Savannah is not always thought of as a sports town. But one sport had their beginnings here and another had one of its grandest events start here. As we have previously posted Savannah had the first golf game in the United States. But you may not know that Savannah had the first American Grand Prix Race. In fact for four years in the early twentieth century Savannah was the center of automobile racing.

New York had been chosen twice to host the Vanderbilt Cup. A prestigious racing event. But a rival group to the Vanderbilt Cup gang, the Automobile Club of America decided they wanted their own race. So they started an event to surpass the Vanderbilt Cup. Their cup would be silver too and be twice as valuable. It would be an international event to be held in, you guess it Savannah. It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1908.

Savannah used convict labor to prepare the race course, the National Guard of Georgia to protectd the course from non-racers, and the Savannah Automobile Club to run the event. The event attracted the best drivers and cars from around the world including 2 of the 4 previous Vanderbilt Cup winners (Victor Hemery and Louis Wagner) that year's French Grand Prix champion (Felice Nazzaro). The race ended with the closest top 3 finish in the history of the sport up to that minute. The tightness of the race and the conditions of the course made the race a huge and international success.

Because of its success Savannah not only wanted to host the Grand Prix race again they placed their eyes on wresting the Vanderbilt Cup from New York. The last Vanderbilt Cup had been a huge mess. People were constantly on the track, car wrecks were unusually frequent, and the track was muddy in places. Savannah seeing its opening sent a delegation to New York to propose Savannah as a new home for the event. The competition including Los Angeles and Indianapolis to name two. Yet Savannah won the honor and would host the 1911 Grand Prix and the Vanderbilt Cup to be held within three days of each other. Savannah would be the center of American racing.

Savannah began to work on the details of the races expanding the grandstands, working on transportation to the event, and perfecting the race course. The greatest field of drivers from around the world assembled to participate in the two events. The races were met with accolades. But the critics and competing cities began to point out flaws. Some said it was a great mistake to hold both big races at the same location so close together. This hurt the manufacturers getting cars ready as well as attendance. It also diminished the importance of the Vanderbilt Cup. Savannahians complained closing the roads for such a long period of time was taking away the increasing new car owners chances to hit the road themselves with their new purchases. Others protested the use of convict labor to prepare the course and the militia to patrol the race.

New York made a bid to return the Vanderbilt Cup back to their city to no avail. Bids from Los Angeles, Detroit, and Milwaukee came in. Milwaukee finally won the bid to host the event and thus ended Savannah’s run as the center of the racing world.

While the races were held Savannah started many racing traditions. They were the first race to have champagne poured over the winner's head. They were the first and only race to begin and end with a gunshot emulating horse racing. They were the first race in America to be patrolled by militia. They were the first entirely stock car race.

Savannah has never reached those heights again but in the late 1960’s until the mid 1980’s the Savannah Speedway held races with some of the greatest race car drivers in the sports history participating. The Savannah Speedway opened in 1962 as a 1/2 mile dirt oval track, The venue hosted ten Nascar Grand National events. Richard Petty and Bobby Allison were two of the winners. The track closed in 1981.

Today Savannah has an annual Speed Classic vintage racing once a year. One official said “It’s a point series of racing. What makes it fun for the general public is all the different kinds of cars out there. It’s interesting to see cars from the really old to the 1960s all the way up to the 1990s.” The cars are from the same era of Savannah’s Grand Prix and Vanderbilt Cup race cars. The host of the event is the Hilton Head Island Motoring Festival and Concours d’Elegance. The Savannah Speed Classic vintage sports car races run for three days in October.

On the three days of the race Savannah can hear the roar of the engines from Hutchinson Island and be reminded of a brief time when Savannah was the center of the racing world.

The Scots have made significant contributions to the city of Savannah. One of the most important was the Scot, Edward Telfair. He was born in the Scottish village of Kirkcudbright in 1735. After only an elementary education he took a job with a firm of merchants. In 1758 with the dream of America in his heart he sailed to America with his brother William.
After a stint in North Carolina he joined his brother William in Savannah in 1766. The two brothers formed a partnership with a Scotsman named Basil Cowper. This would lead Edward Telfair to become one of the most successful merchants in colonial Georgia.
Telfair held land in Burke County in Georgia. He became a planter with slaves and operated a sawmill there. His land in Burke County offered all he needed in timber to keep his sawmill going and his pockets full.
In 1768 after only two years in Savannah he was elected to the Commons House of Assembly. And when the American Revolution started he was involved in the struggle along with his other colonists. This was seen in his involvement with the Sons of Liberty. In May 1775, when news of the New England battles of Lexington and Concord reached Savannah, Telfair joined Joseph Habersham, Noble W. Jones, John Milledge, and other Liberty Boys in breaking into the royal magazine and making off with 600 pounds of powder. He was elected in June 1775 to the Council of Safety, a body formed to supervise the enforcement of boycotts of the British Stamp Act and other Acts that followed.
Because of his leadership skills and loyalty to the Revolutionary cause Telfair was elected to the Continental Congress in 1778 and remained a member until 1783. While he was there he was one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation (predecessor to the US Constitution). In 1780 he was on a list of colonists, a list I am sure he was proud to have his name, who were guilty of high treason against the Crown.
Telfair took part in the convention that met in Augusta on Christmas Day 1787 for Georgia to ratify the new U.S. Constitution that had been signed in Philadelphia. He voted in favor of its ratification. Telfair was one of only 12 men who received electoral votes during the first election for President and Vice President of the United States, receiving the vote of one unrecorded elector from his home state of Georgia.
Although Telfair would not serve as President he would serve three terms as governor of Georgia. As governor he would host President George Washington on his southern tour of the new nation at one of his plantations in Augusta.
Telfair died on September 17, 1807, at his Savannah house. He was buried at yet another of his plantations (called Sharon) near Savannah. In the year of Telfair's death, Telfair County was created and named in his honor. Years later, his remains would be removed to Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, where in 1860 his surviving daughters erected a memorial to their father's memory. Later in the 19th century, Savannah's St. James Square was renamed Telfair Square to honor the family.
His daughter Mary Telfair would use his vast fortune to become one of Savannah’s greatest philanthropists. She would leave money and her mansion in Savannah to create the oldest art museum in the South (Telfair Museum of Art), she would use her money to build a woman’s hospital, and give money to erect Hodgson Hall, home of the Georgia Historical Society, to name three of her notable charitable works.
Edward Telfair was a testimony to the chance that even a poor Scotsman could come to America and make his fortune. He also would repay this new found home with service to its new government and risk his fortune for its independence. He was a true American patriot.

The South is given short shrift when it comes to the telling of the American Revolution. We know all of the northern heroes: Nathan Hale, Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, Marquis De Lafayette, Samuel Adams, and the like. The most prominent player mentioned in the southern part of the War is a Northerner: Nathaniel Greene. Beyond him you may have heard of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, but probably no one else. Yet one could argue that the southern war was where the war was really won. The British and the Americans were in a stalemate in the North.

The British reasoned since the southern colonies were more recently from Britain there would be more Loyalists and therefore the War would work more in their favor in the South. So they redirected their energy this way and I am sure to their dismay they found the South as rebellious as the North. In fact in the end the South would chase Cornwallis and his troops away. And where was the place he ended? Yorktown. This is where General George Washington’s troops and the French from the sea surrounded him and he was forced to surrender. The surrender of Yorktown is considered the end of the war by most historians.

Samuel Elbert was a Southern Revolutionary hero about whom most people know nothing. He was born, in 1740, in Savannah. His father was a Baptist minister. When he was fourteen, his mother and father both died leaving him an orphan. He had been living in South Carolina but at his parents’ deaths he traveled back to Savannah.

In Savannah he was employed by a prominent planter named John Rae. Rae would recommend Elbert to be an official trader with the Indians. Elbert became known to the Indians as a fair and respectful trader becoming well liked among them. He became an advocate for the Indians to the white population.

The other thing that Elbert gained from his relationship with John Rae was the hand of his daughter, Elizabeth, whom he married in 1769. The marriage greatly increased Elbert’s social position and influence in the colony. Elbert was an established merchant in Savannah by the year of 1754 and continued to grow his wealth through the 1760s.  

With his new found social position Elbert established a Masonic lodge in Savannah in 1774, but it did not survive the Revolution. He would become a Freemason and join Solomon's Lodge No. 1 ( which now resides in the Cotton Exchange Building) in Savannah along with other Georgia notables James Jackson, Governor John A. Treutlen, and Archibald Bulloch. From about 1776 to 1786 he served as provincial grand master, making him head of the masonry craft for Georgia.

He became a member of the Council of Safety, a group that was found in all the coastal cities, to protest the British taxes and occupation and eventually provide for the defense of the colony. On February 4, 1776, Elbert was made a lieutenant colonel and later colonel in the Georgia Militia. He was now fully immersed in the growing American Revolution.

He was part of the ill-advised plan by Governor Button Gwinnett to take Florida from the British in 1777. The other commander was badly defeated in battle and had to retreat, leaving Elbert and his men to fend for themselves. Only because of a miraculous storm that destroyed a British ship was he able to escape with his men for certain defeat from the British forces.

Despite this early lesson, apparently Florida was on the rebellious Georgia colony’s mind because in 1778 Governor John Houston, who had become governor in place of Gwinnett in large part because of the previously mentioned Florida junket, ordered another attack on Florida. As could be expected this foray into Florida only a year later did not fare any better.

But this time Colonel Elbert would have success.  Elbert put 300 of his troops aboard three galleys and caused the surrender of three British warships. These ships had been harassing the Georgia rebels for almost two years. Despite being overmatched his flotilla won the skirmish and suffered no casualties in the process.

In December of 1778, the British sent a fleet with about 3500 troops to retake Savannah. General Howe was in command of the city. Colonel Elbert, whose strategic thinking had been proven in the Florida expeditions[unclear after this point] Howe they needed to defend a landing place known as Girardeau’s plantation. He offered his troops to do so but Howe refused to let him.  Indeed the British did land there without resistance and were able to attack the American army from the rear by mucking their way through a swamp. The Americans were forced to retreat across a bridge over Musgrove Creek. Elbert’s men, holding the rearguard, were unable to cross the bridge before the British seized it. To escape capture Elbert and his men were forced to swim across the icy creek.

Many troops left or fled to the North. Elbert with his remaining troops briefly occupied Augusta, then deployed to the Brier Creek area where they continually harassed the British forces as they marched toward Augusta. Elbert wrote of their dire conditions, ‘The articles of provisions we shall have plenty, of artillery we have none, small arms very ordinary in general and scarce, many men have come to camp without any, which we have not to give them. Entrenching tools and camp utensils are not to be had here.’

In late February, Elbert was joined by General John Ashe and about 1800 additional troops. Ashe, with the higher rank in the Continental army although Elbert was a brigadier general in the Georgia Militia, deployed most of his troops on high ground near Brier Creek., On March 3, 1779, the British launched a surprise attack and quickly routed Ashe’s main army. Ashe for his part disappeared into the woods. This left Colonel Elbert with his back against Brier Creek. With Brier Creek behind him and surrounded on all other sides by the enemy, Elbert and Lieutenant Colonel John McIntosh together with 60 Continentals and 150 Georgia militiamen fought, it is said, the small regiment "made one of the most gallant stands against overwhelming odds of the Revolutionary War." The British Army was forced to bring up its reserves to defeat Elbert and his men. More than half of his men were killed. Elbert himself escaped death by bayonet when he was recognized as a Mason by a British officer who ordered his life spared.

Elbert remained a prisoner on parole in the British camp for more than a year. The Continental Congress offered Brigadier General James Inglis Hamilton in exchange for Elbert, and arranged for his promotion to the rank of brigadier general in the Continental Army. He was freed in 1780.

Elbert went immediately to George Washington's headquarters in the north. General Washington gave Elbert command of a brigade during the Siege of Yorktown in 1781. Elbert was to become fast friends with the Marquis de Lafayette during the Siege. This friendship continued after war's end through correspondences for many years. Elbert would even name a son after Lafayette.

Elbert’s post war activities were extensive as he led the new state. He was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1784 but declined to serve. He was then elected for a one-year term as governor in 1785. During his governorship Elbert oversaw the chartering of the University of Georgia. This was the first chartered state school in the United States. Later he served briefly as sheriff of Chatham County before dying at the age of forty-eight on November 1, 1788. He was buried at Rae’s Hall Plantation and later removed to Colonial Cemetery where he rests today.

Samuel Elbert is an American story of a young orphan who rose to fame and prominence in times of peace and war. His is a story for the generations.
 
 
 
 
.

Savannah has had its connections with the founding fathers. Here in Savannah we had Button Gwinnett, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Liberty Boys among others. But we also have had visits from George Washington who left us the Washington guns on Bay Street and the Marquis de Lafayette who laid the cornerstone for the Nathaniel Greene monument in Johnson Square. James Monroe visited while President to take a ride on the SS Savannah before its historic trip across the Atlantic Ocean.

But probably the most prominent founding father after George Washington was involved for seven years with Savannah. Benjamin Franklin worked as an agent to Britain for the Georgia colony from 1768 to 1774. Franklin was friends and correspondent with Noble Wimberly Jones.

Jones and Franklin would have known each other as Jones was a leading Georgia patriot in the American Revolution; he served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1781 and 1782. Jones also practiced medicine and founded the Georgia Medical Association which would more than likely have appealed to the science-minded Franklin. Jones, who was elected as Speaker of the House of Georgia in 1768, would be the one who secured the services of Benjamin Franklin as Georgia's agent in London. In a letter to Jones, Franklin wrote:

“Inclos’d I send you a small Quantity of Upland Rice from Cochin China. It grows on dry Ground, I know in your Country, as I know you already are acquainted with the manufacturing of the Article. Mr. Ellis, who imported the Seed, tells me it has been carefully and well preserved on the Voyage; and requests me to send a small Quantity to Mr. Jonathan Bryant. If he be in your Province, as I think he is, please to give him some out of your Box. I send also a few Seeds of the Chinese Tallow Tree.”

The introduction of the Chinese tallow tree was not one of Franklin’s greatest accomplishments. The ability of this species to drastically modify natural landscapes has earned it a spot on The Nature Conservancy’s list of "America’s Least Wanted -The Dirty Dozen" (Flack and Furlow 1996). But of course he always has a key and a kite to fall back on.

Franklin was also a benefactor of Bethesda Academy as well as friends with George Whitefield. Franklin had heard legendary stories about the oratory abilities of Whitefield and attended a revival meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was determined to see if the reports of Whitefield preaching to crowds of the order of tens of thousands in England were true. While listening to Whitefield speak from the Philadelphia court house, Franklin decided to test the legends. He walked away from Whitefield standing on the court house steps towards his shop in Market Street until he could no longer hear Whitefield distinctly. He calculated Whitefield could be heard over five hundred feet. He then estimated the area of a semicircle centered on Whitefield. Allowing for two square feet per person he computed that it was quite possible Whitefield could be heard by over thirty thousand people in the open air. Not only was he impressed with his ability to project his voice he was also impressed with his message. This would lead to a lifetime friendship between the two.
Franklin would help raise money for Bethesda Orphanage but thought the orphanage would be best served if in Philadelphia not Savannah. But Whitefield remained loyal to Savannah and the original donors who had helped established the orphanage. Franklin, because of this choice, was determined not to donate to the establishing of the orphanage and Savannah. But nevertheless he did. His explanation for this is below:

 I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to end with a collection, and I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined me to give the silver: and he finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector’s dish gold and all.’ 
 
Savannah has a Square named for Franklin, laid out in 1791. At one time Franklin Square was known as the water tower square because of its water tower. The water tower was a primary source of water for the west side of Savannah. Today Franklin Square sits in front of the historic First African Baptist Church with a monument to the Haitian Soldiers who came to fight in Savannah for American Independence. Franklin one of our greatest founding fathers once was agent and friend of many Savannahians. And apparently came away with a little less gold because of it.