Georgia Loyalists

Georgia Revolutionists were fierce in keeping the British at bay in Georgia. My 4th great-grandfather, Capt. John Cutler Braddock, as a galley commander was one of the fiercest. There were many other Georgians, however, who, by dictate of conscience, chose to remain Loyal to the Crown.

You may be surprised to learn that Benjamin Franklin's son was a staunch Loyalist. They paid dearly for their loyalty.

On August 19, 1783, the Assembly of the State of Georgia passed an Act of Attainder, Banishments and Confistication that took from all known Loyalists, property they held in Georgia and banished them from the state. Most fled to the British province of East Florida and from there to England and to British held islands in the Caribbean, primarily the Bahamas. Notice of the Act was published in the Georgia Gazette followed by a list of 225 names of Georgia Loyalists.

The list included the last Royal Governor of Georgia, Sir James Wright, Lt. Gov. John Graham, and members of their council along with all other officials of the displaced government. Many on the list went on to become successful leaders in their places of exile. One such man was William Lyford Jr., uncle to the aforesaid John Cutler Braddock. He received several large grants in the Bahamas for his service to British naval operations in the Southeast and for being one of the planners and participants of Col. Andrew DeVeaux's famous raid that drove the Spanish from Nassau in 1783. The exclusive residential resort Lyford Cay, home of international best-selling author Arthur Hailey and actor Sean Connery, is located on one of the Grants.

List of Loyalists Banished from Georgia-1783

The Assembly of the State of Georgia published a list of men banished from the state in the Savannah newspaper, now back to its old name—the Georgia Gazette. The notorious McGirt brothers, who appear in many accounts of Revolutionary War action in the South as being instrumental in thwarting Georgian and Continental attempts to invade Florida—some accounts spelling it McGirth—are on the list. Strangely, some few on it were on lists published earlier by the British:

GEORGIA, House of Assembly, 15th July, 1783 ORDERED, That his Honour the Governor and Council be recommended and requested to transmit to the Executive and Legislative Powers or Departments, in every State on the United States, a List of Persons named in their Laws so that, by this correspondence, each State may know, or be informed from Time to Time, what is done by each State relative to those Persons so proscribed. Extract from the Minutes,
(Signed) JOHN WILKINSON, Clk. G. A.
In Council, Savannah, 19th August, 1783.

PURSUANT to the foregoing order of the Honourable the House of Assembly, passed at Augusta on the Fifteenth July last past, the following Persons are named within our Act of Attainder, Banishments and Confiscation, and stood proscribed on that Day.
By Order of his Honour the Governor in Council,
D. REES, Sec'y. Ex. Council

A LIST of Persons on the Bill of Attainder, Banishment and Confiscation, passed at Augusta, in the State of Georgia, on the Fourth Day of May, which was in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Eighty Two, and of our Sovereignty and Independence the Sixth, to wit:

Sir J.Wright		C.W.Mackinea     	Robert French  
Bart 			Alexan. Rose     	Will. Balfour
John Graham     	C.Wright sen	   	Isaac Downing
Alex. Wright		Robert Porteous   	Isaac Fulton
L. McGillivray         Jermyn Wright   	Acd. McNielly	
John Mullryne          C. Wright (son    	James Lyle
Josiah Tattnall	     of James)		Joseph Marshal
Basil Cowper		J. McGillivray	John Pig
William Telfair 	Tim Barnard  	John Brown
Alex. McGoun    	Issac Delyon   	Th. Rutherford
T.Tallemach	   	Peter Edwards 	David Green
Sam. Douglass   	Roger Kelsall    	Ph. Hevelstine
L.Johnston sen   	Thomas Young  	W.Hammond
L.Johnston jun   	Simon Munro 	G. Johnston sen.
Wm. Johnston	      Henry Munro      	John Johnston
Samuel Farley   	James Spalding   	William Corker
Ja. Alexander   	Alex Crighton       	John Corker
James Butler		Rod. McIntosh      	Wil. Mangrum
John Wood   		Will. McIntosh  	Will. Durgan
Robert Reid		(Indiantrader)       	James Hunt
John Storr 		Cha. McDonald    	William Young
Thomas Ried        	John McDonald      Matthew Moore
Ph. Delegal sen.    	Don. McDonald    	Henry Sharp
Ph. Delegal jun.      	Daniel McLeod     	Cordy Sharp
John Glenn            	D.B. McIntosh     	Will. McNatt
J. Bead Randel      	John Polson          S. Montgomery
John C. Lucena       	William Rose     	Benj. Brantley
Nathaniel Hall       	 John Westley     	Elias Bonnell
Tho. Gibbons       	—- McKay (St.    	Absalom Wells
John Fox jun.       	Andrew's)          	John Ferguson
John Simpson of  	Ar. Carney jun.     	William Ried	     
Sabine Fields   	Will Dawson        	Thomas Beatty
Mat. Stewart      	Charles Watts       	Thomas Waters
Thomas Ross     	Samuel Shepard  	Henry Williams
John J. Zubly       	James Carson    	John Douglass
Dav. Zubly jun.   	John Martin        	William White
George Baillie       	 (Jekyl)              	Sam. Williams
William Wylly      	John Kitching    	Daniel Philips
Campbel Wylly     	J.W. Williams    	James Gordon
Levi Sheftal          	William Clark    	Abr. Wilkins
James Herriott     	R. Demere jun.   	Samuel Wilkins
James Graham     	John Proctor     	Jonath. Wilkins
James Hume      	Daniel McGirt   	William Tidwel
John Hume            	James McGirt      	Reuben Sherral
Tho. Goldsmith      	George Aarons       	J. Grierson (Cl)
James Wright    	William Willis        Andrew Moore
  (Major)              	Absal. Mincey       	John Howard
Ja. Robertson         	H. Cooper sen.    	Will. Manson
H. Yonge jun.       	H. Cooper jun.      	James Ingram
Joseph Farley       	William Cooper  	Edward Ashton 
John Foulis           	Philip Dell        	J  Seymour (RJ)
Tho. Flyming     	James Dell        	M. Weatherford
Alex. Thomson    	James Pace sen.  	John Henderson
R. McCormick      	Ch.F. Triebner     	J. Weatherford
Thomas Forbes    	Steph. Dampier   	George Philips
T. Brown (Cl.)      	Peter Blyth     	Alex. McLean     
W. Jones (Sav.)  	John Blyth         	Benj. Howard
Martin Jollie        	Ulrick Gruber    	Tho. Howard
Donald Fraser    	Joseph Johnston  	And. Robertson
Isaac Bailleu      	John Johnston     	Don. Cameron
George Kincaid   	William Love    	John Jamieson
William Knox     	John Love       	William Oates
John Murray      	John Thomas      	Thomas Scott
Geo. Cuthbert           David Russel  	        Richard Bailey
W. McGillivray      	Matthew Lyle      	John Coppinger
Peter Deas          	Robert Miller     	Tho. Manson
George Fox         	John Robertson   	Jacob Watson
Moses Kirkland     	Daniel Howel     	And. Johnston
J. Lightenstone     	Alexan. Carter    	C. Weatherford
William Lyford    	Ro. Wolfington   	John Furlow
Andrew Hewat    	William Tucker   	James Jackson
Alexan. Inglis      	J. McCormick     	  (Augusta)
James Brisbane  	P. McCormick     	Will. Johnston
William Miller   	Ro. Henderson  	       F. Folliot (D.)
William Moss     	Lud Mobley        	T. Taylor (D.)
Philip Moore      	James Herbert   	Simeon Paterson
William Panton  	James Moore       	Nathan. Polhill
Tho. Skinner      	Samuel Moore    	John Maxwell
J.M. Tattnall     	Joseph Cornals   	Soloman Kemp.

Contributed by: J. G. (Jerry) Braddock Sr. Charleston, SC. Author of Wooden Ships - Iron Men.


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