November 3, 1757

1757 Creek chiefs and Georgia officials signed the Treaty of Savannah, which confirmed all previous treaties and ceded to Georgia three islands--St. Catherines, Ossabaw, and Sapelo--as well as their reserve above Savannah. However, the Creeks had previously ceded to Mary Musgrove Bosomworth, and it would be three years before a court in London would resolve the rival claims giving her clear title to St. Catherines plus ??2000 as a settlement for the other two islands going to Georgia.

November 3, 1786

1786 Georgia authorities signed the Treaty of Shoulderbone Creek with certain Creek Indian chiefs at a location on a creek by that name in present-day Hancock County. In the agreement, the Creeks made no new land cessions, but they reaffirmed the treaties of Augusta (1783) and Galphinton (1785), in which they had given up large areas of Creek land to Georgia--including the vast area between the Ogeechee and Oconee rivers. Chief Alexander McGillivray, however, refused to recognize the three treaties. Their legality was further in question because Georgia--not the U.S.--had negotiated them with the Creeks, despite the fact that under the Articles of Confederation, Congress had exclusive right to negotiate with Indian tribes. Settlement of the debated cessions would only be resolved when the U.S. and Creeks signed the Treaty of New York in 1790.

November 3, 1804

1804 In his capacity as U.S. Indian Agent, Benjamin Hawkins negotiated a treaty with Creek chiefs at his Indian Agency on the Flint River in which the Creeks ceded the land between the confluence of the Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers northward to High Shoals on the Apalachee River. In return, the U.S. would place $200,000 in trust at 6 percent interest, with the principal held in trust and the interest distributed semi-annually to the Creeks. However, the U.S. Senate objected to the amount of money the U.S. was committed to pay, and thus refused to ratify the treaty.

November 3, 1813

1813 U.S. troops under Gen. John Coffee destroyed a Creek Indian village at Talladega in the Alabama Territory. Coffee owned a plantation near the Ocmulgee River in Telfair County, Georgia. In addition to his campaigns during the Creek War, Coffee served in the Georgia House, Georgia Senate, and the U.S. Congress. Later, the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee honored Coffee by naming counties after him.

November 3, 1847

1847 George Towns was sworn in as Georgia governor (1847-1851). Born in Georgia on May 4, 1802, Towns was elected by the voters of Georgia in 1847 and served two two-year terms. He died July 15, 1854. Two years later, the General Assembly created a new county from portions of Union and Rabun counties and named it in his honor.

November 3, 1868

1868 In the presidential election, despite Reconstruction, Georgia voters supported Democratic candidates Horatio Seymour of New York and his running mate Francis Blair, Jr. of Missouri over Republican candidates Ulysses S. Grant and his running mate Speaker of the U.S. House Schulyer Colfax of Indiana. The race was especially close in Atlanta and Fulton County.

November 3, 1914

1914 Carl Vinson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning a public service career that would span over fifty years. He was elected to 26 consecutive terms, and became one of the nation’s most influential legislators.

November 3, 1914

1914 Georgia voters ratified four constitutional amendments creating Barrow, Candler, Bacon, and Evans counties--respectively Georgia’s 149th, 150th, 151st, and 152nd counties. The constitutional amendments were necessary because Georgia’s constitution then limited the number of counties to 145. A single constitutional amendment could have been offered simply to raise the 145-county limit to 152. However, the General Assembly preferred to leave the limit in place and simply require a constitutional amendment for each new county over the 145-limit.

Barrow County, named for University of Georgia chancellor David Barrow, was created from portions of Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton counties.
Candler County, named for former governor Allen Candler (1898-1902), was created from portions of Bulloch, Emanuel, and Tattnall counties.
Bacon County, named for former U.S. senator Augustus Bacon, was created from portions of Appling, Pierce, and Ware counties.
Evans County, named for Confederate general Clement Evans, was created from portions of Bulloch and Tattnall counties.
1936 With the city of Atlanta $3,000,000 in debt and facing bankruptcy, the mayor and city council passed a resolution authorizing payment of city employees with script [see photo] paying 3 percent interest. This deficit--and charges of financial mismanagement against mayor James Key--had allowed William B. Hartsfield to beat Key in his bid for reelection in a September runoff primary.

November 3, 1970

1970 Jimmy Carter was elected governor of Georgia. He had won the Democratic primary in a run off over former governor Carl Sanders.

November 3, 1992

1992 Former member of the Georgia House of Representatives, Cynthia McKinney became the first black woman elected from Georgia to the U.S. Congress. She won office in the newly created 11th congressional district, which had a black majority and stretched from Atlanta almost to the Atlantic ocean. McKinney was reelected in 1994, but subsequently the U.S Supreme Court decision struck down several of Georgia’s congressional districts--including the 11th--as unconstitutionally drawn. In 1996, McKinney successfully won election in Georgia’s new 4th district (which had a white majority).

November 3, 1992

1992 Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing a state lottery in which the net proceeds are earmarked for educational purposes. Specific legislation implementing the amendment--contingent on voter ratification--has been passed at the 1992 session. The amendment passed by a 52-48 percent vote.

November 3, 1993

1993 In his first season with the Atlanta Braves after the Chicago Cubs, pitching ace Greg Maddux became the first player to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards playing on different teams. The "Cy Master" went on to win the Cy Young in 1994 and 1995--the only player in history to win the National League’s top recognition for pitchers four consecutive times.

November 3, 1998

1998 In the general election, Thurbert Baker and Mike Thurmond were elected respectively as Georgia Attorney General and Commissioner of Labor--becoming the first two African Americans in the history of Georgia to be elected to statewide office in the executive branch of state government. Thurmond also scored another first. Every black that previously held statewide office in Georgia’s executive or judicial branch initially gained that office via appointment by the Governor to fill a vacancy following the resignation of the incumbent. Thurmond, however, became the first African American in Georgia history to gain statewide elective office without first having been appointed to fill a vacancy in that office.