THE FIRST COLONISTS COME TO GEORGIA

1. THE FIRST COLONISTS COME TO GEORGIA

2. In late November 1732, James Oglethorpe and 114 settlers sailed from England on the ship Anne. • 57 days later the Anne sailed into Charles Town harbor where Oglethorpe conferred with South Carolina officials about the new colony

3. The next day they sailed south to Port Royal, the southernmost outpost. Oglethorpe and some Carolina rangers sailed south to explore the Savannah River, Georgia’s northern boundary. • About 18 miles up river Oglethorpe found an ideal place for a settlement he was told was called Yamacraw Bluff, and just upstream from that spot was a small village of Yamacraw Indians.

4. A nearby South Carolina trader and his wife notified Oglethorpe he would need to receive permission to settle in the area from Tomochichi, who was chief of the Yamacraws. • Due to the Yamacraws not being farmers but hunters they welcomed the new English outpost because they already had established good trade with other English settlers

5. Tomochichi concluded that a nearby settlement might improve life for his poor village. • Oglethorpe then returned to Port Royal to gather the colonists for the final leg of their journey. • On February 12, 1733 the colonists arrived at Yamacraw Bluff thus officially creating Georgia.

6. GEORGIA’S FIRST SETTLEMENT • Living in tents the colonists began building Georgia’s first settlement named Savannah or the nearby river. • They started by clearing the pine forest located atop Yamacraw Bluff using only hand tools sawing them into lumber for houses and buildings. • After the trees were sawed Noble Jones surveyed the land that would become Savannah.

7. The town of Savannah was laid out using a special plan designed in London. • Open spaces called “squares” were one of its main features with each public square becoming a kind of neighborhood center. • Just as Savannah was beginning to take shape, a crisis occurred. The colonists who got their drinking water from the river started getting sick with dysentery and other diseases.

8. In April, their only doctor died and during the next 10 month one in four colonists died. • Thankfully the problem improved once a town well was dug. • Savannah began to replace the lost life with new colonists. Among the first group were 40 Jews who had been displaced from Portugal and Spain.

9. Other immigrants included Italian silk producers, Lutheran Salzburgers, Germans, Swiss and other nationalities. These were in addition to the English who came on charity or paid their own way. • By the end of the first year, Savannah had more than 50 houses as well as several public buildings. • Oglethorpe however continued to live in a tent, insisting that all colonists be housed first.