Joseph Habersham

Infobox US Cabinet official
name=Joseph Habersham

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image_width=200px
order=3rd
title=United States Postmaster General
term_start=1795
term_end=1801
predecessor=Timothy Pickering
successor=Gideon Granger
birth_date=July 28, 1751
birth_place=Savannah, Georgia, USA
death_date=November 17, 1815
death_place=
party=
spouse=
profession=Businessman, Politician, Soldier, Planter
religion=

Joseph Habersham (July 28, 1751 – November 17, 1815) was an American businessman, Georgia politician, soldier in the Continental Army, and Postmaster General of the United States.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, to James Habersham and Mary Bolton, he attended preparatory schools and Princeton College and became successful merchant and planter.

He was a member of the council of safety and the Georgia Provincial Council in 1775 and a major of a battalion of Georgia militiamen and subsequently a colonel in the 1st Georgia Regiment of the Continental Army. He had to resign from the army after he served as Lachlan McIntosh's second in the controversial duel that killed Button Gwinnett.

He and his brothers, James Jr. and John, were active in Georgia politics. Some older references state that Joseph was a delegate to the Confederation Congress in 1785, but this may stem from confusion with his brother John, who was a delegate at that time. [Mark Boatner, "Encyclopedia of the American Revolution", 2nd ed., p. 474. Joseph Habersham's entry the in "American National Biography" makes no mention of service in the Confederation Congress.] Josesph served as Speaker of the Georgia House in 1785 and was a member of the Georgia convention in 1788 that ratified the U.S. Constitution. [Frances Harrold, "Habersham, Joseph"; "American National Biography Online", February 2000.]

He served as mayor of Savannah from 1792 to 1793 and then was appointed Postmaster General by President George Washington in 1795 and served until the beginning of Thomas Jefferson's administration in 1801.

He died in 1815. Habersham County in Northeast Georgia, from its creation in 1818, is named in his honor, along with numerous sites and streets throughout the state.

Joseph Habersham was also a Savannah Freemason. He is recorded as a masonic member of Solomon's Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M. at Savannah, Georgia.Fact|date=October 2008 Solomon's Lodge No. 1, F. & A. M. at Savannah was founded by renowned statesman, philanthropist and Freemason James Edward Oglethorpe on February 21, 1734. Joseph Habersham's father James Habersham, both of his brothers, and his noted descendant, the Savannah Painter, Richard West Habersham (the intimate friend of Samuel F. B. Morse invetor of the telegraph) were all Freemasons and members of Solomon's Lodge.

References

External links

* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-661 New Georgia Encyclopedia: The Habersham Family]
*CongBio|H000002