Jared Irwin

Jared Irwin
Governor of Georgia
In office
January 15, 1796 – January 12, 1798
Preceded byGeorge Mathews
Succeeded byJames Jackson
In office
September 23, 1806 – November 10, 1809
Preceded byJohn Milledge
Succeeded byDavid B. Mitchell
Personal details
Born1750 (1750)
Anson County, North Carolina
(now Mecklenburg County, North Carolina)
Died (aged 67–68)
Washington County, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
Signature

Jared Irwin (1750 – March 1, 1818) served twice as elected Governor of Georgia (1796–1798) and (1806–1809). He first was elected to office as a reformer based on public outrage about the Yazoo land scandal. He signed a bill that nullified the Yazoo Act, which had authorized the land sales. Challenges to land claims purchased under the former act led to the United States Supreme Court's hearing the case Fletcher v. Peck (1810). In a landmark decision, the Court upheld the land contracts, and ruled that the state law was unconstitutional in trying to nullify valid contracts.