Josiah Tattnall (Senator)

Josiah Tattnall, Sr.
United States Senator from Georgia
In office February 20, 1796 – March 4, 1799
Preceded by	George Walton
Succeeded by	Abraham Baldwin
25th Governor of Georgia
In office November 7, 1801 – November 4, 1802
Preceded by	David Emanuel
Succeeded by	John Milledge
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
In office 1795-1796
Personal details
Born	ca. 1762/1764 Savannah, Georgia
Died	June 6, 1803 (aged approx. 40 years) Nassau, British West Indies (now Bahamas)
Political party	Democratic-Republican

Josiah Tattnall, Sr. (ca. 1762/1764 – June 6, 1803) was an American planter, soldier and politician from Savannah, Georgia. He represented Georgia in the U.S. Senate from 1796 to 1799, helped to rescind the Yazoo land fraud of 1795, and was the 25th Governor of Georgia in 1801 and 1802. Born near Savannah, Georgia at Bonaventure Plantation in the early 1760s to Mary Mullryne and Josiah Tattnall, he studied at Eton School before joining Anthony Wayne's troops at Ebenezer during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he was elected brigadier general of the 1st Regiment in the Georgia Militia. He helped to rescind the Yazoo land fraud of 1795. He died in Nassau, New Providence.

Along with his father-in-law, John Mullryne, Tattnall bought Bonaventure (Italian for "good fortune") plantation around 1764. Mullryne, who also built the third Tybee Lighthouse in 1773, established a small family graveyard on the grounds, which eventually formed the nucleus of the present-day Bonaventure Cemetery. Bonaventure was one of the largest structures in the colony of Georgia.

Tattnall and his family left Georgia at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. After living in the Bahamas for six years, the family later moved to England, where Tattnall attended Eton School. Although firm in supporting the British crown, he was unwilling to take up arms against the colonies and refused an appointment to the British navy.

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