John Milledge

John Milledge (born 1757 in Savannah , Province of Georgia , † February 9, 1818 in Augusta , Georgia ) was an American politician .

Early years

John Milledge was the grandson of one of the first settlers in the British colony of Georgia. He enjoyed a first-class education in colonial Georgia for the time. Milledge studied law and practiced law in Savannah. In 1775 he joined the American independence movement. He was a member of the group who captured James Wright , the British governor of Georgia. He was also involved in a raid on a British ammunition dump. The British even offered a reward for his arrest, but did not get hold of him.

Political career

In 1780 he became Attorney General of Georgia. From 1789 to 1790 he was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives ; from 1792 to 1802 he was a member of the US House of Representatives . In 1801 he bought land on the Oconee River , on which he founded the city of Athens and the University of Georgia .

In November 1802, Milledge was elected governor of Georgia. He attached great importance to securing the western border and reorganized the militia to make it more effective. He also had a road built through Indian territory to Tennessee to facilitate trade and transportation with the west. To reduce the national debt, he sold land owned by the government to settlers, especially in the west of the state. In order to put a stop to corruption, the plots were raffled. In 1804, Parliament approved the funds to build a new capital, named Milledgeville in honor of the governor . The move from Louisville to the new capital only took place under his successor in office, Jared Irwin . Milledgeville remained the capital of Georgia until 1868, when it was replaced in this role by the up-and-coming Atlanta . In 1806, Milledge resigned as governor to become a US senator .

Old age and death

Due to an illness of his wife, he resigned from his position as senator in 1809 and returned to Georgia. He spent the last years of his life on his Sand Hills plantation near Augusta. He died there in 1818. Milledge was married to Martha Galphin Milledge, whose fatal illness prompted his return to Georgia.

literature

Barbara B. Brown: John Milledge, Patriot, Politician, Philanthropist, 1757-1818. Master's thesis, Georgia State University 1980.
Thomas G. Dyer: The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985. University of Georgia Press, Athens 1985.
Joyce Ann Hall: The Public Life of John Milledge. Master's thesis, University of Georgia, 1958.
Harriett Milledge Salley (Ed.): Correspondence of John Milledge: Governor of Georgia, 1802-1806. Columbia, SC: privately printed, 1949.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Milledge, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	1757
PLACE OF BIRTH	Savannah , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH	February 9, 1818
Place of death	near Augusta , Georgia