USA > Georgia > Glynn County > Annals and statistics of Glynn County, Georgia > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02298 8023
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/annalsstatistics00wyll
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Annals and Statistics
... of ...
Flynn County,
Georgia.
... Jp ...
CHARLES S. WYLLY.
"Downward they move. a melancholy band- Pass from the shore and darken all the strand. Through torrid tracts, with fainting steps they go- Where wild ' Altama' murmurs to their woe." -DESERTED VILLAGE.
Copyrighted 1897, by Charles S. Wylly.
PRESO OF H. A. WRENCH & SONS, BRUNSWICK, QA.
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55-2487
1727405
T is some time since I began this memoir. Unskilled in composition, I failed to place in words the facts which I hoped might impress the youth of the day-a youth con- temptuous of the past and unapt to reflect-that their fore- fathers had much to do and more to endure e'er they won for the English race the lands we now call the County of Glynn.
! trust this record of an arduous struggle, this story of a sharp wrestle with an invading army, and of the final conquest of a wilderness, may have some interest to those living in a quieter age. In the burial ground at Frederica lie the remains of many a patriot and gallant soldier, who, in life, never failed to answer every call of the "Province of Georgia." Had they tombs, upon each tablet might be inscribed :- "Here lies one who, living, did his whole duty to his people and his country." Wrights, Mcintoshes, McBeans, Clarkes, Demereys, Burnets and McCoys lie side by side. At dead of night, should some phantom pibroch blow loud and clear, the muster call would be answered by men who, living, gave the first check to Spanish-American power, and whose descendants, in many instances, forget and neglect the sods under which they lie.
All countries, and especially all colonies, owe their birth to some political necessity, and thus it was that, in the year 1730, those who then ruled the British government perceived that it was necessary to take effectual means for the better protection of the Carolinas against Spanish and Indian hostility, and to these men no plan seemed more suitable than the surrounding of those rich settlements, over which the shadows of servile in- surrection, Indian wars and Spanish invasion continually rested, by a zone of free colonists, bound under law to military service, holding the land granted them by virtue of that service, and whose presence and courage would serve as a buffer to break the first strength of an enemy, and thus did it come to pass that the British government, in 1730, lent a willing ear to the philan- thropic efforts of Oglethorpe and his associates.
To the deserving poor free passage was given, lands were granted, and a three year's support was guaranteed. To the disaffected Jacobite the same terms were offered. To the op- pressed Lutheran similar proffers were made, and thus it was that, conceived by a political necessity, but born of the purest
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feelings that emanate from the human heart, that the province of Georgia came into life. South Carolina ceded her claims to the lands that now comprise the states of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and the youngest born of the North American colo- nies was called Georgia, in honor of George Il, King of England, Ireland and Scotland.
EARLY HISTORY OF GLYNN.
In date of foundation, our county was third, but not until 1765 were its limits defined and called the parishes of St. Patrick and St. David. In 1777, it was renamed the County of Glynn, in honor of John Glynn, Esq., a strong supporter of provincial rights. Settled in 1736, it at once became the headquarters of the commanding general and the seat of government. Embrac- ing in its limits the islands of St. Simons and Jekyl they became the keys to the system of defense adopted by Oglethorpe. Fred- erica on the extreme left was the buttress upon which the whole system rested, Fort Howe, at the first ford of the Altamaha river, the right flank. One rested on the Atlantic ocean, the other on a great river. Between these points out-posts and block houses were built-one at Carteret's and one at Hopeton. Northwards a line of forts extended from Fort Howe to Fort Argyle on the Ogeechee, and from thence to the Savannah. Darien, with easy water communication to both right and left, became the post of the reserve, and from there a good road was opened to Savannah. With his line thus protected on its flanks and guarded in the rear Oglethorpe awaited the coming war, and by this disposition of the forces Glynn county became the very picket line of the Anglo-Saxon colony, and behind that line rested the richer and more populous settlements of the province, content with the knowledge that the shock of conflict must first break upon the citizens of Glynn and McIntosh.
"Nor was the enemy the effete power we now know. Spain then stood at the head of European nationalitv. Her flag waved from Van Couver's to Cape Horn, and Florida and Cuba were supported by the whole strength of the "Catholic kingdom." Jealousy of the encroaching Saxon was intense, and upon Geor. gia, the new out-shoot of British energy, it was well known her heavy hand would soon fall. Frederica was garrisoned by a reg- iment of 600 men enlisted in the British service and officered by men of great merit. Above all it had Oglethorpe as its comman- der. The fort was constructed in the form of half a hexagon,
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with two bastions and two half bastions crowned with towers. The walls were of earth ten feet high, faced with timber. The whole fort was surrounded by a deep ditch furnished with gates to admit the tide. Landward it showed two bastions. River- ward there was a water battery, and seaward there was a dense wood, hiding the fort from advancing vessels. In front of the wood and protected by a miry marsh was a battery of twelve heavy guns." The place was garrisoned by a part of Oglethorpe's regiment, four companies being stationed at other points-two on Cumberland Island, one on Jekyl, and one at Fort St. Simons, St. Simon's Island. Such were the relative positions of the two parties when war was declared. "For two years the Spaniards had been preparing in Cuba an armada, huge for those days." It consisted of fifty ships and carried five thousand men, com- manded by Don Monteano. Its mission was to wipe off from the North American coast all traces of heretic settlements. Slowly the news of it floated northward. Meanwhile the armada was at the mouth of the St. Mary's. Fort Williams, at the south end of Cumberland, held out well, having been reinforced, Gen. Oglethorpe having fought his way to it in boats. Then, with no more than seven hundred soldiers, consisting of five hundred of his own regiment, sixty highland rangers from Darien, thirty scouts under Capt. Noble Jones, fifty rangers from Glynn, and the rest but Indian auxiliaries, the general threw himself into Frederica.
On July 5th, 1742, the enemy passed Fort St. Simons, which was bravely defended by Lieuts. Wall and Ottebridge, and sailed up to Gascoigue's Bluff, now St. Simon's Mills. Fort St. Simons was then abandoned, and the garrison retired into Frederica spiking their guns before retreat. On July 7th, Oglethorpe attacked the enemy at Bloody Marsh, drove them back, with a loss of four hundred killed, wounded and taken prisoners, to their entrenched camps, On July 11th, their great galleys came up to Frederica, but met so warm a fire from the guns of the fort as forced them to retire, Oglethorpe pursuing them in boats to the sound. On July 15th, the whole fleet and army retired by way of Cumberland, landing and burning Major Horton's residence on Jekyl. On July 24th, a general thanks- giving was ordered for the end of the invasion. In this heroic struggle, with the exception of Capt. Jones' scouts, not one soldier from the province of Georgia, save the men of Glynn and Mcintosh and the regiment of regulars, participated. Chatham
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and Liberty lay quiet, seemingly content with the knowledge that between themselves and the enemy stood Oglethorpe with his regiment and the men of the two frontier counties.
With 1742 terminated forever all attempts of Spanish power against the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas. Bloody Marsh was a practical assertion of the Monroe dsctrine, and after it came peace ond prosperity. The garrisons that were kept up furnished a market for all the produce raised on the farms. The lands were new and productive, the pasturage abundant, and beef and mutton found ready sale at Frederica, Fort Howe and Savannah. From 1743 to 1765, there was a period of unusual prosperity. The young men found ready employment at the military posts as scouts, guides or teamsters, while the elder men made their homes each day more attractive and productive. One radical change in the charter of the province brought about much ill feeling, and was the cause of much divergence of opinion.
By the Georgia charter slavery had been positively inter- dicted. But the Savannah and Ogeechee settlers, seeing the Carolina planter resting in the shade while his fields were tilled by slaves, bought in the Charleston market, on.four year's time, at one hundred dollars a head, became covetous and restless. Petitions and counter petitions were frequent for the abrogation of that clause of the charter, and when, at length, the interdiction was rescinded, on October 26th, 1749, much di- vergence of opinion was created. Among the many counter petitions was one, signed to a man, by the citizens of Frederica and Darien. A remarkable document, in which we find the words: "Introduce slaves and and we cannot but believe they will one day return to be a scourge and a curse upon our children, or our children's children." This was the first protest in all history against the use of slaves, and it was based upon humanitarian grounds-long before Phillips spoke or Garrison wrote, and it emanated from Darien, Georgia. In such form was this "ani- mated apple of discord" sown into Georgia history.
Prosperity now came quickly. Exports of indigo, peltries and furs commenced, and trade with the Indian nations to the south and west gave employment to many adventurous spirits. In this growing prosperity Glynn county fully shared. The great house of Blanton, Forbes & Co., established a branch at Frederica, known as McCoy & Spalding. They bought cargoes direct from England and sold to Indian tribes that dwelt to the north, on the Tennessee river, and to the south, in the Eyer-
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glades of Florida. In 1774, John Bartram, the first botanist of Southern America, and whose name is even now perpetuated in the "Bartram's Botanical Gardens" of Philadelphit, tells, in his journal, of kindnesses received and of his being forwarded on his journey by James Spalding, of Retreat, St. Simon's Island.
I doubt, if anywhere within the circle of British colonization such picturesque contrasts of social condition could have been found as in the narrow circuit of early Georgia. In Savannah might be met the loose living English adventurer, the men of Fielding's novels. A few miles to the west the steady German tilled his fields under his own pastor and teacher; but a day's ride to the south a band of Puritans, of strictest tenets, had planted their stakes at "Midway Church," whilst further south and on the very frontier of the colony their moral antipodes, would be found -the fervid Celt; whilst amongst them all, at that time, free and friendly, roamed the Red men of the woods.
But now the waves of revolutionary principles were fast rising. Families were being divided one from another, daughters found husbands who differed in political faith from their fathers and brothers. The British government, which had been lavishly generous to the last born of her American colonies, withdrew her bounty and frowned upon her ungrateful child, and the year 1775 found Glynn county torn by diversities of political faith and subject to military inroads from the now British possession of Florida. She was, in the succeeding year, raided by predatory bands, called "skinners." Now McGirth, in the name of his majesty, ravaged the country, and after him Paddy Carr, under commission of the state, literally robbed every home not defended by strong arms and ready rifles. During the progress of the Revolutionary war, General Prevost, of his majesty's army, with a body of irregular troops, crossed the St. Mary's at its first ford, and marched straight for Fort Howe, on the Altamaha. In his way through Wayne and Glynn he spared neither barn nor dwelling. Accompanied by McGirth's partisan cavalry, he swept the coast from its southern line to Savannah. Great suffering was entailed upon the citizens of Glynn, Liberty and Mcintosh. Yet there was no abandonment of principles, and the people in general remained faithful to the cause of liberty, Frederica was captured by British vessels which laid in the sound. The fort was dismantled, the barracks burned, the town destroyed, its inhabitants dispersed, and from that day to this, rightly it has been called, "The Dead City of Georgia." The
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trees that then adorned its bluffs still shadow the river, on the banks of which the immigrants of 1736 first stood, when they listened to Charles Wesley, who says, in his diary, "I preached with boldness." On that same carpet of grass did the ladies of the town give him great offense-"by a too often and too great a flaunting of their gowns." He arrived on St. Simon's, March 9th, 1736, and left, never to return, May 15th, 1736. He left Georgia finally on July 26th, preaching in Savannah on the Sunday previous from the text, "Let us arise and go hence." His brother, John Wesley, made one visit to Frederica, but was never in charge of the congregation. A short distance from Frederica was the home of Oglethorpe, the only spot of land in the New World ever owned by the founder of the state of Geor- gia. It has of late been called the "Beck Place," and distant about a half a mile is the church and old burial ground. Here, in the solemn stillness of an unrivalled grove, lie many of the first settlers of Georgia, and beside them those of later days. As the sun sinks in the west, the shadows lengthen and at times steal away, as if in the presence of a sorrow. Above the grey moss waves its funeral banner and your feet sink deep in the green ferns that cover the earth, here and there rises a white tomb, marking the resting place of the one whose name is chiseled thereon. Often a low mound is all that meets the eye, and who rests there "in peace" is not known; but here lie men who have filled a noble part in the history of our state, and who, in their day, were looked up to as right-thinking and right-acting men, and beside them, rest wives and mothers whose children to this day "rise up and call them blessed."
Slowly the war dragged on. For seven years Georgia, and especially her frontier county, became but a highway for preda- tory bands, whose swords were drawn, it might be, in the name - of king or state, but who, in fact fought only for plunder. Cun- ningham, nick named "Bloody Bill," for whose head the gover- nor of South Carolina had offered a thousand pounds, led his miscreants to the Altamaha, and his very name became a terror. When peace was declared he fled to the Bahamas, from which place, at his death, his son, who had settled in Darien, brought home his body, and had it interred in the Baptist church yard of that place.
At last, in 1783, came peace and Independence. and with a gasp of relief, Glynn county turned to rebuild her desolate homes.
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Sea Island cotton promised to bring high prices, and soon, what capital existed, or could be borrowed, turned to that industry. Large farms were opened for its cultivation on St. Simon's and Jekyl, and also on the mainland, especially in the tide water dis- trict, and the Big and Little Buffalo swamps.
Immigrants from South and North Carolina flowed in, and French refugees from the West Indies added their thrift, courtesy and education to the energy of the Scotch and English who, until then, had composed the whole population. Schools were opened, churches built, lands cleared and diked, and by the close of the century the ruins that had marked the course of the war were hid by the growths of peace.
Live Oak timber was found to be valuable in ship-building. Much was got out for northern markets. The government gave out contracts for the frames of men of war, and from the lands at Cannon's Point, St. Simon's Island, Mr. John Couper cut the frame of the U. S. frigate "Constitution." The tree from which her stern post was framed stood in the garden, and there are those now living who can remember the stump, banded with iron and inscribed, "U. S. frigate Constitution, 1794." In 1849, when she was docked for repairs, the Hon. Thomas Butler King, Chairman of the Naval Committee, was pre- sented with a yase,* carved from her timbers, and thus did the oak that had grown at the north end of the island return after perils by battles and perils by storms, to add to the charms of the drawing room at "Retreat." Glynn county steadily ad- vanced in wealth and population. In 1810, we find her returning 4,500 slaves and a proportionate acreage in cultivated lands. Taxation hardly existed, for the owner was assessed but thirty- one cents for each slave, and for each acre of cultivated lands 4 mills was collected, and for wild lands 2. The entire revenue of the county, in 1812, was but $1,863, and in 1820, $2,005. Still the county owed not one dollar, and every class of society was prosperous. In 1837, came the first rumor of railroad movements. A charter was obtained for a railroad to connect the Altamaha with the port of Brunswick. The road was graded by a Dr. Davis, but not built. The charter was afterwards exchanged for one authorizing a canal, to be called the Brunswick and Altamaha Canal. This canal was opened for traffic, but soon
*This vase is an exact copy of the famous "Portland Vase." The copper bolts that had held their places has beautifully stained and veined the wood.
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abandoned. In the meantime the lands that now comprise the city of Brunswick had been acquired by a company, called "The Proprietors of the City of Brunswick." They built a large hotel, called it "The Oglethorpe," and inaugurated the first boom of the city of Brunswick. It may not be amiss to here attach a con- . cise history of the city. In 1737, the city was founded by Ogle- "thorpe. A plan of streets and squares was adopted, and by that plan the town was laid out. In 1771, the lines and marks hav- ing been obliterated, parliament ordered a resuryey, according to the original plans, but before this could be accomplished the troubles of the revolution occurred. In 1787, the state of Georgia made Brunswick a port of entry, and ordered the town to be re- surveyed and laid out, "as nearly as possible" according to the original plan. In 1797, an act was passed by the legislature of the state embodying the same instructions, and appointing com- missioners for the town of Brunswick. The commissioners were John Couper, James Moore, James Harrison, William McIntosh and William Clubb. George Purvis, surveyor, was empowered by these commissioners "to lay out the city of Brunswick in accordance with the original plan," and to cause the lots to be staked out and the streets opened. George Purvis resurveyed the city, marking the lots, but failed to open the streets. He, how- ever, made and filed in the Surveyor General's office a map of the city of Brunswick. In 1837, Ceorge Baldwin, civil engineer in the employ of the "Proprietors of the City of Brunswick," re- surveyed the city. This last survey was accepted by the city, a map was filed in the Surveyor General's office, and is now the accepted and final plan and plot. Between 1805 and 1830, owing to disappointments at the growth of Brunswick, the area of set- tlement had been reduced to a few lots in the north-western part of the city. Between 1806 and 1828 the whole area of the town had been fenced, cleared and planted by four persons-James Mangham, A. D. Lawrence, Robert Piles and Robert Hazlehurst. In 1826, these men, with the exception of the latter, gave quit claim titles to all these land to Moses Eastman, by whom they were transferred to the company called "The Proprietors of the City of Brunswick." Great confusion of ownership ensued, and not until after 1865 were many of these titles rectified by action of the courts. Even now, in many cases, the strongest point in the fee simple is the title "by prescription."
By 1820, St. Simons' Island had become, in a great meas- ure, the centre of the social life of the county. Almost every
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acre of arable land was in cultivation, and the owners were, in general, persons of refined tastes and liberal education. Some were retired officers of the British army, who had traveled and seen the world in many phases. The mode of life was essentially simple, but the hospitality was Immense. Every door stood open to the stranger, and to be the guest of one was to be made welcome in every household. With the exception of the owner of Hampton Point there was no extreme wealth, but there existed a much happier condition-there were none without an easy competence, and many possessed Incomes far above the average. In number, there were fourteen homesteads or plantations as they were then called, and on the island there was a slave popu- lation of about twelve hundred. In the summer, many planters from the tide water and Buffalo swamps came as guests, or as owners of cottages, and added, by their presence, to the home and resident society.
The church was well supported and well attended. One service, at 11 a. m., was given to the whites and a lecture in the afternoon to the colored race. The effect of this mode of in- struction was shown in the Improved character of the island slaves, who, In general, were far in advance of their race in in- telligence and civilization. This church, one of the oldest in the state, had, I believe, the unique distinction of being perhaps the only one in Ceorgia to which a clerk and pew-opener were on each succeeding Easter Monday, duly elected. The clerk, pronounced by all the congregation "clark," was, for many years, the venerable Mr. Davis. He sat on a high seat immedi- ately in front of the officiating priest and led the responses in a fine bass voice. The pew-opener, the estimable Mrs. Davis, never failed in attendance. At nine the congregation had com- menced to arrive. The older ladies came wearing "calashes," made of wire and green silk-a sort of miniature buggy top- * which were laid aside upon entering their pews. They then gath- . ered together for gossip and talk, which did not cease until the "Dearly beloved" was uttered by the preacher. The men seated themselves upon benches built under the trees, received their mail, which was always brought to the church door by the post- master. read letters and discussed the last news from Milledge- ville, Washington or Charleston, until the sound of the organ called them to worship. The children played in the shade until summoned, and they, in general, were dismissed when the ser- mon commenced. The young people of my own tamily were not
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allowed to leave the church, but at the first verse of the litany we seated ourselves upon the floor and opened our lunch baskets. There, hidden from view by the high pews, we were duly thank- ful for the mercies granted to us, generally in the form of butter- ed waffles. As I grow older I remember listening to the hymns when sung by that marvellous voice which then led the choir- a voice that possessed the power and sweetness to leave its im- press upon all who heard it so as never to be forgotten. A voice, to hear which sing either "La Manola" or "My Love is Like a red, red, Rose," I have known a man of sixty years of age to man his boat, row twenty miles, listen for one hour with ears charmed by the music, and heart hypnotized by a perfect grace and sweetness of manner, then re-embark for his long row. Ah, sure it is, that there are memories that defy both time and years.
At the northern end of the island was situated the home of Maj. Butler. This gentleman was, at the outbreak of the revolution, an officer in the British army. He had married an heiress of the Middleton family of South Carolina. He had re- signed his commission and became an ardent supporter of the colonies. He afterwards removed to Georgia, and brought great wealth with him. More than 800 slaves called him master. They were equally divided between his rice place in Mcintosh county, of Butler's Island, and the cotton plantation of Hampton's Point. Here everything was pervaded by a species of military rule. No one came to visit him but was met on the landing by a vi- dette, who enquired your business and escorted you to the mansion. Everything was made on the plantation. Tanneries existed. A shoe-making establishment, a manufactory for clothes, socks, caps, furniture, etc., and indeed almost every industry was repre- sented. No person, however old or feeble, was allowed to be al- together idle. One story I recollect that typifies this fact. An old woman coming up to him said: "Master, I am old, I can work no longer." "It is true," said Mr. Butler, but calling his head man he said: "Flora is not to work, but get a goose, giye her a line and say to her each day she must lead my goose to graze for an hour," and for ten years did goose and woman pasture together at Hampton's Point. The discipline was strict but never harsh, a fact shown to this day by the devoted and al- most romantic attachment of even, every descend ant of that slave population to all who carry a drop of Butter blood in their veins . In his social intercourse with the island families Maj. Butler was stiff and ceremonious. He finally after amassing a great
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