Edward TELFAIR, Congress, GA (1735-1807)

1735-1807

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.

Bibliography

Coulter, E. Merton. “Edward Telfair.” Georgia Historical Quarterly 20 (June 1936): 99-124.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present