Author: Richard Habersham LeSesne
James Habersham, Jr. served as a patriot political and financial leader in Georgia during the American Revolution. A successful merchant known for his genteel behavior and courteousness and often referred to as the “Gentleman of the Habersham Family”, he very publicly and actively opposed the British revenue acts of Parliament of 1774-1775. His was the first signature in the “Dissent to Resolutions of August 1774” document opposing the Proclamation and Resolutions issued by Sir James Wright, then Colonial Governor of Georgia.

James younger brother Major Joseph Habersham was also an ardent patriot. As a result of his revolutionary activities against the crown while commanding elements of the Georgia militia, he had been unjustly politically charged by royalists with a felony and a bounty offered for his capture. Although his father James Habersham, Sr. was a staunch royalist and had at times acted as Georgia’s Colonial Governor while Sir Wright had been away, James Jr. and his older brother John formally petitioned on September 14th, 1776 to the commander of the Georgia colonial military forces to remove the charges filed against his brother.

Despite reportedly suffering from bad health, Habersham actively supported the American Revolution politically and economically and became widely known in the colonies as the “Rebel Financier”. He actively pursued and harassed Royalists and purchased large tracts of lands that the nascent revolutionary government had confiscated from them. This process pioneered by Habersham allowed funds to be directed to patriotic activities that otherwise would have been unable to receive funds. In 1778 the Georgia rebel governor named him to the civilian leadership defending Savannah, Georgia, responsible for notifying senior military and civilian authorities of any British incursions on the city. In 1781, the rebel government appointed him as a Magistrate for Chatham County and in 1782 as Justice. In August of 1782 the rebel government also appointed him as Commissioner and Regulator for Pilotage of the Savannah River and Bar. In 1783 he was unanimously elected to the Georgia General Assembly and in 1784 became its Speaker. In 1784, the General Assembly also named him as founding Trustee for the future University of Georgia.

James and his two brothers were listed by name for arrest in the “Georgia Disqualifying Act”, passed by the British Royalist civilian authorities on the 6th of July 1780 after Savannah, Georgia was re-captured by British troops.

His service is extensively documented in the “Revolutionary Records of the State of Georgia” published for the Georgia State Legislature in 1908 by Allen D. Candler. His service is also mentioned in “Historical Collections of Georgia” by HGeorge White, published in 1854.

James Habersham, Jr. was the eldest son of James Habersham and Mary Bolton. James Jr. was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1745. He married his wife Esther Rebecca Wylly the 20th of September 1769 in Savannah, Georgia. He died on the 2nd of July 1799 in his home, located on 23 Albemarle Street, Savannah Georgia. He is buried in Colonial Cemetery along with his royalist father and his two patriot brothers at Colonial Park Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia.