USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 10
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In Memory of the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, D. D., Missionary Bishop of the South-West, First Bishop of Louisiana and Lieut-General in the Army of the Confederate States, born April 10th, 1806, fell at Pine Mountain, Ga., June 14th, 1864. Behold my witness is in Heaven and my record is on High .- Job. 16:19.
Mr. Richard Tubman, one of the most generous bene- factors of the church and one of the most useful citizens of Augusta, lies buried, at his request, beneath the church and, on the walls, the vestry has placed to his memory an appropriate tablet. The memorial of Judge John P. King, for forty years president of the Georgia Railroad and a Senator of the United States from Georgia, cov- ers the south wall of the church. Captain John Car- ter, an officer in the Continental army and first warden of St. Paul's after the Revolution, is commemorated with his family in the beautiful doorway to the Baptistry ; and all around there are memorials of noted men and noble women, whose lives have formed part of the history of
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the church. The original communion service of silver, given to the congregation by the Trustees of the Colony, was lost or destroyed during the Revolution, but the one now in use dates back to 1820. From year to year the historic old church grows richer in costly and precious mementoes of the past .*
*See Volume II for a list of the illustrious dead buried in St. Paul's Churchyard.
CHAPTER XXV
Meadow Garden: The Home of Governor Walton
W ITH the single exception of old St. Paul's, the most ancient land-mark of Augusta is Meadow Garden, the home of Governor George Walton, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia. The structure itself is much older than the present edifice of St. Paul's, the latter having been built in 1819; but since the present church building occu- pies the site of the original house of worship, it is conse- quently linked in association with the earliest pioneer days. Meadow Garden is situated on the banks of the Augusta canal; and here, amid surroundings which sug- gest an era of industrial enterprise, with its ceaseless hum of spindles and with its mad rush after things mate- rial, this quaint old mansion preserves the antique look of the olden times. It is not known when the present building was erected; but Governor Walton was living at Meadow Garden in 1797, according to his own state- ment made in letters which have been preserved; and, moreover, it was from Meadow Garden that the old patriot, in 1804, was borne to his burial. The remains of Governor Walton were first interred in the Cottage Cemetery, on the old Savannah road, some seven miles from Augusta; and here they rested until 1848 when the body was exhumed and placed under the monument erected to the Singers, directly in front of the court- house in Augusta, where today sleeps the illustrious citi- zen who held nearly every important office in Georgia's gift.
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There is not perhaps in the entire State of Georgia a shrine of historic memories more frequently visited by tourists. This is because it is one of the few homes in America whose connection with the Colonial period can be distinctly traced. It was here that much of the social life of two centuries ago centered. Its spacious hallway -its antique furniture-its open fire-places-its atmos- phere of dignified repose-these all bespeak the time when knighthood was in flower. It carries the imagina- tion back to the days when the belles of Augusta danced the minuet-to the days when the powdered wig and the knee-buckle were worn by an old-fashioned gentry whose stately forms have vanished. The abodes of most of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence have long since crumbled into dust. Time has not dealt kindly with them; but around the hearthstones of Meadow Garden still linger the recollections of an old patriot whose name is attached to the immortal scroll of freedom.
It is not invidious to state in this connection that the credit for the restoration of Meadow Garden belongs to an Augusta lady whose unwearied exertions were devoted to the cause, without a moment's rest or relaxation, until success at last crowned it-Mrs. Harriet Gould Jefferies. She first conceived the idea soon after joining the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, during the infancy of this patriotic order. The famous old land-mark was rapidly falling into decay, when Mrs. Jefferies came to the rescue. The task of preserving it became literally her pillar of cloud by day and her pillar of fire by night. She first turned to the city of Augusta. But the com- mercial spirit was dominant in its councils. The town was deaf to the claims of its old Revolutionary patriot. She then turned to the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Here another defeat was encountered. But she retired from the contest only to renew the gage of battle. At the next annual meeting she won. The opposition was pronounced. Even the
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President-General was antagonistic; but the majority was on the side of Mrs. Jefferies. Thus the home of George Walton became the property of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In due time the old Colonial mansion was opened to the public, its original features having been fully restored. The wisdom of the purchase has been amply justified by results. It has become the depository of many precious relies and mementoes of the struggle for independence. Nor is the portrait of Mrs. Jefferies which hangs upon the walls accounted among the least of the treasures of Meadow Garden. In presenting it to the board of man- agement, an eloquent address was made by the distin- guished Mrs. S. B. C. Morgan, one of the charter mem- bers of the national organization.
CHAPTER XXVI
The Invention of the Cotton Gin: An Authentic Account
O NE of the original cotton gins invented by Eli Whitney was for years in the possession of Judge Garnett Andrews, of Washington, Ga. The old relic was a gift to the owner from Governor Matthew Talbot, on whose extensive plantation, near Washington, not far from the present site of Smyrna church, the first gin house in Upper Georgia, if not in the entire State, was erected. The old building still survives, in a fair state of preservation, though as late as 1903 it was used as a negro house. Miss Eliza F. Andrews, his daughter, retains the most vivid recollections of the old gin. Dur- ing her girlhood days it occupied a place in the attic of the family homestead in Washington and many an hour was spent by her in the company of this quaint heir- loom, when rainy weather kept the children indoors. The gin was eventually lost at an agricultural fair in Augusta, Ga. The story told by Miss Andrews is strictly authentic. It is the only account in existence which purports to give the inside facts of Whitney's great invention. Judge Andrews and Mr. Phineas M. Nightingale, a grandson of General Nathanael Greene, lived for years on adjoin- ing plantations and it was from the latter that Miss Andrews received the account at first hand.
Eli Whitney, it will be remembered, at the time of inventing the cotton gin, was a guest in the widow Greene's household. The story as recalled from memory
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by Miss Andrews was reduced to writing years later. It was also verified by a letter dated January 20, 1892, from Mrs. P. M. Nightingale, then an old lady in her eighty-second year but with her mental faculties unim- paired. The maiden name of Mrs. Nightingale was Mary King. She was a member of the noted family of New York State and a charming old gentlewoman. Miss Andrews, the author of the following account, is an eminent Southern educator, who has achieved wide note in the realm of letters. Her father, Judge Garnett Andrews, was one of Georgia's most distinguished jurists. The author wrote her first account of the inven- tion for the Scientific American, sometime in the early seventies, after which she published in the Augusta Chronicle, on September 20, 1905, an article on the part played by Mrs. Miller in Whitney's great invention. It is no exaggeration to say that the cotton gin deservedly ranks among the foremost achievements of modern times. It riveted the institution of slavery upon the South and became the ultimate cause of the War Between the States. Today more than half of the human race is clothed by cotton fabrics, the manufacture of which has been stimulated and developed by the cotton gin. Says Miss Andrews :
"Eli Whitney, at the time of inventing the cotton gin, was a guest at Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, Georgia, the home of Gen. Nathanael Greene, of Revolutionary fame. After the death of the general, his widow married Phineas Miller, tutor to Gen Greene's children, and a friend and college mate of Whitney's. The ingenuity of the Yankee visitor, as exhibited in various amateur devices and tinkerings about the premises, inspired the family with such confidence in his skill that, on one ac- casion, when Mrs. Miller's watch was out of order, she gave it to Mr. Whitney for repair, no professional watch- maker being within reach. Not long thereafter, a gentle-
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man called at the house to exhibit a fine sample of cotton wool, and incidentally remarked while displaying the sample: 'There is a fortune in store for some one who will invent a machine for separating the lint from the seed.' Mrs. Miller, who was present, turned to Whitney and said: 'You are the very man, Mr. Whitney, for since you succeeded so well with my watch I am sure you have ingenuity enough to make such a machine.'
"After this conversation, Mr. Whitney confined him- self closely to his room for several weeks. At the end of this time he invited the family to inspect his model for a cotton gin. It was constructed with wire teeth on a revolving cylinder. However, there was no contrivance for throwing off the lint after it was separated from the seed and it wrapped around the cylinder, thereby greatly obstructing the operation. Mrs. Miller, seeing the diffi- culty, seized a common clothes brush, applied it to the teeth, and caught the lint. Whitney, with delight, ex- claimed : 'Madam, you have solved the problem. With this suggestion, my machine is complete.' "
The following letter from Mrs. Nightingale, widow of Phineas M. Nightingale, of Dungeness, corroborates in every particular the account given by Miss Andrews. It reads as follows :
Brunswick, Ga., January 20, 1892.
Dear Miss Andrews:
I am very sorry not to have been able to send an earlier response to your letter about Mr. Whitney and the cotton gin. I do not remember much about the partic- ulars of his visit to Savannah, but I am sure of a few things. Mr. Miller was the tutor of Mrs. Greene's chil- dren and Mr. Whitney was his friend, and it was during his residence in Mrs. Greene's house, near Savannah, that he undertook, at her suggestion, to invent a machine that would separate the sea-island cotton seed from the lint, more rapidly and effectively than by hand, which was a very slow process. Mrs. Greene and Mr. Miller were the first persons to whom he displayed his model.
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It lacked one thing-a contrivance to throw off the lint when separated from the seed. Mrs. Greene saw the want at once and, snatching up a clothes brush, she ap- plied it to the teeth and caught the lint. Mr. Whitney was delighted. "Madam", said he, "with your sugges- tion, my machine is complete. Mrs. Greene married Mr. Miller and they built the Dungeness house, i. e., the origi- nal mansion finished in 1803. General Greene had selec- ted the site and made arrangements for building before his death. With my kindest regards, I am,
Very truly yours, MARY K. NIGHTINGALE.
"The important part thus played by a woman in the history of the cotton gin is unknown, I believe, except as a family tradition, even in her own State. My father was also informed by a gentleman once connected with Whit- ney in business, that the latter obtained his first idea of the invention, from a machine used to prepare rags for making paper, which he saw on a wrecked vessel. Un- fortunately for Mr. Whitney, the prediction with regard to the fortune in store for the future inventor of the cotton gin was not realized, for he was engaged in con- stant lawsuits against infringements of his patent rights, and lived and died poor. As a Georgian, I regret to say that his adopted State has never bestowed any substan- tial token of appreciation upon the inventor of a machine by which she has so largely profited. Tennessee, Ala- bama, and South Carolina, manifested their appreciation of his merits by substantial donations, while Georgia- with sorrow I write it-has been worse than silent, for her juries refused him verdicts to which the judges de- clared him entitled, against the violators of his patent.
"So uncertain was the enforcement of the patent laws in those days that Whitney resorted to the same expe- dient for the protection of his rights that, in medieval times, used to invite charges of sorcery and witchcraft; I mean the expedient of secrecy.
-
WHERE ONE OF THE FIRST COTTON GINS MADE BY ELI WHITNEY WAS OPERATED, NEAR WASHINGTON, GA.
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"About the year 1794 or 1795, Whitney established a ginnery at Smyrna about six miles from Wasington, in Wilkes County, Georgia. This was one of the first, if not the very first cotton gin ever worked in the State. Together with his partner, a man named Durhee, he erected at this place a large cotton store house, which in 1870 served as a barn for Mrs. Tom Burdett. The gin house had narrow grated windows so that visitors might stand outside and watch the cotton flying from the gin, without observing the operation of the machine, which was concealed behind a lower screen. On the occasion of a militia muster in the neighborhood, the rustic batallion was permitted to file through the house, while Whitney's gin was in operation, and see the flakes of cotton thrown off by the brushes, but no one was allowed to examine further.
"Women were permitted by Whitney to enter his gin house and examine the machine, if they liked, as they were not supposed to be capable of betraying the secret to builders-an opinion for which modern females of the strong-minded school, will no doubt bear him a grudge- and not altogether without reason when we consider the material assistance he received from a woman in perfect- ing his invention. This fact of the free admission of women was used to advantage by Edward Lyon, a smooth- faced youth residing at a distance, to gain admission to Whitney's establishment, disguised in female attire. He communicated the secret to his brother John, who im- mediately set to work and produced his improvement on Whitney's invention, in the shape of the modern saw gin. The saws were made for him by Billy McFerrin, an Irish blacksmith in Wilkes County, who died some twenty-five or thirty years ago. This was the first gin ever made. The saws were constructed in semicircles and fastened around the cylinder in pairs, so as to form complete circles when finished.
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"As early as 1797, a gin factory was established in Georgia by a man named McCloud, and Whitney's law- suits against him were all unsuccessful. An old gentle- man who purchased a gin from McCloud told my father years later that even then it worked as well as new. It was propelled by water, and ginned 2,500 pounds of seed cotton per day. Previous to this. the gin in ordinary use was an arrangement of two wooden rollers, revolving in opposite directions, which preceded Mr. Whitney's invention. It was worked by hand, and ginned only from 75 to 100 pounds per day, and a man had to be constantly employed in turning rollers, the friction burnt out so fast. This machine is still used in ginning the best qualities of sea-island cotton, the advantage being that it does not cut the staple as the saw gins do.
"The honor of having invented the first cotton gin is sometimes disputed with Eli Whitney in favor of Mr. Bull, a gentleman from Baltimore, who settled in Colum- bia County, Georgia, and introduced the saw gin there in 1795. He first used perpendicular saws, but afterwards changed them for circular ones in imitation no doubt of Whitney and Lyon. Mr. Bull was an enterprising and ingenius man, and the first to introduce iron packing screws into this State .* Costing from $1,500 to $1,800 these were so expensive that they were soon abandoned for the common wooden screw, now in general use on plantations. His invention of the perpendicular saw gin was-there seems to be no doubt-independent of Whit- ney's, though posterior to it, the latter having come into operation in 1793. Thus, though Eli Whitney failed to realize the profits of his invention, it seems clear that he must be left in undisputed possession of at least the barren honors."
*Says Miss Andrews in a letter to the author: "The only iron packing screw of this kind I remember ever to have seen was still in use a few years ago on a plantation of Mr. Gabriel Toombs. I am inclined to think it was, if not one of those introduced by Colonel Bull, at least made upon his model, but for this I cannot vouch. I am trying to trace its origin, but without much headway, I fear. It is considerably smaller than the tall old wooden screws that were so common in my youth."
CHAPTER XXVII
War Hill: Where the Famous Revolutionary Battle of Kettle Creek Was Fought
E IGHT miles west of Washington is War Hill, the scene of the famous battle of Kettle Creek. Here, on St. Valentine's Day, February 14, 1779,
a decisive victory by the Americans sounded the death-knell of Toryism in Upper Georgia. The ground on which this crucial engagement was fought has been acquired for memorial purposes by Kettle Creek Chapter of the D. A. R., which patriotic organization with the help of the United States government, will furnish it with appropriate markers and preserve it for posterity as a monument to American valor. We quote the follow- ing description of the battle-ground from the pen of Miss Eliza Bowen, the accredited historian of Wilkes: "I have myself seen the battle-ground of Kettle Creek, which is on a plantation now belonging to Henry Slaton. There is a steep bluff on the south side of the creek, which is to this day called War Hill, by people living in the neighbor- hood. On the north side is a low meadow, beyond which, near the creek, is a swamp, part of which was then cover- ed by a cane-brake. Boyd's men were killing bullocks and parching corn when they unexpectedly heard the fir- ing of pickets." According to Miss Bowen, the Ameri- cans, in this engagement, were only 500 strong, while there were not less than 700 men under Colonel Boyd. On the eve of the battle, Elijah Clarke camped in the neighborhood of what is now the Jordan burial-ground,
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near Clarke's Station, where several of the members of his family were afterwards buried. The old soldier eventually acquired large bodies of land on Kettle Creek, and today all the original deeds and titles run back to him. It is said that for years it was not unusual for parties who were on the tramp through this section to pick up musket balls, old bayonets, old gun-barrels and other odd and curious relics, which recent hard rains had brought to the surface of the ground. As late as 1876 an old silver coin was found on the battle field of Kettle Creek, which, according to last accounts, was owned by Henry Slaton."
Bishop Stevens in Volume II of his authoritative work gives an excellent account of the battle of Kettle Creek : Says he *:
"The enemy having effected a passage into Georgia, Pickens and Dooly, now joined by Colonel Clarke, re- solved to follow; and they accordingly crossed the Savan- nah on February 12, 1779 and camped the following night within four miles of the enemy. Forming the line of march in the order of battle, the Americans now prepared once more, at a great disadvantage of numbers, to contest with the Tories for the supremacy of Upper Georgia. Much depended on this battle. If Boyd should be success- ful in driving back the Americans, under such men as Pickens and Dooly and Clarke, he might rest assured that no further molestation, at least for a very long time, would follow, and all would yield to the British power; while, on the other hand, should the Americans be suc- cessful, it would not only crush the Tory power, already so galling to the people, but protect them from further insult, and give a stimulus to American courage, which a long series of disasters made essential. It was a moment big with the fate of Upper Georgia.
"Boyd, with a carelessness evincing great lack of military skill and prudence, had halted on the morning
*Wm. Bacon Stevens, in Vol. 2, History of Georgia, New York, 1847.
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of the 14th of February, [1779], at a farm near Kettle Creek, in Wilkes County, having no suspicion of the near approach of the Americans, and his army was dispersed in various directions, killing and gathering stock, cooking and other operations. Having reconnoitered the enemy's position, the Americans, under Pickens, advanced in three divisions : the right under Colonel Dooly, the left under Colonel Clarke, and the center led by the com- mander himself, with orders not to fire a gun until within at, least thirty paces. As the center, led by Pickens marched to the attack, Boyd met them, at the head of a select party, his line being protected by a fence filled with fallen timber, which gave him a great advantage over the troops in his front. Observing this half-formed abatis, Pickens filed off to a rising ground on his right, and thence gaining the flank of Boyd rushed upon him with great bravery-the enemy fleeing when they saw the leader shot down before them. He was sustained in this charge by Dooly and Clarke, and the enemy, after fighting with great bravery, retired across the creek, but were rallied by Major Spurgen, on a hill beyond, where the battle was again renewed with fierceness.
"But Colonel Clarke, with about fifty Georgians, having discovered a path leading to a ford, pushed through it, though in doing so he encountered a severe through it, though in doing so he encountered a severe fire and his horse shot down under him, and, by a circuit- ous route, rose upon the hill in the rear of Spurgen, when, opening a deadly fire, the enemy, hemmed in on both sides, fled, and were hotly pursued by the victors, until the conquest was complete. For an hour and a half, under great disadvantage, and against a force almost double, had the Americans maintained the unequal con- test, and, though once or twice it seemed as if they must give way, especially when the Tories had gained the hill, and were reinforced under Spurgen; yet the masterly stroke of Clarke, with his few brave Georgians, turned the scale, and victory, bloody indeed but complete, was ours.
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Capt. Hugh MeCall, who was present at the battle of Kettle Creek, thus describes the death of the famous Tory leader. Says he: "After the action was ended, Colonel Pickens went to Colonel Boyd and tendered him any services which his present situation would authorize, and observed that, since his wounds ap- peared to be mortal, he would recommend those pre- parations which approaching death required. Boyd thanked him for his civilities and inquired the result of the battle. Upon being informed that victory was with the Americans, he observed that it would have been otherwise if he had not fallen. He said that he had marched from his rendezvous with eight hundred men, of which number one hundred were killed and wounded, or deserted at the Savannah River; and that on the morn- ing of the action there were seven hundred men under his command. He had the promise of Colonel Campbell that McGirth, with five hundred men, should join him at Little River, about six miles from the field of battle, on the same evening or on the ensuing day and he con- cluded by saying that he had but a few hours to live, and requested that Colonel Pickens would leave two men with him to furnish him with water and to bury him after he died; also that Colonel Pickens would write a letter to Mrs. Boyd to inform her of his fate, and therewith send her a few articles which he had about his person. He expired early in the night; and his requests of Colonel Pickens were faithfully complied with."* From the stand-point of an eyewitness, Captain McCall further informs us in regard to this battle that Clarke and Dooly, who commanded the two wings, had one hun- dred men each and that Colonel Pickens, who led the center, had two hundred and fifty men, thus making the odds four to seven in favor of the British; but it was nevertheless ordained that victory should perch upon the American arms.
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