Book Description

Excerpt from Letters of Joseph Clay, Merchant of Savannah, 1776 1793, Vol. 8: And a List of Ships and Vessels Entered at the Port of Savannah, for May 1765, 1766 Nd 1767 Ralp'h Clay - the father of the subject of this sketch - married Elizabeth, a sister of the honorable James Hab ersham, intimate friend of the reverend George Whitefield, and, during the absence of Sir James Wright in 1771-72, the royal Governor of Georgia. Joseph Clay, the only son of this marriage, was born at Beverley, Yorkshire, England, on the l6th of October, 1741. At the suggestion of his distinguished uncle, supplemented by the persuasions of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, Young Clay came to Georgia in 1760. A few years afterwards, responding to the wish of Governor Habersham, who furnished the means requi site for the adventure, his son James Habersham junior and his nephew Joseph Clay associated themselves in a general commission business in Savannah. The partner ship thus formed lasted about five years. With the excep tion of the period covered by the war of the Revolution Mr. Clay remained actively engaged in commercial pur suits; He and Colonel Joseph Habersham were at one time associated under the firm name of Joseph Clay Com pany. He was also a partner in the house of Seth John Cuthbert Company; at another time he was the senior member of the firm of Clay, Telfair Company, and again was interested as a co-partner in the house of William Fox Company of Newport, Rhode Island. His home was always in Savannah, where, on the 2d of January, 1763, he married Ann Legardere. Soon after establishing himself in business in Savannah, Mr. Clay became interested, in connection with his relatives, the H'abershams, in the culti vation of rice, which was then the principal market crop produced upon the marish lands of Southern Georgia. Both as a merchant and as a planter he prospered. In conducting his business affairs he was prompt, energetic, and competent. By the meeting of patriotic citizens assembled at the Liberty Pole at Tondee's Tavern in Savannah on the 27th of July, 1774, he was chosen a member of the committee then raised and charged with the preparation of resolu tions expressive of the rebel sentiments of the community, and of the determination of Georgia, at an early day, to associate herself with her sis'ter American colonies in opo sitiou to the enforcement of the unjustifiable and arbitrary acts of the British Parliament. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.