John Martin (Governor of Georgia)
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Governor John Martin |
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| Governor of Georgia | |
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In office January 3, 1782 – January 8, 1783 |
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| Preceded by | Nathan Brownson |
| Succeeded by | Lyman Hall |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Martin ca. 1730 Providence Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | (aged 55–56) |
John Martin (ca. 1730 – January 1786) was an American planter, soldier, and politician.
Little is known of Martin's early life. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island and moved to St. Philip's Parish, Savannah, Georgia in 1767 with his brother James, where they bought adjoining plantations.
Martin was active during the American Revolution, serving as a delegate to the provincial congress in July 1775, as well as a member of the local Committee of Safety. In the War of Independence he was appointed lieutenant of the 7th company of the Georgia Regiment in the Continental Army in January 1776, and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1777. He was made lieutenant colonel for Chatham County in 1781.
His political service includes mayor of Savannah, Georgia (1778), sheriff of Chatham County, Georgia, member of the Georgia House of Representatives, state Treasurer, and revolutionary governor of Georgia from 1782 to 1783. Martin took the office of governor on January 2, 1782 from Sir James Wright, who said, "The rebel Governor Martin, now at Ebenezer, has issued three proclamations, one to the King’s troops, one to the Hessians, and another to the militia, inviting them all to revolt and join the virtuous Americans against the tyranny of the British government." Wright also referred to Martin as "Black Jack from the Northward."
When Martin began his term as governor, the British held Savannah as part of the southern theater of the American Revolution which, though near an end, was still being fought in Georgia. Martin wrote to General Anthony Wayne, "Nothing but the present deplorable situation of this country, & the starving condition of the greatest part of the inhabitants, many of whom have not tasted bread kind for more than a month past, could have induced me to trouble your Excellency on this occasion; but impressed with the idea that our distresses, which have been owing to the accumulated horrors of war this country has experienced for this four years past, might entitle us to hope for some small relief for the present from our sister State, has encouraged me to make this application."
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