The Wrightsborough Quaker colony began with Joseph Maddock. Joseph and a group of Quakers in North Carolina, became concerned with the government of Governor William Tryon. Many North Carolinians had begun to resist the repressive taxes of the Tryon colonial government and formed a group known as the "Regulators". Although Joseph Maddock did not take part in this movement, his mill on the Eno River was used as a Regulator meeting place. Because of this association, Joseph and other Quakers were repressed by Governor Tryon and his Sheriff Fanning. Many of their lands were quietly confiscated and added to the personal property of persons in the colonial government after the Quakers left the area. Joseph Maddock and Jonathan Sell, a friend, decided to leave. In 1767 they applied for grants of land in Georgia on behalf of 40 families. Upon arrival, Joseph Maddock built a gristmill on his land in along Sweetwater Creek. When more Quakers than was anticipated arrived, Joseph Maddock, Jonathan Sell, and Thomas Watson applied for an additional grant. In 1770, the additional land was granted on the site of Wrightsborough. The town was located on Town Creek and was called Wrightsborough Township (it is now called Middle Creek and the Township included all of the present McDuffie County and portions of Warren and Columbia Counties in Georgia).
The settlement grew faster than expected and on December 6, 1768, Joseph and Jonathan presented another petition to the governor that was approved on February 7, 1769 specifying that more land be allocated, a road be built, that the land be surveyed and warrants be issued. On 22 different occasions between 1768 and 1774, various petitions, orders, and other matters affecting the town and township of Wrightsborough were noted in the minutes of the Governor and Council. Perhaps the most serious matters considered had to do with marauding bands of Indians continually stealing their horses and cattle, with practically no protection given to the Quakers by the government. In fact, in 1769, there was such a total loss of stock that they could barely plant and cultivate any crops at all. Due to fear of the Indians, some 25 heads of families left the settlement in 1771, but 13 of these soon returned. By 1772 their situation was so desperate that they proposed enlisting two companies of militia from their own number, but this was not accepted. During this period of five years, the government had appropriated only 100 pounds for their protection, plus 50 ponds for a fort built in 1774.
The Quaker colonists passed through a difficult time during the Revolutionary War, since they (for the most part) refused to fight for either side. They suffered from both sides as well as from outlaws and Indian attacks. Many of the settlers were declared traitors and their property was confiscated. The Quakers were exempt from banishment and confiscation, but they were taxed an extra 25% in place of serving in the militia. It is not known if Joseph was a Loyalist during the war or just a pacifist as were the Quakers generally. As if the war was not enough, by 1779 the settlers of Wrightsborough were plagued by lawless bands of raiders who looted, burned, and killed everything in their path. By 1780, Wrightsborough was laid to waste. In March, 1781 Joseph's plantation and mill on Sweetwater Creek were burned by these raiders. Since he had been a magistrate, deputy governor and clerk of Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting, priceless records were destroyed. In 1775, part of Joseph's property was sold by the Marshall of Savannah and Joseph went bankrupt.
In 1782, a group including some Quakers, were ordered to serve as soldiers for 2 years. Despite a law granting Quakers exemption from the draft, young men were persuaded to enlist in the rebel forces. Others joined partisans that in the last years of the war came to be little more than bandits and murderers. Some of the Friends, attacked because of their loyalty to the King (or because their principles against bearing arms, even in self-defense, made them vulnerable targets), violated their beliefs by protecting themselves and their property, or attempting to take revenge against their persecutors. As a result of the Revolution, 20 members were dealt with by the Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting for military activities, of whom 15 were disowned.
Joseph had particular reason to fear the wrath of the rebels. He had done all that he could to support Royal Governor Wright and the King's cause. In July 1775, he declined to take the seat to which he had been elected at the Whig's Second Georgia Provincial Congress. On October 12, 1774, just after the Boston Tea Party, Joseph and others (many Quakers) signed a petition in support of the British King. In their petition they expressed dissent with a resolution in South Carolina supporting the people of Boston and outlined 4 reasons for their support of the government of Great Britian: (1) resolutions against the King and Parliament were illegal, (2) grievances can be resolved legally through their representative in the Assembly, (3) since they had no dealing in destroying the tea, they should not partake of the consequences either, and (4) they could not expect any assistance from the forces Great Britian against an Indian war if they supported the Boston people. They felt that they would be in serious trouble if they were attacked by Indians if the British forces did not help them. When that petition was refused by the Whigs, Joseph and a few other Wrightsborough Quakers joined the hundreds of back country Georgians who signed new protests that were published in the Georgia Gazette. In November, he traveled to Savannah to present Governor Wright with an officially sanctioned letter from his Monthly Meeting of their non-involvement with the rebels. When a British agent arrived in Wrightsborough in early 1779, Joseph helped him to find guides to South Carolina, to recruit a regiment of Loyalists there. The British army briefly occupied nearby Augusta shortly afterwards and Joseph was part of a delegation of Friends sent to meet with the commanding officer. Because of these activities, Joseph was soon arrested by the rebels, interrogated, and imprisoned at Charlestown, South Carolina for several months.
Joseph was eventually released and in the summer of 1780 he had the gratification of seeing all of Georgia and most of South Carolina restored to royal rule. However, by the following year, the tide of the war had again shifted as rebel guerillas, led in part by former Wrightsborough Quaker Josiah Dunn, were operating on the Georgia frontier, killing and plundering people who had supported the King's cause, and in some instances, those who had simply property worth stealing. By the end of May 1781, thirty-five people were reported to have been killed by these raiders, including eleven settlers who were murdered in their own beds.
Joseph sought refuge in British-occupied Ebenezer, Georgia, in the autumn of 1781. He brought with him some 25% of the Wrightsborough Quakers. In nearby Savannah, Sir James Wright had been restored as royal governor and he provided the Friends with financial aid. With Governor Wright's assistance, Joseph and his followers also applied through Daniel Silsby to the London Meeting for Sufferings for aid. However, Joseph's troubles were not over. He and his fellow Quakers continued to suffer from the same food shortages, severe weather, and diseases that were afflicting other refugees. On May 1, 1782, they petitioned Governor Wright to allow them to return to Wrightsborough to take their chances with the rebels. Despite their claim that the violence had abated, their request was turned down. Savannah was evacuated by the British Army and on July 11, 1782 the Quaker refugees returned to Wrightsborough. Shortly afterwards, Daniel Silsby informed them that they would be allowed to draw up to 500 pounds upon the account of the London Friends. Joseph accepted 240 pounds of the money on their behalf.
The North Carolina Yearly Meeting learned of the London donation from the Philadelphia meetings, whose members were concerned that the funds might be misappropriated. The Yearly Meeting was particularly suspicious of Joseph's motives because they has already sent funds provided by the Philadelphia meetings to the Quakers at Wrightsborough. They advised the Georgia Friends not to accept any of the London donation, but to apply to them for aid instead.
During all of this time, 75% of the Wrightsborough Quaker community had remained at their homes, survived the rebel depredations, and even held their regular meetings. In June 1783, they began an investigation of how Joseph Maddock had dispensed the money he had drawn on the London Friends. When he refused to condemn his "not honestly discharging the trust reposed in him," he was disowned. Joseph also declined to provide either the Meeting or Daniel Silsby with an accounting of how the money was spent. The elderly, now ex-Quaker leader announced his intention to appeal to the Quarterly Meeting, but before he did so, some visiting Friends were asked for an opinion on restoring Joseph's rite of fellowship. They suggested a minor change in a letter of condemnation he offered, which was done and the paper was accepted. Joseph Maddock does not appear again in the surviving Wrightsborough records.
By 1784, the Quakers had tried to resume their lives as before, but so many non-Quakers has moved into the colony bringing with them slaves, that Quakers could no longer do as they wished. Unable to compete with slave labor and unhappy with the conditions, the Quakers began a general exodus from Wrightsborough about 1803 and which was completed by 1805. Joseph remained in Wrightsborough throughout this period and lost almost everything. He died a poor man on April 9, 1794. His wife Rachel, did not die until August 18, 1823, but it is not known if she remained in Wrightsborough or migrated with one of their sons or daughters to Ohio or Indiana.
