336 JACKSON COUNTY. 



for freedom hazarded life, property, and interest. A knowledge 

 of the sacrifices they made, and the hardships they endured, 

 will teach us to value the blessings of a free government ; and, 

 stimulated by their noble example, we shall always manfully re- 

 sist any encroachment upon our liberties. The history of Mr. 

 Jackson is the history of Georgia at eventful periods, as our 

 memoir will fully show. It is not our object to attempt to 

 prove that Mr. Jackson was faultless. We are free to confess 

 that he had many faults. And who has not faults ? That 

 which we desire to prove to the citizens of Georgia is this — 

 that if there be one worthy of the Revolution more entitled to 

 their gratitude than another, this distinction belongs to General 

 James Jackson. 



He was born at Moreton Hampstead, in the county of 

 Devon, England, September 21st, 1757. His father, like many 

 other impartial Englishmen, was opposed to the attempts made 

 by Parliament to restrain the liberties of the colonies, and in 

 his family circle would often speak in commendable terms of 

 the resistance of America. Jackson, who, from his infancy, 

 had exhibited an abhorrence against oppression, would listen 

 most attentively to the conversation of his father, and thus 

 gradually imbibed a sympathy for the colonies, whose consti- 

 tutional rights were so unjustly violated, and accordingly he 

 resolved to leave England and take up his abode in America. 

 He arrived in Savannah in 1772, when only fifteen years of 

 age, penniless, and an entire stranger to every one except 

 John VVereat, Esq., who had been intimate with his father in 

 England. Samuel Farley, Esq., attorney at law, a gentleman 

 whose legal attainments had secured him an extensive prac- 

 tice, pleased with the talents and industry of the youth, re- 

 ceived him into his office, and superintended his studies. But 

 the times were exciting. People spoke their sentiments freely 

 in regard to the differences between Great Britain and her 

 colonies, and expressed opinions that the time had arrived when 

 it became the latter to assume a hostile attitude. Jackson laid 

 aside his law-books, and, with his bosom burning with the love 

 of liberty, associated himself with that portion of the citizens 

 who had resolved no longer to wear the chains of slavery. 

 Such men as Bulloch, Houstoun, Jones, and Hall, encouraged 



