members present at a meeting, at which not less than twenty members shall be present, and then only when notice of the amendment shall have been given at a previous meeting, or sent by mail to each voting member of the Society not less than one week prior to the meeting at which the amendment shall be acted on. BY-LAWS. 1. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society, regulate the debates, give when required the cast- ing vote, preserve order and be ex-ofificio Chairman of the Board of Curators. It shall be the further duty of the President, at the an- nual meeting, to present a report reviewing the work and progress of the Society during the year past; and also set- ting forth such changes and aims as the highest interest of the Society demand. In the absence or disability of the President all his duties shall devolve upon the senior Vice-President. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 17 2. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct all the correspondence of the Society which may be necessary or convenient in the carrying out of its business as set out in Article II of the Constitution, and shall perform such other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Society or the Board. He shall preserve on file all communications received by him and keep a copy of all communications sent by him. It shall furthermore be his duty to read at each annual meeting such portions or ab- stracts of his correspondence as the President may direct. 3. The Recording Secretary shall keep the records of all meetings and shall perform all other duties usually ap- pertaining to the office of Secretary except those prescribed for the Corresponding Secretary. 4. The Treasurer shall act as Secretary of the Com- mittee on Finance. He will receive from the Assistant Treasurer all the reports required by the By-Laws ; will see that they are made out in proper form by the Assistant Treasurer, and will present the same as now required; and, for the purpose of verifying accounts and familiarizing him- self with the financial affairs of the Society, the books of the Assistant Treasurer shall be always open to his inspec- tion, as well as that of any member of the Board. The Board may elect an Assistant Treasurer, who shall collect, receive and discharge all moneys due and payable, and shall receive and collect all donations and bequests of money, or other property, to the Society. He shall pay, under proper vouchers, all the ordinary expenses of the Society, and shall deposit all its funds in one of the banks of the City, to the credit of the Society, subject to his checks; and at the annual meeting shall make a true report of all moneys received and paid out by him, to be audited by the Committee on Finance, provided for hereafter. He shall file a complete and accurate roll of the Society at its annual meetings. At all regular meetings of the Board he shall submit a statement which shall embody the following information : 18 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1. The total membership of the Society. 2. Amount of dues collected for current year. 3. Amount of back dues collected. 4. Amount due for current year. 5. Amount due for previous year. 6. Amount paid out. 7. Amount of liabilities. 8. Amount of cash on hand. 9. Amount of insurance on property. This statement shall be read at the meeting of the Board and again at the regular meeting of the Society next following. If there be no Assistant Treasurer his duties shall be performed by the Treasurer. 5. It shall be the duty of the Librarian to preserve, arrange and keep in good order all books, manuscripts, docu- ments, pamphlets and papers of every kind belonging to the Society. He shall keep a catalogue of the same and charge the books, etc., that may be taken out of the Library, under the rules, to the proper persons. He shall also be furnished with a book in which to record all donations and bequests, of whatsoever kind, relating to his department, with the name of the donor, and the time when bestowed. He shall enforce the Library rules, by refusing to issue books to persons owing for overdue books until such indebt- edness shall have been paid ; and all controversies with members respecting such dues shall be decided by the Library Committee. 6. The Curators shall meet as soon as practicable after the annual meeting and shall elect from their number a President, a First and Second Vice-President and a Corresponding Secretary. They shall also elect a Recording Secretary, a Librarian and a Treasurer. The President shall appoint from the Curators the following Standing Com- mittees, of which he shall be an ex-ofificio member, to-wit : Committee on Printing and Publishing, Committee on THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 19 Finance, Committee on the Telfair Academy, each to con- sist of three persons in addition to the President. He shall appoint from the Curators a Committee on Library, to consist of five persons, who shall be the persons designated by this Society as its appointees upon the Public Board. He shall appoint the members of this Committee as follows : One of them shall serve during the year 1903, and his term shall expire on the first day of January, 1904, or when his successors shall have been appointed and shall have accepted ; one for the years 1903 and 1904, one for the years 1903, 1904 and 1905, one for the years 1903, 1904, 1905 and 1906, one for the years 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907, so that on January the first each year, in 1904, and thereafter the terms of one of the said Library Committee so appointed shall end, but they, respectively, shall hold over until their successors shall have been appointed and shall have accepted. And to fill the vacancies occasioned by the expiration of said terms the said President shall respectively appoint a successor for each of the said Mana- gers so passing out, which successor shall hold his office on said Board for the term of five years from the first day of January in the year when his predecessor's term ends or until his successor shall have been appointed and shall have accepted. 7. The Committee on the Library, in addition to the duties named in the preceding paragraph, shall have the su- pervisory care of the building and grounds, furniture, printed publications, manuscripts, curiosities and all property of like kind. They shall, with the Librarian, provide suitable shelves, cases and fixtures by which to arrange and display them. The printed volumes and manuscripts shall be regu- larly numbered and marked with the name of the "Georgia Historical Society." They shall propose to the Curators such books or manuscripts pertaining to the object of the Society as they shall deem expedient, which, when approved, shall be by them purchased and disposed of as above directed. 20 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Thev shall provide all necessary blank books for the use of said department, in which the Librarian shall keep a record of their proceedings, and be entrusted in general with the custody, care and increase of whatever comes with- in the province of their appointed duty. 8. The Committee on Printing and Publishing shall prepare for publication whatever documents or collections shall be ordered by the Society; shall contract for and supervise the printing of the same, and shall furnish the Recording Secretary and the Librarian with such blank notices, summonses, labels, etc., as may be deemed requisite. 9. The Committee on Finance shall consist of at least one member of each of the former Committees, and shall have the general oversight and direction of the funds of the Society and shall audit the Treasurer's annual report. 10. The Committee on the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences shall have the general oversight of the lot and improvements, books, pictures, statuary, furniture and fixtures, devised and bequeathed by the late Miss Mary Telfair to the Georgia Historical Society in special trust, and of all additions that may be made thereto, in accord- ance with her will. They shall bring, from time to time, to the notice of the Board such repairs of the Telfair resi- dence and such changes and improvements of the adjacent premises as may be required to keep and preserve the same as a public edifice for a Library and Academy of Arts and Sciences. They shall propose and submit to the board a plan for the management and care of the institution, and the terms and regulations on which it shall be open for the use of the public, and such modifications of the same as may be suggested by experience. They shall recommend to the Board the purchase of books for the Library and works of art and science for the Academy. To the end of receiving and considering the reports of this Committee, of supervising the expenditures for the Library and the Academy and generally administering the trust fund ; of devising, modifying and maturing a scheme THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 21 to carry into effect in good faith the objects of the Telfair devise and bequest, by making the Academy, through its books and collections, and if, and when practicable through instructions in art and science, an institution of the largest public usefulness, the Board shall hold its meetings in the Academy building at such times as it shall appoint, provided there be one such regular monthly meeting during the week next preceding the regular meeting of the Society, and to be always prepared to report fully to such last mentioned meetings upon the state of the Academy and upon its own actings and doings, which shall be subject in all things to the revision and approval of the Society, 11. The Board shall appoint an orator to deliver a discourse at each annual meeting and suggest such other exercises as shall be appropriate to its celebration. 12. The Society may authorize any number of mem- bers, not less than five, to use the hall and library for the meetings of such subsections as may be formed, and any such subsection shall have power to place in the Library such books and other means of instruction as they may choose to procure, without cost to the Society, to be freely used by the members thereof in the rooms of the Library, the members of the section alone being allowed to take such books out of the Library, and then under the rules of the same. 13. Any member failing to pay his annual subscription before March 15th shall be warned by notice of his liability to be dropped from membership, and such notice shall allow him one month in which to pay his dues. In case of his failure to do so, the Treasurer shall report his name at the next meeting of the Society and his membership shall then cease. 14. The Board of Curators shall meet on the Fridays before the regular quarterly meetings and annual meetings of the Society. Special meetings may be called by the President, or, in 'his absence, by any Vice-President, or by any three Curators. Five members of the Board shall con- 22 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY stitute a quorum. The several standing committees shall make formal reports to the quarterly meetings of the Board of Curators, which reports shall also be read at the next regular meeting of the Society. 15. All motions, resolutions and other matters, directly or indirectly affecting or referring to the management of the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences shall, as a matter of course be referred to the Board of Curators, to be by it re- ported on at the next ensuing regular meeting, unless further time be allowed. 16. These By-laws may be repealed, amended or added to at any regular meeting, or by one publication in a daily paper published in Savannah not less than one week prior to the meeting. They may likewise be repealed, amended or added to by the Board of Curators at any time in their discretion, but such amendments shall be inefifective if dis- approved by the Society. Annual Hefting Bt\tmt^-¥xttl] Anntn^rsarg ffl^bbrattnn At the meeting of the Society in November, 1913, a committee, previously appointed to report upon the advisa- bility of celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Society, recommended that such a celebra- tion be held on February 12, 1914. The recommendation v^^as adopted, and a committee composed of W. J. DeRenne, Samuel B. Adams, J. Randolph Anderson, Otis Ashmore, G. Arthur Gordon, B. H. Levy, J. F. Minis, and W. W. Williamson, was appointed to formulate and carry out such plans as it deemed best for making the celebration a success. The program adopted and carried out was briefly as follows : On the morning of February 12th, the members of the Society and its guests were entertained at Wormsloe by Mr. W. J. DeRenne. The day was an ideal one, and the visit to the Georgia Library and the Old Fort, together with the charming hospitality of the host made the occasion one long to be remembered. At four o'clock in the afternoon the annual address was delivered at the Lawton Memorial by Dr. J. Franklin Jameson, head of the department of historical research in the Carnegie Institution at Washington, D. C. In the evening the Society and its guests enjoyed a banquet at the DeSoto hotel. The number who attended this banquet was 164 of whom 48 were ladies. Four addresses were delivered upon this occasion as follows : History : by Hon. Walter G. Charlton. The Thirteen Original States : by Rev. M. Ashby Jones, of Augusta. South Carolina and Georgia: by Hon. Joseph W. Barnwell, 24 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY President of the South Carolina Historical Society. Georgia of To-day: by His Excellency, John M. Slaton, Governor of Georgia. Mr. Barnwell was not able to attend the banquet on account of illness, and Mr. Lawton B. Evans of Augusta responded to the sentiment of his address in a very appropriate impromptu speech. The occasion was most enjoyable and successful in every way. The annual reports, and the addresses so far as it has been possible to obtain them, follow. Mr. President and Members of the Georgia Historical Society, Ladies and Gentlemen : As I approach the exploitation of the theme which has been assigned to me, I congratulate myself that it is a Savannah audience to which I will speak. It is of the generous nature of Savannahians to listen with patience and apparent enthusiasm to any response — a happy con- dition emphasized by the fact that the speaker is not expected to be wise or profound or exhaustive nor the audience to give indications that it is swaying on the verge of impatience. The unwritten law is, if the subject may not be developed in ten minutes, the developer simply must not take sixty; if he is expected to write a sketch, he is not expected to follow in the footsteps of Buckle or Kirby and Spence and present a three volume introduction. History! What is History? I confess I do not know. Will we ever know, or will it enthuse us when we find the answer? When it comes to plain facts, Herodotus is not so far removed from Alice in Wonderland, and yet a pre- cisian like Thucydides did not hesitate to make speeches for his historical characters which they never made nor could have made. You may select any of the volumes of Gibbon and with the spell of that genius upon you read until there is little time left for sleep, and all the while the doubt is with us whether we are following the decline and fall of an empire or the processes of "an iron will sapping with iron strength an iron creed." There is more of the human being than historian about Macaulay, and this does not put us on alarm. The one thing we do not exact of History is accuracy. We clamor for it and denounce the 26 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY tendency to rush after the glaring and the spectacular, but when the band begins to play and the flags to wave and the tramp of the warriors sounds on the highways, we follow with cheers and exact of the teller of the story that he record our impressions and not the truth. A great man or a great deed will occasionally pass down the corridors of time under the chaperonage of the Muse of History, but we may be very sure that the procession which follows will have in it the repellent figures of malice and slander and perversion, perversion by expression, perversion by silence. If the Muse must escort all of our great in this parlous time of ours, she is not without her embarrass- ments ; and we can sympathize with her if she puts av^^ay her flowing robes and appears upon the scene narrowed as to skirts ; broadened as to coat, aigretted as to head, with a tasteful legend in gold and green across her breast ; and with the powder of peace upon her engaging features, and the powder of war veiling with its murky shadows the fascinat- ing depths of her beautiful eyes. What is History? Is it the bare accumulation of dates and names and events ; the lurid spectacle of stark battlefields ; the swaying columns and crashing walls of empires ; the tragedy of crushed hopes and the vision of mouldering ideals? Or is it the science of the ages ; the deduction of great and vital principles formulated in the cold, precise expressions of definite conclusions, appealing to reason and not to emotion, logic rather than enthusiasm, to the selfishness of preserva- tion and not to the wild abandon of patriotism? When we approac'h its domain are we to deaden our hearing to the beating of the drums and the blasts of the bugle; close our eyes to the glitter of the bayonets and the gleam of the sabre, the banners streaming in the smoke and glare of the combat? Or are we with atrophied memories and selfish consideration to search for the bare results of human struggles and human tragedy that the plodder along the highways of life may be advised when he comes to the parting of the ways that to the right is an abyss filled THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 27 with the skeletons of dead governments and to the left the waste and desolation of ice-bound deserts? If we are to hear no more the soft voice of the Muse of poetry singing of the deeds which made men great, and beguile our hours with nothing more entrancing than the epitaphs of noble causes — why do we not take to heart the lessons and warnings of History, and if necessary, turn back to the things which mean life and liberty and dignity and char- acter? Why travel along the Appian Way with its ruins and travesties and inglorious endings when we may walk the Georgia roads with Georgia History in our hearts and Georgia's victories singing in our memories ! Are we never to cause questioning when we consider history? Would any one read history with more pleasure than he would break rocks on the street if it consisted of Carlyle's account of the ancestry of Frederick the Great! Is History meant to be the crystallized pathos of human endeavor toward noble ends, adorned by the interpreting graces of literature and appealing to the enthusiasm of the patriot and the sympathy of the good and true? Is Napoleon with folded arms and scowling brow, trampling on the hopes and destinies of mankind; posing before pyramids, and leaving his army to struggle with hunger and despair and misery as it stumbled along the ice-bound roads of Russia, any more of history than the poor stupid King of the French, escorted by the mob to the end of all things whilst they sang the cheerful song "Where can one be happier than in the bosom of his family?" If the test of true great- ness is to be found in the elaborate display of printer's ink, why is not Thaw greater than either? Does it make any difiference whether Marbot really rode up the hill at Eylau or only dreamed he did! We nevertheless see his return charge, the cannon ball crashing through his hat, and his Italian mare tearing out the faces of the obstructing enemies. Be the facts what they may, it is Macaulay's description of Walker at Londonderry which will live; and Horatius at the Bridge: and Regulus in bonds, and the 28 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY narrow pass at Thermopylae, and the deep-hued waters of Salamis; and, with mental reservations, Spartacus and Casabianca. And whenever a monster appears in Crete, we pray that another Theseus will arise in Athens. We may preach forever the austerity of History ; its natural isolation from the allurements which the topics of human action throw out; its stolid impartiality. That is the theory of the History we affect. What we desire is another mat- ter. Victory and retreat ; the sweeping charge ; the tramp of the march; legions and brigades and regiments; armies and generals and privates; those who strive and conquer, those who strive and fail — this is the array which swarm into our thoughts. The suffering and sacrifice ; the broken hearts and smiling faces ; the prisons and "white washed halls," how they throng into our hearts and memories, shap- ing our lives, bending the strong with pity and putting the stamp of triumph upon the features of the weak! If History dealt only with results, its terms would be measurably pronounced. It is in the consideration of causes that the historian encounters his bad quarter of an hour. Great movements and great events have their begin- nings in some trifling act or mood or word, a frown or a smile, a phase of nature, or a molecule in the eye. If Drouet had been hired to change the horses he would not have peered into the stolid face of Louis the Sixteenth and there might never have been lanterns ornamented with swaying forms, nor tumbrils and guillotines. The literary canity of a member of the committee on style caused the omission from the preamble to the Constitution of the names of the States, and put in action the processes which culminated in four years of bitter warfare. A storm ofif Hatteras gave the Governor of South Carolina just time to meet the treacherous expedition to Sumter. The historian who can trace causes and their formative course through the life of a people, and tell the truth and nothing but the truth is yet to be born. The temptation is overwhelming in deduc- ing general principles from facts to distort facts to THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 29 suit general principles, and to distort narrative into a con- formity with theory is to become a renegade to truth. We have been makers of history and we have left to others the work of perverting what we have done. We are cast- ing aside as intolerable burdens the deeds and traditions whic'h were wrought and held by the Georgians who preceded us. As we hurry along in the mad rush for the dross which glitters, we abandon the precious things which made it worth while to make a State and save it. Aeneas who took with him his household gods was a reactionary. We are of the progressives, straining our sinews to fol- low at the elbow of every long-'haired demagogue who, changing his topic at every stride, discourses on subjects as new to him as the customs of the planet Mars and as old in fact as the rustiest piece of junk in the dust heap of the centuries. Possibly we may be fortunate if when our history comes to be narrated, the patient writer after he has told of the great and noble things in which Georgians have done in peace and war, will pause at our day and through sheer kindliness of purpose write us an epitaph which will recall that which Carlyle inscribed over the ancestry of Frederick the Great. We who gather here to-night to celebrate the young-old age of this honorable institution which stands guard over the History of Georgia, how could we better the conditions under which we live by forgetting the record of this military colony, this sover- eign State ! What we and our ancestors gained was got- ten at the point of the bayonet; lived through the merciless storm of shot and shell, oppression and despair, poverty and bereavement. We are here celebrating anything because those whose blood flows in our veins cared neither for wounds or death if Georgia might live and if with this majestic past behind us we pass our days throwing to right and left the priceless heritage which is ours, why should History concern itself with what we think or do? What History teaches us — the plain, practical, everyday History we aflfect to desire — is that the best theory of government 30 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY the world has ever known is within the four corners of the Constitution, and the substitutes we are invited to adopt have had their day and gone through the blood and smoke and disaster into the darkness of oblivion. I may not speak to you in detail of the history of Georgia when those who follow me may dwell in thought and words on that theme. Being a Georgian, it is permissible for me to recall for a few minutes upon what my faith is founded. The world in its centuries has produced few epics: Here in this domain is one. As the years roll back there comes to us the only benevolent colony in the world, the only military colony in America. Elsewhere, the smoke of conflict; the burning homes; the settler with his rifle; the savage with the scalps dangling at 'his waist. Here, before the sun went down on that auspicious day when the great Englishman joined hands with the great Indian, were peace and amity and comradeship. There is no oppression. The lambent flames of superstition twist about no tortured forms. As the western sun lays its golden touch upon the bending marsh, through winding creeks and gleaming bays the scant force moves on its way to the south, and from where the whispering pines cast their shadows toward the sea, is heard the rattle of musketry, as on Georgia's soil is fought to its conclusion the old conflict between England and Spain, determining for all times that here should be the speech and civilization of our race. And there come to us visions of Tondee's Tavern and t'he Boys of Liberty; the Parish of St. John ; the vessel manned by Georgians going out on the tide to victory ; the undisguised Georgians who made prisoner the English ruler. And then the days of sufifering and wounds, and death. The battle of 78, the battle of '79; the prison ships; the shot-torn frames, and poverty and sacrifice, and brave women and brave men, and at last — Liberty ! Colony, Republic, State, and all the anguish and grief and hardships that Georgia might live. And then the days of peace with its ventures which drew the attention of the world — its laws, its literature, its com- THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 31 merce. Jackson at Louisville upholding the honor of the State. Troup in the governor's chair uttering the final word on the sovereignty of the State. Whenever duty called, Georgia answering. In Florida to-day; in Mexico to-morrow, and then again war. A great issue made by a people knowing the history of their country, the history of the Constitution, the history of the causes which led to strife. Again, suffering and sacrifice for principle; wounds and death ; the terrific combats ; women in the habiliments of woe and with the smile of triumph on their faces ; men charging on every battlefield; with torn shoes and ragged uniforms marching along every historic way. With Jackson in the Valley; with Jackson in the Wilderness. With Lee on the Rappahannock, and Malvern Hill and Gettysburg and Appomattox. Now charging the foe at Chicamauga, now at Kennesaw on the retreat. McAllister on the left, the Savannah on the right. Georgians on sea and on land. And at last, defeat and reconstruction, and through all the dark night, Georgia in their 'hearts and memories, until at last the dawn began to break and with the glory of the rising sun, once more free ; with a Georgian at our head, and our ideals and traditions safe, and the Georgia that we love standing upright before the world in dignity and strength — the sovereign State about whose destiny we had closed our ranks when the issue of life and death con- fronted her. God save the State, and all her rights preserve ! The right to live. The right to hope. The right to gather within our protective strength the memories of the days and men which made and kept her great. The right to be free and brave and tender. In stress, in storm ; when on our path the shadows which signal the coming of the night shall closer creep, and the elemental fury of impend- ing change lifts its mad cries, give us the strength to fight and die that liberty may live. And grant us at the last to rest within her embracing earth, and from the silence and the gloom send up into the flooding light our messages of faith and trust. 32 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY I wonder if in anywhere The sky will be so blue to me ! Or spring so green the budding tree ; Or from the restless, foaming sea Come breeze so fair, I do but know that when to dust My heart hath turned, and in her sod Hath changed to bloom, in every rod On which it glows, the loving God Will somehow mark it with my trust. We have come together to celebrate, with congratula- tion and admiring retrospect, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Georgia Historical Society. From the small range of subjects upon which I could speak in response to your committee's invitation, I have chosen as my theme the History of Historical Societies. But may we not profitably ask ourselves, at the beginning, why such organizations as historical societies should exist at all? A strange question, some will say, to ask on such an occasion as this. We should not be here, assembled in this hall for such a purpose as that which has brought us together, if we were not entirely committed to the belief that historical societies are worth while. Yes, it is indeed axiomatic to as that historical societies ought to exist and to flourish, but on the other hand it is by no means axiomatic to all the world. Each of us has friends who care nothing for history. (I myself have not now one relative who regards it as really interesting, though fortunately for me my father and my grandfather were devoted to it.) To many a man it is strange that we should be addicted to such a pursuit. Many would sympathize with the condemned criminal in the old Italian story, who when given his choice of punishment, either to row in the galleys or to read through the numerous tomes of Guicciardini's history of the civil wars of Florence, cheerfully chose the life of the galley slave. To a majority of our fellow citizens the building of a historical society is a strange place in which to spend one's time. It is good for us, even on a festal occasion like this to face these facts. In a world now governed by public opinion, no organization can flourish that cannot set up a 34 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY rational defense for its existence. It is possible to say, "I belong to a historical society because such is my per- sonal taste." It is possible for a historical society to live, that is to say, not absolutely to die, which refuses to care what the great public thinks, places itself on no broader basis than the personal taste its members have for his- torical reading and inquiry, and devotes itself in cloistered seclusion to these pursuits. But a really live society will never take such a position. It will be glad to be put upon the defensive, proudly conscious that it has a sufficient defense for its existence and its claims. It will not ignore a public opinion that regards history with indifference or amused tolerance and thinks of historical students as put- tering antiquarians. On the contrary, its members will act in the full consciousness that such opinions are current, will keep the great public constantly in mind, and will strive so to conduct its operations that their fruits shall be useful to the whole body of their fellow citizens, and that in the end all their fellow citizens shall perceive them to be useful. Historical societies exist, first, because men believe history to be a useful and important pursuit, and secondly, because they perceive that certain parts of its work are best carried on by organization. That history has a high value for human society has been felt by many minds from the time when historical writing began. Only by survey- ing the slow development of human nature, the slow trans- formations of human institutions, through long periods of past time, can we gather wisdom as to their development through the long ages of the future, or shape measures wisely for the conduct of human afifairs in the years immedi- ately before us. He that has any confidence in the value of experience — and who has not? — will value history, (foir whereas the experiences of a single life furnish deductions drawn from only a few years and a narrow range of the earth and its inhabitants, history can lay before us wisdom based on the widest inferences from the whole range of THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 35 human character and conduct. Almost our only means of knowing what men will do, is our knowledge of what men have done; almost our only means of judging what meas- ures it is expedient for our fellow citizens to adopt lies in our sense, based on the history of the past, of the effects likely to follow, in a body of population shaped by such influences as those to which the various strands in our national fibre have been subjected. The whole civiliza- tion of the present has its roots deep in the past, and can never be understood save through a searching study of origins. Perhaps we may say that the study of history has espe- cial claims upon a composite nation. Such a nation starts out upon its career with an enormous advantage arising from the very diversity of the elements of which it is com- posed. Purity of blood, if modern anthropology has left any nation in a position to lay claim to it, is no longer regarded as an asset. The Anglo-Irishman is a superior being to either the Englishman or the Celt. The mingling of the nations in northern Italy, in northern France, in old Brandenburg and in new Canada, makes for progress and for efficiency. But assuming all the initial advantages of composite origin, its elements can obtain their due results in national effectiveness only on condition that they are kneaded into a homogeneous mas's, that out of pluribus they really do become unum. This solidarity, this sense of national unity, is only to be achieved by increase of mutual understanding and sympathy, and, with all the good that is done by travel, by business connections, by a common literature and system of education, and by working together for national ends, it is doubtful if anything makes more for sympathetic comprehension and national unity than the study of history. On the one hand this America, this melting pot of the races, is to be helped toward unity and national effectiveness by appreciative study of German history, of Irish history, of Scandinavian history, of the history of the Jew and of the Greek, of the negro and of the Slav. On the 36 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY other hand the remaining vestiges of provincialism are to be swept away by attentive investigation of the develop- ment of American life in every state and every region alike. We are assembled upon the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Fifty years ago you men and women of Georgia ■thought of him as the representative of the alien and a hostile power. Now, I suppose there is none of us who does not think of him chiefly as one who worked for the preser- vation of the Union — our Union. In 1914 the members of the Georgia Historical Society have invited a man of Massachusetts origin to address them at their anniversary commemoration. Fifty years ago, how unlikely this would have been ! Today, we have perhaps not given it a thought. We are all simply Americans, bound together by a common devotion to the study of history. I was to have brought with me, and but for some delay of the mail should have here, a collection of family photographs, which a friend in the remotest of the Pacific states has sent me on behalf of one of his colleagues. Fifty years ago, during Sherman's march, they were taken from a Georgia plantation by one of his relatives; he wished me to take advantage of this occasion, when members of many Georgia families are assembled, to see if the photographs cannot be identified and restored to those to whom they rightfully belong. How natural and obvious this seems — in 1914! But must we not see how large a part in this priceless development of fraternal feeling and national consciousness has been played by the study of American history? Before the Civil War its place in education was slight; now it is studied each year by perhaps ten million school children and fifty thou- sand undergraduates in universities and colleges, while at least five hundred graduate students are making it the main object of their lives. It can be affirmed with confi- dence that if the study of American history had had such a place in the United States of sixty and seventy years ago, carrying its messages of mutual understanding into THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 37 every village, North and South and East and West, the terrible conflict would never have occurred. But if we feel able to stand up before an indifferent and Philistine world and stoutly maintain the value of his- tory, it is not dif^cult to demonstrate the utility of his- torical societies. History is an expensive business. To a large extent, it consists in putting together data which, before the historian laid his co-ordinating hand upon them, were widely scattered through numberless books and pamphlets and newspapers and manuscripts. Almost never can be, even when working in a quite restricted field, afford the time or the money to collect all the material needful to his purpose. If most of it has not already been brought together somewhere, he either recoils before the under- taking which he proposed to himself, or chooses an easier and less valuable theme, or dies before he has finished his painful process of collecting. Often history has, for these reasons, been a rich man's pursuit. But division of labor is a natural resource of mankind in intellectual as well as in industrial occupations, and the votaries of history have not failed to perceive the advantages of organization. Before historical societies were thought of, many of these advantages were secured by the discipline of mon- astic establishments, in which pious brethren, laboring patiently for the glory of God and of their order, accumu- lated materials for the use of some brother 'having excep- tional gifts for historical composition, or perhaps of the quite different historians of our age. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries vast series of documentary volumes were prepared and published by special organi- zations of ecclesiastics, formed for the purpose, such as the Benedictines of the Congregation of St. Maur, to whom we owe such multitudes of scholarly tomes, or the Society of Bollandists, who began in 1629 their great series of the Acta Sanctorum and are still at work upon it, two hundred and seventy years later. 38 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY When secular organizations for the collecting and pub- lis'hing of historical materials began to come into existence, they did not usually bear the modern form, which this society represents, of private endowed societies. It was natural in those days to look to the State for support, pat- ronage, and guidance, and the state was the monarch. Therefore we find the institution of royal academies, con- sisting of a small number of scholars selected by the crown, sustained by the crown, and entrusted by the crown with general labors on behalf of scholarship in various fields or with specific tasks in the particular field of history. It is true that the "academy" was at first, in the old Italian cities in which the institution originated, most commonly a private group of dilettanti, and it is true that some of the most celebrated royal academies had their origin in private groups of associates, subsequently adopted by royal favor. But how difficult it was to maintain such societies inde- pendent of the monarch is shown by the early history of what may in a sense be called the most venerable of pres- ent-day historical societies, the Society of Antiquaries, of London. That society was originally founded in 1572, in Queen Elizabeth's time, by Matthew Parker, her arch- bishop of Canterbury, Sir Robert Cotton, and other learned men. It used to meet at first in Sir Robert Cotton's house, in the Cloisters at Westminster. In 1589 it applied for a charter of incorporation as "an Academy for the Study of Antiquities and History," with what result does not appear. But James I. dissolved it in 1604, for fear, as we are told, that the society might pry too much into the secrets of government, and it remained in abeyance for over a cen- tury, when in 1707, meetings of learned men began again to be held in its name. Originally these meetings were held at the Bear Tavern, afterwards at the Fountain in Fleet Street and other similar places. The meeting began with a dinner, probably at three or four o'clock in the afternoon. Afterward they sat with punch and pipes of tobacco around a long table and discoursed of historical THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 39 and antiquarian matters ; and in 1751, when they had long been perceived to be harmless, George II. gave them their charter of incorporation. Meanwhile, however, in countries less free from gov- ernmental supervision than Great Britain, the development of means for doing the expensive work of collecting and publishing historical materials had all been along the lines of the Royal Academy. Private societies had found their means inadequate without governmental aid. Upon the ruins of one such attempt, ambitiously styled the Collegium Historicum Imperiale, but with a basis broadened to include the whole circle of the sciences, the encyclopaedic Leibniz, philosopher, theologian, mathematician, jurist, historian, scientist, had with the aid^of the elector and electress of Brandenburg, soon to become king and queen of Prussia, erected in 1700 the splendid fabric of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, today the most important of such institutions, and which for two hundred years has performed most not- able services to history. The next year, 1701, saw the foundation in Paris of the Academy of Inscriptions, which likewise has for two centuries taken history for a part of its wide province. It took its rise from a committee of the French Academy appointed by Colbert to advise in framing inscriptions for medals. A little later this committee was entrusted with the equally humble task of searching mythology for sub- jects for the tapestries of the Grand Monarch and assist- ing to plan the fetes of Versailles; but in 1701 a fresh decree organized the Academy of Inscriptions, and charged it to frame a general description of the antiquities and monuments of France, Ten honorary members, ten salaried members, ten associates, and ten pupils or understudies — such was its provision for the endowment of historical and antiquarian research. Academies continued to develop along two lines. There were on the one hand the great general academies, such as the famous Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, 40 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY founded by Peter the Great in 1724, that which George II. established at Gottingen in 1752, and the Bavarian Academy instituted at Munich by the elector Max Joseph in 1759. On the other hand there came into existence in certain countries during the same general period, the middle por- tion of the eighteenth century, royal academies devoted solely or mainly to history. Thus, in 1738 King Phillip V. of Spain established the Royal Academy of History at Madrid, which has distinguished itself by a variety of important publications of historical materials, such as series of the journals of the Cortes of Castile and Aragon. The Royal Danish Society for National History and Lan- guage was founded in 1746; the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, History and Antiquities in 1753. A question of some interest, though not perhaps of grave importance, has sometimes been mooted, as to priority among the historical societies of the world. Which is the oldest historical society of the world? Is any older than the Massachusetts Historical Society, the first of such in America? As in many another question of priority, the answer depends on one's definitions. These academies of the mid-eighteenth century devoted to history alone were royal foundations, not private societies ; their members were appointed by the crown, their fund supplied from the public treasury; but their objects were the same as those of our modern historical societies, and their publications were in general of the same two classes, papers read by the members, such as a modern society puts into its "Pro- ceedings," and collections of documentary historical material, original sources for the work of historians, such as a modern society puts into its series labelled "Collec- tions." The Society of Antiquaries of London, on the other hand, may be said to have devoted itself rather to antiquarian than to historical studies during most of its existence, and this is true. But its charter stated both as its objects, and most of our American historical societies were far* from drawing a strict line, in their early publica- THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 41 tions, between what is historical and what is merely anti- quarian. Indeed, it is not wholly certain just how that line is to be drawn. Perhaps we may say that "anti- quarian" means that which relates to past times but is too unimportant for the historian to trouble himself with it, or that the antiquary is concerned with the fortunes of things, the historian with those of men and of states ; but even so, it is to be feared that he who thumbs the early volumes of our American historical societies will find in them many a contribution which must be classed as antiquarian, and I for my part should not be disposed to deny any claim which the venerable Society of Antiquaries might make, to be the oldest of existing historical societies. The period of the French Revolution and of the Napoleonic w^ars was on the whole unfavorable to the culti- vation of history. The partisans of the Revolution, in every country, abhorred and despised the past. Their passionate desire w^as, to return to nature, to create a nev/ heaven and a new earth. The first step in their reconstruc- tion of human society was to be precisely the disregarding of what had been. Wherever the Revolution prevailed, the learned medieval work of the academies and the monastic establishments was rudely broken up, and the revulsion against history had full sway. Napoleon indeed established, or permitted the establishment, in 1805, of the Society of Antiquaries of France ; but Celtic antiquities no doubt seemed to him a very safe occupation for his subjects. But with the outward fall of the Revolution competing tendencies took new life. The romantic movement, the desire to restore and strengthen ligitimate monarchy, the sense that after all a new wx)rld had come into existence, the perception that unsuspected forces in human nature had been evoked and would henceforth play a dominant part in public life, all conspired to cause an enthusiastic interest in history. In every country in Europe the period from 1820 to 1850 was marked by the work of historians of the highest class — such men as Guizot, Mignet, Thiers, 42 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Niebuhr, Macaulay and Grote. Not less remarkable a sign was the multiplication of historical societies during this period, societies organized by private means in response to a general conviction that history was worth while, not institutions founded by the munificence of enlightened princes only, as the academies of a hundred years before had been. For instance, in Great Britain we have, in the thirty years from 1812 to 1842, the foundation of nearly a dozen important societies devoted to publication wholly or largely historical. Within very nearly the same period falls the foundation of several influential French, German, and Italian societies; of the first general historical society for all Switzerland; of the chief Dutch historical society, that still centered at Utrecht; of the Icelandic Literary Society; of the Society of Northern Antiquaries, at Copen- hagen; and of the principal Russian historical and anti- quarian association. At the present time there are doubtless more than fifty historical societies in England, three hundred in France, four hundred in Germany. The bibliography of their publications runs to thousands of titles. Some are national in their scope, some confine their studies to the history of a particular region or province, many are devoted solely to the events and development of a still more restricted local- ity. Some of these latter, despite their narrow field, have done work of the most notable value, such as the many volumes with which the Surtees Society has illustrated the history of old Northumbria, those of the Oxford Historical Society founded by that vivacious spirit, the late John Richard Green, or those of the Society for the History of Paris. In the highly cultivated society of western Europe support is found for many specialized societies, cultivating in many cases fields of rare interest — in Paris for instance the Society of the Latin Orient, notable for its work in the domain of the Crusades, in London the Selden Society for legal history, the Hakluyt Society for the history of voyages and discoveries, the Navy Records Society, the Palestine THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 43 Pilgrim Text Society, the Jewish Historical Society, and the like. It is not too high an estimate, to suppose that there are a thousand historical societies in Europe. Some of these European historical societies have exceedingly interesting places of meeting, as is natural in lands where so many structures of venerable antiquity remain. I remember, for instance, with peculiar pleasure a visit to the meeting place of the historical society of the canton of Neuchatel, in Switzerland. The society does not need to maintain a library, contenting itself with a splendid collection made jointly by the canton and the university. Therefore it can with freedom have its place for monthly meetings at a little distance from the heart of the city. Three miles out, in a romantic valley, stands the ancient castle of the counts of Valangin, a fine medieval structure possessing every accessory that a typical castle should have — dungeons, torture-chambers, oubliette, chapel, boudoir, secret passages, gates and turrets, battlements and winding stairs — and kept in excellent preservation by the cantonal government. Here, in an imposing room \v'hicli was once the hall of the counts of Valangin and is surrounded by the portraits of former princes of Neuchatel, the cantonal his- torical society, a body of excellent scholars, holds its stated sessions. A feature of the furnishings which would hardly be copied among us is the set of oaken arm-chairs of antique design, one for each member, on the back of which is carved his individual coat-of-arms, for it is assumed that a member of the Neuchatel Historical Society is a gentleman of ancient descent, and even in democratic Switzerland such things are regarded. In some respects American historical societies have a good deal to learn from those of Europe. On the whole, the papers which appear in their proceedings are written with a much greater fulness of historical knowledge, and their documentary collections are edited with more com- plete scholarship. Even the publications of those which are quite local in scope seem to be much less at the mercy of 44 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY zealous but untrained and provincial amateurs than is the case with us. They seem to have closer connections with the class of those who, as university professors and in similar positions, are occupied with the broader aspects of the national history, and to derive more profit from such association than our local historical societies are prone to do. I have been struck, for instance, with the difference between the manner in which provincial and local historical societies in France sometimes deal with the history of the French Revolution and that in which the American Revolu- tion is treated by our societies. Rarely do the latter rise beyond the consideration of local military engagements, the minutiae of which are pursued with a zeal worthy of a bet- ter cause. At the worst, they devote precious pages to the dry printing of endless muster-rolls. Seldom would one gain from them the notion that the American Revolution was anything else than a war, a long series of battles and skirmishes, obviously small in scale, yet invested with more glory to the acre than was ever raised before on terrestrial surfaces. Yet nothing can be clearer than that the whole series of military events which marked the securing of independence was of less importance than the transformation of American society which went on in those same years — the making of republican constitutions, the growth toward political equality, the development of parties, the confiscation and redistribution of landed estates, the abolition of entails and primogeniture and other reforms of the land law, the influx of population into the West, the beginnings of manufacturing, the shiftings of commerce, the abolition of the slave trade and in some cases of slavery, the quick increase of the press, and the reorganization of religion. Of all these things, of the history of the American Revolution as a social movement, of the shifting of American society, in those years, to some- thing approaching its modern basis, I see very little in the transactions of our historical societies. They seem to take conventional or traditional views of their subject, and not THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 45 often enough to stop and ask themselves what things in history are really important. Meanwhile the local histori- cial societies of France have been doing a great deal to illustrate the history of the French Revolution as a social movement, as a movement in legislation, in economics, in land tenure, in religious and charitable organizations, in the relations of classes, in public opinion. Thirty years ago French Revolution was known as a dramatic series of political conflicts in Paris, accompanied by foreign wars. If at the present time we know its history, both political and social, as a French Revolution and not solely as a Parisian revolution, if we know with some completeness what it meant to all France, this is in no small measure due to the intelligent work of the local historical societies, which have given us, section by section, a picture of the whole great transformation. Another way in which we might learn something from the European historical societies is in respect to the steady maintenance of means for mutual co-operation. Our own societies, especially in the Old Thirteen states, are a little prone to work in isolation. It is a natural result of that state pride or sentiment of local attachment which plays so large a part amid the motives for forming and maintaining such organizations, but it tends to provincialism in the results. The American Historical Association has put forth considerable efforts toward drawing state and local historical societies into closer relations, by maintaining each year, at the time of its annual meetings, a conference of those interested in the work of such societies, but not many of the Eastern societies send delegates or take the occasion seriously. Many make no reply to the annual questionary through which alone the general progress of the movement can be recorded. Co-operation among the historical societies of the Mississippi Valley is much more advanced. For several years they have been engaged together in one large and important co-operative endeavor, the making in Paris of a calendar of all the papers in the 46 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY French archives relating to the history of the Mississippi Valley. This, when finished and published, will be of great service to American historical scholarship, revealing thou- sands of interesting documents hitherto unknown and pre- venting much wasteful duplication by several societies, in the matter of copying and printing. Now the English archives present many similar opportunities for profitable co-operation on the part of the historical societies of the Atlantic states, but they have preferred to go forward with- out concert, pursuing the processes of historical publication in a somewhat miscellaneous fashion, each in accordance with its own local programme and without much knowledge of what the others were doing or were likely to do. For sixty years the Germans have maintained a federa- tion of historical societies, with an organ which prints reports from its constituent bodies. For sixteen years they have maintained biennial meetings in which representatives of historical societies and those officials who edit the histori- cal publications of the German states come together to con- sider the many problems which they have in common, and also to provide for co-operative work on historical atlases of Germany. Since 1893 the five great German academies of sciences, those of Berlin, Vienna, Munich, Leipsic, and Gottingen, have been joined in a Cartell or trust for the pursuing of large joint undertakings, some of which are historical ; and in 1901 the eighteen chief academies of the world united to form, for common purposes, mostly trans- cending the powers of any one country, the International Association of Academies. In France, where centralized administration has been so much the mode, we should naturally expect that the govern- ment would long since have taken the initiative in the federating of historical societies ; and so it did, as far back as 1834, when Guizot was minister of public instruction. That vigilant and resourceful statesman instituted in that year the Committee of Historical Work's (Comite des Travaux Historiques), one of whose functions was to keep THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 47 a superintending eye upon the work of the local historical societies, to encourage them by prizes and to guide their labors into paths that should lead to the larger results attainable by co-operation. If the effects have not been all that was desired or expected, an excellent bibliography of all the publications of the French historical societies has been issued, excellent instructions for the guidance of various sorts of historical work have been put forth, and useful annual congresses of the societies have been held, one year in Paris the next in some one of the provincial cities. Their programmes are devised by the governmental authorities with a view of eliciting good work upon those local topics whose study is of most service to the general history of France. America has never had many of those societies which devote themselves to special aspects of history, such as societies for chiirch history or naval history or the like, but it has greatly abounded in societies devoted to the history of particular states or counties or other localities, and it has developed in the West an interesting special variety of state-supported historical society, ingeniously articulated with the state government. We have now nearly five hundred historical societies, and nearly all are of the state or local class. Indeed the early date at which, in comparison with Europe, the founding of historical societies in America began, was doubtless connected with the origin of our states. To the minds of the present day the period of the Revolution is chiefly thought of as the beginning of a nation. To the man of that day the most impressive thought often was, that his colony had now become a state, independent and sovereign. It is signifi- cant of the quick access of state pride that the years be- tween the Revolution and the War of 1812 saw the issue, in rapid succession, of excellent histories of South Caro- lina, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, while works that did 48 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY riOt see the light were prepared in other states, for instance, in Georgia by Edward Langworthy. It was in part an effect of the same spirit that the same period saw the founding in 1791 of the Massachusetts Historical Society, the oldest of such organizations among us, in 1804 of the New York Historical Society, and in 1812 of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, Mas- sachusetts. Of the first of these the chief founder was the Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap, the historian of New Hampshire. The ideas which presided over its inception may be learned from a sentence of its original constitution. "The preser- vation of books, pamphlets, manuscripts and records con- taining historical facts, biographical anecdotes, temporary projects, and beneficial speculations conduces to mark the genius, delineate the manners, and trace the progress of society in the United States, and must always have a useful tendency to rescue the true history of this country from the ravages of time and the effects of ignorance and neglect." The programme sounds old-fashioned now, and a bit miscellaneous if not vague, but no one can say that this oldest and perhaps most prosperous, certainly most productive, of our historical societies, with its forty- iive volumes of "Proceedings" and sixty-eight volumes of ^'Collections," its excellent library and unrivalled col- lection of manuscripts, has not lived up to the purposes and vastly exceeded the hopes of those who founded it. In the period of active growth and national pride which ensued upon the Second War with Great Britain five more historical societies came into existence — the Essex Historical Society of Salem, now the Essex Institute, in 1821; the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Maine Historical Society, and the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania in 1822, and that of New Hampshire in 1823. Four more followed in the thirties, the Ohio Historical and Philosophical Society and the Virginia Historical Society in 1831, that of North Carolina in 1832, and that of Louisi- ana in 1836. Then, on the fourth of June, 1839, came the THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 49 event which we have met to celebrate, the auspicious and memorable foundation of the Georgia Historical Society. At that time there were, as will have been seen, only a dozen historical societies in the country. Some of these were barely alive. The whole amount of their publications did not equal fifty volumes. It is doubtful if there were three professors of history in all the colleges of the United States. Now, the number of books, pamphlets, and maga- zine articles annually published on American history alone exceeds three thousand. There are, as has been said, nearly five hundred historical societies in the country, ranging in scope from the merest township organization to the American Historical Association, with its nearly three thousand members, which aims to be the clearing-house of all. These five hundred societies have certainly not fewer than thirty thousand members. They have buildings the combined value of which must be more than four mil- lion dollars, while many others, supported by the state and affiliated in some form to its government, have splendid quarters in state capitols. Their libraries contain at least three million printed books, and their stores of manuscript material are enormous. No one who looks at their present strength and prosperity will deny that their history, how- ever slightly sketched, is an important subject. In this great development the Georgia Historical Society has played a worthy and important part. In the seventy-five years of its existence it has kept brightly alive the love of history in its constituency, it has collected an invaluable library, it has issued volumes of Collections whose superior worth has been recognized by scholars in every part of the country. Its first volume, published in 1840 by Dr. William B. Stevens, took rank at once with the best of its class. It chose from the beginning the right path, in composing its volumes mainly of those original and contemporary materials whose value is permanent and secure. Its editions of the letters of Oglethorpe and Montiano and Wright, of James Habersham and Joseph 50 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Clay, are alone sufficient to confer distinction upon such a society. But while these have made its name known else- where, surely its most notable services have been per- formed here in Georgia, for no one can measure the strength and encouragement which this prosperous city of Savan- nah and this great state of Georgia have drawn from the labors of those who have taught them to be proud of a history full of glowing deeds, of manly characters, and of that courage and fortitude and energy that steadily lead to greatness. Do not let us take, in the presence of any one, a hum- ble or apologetic tone concerning the studies of our choice. In the history of the past we should find such a source of pride and inspiration as can be found nowhere else. I could wish that the student of American history should turn often to the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, that splendid bead-roll of the great ones of Israel, that triumphant summary of the dealings of God with his chosen people. He is a poor American if he sees in it no parallel to his own thinking. "By faith," I would have him say, "the elders obtained a good report." By faith our fathers, when they were called to go out into a place which they should afterward receive for an inheritance, obeyed ; and went out, not knowing whither they went. By faith they sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles, and looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Therefore sprang there from them so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore in- numerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were per- suaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. By faith Washington and Hamilton and Jefferson and Marshall blessed their posterity concerning things to come. By faith their successors out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, wrought righteousness, obtained THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 51 promises. "These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the recompense, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Men and women of Georgia, the history of the Hebrew nation is sacred history only because the Hebrews deemed it so. Surely, to the right-thinking and true-hearted Ameri- can or Georgian the history of this great nation is sacred. For seventy-five years you have cherished it, in times of prosperity and in times of calamity, in the spirit of hope- fulness in which Tefft and Stevens and Arnold founded your society and in the spirit of manly courage with which Bishop Elliott, in the darkest days of reconstruction, called upon you to rally to the preservation of culture and remembrance. May the Georgia Historical Society go for- ward, with increasing vigor and increasing resources, and pursue for many decades more its noble work of enlighten- ment and inspiration — enlightenment as to a memorable past, inspiration toward a still more glorious future. Mr. President, and Members of the Georgia Historical Society, Ladies and Gentlemen: In the year 1720 there was printed in England an ac- count of the "Islands of St. Symon, Sapella, St. Catarina and Ogeche" described as "The Golden Islands" of Caro- lina, being a part of the "Margravate of Azilia" granted in 1717 by "The Lords Proprietors" of Carolina to Sir Robert Mouritgomery, and including all the territory between the Savannah and the Altamaha. In this account is printed a letter, which I imagine to be the very first recorded instance of a Carolinian being called upon to testify as to the excel- lence of Georgia. The writer was Colonel John Barnwell, then acting as one of the agents of Carolina in transfering that Colony to the Crown after the overthrow of the gov- ernment of the Lords Proprietors by the Colonists in the Revolution of 1719. So far as the climate and lands are concerned, he cer- tainly did justice to his theme. Here are some of his words : "We may be furnished from Azilia with many commo- dities that are now brought from the Coasts of the Mediter- ranean, and other Countries in, or near the same Latitude, for by Trials, which have been made there by myself and my neighbours, Azilia produces Rice, Silk Indigo, Cochinele, Masts for Ships, Cedar, Myrtle, Wax, Walnut-Tree, dying- Woods, and great Timber, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine, Rozen, Hemp, Flax, Pot-Ashes, and Cotton and had we Olive- Trees and Almonds, as we have Oranges, Pomgranates, Peaches, Figs, Apples and Pears, they would, undoubtedly, do as well. And it is very reasonable to believe many more THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 53 Fruits and Drugs, growing in Persia, in India, about Lahore, in China, and in Japan. Places lying in the same Climate would thrive there, to the great advantage of the British Nation, were proper methods taken to procure the same." The people of Georgia he did not praise, for the Colony was of course, not founded by General Oglethorpe until 12 years afterwards. I have doubts however, whether after the lapse of nearly 200 years, his grandson's grandson can supply the omission, and quite keep the pace set by his Irish ancestor. But time has certainly knitted closely the association of the writer of the letter and his family with Georgia. It was he who built the fort on the Altamaha in 1721, which was burnt in 1725, after his death. It was Nathaniel Barnwell, the son of John, who was Aide to Oglethorpe in his unsuccessful attack upon St. Augustine in 1740. Again it was his grandson, John Barnwell, the son of Nathaniel, who in 1775, aided the Schooner sent by the "Congress of Georgia" in capturing a cargo of powder, a part of which was sent to Boston for the use of the American Army engaged in its siege, and it was the pres- ence of the force partly under his command which strength- ended the hands of the patriots of Georgia in their resist- ance at that time to the Royal Governor and his adherents. It was the great great grandson of the writer of the letter who was Stephen Elliott, the great Bishop of Georgia, whose mother was one of your own Habershams. So far as my own association with your State are concerned, as a Beaufort boy I lived in a community perhaps more closely allied by blood with Savannah than with Charleston, and Elliott, Habersham, Mackay, McQueen, Smith and Williamson were familiar names to me. Indeed the tomb- stones of my great great grandfather on the maternal side, William Bower Williamson, and of his mother, Mrs. Joseph Bryan, may still be seen in your Colonial Cemetery in the midst of your beautiful City. My room mate at College 54 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY was a Georgian, Professor Walter LeConte Stevens, now a distinguished professor of Washington and Lee Univer- sity, and two of my most valued instructors were the brothers John and Joseph LeConte of Liberty County, Georgia. They were two of the ablest men I have ever known, quite capable of making science loved among igno- rant savages. They shed luster alike upon Georgia, Caro- lina and California. Since manhood so many of my uncles, brothers, nephews, nieces and other relations have crossed the Savannah that it will soon be difficult to say to which side of the River the family really belongs. I remember well, as a boy, the visit of "The Guards" to Beaufort, their brilliant uniforms and soldierly bearing. They were wel- comed by the Beaufort Artillery, one half of whose mem- bers, the whole of the first Platoon, were six feet, or over in height. It was an attractive society, that of the "Old South." They almost deified personal courage, which after all is the very foundation stone of a character where truth and man- liness combine, and they had leisure enough and room enough to permit them to be original. I recall a story told me many years ago of one of your most respected mer- chants, who survived to my day. Himself one of the most amiable of men, his father's temper was somewhat hot. Angered one day by a sudden dispute, the old gentleman said to the offender : "Were I a younger man Sir, I would kick you out of my office." His son, thougnrirtij February 12, 1914. At Annual Report February 12, 1913, the membership of the Society was : — Active 96 Life 2 Honorary 8 Corresponding 9 115 The following changes have taken place during the past year. The Society has gained by electing 62 active members, and one corresponding member has been added. Two active members have been dropped for non-pay- ment of dues and four active members have resigned. The Society now has the following: Active 152 Life 2 Honorary 7 Corresponding 10 171 T, P. Ravenel. Annual Sri^nrt The Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences In account with William Harden, Treas. 1913 Feb. 1. Balance on hand $2,046.46 RECEIPTS: Dividends Augusta & Savannah Ry. Co 5,000.00 Sale of Gwinnett autograph 2,800.00 Tickets sold 130.00 Catalogues sold 42.40 Interest on deposits 63.47 DISBURSEMENTS: Pd. Salaries: Mr. Melchers....$l 000.00 Treasurer 120.00 Miss Bradley.... 300.00 Janitor 420.00—$ 1,8'W.OO Repairs 1,228.18 Fuel 179.50 Sundries 181.27 Supplies 127.22 Telephone 39.96 Printing 29.75 Water Rent 22.96 Express Charges 26.37 Labor 14.45 Light 12.00 Insurance 8-75 1914 Feb. 1. Balance on hand 6,371.92 $10,082.33— $10,082.33 Savannah, Ga., 1st February, 1914. Wm. Harden, Treas'r. Itbltngrapljjj of Collections of the Georgia Historicgi Society. Vol. I. Savannah, 1840. 8vo, pp. xii, 307, (1). Contents : Introduction. Oration before the Society at the celebration of their first anniversary, February 12, 1840, by W. Law ; New and Accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia (by J. Oglethorpe), London, 1733; A Voyage to Georgia, 1735, by F. Moore, London, 1744; An Impartial Inquiry into the State and Utility of the Province of Georgia (by B. Martyn), London, 1741; Reasons for Establishing the Colony of Georgia, with regard to the Trade of Great Britain (etc.), with Some Account of the Country, and the Designs of the Trustees (by B. Martyn), London, 1733; Sketch of the Life of Gen. James Oglethorpe, by Thomas Spalding. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. II. Savannah, 1842. Svo, pp. (6) 336. Contents : Introduction. Discourse before the So- ciety at their second anniversary, February 12, 1841, (by W. B. Stevens) ; A New Voyage to Georgia, by a Young Gentleman, 2d ed., London, 1737 ; A State of the Province of Georgia, attested upon oath in the Court of Savannah, November 10, 1740, (by William Stephens), London, 1740; A Brief Account of the Causes that have Retarded the Progress of the Colony of Georgia, by P. Tailfer, H. Anderson, D. Douglas, Charleston, 1741 ; An Account Showing the Progress THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 89 of the Colony of Georgia from its Establishment (by B. Martyn), London, 1741. Appendix: Account of the Society; Constitution; By-Laws; Act of In- corporation ; Officers. Members, 1842. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. Ill, part 1. Savannah, 1848. 8vo, pp. 88. Contents: Introduction. Biographical Sketch of Ben- jamin Hawkins; The Creek Confederacy (by W. B. Hodgson) ; A Sketch of the Creek Country, in 1798 and 1799 (by B. Hawkins). Appendix; Indian Treaties, 1773-1796. No other part of this volume was issued. The Society published no more collections until 1873, when the publication was resumed with the designation of Vol. Ill, disregarding this first part. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. VoL HI. Savannah, 1873. 8vo, pp. vi, 428. Contents; Preface. Letters from General Oglethorpe to the Trustees of the Colony, October, 1735, to August, 1744; Report of Governor Sir James Wright to Lord Dartmouth on the Condition of the Colony, Sep- tember 20, 1773 ; Letters from Governor Sir James Wright to the Earl of Dartmouth and Lord George Germain, Secretaries of State for America, August 24, 1774, to February 16, 1782. Appendix: Casimir Pulaski, address before the Society by C. C. Jones, Jr., upon the celebration of its thirty-second anniversary, February 13, 1871 ; address before the Society by R. D. Arnold, July 24, 1871. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. IV. Savannah, 1878. 8vo, pp. 263, 64. Illus. Plans. Contents: The Dead Towns of Georgia, (by Charles C. Jones, Jr.) ; Itinerant Observations in America, re- printed from the London Magazine. 1745-46. 90 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. V. Published by the Savannah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution as a Contribu- tion to Georgia History. Savannah, Ga., 1901. Pt. I, pp. xiv, 139 (this part only published by D.A.R.). Contents : Proceedings of the Georgia Provincial Congress ; Proceedings of the Georgia Council of Safety, 3d November, 1775, to 17th February, 1777; Account of the Siege of Savannah, from a British Source. Pt. II, pp. 223. (This part was published by Mr. W. J. DeRenne as a contribution to Georgia history.) Contents : Order Book of Samuel Elbert, Colonel and Brigadier General in the Continental Army, October, 1776, to November, 1778; Letter Book of Governor Samuel Elbert, from January, 1785, to November, 1785. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. VI. Savannah, 1904. 8vo, pp. vii, 245. Portrait. Contents : The letters of Hon. James Habersham, 1756-1776. Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. Vol. VII. Savannah, 1909-1913. Pt. I, pp. 70. Contents : Letters of Montiano — Siege of St. Augus- tine. Pt. II, pp. 53. Maps and plans. Contents : Oglethorpe Monument. Illustrated. Pt. HI, pp. 112. Contents: The Spanish Official Account of the At- tack on the Colony of Georgia, in America, and of its Defeat on St. Simons Island by General James Ogle- thorpe. Portrait and Maps. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 91 Collections of the Georgia Historical Society. VOL. VIIL Savannah. 1913. Contents : Letters of Joseph Clay, merchant of Sa- vannah, 1776-1793 ; and a list of ships and vessels entered at the port of Savannah for May, 1765, 1766, and 1767. Ills. Pamphlet. A discourse delivered before the Society February 12, 1840. By William Law. Savannah, 1840. 8vo, pp. 43. On the early settlements and history of Georgia. Pamphlet. Historical lecture on Sergeant Jasper before the Society, 1841. By Robert M. Charlton. 8vo. Dedicated to the Georgia Historical Society. Biographical Memorials of James Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. By Thaddeus Mason Harris. Boston, 1841. 8vo, pp. xxii, 424. Portrait. Folded map. Pamphlet. A discourse before the Society February 12, 1841. By William Bacon Stevens. Savannah, 1841. 8vo. pp. 40. On the events of the Revolution in Georgia. Pamphlet. A discourse on the qualifications and duties of an historian, delivered before the Society on its fourth anniversary, February 13, 1841. By Mitchell King. Savannah. Published by a resolution of the Society, 1843. 8vo. pp. 23. 92 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Pamphlet. A lecture delivered before the Society March 7, 1843. By John Elliott Ward. Savannah, 1843. 8vo, pp. 22. Pamphlet. A lecture delivered before the Society at the Unitarian Church, Tuesday evening, March 14, 1843. By William A. Carruthers, M. D. Savannah, 1843. 8vo, pp. 36. Pamphlet. A high civilization, the moral duty of Georgians. A discourse before the Society, February 12, 1844. By Stephen Elliott, Jr., Savannah, 1844. 8vo, pp. 21. Pamphlet. Lecture before the Society, February 29, and March 4, 1844, on the subject of education. By Samuel K. Tal- mage. Savannah, 1844. 8vo, pp. 24. Pamphlet. A discourse delivered before the Society on the occa- sion of its sixth anniversary, February 12, 1845. By Alonzo Church. Savannah, 1845. 8vo, pp. 34, 6. Pamphlet. The romance of life. A historical lecture before the Society on the 14th of January, 1845. By Robert M. Charlton. Savannah, 1845. 8vo, pp. 19. A History of Georgia, from its first discovery by Euro- peans to the adoption of the present constitution in 1798. By William B. Stevens. 2 vols. New York. 1847, 1859. Two vols., 8vo. Plates. Plan. Map. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 93 Prepared at the request of the Society and published under its auspices. Pecuniary aid was rendered by the Society for the publication of the second volume. Broadside. Proceedings of meeting, January 7, 1855. Pamphlet. Address delivered before the Society on its nineteenth anniversary, February 12, 1858. By John E. Ward. Savannah, 1858. 8vo, pp. 24. Pamphlet. Indian remains in Southern Georgia. Address before the Society on its twentieth anniversary, February 12, 1859. By Charles C. Jones, Jr. Savannah, 1859. 8vo, pp. 25, Pamphlet. Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savannah, 1859. 8vo, pp. 15. Pamphlet. A reply to a resolution of the Society, read before the Society at its anniversary meeting, February 12, 1866. By Stephen Elliott. Savannah, 1866. 8vo, pp. 13. Pamphlet. Eulogy on the life and character of Stephen Elliott. By Solomon Cohen. Written and published at the request of the Society. Savannah, 1867. 8vo, pp. 18. Pamphlet, Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savannah, 1871. 8vo, pp. 27. 94 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Wilde's Summer Rose; or, the Lament of the Captive. An authentic account of the origin, mystery, and ex- planation of R. H. Wilde's alleged plagiarism. By Anthony Barclay, and with his permission published by the Society. Savannah, 1871. Published in both bound and unbound form. 8vo, pp. 70. Casimir Pulaski, An address delivered before the Society by Charles C. Jones, Jr., upon the occasion of the thirty-second anniversary, February 13, 1871. Savannah, 1873. 8vo, pp. 28. Large paper. Also included in vol. iii of the Society's collections. Pamphlet. Proceedings, resolutions and communications, com- memorative of Edward J. Harden, attorney for the City of Savannah and president of the Society, who died April 19, 1873. Savannah, 1873. 8vo, pp. 31. The Siege of Savannah in 1T79, as Described in Two Con- temporaneous Journals of French Officers of the Fleet of Count d'Estaing. Albany, 1874. 4vo, pp. 77. Folded map. Edited by Charles C. Jones, Jr., and dedicated to the Georgia Historical Society. Pamphlet. Proceedings of the dedication of Hodgson Hall, by the Society, on occasion of its thirty-seventh anniversary, February 14, 1876. Savannah, 1876. 8vo, pp. 29. Photograph. Pamphlet. Sergeant William Jasper. An address delivered before the Georgia Historical Society, in Savannah, Ga., on the 3rd of January, 1876. By Charles C. Jones, Jr., THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 95 (Albany) Printed for the Society, 1876. 8vo, pp. 36. Same. Albany, J. Munsell, 1876. 8vo, pp. 36. Gettysburg. By Lafayette M'cLaws, (Read before the Society.) Southern Historical Society Papers. Vol. vii, pp. 64-90. Richmond, 1879. Pamphlet. Reminiscences of service with the first volunteer regi- ment of Georgia, in Charleston Harbor in 1863. An address before the Society. March 3, 1879. By Charles H. Olmstead. Savannah, 1879. 8vo, pp. 15. The same in Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. ii, pp. 118-125, 158-171. Richmond, 1883. Pamphlet. Hernando De Soto. The adventures encountered and the route pursued by the Adelantado during his march through the territory embraced within the present lim- its of Georgia. By Charles C. Jones, Jr. Read before the Society. Savannah, 1880. 8vo, pp. 42. (1). Portrait. Pamphlet. Anniversary address before the Society on the 14th of February, 1881. By Charles C. Jones, Jr., Savannah, 1881. 8vo, pp. 40. Title on cover reads: "The Georgia Historical Society; its Founders, Patrons and Friends". Pamphlet. Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savannah, 1883. Svo, pp. 31 (1). 96 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Pamphlet. A suggestion as to the origin of the plan of Savannah, Remarks by William Harden before the Society, Sep- tember 7, 1885. Savannah, 1885. 8vo, pp. 4. No title page. Pamphlet. The life and services of the Hon. Maj. Gen. Samuel Elbert, of Georgia. By Charles C. Jones, Jr. An ad- dress before the Society, at Savannah, on the 6th of December, 1886. Printed for the Society. Cambridge, 1887. 8vo, pp. 48. Pamphlet. A brief sketch of the life and writings of Sidney La- nier. By Charles N. West. An address delivered be- fore the Society on the 5th of December, 1887. Printed for the Society. Savannah, 1888. 8vo, pp. 25. Pamphlet. The interest and efficiency of woman in the develop- ment of literature and art. Address delivered at the annual meeting February 12, 1889. By Henry R. Jack- son, president of the Society. Savannah, 1889. 8vo, pp. 15. Pamphlet. The life and times of William Harris Crawford, of Georgia. An address delivered by Charles N. West, A. M., before the Society, May 2, 1892. Savannah, 1892. 8vo. pp. 45. Pamphlet. Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savan- nah, 1894. 8vo, pp. 35. Pamphlet. Constitution, by-laws, and list of members. Savan- nah, 1910. 8vo, pp. 28. Jfbruarg 12, 1914 1. Adams, 2. Adler, 3. Anderson, 4. Anderson, 5. Anderson, 6. Anderson, 7. Ashmore, 8. Armstrong, 9. Alexander, 10. Abrahams, 11. Bell, 12. Bell, 13. Bell, 14. Bacon, 15. Baldwin, 16. Baldwin, 17. Baldwin, 18. Beckwith, 19. Bullard, 20. Billington, 21. Barnard, 22. Butler, 23. Byck, 24. Carson, 25. Carswell, 26. Charlton, 27. Charlton, 28. Churchill, 29. Clay, Samuel B. Leopold Harry C. J. Randolph (Mrs. J. Randolph) Page W. Sarah Randolph Otis George F. (Mrs.) Nellie H. Edmund H. Frank G. Charles G. Edw. W. Hal H. George J. (Mrs. George J.) Lucy H. George H. Elizabeth (Mrs. B. F.) Elizabeth Millar (Mrs.) Gertrude James M. Robert M. David A. John A. G. John D. Walter, G. Thomas J. Aaron F. William L. 98 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 30. Colding, 31. Cumming, 32. Crawford, 33. Cunningham, 34. Cunningham, 35. Cunningham, 36. Cunningham, 37. Cunningham, 38. Cann, 39. Cann, 40. Cooper, 41. Conant, 42. Davis, 43. Davis, 44. Denmark, 45. DeRenne, 46. DeRenne, 47. Dighton, 48. Ellis, 49. Ellis, 50. Evans, 51. Freeman, 52. Folsom, 53. Gignilliat, 54. Gordon, 55. Gordon, 56. Gordon, 57. Gordon, 58. Gordon, 59. Granger, 60. Guckenheimer, 61. Grant, 62. Gaines, 63. Gaines, 64. Groves, 65. Harden, New York City. Augusta, Ga, Waynesboro, Ga. Henry S. Joseph B. William, B. Henry C. (Mrs. Henry C.) Nora L. T. Mayhew, Jr. (Mrs. T. Mayhew, Jr.) LiUa C. W. Sarah A. J. Ferris George T. (Mrs. Hunter P.) Henrietta Tucker Atlanta, Ga. Elbridge R. William V. William H, Remer L. Wymberley J. Wymberley W. Samuel R. Charles (Mrs. Charles) Marie H. Lawton B, Davis H. B. William L. (Mrs.) Nellie K. William W. (Mrs. W. W.) Ellen Screven Beirne George Arthur Harvey Abe S. John W. Atlanta, Ga. Frederick F. (Mrs. Frederick F.) Frances E. Charles F. William Augusta, Ga, Mt. Vernon, Ga. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 99 66. Hull, Joseph 67. Haskell, Paul T., Jr. 68. Haskell, Lewis W. 69. Hilton, Joseph 70. Hilton, (Mrs. Joseph) Ida N. 71. Hancock, Elmer N. 72. Harris, Stephen N. 73. Hoxie, ~ W. J. 74. Johnson, H. Wiley 75. Jones, G. Noble 76. Jones, Jabez 77. King, Alexander C. Atlanta, Ga. 78. King, Harris M. 79. King, E. P. Jr. Atlanta, Ga. 80. King, Charles William Rome, Ga. 81. Karow, (Mrs.) Anna Belle 82. Krenson, William D. 83. Lane, Mills B. 84. Lawton, Alexitnder R. 85. Lawton, (Mrs. Alexander R.) Ella B. 86. Lawton, Alexander R., Jr. 87. Lawton, (Mrs. Alexander R., Jr.) Elizabeth S, 88. Lawton, Beckwith 89. Lawrence, Alexander A. 90. Lamar, Joseph R. Washington, D. C. 91. Levy, Benjamin H. 92. Levy, (Mrs, Benjamin H.) Rebecca 93. Levy, Henry 94. Levy, Arthur B. 95. Little, John D. Atlanta, Ga. 96. Low, (Mrs.) Juliette 97. Mackall, William W. 98. Mackall, (Mrs. William W.) Annie 99. Mercer, George A. 100. Myers, Joseph D. 101. Myers, Lee Roy 102. Moses, Cornelius F. 100 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 103. Motte, John Ward 104. Minis, J. Florance 105. Minis, (Mrs. J. Florance) Louisa P. 106. Minis, Isaac 107. Moise, Theodore S. 108. Meador, Richard D. 109. Meldrim, Peter W. 110. Meldrim, (Mrs. Peter W.) Frances C. 111. Mills, George J. 112. Mills, (Mrs. George J.) Euphemia F. 113. Meinhard, Henry S. 114. McAlpin, Henry 115. McCauley, William F. 116. McMillian, Thomas H. 117. Neely, Robt. C. Waynesboro, Ga. 118. Neville, Charles 119. Neville, (Mrs. Charles) Frances Louisa Davis 120. Owens, George W. 121. Peabody, George Foster New York City, (Life Member) 122. Peabody, Charles Samuel New York City, (Life Member) 123. Paulsen, Jacob 124. Pierpont, Wallace J. 125. Ravenel, Thomas P. 126. Roach, Richard 127. Rauers, John J. 128. Rosenheim, Joseph 129. Rosenheim, David J. 130. Read, Abram C. 131. Shotter, Spencer P. 132. Salas, Rafael 133. Saussy, Frederick T. 134. Saussy, (Mrs. Gordon) Hattie 135. Stevens, Henry D. 136. Smart, Horace P. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 101 137. Solomon, George 138. Slaton, John M. Atlanta, Ga. 139. St rob bar, A. Douglass 140. Semmes, Rapihael T. 141. Tiedeman, George W. 142. Trosdal, Einar S. 143. Walker, George P. 144. Wee, (Mrs.) Josephine D. 145. Williamson, ^Villiam W. 146. Willcox, Charles H. 147. Witcover, Hyman W. 148. Wilson, William L. 149. Wilson, (Mrs. William L.) Katharine An- derson 150. Weber, Herman 151. Waring, T. Pinckney 152. Waring, P. Alston 153. Winburn, William A. 154. Wilder, Willis W. 155. Wynn, J. O. Atlanta, Ga. 156. Wright, Anton P. Honorary Members 1. Adams, Charles Francis Boston, Mass. 2. Carnegie, Andrew New York City. 3. Gardiner, Asa Bird New York City. 4. Green, Samuel A. Boston, Mass. 5. Mackall, Leonard L. University of Jena, Germany. 6. Phillips, Uldrick B. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 7. Watson, Thomas E. Thomson, Ga. Corresponding Members 1. Brock, Robert A. Richmond, Va. 2. Barton, Edward M. Worcester, Mass. 3. Brooks, William Fay 257 South 21st Street, Philadelphia. 102 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 4. Cross, E. J. D. Baltimore, Md, 5. Daggett, Samuel B. Boston, Mass, 6. Hayden, Horace E. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 7. Manclhester, Alfred Salem, Mass, 8. McDonald, P. M. Boston, Mass, 9. Paine, Nathaniel Worcester, Mass, 10. Thwing, E. P. Brooklyn, N. Y, Summary Active members 153 Life members 2 Honorary members 7 Corresponding members 10 Total 172 (ifftora of From its organization, June 4, 1839, to February, 1914. Presidents. FROM TO John M. Berrien, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 Feb. 13, 1854 Jan. 1, 1856 James M. Wayne, Feb. 12, 1841 Feb. 13, 1854 Feb. 12, 1856 Feb. 17, 1862 Charles S. Henry, Feb. 17, 1862 Aug. 19, 1864 Stephen Elliott, Sept. 12, 1864 Dec. 21, 1866 John Stoddard, Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, 1868 Edward J. Harden, Feb. 12, 1868 April 19, 1873 George W. J. DeRenne, June 2, 1873 Mar. 2, 1874 Henry Roots Jackson, Mar. 2, 1874 May 23, 1898 John Screven, Mar. 6, 1899 Jan. 9, 1900 George Anderson Mercer, Feb. 12, 1900 April 5, 1907 Alexander Rudolf Lawton, April 5, 1907 First Vice-Presidents. James M. Wayne, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 Matthew H. McAllister, Feb. 12, 1841 Feb. 12, 1851 Charles S. Henry, Feb. 12, 1851 Feb. 17, 1862 Stephen Elliott, Feb. 17, 1862 Sept. 12, 1864 John Stoddard, Sept. 12, 1864 Feb. 12, 1867 Solomon Cohen, Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, 1868 William M. Charters, Feb. 12, 1868 Jan. 6, 1883 G. Moxley Sorrel, Feb. 12, 1883 Feb. 12, 1889 John Screven, Feb. 12, 1889 Mar. 6, 1899 George Anderson Mercer, Mar. 6, 1899 Feb. 12, 1900 Richard J. Nunn, Feb. 12, 1900 April 5, 1907 George J. Baldwin, April 5, 1907 104 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Second Vice-Presidents. FROM TO William B. Bulloch, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 William Law, Feb. 12, 1841 F^b. 12, 1853 Stephen Elliott, Feb. 12, 1853 Feb. 17, 1862 John Stoddard, Feb. 17, 1862 Sept. 12, 1864 Solomon Cohen, Sept. 12, 1864 Feb. 12, 1867 Edward J. Harden, Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, 1868 Alexander Robert Lawton, Feb. 12, 1868 Feb. 14, 1870 Feb. 12, 1883 Feb. 12, 1888 Juriah Harriss, Feb. 14, 1870 Nov. 7, 1876 G. Moxley Sorrel, Feb. 12, 1877 Feb. 12, 1883 John Screven, Feb. 12, 1888 Feb. 12, 1889 Charles H. Olmstead, Feb. 12, 1889 Feb. 12, 1895 William D. Harden, Feb. 12, 1895 Feb. 14, 1898 George Anderson Mercer, Feb. 14, 1898 Mar. 6, 1899 Richard J. Nunn, Mar. 6, 1899 Feb. 12, 1900 Henry C. Cunningham, Feb. 12, 1900 April 5, 1907 J. Florance Minis, April 5, 1907 Corresponding Secretaries. Israel K. Tefft, Alexander A. Smets, Charles C. Jones, Jr., Richard D. Arnold, William Grayson Mann, William W. Paine, Robert Falligant, Charles N. West, Otis Ashmore, William Bacon Stevens, Henry K. Preston, Richard D. Arnold, J. P. Tustin, William S. Basinger, June 4, 1839 Dec. 12, 1853 Feb. 13, 1854 June 30, 1862 Dec. 12, 1853 Feb. 13, 1854 July 14, 1862 Feb. 12. 1866 Feb. 12, 1866 Feb. 14, 1870 Feb. 14, 1870 July 4, 1881 Feb. 13, 1882 Aug. 5, 1882 Feb. 12, 1883 Feb. 15, 1892 Feb. 15, 1892 Dec. 5, 1892 Feb. 13, 1893 g Secretaries. June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1842 Feb. 12, 1842 Feb. 12, 1844 Feb. 12, 1844 Feb. 13, 1854 Feb. 13, 1854 Feb. 12, 1856 Feb. 12, 1855 Feb. 12, 1855 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 105 R. C Mackall, FROM Feb. 12, 1856 Nov. TO 10, 1856 Easton Yonge, Nov. 10, 1856 Feb. 15, 1880 Samuel B. Adams, May 3, 1880 F^b. 13, 1884 W. H. Wade, Feb. 13, 1884 Feb. 15, 1886 W. N. Holt, Feb. 15, 1886 Nov. 17, 1886 Charles N. West, Mar. 7, 1887 Feb. 12, 1889 July 6, 1891 Feb. 15, 1892 Beirne Gordon, Feb. 12, 1889 June 1, 1891 T. D. Rockwell, Feb. 15, 1892 Feb. 13, 1893 George T. Cann, Feb. 13, 1893 Feb. 12, 1895 H. Wiley Johnson, Feb. 12, 1895 Mar. 6, 1899 Thomas P. Ravenel, Mar. 6, 1899 Treasurers. George Wallace Hunter •, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 Solomon Cohen, Feb. 12, 1841 Feb. 12, 1844 Edward J. Harden, Feb. 12, 1844 Feb. 13, 1854 William S. Basinger, Feb. 13, 1854 Feb. 12, 1855 Alexander A. Smets, Feb. 12, 1855 May 9, 1862 William S. Bogart, July 14, 1862 Feb. 12, 1891 James L. Rankin, Feb. 12, 1891 Feb. 12, 1894 Clarence S. Connerat, Feb. 12, 1894 Feb. 12, 1896 Alexander H. MacDonell, Feb. 12, 1896 F^b. 14, 1898 John M. Bryan, Feb. 14, 1898 Mar. 6, 1899 Uldrick H. McLaws, Mar. 6, 1899 May 2, 1903 Thomas P. Ravenel, May 2, 1903 Librarians. Henry K. Preston, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1842 Feb. 12, 1844 Feb. 12, 1847 William Bacon Stevens, Feb. 12, 1842 Feb. 13, 1843 Alexander A. Smets, Feb. 13, 1843 Feb. 12, 1844 Robert H. Griffin, Feb. 12, 1847 Feb. 12, 1848 Richard D. Arnold, Feb. 12, 1848 Feb. 12, 1849 Charles E. Tefft, Feb. 12, 1850 Feb. 12, 1851 Louis Knorr, Mar. 12, 1851 Feb. 12, 1853 John B. Mallard, Feb. 12, 1853 Feb. 13, 1854 106 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY William Epping, FROM Feb. 13, 1854 Feb. TO 12, 1857 James F. Cann, Feb. 12, 1857 Feb. 12, 1868 John S, F. Lancaster, Feb. 12, 1868 July 5, 1869 William Harden, Aug. 2, 1869 * Curators. William Thorne Williams, June 4 1839 Oct. 9, 1868 Charles S. Henry, June 4 1839 Feb. 12, 1851 John C. Nicoll, June 4 1839 Feb. 12, 1846 William Law, June 4, 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 Richard D. Arnold, June 4 1839 Feb. 12, 1844 Mar. 2 1874 July 10, 1876 Robert M. Charlton, June 4 1839 Feb. 12, 1846 Matthew H. McAllister, June 4 1839 Feb. 12, 1841 Stephen Elliott, Feb. 12 1841 Feb. 12, 1852 Alexander A. Smets, Feb. 12 1841 Feb. 13, 1843 Feb. 12, 1844 May 9, 1862 William Bacon Stevens, Feb. 13, 1843 Feb. 12, 1845 William B. Hodgson, Feb. 12, 1845 Feb. 14, 1870 Joseph W. Jackson, Feb. 12 1846 Dtec. 28, 1854 Dexter Clapp, Feb. 12 1846 Feb. 12, 1847 Solomon Cohen, Feb. 12 1847 Sept. 12, 1864 Feb. 12, 1869 Aug. 14, 1875 John Stoddard, Feb. 12, 1851 Feb. 17, 1862 Jacob C. Levy, Feb. 12, 1852 Feb. 12, 1855 William Duncan, Feb. 12, 1855 Feb. 12, 1869 Joseph S. Fay, Feb. 12, 1855 Feb. 12, 1858 William M. Charters, Feb. 12 1858 Feb. 12, 1868 Charles C. Jones, Jr., Feb. 17 1862 Juiy 14, 1862 Edward J. Harden, July 14, 1862 Feb. 12, 1867 Thomas M. Nordwood, July 14 1862 Feb. 12, 1877 Feb. 13 1893 Feb. 12, 1894 •Previous to the year 1903 the executive body of the Society was styled the Board of Managers, consisting of the President, two Vice-Presidents, Corresponding Secretary, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Librarian, and seven Curators — fourteen in all. On May 2, 1903 the name of the executive body was changed to the Board of Curators, and the number was reduced to twelve. THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 107 Henry A. Richmond, FROM Sept. 12, 1864 Feb. TO 12, Alexander Robert Lawton ,Feb. 12, 1867 Feb. 12, Feb. 14, 1876 Feb. 12, Henry R. Jackson, Feb. 12, 1868 Feb. 14, Barnet Phillips, Feb. 12, 1868 Feb. 13, Juriah Harriss, Feb. 12, 1868 Feb. 14, William D. Harden, Feb. 14, 1870 Feb. 12, Aug. Schwaab, Feb. 14, 1870 Mar. 2, Feb. 12, 1877 Feb. 13, Bernard Mallon, Feb. 14, 1870 Feb. 12, John S. F. Lancaster, Feb. 13, 1871 Aug. 13, Robert Falligant, Feb. 12, 1872 Feb. 12, Mar. 6, 1899 Jan. 3, Charles H. Olmstead, Mar. 2, 1874 Feb. 12, George W. J. DeRenne, Feb. 12, 1877 Aug. 4, Richard J. Larcombe, Feb. 12, 1878 Oct. 13, William W. Paine, Feb. 14, 1881 Feb. 13, William H. Baker, Feb. 13, 1882 Feb. 13, John O. Ferill, Feb. 12, 1883 April 18, William N. Holt, Feb. 12, 1883 Feb. 15, John Screven, Feb. 12, 1885 Feb. 12, George A. Mercer, Feb. 15, 1886 Feb. 14, May 2, 1903 Feb. 25, W. G. Charlton, Feb. 13, 1888 Feb. 12, Ri(?hard J. Nunn, Feb. 13, 1888 Mar. 6, May 2, 1903 June 29, J. R. F. Tatnall, Feb. 13, 1888 Dec. 5, H. S. Haines, Feb. 13, 1888 Nov. 4, J. H. M. Clinch, Feb. 12, 1889 May 2, Charles N. West, Dec. 2, 1889 June 1, Mar. 5, 1894 Feb. 14, Lester Hubbell, July 6, 1891 Feb. 12, William Garrard, Feb. 12, 1894 Feb. 12, Henry C, Cunningham, Mar. 4, 1895 Feb. 12, May 2, 1903 Horace P. Smart, Sr., Mar. 4, 1895 May 2, Augustus Oemler, Mar. 4, 1895 Feb. 12, 108 THE GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Wymberley J. DeRenne, Feb. FROM 12, 1896 Feb. TO 15, 1897 Feb. 12, 1912 Joachim R. Saussy, Feb. 15, 1897 Feb. 25, 1908 Brantley A. Denmark, Feb. 14, 1898 June 13, 1901 William L. Clay, Feb. 14, 1898 Feb. 12, 1902 Charles F. Fulton, Feb. 12, 1900 Mar. 5, 1906 George J. Badwin, Feb. 12, 1902 William W. Mackall, Feb. 12, 1902 Alexander Rudolf Lawton ,F0b. 12, 1902 Otis Ashmore, May 2, 1903 J. Florance Minis, May 2, 1903 Spencer P. Shotter, May 2, 1903 Feb. 16, 1910 Feb. 15, 1911 Feb. 12, 1913 Uldrick H. McLaws, May 2, 1903 Feb. 16, 1910 Benjamin H. Levy, Mar. 6, 1906 Thomas J. Charlton, Feb. 25, 1908 William W. Williamson, Feb. 25, 1908 Horace P. Smart, Jr., Feb. 16, 1910 Feb. 19, 1914 William W. Gordon, Jr., Feb. 16, 1910 Charles Ellis, Feb. 19, 1914 27 1915 LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 014 416 001 % ORDEE OF BUSINESS. 1. Ascertainment of Quorum. 2. Confirmation of Minutes. 3. Election of Members. 4. Resignations. 5. Election of Officers. 6. Reports of Officers. 7. Reports of Standing Committees. 8. Reports of Special Committees. 9. Unfinished Business. 10. New Business. 11. Miscellaneous.