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CHAPTER VII
RICHMOND ACADEMY Is CHABTEBED—GEORGIA'S OLDEST EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION—Two GREAT COUNTIES ORGANIZED OUT OF THE LANDS
ACQUIRED FKOM THE INDIANS: WASHINGTON AND FRANKLIN—IMMI
GRANTS INVITED TO OCCUPY THESE VIRGIN DISTRICTS—How THE
LANDS WERE DISTRIBUTED—ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM KNOWN AS HEAD
RIGHTS—LAND OFFICE OPENED IN AUGUSTA—GRANTS OF LAND TO
REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS—EACH WAS GIVEN 250 ACRES, EXEMPT '
FROM TAXATION, WITH AN ADDITIONAL 15 PER CENT, IF THIS EXEMP
TION WAS WAIVED—ALL THE LANDS GRANTED UNDER THE OLD HEAD
RIGHTS SYSTEM LIE EAST OF THE OCONEE RIVER—INCLUDE ALSO A
STRIP OF LAND EAST OF THE OLD COUNTY OF WAYNE—COUNT
D'ESTAING GIVEN 20,000 ACRES OF LAND—FRANKLIN COLLEGE, AMER
ICA'S OLDEST STATE UNIVERSITY, Is CHARTERED—IN LIEU OF CASH,
40,000 ACRES OF LAND AKE DONATED BY THE STATE—SAMUEL ELBEBT
BECOMES GOVERNOR—THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT Is TRANSFERRED TO
AUGUSTA, WHERE IT REMAINS FOR TEN YEARS—MEANWHILE A COM
MISSION Is APPOINTED TO LOCATE A SITE FOR A PERMANENT CAPITAL—
AN OLD BOUNDARY LINE DISPUTE BETWEEN GEORGIA AND SOUTH
CAROLINA Is SETTLED—THE TUGALO RIVER Is ACCEPTED AS THE MAIN
STREAM OF THE SAVANNAH, FROM THE MOUTH OF WHICH GEORGIA'S
NORTHERN BOUNDARY Is DRAWN.—DEATH OF GEN. NATHANAEL GREENE
—FUNERAL OBSEQUIES—His PLACE OF INTERMENT FOR YEARS AN
UNSOLVED ENIGMA—THE ARTICLES. OF CONFEDERATION HAVING
PROVED UNSATISFACTORY, A CONVENTION Is CALLED TO DEVISE A NEW
FEDERAL CONSTITUTION—THE ANNAPOLIS CONFERENCE—THE CONTI
NENTAL CONGRESS—GEORGIA'S DELEGATES FROM 1775 TO 1789.
NOTES: MULBERRY GROVE—GEORGIA'S OLDEST NEWSPAPER—GEORGIA'S
OLDEST MILITARY ORGANIZATION.
Under the State Constitution of 1777, provision was made for the
establishment, in each county, of schools to be maintained at the general
expense. Accordingly, in July, 1783, while Governor Hall was chief
executive, a charter was granted by the Legislature to Richmond Acad
emy, an institution which survives to the present day as the oldest of
Georgia's schools. For years the trustees of Richmond Academy directed
the affairs of the City of Augusta. Likewise, in 1783, a charter was
granted for an academy to be located at Waynesboro, in the county of
Burke. It was • not until February, 1788, that the Legislature granted
a charter for Chatham Academy in Savannah, but the history of this
institution has been resplendent Math achievement.
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