John A. Treutlen - Career and Rise

Career and Rise

Overcoming the burden of his parents’ past, Treutlen was enrolled in the school at Ebenezer. He did extremely well in his studies at Ebenezer and acquired a broad education in a wide variety of subjects in Latin, French, German, and English. He profited from growing up among the Salzburgers. As an adult, he was described as a man who possessed “an enlightened reason, Adam’s natural intelligence and ability to give a name to every animal, knowledge of the laws of the land, and some discernment of practical religion.”

In 1756, Treutlen married Marguerite Dupuis, an orphan who was also educated at Ebenezer. He soon began acquiring land and established for himself a large plantation and a successful merchant business. In 1768, he was appointed Justice of the Peace. He served as Commissioner and Surveyor of Roads, and several terms in the 1770s as Ebenezer’s representative in the Georgia Commons House of Assembly.

Treutlen assumed an active role in the religious life at Ebenezer. He was a teacher at the school there. He was a leader of the Rabenhorst faction in the, sometimes, violent conflicts between the Ebenezer pastors, the Reverend Christoph Triebner and the Reverend Christian Rabenhorst. His association with Rev. Rabenhorst indicated Treutlen’s religious sympathies. Ministers such as the Rev. Rabenhorst and the Rev. John Joachim Zubly of Savannah, found comfort in the writings of such German theologians as Rev. Johann Joachim Spalding. These ministers accepted the many differences among the people in the colonies as a result of the different countries and cultures those people came from. In their practical day-to-day activities of ministering to this diverse population these ministers found it most effective to employ various strategies in the gracious work of conversion. Treutlen’s religious views, formed by his association with the Rev. Rabenhorst, undoubtedly helped him to develop his support for those democratic political institutions that seemed so agreeable with this diversity.

In July 1775, Treutlen represented Ebenezer at the Provincial Congress. He took an active role in the revolution. He quickly became a leader, along with Button Gwinnett and George Wells, of the radical faction. In February 1777, Treutlen, Gwinnett, and Wells were on the committee that drafted Georgia’s first constitution. As a result, this constitution included such democratic provisions as virtual universal suffrage and annual elections of office holders. On May 8, 1777, the immensely popular Treutlen was elected by a wide margin as Georgia’s first governor under this new constitution. With the selection of Treutlen, Georgia chose a man who “possesses native intelligence” and could, under pressure, reply “coolly and laconically” to his political opponents and was thus well suited for the difficult task of leading the new state.