BOUNTY LANDS FOR GEORGIANS FORCED TO FLEE THEIR HOMES DURING BRITISH OCCUPATION

A group of 4 manuscript land grant petition and certification documents signed by Colonel Elijah Clark (1742-1799) certifying the service and bounty eligibility of four separate Revolutionary War soldiers of the Georgia Line. Documents include: a petition from John Johnson to the "Worshipfull Court in Wilkes County" for a warrant grant, 2pp, approx. 7 1/2 x 4 in., verso with certification signed by Clark that "John Johnson is Intitled to a bounty of land of 575 acres...." Wilk[e]s County, Georgia, 25 January 1786; a petition from Thomas Marney to the Court in Wilkes County for a warrant grant, 2pp, approx.7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in., verso with certification by Clark that Marney is entitled to a bounty of 575 acres, Wilkes County, Georgia, 25 January 1786; a petition from Henry Dulins to the Court in Wilkes County for a warrant grant, 2pp, approx.7 3/4 x 2 3/4 in., verso with certification by Clark that Dulins is entitled to a bounty of 575 acres, Wilkes County, Georgia, 25 January 1786; and a petition from John Stots to the Court in Wilkes County for a warrant grant, 2pp, approx.7 3/4 x 3 1/4 in., verso with certification by Clark that Stots is entitled to a bounty of 237 1/2 acres, Wilkes County, Georgia, 5 September 1785. 

Georgia's Roster of the Revolution (Atlanta, GA, Index Printing Co., 1920) identifies Henry Dulins, John Johnson, Thomas Marney, and John Stots, under "Certified List of Georgia Troops" as "Georgia Soldiers of the Line - Revolutionary War." Situated on the remote southern frontier of the British colonies, Georgia did not furnish a large number of troops to the Revolutionary struggle. Still, the men who fought, whether in the Continental Army or state militia, played an important role in the conflict. The state of Georgia sought to reward its soldiers for their contributions to the war effort passing the Land Act of 1783 which defined qualifications for Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants. Georgia soldiers who served honorably were able to receive a bounty land grant based on rank, and needed to first obtain a voucher or certificate from a commanding officer or the commanding officer of the district in which he lived during the conflict and then present that to the Land Court in the county where the land was located. A 575-acre bounty grant was awarded to privates known as "Refugee Soldiers," soldiers of the Continental Line who were forced to flee their homes during the British occupation and fought instead in neighboring state militias when the Georgia militia disintegrated. The standard Georgia bounty was 287 1/2 acres for Georgia residents.

Colonel Elijah Clark (sometimes "Clarke") was a Georgia frontiersman who joined the rebels, first fighting the Cherokee in 1776 as a Georgia militia captain, then a year later commanding the militia against the Creek. As a lieutenant colonel of militia, Clark led a charge on 14 February 1779 in the rebel victory at Kettle Creek, Georgia, the first major victory for Patriots in the back country of Georgia. Clark's frontier militia campaigns inflicted heavy tolls on British and American Loyalists, and contributed to the resulting Patriot victories at King's Mountain and Cowpens. Clark was wounded multiple times in battle, and was rewarded by the state of Georgia for his services with a plantation. He later served in the Georgia state assembly from 1781-1790 and among other responsibilities oversaw the allotment of Revolutionary War veterans' bounty land grants. 

[Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Revolutionary War, American Revolution, Founding Fathers, Colonial America]