JACKSON COUNTY. 343 



received the commission of Brigadier General ; the duties of 

 which were peculiarly arduous, having charge of the opera- 

 tions against the Indians, who were then making inroads upon 

 our southern settlements. When only 31 years of age he was 

 elected, in 1788, Governor of Georgia, but for reasons which 

 he deemed satisfactory he refused to serve. About this time 

 he was made Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons, in 

 Georgia, and honorary member of the State Society of the 

 Cincinnati. In 1789 he was elected to represent the Eastern 

 District in the first Congress held under the Federal Constitution. 

 Between this period and 1806 he held almost every high office 

 in Georgia, viz. : member of the Legislature, Major General^ 

 member of the Convention that framed the present Constitution 

 of the State, of which he wrote the greater part ; Elector for 

 President and Vice-President ; Governor, and Senator to Con- 

 gress In all the offices with which his countrymen honoured 

 him, he strictly conformed to what he considered right. It 

 was natural to expect, in the incipient stages of our govern- 

 ment, that men intrusted with responsible offices would ex- 

 pose themselves to opposition and calumny ; and Mr. Jackson, 

 for the fearless and conscientious discharge of his duty, expe- 

 rienced a full share of misrepresentation and abuse : but, no- 

 thing daunted, he persevered in every measure which he 

 believed would advance the interests and reputation of Geor- 

 gia, and this the people of Georgia acknowledged more than 

 once. In the year 1791, General Anthony Wayne, who had 

 become a citizen of Georgia, and possessed very justly the 

 veneration of her people, was induced, doubtless with honest 

 purposes in himself, yet certainly, perhaps unconsciously, by 

 the instigations of Gen. Jackson's adversaries, to become a 

 candidate in opposition, for the same district in Congress. An 

 animated contest was waged before the people. Gen. Wayne 

 was returned. Gen. Jackson presented himself before the 

 House of Representatives, in February, 1792, contested the 

 return, personally conducted his claim to the seat, and obtained 

 a decision, awarded without a dissenting voice, that General 

 Wayne was not entitled to retain it. By the casting vote of 

 the Speaker alone, the House refused to declare Gen. Jackson 

 elected. The concluding speech of Gen. Jackson is repre- 



