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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 231
upon a parasite powers which he himself should have used with knowl
edge and discretion."
Colonel Jones, while reviewing the affair with a pen less sympathetic,
adds this paragraph in praise of the gallant English sailor: '' Once
again afloat, however, he took his place among the trusted officers of
the greatest naval power of the world and died an admiral of the blue.''
But let us go back.
OLD INDEPENDENT: A BRANCH OF THE KIRK or SCOTLAND.—In 1755, on the
petition of forty-eight free-holders, a lot was granted on which to erect a building
to be called the Independent Presbyterian Church, the land granted and the church
built thereon to be for the use of such persons in the district of Savannah as sup
ported the doctrines of the Church of Scotland. From its foundation, the Inde
pendent Presbyterian Church has been independent in name and fact. It has no
connection either with the Presbytery of Savannah or with the Synod of Georgia and
is governed solely by its own board of elders. The lot granted to the congregation
was located on Market Square, between St. Julian and Bryan streets, and running
east to Whitaker. It was specified in the grant that the meeting-house was to be
erected within three years. Before the expiration of this period, a brick structure
was completed and a call extended to the Rev. John J. Zubly, a native of Switzer
land, who accepted the charge and remained pastor until 1778. At the time of the
siege over a thousand shells poured into the town from the batteries of the allies,
producing havoc and destruction; four houses were burned, several were demolished,
and quite a number injured almost beyond repair. Shots from the galleys in the
river reached Zubly's meeting house in Decker "Ward. The church was turned into
a hospital, and a chimney built in the center; but when the siege was over it was
little more than a ruin. On April 15, 1784, there appeared in the Gazette a call from
the trustees for a meeting to be held in the office of Olive Lewis, Esq., the purpose
of which was to devise plans for rebuilding the structure. The call was signed by
Jonathan Bryan, Kobert Bolton, and William Gibbons, trustees. Several years later,
the new building was destroyed by fire, and the congregation worshipped with the
Baptists until another edifice was completed, in 1800, on St. James Square, between
York and President streets.
On January 13, 1817, with impressive ceremonies, the cornerstone of the present
beautiful edifice of the Independent Presbyterian Church was laid, and in the month
of May, 1819, the building was dedicated. President James Munroe, then on a visit
to Savannah, attended the exercises, together with other dignitaries. Dr. Henry
Kollock, the pastor, preached the dedicatory sermon from the text: "The glory of
this latter house shall be greater than the former." Haggai, 2:9.