Telfair, Edward, 1735-1807

<p>Edward Telfair (1735 – September 17, 1807) was a Scottish-born American Founding Father and politician who served as the Governor of the state of Georgia between 1786 and 1787, and again from 1790 through 1793. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation.</p>

<p>Telfair was born in 1735 on his family's ancestral estate in western Scotland. He graduated from the Kirkcudbright Grammar School, before acquiring commercial training. He immigrated to America in 1758 as an agent of a commission house, settling in Virginia. Telfair subsequently moved to Halifax, North Carolina, and finally to Savannah, Georgia, where he established his own commission house. He arrived in Georgia in 1766, joining his brother, William, who had emigrated earlier. Together with Basil Cowper, Telfair built the commission house, and it was an overnight success.</p>

<p>Telfair was a slave owner and a consultant on issues related to slavery. His mercantile firm dealt in slaves, among other things, and contemporary correspondence of his included discussions of such topics as: the management of slaves; the purchase and sale of slaves; runaway slaves; the mortality rate of slaves born on plantations; the difficulty of selling closely related slaves; and the relations between whites and freedmen.</p>

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>11/04/1794 GA US Senate Lost 23.53% (-47.06%)</li>
<li>11/06/1793 GA Governor Lost 39.62% (+11.32%)</li>
<li>11/08/1791 GA Governor Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>11/16/1789 GA Governor Won 39.06% (+7.81%)</li>
<li>02/04/1789 US Vice President Lost 1.43% (-47.14%)</li>
<li>02/04/1789 U.S. President Lost 0.72% (-49.28%)</li>
<li>12/31/1781 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1780 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1779 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li>12/31/1777 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

TELFAIR, Edward, (Father of Thomas Telfair), a Delegate from Georgia; born in ``Town Head,'' Scotland, in 1735; was graduated from the Kirkcudbright Grammar School and subsequently acquired a thorough commercial training; immigrated to the United States in 1758 as agent of a commercial house and settled in Virginia; moved to Halifax, N.C.; established a commission house in Savannah, Ga., in 1766; member of the council of safety in 1775 and 1776; delegate to the Provincial Congress at Savannah in 1776; member of the committee of intelligence and other important committees in 1776; Member of the Continental Congress 1778, 1780, 1781, and 1782; one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation and a delegate to the State ratification convention; commissioner to treat with the Cherokee Indians in 1783; designated agent on the part of Georgia to settle the northern boundary of the Commonwealth in February 1783; Governor of Georgia in 1786 and 1790-1793; died in Savannah, Ga., September 17, 1807; interment in Bonaventure Cemetery.