William Boatner Gaulden was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1860
- Catherine Gauldin
- May 21
- 7 min read
William Boatner Gaulden (1 pp. 178-179) was another son of Jonathan and Rhoda Gaulden. He was born in 1816 in Liberty County, Georgia and died on 3 January 1873 in Liberty County.
"He was born at the old home plantation of Millhaven about 1812 and died 1873. He attended the University of Georgia School of Law. He was a member of the House of Representatives from Liberty County in 1838, Justice of the Inferior Court in 1841, Solicitor General of Easter Circuit in 1847 and Senator from Second District in 1863-64-65. He was also a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in South Carolina in April 1860 from the First Congressional District and also served as a member of the Georgia Militia (1840) and the Coast Guard Battalion (1864). William B. Gaulden married twice, the first time to Harriett Mann of Bryan County. They had one son Ferdinand. William Gaulden's second marriage was to Laura Glenn Brown of Yancyville, N.C., daughter of Sen. Bedford Brown from North Carolina, a patriot devoted to the Union cause. He met his second wife while on political business in Washington, DC and they were married in Waveland, Virginia in March 1855. Laura was one of the first teachers at the Quitman Academy. They had two children: William Frederick Gaulden who died in infancy and Mamie Glenn Gaulden...After William B. Gaulden's death, Laura Gaulden married Thoe. N. Winn, her late husband's law partner." (2)
William Boatner Gaulden and the raid on Ebenezer Church
The 1864 newspaper notice about Col. William Boatner Gaulden being captured at Ebenezer Church in McIntosh County refers to a real Civil War–era military incident. It referred to a Federal cavalry raid into coastal Georgia during Sherman’s March to the Sea, in which Union forces surprised and captured a group of Georgia militia officers and elderly home‑guard troops.
In July 1864, a detachment of Union cavalry and mounted infantry operating along the Georgia coast made a sudden inland strike into McIntosh County. Their objective was to disrupt Confederate militia organization, capture officers involved in enrolling men for state service, break up the local infrastructure and destroy local infrastructure and break up home‑guard resistance.
At Ebenezer Church, which the McIntosh County Inferior Court had temporarily designated as the county courthouse, a group of elderly militia, local home guards, county officials and Colonel William B. Gaulden, Governor Brown's aide for militia enrollment were meeting or working when the Union raiders surprised and captured them. In the article, the "old men" were present because by mid-1864, most able-bodies men were already in Confederate service. The remaining militia in coastal Georgia consisted largely of men over the age of 45, not exactly “elderly”, but nevertheless over the age of military service.
The capture happened because the Inferior Court of McIntosh County had ordered that Ebenezer Church serve as the temporary courthouse due to the fact that Darien had been burned by Union forces in 1863. Civil functions had been displaced inland, and Ebenezer was considered safer. Gaulden’s published account (referenced in the Southern Recorder, 16 Aug 1864) argued that holding official business at Ebenezer exposed the militia to capture because the location was too close to Union patrol routes. He blamed the Inferior Court for choosing a site that was not defensible. The capture of William Gaulden embarrassed state officials and exposed the vulnerability of Georgia’s coastal interior.
The primary source evidence for the event is the Georgia Historical Society – Historical Marker (3). A state historical marker documents the exact event:
“Near here, in Ebenezer Church which was acting as the McIntosh County Courthouse following the burning of Darien by United States forces in 1863, 26 men were captured by US troops on the night of August 3rd, 1864. These civilians, many of advanced age and unable to serve in the military… were captured and marched overland to Blue and Hall Landing near Darien, where they were put on board ship and taken to northern prisons.”
This matches the newspaper’s description of “old men” and the location at Ebenezer Church. William Boatner Gaulden was not taken to a Northern prison with the group. He was captured at Ebenezer Church with the elderly militia, but he was released almost immediately because he was a state official (Governor Brown’s aide) and not one of the “old men” the Union forces were targeting. Referenced in the Southern Recorder, Gaulden wrote an article criticizing the Inferior Court for choosing Ebenezer as the temporary courthouse. If he had been imprisoned, he would not have been able to publish an account so soon afterward. He is also not on any of the prison rolls.
William B. Gaulden was an official Georgia delegate from the First Congressional District
The Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention, convened at Charleston, S.C., April 23, 1860, list the Georgia delegation by congressional district. In the First District, the published roll includes:
“W. B. Gaulden”, Delegate from Georgia
This appears in the official printed proceedings of the convention. (4)
Georgia’s delegation in 1860 was sharply divided. Moderates supported Stephen A. Douglas while Southern Rights Democrats demanded a federal slave‑code in the territories. William B. Gaulden belonged to the Southern Rights faction, aligned with Robert Toombs, Howell Cobb, James L. Seward and other Deep South delegates who opposed Douglas’s “popular sovereignty”. This faction ultimately walked out of the Charleston convention when the national party refused to adopt a pro‑slavery platform.
Gaulden delivered one of the most controversial speeches of the entire 1860 convention. In the Charleston proceedings, he is recorded as arguing “The African slave-trade is the true Southern policy.” — Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention, Charleston, 1860. (4) This speech was widely reported in Northern newspapers as evidence of the radicalization of Southern Democrats. It made William Gaulden one of the best‑known Georgia delegates at the convention. These lines were reprinted in 1860 newspapers and congressional debates, and are therefore in the public domain.
1. His most famous line (widely reprinted): “The African slave-trade is the true Southern policy.” — Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention, Charleston, 1860 (quoted in New York Herald, April 30, 1860)
2. His justification for reopening the slave trade: “I would re-open the African slave-trade, because it is right.” — Quoted in The Liberator (Boston), May 11, 1860
3. His attack on Northern Democrats: “We want no more compromises… We want the Constitution as it is, and the equality of the States.” — Quoted in Daily National Intelligencer (Washington), May 2, 1860
These are the only lines that appear in public‑domain newspapers and can be quoted directly.
As can be seen in the Census records, William B. Gaulden was one of the largest slave owners in Liberty County in 1860. By 1870 he was living on the plantation with his wife Laura and daughter Mary Glen.
1840 Total Free White Persons - 3 Total Slaves - 17 Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves - 20 | 1850 Slave Schedule William B Gaulden Residence Date 1850 Residence Place District 16, Liberty, Georgia, USA Number of Enslaved People 17 Role Slave Owner Household members Gender Age Female 40 Male 35 Female 36 Female 32 Male 25 Male 21 Male 21 Female 18 Female 47 Female 12 Male 10 Male 8 Female 6 Male 5 Male 4 Male 1 Male 1
| 1860 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules Wm B Gaulden Residence Date 1860 Residence Place District 17, Liberty, Georgia, USA Number of Enslaved People 114 Role Slave Owner Household members Gender Age Female 12 Female 12 Female 12 Female 12 Female 12 Female 12 Female 12 Male 8 Male 8 Male 8 Male 8 Female 8 Female 70 Female 70 Female 8 Male 5 Female 70 Male 70 Male 5 Male 5 Female 60 Female 60 Female 5 Female 5
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William B. Gaulden died on 3 January 1873 in Liberty County. He did not leave a will. There was an Administrator's Bond filed in Liberty County on 5 May 1873, E.P. Miller as Principal and Theo. N Winn as Security. The Bond reads "I do solemnly swear that Wm. B. Gaulden, deceased, died intestate, so far as I known or believe and that I will well and truly administer on all the estate of the said deceased and disburse the same as the law requires, and discharge to the best of my ability all my duties as Administrator so help me God. Sworn before me this 5th day of May in the year 1873. E.P. Miller. (5)
Also signed Theo. N. Winn.
Theodore Norman Winn was the business partner of William B. Gaulden and he married Laura Gaulden, the widow only twenty days after this Administrator’s Bond was signed. This is from the Southern Christian Advocate Marriage Notices, 1867-1878. (6)
“Theo. N. Winn, Marriage Date 25 Mar 1875, Publication Date 7 Apr 1875, Marriage Performed By Rev. J. T. Payne, Spouse: Laura G., Notes, By Rev. J. T. Payne, at Millhaven, March 25th, 1875, Theo. N. Winn, Esq., to Mrs. Laura G., relict of Col. William B. Gaulden, both of Liberty County, Ga.”
Works Cited
1. Yarbrough, Bird, and Paul Yarbrough, eds. Taylors Creek: Story of the Community and Her People Through 200 Years, 1760–1960. Pearson, GA : Press of the Atkinson County Citizen, 1963.
2. Liberty County Historical Society. [Online]
3. Capture of 26 men in 1864. Georgia Historical Society. [Online] https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/capture-of-26-men-in-1864/.
4. Gravestone of William Boatner Gaulden. Find a Grave. [Online] https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22704086/william-boatner-gaulden#view-photo=36706356.
5. Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 742-1992 for Wm B Gaulden, Liberty, Administrator Bonds, 1791-1811, 1859-1915, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8635/images/005759435_00160?pId=205923
6. Southern Christian Advocate Marriage Notices, 1867-1878, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3319/records/3584?tid=163174124&pid=422121231338&queryId=e2cfdcaf-1078-42dd-b797-d481607d41a2&_phsrc=osm3542&_phstart=successSource
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