John Wereat (January 25, 1799) was an American politician and 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 ...
.
Personal life
Wereat was born in Road (now
Rode, Somerset
Rode (formerly Road) is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Somerset in England, northeast of Frome and southwest of Trowbridge.
The small settlement of Rode Hill, northeast of Rode village, i ...
) in England, around 1733 and migrated to the colonies in 1759. He married the former Hannah Wilkinson. They arrived in Savannah in 1759, where John partnered with William Handley, who was related to Hannah.
Political life
John Wereat was appointed to the Council of Georgia on April 14, 1766. In the early years of the
American Revolution, Wereat was a member of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety. From 1776 through the end of the war, he served as Georgia's Continental agent, representing the state in dealings with Congress. Wereat was a delegate for
Georgia in the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
and
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 1779. During his term as governor, he fought against the
Yazoo land fraud
The Yazoo land scandal, Yazoo fraud, Yazoo land fraud, or Yazoo land controversy was a massive real-estate fraud perpetrated, in the mid-1790s, by Georgia governor George Mathews and the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia politicians sold large ...
, organizing the Georgia Union Company in an attempt to buy western lands and prevent them from inclusion in the Yazoo sales. The Yazoo land fraud left a stain on Georgia politics for years, finally being resolved under the governorship of
James Jackson.
Wereat spent a year as a prisoner of the British in
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
after initially being taken captive in Augusta in 1780.
After his gubernatorial term, Wereat served as state auditor from 1782 until 1793.
In December 1787 he presided over the state convention that unanimously ratified the new Federal Constitution.
John Wereat was in the
Whig party along with
John Martin John Martin may refer to:
Business
*John Martin (businessman) (1820–1905), American lumberman and flour miller
*John Charles Martin (fl. 1913–1931), American newspaper publisher
*John Martin (publisher) (born 1930), American founder of Black ...
and
Lyman Hall.
Death and legacy
John Wereat died at his
Bryan County, Georgia
Bryan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 30,233. The county seat is Pembroke.
Bryan County is part of the Savannah, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Bryan County Courtho ...
plantation on January 25, 1799.
See also
*
List of U.S. state governors born outside the United States
References
New Georgia Encyclopedia entry for John Wereat
1799 deaths
Governors of Georgia (U.S. state)
People from Mendip District
18th-century American Episcopalians
English emigrants to the United States
Independent state governors of the United States
Year of birth unknown
Georgia (U.S. state) Whigs
19th-century American politicians
Georgia (U.S. state) Independents
American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain
1733 births
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