John Houstoun ( ; August 31, 1744 – July 20, 1796) was an American lawyer and statesman from
Savannah
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
. He was one of the original
Sons of Liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It pl ...
and also a delegate for Georgia in the
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...
in 1775. He was the
Governor of Georgia
The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...
, in 1778, and again in 1784–1785.
Personal life
John was born to aristocratic Scots immigrants in St. George's Parish, near modern Waynesboro and the eastern border of Georgia. His parents were Sir Patrick (
Baronet
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
) and Priscilla (Dunbar) Houstoun. His father served as the registrar of land grants for the
Georgia Colony
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and the collector of
quit-rent
Quit rent, quit-rent, or quitrent is a tax or land tax imposed on occupants of freehold or leased land in lieu of services to a higher landowning authority, usually a government or its assigns.
Under feudal law, the payment of quit rent (Latin ...
s (a permanent annual tax on each grant). John was educated in Savannah and
read law
Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...
there. He was admitted to the bar and started a law practice in Savannah.
Houstoun married Hannah Bryan, whose father Jonathan was a wealthy Savannah merchant. They built their home, ''White Bluff'', about nine miles (14 km) northwest of Savannah. The couple had no children.
Revolutionary years
Houstoun was a successful lawyer, and was appointed to the
Governor's Council The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the Constitution of the United Kingdom, British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the e ...
by James Wright. But in 1774, Houstoun was one of the founders of the nascent revolutionary government in Georgia. He joined with
Archibald Bulloch
Archibald Stobo Bulloch (January 1, 1730 – February 22, 1777) was a lawyer, soldier, and statesman from Georgia during the American Revolution. He was the first governor of Georgia.
He was also a great-grandfather of Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, ...
and others to form a ''
Committee of Correspondence
The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...
'' in support of the residents of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
suffering the effects of the
Boston Port Act
The Boston Port Act, also called the Trade Act 1774, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which became law on March 31, 1774, and took effect on June 1, 1774. It was one of five measures (variously called the ''Intolerable Acts'', the ...
. The committee went on to create formal protests against other measures brought about by the
Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists for their defiance in the Tea Party protest of the Tea Act, a tax measure ...
.
That same year, John was a representative in the rebel ''Provincial Congress'' of Georgia, and they named him as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. He declined, since fewer than half the counties were represented in the Provincial Congress. By 1775 this defect was remedied and he accepted that appointment. In Congress, he was a strong supporter of the movement toward independence, but resisted the non-importation agreements because of their negative effects on the southern colonies.
He was reappointed to the national congress in 1776, but did not attend. He stayed at home to work with the Committee of Safety to thwart the loyalist efforts of the popular preacher and loyalist, John Zubly. Early in 1778, he was elected as the second revolutionary Governor of Georgia also being the first governor of Georgia to be born in Georgia. That same year, he took charge of the
Georgia militia
The Georgia Militia existed from 1733 to 1879. It was originally planned by General James Oglethorpe prior to the founding of the Province of Georgia, the British colony that would become the U.S. state of Georgia. One reason for the founding of th ...
in an abortive attempt to seize the British post of
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. His disagreements with the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
commander, Robert Howe, contributed greatly to the failure of the expedition. When the British, in response, captured Savannah on December 29, Houstoun was forced into hiding.
Creek Indians
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands
Later career
After the surrender at Yorktown, the British abandoned Savannah in 1782. Houstoun returned home, taking a seat in the
Georgia House of Representatives
The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...
, where he briefly served as Speaker in 1783. He then was elected to another one-year term as governor in 1784.
Houstoun pushed for more access to the Indian Country. "Formerly when the people of Pensacola and Mobile were one and the same with Us, we did not carry on trade with you from this Country, and then there was no Occasion to ask a Path thro’ the Creek Nation." Since the Spanish controlled Florida, he wanted more east-west trade routes. The Creeks declined to grant the Choctaws access to the Georgia traders.
On September 28, 1784 Governor John Houstoun granted four 5000 acre tracts of vacant land in
Franklin county, Georgia
Franklin County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,424. The county seat is Carnesville. On February 25, 1784, Franklin and Washington became Georgia's eighth ...
to French Vice Admiral d'Estaing and his heirs. The four bountyland grants totaling 20,000 acres were subsequently registered on June 13, 1785.
In 1790 he became the first elected Mayor of Savannah, and in 1791 was appointed a justice of the Superior Court of Georgia. After 1792 he served as president of the Chatham Academy.
Legacy
Houstoun died at his home, ''White Bluff'', just outside Savannah on July 20, 1796. Houston County in central Georgia was named for him. The variation in spelling is typical of early nineteenth century orthography.
There is no known portrait of John Houstoun.
See also
*
List of speakers of the Georgia House of Representatives List of speakers
See also
* List of minority leaders of the Georgia House of Representatives
* List of minority leaders of the Georgia State Senate
* List of presidents of the Georgia State Senate
This office existed until 1945, when the offi ...
References
Further reading
* Edith Duncan Johnston; ''"The Houstouns of Georgia";'' 1950, University of Georgia Press