Georgia

Evidence of German-speaking peoples in Georgia is traceable back to the seven­teenth century, with the arrival of Spanish missionaries from St. Augustine, Florida. The first significant numbers, however, ar­rived from the Palatine region during the “Great Migration” of 1709-1710.

The establishment of the Georgia colony in 1733 by James Oglethorpe pro­vided new opportunities for emigration from Europe. In 1731 over 30,000 Ger­man Lutherans living in the Tyrol region

were forced into exile by the archbishop of Salzburg, Count Leopold Firmian. Roughly 20,000 of them moved to Prus­sia. A smaller number took advantage of a fortuitous opportunity that manifested it­self when King George II of England (himself of German descent through the House of Hanover) decreed in 1732 that the territory south of the Carolinas should be settled by “worthy immigrants.” Indi­viduals were provided free passage, 50 acres of land, and provisions for one year. Afforded with the prospect of starting a new life in British North America, these “Salzburg Germans” arrived in Charleston South Carolina in March 1734 before continuing on to Savannah. Their arrival marks the beginning of German settle­ment in Georgia.

Of note concerning Germans in colo­nial Georgia is the fact that, although Ger­mans lived in many colonies, it is only in Georgia that they actually participated fully in the planning of the territory. Oglethorpe and the other trustees stated that Georgia was founded not only as a place for the En­glish but also for “the distressed Salzburgers and other Protestants.” Present at the cre­ation of the colony, these Germans proved instrumental in its establishment, survival, and growth for the next fifty years.

The first German settlement in the re­gion, Ebenezer, was established in 1734 at a spot 25 miles upriver from Savannah. As with most new settlements, this one en­countered hardship, but over the next two years grew modestly under the leadership of the Reverend John Martin Bolzius and Reverend Israel Christian Gronau.

Oglethorpe originally wanted to send the new arrivals to Frederica on St. Simon’s Island. However, since most wanted to set­tle in Ebenezer with their fellow Salzbur­gers, the governor allowed them to do so. Shortly thereafter, the decision was made to move the settlement to a region 4 miles below present-day Springfield, Georgia. Named New Ebenezer, the community benefited from the arrival of another ship in 1741, which included not only “Salzburg­ers” but also German-speaking people from Switzerland and Rhineland-Pfalz.

Besides Ebenezer, Germans established settlements in Acton, Bethany, and Ver­nonburg. Many also remained in Savan­nah, the largest group being the Mora­vians, who arrived in 1735. Their time in Georgia was short, however, because as pacifists they declined to take up arms dur­ing the conflict with Spain in 1737. One of the leading Moravians in the colonies, Bishop August Spagenberg, petitioned for the group to be allowed to relocate to Pennsylvania, a request granted by the trustees of Georgia. By the middle of 1738, most Moravians had left the colony for the north.

As previously stated, attempts were made to settle Georgia’s coastal islands. Germans figured prominently in the his­tory of one of these efforts. The story of the Germans of Frederica is not widely known but yet is of vital importance to the survival of not only the Georgia colony but of British settlement in general in the south­ern colonies.

Frederica was originally established in the late 1730s as an outpost for the defense of the Georgia coast and the Carolinas against a Spanish invasion. In German American history, its importance rests on participation by the Germans of Frederica at the Battle of Bloody Marsh in July 1742. By stopping the Spanish invasion, they helped end the threat to Georgia and the Carolinas. Without this threat, there was little need to maintain a military force at Frederica.

The influence of the German element in Georgia during the colonial period began to wane as the American Revolution approached. No one single reason accounts for this. Increased immigration by non­Germans into Georgia, Germans leaving for other colonies, and decreases in popula­tion brought about by disease are just some of the reasons that led to the abandonment or decline of most German communities in Georgia. Even Ebenezer did not escape this fate: the original German settlement in Georgia was abandoned by the end of the American Revolution.

Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, most Georgia Germans took little notice of the growing independence movement. When war arrived in 1775, first-generation Germans tended to remain nominally loyal to the king but made little effort to openly support the Loyalist cause. Second- generation Germans, one of the most fa­mous being William Jasper, embraced the cause of independence. Sergeant Jasper dis­tinguished himself at the Battle of Fort Sul­livan in Charleston harbor before becom­ing a guerrilla fighter after the fall of Charleston and Savannah. When a com­bined French and American force assaulted Savannah in 1779, Jasper led a charge in which he was mortally wounded. A monu­ment commemorating the moment of his death stands in downtown Savannah.

Like Jasper’s, the many contributions of Germans to the creation of Georgia cannot be questioned. In agriculture and animal husbandry, the British valued their skills as farmers and cattle raisers. Ger­mans figured prominently in the establish­ment of the fledgling wine and silk indus­tries. Many arrived possessing skills in baking, bricklaying, carpentry, ironwork- ing, leatherworking, shoemaking, and tai­loring, just to name a few.

Charles T Johnson

See also Pennsylvania

References and Further Reading

Faust, Albert B. The German Element in the United States. Vol. 1. New York: Steuben Society of America, 1927.

Fries, Adelaide. The Moravians in Georgia. Baltimore: Genealogical Research, 1967 (c. 1905).

------. The Germans of Frederica. St. Simon’s Island, GA: Fort Frederica Association, 1996.

Jones, George Fenwick. The Georgia Dutch: From the Rhine and Danube to the Savannah, 1733—1783. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.