John A. Treutlen - Fall and Murder

Fall and Murder

Treutlen’s term as governor was marked by political conflicts between the radical and conservative factions of the patriots. The conservatives opposed those democratic provisions of the new constitution, which allowed many of those from the lower classes with backgrounds like the former indentured servant Treutlen, to be elected to positions of power in the government. The radicals referred to the conservatives as Tories and in some cases treated them accordingly. The radicals and conservatives clashed over the issues of civil control of the military, the conduct of the war, and the conservatives’ initiative to merge Georgia with South Carolina. The radicals were defeated in their attempts to remove the conservative General Lachlan McIntosh from his position of leadership in the continental army in Georgia when national leaders such as George Washington sided with McIntosh.

Throughout the war, these political conflicts erupted into violent and tragic confrontations. In February 1777, the conservative Joseph Habersham slew the radical Lieutenant Nathaniel Hughes in a dispute at the opening of the convention called to write Georgia’s first constitution. On May 16, 1777, the conservative Gen. McIntosh mortally wounded the radical Gwinnett. On February 16, 1780, the conservative James Jackson slew the radical Wells. Treutlen and the radicals lost many of their battles with the conservatives.

The Revolutionary War was particularly hard on the Salzburgers at Ebenezer. During the war, “when the English left, the Americans came, when the Americans went, the English came back,” but one thing remained the same: No matter who was there, the Salzburgers were plundered. Some were plundered as many as ten times during the years of war. On December 30, 1776, the Rev. Rabenhorst died, leaving Ebenezer with no spiritual guidance. Thus, when John Houstoun was elected governor in January 1778, Treutlen dropped out of statewide politics and returned to Ebenezer to see what he could do to help the community and people that had provided him with so much during his three decades in America. While at Savannah, John Adam Treutlen became a Freemason by joining the first Masonic Lodge established in Georgia, named Solomon's Lodge, No. 1. Solomon's Lodge, No. 1, constituted in 1735 by the Grand Lodge of England, was founded in the Georgia Colony by the English Freemason James Oglethorpe on February 21, 1734. Treutlen's name is listed on the Lodge's Masonic membership roles in 1779 along with Archibald Bulloch, George Walton, General Samuel Elbert and many other Georgia leaders of the Revolution.

Late in 1781, Treutlen re-entered statewide politics as Ebenezer’s elected representative to the Georgia Assembly. He served in the January 1782 session. In 1782, the conservatives that Treutlen had opposed five years earlier controlled the government of Georgia. Treutlen was one of the few radical democrats in the government that year. The imbalance in power between the radicals and the conservatives helped to create an atmosphere where the conservatives felt free to seek revenge for old scores and wounds.

On a night in March 1782, by some accounts, five men rode up to the Treutlen home. They demanded that Treutlen come outside, but he refused. The men then set fire to the home, forcing Treutlen, his wife and children to come outside. The men seized Treutlen and killed him in full view of his family. Other accounts of Treutlen's death are considerably different, but there is no dispute that he died by violence.

Historians continue to speculate about what person or group was behind the killing, and what was the motive. Some contemporary accounts claimed Treutlen was killed by Tories angry about the American victory in the Revolutionary War. Others blamed the killing on South Carolinians who resented his opposition to merging Georgia into South Carolina during the war. There was also speculation at the time that the motive was a purely personal grudge. The multiplicity of accounts and theories of his death indicates there was never a consensus about the cause of the event.