William Rabun

William Rabun ( born April 8, 1771 Halifax County, North Carolina, † October 24, 1819 in Powelton, Georgia ) was an American politician and governor of Georgia.

Early years and political rise

The son of Sarah and Matthew Rabun moved in 1785 with his parents in the later Hancock County, Georgia. There the family settled in a place Powelton, about 15 kilometers north-east of Sparta. How many residents in the rural districts of that time also acquired William his school knowledge itself by reading and own observations. He was also a staunch Baptist.

In 1805, his political career began with the election to the House of Representatives from Georgia. From 1810 to 1817 he was a member of the State Senate. In 1817 he held the chair of this committee. Under the constitution, the chairman of the Senate as deputy governor had these represent or replace Office of Prevention in the event. This case occurred in 1817 when the incumbent Governor David Brydie Mitchell was appointed by President James Madison to the Indian Minister of State for the Cherokee. Mitchell therefore had to give up his governorship, which now fell to Rabun.

Governor of Georgia

In November of 1817 it managed Rabun then to be elected for a full term as governor. He was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, which was in those days, both in Georgia and in the United States without any opposition. As governor sat Rabun for free public schools, and improving the country's infrastructure, especially the river navigation, a. During his tenure, there was also the so-called First Seminole War ( 1817-1818 ). At the southern border of Georgia there had been some Indian raids, the Governor responded with the use of the militia. Here also some Indian villages were destroyed and burned down. In the course of these events, there was a controversy between the Governor and the General and later U.S. President Andrew Jackson, who had campaigned for a particular village, but had been destroyed accidentally by the militia. In October 1819, shortly before the expiration of his two-year tenure as governor, Rabun ill of a fever and died suddenly on the 24th of the same month in his hometown of Powelton. The office of the Governor took over for the remaining two weeks of term Senate President Matthew Talbot.

Since 1793 Rabun was married to Mary Battle, with whom he had one son and six daughters. The Rabun County, Georgia was named after him.