Person:James Habersham (2)

Came to Georgia in 1738 aboard the ship Whittaker. With him were his friend, The Rev. George Whitefield, his brother Joseph (who died without issue) and his nephew Joseph Clay, son of Elizabeth Habersham and Ralph Clay. Habersham and Whitefield established a school and orphanage in Savannah, later known as Bethesda, House of Mercy. Mary Bolton and her sister Rebecca were sent to Bethesda to continue their schooling. James and Mary were married by Rev. Whitefield in 1740.

From A History and Genealogy of the Habersham Family by Joseph Gaston Baillie Bulloch, M.D.: James Habersham assisted his friend, the celebrated Whitfield, as a lay reader and teacher at Bethesda Orphans' Home in 1740, near Savannah, GA., and was President of Bestheda Orphans' Home; and so great was the appreciaton of Mr. Habersham by the government, that he was made Secretary of the Province, assistant to the President of the Colony to advance the culture of silk in the Colony. He then became a member of the King's Council, President of the upper House of Assembly; and so great was the confidence in him that Sir James Wright, the Royal Governor, on his departure for the old country, recommended him as a fit person to assume the position of Governor during his absence; so that Hon. James Habersham was for a stormy period the Governor of the Colony of Georgia. He with Mr. Charles Harris established the first commercial house in Georgia and exported the first bale of cotton. Mr. Habersham, though a Royalist, deeply sympathized with the Colonists, but not sufficiently to break off with a country that has showered so much honor upon him, though his sons became ardent patriots and aided the Colony to attain its independence.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Bulloch, Joseph Gaston Baillie. A History and Genealogy of the Habersham Family: in connection with the history, genealogy and mention of the families of Clay, Stiles, Cumming, King, Elliott, Milledge, Maxwell, Adams, Houstoun, Screven, Owens, Demere, Footman, Ellis, Washington, Newell, deTreville, Davis, Barrington, Lewis, Warner, Cobb, Flournoy, Pratt, Nephew, Bolton, Bowers, Cuthbert, and many other names either as having a connection to some other family or showing of the name as related or connected to some family in this work. (Columbia, S.C.: The R. L. Bryant Co., 1901)
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