GAIL DRAKE: The ‘other’ Georgia Founding Father

He was born into poverty on the American frontier, a rugged individualist who made himself an educated man. He became a military leader, jurist, served in the earliest Georgia General Assembly and at the Constitution Convention. He signed the U.S. Constitution and was elected as one of the first U.S. Senators from Georgia. A real-life Davy Crockett figure who rose from a hardscrabble life to associate with the wealthy and prominent in Independence Hall.

Yet today few Georgians know much about this man named “Few.”

William Few Jr. was born in 1748 into a poor farming family in a remote region in the British colony of Maryland. The family labored long hours raising tobacco on small plots. Then droughts killed everything they had. Facing financial ruin, the Few family moved to North Carolina.

The Carolina back-country settlers became oppressed with economic restrictions imposed by merchants and planters in the coastal areas, wealthy men who enjoyed the protections of the Royal Governor and his militia. The Few family joined the Regulators, a populist group that protested those restrictions. In 1771, a Regulator confrontation with the Royal militia ended terribly. Few’s brother James was hanged and the family farm destroyed. The family fled to Georgia. In Georgia, William studied for and passed the State Bar.

Within a few years, more colonists along the Atlantic seaboard would recoil at these increasing imperial taxes and restrictions that threatened the personal liberties of all colonists. Protesting against a common enemy, Patriot leaders promoted ideas of self-government. A volunteer militia called “Minutemen” was formed. Having suffered from British oppression, Few enlisted, balancing his new law practice with military training as a citizen-soldier.

During the Revolutionary War, the initial Georgia campaigns ended in defeat. However, Few’s units in Richmond County resisted with guerilla war tactics and eventually recaptured Augusta. Few’s skills as a logistics expert helped torpedo British plans to make Georgia a military base.

During the 1770s, Few was elected to the House of Representatives in the Georgia General Assembly and served in numerous key posts. He was also appointed as senior magistrate judge. The state legislature appointed him to represent Georgia at the Continental Congress in 1780-88. During this time, he was re-elected to the Georgia Assembly and served both offices at the same time.

Four years later, Few was chosen as one of Georgia’s six delegates to the Constitutional Convention. While he missed several proceedings, Few was a strong voice for establishing a strong central government, accountable to the people, that would protect the rights of individuals. His signature adorns our U.S. Constitution.

In 1789, Few was elected as Georgia’s first U.S. Senator along with James Gunn. After his term ended, he returned to Georgia to serve in the General Assembly and was appointed as a federal judge. He was a founding trustee of the University of Georgia in 1785.

Perhaps his background of overcoming poverty and adversity shaped his values. His vocal opposition to African slavery resulted in his not being elected to another term. He took it in stride. “I now believe it to be one of the most fortunate events of my life, for if I had obtained that appointment, I should have most probably spent the remainder of my days in the scorching climate of Georgia, under all the accumulating evils of fevers of Negro slavery, those enemies of humane felicity.”

So the Few family moved to Manhattan. In New York, his next career in public service flourished while he supported his family through banking and practicing law. He served as president of City Bank of New York (the predecessor of Citigroup), was elected to the New York State Assembly, served as New York’s inspector of prisons and the U.S. Commissioner of Loans. A devout Methodist, he donated generously to charitable causes.

Judge James Marshall described his friend: “He was one of those men, few and far between, who effect more by solid weight of character than many can by eloquent speech or restless action.”

William Few Jr.: Lt. Col., American Revolutionary War; U.S. Senator; Georgia Assembly; Federal Judge; New York Assembly. An American hero. Lest we forget.