Josiah Tattnall Sr.
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Josiah Tattnall (born 8 February 1740) was a British emigrant to
colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...
who became notable for his acts in support of
the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
during his time in
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
in the
Province of Georgia The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of G ...
.


Early life

Tattnall was born to Thomas and Elizabeth Tattnall (
née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Barnwell) in 1740. He left England for
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
, in the mid-1700s. There, he married Mary Mullryne (19 October 1741 – 1781),''The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine'', Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1913), pp. 3-19 (17 pages)
D. E. Huger Smith
the youngest daughter of Colonel
John Mullryne John Mullryne (died 6 January 1786) was a British Army colonel who established Bonaventure Plantation in Savannah, Province of Georgia, in 1761. A supporter of the Crown, he later drew the ire of the colonists after aiding (with the help of his ...
and Claudia Cattell.''History of Savannah, Ga: From Its Settlement to the Close of the Eighteenth Century''
Charles Colcock Jones (D. Mason & Company, 1890)
He followed his father-in-law to
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
, in the
Province of Georgia The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of G ...
, not long after Mullryne founded
Bonaventure Plantation Bonaventure Plantation was a plantation founded in colonial Savannah, Province of Georgia, on land now occupied by Greenwich and Bonaventure cemeteries. The site was , including a plantation house and private cemetery, located on the Wilmingto ...
there in 1762.Bonaventure Plantation
- SavannahGA.gov
''Historic Bonaventure Cemetery: Photographs from the Collection of the Georgia Historical Society'', Arcadia Publishing (1998)
/ref> A son, John Mullryne Tattnall, was born in 1763. A second son, Josiah Jr., followed a year later at the plantation; he went on to become the 25th
Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...
in 1801, two years before his death at the age of 38.''Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends''
Lucian Lamar Knight (The Byrd Printing Company, 1914)


Bonaventure Plantation

The first house on the plantation, made of English brick, was destroyed by a fire on 7 January 1771.
John Berendt John Berendt (born December 5, 1939) is an American author, known for writing the best-selling non-fiction book '' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'', which was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, and '' The Ci ...
wrote in his 1994 book ''
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published on January 10, 1994, and follows the story of Jim Williams, an antiques dealer on trial for the killing of Danny Hansf ...
'' that a formal dinner party, held by either Mullryne or Tattnall, was in progress when one of the servants informed the host that the roof was ablaze and that nothing could be done to stop it. The host "rose calmly, clinked his glass, and invited guests to pick up their dinner plates and follow him into the garden", where they ate the remainder of their meals in the glow of the flames. The house was replaced by a mansion, also made of brick. This also burned down, in 1804.


Revolutionary War

During the Revolutionary War, when Savannahians ousted and arrested royal Governor James Wright in February 1776, Mullryne and Tattnall aided his escape through Bonaventure to HMS ''Scarborough'', a British naval vessel nearby."BONAVENTURE: A HISTORICAL SKETCH"
-
Telfair Museums Telfair Museums, in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia, was the first public art museum in the Southern United States. Founded through the bequest of Mary Telfair (1791–1875), a prominent local citizen, and operated by the Georgia His ...
, July 27, 2018
After their actions in support of
the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
(then
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
), an order was made from the
Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
government for their arrest and deportation from Georgia. Both Mullryne (to
Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Austria * Nassau (Groß Sankt Florian), incorporated village of Groß Sankt Florian Bahamas *Nassau, The Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upp ...
in the Bahamas) and Tattnall (to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England) subsequently fled the country.''Tombstones I Have Known'', Lamar Weaver, Charaman M. Campbell, 2001
/ref> The Bonaventure estate was confiscated by the government in 1782 and sold at public auction to
John Habersham John Habersham (December 23, 1754 – December 17, 1799) was an American merchant, planter, and soldier from Georgia. He was the son of loyalist official James Habersham, the younger brother of patriot leader Joseph Habersham. They were bo ...
, a friend of the Tattnalls, who sold the property in 1788 to Josiah Tattnall, Jr., who had married two years earlier. Tattnall was provided with three grandchildren between 1788 and 1795. All three came to live with him in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, after the deaths of their mother and father in 1802 and 1803, respectively. One of them, the third Josiah Tattnall, became a Commodore in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tattnall, Josiah 1740 births Date of death missing People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Revolution British emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies