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CHAPTER V
GOVERNOR EARLY's FAREWELL MESSAGE Is SOON FOLLOWED BY His
DEATH—DAVID B. MITCHELL Is RECALLED TO THE HELM—THE LEGIS
LATURE ADOPTS A LIBERAL POLICY TOWARDS SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS AND
INSTITUTIONS FOR THE UNFORTUNATE—THE STATE PENITENTIARY AT
MlLLEDGEVILLE—GEORGIA'S PENAL CODE UNDERGOES A REVISION—
TRADERS FORBIDDEN TO BRING NEGROES INTO THE STATE TO SELL—
CRUEL TREATMENT OF SLAVES Is FORBIDDEN—THE PRESIDENTIAL
CAMPAIGN OF 1816—DR. "W. W. BIBB RESIGNS THE TOGA—BECOMES
GOVERNOR OF THE TERRITORY OF ALABAMA—His TRAGIC DEATH—
COLONEL PICKETT'S PEN-PICTURE—GEORGE M. TROUP SUCCEEDS DR.
BIBB—JOHN FORSYTH LATER SUCCEEDS MR. TROUP—MEMBERS OP
CONGRESS DURING THIS PERIOD—THE DEATH OF COLONEL BENJAMIN
HAWKINS—ONE OF THE NOBLEST CHARACTERS IN THE HISTORY OF
OUR STATE—His SELF-IMMOLATION—INFLUENCE OF COLONEL HAWK-
INS OVER THE INDIANS—BURIED AT THE OLD AGENCY ON THE FLINT
RIVER.
NOTE : FORT HAWKINS, THE CRADLE OF MACON.
Governor Early, in his fare-will message to the General Assembly,
on November 8, 1815, congratulated the state upon the prospect of set
tled conditions, following the recent war with England, in which suc
cess had perched upon the banners of America. But he counseled har
mony in the deliberations of the Legislature, since at this time it was
a matter of vital importance for the people to be united in the work of
rehabilitation. Said he: "If peradventure matters of discussion should
arise, in which different opinions should prevail, let not passion assume
the empire of reason. The former is not the road which leads to the
Temple of Truth."
On retiring from office, Governor Early was immediately elected to
the State Senate, in which body he w.as serving at the time of his death,
on August 15, 1817. He died at the early age of fifty, at a time when
the state was in sore need of his abilities. Governor Early was buried
on a bluff", at Scull Shoals, overlooking the Oconee River. His grave
was on a part of the old estate formerly owned by his father, Joel
Early, known as Early's Manor, one of the handsomest estates in upper
Georgia. In the course of time, however, the grave in which Governor
Early was buried became enclosed in a horse and cow lot; and from
this neglected spot it was finally exhumed in 1915 and reinterred in the
cemetery at Greensboro, Georgia. Governor Early's brother, Eleazer,
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