Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 495
years in advance of the times. In 1856, upon the opening of the Crystal
Palace in London, the Allaire Works, in New York, exhibited the identi
cal cylinder of the old steamship, the City of Savannah. The only
known part of the steamship in existence, it is now on exhibition in the
Crystal Palace, where the Savannah's log-book is also to be seen.
Governor Rabuu, while intent upon the discharge of his duties as
chief executive, was seized with a fatal illness, and, on October 24, 1819,
at the executive mansion in Milledgeville, breathed his last. He was
buried at his old home near Powellton, Georgia. The funeral of Gov
ernor Rabun was preached by the distinguished Jesse Mercer. It was a
MOUNT. PLEASANT
The Old Home of Governor Talbot
time when partisan politics invaded even the sanctity of the pulpit, and
the good old doctor, in performing the last sad rites over the ashes of
his friend, could not refrain from taking a shot at his enemies. Governor
Rabun was a devout Baptist; and once each month, while governor, he
went from Milledgeville to Powellton, to discharge his duties as clerk
of the little country church to which he belonged. Matthew Talbot, who
was president of the Senate at the time of Governor Rabun's death, at
once took the oath of office, remaining at the helm of affairs until the
General Assembly met in November, when a distinguished Georgian, for
years a dominant factor in the politics of the state, was called to the
executive chair: Gen. John Clark.