Samuel Elbert

Samuel Elbert (1740 – November 1, 1788) was an American merchant, soldier, slave owner, and politician from Savannah, Georgia.

Elbert fought in the Revolutionary War, commanding the victorious American colonial forces in a naval battle near St. Simons Island, Georgia on April 19, 1778. He was wounded and captured at the Battle of Brier Creek the following year, though he regained his freedom in a prisoner exchange. He rose to the rank of major general in the Georgia militia and colonel in the Continental Army. He was brevetted a brigadier general after the end of the war. Samuel Elbert was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of Georgia.

In 1784, he was elected to the United States Congress, but declined to serve because he did not consider himself physically fit for the task. He did later serve a term as the Governor of Georgia.

Elbert was a Freemason. His name appears on the 1779 Masonic membership roles of Solomon's Lodge No. 1 at Savannah along with James Jackson, Governor John A. Treutlen, and Archibald Bulloch. Elbert also served as the last Provincial Grand Master of the first English Provincial Grand Lodge of Georgia in 1785.