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Military Service: Army

WILLIAM RABUN, Georgia's 13th Governor, was born in Halifax, North Carolina, on April 8, 1771. In 1775 he moved to Georgia, where he received a rudimentary education. Rabun served in 1793 as a captain of the Greene County militia. He also served on the bench of the Inferior Court of Hancock County from 1802 to 1810, and was a one-term member of the Georgia General Assembly in 1805. He was a member of the Georgia Senate from 1810 to 1816, serving as president of the senate from 1812 to 1816. In March 1817, Governor David B. Mitchell resigned from office, and Rabun, who was president of the senate at the time, assumed the duties of Georgia's governorship. Eight months later, after finishing Governor Mitchell's term, Rabun was elected by the general assembly to serve his own term in the governor's office. During his tenure, the penal code was amended, the construction on the state penitentiary was finished, and a license was procured for a steamboat company. Funding was provided for road and highway development and for waterway improvements and internal programs. While in office, Governor William Rabun passed away on October 25, 1819. He is buried at the Powelton Baptist Churchyard near Sparta, Georgia.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 1, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

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