TROUP COUNTY. 553 



Committee on Military Affairs during nearly all the war. Na- 

 turally fervid, he was impassioned in debate ; scrupulously 

 honest, he was listened to with respect ; devoted to his coun- 

 try, he gave to her all his heart and all his mind. During, or 

 about the close of the war, he married a Virginia lady, from 

 whom spring his descendants, a son and two daughters, and 

 his grandchildren, the children of Thomas M. Forman, Esq., 

 lately Mr. Bryan, of Glynn county. The elder children of 

 Mr. Forman by Miss Troup, bear the name of Bryan, and are 

 the great-grandchildren of Jonathan Bryan, illustrious in the 

 annals of our State. 



In 1816, in opposition to his own wishes for retirement, 

 Col. Troup was elected a Senator in Congress over Dr. Bibb, 

 a very distinguished servant of Georgia, who recently in the 

 Senate had rendered himself unpopular, by supporting " the 

 compensation law." Dr. Bibb's term would have expired on 

 the 3d of March, 1817, but he resigned, and the Legislature, 

 jn addition to the ensuing full term, conferred the vacancy 

 on Colonel Troup. He continued but two years in the Se- 

 nate. In 1830, the State being divided into two great parties, 

 known as the Crawford and Clarke parties, Colonel Troup 

 was induced, by urgent application of his friends, to consent to 

 become a candidate for Governor. General John Clarke 

 was elected by a majority of thirteen votes. Again, in 1821, 

 General Clarke was elected, beating Colonel Troup by a ma- 

 jority of two votes. The writer of this memoir well remem- 

 bers the intense excitement that preceded this election, and the 

 course of Colonel Troup at Milledgeville. His supporters 

 urged him to visit the members, and to canvass for their votes. 

 He refused, alleging truly, that " a candidate for the executive 

 chair should not debase that high office by seeking to influ- 

 ence the legislative votes. He had refused through life to 

 electioneer, and he was too old to do it now." Again, in 1823, 

 he was a candidate, and the election resulted in his elevation 

 to the chief magistracy. His opponent was the Honourable 

 Matthew Talbot. Well was this for Georgia ; for a struggle 

 was approaching, demanding at her helm a man of soundest 

 judgment, and of undaunted heart. 



For a correct understanding of Governor Troup's difficul- 



