HOUSTOUN COUNTY. 331 



its adoption. Mr. Houstoun was placed on this committee ; 

 atid in the discharge of its onerous duties evinced much deci- 

 sion and zeal. At a crisis so momentous, it was fortunate for 

 Georgia that there were men like Mr. Houstoun, willing and 

 able to serve her. On the 15th of July, 1775, he was appoint- 

 ed one of the representatives of the province to the Congress 

 in Philadelphia ; and the same honour was conferred upon 

 him the 2d of February, 1776. His name would have appear- 

 ed on the Declaration of American Independence, had he not 

 been called from Congress to counteract the influences of the 

 Rev. Mr. Zubli, a delegate from Georgia, who had suddenly 

 left Philadelphia for the purpose of using his efforts at home 

 against the Declaration. On the 8th of May, 1777, Mr. Hous- 

 toun was appointed a member of the Executive Council ; and 

 on the 8th of January, 1778, was elected Governor of Geor- 

 gia. The invasion of East Florida had long been a favourite 

 object of Mr. Houstoun ; and soon after his elevation to the 

 executive chair, he expressed to Major General Robert Howe, 

 then in command of the Southern Department, his willingness 

 to co-operate with him in this expedition. The force thought 

 necessary for the expedition being raised, General Howe, ac- 

 companied by Governor Houstoun, proceeded against East Flo- 

 rida. Arriving at the St. Mary's river, numerous obstacles 

 prevented further progress, and a council of war was called to 

 decide whether a retreat would not be proper ; and it was de- 

 termined that, under present circumstances, a retreat was not 

 only expedient, but absolutely necessary. Governor Houstoun 

 was a man of high spirit, and was unwilling to relinquish the 

 command of the Georgia militia to General Howe ; and this 

 misunderstanding between the Governor and the General was 

 probably one of the principal causes which led to the failure of 

 the expedition. In 1784 he was again Governor of Georgia. 

 In 1787, in conjunction with John Habersham and Lachlan 

 Mcintosh, he was appointed a Commissioner by the General 

 Assembly on the part and behalf of the State of Georgia, for 

 settling disputes respecting boundary, with the State of South 

 Carolina ; but he differed in opinion from the other Commis- 

 sioners, and protested against their proceedings. His protest 

 may be found on page 666, in Marbury and Crawford's Di- 



