USA > Georgia > A true and historical narrative of the colony of Georgia, in America, from the first settlement thereof until this present period > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
---
---
77
ious man can propose to manage, this being the quantity allotted for the task of a negro in the neighboring province, which negro works four hours each day more than a white man can do.
It must next be noticed that with regard to the above returns, suppose a prosperous season without disappointments, which is not the case in such small improvements as can be ex- pected in an infant colony one year in five, either drought burns or rain drowns the corn and makes the peas fall out of the pod ; deer, which no fence can exclude, devour these little settlements in a night, rats and squirrels do the same, birds eat the seed out of the ground and dig up the blade after it is spired, and variety of worms and insects devour one-half of it. But let us suppose none of these evils happened ; let us view the amount of the produce valued at the highest rate.
The produce of five acres of pine land raised by one hand the first year :
Indian corn, twenty bushels at Ios. cur- l. s. d. rency per bushel, I 5 o Sterling. Indian peas, forty bushels at ditto, 2 10 O
Total of first year's produce, . . 3 15 O
The second year the same ; the third less, the fourth little or nothing.
Best oak land, five acres, at fifteen bushels of corn and peas per acre, is seventy-five bushels at ditto price, is 4/. 13s. 9d. sterling.
Let us next consider the maintenance of every single white servant per annum, at the lowest rate, and then the reader will be able to judge whether white people can get their liveli- hood by planting land in this climate without negroes. And the allowance to the trustees' Dutch servants being the least at which any white servant could be maintained in Georgia, we shall therefore take our estimate from it, which is eight pence sterling per day, or 12l. 3s. 4d. sterling per annum, so that at a medium the expense is three times greater than the produce, besides tools, medicines, and other necessaries.
We must likewise observe that the proportion of pine bar- ren to either good swamp or oak and hickory land is at least six to one ; that the far greater number of the small lots have
78
none or very little oak land ; and if they had swamp that would bear rice, white people are unable to clear them if they are covered with trees, and though only with canes, which is the easier to cultivate, it were simply impossible to manufacture the rice by white men, the exercise being so severe that no negro can be employed in any other work or labor comparable to it, and many hundreds of them (notwithstanding all the care of their masters) yearly lose their lives by that necessary work.
Savannah stands on a flat bluff (so they term a high land hanging over a creek or river) which rises about forty feet per- pendicular from the river, and commands it several miles both upwards and downwards, and if it were not for a point of woods which, about four miles down the river, stretches itself out towards the southeast, one might have a view of the sea and the island of Tybee. The soil is a white sand for above a mile in breadth southeast and northwest; beyond this, eastward, is a river swamp; westward, a small body of woodland (in which was the old Indian town) separated by a creek from a large tract of land, which runs upwards along the side of the river for the space of about five miles, and being by far the best near the town, is reserved for the Indians, as General Oglethorpe declares, as are also some of the islands in the river Savannah, and the three most valuable islands upon all the coast of that province, viz., Ossiba, St. Katherine, and Sapula. Southwest of the town is a pine barren that extends about fourteen miles to Vernon river.
On the east side of the town is situated the public garden, being ten acres enclosed on a barren piece of land, where it is hardly possible for what is planted to live, but impossible to thrive, and from this garden were all the planters to have been furnished with mulberry trees, etc.
The plan of the town was beautifully laid out in wards, tithings, and public squares, left at proper distances for mar- kets and public buildings, the whole making an agreeable uniformity.
The public works in this town are: I. A court-house, being one handsome room with a piazza on three sides; this likewise serves for a church for divine service, none having been ever built, notwithstanding the trustees in their public
79
acts acknowledge the receipt of about seven hundred pounds sterling from charitable persons for that express purpose.
2. Opposite to the court-house stands the log-house or prison (which is the only one remaining of five or six that have been successively built in Savannah), that place of terror and support of absolute power in Georgia.
3. Nigh thereto is a house built of logs, at a very great charge, as was said, for the trustees' steward ; the foundation below ground is already rotten, * as the whole fabric must be in a short time, for the roof being flat the rain comes in at all parts of it.
4. The storehouse, which has been many times altered and amended at a very great charge, and it now serves as a store for the private benefit of one or two, as before mentioned.
5. The guard-house which was first built on the bluff soon decayed, as did a second, through improper management, this now standing being the third. Several flag-staffs were like- wise erected, the last of which, according to common report, cost 50 4. sterling.
6. A public mill for grinding corn was first erected at a considerable expense in one square of the town, but in about three years' time (without doing the least service ) it fell to the ground. In another square of the town a second was set up at a far greater expense, but never finished, and is now erased and converted into a house for entertaining the Indians, and other such like uses.
7. Wells and pumps were made at a great charge, but they were immediately choked up, and never rendered useful, though this grievance was frequently represented both to the General and magistrates ; the want of wells obliging the inhabitants to use the river water, which all the summer over is polluted with putrid marshes and the numberless insects that deposit their ova there, together with putrified carcasses of animals and corrupted vegetables, and this no doubt occasioned much of the sickness that swept off many.
Several of the houses which were built by freeholders, for want of heirs male, are fallen to the trustees ( even to the prejudice of the lawful creditors of the deceased ) and are disposed of as the General thinks proper.
* In August, 1740, a new foundation was begun.
.
-
80
At least two hundred lots were taken up in Savannah, about one hundred and seventy of which were built * upon ; a great many of these are now ruinous, and many more shut up and abandoned, so that the town appears very desolate, scarce one- quarter part of its inhabitants being left, and most of those in a miserable condition for want of the proper necessaries of life.
St. Simons island, having on the east the Gulf of Florida, on the other sides branches of the Alatamaha, is about one hundred miles south of Savannah, and extends in length about twenty, in breadth from two to five miles. On the west side of it, on a low bluff, stands Frederica, having woods to the north and south, to the east partly woods, partly savannas, and partly marsh.
The soil is mostly blackish sand; the fortifications are augmented since the retreat from Augustine, and here lie most of the remains of General Oglethorpe's regiment. Frederica was laid out in form of a crescent, divided into one hundred and forty-four lots, whereof about fifty were built upon ; the number of the inhabitants, notwithstanding of the circulation of the regiment's money, are not above one hundred and twenty men, women, and children, and these are daily stealing away by all posible ways. On the sea point, about five miles south- east of the town were three companies of the soldiers stationed before the attempt upon St. Augustine ; several pretty houses were built by the officers, and many lots set off to the soldiers and entered upon by them ; most, if not all, now desolate. Several of the officers of the regiment brought over servants to cultivate land : Colonel Cochran, twenty servants ; Lieuten- ant Horton, at Jekyl, sixteen servants; Captain Gascoign, at least as many; all gone, and, according to the best of our information, about two hundred of the regiment are diminished.
About twenty miles northwest from St. Simons is Darien, the settlement of the Scots Highlanders ; the town is situate on the mainland, close to a branch of the Alatamaha river, on a bluff twenty feet high ; the town is surrounded on all sides with woods, the soil is a blackish sand. Here were upwards of two hundred and fifty persons settled, who, in the spring of 1736, built a large fort for their own protection, and the poor remains of these are now no more than fifty-three ( above two-
* Several of these had more than one house upon them.
a
81
thirds of which are women and children ) besides eleven of the trustees' servants, enlisted as soldiers, and stationed there under the command of an officer, in order to keep the others from going away, who are nevertheless making their escape daily.
The southernmost settlement in Georgia is Fort St. Andrews, fifty miles south from Frederica, on the southwest side of Cum- berland island, upon a high neck of land, which commands the river both ways; the walls are of wood, filled up with earth, round which are a ditch and palisade; two companies of General Oglethorpe's regiment were formerly stationed there, but are now mostly drawn to Frederica.
Opposite to Frederica, on the main, were settled Messrs. Carr and Carteret, with above twenty servants, where they cleared a considerable tract of land, but that plantation is now quitted, and their servants either dead or dispersed. We have lately heard from Frederica that the General having stationed ten or twelve men upon this place, they were attacked by Span- iards or Spanish Indians, four were killed, four carried off, and two left wounded.
New Ebenezer, to which the Saltzburghers removed from their former habitation at Old Ebenezer, consists of about one hundred persons, under the government of Mr. Boltzius, their pastor ; they live and labor in a kind of community, and never commix or associate with strangers ; they have been hitherto liberally supported both from Germany and England, and their rights and privileges have been much more extensive than any others in the colony. This town lies six miles eastward from the old, on a high bluff upon the side of Savannah river, and forty miles from Savannah. Near to this place, on a creek of the same river, was built a saw-mill, which cost of the public money above 1500/. sterling, but, like most other public works, is now entirely ruinous.
About ten miles east of Ebenezer, on a creek three miles from the river, was the village of Abercorn. In the year 1733 there were ten families settled there, and several afterwards. In the year 1737, Mr. John Brodie, with twelve servants, settled there. But all those are gone, and it is now a heap of ruins.
Four miles below Abercorn, upon the river side, is Josephs-
أس فو
82
town, which was the settlement of some Scotch gentlemen, with thirty servants ; but they have now left it, most of their servants having died there.
A mile below, on the river side, is the settlement where Sir Francis Bathurst, with twelve in family and servants, was placed ; now in ruins, without an inhabitant.
A quarter of a mile below was the settlement of Walter Augustine, with six in family. Within this settlement was another mill erected, at the charge of above Sool. sterling, all now in ruins, without an inhabitant.
. A mile below is Landiloe, the settlement of Mr. Robert Williams, with forty servants, who made large improvements there, and continued for the space of four years, planting each season with great industry in various shapes, still expecting, with the other settlers, an alteration in the constitution ; but at last, having sunk a great deal of money, he was obliged to leave it, with the loss of above two thousand pounds sterling, and it is now uninhabited and very much decayed. Next below that is the five-hundred-acre tract belonging to Dr. Patrick Tailfer, which was settled, but found impracticable to proceed upon by reason of the hardships and restrictions in the colony. Next to that is Mr. Jacob Mathew's plantation (formerly Mr. Musgrove's), called the Cow-pen, who lived there some time with ten servants, but has now left it and keeps only two or three to look after his cattle. Adjoining to this was Mr. Cooksey's settlement, with five in family, now entirely abandoned. Next to this was Captain Watson's plantation, with a good house, now in ruins. All these lie upon the side of the river ; and upon the east and southward were the settlements of Young, Emery, Polhil, and Warwick, all forsaken. Next upon the river side is the Indian land, before mentioned, separated from the foregoing settlements by a creek, and running all along to the town. A little below this creek is a place called Irene, where Mr. John Wesly built a pretty good house for an Indian school ; but he soon wearied of that undertaking, and left it. A little below this is the Indian town called New Yamacra, where the remainder of Tomo Chachi's Indians reside.
Five miles southwest of Savannah, on a small rise, stands the village of Highgate. Twelve families were settled here in
·
.
83
1733, mostly French, now reduced to two. A mile eastward of this is Hampstead, where several German families were settled in 1733, and some others since, now reduced to none.
Five miles southeast of Savannah is Thunderbolt, where there was a good timber fort, and three families with twenty servants were settled ; but it is now all in ruins and abandoned.
Four miles south of this is the island of Skiddoway, on the northeast point whereof ten families were settled in 1733; now reduced to none.
A creek divides Skiddoway from Tybee island, on the southeast part of which, fronting the inlet, the lighthouse is built. Twelve families were settled here in 1734, who have now forsaken it.
Twelve miles southward by land from Savannah, is Mr. Houston's plantation, kept with one servant ; and about thirty miles from that, up the river Ogeeche, were the settlements of Messrs. Stirling, etc., with twenty-five servants. This place, when they went there, was the southernmost settle- ment in the colony, and very *remote, so that they were obliged to build, at their own expense and at a considerable charge, a strong wooden fort for their defence. And the said Messrs. Stirling, having resided there about three years with the servants, they were obliged to leave it after having ex- hausted their fortunes to no purpose in the experiment.
Twenty miles above this, on a high bluff on the same river, stands Fort Argyle.t It is a small, square, wooden fort, musket- proof. Ten families were settled here and about it; now all gone, and the fort itself garrisoned by one officer, one Dutch servant, and one woman, who were lately surprised in the officer's absence, by two prisoners that broke out of the log house in Savannah, and both murdered.
Near the mouth of Vernon river, upon a kind of island (which is called Hope Isle) are the settlements of Messrs. John Fallowfield, Henry Parker, and Noble Jones. They have made some improvements there, but chiefly Mr. Fallow- field, who has a pretty little convenient house and garden, with a considerable stock of hogs and some cattle, etc., and where
*This was the only spot allowed them to settle upon, any other place being refused.
tThis is the place where a body of horse called the Southern Rangers, under the command of Captain James Macpherson, were stationed for several years, They were paid by the government of Carolina, but have been discharged for some time past.
84
.
he generally resides with his family. Near adjoining to this, upon a piece of land which commands the * Narrows, is a timber building called Jones' Fort, which serves for two uses ; namely, to support Mr. Noble Jones, who is commander of it, and to prevent the poor people of Frederica from getting to any. other place where they might be able to support themselves.
About three miles southeast of Savannah, upon Augustine creek, lies Oxstead, the settlement of Mr. Thomas Causton, improven by many hands and at a great charge, where he now resides with a few servants. Between Oxstead and the town of Savannah lie: first, Hermitage, the settlement of Mr. Hugh Anderson, who had seventeen in family and servants, but he was obliged both to leave that and retire from the colony about two years ago upon account of the general hardships; second, the settlements of Mr. Thomas Christie and six others belong- ing to the township of Savannah, all now forsaken; third, the settlements of the Germans of Count Zinzendorff, who were twenty families, which are likewise now entirely abandoned, they having all gone to other colonies.
Upon the west side of Savannah lie the township lots of the Jews, now deserted, they having all gone to other colonies except three or four, as are all others on that quarter except- ing one or two. About three miles from Savannah, on the south, the settlement of Mr. William Williamson is in the same condition; and also, the settlement belonging to the trustees adjoining to Mr. Williamson's, which was committed by them to the care of Mr. William Bradley, their steward, to be culti- vated and improved by him at their charge, as an example to others and to satisfy themselves what improvements in land were practicable by white servants. The event might have opened the eyes of any that would see. Upwards of twenty, sometimes thirty, servants were employed, above two thou- sand pounds sterling expended in the experiment, and never so much of any kind of grain raised from it as would have main- tained the numbers employed about it six months. It now lies on a par with the most ruinous plantation in Georgia. Part of their Dutch servants have been employed last year by Mr. . Thomas Jones upon a new plantation about a mile to the south-
* This is a narrow passage through which boats are obliged to pass and repass in going to and from the southward.
85
ward of Savannah. They were twenty-five in number and maintained at the expense of 8d. sterling each per diem, and we have lately been credibly informed the whole produce did not exceed one hundred bushels of corn.
The Orphan-house is situated fourteen miles southeast of Savannah. This famous work was begun in March, 1740, and during the space of six months there were about one hundred people, men, women, and children, maintained and employed about it, and, according to their own calculation, they have expended near four thousand pounds sterling. But ever since Mr. Whitefield left Georgia, the latter end of August in the same year, it has decayed apace; for, besides those he then carried to the northward with him, a great many have since left them, and their money growing short, they were soon obliged to discharge most of the workmen; besides, of late, many divisions have arisen amongst them ; in short, the design seems to be drawing near a period, although at this time the house itself is scarcely half finished. It is built upon a low pine barren, surrounded on one side with a large tract of salt marsh extending to Vernon river, to which they have a passage by water, when the tides are up, for small craft. On the other side it is surrounded with woods. They have cleared about ten acres of ground and have built several houses and huts. The frame of the Orphan-house is up, the roof shingled, and the sides weather-boarded. It is sixty feet in length, forty feet wide. It has two stories besides cellars and garrets ; the cellars are built of brick, which likewise serves for a founda- tion to the whole building. It would certainly be a fine piece of work if finished; but if it were finished, where is the fund for its support ? And what service can an Orphan-house be in a desert and a forsaken colony ?
About three or four miles from the Orphan-house, on the side of the Vernon river, William Stephens, Esq. (formerly mentioned), has a plantation with five or six servants, who have cleared about seven or eight acres. However, if he reaps no benefit from them, he is at as little charge to maintain them .*
As it would be too tedious to mention particularly the town- . ship, or five and forty-five acre lots, being in all about one
* The trustees allow him so many servants and their maintenance.
86
hundred that were settled, we need only therefore in general say that there are few or none of them but what are in the same condition with those before specified; viz., ruinous and desolate.
The last place we shall mention is Augusta, distant from Savannah two hundred miles up the river, on the same side ; it was founded in 1737, at a considerable charge, under the direction of one Mr. Roger Lacy, being at that time agent to the Cherokee nation ;' it is principally; if not altogether, in- habited by Indian traders and store-keepers, the number of whom may now be about thirty or upwards, and a consider- able quantity of corn has been raised there. To account for this singular circumstance we shall only assign two reasons, the first is the goodness of the land, which at so great a distance from the sea is richer than in the maritime parts; the second and chief one is the settlers there are indulged in and connived at the use of negroes, by whom they execute all the laborious parts of culture, and the fact is undoubted and certain that upwards of eighty negroes are now in the settlements belong- ing to that place. We do not observe this as if it gives us any uneasiness that our fellow-planters are indulging in what is so necessary for their well-being, but we may be allowed to regret that we and so many British subjects who stood much more in need of them, should have been ruined for want of such assistance.
Having now taken a survey of the colony of Georgia, we shall conclude this treatise by taking notice of two or three of the most remarkable transactions in it since October last.
On the tenth day of November a court was called at Savan- nah, where Colonel Stephens read a paragraph of a letter which he said was from the trustees, desiring the inhabitants to set forth their miseries, hardships, and difficulties, in writ- ing, in order to have the seal of the colony affixed thereto, and so transmitted to the trustees ; whereupon Mr. Stephens gave the recorder a paper to read, in which the colony was repre- sented in a most flourishing condition (in the town of Augusta alone there were represented to be white people and
pack-horses belonging thereto who were employed in the Indian trade), enumerating the many useful, fine, and curious productions of it, such as hedges with pomegranates
-
87
growing upon them, wine, silk, oil, wheat, etc., with many other hyperboles ; this paper Mr. Stephens said he had been at great care and pains about, and which he took to be a just answer to the trustees' letter, with the true state of the colony ; but the poor people seeing the absurdity and falseness of it, soon discovered their dislike thereof by leaving the court-house, and only eighteen persons signed the same, every one of whom were supported in one shape or other by the public. Mr. Fallowfield, then on the bench, used what arguments he could to persuade them that it was reasonable every person should represent his own case to the trustees, and he apprehended the design of the trustees was such, but Stephens, in a passion, said except they would sign this, they should have the public seal to no other paper ; so it was to no purpose what either he or the recorder, Mr. John Py, could urge, who very soon left the court, declaring their dislike and abhorence of such pro- ceedings ; but immediately they, with the rest of the inhabi- tants, to the number of above sixty, drew up a remonstrance to the trustees, in which they fully set forth the true state of the colony, with their own miserable condition in it. This paper, and soon after a petition to the king and council, etc., were lately transmitted to the authors hereof, who immediately forwarded them for London, but as the issue thereof is now pending, we do not think it proper to expose them to the public.
On the second of April last a fire broke out by accident in a smith's forge in Savannah which consumed almost one whole . square, and in the highest rage of the devouring flames Mr. Thomas Jones stood an idle spectator with his hands in his bosom, and with the utmost unconcernedness, insomuch that when he was applied to by several of the miserable people for a small quantity of gun-powder to blow up an adjoining house in order to prevent the fire from spreading, his answer was, "I can do nothing in it, I have no orders concerning such matters."
We have lately been informed from Frederica, that the Gen- eral having stationed twelve men upon the place which was the settlement of Messrs. Ker and Carteret before mentioned, they were attacked by Spaniards or Spanish Indians, and four were killed, four carried off, and two wounded.
A good many of the people have come away from Frederica lately, and in order to get off were obliged to make use of.
.
88
stratagems, such as going a hunting upon the islands, etc. We are informed that some differences have happened between the General and some of the magistrates there, and that in the place of one of them he has appointed one of his waiting boys. Several of the poor remainder of the Darien people have like- wise escaped, notwithstanding the body of forces stationed there to prevent them.
Having thus brought this historical narrative within the compass proposed, and endeavored to dispose the materials in as distinct a method and series as the necessary conciseness would allow, we readily admit that the design is far from being complete. To have acquainted the world with all the hard- ships and oppressions which have been exercised in the Colony of Georgia, must have required both a larger volume than we were capable of publishing and more time than we could be- stow. We therefore satisfy ourselves that we have, with care and sincerity, executed só much of the design as may pave the way to any others who can descend more minutely to particu- lars, and those who are best acquainted with the affairs of that colony will be most capable of judging how tenderly we have touched both persons and things.
It only remains that we, in a few paragraphs, endeavor to exhibit to the view of 'the reader the real causes of the ruin and desolation of the colony, and those briefly are the following :
I. The representing the climate, soil, etc., of Georgia in false and too flattering colors, at least the not contradicting those accounts when publicly printed and dispersed, and satis- fying the world in a true and genuine description thereof.
2. The restricting the tenure of lands from a fee simple to tail-male, cutting off daughters and all other relations.
3. The restraining the proprietor from selling, disposing of, or leasing any possession.
4. The restricting too much the extent of possessions, it being impossible that fifty acres of good land, much less pine barren, could maintain a white family.
5. The laying the planter under a variety of restraints in clearing, fencing, planting, etc., which were impossible to be complied with.
6. The exacting a much higher quit-rent than the richest grounds in North America can bear.
·
89
7. But chiefly the denying the use of negroes, and persist- ' ing in such denial after, by repeated applications, we had humbly remonstrated the impossibility of making improvements to any advantage with white servants.
8. The denying us the privilege of being judged by the laws of our mother country, and subjecting the lives and for- tunes of all people in the colony to one person, or set of men, who assumed the privilege, under the name of a Court of Chancery, of acting according to their own will and fancy.
9. General Oglethorpe's taking upon him to nominate magistrates, appoint justices of the peace, and to do many other such things, without ever exhibiting to the people. any legal commission or authority for so doing.
IO. The neglecting the proper means for encouraging the silk and wine manufactures, and disposing of the liberal sums contributed by the public, and by private persons, in such ways and channels as to have been of little or no service to the colony.
II. The missapplying or keeping up sums of money which have been appointed for particular uses, such as building a church, etc., several hundreds of pounds sterling, as we are informed, having been lodged in Mr. Oglethorpe's hands for some years by past, for that purpose, and not one stone of it yet laid.
12. The assigning certain fixed tracts of land to those who came to settle in the colony, without any regard to the quality of the ground, occupation, judgment, ability, or inclination of the settler, etc., etc.
By these and many other such hardships the poor inhabi-
· tants of Georgia are scattered over the face of the earth ; her plantations a wild, her towns a desert, her villages in rub- bish, her improvements a by-word, and her liberties a jest. An object of pity to friends, and of insult, contempt and ridicule to enemies.
THE END.
1
F 867.965
4964
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.