Proclamations Of The Governors Of Georgia PDF Download

This document, dated January 14, 1833, is a printed proclamation from Wilson Lumpkin, Governor of Georgia (1831-1835), to Charles C. Mills, Principal Keeper of the Penitentiary, and possibly intended for publication. Lumpkin directs the release of two missionaries, Samuel A. Worcester and Elizur Butler, who had been imprisoned for illegally dwelling in the Cherokee territory while refusing to take an oath of allegiance to Georgia. Lumpkin explains his reasons for remitting the sentences of the two men, including fervent appeals by citizens of the Union, but strenuously reasserts the "evil" of their deed. He further asserts that his decision was based on the missionaries' decision to leave their case to "the magnanimity of the state." Despite this characterization of events, the case had already been taken before the Supreme Court (Worcester v. Georgia) and decided in their favor in 1832.