On February 12, 1733, Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe and 112 settlers landed in what would become Georgia, the 13th British colony.
To put this in perspective, it had been more than 125 years since Jamestown, over a century since the Pilgrims landed and 70 years since the Carolina Charter had been granted by King Charles II.
Reminders of our 18th century founding are all around us in the Royal names left on the landscape. The colony itself was named for King George II. Brunswick is an alternative name for the royal family’s House of Hanover. Augusta is named for the wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales. Fort Frederica was named for Frederick. The streets and squares of Savannah and Brunswick and nearby towns still reflect names of early British officials, trustees and the three royal governors.
The Georgia Historical Society’s website, georgiahistory.com, is a great place to go for educational materials about Georgia’s founding and early years, including scans of original documents.
The society plans to reopen its Research Center, closed due to renovation and the pandemic, this spring. The organization hosts the annual Georgia History Festival.
RootsTech Conference coming up
The annual RootsTech Conference on genealogy and technology will be held Feb. 25-27. The free virtual event is well worth checking out. Register at rootstech.org, then Virtual Event 2021.
See what others are looking into
FamilyTreeCircles.com is a free website that allows you to place a query or see what others are researching. It’s worth a try.
Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P.O. Box 901, Decatur, Ga., 30031 or kenthomasongenealogy.com.