USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > History of Savannah, Ga.; from its settlement to the close of the eighteenth century > Part 13
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Dr. W. W. Owens is a native of Savannah, and was born in January, 1863, and since his graduation from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Virginia, 1885, has been located in Savannah.
Dr. C. H. Colding was born in 1832, and is a native of South Caro- lina. In 1855 he graduated at the Savannah Medical College. He is the physician in charge of the Savannah Hospital.
Dr. Matthew F. Dunn was born in Savannah in 1859, and in 1885 graduated at the New York Medical College. He has since been prac- ticing his profession in Savannah.
Medical College .- Efforts to maintain a medical college in Savannah have not been successful. Several causes can be attributed for this failure, but the main factor in the non-maintenance of such an institution can be found in the lack of hearty and united support of the medical fraternity. As early as 1838 an act was passed by the State Legislature of Georgia, incorporating the Savannah Medical College, and naming as trustees J. M. Berrien, R. M. Charlton, William C. Daniel, William Law, James W. Jackson, Colonel William Thorne William, William R. Waring, and Rev. Edward Neufville. Nothing, however, was done to carry the project in- to execution until in 1852, when on July 20 of this year a body known as the Savannah Medical Institute was incorporated by the Superior Court of Chatham County. These two corporate bodies soon after per- fected an organization by electing two trustees to fill vacancies in the board of trustees, named by the original legislative act of 1838. R. D. Arnold and P. M. Kollock being elected in place of Dr. W. C. Daniel, and Rev. Edward Neufville ; Dr. R. D. Arnold was elected president of the board of trustees, and C. W. West, secretary and treasurer. The college building was completed in 1853, at a cost of about $19,000.
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HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
The first faculty of the college was elected in March, 1853, and was composed as follows : R. D. Arnold, M.D., professor of the theory and practice of medicine ; P. M. Kollock, M.D., professor of obstetrics and dis- eases of women and children ; W. G Bullock, M.D., professor of princi- ples and practice of surgery ; J. G. Howard, M.D., professor of anatomy ; H. L. Byrd, M.D., professor of materia medica ; E. H. Martin, M.D., professor of physiology ; J. Bond Read, M.D., professor of pathological anatomy. C. W. West was elected dean of the faculty.
The first course of lectures was begun in November, 1853, and during the term thirty-six students were in attendance. At the end of the term six students were graduated, the class being composed of John M. Arm- field, Elisha Harrall, Joseph L. Hawkins, Richard J. Nunn, George W. Cleland, and Joseph J. West.
Courses of lectures were continued to full classes, with occasional change in faculty, until the breaking out of the war between the States, when the unsettled condition of the country made it impossible to con- tinue the college. Instruction was therefore discontinued until the war closed. In November, 1866, the college was again opened with the fol- lowing faculty : Thomas Smith, M.D., adjunct professor of obstetrics and diseases of women and children; Richard J. Nunn, M.D., adjunct pro- fessor of materia medica; Thomas J. Charlton, M.D., adjunct professor of surgery ; William H. Elliott, M.D., adjunct professor of chemistry ; J. G. Thomas, M.D., adjunct professor of pathology; William Duncan, M.D., demonstrator of anatomy ; Robert P. Myers, M.D., curator; J. J. Waring, M.D., dean of the faculty.
The college proceeded without material change in instructors until in May, 1870, when the entire faculty resigned, and a new faculty was elected after a conference with the trustees and the members of the regu- lar profession of the city. At the same time the number of trustees was increased from eight to twenty-one, the new board being composed of the following members: Joseph E. Johnston, J. W. Lathrop, Dr. Juriah Harriss, C. B. Nottingham, W. A. Green, Robert Batley, C. H. Hall, C. L. Redwine, E. H. W. Hunter, E. F. Knott, John C. Drake, J. J. Rob- inson, Samuel G. White, W. J. Johnson, R. J. Bruce, F. A. Stanford, E. A. Jelks, Rev. Robert W. B. Elliott, and W. P. Jennings. The faculty elected at this time was as follows: Juriah Harris, M.D., professor of the
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
principles and practice of medicine ; J. G. Thomas, M.D., professor of clinical medicine; W. G. Bulloch, M.D., professor of principles and prac- tice of surgery ; T. J. Charlton, M.D., professor of clinical surgery and venereal diseases ; J. D. Fish, M.D., professor of the principles and prac- tice of obstetrics; Thomas Smith, M.D., professor of clinical obstetrics and diseases of women and children ; W. H. Elliott, M.D., professor of anatomy ; R. J. Nunn., M.D., professor of materia medica ; William M. Charters, M.D., professor of chemistry ; A. J. Seemes, M.D., professor of physiology ; Hon. Solomon Cohn, professor of medical jurisprudence ; William Duncan, M.D., professor of pathological anatomy. J. D. Fish, M.D., was elected dean of the faculty.
Dr. Juriah Harriss and Dr. Thomas Smith, both members of the fac- ulty, died in 1878, after which the entire faculty resigned and a new corps of instructors was selected as follows : W. M. Charters, M.D., pro- fessor of chemistry ; William Duncan, M.D., professor of clinical medi- cine ; W. H. Elliott, M.D., professor of surgery ; T. J. Charlton, M.D., professor of obstetrics ; B. S. Purse, M.D., professor of materia medica ; J. P. S. Houstoun, M.D., professor of physiology ; George H. Stone, M. D., professor of anatomy.
The college proceeded without material change in faculty until 1881, when, on account of death among the faculty and an apparent lack of in- terest in the institution by the resident profession, the college suspended work. In 1871 the trustees sold the college building, and from that time until 1881 lectures were given in the Savannah Hospital building. Dr. William Duncan succeeded Dr. Fish as dean of the faculty in 1872, and retained the position until the college suspended work. .
Medical Society .- The medical association known as the Georgia Medical Society of Savannah, is one of the oldest in the United States. The act incorporating it was passed in 1804, and is as follows :
WHEREAS Noble Wimberly Jones, president; John Irvine, vice-pres- ident ; John Grimes, secretary ; Lemuel Kollock, treasurer ; John Cum- ming, James Ewell, Moses Sheftall, Joshua E. White, William Parker, Thomas Schley, George Jones, George Vinson Proctor, Henry Bourquin, Thomas Young, jr., Peter Ward, William Cocke, James Glenn, and Nich- olas S. Bayard, have by their petition represented, that they have associ- ated in the city of Savannah, under the style and name of " The Georgia
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Medical Society," for the purpose of lessening the fatality induced by climate and incidental causes, and improving the science of medicine. And in order to ensure and establish their said institution in a permanent and effectual manner, so that the benevolent and desirable objects thereof, may be executed with success and advantage, have prayed the legisla- ture to grant them an act of incorporation.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Georgia in general assembly met, and by the authority of the same, it is hereby enacted, That the several persons herein before named, and others who are, or may become members of the said society respectively, the officers and members thereof, and their successors, shall be, and are hereby declared to be a body corporate, in name and deed, by the style and denomination of " The Georgia Medical Society ;" and by the said name and style, shall have perpetual succession of officers and members, and a common seal to use ; and shall have power and au- thority to make, alter, amend and change such bye-laws as may be agreed on by members of the same ; provided such bye laws be not re- pugnant to the laws or the Constitution of this State or the United States. '
Section 2. And be it further enacted, that they shall have full power and authority under the style and name of the Georgia Medical Society, to sue for in the name of their president and vice-president, for the time being, and recover all such sum or sums of money, as are, or hereafter may become due the said society, by any name or style whatever, in any court of law, or at any tribunal having jurisdiction thereof ; and the rights and privileges of the said society in any court, or at any tribunal what- ever, to defend and also to receive, take and apply such bequests or do- nations as may be made, to, and for the uses and purposes intended by the said society ; and shall be, and are hereby declared to be vested with all the powers and advantages, privileges and immunities of an associa- tion or society of people incorporated, for the purposes and intentions of their said association.
Section 3. And be it further enacted, that this act shall be, and is hereby declared to be deemed and considered a public act, to all intents and purposes whatever. ABRAHAM JACKSON.
JARED IRWIN, Speaker of the House of Representatives. President of the Senate.
Assented to December 12, 1804. - JOHN MILLEDGE, Governor.
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THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
At the time of the formation of this society it was intended to serve as a State organization, hence the name Georgia Medical Society was adopted, but it has never been anything but a local association composed only of Savannah physicians.
The first president of the society was Dr. Noble Wimberly Jones, and the first vice-president Dr. John Irvine, a Scotchman, who came to Geor- gia before the revolution. The society proved a most beneficial institu- tion to the small band of physicians in Savannah at that early day, and from that time to the present has been the means of advancing the good of the profession. The present officers of the society are: John D. Mar- tin, president ; M. L. Boyd, vice-president ; George W. Lamar, record- ing secretary ; J. C. LeHardy, corresponding secretary ; W. W. Owens, treasurer, and M. F. Dunn, librarian. The present members of the so- ciety are : Drs. W. F. Brunner, J. G. Bulloch, T. J. Charlton, T. P. Chis- holm, C. H. Colding, C. H. Cox, W. H. Elliott, J. M. Johnston, J. G. Kellar, F. T. Lincoln, J. D. Martin, E. H. Nichols, R. G. Norton, W. W. Owens, S. L. Phillips, B. S. Purse, J. B. Read, B. F. Sheftall, J. A. Wege- farth, C. N. Brandt, William Duncan, J. P. S. Houstoun, J. C. LeHardy, R. P. Myers, B. P. Oliveros, R. B. Harris, G. C. Hummel, J. Weichsel- baum, M. L. Boyd, R. J. Nunn, G. H. Stone, M. F. Dunn, E. G. Lind, and W. K. Blakeney.
CHAPTER XXX.
COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES.
T T HAT port which exported the first bale of American cotton, from
which sailed the first steamship that crossed the Atlantic, to-day the largest handler of one of the world's greatest branches of trade, queen of seven hundred miles of sea coast in one direction and of one thousand in another, may well be expected to have a commercial history of more than passing interest. And Savannah has.
Utopian ideas and plans of the projectors of the colony of Georgia handicapped the early settlers and delayed the birth of the new town's
58
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HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
commerce until sixteen years had passed. James Oglethorpe, in a day dream, may have seen his settlement grown into a great city, but the reality of a century and a half later, certainly, more than realizes the ephemeral pictures of his fancy.
Silk culture and the cultivation of the vine and flax were the principal objects at which the founders of the colony aimed. On one side of their corporation's common seal was a group of silk worms at their toil busily engaged and deeply absorbed in feeding on the succulent leaves of the mulberry. The motto of the worms and the corporation was, non sibi sed aliis-not for ourselves, but for others.
Silk and wine and hemp were to be the cargoes of the ships which the trustees hoped would sail out of the Savannah. They pictured their town such a spot as ancient Cyprus. Natural causes defeated this dream. Under the hot summer sun the vine withered and the mulberry did not flourish. One colonist had some success with the Oporto and Malaga grape on a small scale, but the general culture was a failure. From year to year a little silk was made, and twenty years from the settlement of Yamacraw by the whites a modest shipment of raw silk was made to England. It is an interesting fact, though not at all a surprising one, that the ideas of the trustees proved radically impracticable. Neither soil nor climate was well adapted for the culture of silk or grape, and after thor- ough trials the growth of both was abandoned. To- day, instead of sending abroad the ruby juice from the wine press and the delicate fibre of the cocoon, ships bear hence to every quarter of the globe, the unguent, distilled spirits from the pine tree and the soft, silvery fleece of Sea Island and Upland, ten thousand times the worth of that golden one which Ja- son and his comrades in the Argo carried off.
Oglethorpe foresaw a commercial town spreading along the river when he struck his bargain with Tomo-chi-chi. That he chose wisely time has proved. From the Chesapeake to the mouth of the Mississippi there is not a bar over which passes so much commerce as comes and goes across Tybee's.
That shipping was expected to be an important interest in Savannah is indicated by the historical fact that Mr. Hume offered a silver boat and spoon to the first child which should be born in Georgia. Whether the inducement had anything to do with it or not Mrs. Close's infant got
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the prize. The spoon was practical, the boat emblematic. Another prize was offered for the first ship which should sail up the Savannah River and unload at the town. This prize was won by the ship James, of which Captain Yoakley was master. The James brought several new colonists. This first vessel to navigate the Savannah River was of one hundred and ten tons burden, carried six guns, and lay at anchor close to the town in fifteen feet at low water, where, it is stated. " is riding for much larger vessels." In 1734 a schooner coming in over the bar at Ty- bee reports finding at least three fathoms at low water, and in 1736 the Peter and James found " 19 foot water in the shoalest part " of the bar on the first of the flood.
No difficulty was experienced by the vessels of that day in going up and down the river at any stage of the tide. Oglethorpe had written in one of his earliest letters from the colony: " Ships which draw twelve foot water can ride within ten yards of the bank."
As soon as he had affairs in the town in shape, the general ordered a lighthouse built on Tybee, and a frame one was put up on the north end' of the island. The specifications provided that it should be of pine and cedar, twenty-five feet square at the base, ninety feet high and ten feet each way at the top.
To get goods from the bluff down to the river was an easy matter, but it was far different to get a cargo from the shore up on the bluff. Even after the crane was erected, in the latter part of 1733, the work was slow and hard. However, as months sometimes elapsed between the arrivals of vessels, the stringent lack of "terminal facilities " did not have much effect on the commercial prosperity of the place. Peter Gordon's map of Savannah as it was in 1734, locates the crane at a point on the bluff about mid-way between Bull and Whitaker streets.
Year after year went by, and the colonists did not always produce enough to maintain themselves. Supplies were obtained from Carolina and England. This state of affairs lasted until toward the close of the first decade of Savannah's history when a change for the better began to take place. The settlers gradually accumulated a little surplus. In 1744 a modest store and commission house was started. Charles Harris and James Habersham were the founders, and theirs is the credit of having established the first commercial house in Georgia. Harris & Habersham
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HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
was the name of the new firm. Their unpretentious place of business was under the bluff, by the water's edge, in the rear of the building on the Bay, which, for many years was occupied by Robert Habersham & Company's commission house. At first the settlers were opposed to mid- dlemen, but they soon found that the new firm afforded them many con- veniences which they had not previously enjoyed. Thomas Causdon had kept the public store and illy kept it according to the best accounts. Harris & Habersham gave great encouragement to the planters from whom they bought lumber, poultry, deer, hogs, skins and whatever pro- duce the farmers had. Before long the public store was discontinued. All this time the trustees were trying to make a success of the silk and wine culture. Neither proved profitable. Finally, about 1748, the trus- tees got hold of a letter written by James Habersham, who spoke of the adaptability of Georgia for general agriculture. Thereafter the trustees allowed the colonists to spend the appropriations for other purposes than the cultivation of the grape and the mulberry.
Properly speaking, the year 1749 may be said to mark the beginning of Savannah's commerce. It was in that year the first vessel was loaded with a cargo in the Savannah River and shipped abroad. Harris & Hab- ersham were the exporters. They loaded a small vessel with lumber, skins, hogs and other produce of the infant. Georgia, and consigned the $10,000 cargo to a London firm. This was the first effort to establish a foreign trade. In those days, and for years after, it was customary for a vessel to take on whatever was offered at Savannah, then to proceed to Charleston and perhaps take on more freight. Then if the vessel was not filled it would go on to New York and complete its cargo for Eng- land.
The trustees had great faith in the ultimate success of silk culture. In 1750 another effort was made to encourage the enterprise. A year later a filature, or house for manufacturing the raw silk was built on the west side of Reynold's square. By this time it was apparent that Savan- nah was in a fair way to have a commerce of imposing value. Some assistance was needed. Therefore, when the first General Assembly of Georgia met, which was in Savannah January 15, 1751, a paper was pre- sented to the body declaring that a proper pilot boat was needed and . that permission was desired to erect a building under the bluff for the
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convenience of the boats' crews. The memorialists further set forth the want of standard weights and measures and scales. An appropriation was also asked for making a survey of the river. One other want recited was an order to prevent masters of vessels from throwing ballast over- board into the river. And still another want, though hardly a long felt one, was a commissioner of pilotage. The colony was now nearing the end of its second decade. A small measure of success attended the per- sistent efforts of the silk growers. In 1757, 1,050 pounds of cocoons
were received at the filature. Unfortunately, the building was burned the following year, and 7,040 pounds of cocoons besides a large quantity of manufactured silk were destroyed. The filature was rebuilt and was used for the manufacture of silk for several years, after which it was used as a city hall and public house. In 1839 it was again burned and was never rebuilt.
Savannah has passed through many a crisis, but the port's commer- cial interests have never had a more trying year than 1757. Governor Henry Ellis arrived here in February, to take control of the colonial government. He soon became impressed with the idea that Hardwicke, . which stood at the mouth of the Ogeechee, in Bryan county, should be made the capital of Georgia. He took the ground that Hardwicke was more centrally and favorably situated than Savannah; that the water was deeper and that lying farther from Charleston would enjoy a better commerce.
This step had been talked of before. Governor Reynolds, who pre- ceded Ellis, had suggested it, and aroused strong opposition. Ellis made himself unpopular by advocating the removal. Uncertain as to the fate of the town, the citizens who feared that it would be deserted lost interest to some extent in the development of their homes and neglected to im- prove them. Though the project was not carried into effect, Savannah suffered by reason of the agitation.
During the first quarter of a century of the colony's history little was done to encourage commerce. Up to 1759 not a wharf had been built. Those few vessels which visited the port sailed as near the shore as they could and threw the lighter articles on the bank, landing the heavier ones in small boats. This was primitive and tedious, and in the twenty-seventh year after Oglethorpe's landing the construction of a wharf was undertaken, at a point under the bluff
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near the crane. Thomas Eaton was the builder. He worked under the direction of John G. William De Brahm, the surveyor-general of the southern provinces of North America. Wharf building was a far differ- ent art at that time from what it is now. The wharves which were built for several years thereafter were constructed on the same general plan, an idea of which may be obtained from a synopsis of the specifications. The builder was advised to drive two rows of piles as far asunder as he desired his wharf to be wide and as far toward the river as low water mark. Then he was to secure their tops with plates and to trunnel planks within on the piles. This done he was to brace the insides with dry walls of stone, intermingled with willow twigs. In the same manner he was to shut up the ends of the two rows with a like front along the stream, to build inside what cellars he had occasion for, then to fill up the remainder with the sand nearest at hand out of the bluff or the high shore of the stream under the Bay. One chronicler has remarked that the construction of this wharf greatly benefited the town, for during the following year 41 vessels were entered, many more than ever before, and during the year 1766, six years after, 171 were entered.
Governor Wright, who succeeded Governor Ellis, wrote of Georgia about the year 1760 that it was the most flourishing colony on the con- tinent. As yet there were no manufactures in the colony, for they were rigorously disallowed in all the provinces, but commerce and agriculture were carried on with much zeal and success. In a letter to the Earl of Hillsborough, Governor Wright said : " It is certain beyond a doubt that this province has, must, and will make a rapid progress, and in a few years will make as considerable a figure as most on the continent."
Savannah's population in 1760 was 9,700, of whom 6, 100 were whites. In that year the rice exported amounted to 3,283 barrels, besides 208 barrels of paddy.
In the entire commercial history of Savannah there is no single event of greater interest or importance than one which occurred in the decade between 1760 and 1770. That event was the first foreign shipment of cotton made from the United States. Hitherto historians have sought in vain for the port which exported the first bale. It has long been well known that the first foreign shipment of what is now the great Southern staple was made in 1764. In that year William Rathbone, an extensive
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COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES.
American merchant in Liverpool, received from Mr. James Habersham of Savannah, a consignment of eight bags of cotton. On its arrival in Liverpool this cotton was seized by the custom house officials on the allegation that so much cotton could not have been grown in the Ameri- can colonies, and that it was liable to seizure under the shipping act, not having been imported in a vessel belonging to the country of the cotton's growth.
This consignment was the first attempt at exporting cotton from America. It was sent from here to Liverpool through one Dillon, who was Mr. Habersham's agent in New York. A matter of additional in- terest in this connection is the fact that the original manifest of this ship- ment was preserved for exactly a century. Along with a mass of other papers it was sent to a point in interior Georgia for safe keeping during , the war. In 1864 Sherman's looters burned it. Although this city was the first American port to begin the trade, it was not kept up here. Charleston, on the other hand, quickly discovered that the trade would be a valuable one and cultivated it.
This same year 15,212 pounds of cocoons were delivered at the fila- ture. Over one half of the silk was received from the Salzburgers who were settled at Ebenezer. The silk industry was growing steadily and there was an encouraging prospect of its ultimate success. Two years later the production of silk reached its height in Georgia, and thereafter, despite the encouragement of parliament, it continued to decline until it was finally abandoned in 1771, operations at the filature being discon- tinued in that year. In 1765 Savannah's commercial men were thrown into a high state of excitement by the passage of the obnoxious stamp act. The commerce of the town had grown to large proportions. When the stamps arrived in December there were between sixty and seventy sail in port waiting to be cleared. The people consented that the stamps might be used for this purpose, but for no other. This was done and the port was opened. The other colonies took offense at this, and South Carolina was especially indignant. Her citizens resolved that they would not ship provisions here, and they called Georgia an " infamous colony." It was further resolved that whosoever should traffic with Georgians should be punished with no less a penalty than death, and every vessel trading here was to be burnt. The Carolinians were in a hot temper, and
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