Joseph Vallence Bevan (1798-1830) Georgia's First Official Historian

There was 'None. No none!' reads the epitaph on his tomb. 'Against Whose Name the Recording Angel Would More Reluctantly Have Written Down Condemnation.'

Joesph Vallence Bevan was born in Ireland and moved with his family to Georgia when he was young. Bevan attended University of Georgia and the College of South Carolina before moving to England to continue his education. When he came back to the US, Bevan edited the Augusta Chronicle & Georgia Gazette. He also studied law and served as a Georgia legislature. In 1824, Governor George M. Troup appointed Bevan as the first official historian for the state of Georgia. As the historian, Bevan arranged the state archives, published selected works from those archives, and write a history of Georgia.