Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 3269Telfair, captain general, governor and commander in chief of the state ofGeorgia. On. January 17, 1787, he was elected by a large majority collectorof the port of Savannah, and March 21,1791, we find him inspector of revenuefor the port, his commission being signed by George Washington, with thegreat seal of the nation. In 1800 we find him Georgia's state treasurer andpresident of the Society of the Cincinnati in Georgia. He passed throughall the chairs of this society and was decorated by the hands of the illustriousWashington with the 'Eagle of the Cincinnati.' Several years ago. whenthis society was being reorganized in Georgia, I received a letter from anofficial of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, a member of this society, askingif I was descended from Maj. John Burroughs of New York or Maj. JohnBerriert of New Jersey, stating that the first had gone to Saint Mary's,Georgia, soon after the war and the latter to Savannah, and that Col. CharlesL. Schlatter, a civil engineer of Pennsylvania, had given him my name; thatboth of these officers were members of the order and he was endeavoring totrace the 'Eagle.' I had the 'Eagle' on an oil painting of Maj. John Berrien,whieh hangs in my drawing room, wearing his Revolutionary coat. In theinsignia is distinctly seen the 'Cincinnati Eagle.'"Tiffany and P. Thomas S. Clay of New York both requested the loanof this eagle. Tiffany made a die of it, saying that it had been adopted bythe Georgia Society as their 'Eagle.' It was iirst proposed to call it theGeorgia Bcrrieu Eagle, but as Maj. John Berrien had been decorated byGeneral Washington with this badge the name of 'Washington-Bcrrien Eagle'was considered most appropriate and was adopted and this name appeal'son a fac simile photograph of this 'Eagle' which hangs in the New York.Maryland and South Carolina Societies. The 'Eagle' descended to me,Major Berrien's great-grandson, through my mother, who was the oldestdaughter of Sen. John Macpherson Berrien, president of the society, and whohas no descendants to bear his name.''John Berrien the Second married in 1870 Margaret Macpherson ofPhiladelphia, the daughter of Capt. John Macpherson and Margaret Rogers,a sister of the noted divine, John Rogers. Her father was captain in theprovincial navy and commanded the Brittania during the war between England, France and Spain, and was wounded nine times in battle. Her brother,John, was aide-de-camp to General Montgomery and shared with him a soldier's death before the walls of Quebec in 1775."Major Berrien carried his bride to his father's house at Rocky Hill nearPrinceton. This house has become historic. When the Continental Congressmoved from Philadelphia to Princeton, General Washington enjoyed the hospitality of his old friend Judge Berrien at his home at Rocky Hill and atthis house wrote and delivered his farewell address to his army, dated 'RockyHill near Princeton, November 21, 1783.' The old Berrien mansion is awooden house built on a stone foundation and the style of architecture existedover 200 years ago. The windows are numerous and resemble port holes ina ship, with stout double doors as if the house were built for defense. General Washington's bed room was thirteen feet wide and fifteen feet, long.Mrs. Washington spent almost four months at this house. Possibly no homein New Jersey is worthy of more interest than this old-fashioned mansionof Judge Berrien. Local historians point out the room in which it is saidthe patriotic document was written. Upon the east wall Washington madenotes."It was at this house that John Macpherson Berrien was born August 23,1781. Shortly after Gen. Allured Clark of the King's forces evacuatedSavannah, in June, 1782, Major Berrien removed from New Jersey to thecommercial metropolis of Georgia, Savannah. The educational advantages ofthe South were limited at that time and Major Berrien desired that his sonshould have the very best opportunities and sent him to school in New York