John A. Treutlen

John Treutlen

John Adam Treutlen (born January 16, 1734 in Kürnbach in what is now Baden-Württemberg , † March 1, 1782 in Savannah , Georgia ) was an American politician and governor of Georgia.

Early years

John Adam Treutlen came from Germany. He was born in 1734 as Hans Adam Treuettlen in Kürnbach . His parents' house at Greinstrasse 6 belonged to the Württemberg part of the city divided between the Duchy of Württemberg and the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt . The family emigrated to America for religious reasons in 1743/44. His father died during the crossing. The rest of the family arrived in the British colony of Georgia in the summer of 1745 with a group of emigrants from Salzburg after a stopover in England. There they hired a certain Michael Burckhalter in what is now Chatham County in Indentur . Johann Martin Boltzius , the evangelical pastor of Ebenezer, soon became aware of the talents of young John. He got him a place at Ebenezer School, where John was taught. In 1756 he married Marguerite Dupuis, an orphan who had attended the same school. This was followed by a quick rise to a successful planter and businessman in Ebenezer.

Political rise

The economic rise was followed by a political career. In 1766 he became justice of the peace in Ebenezer. At the same time he was looked after with the maintenance of the road network in his new hometown Ebenezer. In the early 1770s he represented Ebenezer several times in the House of Representatives, which was then still colonial Georgia. At the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1775 he joined the American freedom movement. In July of that year he was a member of the Georgia Congress. Along with Button Gwinnett and George Wells, he became one of the leaders of the independence movement. The three men also served on a committee in February 1777 to draft a new constitution for Georgia. This constitution was very progressive for the time. It provided for universal suffrage (but only for white men with a certain income) and annual elections for all public offices. On May 8, 1777, the now very popular Treutlen was elected Georgia's first governor under the new constitution.

Georgia Governor

In addition to the War of Independence, Treutlein's tenure was overshadowed by political conflicts within the American patriots. Conservative and so-called radical forces fought a tough domestic political battle. The constitution was too liberal for the conservatives. They were against the idea that members of the lower classes, which Treutlen also came from, could be elected to public offices. Both groups fought each other in almost all political areas and hindered effective government work. The Conservatives sought, among other things, a merger of Georgia with South Carolina . This plan was prevented by the radical group. On the other hand, the radicals wanted to replace a conservative general in the Continental Army, which in turn prevented the conservatives. The political antagonism between these groups became increasingly violent and militant. There were even open murders and other acts of violence against the respective political opponents. Treutlen belonged to the radical wing and suffered several defeats during his tenure.

Tragic ending

After the end of his tenure, Treutlen returned to Ebenezer. The place had since been looted at least ten times by the warring parties. In addition, the community's political and religious leader had since died. The former governor tried to help his community as best he could. In late 1782 he became a member of the radical group in the Georgia Parliament. However, this year his group was only weakly represented in parliament. This gave the conservatives the opportunity to take revenge for old defeats. The political atmosphere was still poisoned and the number of political crimes was rising again. Treutlen himself was the victim of such an attack. In the spring of 1782 he was murdered near his home.

On August 21, 1917, the Treutlen County administrative unit in Georgia was named after him.

literature

• Edward J. Cashin: "The Famous Colonel Wells". Factionalism in Revolutionary Georgia . In: Georgia Historical Quarterly . 58, supplement, 1974, ISSN  0016-8297 , pp. 137-156.
• Harvey H. Jackson: Lachlan McIntosh and the Politics of Revolutionary Georgia . University of Georgia Press, Athens GA 1979, ISBN 0-8203-0459-X .
• Edna Q. Morgan: John Adam Treutlen. Georgia's First Constitutional Governor. His Life, Real and Rumored . Historic Effingham Society, Springfield GA 1998, ISBN 0-9669559-0-0 .
• Helene M. Kastinger Riley : John Adam Treutlen. The European Heritage of Georgia's First Governor . Sagas Publishing, Greenville SC 2000.

Web links

• The New Georgia Encyclopedia (History of the State of Georgia in Biographies )
• John Treutlen in the National Governors Association (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Baptismal register entry, familysearch.org
2. ↑ Kürnbach. Local history tour