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CHAPTER XIX
BEFORE PRESIDENT STEPHENS RETIRES PROM OFFICE A GREAT REVIVAL
OF INDUSTRY Is WHTNESSED—BUT THE SPINNING OF SILK CONTINUES
TO LANGUISH—GEORGIA'S FIRST COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENT—
HABERSHAM AND HARRIS—CENSUS OF 1750 GIVES GEORGIA 1,500
POPULATION—To ASSIST THE AGED WILLIAM STEPHENS AT THE HELM
OF AFFAIRS, HENRY PARKER Is COMMISSIONED VICE-PRESIDENT—
EFFORTS TO REVIVE THE SILK INDUSTRY—PICKERING ROBINSON
BUILDS A FILATURE IN SAVANNAH—MR. PARKER BECOMES PRESI
DENT—GEORGIA'S FIRST PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY—IT, EXERCISES No
LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS—DISTRICTS, How REPRESENTED—FRANCIS
HARRIS . Is MADE SPEAKER—NUMEROUS RECOMMENDATIONS—THE
PROVINCIAL MILITIA—THE FIRST GENERAL MUSTER—CAPT. NOBLE
JONES IN COMMAND—SOUTH CAROLINA, No LONGER IN DREAD OF THE
SPANIARDS, SEEKS TO ANNEX GEORGIA—THE MIDWAY SETTLEMENT—
HISTORY OF . THE DORCHESTER PURITANS—INFLUENCE OF THIS SET
TLEMENT UPON THE FUTURE HISTORY OF GEORGIA—LARGE SLAVE
OWNERS, ENTERING GEORGIA ONLY WHEN THE BAN ON SLAVERY Is
REMOVED—THE TRUSTEES PREPARE TO SURRENDER GEORGIA TO THE
CROWN—WEARY OF A RESPONSIBILITY IN MEETING WHICH THEY
HAD EXPERIENCED A NUMBER OF FAILURES AND WERE NOT ON THE
WHOLE SUCCESSFUL—GEORGIA BECOMES A ROYAL PROVINCE OF
ENGLAND.
NOTES: HISTORIC OLD MIDWAY—SKETCH OF PRESIDENT PARKER,
Before retiring from office, President Stephens witnessed a great
revival of industry in the Province of Georgia. Coincident with the
radical changes made by the trustees, permitting the use of slave labor,
removing the restrictions upon land tenure and allowing the importa
tion of rum, an era of prosperity was inaugurated, the like of which
had been unknown. Commerce also revived. Not only were importa
tions from England increased, but an export trade with the mother
country was developed. Some of the articles exported to England were
deer-skins, rice, rosin, tar, indigo and staves. Efforts to encourage the
planting of mulberry trees, however, yielded only indifferent results.
The silk industry was 'doomed from the hour of its birth; but the trus
tees were, slow to grasp this fact. Half of the silk in the colony was
produced by the Salzburgers at Ebenezer, who alone possessed the
requisite patience for earning its small profits, New varieties of grapes
obtained from Europe were cultivated with great success. Settlers
began to come into Georgia from other colonies, causing a steady
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