Edward Telfair
| Edward Telfair | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Georgia | |
|
In office January 9, 1786 – January 9, 1787 |
|
| Preceded by | Samuel Elbert |
| Succeeded by | George Mathews |
|
In office November 11, 1789 – November 7, 1793 |
|
| Preceded by | George Walton |
| Succeeded by | George Mathews |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1735 Scotland |
| Died |
(aged 71–72) Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
Edward Telfair (1735 – September 17, 1807) was the Governor of the state of Georgia between 1786 and 1787, and again from 1790 through 1793. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and a signer of the Articles of Confederation.
Telfair was born in 1735 on his family's ancestral estate in western Scotland. He graduated from the Kirkcudbright Grammar School, before acquiring commercial training. He immigrated to America in 1758 as an agent of a commission house, settling in Virginia. Telfair subsequently moved to Halifax, North Carolina, and finally to Savannah, Georgia, where he established his own commission house. He arrived in Georgia in 1766, joining his brother, William, who had emigrated earlier. Together with Basil Cowper, Telfair built the commission house, and it was an overnight success.
Telfair was a slave owner and a consultant on slavery issues. His mercantile firm dealt in slaves, among other things, and contemporary correspondence of his included discussions of such topics as: the management of slaves; the purchase and sale of slaves; runaway slaves; the mortality rate of slaves born on plantations; the difficulty of selling closely related slaves; and the relations between whites and freedmen.
Telfair was a member of a Committee of Safety (1775–1776), and was a delegate to the Georgia Provincial Congress meeting at Savannah in 1776. He was also a member of the Georgia Committee of Intelligence in 1776.
Telfair was elected to the Continental Congress for 1778, 1780, 1781, and 1782. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation. In 1783, during the Cherokee–American wars, Telfair was commissioned to treat with the Chickamauga Cherokee Indians. Telfair was the designated agent (on behalf of Georgia) in talks aimed at settling the northern boundary dispute with North Carolina in February 1783. The land in question was generally regarded as Creek land, so the Cherokees readily signed the treaty. The Creeks refused. Secretary of War, Henry Knox, instructed Governor Telfair not to retaliate against the Creek Indians.
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