By the act of the 15th of March, 1758,[241] dividing Georgia into eight parishes, “the town of Hardwick and district of Ogechee on the south side of the river Great Ogechee, extending north west up the said river as far as the lower Indian trading path leading from Mount Pleasant, and southward from the town of Hardwick as far as the swamp of James Dunham, including the settlements on the north side of the north branches of the river Midway, with the islands of Ossabaw, and from the head of the said Dunham’s swamp in a north west line,” were declared a parish by the name of ST. PHILIP. In 1786[242] regulations were prescribed for the inspection of Tobacco at a warehouse to be erected at Hardwick. By an Act, assented to on the 19th of December, 1793,[243] a new County was laid off from Chatham, and, in honor of a venerable patriot,[244] was called Bryan. The legislature which passed this Act constituted John Wereat, Robert Holmes, James McGillivray, William Clark, Simmons Maxwell, Thomas Collier, and Joseph Stiles, Commissioners for the town and commons of Hardwick, with power, upon three months’ notice published in the Georgia Gazette, to cause a survey to be made, as nearly as possible, in conformity to the original plan of the place. This survey they were required to record in the office of the Surveyor of Bryan County; and also in the office of the Surveyor General of the State.[245] By the second section of the Act these Commissioners were directed to sell at public vendue, to the highest bidder, at such time and place as they should deem best, and after published notice of six weeks in the Georgia Gazette, any vacant lots in the town, and any lots which should have become vested in the State of Georgia, reserving such only as might be proper for public uses. The proceeds arising from these sales were to be primarily applied to the erection of a Court House and Jail; and, if any balance remained in the hands of the Commissioners, it was to be expended in building an Academy. Within three months after the completion of such sales these Commissioners were to make full return to the State Treasurer of the number of lots sold, the price which each brought, and of the application of the funds realized. On the 23rd of December, 1791,[246] Hardwick was again designated, by special legislative enactment, as one of the points in Georgia for the erection of a public ware-house, and the inspection and shipment of tobacco. Eight years afterwards[247] the Justices of the Inferior Court of Bryan County were authorized to lease, from time to time, and for a term not exceeding seven years, the common of Hardwick and the glebe lands of the County, and apply the rents and profits therefrom arising to the repair and improvement of the County roads and bridges.