Joseph Clay Habersham
Joseph Clay Habersham | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 8, 1790 Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | November 2, 1855 (aged 64) Chatham County, Georgia, U.S. |
Resting place | Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Father | John Habersham |
Joseph Clay Habersham (November 8, 1790 – November 2, 1855) was an American physician. He was also a geologist and served as a president of Georgia Historical Society.
Life and career
Habersham was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1790 to John Habersham and Ann Sarah Camber.[1] He was the eldest of their four known children, the others being John, Mary and Susan. The family grew up in White Bluff, Georgia.[1]
He attended Princeton College and, after graduating, studied medicine in 1810 in Savannah. Two years later, he was a surgeon with U.S. Army in the War of 1812.[1] After the war, he returned to practising medicine in Savannah. He also became president of the Medical Society of Georgia.[1]
In 1815, he married Ann Wylly Adams,[2] with whom he had six known children: Mary, Josephine, William, Anna, Joseph Jr.[3][4] and Frances.[5] (Josephine kept a diary, titled Ebb Tide, which was published by the University of Georgia Press in 1958.[2]) The family lived on Liberty Street in Savannah.
Habersham was named president of Georgia Historical Society in the first half of the 19th century.[6]
A geologist, Habersham, with the help of a fisherman, discovered the remains of a mastodon near Savannah. A French lieutenant, who was the guest of Habersham, asked if they could take the bones to Paris to be examined. In return, the guest would see that Habersham be made a Fellow of the Royal Academy. Habersham agreed, and the man sailed to France, never to be heard from again.[7] Habersham also wrote a chapter in William B. Hodgson's Memoir of a Megatherium (1846).[1]
He played the violin.[1]
Death
Habersham died, of inflammation of the lungs, in 1855, aged 64. He was interred in Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery. His inscription, taken from 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 21, reads: "He hath made him to be the sin for us, who know no sin, that we might be made the righteous of God in him."[3] His widow was buried beside him upon her death in 1876, aged 81.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lawton, Laura C. (2015-07-13). Legendary Locals of Savannah. Arcadia Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-4396-5229-9.
- 1 2 Trimpi, Helen (2026-04-07). Crimson Confederates: Harvard Men Who Fought for the South. University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 979-8-89527-225-1.
- 1 2 Guss, John Walker (2004). Savannah's Laurel Grove Cemetery. Arcadia Publishing. p. 78. ISBN 978-0-7385-1629-5.
- ↑ Jones (Jr.), Charles Colcock (1890). History of Savannah, Ga: From Its Settlement to the Close of the Eighteenth Century. D. Mason & Company. p. 445.
- ↑ Historical Collections of the Joseph Habersham Chapter, Daughters American Revolution. A. J. Showalter Company, printers. 1902. p. 188.
- ↑ "Digital Library of Georgia". dlg.usg.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-18.
- ↑ Bulloch, Joseph Gaston Baillie (1901). A History and Genealogy of the Habersham Family. R. L. Bryan Company. p. 8.