The Sons Of Liberty

Whenever I go to the Pink House restaurant I think about the history of Savannah, especially the history of the Revolutionary war.  The Pink House use to be the home of Liberty Boy James Habersham, Jr.  His father, James Habersham, helped George Whitfield found Bethesda Orphange which is still in existance today.  Habersham was very loyal to the British crown but his heart was very distraught because all of his sons, Joseph, John, and James, Jr., became leaders in the Revolution. His son, Joseph, actually walked into the Governor's mansion on Telfair Square and placed the royal governor under house arrest on January 18, 1776. The Liberty Boys would meet at Tondee's Tavern and they also had secret meetings at the Pink House to come up with plans to stop the dreaded "taxation without representation."  In protest they hung up an effigy of Sir James Wright, the royal governor, and also an effigy of the stamp agent.  Later, some citizens formed a mock funeral cortege with an effigy of King George III inside the coffin.  The Declaration of Independence was read for the first time inside the Colonial council meetinghouse on Reynolds square, and read again in front of the Liberty pole at Tondee's Tavern.  The sons of Liberty changed King Street to President Street, and they changed Prince Street to Congress Street.  Tondee's Tavern which was in operation from 1770 to 1785 burned down, but the Pink House, circa 1777, still stands and it's the only mansion to survive the great fire of 1796.  The upper levels are a restaurant and the lower level, that use to be the Planter's Bank, is now an amazing underground tavern.