The Site of Savannah was established and drawn out by General James Oglethorpe. This is the seat of the first English settlement in Georgia. 114 persons came with Oglethorpe on his first voyage and erected huts with saw-palm roofs. Within a year, over one hundred wooden homes were constructed, while vessels transported more settlers. Several parishes governed the area, viz: Christ Church, St. Andrews, and St. Marys. After the Revolutionary War, the parishes were dispensed with as boundaries and counties established. Chatham was named for William Lord Pitt, Earl of Chatham. Many prominent citizens emerged from the first settlers into the settled gentry and poltical figures. During the American Revolution, Loyalists marked as traitors escaped into Florida and to Bermuda where they established plantations. If you have lost someone from this period, that is where to search!
Earliest Settlers: Charles Alexander, Michael Bottomley, Jonathan Clark, Raymond Demere, Thomas Dawson, William Gilbert, John Houstoun, William Jordan, Alexander Lesley, David Montaigut, William Mortimer, John Mackay, Charles Ogilvie, Daniel Pendleton, Augustus Rogers, Richard Seymore, Nicholas Witzen, and Nathaniel Zettler.
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