CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF THE AUTHOR ,CORNEU,, UNIVERSITY UBRARY 3 1924 092 219 983 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092219983 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I (ILLUSTRATED) BY LUCIAN LAMAR KNIGHT (M. A., Princeton) ""' COMPILER OF THE STATE BECOBDS OF GEORGIA Author of "Reminiscences of Famous Georgians," in two volumes; "A Biographical Dictionary of Southern Authors "; "Historical Side-Lights "; Etc. EDITION DE LUXE FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION FkiNTBD rOB THE AUTHOB BY THE BYRD PRINTINa COMPANY STATE PRINTEES ATLANTA, GEORGIA 1913 Copyright, 1913 B.1f LUCiAN lama:^ knight DEDICATED TO THE PATRIOTIC WOMEN OP OEOROIA — ^WITH WHATEVER ORGANIZATION OR ORDER CONNECTED — ^IN THE LEXICON OF WHOSE IiOTE THERE IS NO SUCH WORD AS FORQET; WHOSE mrwearied efforts to rescue from oblivion the fad- ing becobds of our great commonweai/th have made them in a peculiar sense the guardians of georgia's immortautt; who, beachino back to colonial timeb, HAVE taught us THE SOUSMN RESPONSIBILITIES OF A VIC- TORIOUS flag; WHO COMING DOWN TO CONFEDERATE DATS, HAVE TAUGHT US THE NO LESS SACRED OBLIGATIONS OF A CONQUERED BANNER; WHO, WITH A MISER's GREED BUT WITH A vestal's holt CARE, HAVE HOARDED EVERT TELLOW GRAIN OF Georgia's shining dust; who, in recovering her lost GEMS, IN DEEPENING HER OBSCURED EPITAPHS, AND IN KEEP- ING VIGIL AT HER HALLOWED SHRINES 0# DEPARTED GREAT- NESS, HAVE SWEETENED THE MEMORIBS OF AN EMPIRE STATE WITH THE FRAGRANT SOUL OF AN IMPERIAL WOMANHOOD; AND WHOSE MISSION, IN AN AGE OF COMMERCE, MAMMON-MAO, IS TO REMIND THE PRESENT THAT LITTLE IN THE WAT OF LIFe's TRUE RICHES CAN BE PROMISED TO US BT A FUTURE, HOW- EVER GOLDEN, AT THE EXPENSE OF AN UNREMEMBERBD PAST. PREFACE '!' J^Q the task. of compiling this work, the leisure hours of a somewhat busy life have beeju devoted for tjie past four years. During this period of time, every section of the State has been visited in person by the ai^thojr, He has delved into the court- hoiis.e- records kept at the ^ost important county-seats in Geor- gia ; has gone through the files of old newsp9,pers ; has bent over crumbling tombstones in ancient church-yards and burial- grounds to decipher th,e alinost obliterftted epjte^phs ; and, leaving the beaten highways of travel, has followed jthe obscure bridle- paths iii,to many an,*mfre^u§)ited nook and corner of the State. Something over one hjuncjred libraries have been consulted) in addition to which thoiisands of letters h^ve been witten, There is not a patriotic soeiptj^/in Georgia which has not contributed substantially to the progress of this undertaking. Much bf the rare information cgintajned. in ^^ijiThi^te's two priceless volumes — long jsince out of print— -has ;])een transferred to. this work, with due credit; while the essential | portions of Sherwood's quaint little Gazeitteer hav? likewise been; (embodied .in "Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends." It was the author's plan originally to restrict the present work to a single ypluma of six hnnijEed pages. But the magni- tude qf the field was not r^ali^jed in. this early forecast; and to adhere to this original purpose would mean the jsacriflce of more than half of the materials gathered through long, and patient research. Tw;o, volumes, therefore, each of them con- taining one thousand pages, will be required to meet the neces- sary demands of this work. However, by eliajinating an agent's comoqaission, the cost of each volume is r>(^dueed to a nominal sum and placed within the means of every one who cherishes a just pride in the history of our, great State. The first volum^, which appears at. tWs time, is divided into two parts, one of, which is entitled:, "Landmarks anfi, jMemorialSj" while the other con- tains "Historical Outlines, Original Settlers, and Distinguished Eesidents of the Counties , of Georgia. " The, second volume — ^by far the richer of, tlie two — will be apportioned, into eight papts VI Preface as follows: 1. "Landmarks and Memorials;" 2. "Duels Fought by Noted Georgians;" 3. "Historic Burial-Grounds, Epitaphs, and Inscriptions;" 4. "Personal Recollections, Anecdotes, and Reminiscences;" 5. "Myths and Legends of the Indians;" 6. "Tales of the Revolutionary Camp-Fires;" 7. "Georgia, Miscel- lanies;" and 8. an "Analytical Index," containing every im- portant name in any wise connected with Georgia's history, Colonial, Revoliltionary, and Commonwealth. On the very threshold of this work, the author desires to make grateful acknowledgements to those who from the start have given him not only sympathetic encouragement but Sub- stantial help, and whose generous co-operatioii, at each stage of the undertaking, has made an otherwise arduous task compara- tively light. The list includes: Mrs. J. L. Walker, of Waycross, whose research work on the subject of Georgia's buried towns has placed' the whole State under obligatioiis to her patriotic pen; Miss Mildred Rutherford, of Athens, Historian-General, U. D. C, whose authoritative writings have furnished a library of information, especially on topics pertaining to the "War of Secession; Miss Annie M. Lane, of Washiiigton, Regent Kettle Creek Chapter, D. A. R., to whom T am indebted for much of the data contained in this work, relating to the historic old county of "Wilkes ; Colonel A. Gordon Cassels, of Savannah, who accompanied me on a personal visit to the f amious Midway District, on the Georgia Coast; Mrs. Sheppard W. Foster, of Atlaiita, State Regent, D. A. R., who has given me an abundance of rare information, especially in regard to ihe graves of Revo- lutionjtly soldiers; Mrs. John M. Graham, of Marietta, former State Regeht, D; A. R. ; Miss Ruby Felder Ray, State His- toriaih, D. A. R. ; Hon. Otis Ashemore, of Savannah, Corre- sponding Secretary of the Georgia Historical Society and Superintendent of the Public Schools of Chatham ; Hon. Wym- berley Jones DeRenne, of Wormsloe, vfho possesses the rarest collection of Georgia books and manuscripts in existence • Judge Walter G. Charlton, of Savannah; Right Reverend Benjamin J. Keiley, Bishttp of the Roman Catholic See of Savannah; Hon. Emory Speer, of Macon, Judge of the Federal Court for th? Southern District of Georgia ; Mrs. Ella B. Salter, Hepzibah, Ga. ; Mrs. Joseph S. Harrison, of Columbus, State Editor, Peefaob vn D. A. R. ; Mrs. H. M. Franklin, of Tennille, State Editor, U. D. C. ; Mrs. Maude Barker Cobb, State Librarian of Georgia ; Miss Katharine H. Wootten, of Atlanta, Librarian of the Carnegie Library ; Mrs. Richard P. Brooks, of Forsyth, Regent Piedmont Continental Chapter, D. A. R. ; Mrs. James Silas Wright, of Brunswick, Regent Brunswick Chapter, D. A. R. ; Miss Helen M. Prescott, of Atlanta, Genealogist Joseph Habersham Chapter, D. A .R. ; Mrs. Walter S. Wilson, of Savannah ; Mrs. Richard Spencer, of Columbus; Mrs. H. H. Tift, of Tifton; Miss Mary Crawford Hornady, of Dawson; Mrs. R. H. Hardaway, of Newnan; Mrs. E. G. Nix, of LaGrange; Miss Nora Jones, of Blberton; Mrs. C. K. Henderson, of Lafayette; Mrs. S. J. Jones, of Albany; Mrs. Jeff Davis, of Quitman; Mrs. J. S. Betts, of Ashburn; Miss Julia King, of Colonel's Island; Miss Belle Bayless, of Kingston; Miss Martha Reid Robinson, of Newnan; Miss Maud Clark Penn, of Monticello; Mrs. Rebecca L. Nesbitt, of Marietta; Mrs. Harriet Gould Jefferies, of Augusta; Mrs. Henry Bryan, of Dillon; Mrs. W. C. High- tower, of Thomaston; Mrs. E. W. Bellamy, of Macon; Mrs. Joseph H. Morgan, of Atlanta, former Regent Atlanta Chapter, D. A. R. ; Mrs. Sandford Gardner, of Augusta ; Miss Addie Bass, of Clarkesville ; Mrs. Kate H. Fort, of Chattanooga, Tenn. ; Miss Martha Berry, of Rome, founder of the famous Berry School; Hon. Philip Cook, Secretary of State ; Hon. Joseph H. Lumpkin, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia ; Hon. 6ord!on Lee, of Chickamauga, Member of Congress; Hon. William H. Fleming, of Augusta, Ex-Member of Congress; Hon. Paul B. Trammell, of Dalton ; Dr. William B. Crawford, of Lincolnton ; Major James M. Couper, of Atlanta; Hon. Walter E. Steed, of Butler; Judge W. L. Phillips, of Louisville; Mr. James T. Vocelle, of St. Mary's; Hon. Q. L. Williford, of Madison; Hon. Lawton B. Evans, of Augusta, Superintendent of Public Schools and Secretary of Board of Education ; Hon. Charles Edgeworth Jones, of Augusta ; Colonel Charles J. Swift, of Columbus ; Dr. George G. Smith, of Macon ; Prof. Joseph T. Derry, of Atlanta ; Major Charles W. Hubner, of Atlanta ; Hon. Thomas W. Reed, of Athens; Hon. A. Pratt Adams, of Savannah; Hon. E. H. Abrahams, of Savannah; Hon. Noel P. Park, of Greensboro; Hon. F. E. Twitty, of Brunswick; Hon. L. A. Whipple, of VIII Preface Hawkinsville ; Hon. Warren Grice, of Hawkinsville ; Hon. C. M. Candler, of Decatur; Judge C. "W. Smith, of Reidsville; Mr. B. H. Groover, of Reidsville ; Hon. J. W. Whitely, of Gibson; Dr. W. B. Burroughs, of Brunswick; Dr. W. B. Cheatham, of Daw- son ; Capt. Thad Adams, of Moultrie ; Hon. W. W. Stevens, of Maysville ; Dr. Howard Felton, of Cartersville ; Dr. R. J. Massey, of Atlanta; Judge Joseph Bogle, of Dalton; Colonel John R. Maddox, of Decatur ; Hon. William H. Hayne, of Augusta ; Hon. Joseph F. Gray, of Savannah ; Rev. A. W. Bealer, of Eastman ; Hon. Julian B. McCurry, of Hartwell; Judge W. L. Hodges, of HartweU; Mr. H. C. Bagley, of Atlanta; Mr. P. M. Nixon, of Rome; Hon. D. S. Sanford, of Milledgeville ; Hon. Walter A. Clark, of Augusta ; Mr. Mark A. Candler, of Atlanta ; Hon. Drew W. Paulk, of Fitzgerald; Hon. J. H. Powell, of Camilla; Judge J. A. Cromartie, of Hazlehurst; Judge P. H. Herring, of Cairo ; Mr. Polks Huxf ord, of HomevviUe ; Mr. P. H. Comas, of Baxley; Mr. C. S. Grice, of Claxton; Mr. J. J. Gilbert, of Coltmibus; Hon. M. M. Moore, of Columbus; Hon. Peter W. Meldrim, of Savannah; Judge Horace M. Holden, of Augusta; Miss Eliza F. Andrews, of Rome, formerly of Washington, one of the South 's most distinguished educators and writers; Mrs. M. A. Lipscomb, of Athens ; Mrs. J. A. Montgomery, of Bruns- wick ; Mrs. F. D. Aiken, of Brunswick ; Miss Caroline Patterson, of Macon ; Dr. W. B. Cheatham, of Dawson, Ordinary of Terrell ; Mr. Georgp C. Smith, of Lexington ; Mrs. J. J. Smith, of Lexing- ton ; Capt. C. S. Wylly; of Brunswick ; Miss Elizabeth Conger, of Canon ; Mrs. W. T. Hardee, of Quitman ; Judge C. M. Wise, of Fitzgerald; Mr. J. J. Taylor, of Cochran; the late Hon. Hugh Neisler, of Butler; and a multitude of others. Without the generous help of these patriotic Georgians to whom I hold myself an obliged debtor for unnumbered courtesies this task could never have been prosecuted to completion. The short- comings of the work are mine. Whatever it possesses of merit belongs to those from whom I have unremittingly received the most indulgent favors, and whose considerate and courteous treatment has been a perennial source of inspiration to the author. LuciAN Lamab Knight. Atlanta, Ga., March 25, 1913. CONTENTS Part One. LANDMARKS AND MEMORIALS. Chapter I Dungeness : The Bivouac of ' ' Light Horse Harry' ' Lee for Nearly a Century 1 Chapter II JefFereon Davis's Arrest at Irwin viUe: The True Story of a Dramatic Episode 13 Chapter III The Old Creek Indian Agency : Where a Forgot- ten Patriot Sleeps 18 Chapter IV Bamsley Gardens: A Lost Arcadia 26 Chapter V .*- Shelhnan Heights: A Romance of Sherman's March 31 Chapter VI. The "Lone Star" Flag of Texas Woven by a Georgia Woman 34 Chapter VII "Little Giffen of Tennessee:" How a Famous Ballad Came to be Written 39 Chapter VIII James Ryder Randall: Origin of "Maryland, My Maryland!" *- -^ 45 Chapter IX Oglethorpe: His Monument and his Mission 50 Chapter X Fort Frederica: 1735 'l-li T. 59 Chapter XI The Wesley Oak ,. 66 Chapter XII Coweta Town: Where a Treaty was Signed the Effect of Which was a Death-Blow to France on the Mississippi ,_.^.. 69 Chapter XIII Bloody Marsh: Where a Battle was Fought in Which Spain Lost a Continent 73 Chapter XIV Christ Church, Savannah: Where the Georgia Colonists First Worshipped God 77 Chapter XV Bethesda: Where the Great Whitefield Founded an Asylum for Orphans 80 Chapter XVI The Grave of Tomo-Chi-Chi 85 Chapter XVII . - Wormsloe : The Home of Noble Jones 87 Chapter XVIII Bonaventure: The Ancient Seat of the TattnaUs 90 Chapter XIX Brampton: The Home of Jonathan Bryan 93 X Contents Chapter XX The Jews in Georgia: An Outline History 97 Chapter XXI Savannah's Revolutionary Monuments 103 Chapter XXII Mulberry Grove: The General Greene Estate Where the Cotton Gin was Invented 108 Chapter XXIII Fort Augusta; 1736 --- 113 Chapter XXIV Historic Old St. Paul's 117 Chapter XXV Meadow Garden : The Home of Governor Walton 122 Chapter XXVI The Invention of the Cotton Gin: An Authentic Account - 125 Chapter XXVII War Hill: Where the Famous Revolutionary Battle of Kettle Creek was Fought 131 Chapter XXVIII Historic Old Midway: A Shrine of Patriotism., 135 Chapter XXIX Franklin College: The Oldest State University in America, Chartered in 1785 139 Chapter XXX Louisville: Georgia's First Permanent Capital-- 146 Chapter XXXI The Yazoo Fraud: An Episode of Dramatic In- terest Recalled 149 Chapter XXXII Burning the Iniquitous Records with Fire from Heaven 152 Chapter XXXIII The Old Slave-Market: A Solitary Remnant of Feudal Days in Dixie .- 154 Chapter XXXIV Historic Old Milledgeville: Georgia's Capital for More Than Sixty Years .. 156 Chapter XXXV Mcintosh Rock: Where the Most Famous of Georgia Treaties was Made with the Creeks. 160 Chapter XXXVI New Echota: The Last Capital of the Southern Cherokees 170 Chapter XXXVII Under the Lash: Pathetic Incidents of the Re- moval 176 Chapter XXXVIII --Harriet Gold: A Romance of New Echota 183 Chapter XXXIX .-.Dahlonega: Once the Center of Gold-Mining Activities in America 185 Chapter XL Sequoya: The Modem Cadmus 190 Chapter XLI ^^--Woodlawn: The Home of William H. Crawford- 197 Chapter XLII Historic Old Wesleyan: The First Female Col- lege in the World to Confer Diplomas 200 Chapter XLIII Chickamauga: One of the Bloodiest of Modern Battle-Fields Becomes a National Park 203 Chapter XLIV Kenneeaw Mountain: Once a Peak of the Inferno 208 Chapter XLV The Old Heard House : Where the Last Meeting of the Confederate Cabinet was Held 211 Contents xi Chapter XLVI The Old Chenault House: In the Neighborhood of Which Occurred the Famous Raid on the Confederate Treasure Wagons 213 Chapter XLVII Origin of the United Daughters of the Confed- eracy 218 Chapter XLVIII Origin of the Southern Cross of Honor.. 222 Chapter XLIX Copse HiD: The Home of Paul H. Hayne 224 Chapter L Blchard Henry Wilde: Augusta's Monument to the Author of the "Summer Rose." 228 Charter LI TorchHill: The Home of Dr. Francis 0. Ticknor. 231 Chapter LII St. Elmo : Its Memories of Augusta Evans Wilson 234 Chapter LIII Sidney Lanier : Macon's Memorial to the Master- Minstrel 236 Chapter LIV Rome Koneers the Way in Honoring the Women of the Confederacy , 241 Chapter LV The Mark Hanna Home: Where the McKinley Preeidental Boom was Laimched 246 Chapter LVI Mount Berry: How the Sunday Lady Won the Mountains 250 Part Two. HISTORICAL OUTLINES, ORIGINAL SETTLERS, AND DISTIN- GUISHED RESIDENTS OF THE COUNTIES OF GEORGIA. (Pages 265-1065.) ILLUSTRATIONS The Tomb of General "Light Horse Hairy" Lee at Dungeness Frontispiece The Carnegie Mansion, Built on the Site of Gteneral Nathanael Greene's Home at Dungeness Facing Page 8 Where President Jefferson Davis Was Arrested, on May 10, 1865, near Irwinville, Ga Facing Page 16 The Monument to General O^ethorpe, Founder of the Colony of Georgia, in Chippewa Square, Savannah. .Facing Page 52 Ruins of the Old Fort at Frederica, on St. Simon's Island Facing Page 62 The Wesley Oak, near Frederica, on St. Simon's Island.. Facing Page 66 The Buiial-Flace of Tomo-Chi-Chi, Mico of the Yama- craws, in Court House Square, Savannah Facing Page 86 Ruins of Fort Wymberley, at Wormsloe, the Old Home of Noble Jones, on the Isle of Hope Facing Page 88 Bonaventure, the Ancient Seat of the Tattnalls, near Savannah . Facing Page 90 The Pulaski Monument, on Bull St., Savannah ..Facing Page 104 The Jasper Monument, on Bull St., Savannah Facing Page 106 The Birth-Place of the Present City of Augusta Facmg Page 114 Historic Old St. Paul's, in Augusts Facing Page 118 Where One of the First Cotton Gins Made by Eli Whit- ney was Operated, near Washington, Ga Facing Pafee 128 The Old Capitol at Milledgeville, Where the Famous Secession Convention Met Facing Page 156 Sequoya's Wonderful Invention: The Cherokee Alphabet.Facing Page 192 The Old Heard House, in Washington, Ga., Where the Last Meeting of the Confederate Cabinet was Held. .Facing Page 212 The First Monument to the Women of the Confederacy, on Broad St., in the City of Rome, Ga Facing Page 242 The Log Cabin in Which the Famous Berry School Orig- inated, near Rome, Ga Facing Page 256 The Family Reddence of the Late George W. Owens, Where General Lafayette Was Entertained, in Ogle- thorpe Square, Savannah Facing Page 394 The Gordon Monimient, on Bull St., in Savannah Facing Page 404 The Lanier Oak, on the Outskirts of Bnmswick, Facing the Far-Famed "Marshes of Glynn", Immortalized by the Poet Facing Page 620 , Tablet to General Leonidas Polk, in St. 'Paul's Church, Augusta Facing Page 884 Nacoochee, the Cradle of the Chattahoochee River Facing Page 1030 The Home of Robert Toombs, in Washington, Ga Facing Page 1056 PART I LANDMARKS AND MEMORIALS GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS CHAPTER 1 Dungeness: The Bivouac of "Light Horse Harry" Lee for Nearly a Century AT the extreme southern end of Cumberland Island, in a little private burial ground of the Greene ' family, there slept for ninety-five years an illus- trious soldier of the American Eevolution : "Light- Horse Harry" Lee. At this point a wooded bluff over- looks a wide expanse of verdant marsh lands, surrounded on either side by the encircling waters' of Cumberland Sound ; and the shimmer of blue waves, caught in the dis- tance, through trembling vistas of luxuriant foliage, is most enchanting to the eye, especially when a storm at sea curls them into feathery white-caps'. The little en- closed area in which, with military honors, the famous hero was laid to rest, in the spring of 1818, was then a part of the estate of Major-General Nathanael Greene, a dis- tinguished comrade-in-arms' whose family he was visiting at the time of his death. Years ago a large part of the island, including the historic tidewater home of General Greene, was purchased by Thomas Carnegie, a kinsman of the great steel king of Pittsburg and himself a man of millions. With the ample means at his' command the new owner proceeded to convert the famous estate into 2 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends one of the most beautiful retreats on the coast of North America. Magnificent walks and (Jriveways were opened through a dense forest of live-oaks, festooned with long wisps' of trailing moss ; rare bulbs from remote parts were transplanted in the rich soil of Dungeness; and whatever was calculated either to please the eye or to promote the comfort of a cultured gentleman of leisure, was sought by this wizard of finance, regardless of cost, to enhance the picturesque environment. Today the vast estate constitutes an independent com- munity within itself, possessing every luxury of present- day life and suggesting the modernized country-seat of some aristocratic old English baron. The palatial mansion in which the widow Carnegie spends the winter months is only a few yards distant from the little burial ground, in one of the brick walls of which a memorial tablet bears the name of the late owner. But the most historic spot on the whole island, around which for nearly a century has centered a wealth of patriotic associations and to which thousands of tourists have flocked annually in the heated months of mid-summer, is the grave in which "Light Horse Harry" Lee long rested. It was formerly marked by a plain marble headstone, on which the following brief inscription was chiseled : Sacred to the Memory of General Henry Lee, of Virginia. Obit, 25 March, 1818. Aetat 63. During a recent session of the Virginia Legislature a bill was passed appropriating the sum of $500 from the State treasury to defray the expenses .incident to remov- ing General Lee's body from Dungeness to Lexington. At the same time a cordmittee was appointed to whom the oversight of this sacred task was entrusted. It is most likely that the ashes of the Eevolutionary patriot DUNGENESS 3 will occupy a crypt in the chapel of Washington and Lee University, beside the remains of his renowned son, General Eobert E. Lee, the South 's great military chief- tain. The patriotic societies of Georgia have entered a vigorous protest against the proposed removal.- But, the consent of Mrs. Lucy Carnegie having been obtained, the Commonwealth of Virginia cannot well be estopped from claiming the dust of an illustrious son to whom she now offers a receptacle in her own bosom. As this work goes to press:, the transfer of General Lee's remains to Virginia is still an unaccomplished fact; but hope of keeping them in Georgia has been finally relinquished. It is not unlikely that the Daughters of the Eevolution'will mark the empty tomb with an appropriate memorial of some kind which, briefly reciting the facts, together with the date of disinterment, will serve to keep the hallowed spot perpetually sacred. General Henry Lee was easily the foremost officer of cavalry in the first war for independence; and to his gallant blade Georgia owes a debt of gratitude which two centuries have not extinguished. At the head of an independent legion he took part in the siege of Augusta and became an important factor, under General Greene, in the final expulsion of the British from Georgia soil. Later he wrote an exhaustive account of his operations in the Southern Department, a work of great value to historians', comprised in two rich voluines. He also became Governor of the State of Virginia; and, on the death of Washington, pronounced upon his silent Com- mander-in-Chief the famous eulogium in which he characterized him in the often-quoted words: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."* While taking the part of a friend, whom he was visiting at the time, in Baltimore, General Lee received *"To the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Eulogy om Washington, December 26, 1799. 4 Georgia's Landmarks, Memoeials and Legends injuries from the effects of whicli he never recovered. The circumstances which culminated in this tragic affair were as follows:* "In the stirring times of 1812, Alex- ander Contee Hanson, editor of the Federal Republican, strongly opposed the declaration of war against England. Feeling ran so high among the war party that the news- paper office was attacked [and 3y a master-stroke of Washington, the Creeks put theki- selves in like relation to the government. The Old Indian Greek Agency 23 Thus it became a matter of the utmost importance to cultivate these Indians. Washington fixed his eyes on the long-known and well-tried North Carolina Senator as the fittest man to take charge of the well advanced work of eonciliatioh and to crown it by becoming the per- manent agent. His family — one of the most influential and numerous in the State — opposed his accepting this appointment. Every inducement on the part of friends and relatives' was brought to bear upon him in vain. He recognized in the appointment an imperative call of duty ; and, like the great Hebrew law-giver, he put behind him the allurements of wealth and power and turned his face toward the wilderness. Nor was it his own flesh and blood whom he undertook to lead but an alien race of hostile savages. He looked upon the work as his mission. He g9.ve to it the best there was in him. He not only accepted the appointment but he made its life-long duties a labor of love and a source of high moral and intellec- tual enjoyment. His master-stroke was the treaty of Coleraine, nego- tiated in 1796. It was the much-needed supplement to the treaty of New York and it laid the basis for happy and harmonious relations. He studied the country and the people and accomplished himself in all knowledge pertaining to both; and here the advantages of early education bore fruit. He surrounded himself with books ; and, in his self-decreed, official exile, he labored with his pen, telling posterity of the people among whom' he lived. Most of his manuscripts perished in the burning of his home after his death ; but enough were rescued to attest the importance of the work, and these have been con- fided to the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah. Says Colonel Chappell: "The interest which they once excited has long since become extinct, with the melancholy fortunes of the rude people to which they relate; yet it may be that, when ransacked and studied hereafter, in distant times, they will furnish to some child of genius yet unborn both material and inspiration for an immortal Indian epic of which the world will not tire." 24 Geoegia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends The Creek Indians, under the proconsular sway of Colonel Hawkins, enjoyed for sixteen years an unbroken peace among themselves and with the people of Georgia. Much was done to encourage them in the arts of civiliza- tion. They were taught pasturage ahd agriculture, and these supplanted in a measure dependence upon hunting and fishing as chief sources of food. He sought to win them by example as well as by precept. He brought his slaves from North Carolina and, under the right conceded to his office, he cultivated a large plantation at the Agency, making immense crops, especially of corn. He also reared great herds of cattle and swine, and having thus an abundance he was enabled to practice habitually toward the Indians a profuse though coarse hospitality and to bind them to, him by loyal ties of friendship. The sanctity with which the Indians throughout the nation regarded his cattle was pronounced. Whatever bore his mark or brand was absolutely safe. Milk was: measured by barrels and churned by machinery, and great were the outcomes ; yet not more than enough for his vast hospi- tality to whites and Indians and his regal munificence to his negroes. Says Colonel Chappell: "Had the great pastoral bards of antiquity not sung and died before his day they could have seized upon these scenes and cele- brated them in strains more wonderful than anything to be found in the charming bucolics which they have left But at length there arose adverse influences so power- ful that it was impossible for Colonel Hawkins with all his w'eight of authority among the Indians to maintain peace in the nation. The war of 1812 began to stir the embers. Great Britain, through her numerous emissaries among the Indians, by liberal supplies of arms, and by other means at her command, had been fomenting hostility among the north-western tribes, toward the United States ; and, succeeding along the border, she next The Ou) Indian Greek Agency 25 directed her attention to the Southern and Western tribes. The eloquence of the famous Indian warrior Tecumseh was enlisted; and since he was himself of Creek lineage he succeeded in arousing the residuum of suppressed enmity and in kindling the hostile fires. Still it speaks in attestation of the influence of Colonel Hawkins that a large portion of the Creek territory, viz., the rich domain between the Ocmulgee and the Chatta- hoochee, was! never the seat of war. This exemption was due to the fact that the official residence of Colonel Hawkins, having been first on the Ocmulgee, opposite Macon, and afterwards on the Flint at the place still called the "Old Agency," his personal influence was here much greater than further to the west ; and the Indians within this belt became the fast friends and allies of the whites. For the purpose of protecting them the friendly warriors organized themselves into a regiment of which Colonel Hawkins became the titular head but he never took the field in person, deeming it wiser to place the actual command upon the noble chief, William Mcintosh. Like McGillivray, the latter was only of the half-blood in the civilization of lineage but he was of the whole blood in the loftier and finer traits of character. The result was that the few hostile Indians scattered throughout this belt merged themselves into the belligerent elements on the upper tributaries of the Alabama. There they stood at bay and fought and fell in many a battle under the blows of Old Hickory. Eventually in 1814, at Fort Jackson, near the confluence of the Coosa and the Tallapoosa rivers, Jackson received the absolute surrender of the crushed nation. The spirit of the Creek Confederacy was broken. Colonel Hawkins was profoundly saddened by the fate of those whom he had long cherished as his children. Undoubtedly it hastened his death. Even the three great friendly chiefs. Big Warrior, Little Prince, and General Mcintosh were cut to the heart by the stem demands from Washington City, dictating 26 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends the terms of peace and marking the narrow bounds of the vanquished savages. How much was taken from them and how little was: left to them, constitutes one of the most pathetic events in our Anglo-American and Indian annals. Big Warrior, regarded as one of nature's great men, perhaps the ablest of Indian statesmen, upbraided Colonel Hawkins for having persuaded him and so many of his chiefs to be neutral in the war against his people. For years afterward the story used to be told of how the big tears stood in the eyes of the aged Indian agent as he listened in silence to a reproach which he did not deserve but which he was powerless to answer.* •Big Warrior was so named on account of liis great size. Says Colonel Chappell: "He was the only corpulent full-blooded Indian I ever saw, yet he was not so corpulent as to be unwieldly or ungainly. In fact, his corpu- lency added to the magnificence of his appearance. In person, he was to a, high degree grand and imposing. Tus-te-nuggee Thluc-co was his Indian name. Colonel Hawkins first met him at Coleraime in 1796, and they were great friends down to the treaty of Fort Jackson. He was probably the most enlightened and civilized man of the full Indian blood which the Creek nation ever produced. He cultivated a fine plantation, with seventy or eighty negroes, near Tuckabatchee, where he lived in a good house, furnished in a plain but civilized style, and was a, man of wealth." CHAPTER IV Barnsley Gardens: A Lost Arcadia SIX miles from Kingston, Ga., may still be seen the picturesque ruins of one of the most palatial old homes in the South, a sort of Alhambra, in some respects, not unlike the wasted citadel of the Moors. The locality is today known by the name of Barnsley Gardens ; and standing amid the pathetic remnants of this old estate once feudal in magnificence it is not difficult for the imagination to picture here a castle with ivy covered walls such as might have overlooked the Rhine or the Danube in the middle ages. The story connected with it is full of romantic elements. To a resident of Kingston who has often visited this historic spot we are indebted for the following particulars :* Three quarters of a century ago, Mr. Godfrey Barnsley, one of Savannah's captains of industry, decided to establish such an estate as he remembered to have seen in England, his native land. So he purchased from the Cherokee Indians 10,000 acres of ground in what is now the county of Bartow. Gradually he cleared away the forest and turned the red hills into cotton fields and built a stately manor house where it overlo6ked a magnificent sweep of country, reaching far back until blue hills merged into bluer skies. He then planted around it the famous gardens which for two generations have been a Mecca for pleasure seekers and holiday excursionists in this part of Georgia. •Miss Belle Bayless. 28 Georgu's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends To embellish the gardens, rare trees and shrubs and plants were brought hither from the most remote comers of the earth. Some of these still flourish amid the decay into which everything else has fallen. Hemlocks and spruces from Norway may still be seen brushing the old terraces with verdant branches of evergreen. Scotch rowans glow with scarlet berries in the autumn. Lindens and other foreign shade trees vie with those of the native woods in adding picturesqueness to the naturally beautiful location; while great lichen-covered boulders, hauled by ox-teams from the surrounding mountain-tops, form rookeries on either side of the main entrance to the grounds. The drive-way sweeps up the long hill and around the box-bordered area whi'ch encloses a central fountain just in front of an embroidered terrace. Mr. Barnsley, like his forebears, built always with an eye to the future and did not hasten his work. So the Civil War came on before the interior of the house was finished and the gold which he had sent to England came back to re-enforce the coffers of the Confederate government. Domestic industries were fostered on this baronial estate of Mr. Barnsley; for not only the manor house itself but the quarters for servants and the small oflBce buildings on the estate were constructed of brick made by slave labor from materials found on the plantation. The palatial old home place was divided into three parts —the central being two stories in height and surmounted by a tower. The main entrance to the house was ap- proached by marble steps. On either side of the hallway were spacious drawing rooms, libraries, and the like, with sleeping apartments above, sixteen in all. The right wing contained an immense dining room or banquet hall, on the first floor, besides billiard and smoking rooms, with kitchen, store rooms, and cellars below. The left wing was used for temporary residence purposes while the rest of the building was in process of erection. The owner was not to be deprived of any of the luxuries of life Babnslet Gardens 29 merely because he lived in the country ; so, on the tower, a cistern was built to which pipes were laid and a reser- voir constructed in one of tiie ohinmeys to furnish hot water for the lavatories. Plans were also made for lighting the house by means of a gas made from resinous pine. In the rear of the manor house is another terrace; and here we find a ghost walk, for a castle without a prome- nade for spooks at the witching hour of midnight is romantically incomplete. Just over the brow of the hill is the grave of Colonel Earl, a Confederate officer, who was buried on the spot where he fell during the Civil War. Relatives came to remove his body but they could get no one to dig into the earth, so strong was the superstitious feeling among the mountaineers; and even to this day the locality furnishes miaterial for weird tales am.ong the country folks. At the foot of the slope is one of the prettiest spots in which the imagination could possibly revel. It is the ivy- covered spring-house set against the out-cropping gray rock. Inside a bold spring bubbles up and finds' its way out and across the fields where it becomes a good-sized stream. And who could wish better dairy products than the milk and butter cooled in such pure water? One can almost fancy here a sprightly Lady Betty presiding over the burnished vessels and scolding her maids for some trivial neglect ; or more realistic still, Madame Barnsley — nee Miss Scarlett, one of the South 's great beauties — standing in the shadow of the half-circle of live-oaks about the door, directing her servants as does her grand- daughter, the present chatelaine. But Mr. Barnsley, in gratifying his artistic tastes, did not stop with plants and flowers for his extensive grounds. He was also an industrious collector of rare curios, objects of virtu, costly bric-a-brac, and expensive orna- ments. His mahogany dining-table — which was large enough to seat forty people — ^^and his elegant side-board, 30 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends which was of equally generous proportions, were made for Emperor Dom Pedro of Brazil. The gilt library clock once belonged to Marie Antoinette; and an exquisite marquetry table, together with several delicate wood carvings, had bits of history connected with them. Over the dining room fire-place hung a rare painting. Its wealth of color undimmed by several centuries and its resemblance to Murillo's Madonnas told of the influence of the great Spanish master; while a built-in vault con- tained a quantity of family silver. In one of the bed- rooms was a mahogany bed-stead of huge proportions, but the four eagles intended to surmount the posts stood demurely in a corner, for not even the high ceiling of this spacious boudoir would permit them to occupy the places intended for them as guardians of the curtains' of yellow satin damask.- Wardrobe and dresser matched the bed, all heavy, hand-carved and handsome. But these, together with a quantity of rare old wine, were taken to New York a decade ago and sold, the deal- ers paying only a song for w-hat was worth almost a king's ransom. Today the Last Sigh of the Moor seems aptly to fit the old place. Time has wrought fearful havoc. The Barns] ey household has scattered to every continent on the globe ; a cyclone unroofed the main house years ago ; members of a vandal picnic party daubed tar over the front walls, while others amused themselves by shatter- ing window panes; and the one time immaculate flower beds are now waist-high in weeds. It is well nigh im- possible to maintain so large an establishment now-a- days, when labor for necessary work can scarcely be obtained for love or money; but rich minerals recently discovered on the property may yet provide the means not only for making needed repairs but for realizing the splendid dream of the founder of Barnsley Gardens. CHAPTER V Shellman Heights: A Romance of Sherman's March ON January 1, 1911, there fell a prey to the devouring flames a splendid old mansion on the Etowah, near Cartersville, known as Shellman Heights. It crowned an eminence overlooking the river and represented an investment of several thousand dollars, not a penny of which could be recovered for lack of insurance. Little survives to mark the spot ; but associa- ted with it there is a romance of the sixties surpassing anything which has' yet been reproduced in the melo- dramas. Shellman Heights was built in 1861 by Captain Charles Shellman, and the first mistress' of the mansion was one of the famous belles of Bartow. As Miss Cecilia Stovall she spent her summers at West Point, and there she became a prime favorite among the young cadets at the military school. Within the circle of her most devoted admirers' were Joseph Hooker and William Tecumseh Sherman, both of whom were enthralled by the charms of this bewitohingly beautiful Southern girl. They were both handsome youths, and both destined to attain to high honors in the iron days of battle which were soon to dawn upon the nation. But she married a man from the South, much to the chagrin of her disappointed worshipers. Years elapsed. In the spring of 1864, General Sher- man and General Hooker both halted at Shellman Heights, en route to New Hope Church where one of the 32 Geobqia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends great battles of the campaign was afterwards fought. On approaching the mansion, which he was about to ransack, General Sherman was attracted by the pathetic wails of an old negro servant who sat at the fronst entrance and, in accents hysterical with grief and fear, repeatedly sobbed: "0, Lawd, what's Miss Cecilia gwine ter do now!" Catching the sound of a name which was once charm- ingly familiar to his ear, there flashed across the old soldier's mind a vision of West Point, and in a tone of inquiry which betrayed some touch of tenderness he asked: "What is the full name of your mistress? Come, answer me quick!" "Miss Cecilia Stovall Shellman," replied the dis- tracted servant. "Why, that's my old sweetheart!" exclaimed the man of blood and iron. Tearing a leaf from his note-book, the grim warrior hastily scratched the following lines, addressed to Mrs. Cecilia Stovall Shellman: "My dear Madam — You once said that you pitied the man who would ever become my foe. My answer was that I would ever protect and shield you. That I have done. Forgive all else. I am but a soldier. W. T. Sherman. Orders were immediately given to the soldiers to replace what they had taken, while a guard was stationed about the mansion to protect it from further molestation. Even iron will melt in the heat of a blaze fervent enough to soften it ; and for the sake of an old love affair of his youth, the grim despoiler spared Shellman Heights. Sentiment often crops out in unexpected places. Now and then we find violets growing in the clefts of volcanic rocks. Sherman moved on. Later came Hooker, who learning the same particulars in regard to the owner- ship of the mansion issued the same order to his troops. Shellman Heights 33 It is said that another unsuccessful suitor for the hand of this beautiful Southern woman was gallant Dick Garnett, a young West Pointer, in charge of the arsenal at Augusta, then the girlhood home of Miss Stovall. To the handsome youth's proposal of marriage, the fair object of his affection was by no means indifferent. But the young girl's father did not favor this match. The lovers were forbidden to meet and the obstinate lass was finally sent to visit relatives in South Carolina. There was probably no objection to the young man him- self. The best Virginia blood rippled his veins ; but his profession was hazardous and his income small. Mr. Stovall wished to see his daughter wedded to a lord of many acres. In this whim he was gratified. While visit- ing the Palmetto State, Miss Cecilia smiled on the suit of a gentleman to whom her father interposed no objeo- tion and whose means enabled him to build for his bride the beautiful old home on the Etowah. But the young officer whose suit she Was forced to decline always remained true to his first love. He never married; and when he feU on the battle-field of Gettysburg, in 1863, the image of sweet Cecilia Stovall still ruled the heart of General Richard B. Garnett, one of the bravest soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia. CHAPTER VI The "Lone Star" Flag of Texas Woven by a Georgia Woman IT is a well authenticated fact that the famotis "Lone Star" flag of Texan Independence was born on the soil of Georgia; and the beautiful emblem which was destined to win historic immortality at Groliad was de- signed by a young lady of Crawford County : Miss Joanna E. Troutman. ' The following account has been condensed from a brief history of the flag written by Macon's pioneer historian, Mr. John C. Butler, who was thoroughly con- versant with the facts from the Georgia standpoint and whose story is corroborated by an article found in an old copy of the Galveston News. Says Mr. Butler :* "Qn November 12, 1835, a public meeting was held in Macon. Robert Augustus Beall, John Eutherford, and Samuel M. Strong were among the speakers who endorsed the claims of Texas. Lieutenant Hugh M. McLeod, from West Point, addressed the meeting in a spirited appeal, pledging himself to resign his commission and to embark as a volimteer. He declared that what Texas needed was soldiers — ^not resolutions. "Captain Levi Eckley, commander of the Bibb Cav- alry, presided, with Simri Rose as secretary. Colonel "William A. Ward, of Macon, proposed to form a company of infantry to enlist in the Army of Texas, whereupon thirty-two gentlemen came forward and enrolled as vol- ♦Historlcal Record of Macon, by John C. Butler, Macon, 1879, pp. 131.137. The "Lone Stab" Flag of Texas 35 unteers. On motion, the chair appointed General E. A. Beall, Colonel H. G. Lamar, Colonel T. G-. Holt, James A. Nisbet, Esq., and Dr. Robert Collins, a committee to solicit subscriptions; and before the meeting adjourned $3,150 was handed in to the committee. Dr. Collins paying in cash the greater part of the amount. "As the company passed through other towns en route to Texas other recruits were added. At Knoxville, in Crawford County, Miss Joanna E. Troutman — after- wards Mrs. Vinson — a daughter of Hiram B. Troutman, made and sent a beautiful banner of white silk, with a blue lone star upon it, to Lieutenant McLeod to present to the company at Columbus. The following is a copy of the letter acknowledging the receipt of the flag : Columbus, Ga./ November 23, 1835. ♦ "Miss Joanna: . "Colonel Ward brought your handsome and appro- priate flag as a present to the Georgia Volunteers in the cause of Texas and Liberty. I was fearful from the shortness of the time that you w^ould not be able to finish it as tastefully as you would wish, but I assure you, without an emotion of flattery, it is beautiful, and with us the value is enhanced by the recollection of the donor. I thank you for the honor of being the medium of presentation to the company; and, if they are what every true Georgian ought to be, your flag will yet wave over fields of victory in defiance of despotism. I hope the proud day may soon arrive, and while your star pre- sides none can doubt of success. Very respectfully your friend. Signed: Hugh McLeod." "This patriotic standard, made in Crawford County, by Miss Troutman, became renowned in the history of the gallant young republic as the first flag of the Lone Star State ever unfurled on Texas soil! As they were not permitted to organize within the limits of the United 36 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends States, Colonel "Ward proceeded with his followers to Texas, where they were organized according to regula- tions. He gathered about one hundred and twenty men who were formed into three companies. These were then organized into a battalion, the officers qf which were : William A. Ward, major ; William J. Mitchell, surgeon ; David I. Holt, quartermaster ; and Henderson . Oozart, assistant quartermaster. The captains were: W. A. 0. Wadsworth, James C. Winn and Uriah J. Bulloch. "After several engagements with the Mexicans, the battalion joined the command of Colonel Fannin and formed a regiment by electing Fannin colonel and Ward lieutenant-colonel. The regiment numbered five hundred and was stationed at Fort Goliad. On March 13, 1836, ttie original battalion, under Ward, was sent thirty miles to the relief of Captain King who had thirty men pro- tecting a number of families in the neighborhood of a church at the mission of Eefugio. On the arrival of the battalion, they found Captain King surrounded by a large force of Mexicans who disappeared on discovering that he was re-ehforced. Afterwards, on leaving the mission, King, with his command, was captured and killed. "Ee-enforced to the number of fourteen hundred men, the Mexicans then intercepted Ward, who retired to the church. Breasi^works were made by the battalion of pews, grave-stones, fences and other things, and the fire of the Mexicans was resisted for two days, with a loss to the enemy of one hundred and fifty men, and of only six to the Americans. But the ammunition of the battalion was exhausted on the third day of the battle, when Colonel Ward was reluctantly forced to capitulate, signing the regular articles according to the rules of war. "It was stipulated that the battalion would be re- turned to the United States in eight days. Colonel Fan- nin, in the meantime, sent four different couriers to ascertain the cause of Ward's delay, each of whom was captured and shot by the Mexicans. The latter were again heavily re-enforced and advanced upon Fort The "Lone Stak" Flag of Texas 37 Goliad. (See elsewhere an accoiint of the massacre of Fannin's men, a large percentage of whom were Geor- gians). Ward's battalion was included in this massacre, having been brought in as prisoners of war. "From an old copy of the Galveston News the follow- ing account is taken : ' The flag of the Lone Star which was first unfurled in Texas was borne by the Georgia battalion, commanded by the late Lieutenant-Colonel "Ward, who with almost his entire command was massa- cred at Goliad, in the spring of 1836, in what is known as 'Fannin's Massacre,' he being next in command to the lamented Colonel James "W. Fannin. The flag was presented to Colonel Ward's command as they passed through Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga., by the beauti- ful Miss Joanna E. Troutman. It was made of plain white silk, bearing an azure star of five points. On one side was the inscription in rich but chaste colors : 'Liberty or Death'; and, on the other, the patriotic Latin motto: 'Vbi Libertas habitat, ibi nostra patria est.' "* "The flag was first unfurled at Velasco on January 8, 1836. It floated to the breeze from the same liberty pole with the first flag of Independence which had just been brought from Goliad by the valorous Captain Wil- liam Brown. What became of the flag of Independence we do not know, but the beautiful star of azure was borne by Fannin's regiment to Goliad, and there gracefully fljoated from the staff. On March 8, 1836, an express arrived at Goliad from Washington, on the Brazos, offici- ally announcing that the convention then in session had formally made solemn declaration that Texas was no longer a Mexican province but a free and independent republic. "Amid the roar of artillery, the beautiful 'Banner of •"Where Uberty resides, there our country Is." 38 Georgia's Landmakes, Memorials and Legends the Lone Star' was hoisted to the tdp of the flag staff, where it proudly streamed over the hoary ramparts and the time-shattered battlements of La Bahia. But just as the sunset gun was fired and the usual attempt was made to lower the colors, by some unlucky mishap, the beautiful silk banner became entangled in the halyards and was torn to pieces. Only a small fragment remained adjusted to the flag staff; and when Colonel Fannin evacuated Goliad to join General Houston, in accordance with received orders, the last remnant of the first 'Mag of the Lone Star' wa;s still fluttering at the top of the staff from which first floated the flag of Texan Inde- pendence. "With the capture of Santa Anna, at the battle of San Jacinto, the silver service of the wily commander was also captured, and some of the trophies of victory, including his massive forks and spoons, were forwarded by General Busk to Miss Troutman, in token of the regard which this Georgia lady had inspired in the stern, scarred patriots of the Eevolution. On the meeting of the first Congress, the Flag of the Lone Star was adopted as the flag of the Eepublic and the seals of office ordered engraved with the star upon them. The public recognition of the maternity of 'the first Flag of the Lone Star as be- longing to Georgia was made by General Memmican Hunt, the first minister from the Eepublic of Texas to the United States. CHAPTER VII "Little GifFen of Tennessee": How a Famous Ballad Came to be Written IN the opinion of literary critics, "Little Giffen of Tennessee" deservedly ranks among tlie most famoiis war ballads of the English language. The author of the poem, Dr. Frank 0. Ticknor, was an eminent physi- cian of Columbus, Ga. ; and in going the rounds of his country practice, he often amused himself by dashing off spirited lines, not a few of which were written on the backs of prescription blanks. His poems while lacking perhaps in literary finish are replete with lyric fire and sweetness. Most of them are merely song-skele- tons but they possess a rythim most captivating to the ear. "Little Giffen" was written during the last year of the war and the circumstances which led to the composition of the famous ballad are narrated in the following graphic sketch from the pen of Colonel Charles J. Swift, a resi- dent of the city of Columbus, and a prominent member of the Georgia bar. The sketch contains the first authen- tic account which has yet appeared in print.* "After the battle of Chickamauga, there was con- tinual fighting between the two hostile armies from Dal- ton to the Chattahoochee River. The pressure of the advancing enemy was persistent, but at every stand he *Ck>ndeinsed from aia article published In the Columbus Liedger In the faU of 1909. 40 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends was opposed by the stubborn resistance of the retreating foe, under Gen. Johnston, who adopted the tactics of the famous Roman general Fabius Maximus, in ordfer to draw Gen. Sherman from his base of supplies. Gen. Johnston was removed in the summer of 1864, and the determination of what the final issue of His plans might have been has become purely a matter of speculation, "Gen. Hood succeeded Gen. Johnston in command. Subsequent to the battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, etc., the cities and towns which could be conveniently reached by train from Atlanta began to receive a great many sick and wounded Confederate soldiers. These increased as Johnston's army approached Atlanta, and the battles' between Hood and Sherman caused every available building in these cities and towns to be converted into Confederate hospitals. One of these in Columbus was the old Banks building on the east side of Broad street, nearly opposite the fire engine house. One of the inmates of this hospital was a mere youth, so badly wounded in one of his legs, that gangrene had supervened. "Dr. Carlisle Terry, then and afterwards a leading physician of Columbus, was tlie general surgeon in charge of the hospitals. Mrs. Evelyn P. Carter, Mrs. W. D. Woolfolk and Mrs. Eosa N. Ticknor were sisters, who, with other ladies of Columbus, made frequent visits to the hospitals to minister to the sick and wounded. These sisters were the daughters of Major Thos. M. Nelson, formerly of Virginia, and related to the Byrds, Pages and Nelsons, who have been distinguished in the Old Dominion from the earliest Colonial days. "In going through the old Banks building hospital, Mrs. Ticknor and her sisters came to the cot on which was lying the wounded youth. He was very young, and was wasted away to a mere skeleton, and so weak and emaciated that he seemed more dead than alive. Moved by an unusual sympathy and motherly tenderness that the sacrifice of war and the toll of battle should include "Little Gippbn op Tennessee" 41 one so young, they asked permission to remove Mm afid to take Mm to one of their homes. Dr. Terry looked at the apparently dying soldier lad and consented to his removal but said somewhat sardonically to the visitors, that they would probably be put to the trouble of sending him back dead, in a day or two. "Following these preliminaries at the hospital, New- ton Giffen was taken to the home of Dr. and Mrs. Ticknor, at Torch Hill, five miles south of Columbus. For days and nights the unequal struggle went on, between the faintest signs of life in the patient and the gangrenous poison which pervaded his system. But Torch Hill was on the heights where the breezes were refreshing and the air pure and balmy, and there 'Little Griff en' had a physician's attention and the gentlest nursing from the host, her sisters, and others in this 'Southern home. When he had somewhat advanced toward recovery he told them that he was Newton Giffen from East Ten- nessee, where his mother was still living; that he could neither read nor write ; that since he had enlisted in the army he had been in eighteen battles and had been wounded seriously for the first time by the one which had brought him to Ms present affiction. "Dr. Douglas C. Ticknor, son of the poet, is now a practicing physician in Columbus. To avoid seeming anachronisms in the recital, this Dr. Ticknor will be in several places spoken of as Douglas. He was about six years younger than Newton Giffen, but as the eldest of the Ticknor children, he well remembers the request his mother and aunts made to take Newton from the hospital, and he has never forgotten his impression of Dr. Terry's manner and expression, betokening the utter uselessness of the change to save the life of the patient. "At Torch Hill, Newton's improvement was slow and protracted. When he was able to sit up and to prop himself on Ms elbow, he took his first daily lessons in 42 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends the art of reading and writing. This latter accomplish- ment enabled him to pen his first letter to his mother far away in the wilderness of her Tennessee mountain home. The second letter was to his captain. The one written to his mother prohably never reached its destination, but the one to his captain did, and the answer was almost literally as the poem has it. When Newton was able to get out of doors, he and Douglas Ticknor were good chums and companions. The latter recalls that Newton was very industrious, gave a great deal of attention to the wrapping of the apple trees to keep the rabbits from eating the bark, and that both of them went forth on occasions to pick blackberry leaves to make green tea. Dr. Douglas Ticknor describes Newton as having very light hair, fair complexion, of unusual tallness for his age, and very thin. "Before he had entirely recovered, Newton received a letter from his captain urging him to return to his company at the earliest possible moment. On receipt of this letter, Newton made preparations for an immediate start. He bade a tearful farewell to Dr. and Mrs. Tick- nor and all the members of the family and promised, if spared, to write to them. His manly character and bear- ing, his sincerity and gratitude left no room for doubt that he would write at the first opportunity; but no letter ever came. Hence the inference by those who were look- ing for a letter from their former charge, that he had been killed in the first engagement after his return to the front. This is the only statement in the poem which cannot be positively substantiated. All others are actual facts — so much so, indeed, that when Dr. Ticknor wrote 'Little Griff en,' he read the first draft of it to Mrs. Tick- nor and was about to tear it up, remarking 'it was too true to be good poetry.' Mrs. Ticknor interposed' and saved the poem from destruction. "On the morning when Newton Giffen left Torch Hill on his way to his company, passage was taken on an old "Little Giffen op Tennessee" 43 gray army borse, Newton riding in front and Douglas riding behind. Getting near to Bull Creek bridge, about half way between Torch Hill and Columbus, they found the waters of the creek at flood height and covering all the lower lands on the side of their approach to the bridge. The old horse, getting a little off the road where the water covered it, fell into a big washout and in struggling to extricate themselves, both of the boys were unhorsed, and came near being swept down the stream and drowned. Douglas Ticknor and the horse got ashore on the side next to home. 'Little Griff en' was carried by the current to a point where he gained a footing close to the bridge. About the time the excitement and danger was over, a negro drove up with a four-mule team on his way to Columbus. He kept in the track of the submerged , road and met with no mishap such as that to the boys and the old gray horse. With no other possession than his dripping and muddy clothes, 'Little G-iffen' climbed into the four-horse wagon and standing up waved a last fare- well to his friend, Douglas, on the other side of the raging waters. "It is said by some that Newton was wounded in the battle of Murfreesboro. However, it is more probable that he was wounded in the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 10, 1863i This would not be inconsistent with the order of time belonging to the events of which the poem treats. The letter that Newton received urging his return, was yery likely co-eval with the general order by Johnston for his officers and captains to get every man back to his command who might be able to return. "Many of the surviving veterans of the army of Ten- nessee under Johnston remember the urgency of these recalls. It is very well established that 'Little Giffen's' name was Isaac Newton Giffen, and that his father was a blacksmith. He was brought to Columbus in September, 1863, and left Torch Hill in March, 1864. The big over- 44 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends flow at Bull creek bridge was presumably from the equi- noctial storm. "Johnston took command of the army of Tennessee in December, 1864. The winter having ended, the opera- tions known as the Dalton-Atlanta campaign commenced in the spring, after this ; and it is more than likely that in making readiness for this campaign, 'Little Giffen' and other absentees received notices to return to the front. Dr. Ticknor was born in Jones county, Georgia, and in 1874, he died in Columbus, Ga., in his fifty-second year. He is buried in Linwood cemetery, in Columbus. Mrs. Ticknor is in her eightieth year, (1909), and is living in Albany, Ga., with her son, Mr. Thos. M. Tick- Such in brief is the history of this famous ballad whose exquisite versification has charmed the ears of thousands on both sides of the water. The poem has been translated into numerous foreign tongues. Though written at random, in the nervous style of one whose time was largely consumed by the weighty cares of Ms profes- sion and whose incense to the muses was offered at odd intervals, this unpremeditated song is nevertheless one of the gems of the war period of American letters. It is practically certain that Little Giffen fell in battle soon after leaving Torch Hill. The character of .the lad, his promise to write if spared, the kindness which was lav- ished upon him by devoted friends, the sense of gratitude which he must have felt for favors received, and the long silence which followed his departure, these preclude the supposition that he could possibly have survived the clash into which he again plunged. Doubtless he was numbered among the unknown dead in one of the battles which occurred soon thereafter ; but Dr. Ticknor has happily rescued the lad's name from oblivion and blazed it im- mortally upon the heights of song. CHAPTER VIII James Ryder Randall: Origin of "Maryland, My Maryland" IT is not the. least among the favors which Fortune has showered upon Augusta that it was long the home of the gifted poet who wrote the immortal war-lyric : "Maryland, My Maryland." James Ryder Eandall was by destiny a Georgian. Though born in Baltimore, Md., January 1, 1839, he died in Augusta, Ga., January 15, 1908. For many years he was an honored and beloved editor on the staff of the Chronicle; and his ashes today rest in Augusta's beautiful city of the dead. Between the dates which measured his useful life he saw much of the world. At Georgetown, D. C, he received his edtica- tion ; he taught for a while in Poydras College in Louis- iana; and then he drifted to New Orleans. On account of hemorrhages from the lungs he was mustered out of the service shortly after enlistment in 1861; but there was not a soldier in the ranks who possessed more of the fire of battle. He resided for a brief period at Anniston, Ala., an industrial center, where he edited the Hot-Blast; but, to quote the Macon Telegraph, "tor Eandall to be at the head of a journal devoted to such hard facts as pig- iron looks to us like putting Saladin to carving gate-pegs with a scimitar." He was at one time secretary to Congressman William H. Fleming, of Georgia, afterwards to Senator Joseph E. Brown, and during this period he was brought into close contact with prominent men. His letters to the 46 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends Chronicle were widely quoted by his contemporaries and are still replete with interest to the student of politics. Says Prof. Matthew Page Andrews, his accredited biog- rapher*: "Except for these visits' to Washington, Ean- dall established himself, for forty years or more, far from his native city and State. But in 1907, under the auspices of the appreciative Edwin Warfield, then Gov- ernor of Maryland, a plan was suggested for the official recognition and material support of the poet who had so immortalized his State in song. He was the guest of the city of Baltimore in the home-coming festivities of 1907. He renewed his friendship with the Hon. Wil- liam Pinkney White, then at the age of 84, an active member of the United States Senate, who made arrange- ments for the publication of his poems, the compilation of which his later and most devoted friend. Miss Lilian McG-regor Shepherd alone was able to induce him seri- ously to begin. To her was penned his last words of longing for his native State of Maryland, written from Augusta and received by her on the day of his death. Sustained by an unfaltering religious faith, he had no fear of dying, but his days had been the days of a dreamer, buffeted by a sea of troubles. He gave the best he had to his friends; his life to his home and family; to his native State an immortal name; and to the English lan- guage perhaps the greatest of all battle-hymns." Professor Andrews thus narrates the circumstances under which the famous song was composed. Says he: ''The date wa^s April 23, 1861. Mr. Randall was then at Poydras College, in Louisiana. The poem was inspired during the sleepless night which followed the reading of an account of the clash between the citizens of Baltimore and the Sixth Massachusetts marching through the city to Southern soil, in which the first citizen to fall was a friend and college mate of the poet. Eandall was then •The Poems of James Ryder Randall, edited by Matthew Pag-e Andrews, New York, 1910. Introduction. James Ryder Randall 47 but twenty-two years of age. Poydras College was a tolerably well-endowed Creole institution at Point-Cou- pee. But subsequent fires have destroyed every object associated with the writing of 'Maryland, My Maryland,' from the desk of the poet-teacher to the buildings of the college itself. The morning after the composition was finished the poet read it to his English classes, who re- ceived it with enthusiasm. Upon being urged to publish it, the youthful instructor at once sent the manuscript to the New Orleans Delta, where it first appeared on April 26, 1861 ; and from this paper the words were reprinted by newspapers throughout the Southern States." "In Maryland the poem was first published several weeks later in a paper, the SoutH, established in Balti- more by Thomas W. Hall, who was shortly thereafter confined in Fort Warren for spreading such seditious sentiments. It was published in various forms in the poet's native city of Baltimore, where it was evident that a majority of the leading people, through close associa- tion with Southerners in business and social relations, sympathized with the South and were bitterly opposed to the intended coercion of the seceding States. "While the words and sentiments of the song thrillingly appealed to Southern sympathizers, the music lovers of Baltimore saw in the swing and melody of the verse unexampled opportunity for some immediate musical adaptation in song. Henry C. Wagner, of the poet's native city, was the first to sing it to the tune of 'Ma Normandie,' then a familiar air. But though the French language was the means of starting the poem upon its melodious song- life, it was through the medium of- the German that- it reached the final form in which it now appears." "Among the famous beauties of Baltimore in 1861 were the Cary sisters, to whose home as loyal Southern- ers 'My Maryland' soon came. The fiery appeal to Southern valor was declaimed again and again by one of these. Miss Jennie Cary, to her sister Hettie, with the 48 Geoegia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends expressed intention of finding an appropriate musical accompaniment for the verses ; and this search was con- tinTied until the popular 'Lauriger Hora tins' was tried and thereupon adopted. The risk of reducing it to publi- cation was somewhat serious, hut Miss Eebecca Lloyd Nicholson spoke out : 'I will have it published. My father is a Union man, and if- 1 am put in prison, he will take me out.' She then took 'Lauriger Horatius' in a Yale song-book to her father's house near-by; and after copy- ing the music carried it to Miller and Beacham. They supplied her with the first copies from the press, besides sending her other songs until they were arrested and put in prison." There were some minor variations made in the text to fit the music. Says Miss Jennie Gary: "The additional 'My Maryland' was a musical necessity and it came to me as a sort of inspiration. ' ' It has been stated that Mr. Rozier Dulaney, of Baltimore, originally pro- posed this addition ; but to Miss' Gary belongs the credit. According to Professor Andrews it was furthermore an extraordinary coincidence that the young' girl, Miss Eebecca Lloyd Nicholson,^ who undertook to have the song published on her own responsibility should have been the grand-daughter of Judge Joseph H. Nicholson, whose wife, Rebecca Lloyd, figured so largely in adapt- ing the Star-Spangled Banner to the tune of Anacreon in Heaven and who had it published in musical form. Says he: "The grand-daughter carried the words and music of "Maryland, My Maryland' to the publishers in 1861 as her grand-mother had done with the ' Star-Span- gled Banner' nearly fifty years before." Subsequently Gharles Ellerbrock, a young G-erinan music teacher and a Southern sympathizer, changed the musical adaptation of 'My Maryland' from the Yale song to the statlier measure of its original, 'Tannenbaum, Tannenbaum'; and in this way it was finally perfected.^ Subsequent to the first battle of Manassas, the famous war-lyric was iMiss Nicholson, through her relationship to Francis Scott Key, inherited the original manuscript of "The Star Spangled Banner," written on the back of an envelope. M. P. Andrews. Introduction to Randall's Poems, p. 16. 'Songs of the Civil War. The Century, August, 1886. James Rtdee Randall 49 rendered for the first time at the headquarters of General Beauregard, near Fairfax Court House, Va., by the Gary sisters, on July 4, 1861.* Oliver Wendell Holmes' pronounced 'Maryland, My Maryland' the finest anthem produced by the Civil War. He is also said to have placed it among the very fore- most of the world's martial lyrics. But while the author's fame will rest undoubtedly upon this gem, there are many competent critics who consider his 'Eesurgam' in no wise inferior. To this number belongs ex- Congressman Wil- liam H. Fleming, who places it, in point of merit, even above Cardinal Newman's "Lead Kindly Light." Though importuned to cast his lot in the North, where larger salaries were offered, Randall refused to leave his be- loved Southland. He often felt the pinch of adverse fortune, but he was never charmed by the glitter of gold. It is of interest to note that Eandall was the first to plead effectively the cause of an American memorial to Edgar Allan Poe ; and to his loyal pen is due the hasten- ing, in some degree at least, of the final reward into which the author of the "Raven" has at last come. If there are notes of bitterness in the great war-lyric of Randall, they were wrung from his loving heart by the passionate hour in which they were penned. He was himself the apostle of tenderness ; and one needs only to turn to the poems of Whittier to find that the gentle Quaker bard of New England has indulged in no less caustic terms. There can be no doubt that the poem wiU live. The breath of immortality is in its lines, and the fame of Randall is secure even from death itself. *"It has been affirmed that Mr. Eandall received $100 for 'Maryland, My Maryland,' and the statement has been widely quoted. The fact Is that an appreciative reader and friend sent him, as author of the poem, some time after its publication, $100 in Coefederate currency, with ■which he may possibly have been able to purchase a pair of shoes, but he did not solicit or receive direct compensation for any of his poems, a. statement vhlch. In all probability, can be recorded of no other modem n?^^ ^^ Be^^a^ pr repu- tation." CHAPTER IX Oglethorpe: His Monument and His Mission JAMES EDWAED OGLETHOEPE, the Founder of the Colony of Greorgia, was the most illustrious Englishman to cross the sea during the period of American colonization. His relinquishment of a career in Parliament for the purpose of establishing in the New World an asylum for the unfortunate debtors of England proves him to have been a philanthropist without a peer among his contemporaries. To realize what choice spirits were sometimes thrown into debtor prisons and what ordeals of torture men of gentle blood were of times forced to endure under an infamous system of imprisonment for debt, one needs only to read "Little Dorrit," a tale in which the greatest of English novelists has portrayed the life of the Marshalsea. But Oglethorpe was not satisfied merely to launch his humane experiment. For ten ardu- ous years he undertook in his own person to defend the Colony of Georgia not only against the savage foes of an unknown wilderness but against the haughty power of Spain. The treaty which he made with the Creek Indians at Coweta Town, after a hazardous journey of three hundred miles through a trackless forest proves him to have been a far-sighted statesman who, by a well- timed coup of diplomacy, brought a powerful confederacy of warriors to the side of England during the French and Indian campaigns. His defeat of the Spaniards at the battle of Bloody Marsh when, with a mere handful of men, outnumbered in a ratio of ten to one, he checked Oglethorpe 51 the advancing power of Spain and made the continent an Anglo-Saxon heritage, proves him to have been a con- summate master of the art of war. Returning to England he continued to mold events. For more than a decade, we find him a power in Parlia- ment; His marriage in 1745 to an heiress, Elizabeth Wright, daughter lof Sir Nathan Wright, 'a baronet, brought him a long rent roll and served to enlarge his influential family connections. Ten years later, he be- came the official head of the Royal Army, with the full rank of General. In the most brilliant coterie of the Eighteenth Century, a group of intellects which included the great lexicographer, Dr. Samuel Johnson, with Bos- well at his elbow; the renowned artist, Sir Joshua Rey- nolds ; the celebrated poet. Dr. Oliver Goldsmith ; and the foremost orator of his time, Edmbnd Burke ; we find in this select company of immortals the tall figure of General Oglethorpe. He was too old, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary struggle, to accept the command of the British forces ia America, but he was the ranking soldier of Great Britain.* It is also a fact of some interest to note that his sympathies were upon ithe side of the Colonies. Boswell, in his "Life of Johnson," makes fre- quent allusion to General Oglethorpe, and the great sol- dier's biography was to have been written by no less renowned a pen than Dr. Johnson's, but for some reason the author of "Rasselas" failed to execute this task. The portrait of Oglethorpe painted by Sir Joshua Rey- nolds was lost in the destruction by fire of his famous country seat, Cranham Hall. Alexander Pope, in a *"The assertion has frequently been made, though the authority for it is not conclusive, that being the senior of Sir William Howe there was offered to him the command of the forces to subjugate America in the War of the Revolution, but that he decllried the appointment, assuring the ministry that he knew the Americans well, that they would never be subdued by force of arms, but that obedience would be secured by doing them justice." History of Georgia, by Wm. B. Stevens, p. 207, New Tork, 18i7. 52 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends famous couplet, extolled tjie great philantliropist.^ Han- nah More, in a gossipy letter, refers to him with some degree of gusto as her new admireir. Thomson, in his poem on "Liberty," pays him a fine tribute, and, in his most famous production, "The Seasons," he alludes still further to his humane experiment.^ The hardships of the Georgia Colonists are also rehearsed at some length in Goldsmith's "Deserted Village."* The friend of Bishop Berkley, the patron of John Wesley, and the col- league of Horace Walpole, the great man who founded Georgia was a personality of Titanic proportions. Royal favor was not bestowed upon Oglethorpe because of the well-known attachment of his ancestors to the House of Stuart. According to an old account, he was himself a foster-brother to the Pretender.* This explains why Eng- '"One driven by strong benevolence of soul Should fly like Oerlethorpe from pole to pole." Pope's Epistle to Colonel Cotterell. The same poet adds: "Thy great example shall through ages shine; A favorite theme with poet and divine; To all uinborn thy merits shall proclaim. And add new honors to thy deathless name." '"Lo, swarming southward, on rejoicing suns Gay colonies extend; the calm retreat Of undeserved distress; the better home Of those whom Bigots chase from foreign lands; Not built on Rapine, Servitude, and Woe, And in their turn some petty tyrant's prey; But bound by social freedom firm they rise Such as of late an Oglethorpe has formed, And crowding round the charmed Savannah Seas." Thomson's "Liiberty." "And here can I forget the generous hamd That touched with human woe, redressive searched Into the horrors of the gloomy Jail? Unpitied and unheard, where misery mourns; Where sickness pines; where thirst and hunger burn. And poor misfortune feels the fash of vice." Thomson's "Seasons." 'See Mcintosh County, on the Altamaha settlement. ■ 'Frances Shaftoe published a Narrative, in London, in 1707, declaring that the pretended Prince of Wales was the foster-brother of Oglethorpe; and also that the latter's mother was at one time the medium through whom Oxford, Bolingbroke, and even Queen Anne herself held communion with the exiled Stuarts. Consult Bollngbroke's Letters. See also Oglethorpe County, Ogi/Ethobpe • 53 land failed to knight the first man of his age. But there was little need for England to lay the accolade of her chivalry upon one of Grod's noblemen.* General Ogle- thorpe died at the patriarchal age of ninety-seven. He lived to see the Colony which he founded an independent commonwealth and to meet John Adams, the first am- bassador from the United States to the Court of St. James. He was buried at Cranham Church, in Essex County, England, where his last resting place commands an outlook upon the North Sea. Pride and gratitude have alwa,ys mingled in the emo- tions with which Georgia has contemplated the career and cherished the name of Oglethoirpe ; but almost two centu- ries elapsed, before an adequate monument to the great humanitarian was reared in the city which he founded. At last, under bright skies, on November 23, 1910, in the city of Savannah, a superb bronze statue surmounting a pedestal of granite, was unveiled in Chippewa Square. The total cost of this handsome memorial was $38,000, of which sum the State of Georgia and the city of Savan- nah each contributed $15,000, while the remainder was raised by patriotic organizations. In attendance upon . the exercises of unveiling were: Governor Joseph M. Brown, of Georgia; Governor B. B. Comer, of Alabama; Hon. A. Mitchell Innes, representing the Court of St, James, in the absence of Ambassador Bryce, then on a return visit to England; Daniel C. French, the distin- guished sculptor; David C. Barrow, Chancellor of the •The following Oglethorpe bibliography may be helpful to students: Memoirs of General James Edward Oglethorpe," by Robert Wright, London, 1867; "Life of General Oglethorpe," by Henry Bruce, New York, 1890; "James Oglethorpe, the Founder of Georgia," by Harriet C. Cooper, New York, 1904; "James Edward Oglethorpe," an address at the Annual Banquet of the Georgia Society of Sons of the Revolution, at Savannah, February 6, 1894, by Judge Emory Speer, included in a volume of speeches on "Lee, Lincoln, Grant," etc., New York and Washington, 1909; and Judge Charl- ton's oration at the unveiling of the Oglethorpe monument in Savannah, November 23, 1910. 54 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends University of Georgia; Mrs. J. J. Wilder, President of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America; Mrs. John M. Graham, State Eegent for Georgia of the Daugh- ters of the American Eevolution ; Bight Eeverend Fred- erick F. Eeese, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia; Judge Walter G. Charlton, orator of the day; official representatives of various patriotic orders and numerous dignitaries both State and Federal. Sevel*al visiting military organizations were also present, eon- stittting, with the local companies, an impressive page- ant. Facing the enemies of the Colony, the statue of Oglethorpe looks toward the south and west. The great soldier and civilian is portrayed in the typical English dress of the period, appropriate to the rank and station in which he moved. On the granite pedestal is a bronze tablet bearing the inscription which follows : Erected by the State of Georgia, the City of Savannah, and the Patriotic Societies of the State to the memory of the Great Soldier, Eminent Statesman, and Famous Philanthropist, General James Edward Oglethorpe, who, in this eity, on the 12th day of February, A. D., 1733, founded and established the Colony of Georgia. Governor Joseph M. Brown, assisted by Mrs. J. J. Wildei', President of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America, unveiled the monument. The prayer of invocation was offered by the Eight Eeverend Fred- erick F. Eeese, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Geor- gia, after which the orator of the day, Judge Walter G. Charlton, President of the Oglethorpe Monument Asso- ciation and President of the Georgia Society of Sons of the Eevolution, was presented to the vast assemblage. Addresses were also delivered by the British representa- tive, Hon. A. Mitchell Innes and by the Chairman of the Monument Commission, Hon. J. Eandolp'h Anderson, who made the formal tender of the monument, in an eloquent OGIiETHORPB 55 speech. Judge Charlton reviewed at some length the illustrious career of Oglethorpe. He sketched the times which produced him, narrated the circumstances which led to the Colonial experiment, and dwelt upon his sacri- fices, his achievements, and his principles. The great battle of Bloody Marsh received exhaustive and thorough treatment. From the standpoint of historical criticism, the oration of Judge Charlton was a masterpiece of patriotic eloquence, characterized throughout by judicial impartiality, by keen analysis, and by rare scholarship. The following salient paragraphs from Judge Charlton's speech will fitly conclude this resume of the exercises. Said he in part : "Near two centuries ago a man of strong and noble nature sought here and there in London a missing friend, whose character and kindly qualities kept him in affec- tionate remembrance. His search brought him at length to the debtors' prison of the Fleet, where in vilest sur- roundings, deliberately imprisoned in a narrow cell with victims of smallpox, he found the friend of his youth, dying of that loathsome disease. When he departed from that horrible scene, his life was consecrated to a great purpose. With the passing of the years there came a bright day in the long ago, when as the soft voices of spring were calling back to life and glory the sleeping beauties of nature, there landed upon what was destined to become a sovereign state a small band, selected to start upon its career the most remarkable experiment in the history of colonization. The purpose had reached its fulfilment, for the sorrowing friend was Oglethorpe ; the adventurers, the passengers of the Anne; the land, the commonwealth which holds our allegiance, our hopes, our happiness. * * * "There has been nothing like it in the history of man- kind. They were the weak and the oppressed of earth. Few in number , untrained in military venture, imskilled in civic construction, their mission was to build for all 56 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends time an empire in a wilderness and hold it against the war-like savage and the armies and navies of one of the greatest powers of Europe. Even as they set foot upon the shore, facing them were the hordes of Indians whom they were to resist, whilst to the south were gathering like unto the storm-clouds of the coming tempest the hosts of Spain. Yet from the tragic elements of failure came victory, for in the divine purpose of the Almighty it had heen ordained that there should also stand upon the soil of Georgia at that moment the one man in all the world through whom victory might come. * * * "Influence and opportunity brought him a commis- sion, in his fifteenth year, under Malborough, and after the peace of 1712 he served under Prince Eugene in the campaigns on the Danube. There could have been no better martial schooling. But in this English boy was something beyond military enthusiasm. Working in his active brain was the constructive force which molds statesmen, and so directs and rules the destinies tof nations. He might in the parliamentary career upon which he entered in 1722, have attained distinction, or, restive in the subservient crowd which dog the footsteps of the great, he might have gone prematurely to that life of quiet which in the distance awaited his coming. It was otherwise ordained. The pen of a great novelist a century later aroused to indignant protest the English mind against the iniquities of imprisonment for debt, and the echo of that far off revolution in public sentiment sounded at length in the constitution of Georgia. * * * "His work accomplished; his mission fulfilled, on July 23, 1743, he sailed for England, never to see again the land to which he had devoted the best years of his life. He was too great to escape the calumnies of the small and the ingratitude of the narrow. Having passed to payment the expenditures made by him out of his per- sonal fortune, the English government revoked its action Oglethoepe 57 and appropriated Ms money. Having availed themselves of Ms military talents, the advisers of royalty court- martialed him on grounds wMch were dismissed as slan- derous. Finally, he withdrew from the service of an ungrateful monarch and entered upon the last stage of the journey of life wMch was to end on July 1, 1785. King and courtier might see in Mm only a successful rival for the fame which it was not given them to attain, but with the great spirits of Ms time he became a welcome guest. Authors laid tributes at his feet and poets bound about Ms brow the laurel wrealths of victory. Georgia and her fate never passed from his thought. Tradition has.it that in the days of the Eevolution he was tendered the command of the English forces, and refused to take up arms against the Colony he had foimded. Whether it be true or false, never in thought or word that history records was he ever disloyal to the Colony to which he had devoted the best years of his life. "He had striven with success for the betterment of the weak and helpless in an age of abject selfishness. He had made an empire with a handful of the oppressed of earth, and the work had survived. He had overcome the Indian by persuasion and kindness and won the abiding friendship of the savages he had been sent to slay. He had encountered the most powerful foe of England and driven Mm in disastrous defeat before his scant battle- line. Reversing all the traditions of Colonial administra- tion, he had been tolerant and just. He was a builder and not an iconoclast; a statesnlan and not a schemer; a soldier and not a plunderer. "Brave and wise and merciful, the end he accom- plished placed him in historic perspective a century ahead of the day in wMch he worked. Honest in an era of guile, without fear and without reproach, he comes to us with his unstained record, to live so long as G-ebrgians shall stand upon the ancient ways and see and approve the better things of life. In all Ms brilliant career — in the hour of stress, in the moment of victory — ^no clamor- 58 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends ous sound of vain and self-applauding -words came from his lips. There was no need. That which he did sends its triumphant paens'down the centuries; and over his illustrious career Georgia stands guard forever."* 'Consult: Files of the Savannah Mornlngr News and of the Savannah Evening Press for November 23-24, 1910. CHAPTER X Fort Frederica: 1735 ON the west side of St. Simon's Island, at a point which commands the entrance to the Altamaha Eiver, stands an ancient pile, the origin of which can be traced to the days of Oglethorpe. It is the oldest of Georgia's historic ruins. Some of the very guns which were used to expel the Spaniards may be seen upon its moss-covered ramparts; and not only the earliest but the bravest memories of Colonial times cluster about its dismantled walls. Except for the part which it played iUi checking the haughty arrogance of Madrid, an altogether different sequel might have been given to the subsequent history of North America, for here it was that the Castilian power in the Western Hemisphere was for the first time challenged and the march of Spain toward the North halted by an overwhelming victory for the English Colonies. I Only some twelve miles distant from the beach, an automobile brings the visitor in less than half an hour to the picturesque old ruin and puts him in touch with the romantic life of two centuries ago. The road to Predierica winds through splendid- forests of live-oak, weirdly and gloomily draped with pendant mosses'. It skirts the historic battle ground of Bloody Marsh, passes underneath the famous Wesley oak, and commands a view of Christ Church, within the sacred precints of which there are a number of tombs wherein 60 Georgia's Landmaeks, Memorials and Legends repose the dust of the old planters, whose elegant homes and fertile acres have long since heen abandoned. If the visitor prefers he can make the trip to Frederica by water. The site of the old fort was well chosen. It faces one of the several streams into which the delta of the Alta- maha River divides on approaching the ocean, but it so happens' that the channel which it overlooks at this point constitutes the most important outlet to the sea. Ogle- thorpe possessed the trained eye as well as the stout arm of the soldier. He saw at once the strategic value of the bluff, while in the level area of ground which stretched behind it he found the ideal spot for his future home town. It was on his return trip from England that he transported hither some of the new colonists and began to erect the fort, which was to guard the exposed southern frontier of Georgia. The original structure was in the main built of tabby, a concrete material of lime mixed with shells and stones. It was quadrangular in shape, provided with four bastions, and defended by eighteen-poujiders. Oglethorpe himself superintended the work of construction and taught the men to dig the ditches and to turf the ramparts. There were two large magazines, sixty feet in length and three stories in height included within the stockade. The barracks were at the north end of the town, where they occupied quar- ters ninety feet square. Over the gateway rose a tower, while on either side there were bastions two-stories in hfeight. and twenty feet square, each equipped with heavy guns. To furnish adequate water supplies, a well was dug within the fort. When everything was completed, Oglethorpe made another trip to England to recruit his famous regiment, which was destined to become one of the best military organizations in the service of the King. In honot of Frederick, Prince of Wales, the stronghold was chris- tened Frederica. Fort Fredeeica 61 But time has spared only the barest remnant of th6 ancient citadel which saved the continent of North America from Spanish domination. Only the walls of the old fort have been spared. Not a vestige of the town survives. Says one who has often visited the historic spot*: "It is a shame to think how the blocks of tabby were carted away to build the lighthouse and the negro quarters, so that nothing remains of the old town of Ftederica. I remember when a child seeing a house on the ruins of the old battery and I can recall how I peeped down with awe at the magazine below. If our patriotic societies had been earlier founded how much might have been saved from vandal hands. But we are thankful to save even this remnant, which the greedy waves had already overthrown when we determined to preserve it. On these very blocks of tabby the great and good Oglethorpe may have laid his hand. It is preserved in honor of him, the Founder of Georgia, whose energy was boundless, whose watchfulness was unceasing." It is to the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America that the credit belongs for the rescue of this historic ruin on the Georgia coast. Occasional visits to the upper part of the island disclosed the sad plight in which the old fortifications were left and emphasized the importance of immediate action if anything were done to rescue the ancient land-mark from utter extinction. At one time there stood upon the ruins of the old fort an occupied building. Just how long ago it stood here is uncertain, but in removing the debris some of the work- men chanced to discover the walls. Thus after the lapse of long years was the existence of the old fort brought to the attention of the public. In 1902 a resolution was adopted by the Colonial Dames looking toward the restoration of the ancient stronghold. This was possible •M>s. J. J. Wilder, of Savannah, President of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of Ainerlca. 62 Georgia's Landmaeks, Memobials and Legends only in part; but without losing a moment's time these patriotic women took the initiative, raised the funds which were needed for making the proper repairs, and in due time completed the task. Embedded in one of the outer walls of the old fort is an elegant tablet of bronze, eighteen by twenty-four inches, on which may be read the following inscription : OGLBTHORPE This remnant is all that time has spared of the Citadel of the Town of Frederica, built hj General Oglethorpe, A. D., 1735, as an outpost against the Spaniards in Florida. Presented by the Georgia Soci- ety of Colonial Dames of America, 1904. With impressive exercises, the above mentioned tablet was unveiled on April 22, 1904. There were a number of distinguished visitors present, including representatives^ from the various patriotic orders'. The fort on this occasion was profusely decorated with flowers. The tablet was covered with the British flag, while the American colors floated from the parapet. Mrs. J. J. Wilder, President of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America, unveiled the tablet. The prayer of invocation was offered by Eev. D. W. Winn, rector of Christ Church at Frederica, after which the anthem "America" was sung by a choir of children. Then followed an address by Mrs. Wilder, at the conclusion of which. Captain C. S. Wylly, of Brunswick, introduced the orator of the day, Hon. Pleasant A. Stovall, of Savannah, who, in eloquent language, told the brave story of the old fort. Some few paragraphs from this address are herewith reproduced. Said Mr. Stovall, in substance: "Those who would have a glimpse of the real James Oglethorpe must come to Frederica, for he was above everything else a soldier. When he had finished his earlier task at Savannah, his FoET Feedeeica 63 face by some mysterious fascination was turned to the southward. He thereupon set out for St. Simon's where, true to his military instincts, he built his forts and assem- bled his regiment, and where, for the first time, yielding to the domestic spirit, he reared his roof-tree and established the beginning of his home. Until he left the Colony never agaia to return he redded at Ms cottage on St. Simon's Island, and of all the places planted and nurtured by him, none so warmly enlisted his energies or engaged his constant solicitude as this fortified town at the mouth of the river. "The men who sailed with Francis Drake and who ravaged the Spanish main in the sixteenth century did not lead a more venturesome or heroic existence than did Oglethorpe at Frederica, yet according to Colonel Jones, 'the only hours of leisure he ever enjoyed were in sight and sound of his military works on the southern frontier. ' Weary of the outcries and intrigues of the settlers at Savannah, stung by their evidences of ingratitude and discouraged by their protests' against his benign super- vision, he found rest at Frederica, where he stationed his regiment and revived a military regime. Here he mounted guard under the spreading oaks and watched the sentinels as they paced the lonely shades. Now and then he conversed genially with the cadets of the old families who had enlisted here, while ever and anon he heard the bugles ring out in the silver moonlight and saw his guard sloop patrol the estuaries of the Altamaha. "Oglethorpe proved to be a sea-fighter as well as an infantry commander. He seemed to be at home in every branch of the service. Napoleon, when he heard that the English had v-anquished the French fleet in the battle of the Nile, held up his hands in helplessness and exclaimed : 'I cannot be everywhere.' But Oglethorpe seemed to have the faculty of being everywhere and of covering every foot of ground and every sheet of water, from the mouth of the St. John's to St. Simon's Island. He served the guns on shipboard and on the land batteries, and even 64 Georgia's Landmaeks, MEMOErALS and Legends acted as engineer. He had th.e power of initiative. He possessed the aggressive genius of attack." "Walpole called him a 'bully.' He was not that; but he was a military man every inch of him, strict and severe in discipline, iDetter suited to the scenes of war than to the patient civic administration of the council board. After the Spanish had been driven from the limits of Georgia and the peace of Europe had been accomplished, leaving Frederica free from the fear of further invasion, Oglethorpe sailed away to the old country and left the work of rehabilitating the Colony to other hands. It is fortunate, perhaps, for his fame that he did so. The rules of the trustees were much modified. The charter was surrendered to the Crown and the dras- tic lines upon which the paternal government of Ogle- thorpe had been projected were partially changed. But conditions had shifted. A Colony environed by an implacable fOe, subject to spoliation at any time, must be governed, perhaps, by the rules of the ramparts and of the quarterdeck. A people basking in peace and develop- ing under the arts need vastly different regulations. But fortunate for all of us it was that the first period of Georgia's existence was' shaped by a master hand and its destinies guided by one of the noblest men and one of the knightliest soldiers in Europe. "If, however, he was lacking in any of the elements of statesmanship, he was still possessed of a consunamate diplomacy. He penetrated the wilds of Georgia and treated with the Indians in such a way that they became his friends for life. The land grabbing of some of the early settlers in this country was conspicuously absent in the dealings of James Oglethorpe. Even the punctil- ious grandees of Spain were charmed with the accomp- lished English courtier. "Fortunate it is for the civilization of the world that Oglethorpe was not assassinated by his soldiers, who rose FoBT Fbedebica 65 in mutiny and fired upon him in his tent, or that he did not perish by the shot which came so near ending his career at St, Augustine. France and Spain had both set prices upon his head and had incited the Indians to way- lay him during some of his journeys through the lonely forest; but happily for mankind he bore a charmed life and saved for all time the American Colonies from spolia- tion and ruin." "After the departure of Oglethorpe and the con- clusion of peace Frederica began to retrograde. The .troops were finally removed and the fortifications fell iato decay. Houses commenced to tumble down, and there were 'barracks without soldiers, guns without carriages, and streets overgrown with weeds.' Even in 1774, two years before the Declaration of Independence, Frederica was a ruin; from the crumbling walls of the deserted houses, figs and pomegranites were growing; and the brave town soon dwindled into nothingness. During the Revolution the British troops well-nigh con- pleted the spoliation of time. The mission of Frederica, according to Col. Jones, was accomplished when the Spaniards no longer threatened. Its doom was pro- nounced in the hour of its victory. Fannie Kemble, who visited the ruins in 1839 saw ' the wilderness of crumbling gray walls compassionately cloaked wijth a thousand graceful creepers'." CHAPTER XI The Wesley OzJc TO the west of the main highway and in less than half a mile of Fort Frederica, on St. Simon's Island^" looms an ancient oak, gnarled and twisted. It rises to a height of some two hundred feet, while, over an area of several acres, its cool shade rests like a benediction. It stands at the gateway to the churchyard of .Christ Church; and, according to local tradition, it marks th|S exact spot on which the Wesleys preached during the infant days of the settlement. At first, Charles Wesley was employed in secular work. He engaged himself to Oglethorpe in the capacity of private secretary, before leaving Elngland, but he afterwards took orders and devoted much of his time to preaching in the neighbor- hood of Frederica. From time to time he was also joined by his brother John, who came down from Savannah. Even if the oak in question is not ,th.e identical forest monarch under which the Wesleys preached, its antiqiiity, from outward appearances at least, is sufficiently great to embrace the period of Georgia's early settlement, and several generations sleep within the quiet enclosure over which it stands sentinel. From the outstretched limbs of the old oak trail the pendant mosses, giving it an appear- ance of great solemnity and beauty and making it the picturesque embodiment of the austere memories which cluster about the sacred spot. The present chapel is comparatively new and thoroughly modern in every appointment, but it occupies the site of one which was THE WESLEY OAK, NEAR FREDERICA, ON ST. SIMON'S ISLAND. The WESLBr Oak 67 quite old, and on the parish register are the names of the earliest residents of St. Simon's Island. When Charles Wesley accompanied Oglethorpe to this place, opposite the mouth of the Altamaha, it was an infant settlement and the walls of Fort Frederica were just beginning to rise as a bulwark against the powerful encroachments of the Spaniards. Says Dr. Lee:* "Of iihis settlement, Charles Wesley, now in holy orders, took the spiritual charge. But he failed to make a success of his work. Benjamin Ingham was with him, a man of sincere piety but of doubtful judgment. Elven before the close of the first month he had come to logger- heads' with the people and was finding his duties as secretary an intolerable burden. His congregation had 'shrunk to two Presbyterians and a Papist,' and the physical discomforts of the place nearly drove him wild. Nor was he pleased with the manner in which Oglethorpe treated him. The good man, who had to attend to every- body's claims all over the Colony, and, in addition, was providing against threatened attacks from without, grew impatient with the incessant complaints ma'de ■ against Charles Wesley, who seemed to be always in hot water. Moreover, in the ecclesiastical attempts of the latter to set everything on a basis of thorough propriety, there was present a distinct element of insubordination to civil authority, which was beginning to show disintegrating effects in the attitude of the community at large. Being a thorough disciplinarian Oglethorpe keenly resented the injudicious meddling; and he visited his wrath upon his secretary in some acts of petty tyranny for which he afterwards expressed regret. "In the beginning of April, John Wesley came to Frederica and preached in the new store-house. He had hoped to set matters right by his presence but was unsuc- •lUustrated History of Methodism, by Rev. James W. Lee, D. D., St Louis, 1900, pp. 69-70. 68 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends cessful. We can picture the two brothers, sitting together under the broad oak, which is still pointed out on the island as having afforded them shelter and can be seen by tourists on board the vessels which pass through the channel. Under it they no doubt discussed the worries and trials of Colonial life. John Wesley decided to change places for a time with his brother; and Charles seems to have been much happier in Savannah. But he found that Georgia was no place for him; and, on July 26, 1736, at noon, he took his final leave of Savannah, surprised that he 'felt no more joy in leaving such a scene of sorrow.' In the friendly parting with Ogle- thorpe, the latter advised him to take a wife, as it would be likely to increase his' usefulness." CHAPTER XII Coweta Town: Where a Treaty was Signed the Effect of Which was a Death-Blow to France on the Mississippi OPPOSITE the great bend in the Chattahoochee Eiver, just below the site of the present city of Columbus, on the Alabama side of the stream, there stood an old Indian settlement called Coweta Town. It was here, on an eminence overlooking the river, that Fort Mitchell was' built in after years. The locality was also long famous as a duelling ground and the tragic duel between Governor George "W. Crawford and Colonel Thomas E. Burnside occurred in the neighborhood of the old fort. But, going back to the time of the red- skins, Coweta Town was the principal village of the great Muscogee or Creek Confederacy of Indians, a seat of government at which council fires were held annually by the various component tribes. It was from one of these — the Coweta or Lower Creeks — ^that the name of the town was derived. There was also living in this neighbor- hood at the time of which we speak a subordinate band of Indians who called themselves lichees and who gave alle- giance to the Muscogees. Here, on Aug. 21, 1739, occurred an event of transcendant interest not only to the State of Georgia but to the entire English-speaking race, for there was here signed and sealed a treaty of friendship the ultimate effect of which was to give an Anglo-Saxon character to the whole subsequent history of North America. 70 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends The least reflection will suffice to make the truth of this statement plain. It will be remembered that the French, at this time, by reason of the explorations of LaSalle, claimed the entire Mississippi basin of the continent, reaching from the Great lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. They were already securely entrenched upon the ice-bound heights of the great St. Lawrence; but they sought to strengthen the hold of France upon the vast and fertile region which bordered upon the warm tropics. For thirty-five years, Bienville had governed with far- sighted statecraft the Province of Louisiana. His great aim was to give reality to the old dreams of LaSalle, viz. — to bring the native tribes under French control, to foster trade relations, to discover mines, to establish missions, and to unite Louisiana to Canada by means of a chain of forts planted at strategic points along the great Father of Waters. In furtherance of this grand design, he had not only fortified the Mississippi delta but had planted the standard of King Louis upon the bluffs at Mobile. As a sequel to this latter exploit, he claimed for France two-thirds of the land ceded to Georgia by the Crown of England. Had Oglethorpe failed, therefore, at this critical moment to enlist the friendship of the powerful Muscogee or Creek Confederacy of Indians and to confirm by treaty agreement the English, right of ownership to the land described in Georgia's charter, there would have been an altogether different story for the future historian to tell. It is quite certain that the Indians would have come under the spell of the French diplomacy, for the Jesuits, a noble band of mis- sionaries, were not slow in finding the key to the savage heart ; and, in such an event, not only would the territory today embraced within Alabama and Mississippi have been lost to England but, from the additional strength gained by this alliance, another result might have been given to the French and Indian wars. In the light of Coweta Town 71 this somewhat rapid survey, therefore, it is not difficult to trace an intimate logical connection between the treaty of friendship concluded at Coweta Town on the Chatta- hoochee and the final overthrow of the Ftench power in North America on the heights of Abraham! The masterful mind of Oglethorpe, with almost prophetic ken, foresaw at once the danger which con- fronted the Colony of Georgia; and, in good season, he struck a blow for England, which was destined to echo down the centuries. The great philanthropist and soldier had already in the fall of 1738 met at Savannah the chiefs- of four of the Creek towns with whom he had sealed a pact of friendship. But Georgia was begirt by enemies. To the south were the Spaniards in Florida and to the west were the French in Louisiana; and, in ^order to circumvent any covert designs on the part of these powers to seize the territory of Georgia, he sought by means of larger co-operation with the Indians to confirm the Ftiiglish right of occupation to the Georgia lands and to bind the savage tribes more securely to him, in the event of an outbreak of hostilities. He, therefore, resolved to attend the next great annual conclave or council-fire of the Muscogee Indians, on the Chattahoochee Eiver, at Coweta Town. In pursuance of this purpose, he accordingly left Savannah, on July 17, 1739, accompanied on the perilous expedition by a few chosen companions, among them. Lieutenant Dunbar, Ensign Leman, and Cadet Eyre, besides a small retinue of servants. The journey from Savannah to Coweta Town lay through a trackless forest, three hundred miles in extent ; and, taken in the heat of midsummer, there was added to the likelihood of attack from savage Indians the risk of exposure to the pesti- lential air of the swamps. We can thus form some idea of the sturdy mold of character in which this stalwart and: heroic Englishman was cast. The wonderful 72 Geoegia's Landmabks, Memobials and LEGiaros influence of his strong personality upon the savage tribes of the wilderness again bore fruit in the success of his mission to Coweta Town, where, in due time, a treaty of alliance was concluded with the Creeks, by virtue of which he obtained the good-'jv^ill of twenty thousand war- riors and sealed the future welfare and happiness of the Colony of Georgia. En route back to Savannah, on the return trip, the splendid constitution of Oglethorpe gave way, and, for weeks, at Augusta, he lingered in the uncertain balances of fate, equipoised between life and death — the victim of a malignant fever. But at length he came successfully through the severe ordeal of illness. His great work, under divine providence, was still unfinished for, besides thwarting the designs of France, there was still reserved for him the supreme and final task of sounding the death- knell of the power of Spain in the decisive battle of Bloody Marsh. CHAPTER XIII Bloody Marsh: Where a Battle was Fought in which Spain Lost a Continent BETWEEN the lighitJioiDsie at St. Simion's and the old citadel of Frederica there stretches a low plain on which was staged a war drama, the far-reaching effect of which upon the subsequent fortunes of America hardly admits of a piainallel in the history of the New World. Here, on July 7, 1742, was foughlt the historic battle of Bloody Marsih. To quote an authority whose opinion is universally respected, Thomas Carlyle, "half the world was 'hid'den in embryo under it"; 'and this wisest seer aind clearest thinker of the Nineteenth Cen- tury further adds: "The Yankee nation itself was in- violved, the greatest phenomenon of these ages."^ The renowned Whitefield declared tbat G'eorgia'is deliverance from the Spaniards ait this time was to be parallelled "only by some instances out of the Old Testament."^ Said 'he :^ ' ' Certain it is that 'this battle, though well nigh forgotten, is one of the most glorious and decisive in the 'Judge Emory Speer, in a speech delivered at the annual banquet of the Georgia Society of Sons of the Revolution, at Savannah, on February 6, 1894, and incorporated in a volume entitled "Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and Other Bl(|)graphioal Addres^s," pp. 130-131, New York and Washington, 1909. In this same work. Judge Speer reproduces the "Official Report of Don Manuel Montlano, Spanish Commander of the Expedition against Georgia," a docu- ment of very great value to historians. 'McCall, Stephens, Jones. "Judge Speer in the work above mentioned, pp. 130-131. Also an address delivered by Judge Walter G. Charlton, at the unveiling of the Oglethorpe monument in Savannah, JToveroljer 23, 1910, 74 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends "* aamals of our ooimtry. It determinedi that Nortlh America sihoiild be left to tthe exploitaJtipn of tlhe Aii^lo-Saxion, the Celtic aittd the Teutonic races. Had suiccess attended' the Spaniards, they would hiave advanced upon the more fflortihem settlemenits. " To quote an eminent jurist of this State,* "G-enenal Oglethorpe received! froln the Gov- emoirs of Nev York, New Jersey, Pennsylvialnia, Mary- land, Virginia, and No'rtih Carolina speicial letters, con- gratulating him on his success and expresisdiig gratitude to the iSupreme Governor of Nations for placing the afPairs of the Colonies undier the idirection of a 'General, so well qualified for the important trust. ' ' In the ancient Spanish burial ground near Frederica lie the remains of some of the hapless victimis who fell in this engagemient, buit tlhe sacred areia is chokeid with briars and brambles while, amid the damp undergTiowtih, hisses the vengeful smiake. It is the announced plan of the Bnmiswick chap- ter, of the D. A. R., at an early dalte, to place lappriopriate markers on the M'storic field ; and, in view of the ulitimate significance of the battle here fought, it is more than likely thiat the hearty cio>-ioperiation of the organiza- tiion at large will be given them in this patriotic work. The disappeiar'aaice of the Spanish flag, on January 1, 1899, from the whole upper half of the Western HemiBi- phere, when the independlence of Cuba was recognized by the government at MadWd, merely served to record the final issu.es of the great victory achieved' by Ogle- thorpe when, with a force of six hundired mien, he inau- gurated the eria of Spain's downfall .amd gave the whole continent of North Aknerica to English civilization. At the unveiling of the 'bronze tablet, plaiced by the Colonial Dame®, 'on Apiril 22, 1904, in the walls of the old fort at Frederica, Hon. Pleiasant A. 'Stovall, of Savannah, delivered' the address of the Occasion. His portrayal of the battle of BloOdy Marsh was peculiarly graphic, coin- •Ibid, pp. 130-lSl. Bloody Mabsh 75 ciding in the main with the accomits given by the accred- ited historians. Said he, in speaking of the miraculous feat of arms by which Oglethorpe broke the tide of the Spanish invasion: "It was at this time that, with six hundred men, assisted by a few weak vessels, he put to flight an army of five thousand Spanish troops, supported by a powerful fleet. Oglethorpe did not, like the Florida governor, shut himself up in his fortress and await the issue behind barred gates. He put himself fearlessly in his frail guard schooner, sailed out in the face of the thirty-six Spanish ships of the line, darted in and out among them, fighting his way through them in his cutters or beating them back in Ms barges. "Finally he was convinced that he could not prevent the Spanish from landing. He spiked his guns on St. Simon's, sent his fleet to sea, and marched up to the citadel at Frederica, where he rallied the Highlanders and rangers. The rest of his work on that eventful day taxes the credulity of modern times and goes to make up one of the most decisive victories in English history. The Colony of Georgia was saved by a miracle and Oglethorpe acknowledged his thanks to Providence, who gave him the victory. He routs the first party of Spaniards, which landed upon the lower end of the island, takes prisoners himself, pursues the enemy to an open meadow and posts his platoons in such a position that they commanded the plain entirely. The soul of energy, and anxious to cover every part of the island at once, he returned to Frederica to see if the enemy had approached the works by wate?. Convinced that everything was quiet here, he flew back to his platoons and the sight which met him was enough to appall the stoutest heart. His trusted soldiers had broken in disorder. Stonewall Jackson, when he reached the plain of Manassas, found the Con- federate lines badly broken. Oglethorpe, when he re- turned to Bloody Marsh, encountered similar scenes of disorder. The work of rallying the troops only occupied 76 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends a moment. Under his trusted leadership they "went to the fray and found to their surprise, that a portion of Oglethorpe's men had stood their ground and had already routed the Spaniards with heavy slaughter. They had concealed themselves in the thicket and had fired upon the Spaniards with deadly effect, forcing them back to the seashore and lining the marsh with the dead and dying. The day is memorable in the history of the new world. "Oglethorpe completed by stratagem his victory on land. He convinced the Spanish that the Carolina ships and forces were expected next day and their great gal- leons, after making a sortie upon Frederica by water, where they were beaten back by the guns of the fort, retired in confusion and soon sailed away to Florida and Cuba. Oglethorpe wrote, in considering the situation be- fore the attack, that he could not do impossibilities. But it was the impossible which happened. The standards of England were now secure upon the frontiers of Geor- gia. The Spanish had resented the encroachments of the British upon the Southern frontier, but the title of the conqueror was now undisputed. As to Oglethorpe, the two worlds rang with his name and he received letters from the governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, thanking him for the invaluable services he had rendered the British colonies in America. Had Frederica fallen Savannah, Charleston, Jamestown and the whole sea- board would have been open to attack by the Spanish army and navy, which had been fitted out at Havana for this very purpose. The day at Frederica decided that the Anglo-Saxon and not the Castilian was to be master of the new world." CHAPTER XIV Christ Church, Savannah: Where the Georgia Colonists First Worshipped God TO quote a distinguished local historian^: "On the original spot where the Colonists established a house of "worship stands today the beautiful and classic proportions of Christ Church. Here Wesley preached and Whitefield exhorted — the most gifted and erratic characters in the early settlement of Georgia. Wesley came to these shores with a fervor amounting almost to religious mysticism. He thought his mission was to Christianize the Indians. No priest of Spain ever carried the Cross among the Aztecs and Incas of Mexico and Peru with greater zeal; but his career in Georgia was checkered and unfruitful. Though a man of gifts he suspended his work among the Indians because he could not learn the language ; and his ministry among the whites was characterized by a severity which made it unpopular. He seems to have been a martinet in -the pulpit. He became embroiled with his parishoners and left Savannah between two suijs. Yet Bishop Candler probably spoke the words of truth when, from the pulpit of Wesley Monumental Church, in November, 1899, he said: "No grander man ever walked these historic streets than John Wesley^" 'Pleasant A. Stovall, In a, chapter on "Savannah," written for Historic Towns of the Southern States, pp. 308-310, New Toric, 1904. "It must not be forgotten that Wesley and Whltefleld were both mln. Isters of the Church of Kngland. Though holding peculiar views and be- longing to a society called In derision "Methodists," they both lived and died Episcopalians. Wesley and Whitefield also differed between themselvea The former was Armlnlan, the latter Calvinistlc In theological doctrbie. 78 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends On February 26, 1838, the corner stone of the present handsome edifice was laid. It is the third religious struc- ture which has occupied this time-honored site since the days of Oglethorpe. The plans were drawn by James Hamilton Couper, Esq., a noted planter ; and the building committee appointed to supervise the work consisted of the following substantial members of the parish : William Scarborough, who built the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean; Dr. Theodosius Bartow, father of the afterwards celebrated Colonel Francis S. Bartow, who fell at Manassas; William Thorne Williams, Robert Habersham, and William P. Hunter. The rector at this time was the Eeverend Edward Neufville ; and his vestry- men were: Dr. George Jones, a United States Senator; William Thorne Williams, Eobert Habersham, William Scarborough, E. E. Cuyler, a famous railroad pioneer; William P. Hunter, and Dr. P. M. KoUock. For nearly fourteen years, the eloquent Dr. Stephen Elliott, after- wards the first Bishop of the Diocese of Georgia, was rector of Christ Church. He died in 1866, lamented by the entire South. The following inscription on the cor- ner-stone gives an epitomized history of this ancient housQ of worship: I. H. S. Glory to God. Christ Church. Founded in 1743. Destroyed by fire in 1796. Ee- founded on an enlarged plan in 1803. Pairtially destroyed in the hurricane of 1804. Eebuilt in 1810. Taken down in 1838. Says a well-known writer*: "Dating from the first Episcopal services held in Savannah by the Eeverend George Herbert, one of the voyagers in the galley 'Ann,' Christ Church constitutes the oldest ecclesiastical organi- zation in Georgia. The present site was chosen when •Adelaide Wilson in Historic and Picturesque Savajinah, Boston, 1889. Cheist Chukch, Savannah 79 Oglethorpe planned the town. Until the first building was erected for the congregation, divine worship was held in the tent of Oglethorpe, in the open air, and in the Court House. Progress in the work was retarded for several years on account of hostilities with Spain. "The successor of George Herbert was the Reverend Samuel Quincy, a member of the famous family of Massa- chusetts; and "he in turn was succeeded by John Wesley and by George Whitefield. It was under the latter that the parish was first organized in 1843 and the original house of worship erected. During the rectorship of the Eeverend Bartholemew Zouberbuhler, Colonel Barnard, of Augusta, presented the church with the first organ ever seen in Georgia. In 1774, the Eeverend Haddon Smith, then rector, gave great offence to the Liberty element by his pronounced Loyalist views, in consequence of which he was approached by a committee of the church, who forbade him further to officiate in Georgia. Disre- garding the command, he went to the church as usual to find the doors barred against him. Later he was pub- lished in the "Gazette" as an enemy to America; and being apprised of the fact that a mob was approaching the rectory, whose piirpose was to tar and feather him, the unhappy clergyman escaped with his family to Tybee, whence he sailed for Liverpool. In 1815 Bishop 'Hara, of South Carolina, came to Savannah to consecrate a building, which was then recently erected, and, at the same time, he held the first confirmation service in Geor- gia, at which time sixty persons were presented by the rector, the Eeverend Mr. Cranston." CHAPTER XV Bethesda: Where the Great Whitefield Founded an Asylum for Orphans ON a bluff, near the seashore, nine miles from Savan- nah, is situated Bethesda, one of the noblest memorials in existence to the great English divine, the mature flower of whose genius was devoted to the establishment of this Orphan House in what was then a remote wilderness of the New "World. It is the oldest organized charity in America, a record which may excite some surprise in view of the fact that Georgia was the youngest of the original thirteen Colonies, founded more than a hundred years after Jamestown. But the humane enterprise of Oglethorpe originated in an impulse of philanthropy ; it was an experiment in which some of the noblest minds of England were interested ; and there is nothing illogical or strange In the fact that such an insti- tution should have found birth in a Colony, the motto upon whose seal was "non sibi sed aliis." To the people of Georgia, it will ever be a source of the keenest satis- faction not only that this pioneer institution possesses an age record of this character but that it originated in the heart of George Whitefield, the foremost pulpit orator known to the English-speaking world of his day and time. On a special visit to England, he secured from the Trus- tees of the Colony a grant of land comprising five hundred acres, on which to establish his plant ; and with the help of James Habersham, a fellow-traveller on his first voy- age to America, he began to launch the humane project. Bethesda 81 The site having been selected, a road was cut from Savannah to Bethesda — the first highway ever construc- ted in Georgia. Perhaps the circumstances connected with the estah- lishment of Bethesda are best narrated in the language of the great founder himself. Writing of the project, Whitefield, in a letter, dated March 21, 1745, and post- marked Bethesda, says*: " ... it was first proposed to me by my dear friend, the Eev. Mr. John Wesley, who, with his excellency. Gen. Oglethorpe, had concerted a scheme for carrying on such a design before I had any thought of going abroad myself. It was natural to think that as the Government intended this Province for the refuge and support of many of our poor countrymen, numbers of such adventurers must necessarily be taken off, by being exposed to the hardships which unavoidably attend a new settlement. I therefore thought it a noble design in the general to erect a house for fatherless children; and, believing such a provision for orphans would be some inducement with many to come over, I fell in with the design, when mentioned to me by my friend, and was resolved, in the strength of God, to prose- cute it with all my might. But, knowing my first stay in Georgia would necessarily be short, on account of my returning again to take priest's orders, I thought it most prudent to go and see for myself and defer prosecuting the scheme till I came home. When I came to Georgia I found many poor orphans who, though taken notice of by the Honorable Trustees, yet through the neglect of persons acting under them, were in wretched circum- stances. For want of a house to breed them up in, the poor little ones were tabled out here and there ; the others were at hard services and likely to have no education at all. Upon seeing this, and finding that his Majesty and •White's Historical Collections of Georgia, ChatJiftm County, Savannah, 1854. B2 Georgia's Landmaeks, Memorials and Legends Parliament had the interest of the Colony at heart, I thought I could not better show my regard to God and my country than by getting a house and land for these children, where they might learn to labor, read, and write, and, at the same time, be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Accordingly on my return to England, in the year 1738, to take priest's orders, I appealed to the Honorable Society for a grant of five hundred acres of land and laid myself under obligations to build a house upon it and to receive from time to time as many orphans as the land and stock would maintain I called it Bethesda because I hoped it would be a house of mercy to many souls. ' ' Whitefield gave himself unreservedly to the work. Throughout the remainder of his life, it was the constant theme of his eloquence. "Voyages back and forth to Eng- land and travels up and down the continent were made by him, almost without number, in behalf of his beloved Bethesda. Large sums were contributed on both sides of the water, and people in every walk of life were charmed into giving by the marvelous witchery of his words., Benjamin Franklin records this anecdote of Whitefield: "I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection and I silently resolved that he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a hand- ful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles of gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the copper. Another stroke of oratory made me ashamed to give so little and determined me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably that I emp- tied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all." Nineteen years later found "Whitefield making Be- thesda an academy of high character, similar in design to one in Philadelphia. For tWs purpose two wings, one Bethesda 83 huiidred and fifty feet each, were added to the main building. But the great friend of the orphans was near- ing the end of his pilgrimage. It was not reserved for him to witness the ultimate fruition of his work. By Whitefield's death, the institution passed to Lady Hunt- ingdon. The clause in his will, transferring the property to her, reads: "I will and bequeath the Orphan House at Bethesda and likewise all buildings, lands, books, and furniture belonging thereto to that lady elect, that Mother in Israel, that mirror of true and undefiled religion, the Right Honorable Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. In case she should be called to enter upon her glorious rest before my decease, then to the Honorable James Haber- sham, a merchant of Savannah." Lady Huntingdon's first thought upon hearing of the bequeathal to her of Bethesda was characteristic of her devotional nature; a day was set apart for fasting and prayer. But prepara- tions were hardly begun for taking over the work, when the buildings were destroyed by lightning. Lady Huntingdon contributed largely of her private means to restore the institution and to provide sufficient accommodations; but anything like permanent growth was intercepted by the outbreak of hostilities between the mother country and the Colonies in America. It is an interesting fact that this noble and gifted woman was distantly related to George Washington. She presented to the Orphan House at Bethesda, a full-length portrait of herself, the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds. It was sent to New York in 1851 to be re-touched and, after this result was skillfully accomplished, it was reshipped to Savannah. With the consent of the officers, it was placed in the keeping of the Georgia Historical Society; and today hangs in Hodgson Hall. At the close of hostilities with England an effort was made by the Legislature to carry out Whitefield's idea; and Chatham Academy was projected, which took over the educational work of Bethesda. The latter, for some time, retained an interest in the school property in Savannah, but eventually re- 84 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends linquished it and then seemingly passed out of existence, until finally revived by the Union Society: an organiza- tion only ten years younger than Bethesda. Planned upon non-sectarian lines, it existed for practical benevo- lence ; and, in 1854, the board of managers of the Union Society, purchasing one hundred and twenty-five acres of the Bethesda estate, erected buildings tbereon for the orphans under its charge, and removed them thither. Ever since then the prosperity of the institution has been continuous and unbroken. At thp last annual meeting of the Union Society, at Bethesda', the following officers were chosen for the ensuing year: President, Henry C. Cunningham; Vice-President, T. J. 'Charlton, M. Dl; Treasurer, George A. Mercer, Jr.; Secretary, E. F. Lovell, Jr. ; and a Board of Managers composed of rep- resentative citizens of Savannah.* •Consult: White's "Historical Collections of Georgia," Savannah, 1854; "Illustrated History of Methodism," by Rev. James W. Lee, D. D., St. Louis, 1900; "History of Georgia Methodism," by George G. Smith, Atlanta, 1913; "Historic 'and Picturesque Savannah," by Adelaide Wilson, Boston, 1889; etc. CHAPTER XVI The Grave of Tomo-Chi-Chi ONE of the most zealous friends of the Colony of Georgia, a savage philosopher of the foresit who deserves to be gratefully embalmed in the affec- tions of the State, was the old Indian mico, Tomo-chi-chi. He was the chief of a detached tribe of the Creek Indians, and though he dwelt apart from his kinsman the aged mico was greatly venerated throughout the forest for his Indian wisdom and he possessed a powerful influence over the native tribes. Tomo-chi-chi was ninety years of age, according to tradition, when Oglethorpe landed upon the bluff at Savannah; and was close upon the century mark when he died. It was the last wish of the aged chief to be buried among the whites. His remains were, therefore, brought to Savannah, where they were interred in Percival, now Court House, square, with im- pressive ceremonies. Six of the most prominent citizens of Savannah acted as pall-bearers, Oglethorpe himself among the number. Minute guns were fired from the battery as he was lowered to rest, and every respect was paid to the memory of the aged chief. His death occurred on October 15, 1739. An appropriate monu- ment was planned by Oglethorpe, but for some reason it was not erected. However, the belated tribute has been paid at last. On the reputed spot of the old Indian's burial, a rough boulder of granite has been placed by the 86 Geoegia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legeitos Q-eorgia Society of Colonial Dames of America, and a circular plate of copper bears tlie following inscription : "lu memory of Tomo-Chi-Chi, Mieo of the Tama- craws, the companion of Oglethorpe, and the friend and ally of the Colony of Georgia. This stone has been here placed by the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America." 1739-1899." As the result of the treaty which Oglethorpe made with Tomo-chi-chi, the relations between the Colony and the Indians were uninterruptedly harmonious for years. The speech of the old mico, at the time of the treaty, is famous. Giving Oglethorpe a buffalo-skin, with the head and feathers of an eagle painted on the inside, he said: "Here is a little present. The eagle means speed and the buffalo means strength. The English are as swift as the bird and as strong as the beast. Like the first, they fly from the utmost parts of the earth over the vast seas; and, like the second, nothing can withstand them. The feathers of the eagle are soft, and mean love; the buffalo's skin is warm, and means protection. Therefore, love and protect our little families." Though a savage, Tomo-chi-chi was both a warrior and a statesman. He was far above the average native of the forest in intelli- gent fore-sight ; and, fully appreciating the advantages to be derived from contact with the English, he was anxious for his .people to be uplifted. There are many noble and splendid attributes to be found in the character of this earliest of the great Georgians.* •Consult: Historical Sketch of Tomo-ch-chl, Mloo of the Yamacraws, by Chas. C. Jones, Jr., 1868; also the same author's History of Georgia, Vol. I; etc. CHAPTER XVII Wormsloe: The Home of Noble Jones NEtA'E the miouthi of the Vemian River, at the extreme southern end of the Isle of Hope, lies the oldest estate in Georgia: Wormsloe. It was formerly the country-seat of Noble Jones, a companion of the great Oglethorpe lom his first voyage to Amerioa, and for years a distinguished officer of the Criown. He ciame into pois- sesision of the estate in 1733, lai Miich timie he gave it the niame which it still beans. Here he built a woold'en fort, which he called F'ort Wymberley, placed in such a posi- tion as to oomtoiamd the imlianid paissiage from; the Vernon to the Wilmington River. This passage still bears his' name. It was muoh used: by Indiiainis, iSpaniards and outliaws wh'en visiting the South Oarolinia coast for pur- poisesi of plunder and to carry off the negro slaves to Florida. Later he reibuilt it of "'tabby" or "manche- coMs" as 'the Spaniards caJle'd it, with outbuilt port-holes to defend it from escalad'e. In 1741, he was given a four- pound cannlon with which to defend the fort. Here he esitablished: headiquairters for ihis famous miarines, who livedl in huts near by and who rendered double duty by sdoulting tihe oountry on horse-baok 'amd the river in boatsi. On!e of these guiarded Skiddlaway NIarrows amd carried dispatches between Savannah and Frederica for Geneiral Oglethorpe. On December 22, 1739, Noble Jones with' his boat well armed' captured a sichooner in "Ussybaw" iSound aaid carried her around to Tybee. He also cruised with Capt. Denaieferee to intercept unlawful trading vessiels. Fort 88 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends Wymberley was at one time successfully defended against a party of Indians and Spaniard's hj Mary Jones who, in tihe absence of her father, took commiand; anid tradition reoords it that in recognition of her courage Wormsloe has always been left to the widows and unmiarried daughters of the house for life, the fee to be vesteid' a't death' in the mlale heir. There were miany mulberry trees at W'ormsloe aaid the Colony in a measure depended upon this source of ^supply for a siufficient quantity of silk worm seed', and one year it wias deplored that the crop Would be short, as "Mr. Noble Jones's daughter had suffered her worms to issue from the cocoons without sorting them." Mary Jones married James Bulloch, Sr., father of Oovemor Archibald' Bulloch and was hi's third wife. She died at Wormfeiloe without issue in 1795. Noble Wymberley Jones, a zealous W'hig, wiio Was kept from' attending the Continental Congress by the sieriOus illness of his father, who remained to the last a devoted' Boyalisit, beicame in 1775 by inherifance the 'owner of Wormsloe. But the necessity for mending his fortune, shattered in the Eevolution, left Mm little tinle to spend on his place. He praoticed' medicine in Charles- itom, Philadelphia, and Savannah. The estate passed at his death to his son. Judge George Jones, who used it ais a place in whicsh to raise fine horses, of which he was excessively fond. It was his custom on the circuit to drive a four-in-hand. George Wymberley Jones, hi® son, afterwards George Wymberley Jones DeEenne, then be- came the owner of Wormsloe, where he lived until the time of the Civil War and where he collected and pub- lished' early Georgia manuscripts in the Wormsloe qulartos. Here, on the southern extremity of the island, a battery was built at this time, called "Lawiton Battery," after Gen. A. E. Lawton. This battery exchanged one shot with a Federal gunboat ascending Vernon Eiver. The gunboat withdrew finding the river fortified. It was after the war that Wormsloe came to the rescue of the family by tempting ,a Northerner to lease the estate for th'e purpose of raising siea islandi ootton, WOBMSLOE 89 thereon. But the lessee soon tired of the existing labor conditions, whereupon Wormsloe reverted to the owners. Wymberley Jones DeEenne, son of George Wymberley Jones DeEenne, the present incumbent, has laid out live- oak tree avenues and arranged native trees and plants in groups and lines, thus developing the natural beauties of the place. He has also built a library dedicated "to Noble Jones, owner of Wormsloe, from 1733 to 1775," a handsome structure devoted entirely to Georgia books, maps, manuscripts, etc., relating to the history of Geor- gia. Near the ruins of the Old Fort, the name by which Fort Wymberley is called, there stands 'a tombsltone erected by the father of the present owner, on which appears this inscription :* George Wymberley Jones DeEenne hath laid this stone MDCCCLXXV to mark the old burial place of Wormsloe, 1737-1789, and to save from oblivion the gnaviea of his kimdred." •These facts in regard to Wormsloe were given to the author by Mr. Wymberley Jones DeRenne. CHAPTER XVIII Bonaventure: The Ancient Seat of The Tattnalls FOUR miles from Savamiah, on the road to Tlmnder- bolt, lies Bonaventure, today one of the most beautiful burial places of the dead in America. Its majestic live-oaks, more than a century old, interlock their rugged branches and trail their pendant mosses over an area of consecrated ground, beautifully kept by the care-taker in charge, and the scene presented to the eye by these gnarled and twisted Druids is at once both weird and fascinating. Bonaventure is today thickly sown with the historic dust of Savannah ; but, in former times, it was the abode of life ; a place where hospitality expressed itself in the most delightful rounds of enter- tainment and where loyal subjects pledged the health of the King. Originally it belonged to John MuUryne, who pur- chased the estate in 1762. His attractive daughter, Mary, an only child, having been wooed and won by Josiah Tatt- nall, it became the home of the successful suitor, with whose name its wealth of associations was afterwards to be entwined. Tradition has preserved a bit of romance in connection with the old estate, for there still abides an unwritten legend to the effect that the avenues of magni- ficient trees were planted in the form of a monogram combining the letters "M" and "T", the initials of the two aristocratic families. The Tattnalls came originally from Normandy, in France. They afterwards settled in Cheshire, England, where the name first appears BONAVENTURE, THE ANCIENT SEAT OF THE TATTNAULS, NEAR SAVANNAH. BONAVENTTJBE 91 among the gentry as far back as 1530. In the beginning, it was spelt De Taten^ afterwards Taten-hall, borrowing the added syllable, no doubt, from the ancestral manor; and finally it was contracted into Tattnall. The earliest bearer of the name came to South Carolina in 17CM3, where he married the grand-daughter of an Irish peer. It was his son Josiah Tattnall who, in the staid old city of Charleston, sued for the hand of John MuUryne's daughter ; and soon after the nuptials were celebrated the family abode was established at Bonaventure. On the approach of hostilities with England, both John Mullryne and Josiah Tattnall remained steadfast loyalists. The latter was a fighter, whose sword flashed in the Colonial wars. He could not antagonize the mother-country, however, even though he declined a com- mission in the Royal army ; nor could he shed the blood of kinsman at home. He was poised between two painful extremes ; but the situation was soon simplified by banish- ment. With John Mullryne, he suffered the penalty of expatriation ; and, taking his two sons, John and Josiah, he embarked for England. The family estate was con- fiscated by the Whigs ; and thus were these staunch parti- sans of the royal house rewarded for the conservatism which kept them loyal to the Crown. The boys were put to school abroad ; but young Josiah, making his escape, returned to America. He felt the lure of Bonaventure, the home of his birth. Joining the American army at Purysburg, he took an active part in the closing scenes of the Revolution in Georgia. He was honored in many ways by the State, was finally made Governor, and before his death was reinvested with the titles to Bonaventure, within whose soil his ashes today sleep. He died in the West Indies, an exile in search of health, and his last request was that he might repose in Bonaventure, under the guardian oaks of his boyhood. His son Commodore Josiah Tattnall became an illus- triotis commander. He served the United States govern- 92 Georgia's Landmaeks, Memorials and Legends ment with eminent distinction upon the high seas. It is a coincidence, however, of the most singular character that eighty-four years after his grandfather's property was confiscated by> the State government his own personal property was confiscated by the Federal government be- cause he refused to remain in the service after Georgia seceded; and among the effects thus appropriated were some of the identical belongings which his grandfather forfeited to the State and which were subsequently restored.* •Consult: Life of 'Commodore Joslah Tattnall, by Charles C. Jones, Jr., Savannah, 1878. CHAPTER XIX Brampton: The Home of Jonathan Bryan NBAE the south bank of the Savannah Eiver, on a gentle eminence of land, which, in the days of the illustrious old patriot who first owned it, was some distance from the city, but which today is well within the enlarged boundaries of Savannah, stood the fine old Colonial mansion of Jonathan Bryan, one of the earliest of the patriots of Georgia. He called his beauti- ful country seat Brampton. Here, worn by the hard- ships of the Eevolution, including an ordeal of imprison- ment on board a prison ship off the shores of Long Island, the sturdy old friend of liberty breathed his last on March 8, 1788, at the ripe old age of four-score years. His remains are entombed in a large brick vault occu- pying the south-west comer of the family burial ground at Brampton, a small plot of land fifty by forty feet, situated some quarter of a mile from the house. The vault forms part of a heavy wall of brick which encloses the sacred area of ground and is entered by an iron door on the west side. The Savannah Eiver, only two hun- dred yards distant murmurs a soft requiem to the old patriot who here sleeps, his warfare ended. As an embankment was thrown up against the south wall of the enclosure in 1864 it is supposed that the burial ground was used at this time for a battery by the Con- federates. During the occupation of Savannah by General Sherman the vault was opened, doubtless by prowling soldiers in search of silver, at which time the contents of 94 Geoegia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends the tomb were somewliat disturbed. Jonathan Bryan's wife was Mary Williamson. Brampton was settled upon her some time prior to the Eevolution. Consequently when her husband and son were sent to Long Island, she was not molested by the British. In after years, Brampton became the property of the Williamson family several members of which are interred in the burial ground; but the wife of the old patriot occupies a crypt in the vault with him. Most of the children are also entombed here. On account of his connection with the earliest affairs of the Colony, no less than for his part in the drama of independence, Jonathan Bryan has been aptly called one of the principal founders and fathers of Georgia. The Brampton estate contains 600 acres of land. It is today owned by the heirs of the late Dr. James B. Read whose mother was a Williamson.* In the old family Bible of Jonathan Bryan — perhaps the most ancient relic which exists today in the State- appear the following entries penned by Mr. Bryan's own hand: "The year 1752 was a very dry summer, the pastures were burned up and void of grass as in the dead of winter and the cattle were watered from the wells for three months." "The greatest hurricane we have had in the memory of man was in the year 1754, on Thursday and Friday, the 14th and 15th days of September, and was succeeded by another on the 30th of the same month." "The year 1756 was a dryer and severer year than the year 1752 there being very little rain from the month of March till November and December." "Janu- ary 3rd, 1749 was the greatest frost and coldest day ever known in these parts. " " Small-pox broke out in Savan- nah, April 1762." "The year 1760 memorable for that most detestable act of Parliament called the Stamp Act." "March 16th, 1766 was the time of the great freshet in the River Savannah." "This Bible was clasped with •Letter from Mrs. Jane Wallace Bryan, Dillon, Ga., dated Aug. 6, 1911. Beampton 95 silver by Mr. James Deveaux in the year 1747." "Joseph Bryan, son of Josiah and Elizabeth Bryan, was born on the 18th of August A. D. one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, a very fine promising boy." [This grand- son in after years became a member of Congress.] Caesar, one of the numerous slaves owned by Jona- than Bryan lived to be a centenarian. But long before his death he was made a free man by the volimtary act of his master. Andrew, a son of the old ex-slave, became a noted negro preacher of Savannah during 'the early ante-bellum period. The following brief items, copied from the records, tell a story of some interest. First, the death notice of Jonathan Bryan's faithful servant Caesar. This reads as follows: "Nov, 27th, 1798. Savannah, Ga, Died at the plantation of Col. Wylly [son-in-law of the late Hon. Jonathan Bryan] aged 103 years, negro Caesar, father of the celebrated Parson Andrew. Caesar was a faithful servant of the late Jonathan Bryan, Esq., for forty-two years, when he gave him his freedom." — ^In Book B. Chatham County Eecords, pp, 213,214, dated May 4th, 1789, will be found an entry showing where William Bryan, planter, son of Jonathan Bryan, sets free Andrew, a former slave on the estate of Jonathan Bryan and by division of estate Wil- liam Bryan's slave. — In Book N. Chatham County Eecords, p. 117, dated Sept. 4, 1773, there is an entry showing where a plot of ground at Yamacraw in what was then called the village of St. Gall was deeded to William Bryan and James Whitefield, in trust for a black man named Andrew Bryan, a preacher of the gospel. The consideration involved was thirty pounds sterling. On this plot of ground was built the negro church of which Andrew Bryan was the pastor until his death. As an item of interest for the future historian, this fragment illus- trative of life under the old feudal regime at the South is worthy of preservation. 96 Georgia's Landmarks, Mjemobials and Legends Joseph Bryan, a distinguislied grandson of the Revo- lutionary patriot, brought fresh honor to the old ances- tral name by representing Georgia in the halls of Con- gress ; but dying at the early age of thirty-nine the hopes begotten by a genius of rare brilliancy were unfulfilled. In this respect he was not unlike the youthful Hallam, beloved of Tennyson. Educated in Europe, he crossed the ocean a second time for the purpose of enjoying a season of travel on the continent and to gain a more inti-; mate knowledge of foreign lands and letters. There is no telling to what heights of distinction he might have attained in the service of Georgia had not his career been prematurely shortened. The papers of the day, in announcing the death of Mr. Bryan, dwell in the most glowing terms of eulogium upon his manifold accomp- lishments ; while John Randolph, of Roanoke, an intimate personal friend of the deceased, paid him a tribute the warmth of which told how close he was to the tender heart of the great Virginian. He died at Nonchalance, his residence on Wilmington Island, below Savannah. In compliance with directions given by Mr. Bryan in his will, he was entombed in a vault above ground, at his country seat, where he was joined in the sleep of death by his beloved wife within a very few years. There is a marble tablet at the entrance to the vault which bears this simple inscription : "Joseph Bryan, born Aug. 18, 1773, and died Sept. 12, 1812. Delia Bryan, born Mar. 4, 1783, and died Dec. 16, 1825." CHAPTER XX The Jews in Georgia: An Outline History GEORGIA'S earliest historic annals record the presence of the Jew in the infant Colony of Ogle- thorpe. The records furthermore bear witness not only to his mercantile activities, but to his pioneer hardships and vicissitudes in an untamed wilderness, to his religious fervor in the worship of Orod, and to his patriotic zeal in the canse of American independence. The humane experiment of founding a free State in the Western Hemisphere, for the benefit of the unfortunate debtors of England, appealed with peculiar force to a people schooled in the harsh discipline of oppression since the days of the Pharaohs. But strange to say it was not without some debate that the benevolent scheme of Oglethorpe, though born of an impulse of humanity, was made broad enough to include a persecuted race, from the loins of which had come a promised Messiah whose mission was to redeem a lost world. On July 11, 1733 — ^to quote an authoritative document* — s o z c s tn z O z D c r r a> H 3) in m Savannah's Eevolutionabt Monuments 105 falling, mortally woiinded, from his horse, at the time of the famous seige ; and the whole is a work of consummate art. It was executed in Italy at a cost of $18,000 and was considered at the time one of the most elegant memorials in Ajmerica. The inscription on the monument reads: "Pulaski, the Heroic Pole, who fell mortally wounded, figliting for American Liiberty at the siege of Savannah, October 9, 1779." Underneath the monument, soon after the laying of the corner-stone, were placed what at the time were sup- posed to be the remains of the gallant foreigner. These, having been exhumed at Greenwich, on Augustine Creek, the traditional place of Pulaski's burial, were placed be- side the corner-stone, in a receptacle specially designed for them. The conformity of the remains to such a man as' Pulaski, ascertained upon an anatomical examination by medical experts, decided the commissioners to place the remains beneath the structure. [However, there are some who insist that Pulaski was buried at sea and that his real ashes are entombed between Savannah and Charleston.] To Major William P. Bowen belongs the chief honor of the project which culminated in the erec- tion of the monument. Dr. Richard D. Arnold was the chairman of the commission. Among the numerous articles deposited in the corner- stone was a piece of the oak tree from Sunbury, under which General Oglethorpe opened the first Lodge of Free Masons in Georgia, and under which also, in 1779, the charter of the Union Society, of Savannah, was' pre- served and Mordecai Sheftall, then a prisoner of war, was elected president. It was the contribution of Mrs. Perla Sheftall Solomons. Colonel A. R. Lawton, after- wards General, was in command of the various military organizations at the time of the re-laying of the corner- stone. Robert E. Launitz, of New York, was the designer 106 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends of the monument, and Eobert D. Walker, the sculptor. Richard E. Cuyler officiated in the Masonic rites. On February 2, 1888, in Madison square, near the handsome new DeSoto hotel, was unveiled the superb monument to Sergeant Jasper. It is the work of the famous sculptor, Alexander Doyle, who at the age of thirty was the designer of more public monuments and statues than any other man in America, and who was credited with at least one-fifth of the memorials of this kind to be found within the Union. Surmounting a pedestal of granite, the figure of Sergeant Jasper, heroic in size and wrought of bronze, is portrayed in the act of seizing the colors of his regiment. It reproduces the heroic scene of his martyrdom, on the Spring Hill re- doubt, during the siege of Savannah. With the flag in one hand, he raises his gallant sword with the other, to defend the emblem of his country's liberties. The iq- scription on the monument reads : "To the memiory of Sergeant William Jasper, who, though mortally wounded, rescued the colors of hia regiment, in the assault on the British lines about the city, October 9, 1779. A century has not dimmed the glory of the Irish-Ameriean soldier whose last tribute to civil liberty was his life. 1779-1879. Erected by the Jasper Monumemt Association. ' ' G-rover Cleveland, President of the United States, en route to Jacksonville, Fla,, honored the occasion, by a drive through the city, and Greneral John B. Gordon was also among the distinguished visitors. In the mem- bership of the Jasper Association were many of the fore- most men of Savannah-, including : John Flannery, Peter W. Meldrim, John E. Dillon, John T. Eonan, J. J. Mo- Gowan, John H. Estill, George A. Mercer, W. 0. Tilton, Luke Carson, John Screven, Jordan F. Brooks, Jeremiah Cronin and J. K. Clarke. Though not as large as either th.e Greene or the Pulaski monument it is quite as im- pressive, and from the artistic standpoint is unexcelled THE JASPER MONUMENT, ON BULL STREET, IN SAVANNAH, Savannah's Revolutionary Monuments 107 by any memorial in the Forest City, whose monuments are world-renowned. Near the site of the present Central Eailroad depot was the famous Spring Hill redoubt where Count Pulaski and Sergeant Jasper fell mortally wounded on October 9, 1779, during the ill-fated seige of Savannah. Superb monuments to these immortal heroes have been erected on Bull street, the city's most beautiful thoroughfare. In addition. Savannah chapter of the D. A. E. has com- memorated the heroic sacrifice which they made to liberty by placing a tablet on the hill. Miss Margaret Charl- ton, daughter of Judge Walter G. Charlton, of Sa- vannah, and Miss Isabelle Harrison, daughter of Col- onel Isaac Huger, who planned the assault on Spring Hill redoubt, unveiled the tablet. On account of the dis- tinguished part taken in the siege of Savannah by Count D'Estaing, the French government deputed a special representative. Viscount Benoist d'Azy, an officer in the French navy, to attend the ceremonies. Monsieur Jusse- rand, the French ambassador at Washington, and Gov- ernor Joseph M. Brown, of Georgia, made short addresses. On the old Augusta road, two miles above Savannah, is the scene of one of the boldest captures in the history of the Eevolution : Jasper Spring. Here the brave Ser- geant Jasper with the help of his comrade-in-arms, Sergeant Newton, rescued six American soldiers from the British officers who were taking them as prisoners of war from Ebenezer to Savannah. It was the work of stratagem; but there is not to be found in the annals of the war for independence a feat more courageous. The spring has' ever since been called by the name of the gallant Irishman who later perished at the siege of Savan- nah. In 1902 Lachlan Mcintosh Chapter of the D. A. E. marked the site by placing here a beautiful memorial fountain to remind the wayfarer, while quenching his thirst, of the brave exploit with which this little spring is forever associated in Georgia's historic annals. CHAPTER XXII Mulberry Grove: The General Greene Estate Where the Cotton Gin Was Invented FOUETEEN miles above Savannah, on the south side of the river, stood the dignified old mansion of General Nathanael Greene, surrounded by 2,170 acres of the best river bottom land in Georgia. Besides recalling the illustrious soldier, who ranks second only to Washington, the Mulberry Grove plantation was the scene of Eli Whitney's great invention: the Cotton Gin. This was formerly the home of the royal Lieutenant- Governor, John Graham; but having been forfeited to the State of Georgia, it was given to General Greene in appreciation of his services, in expelling the British invader from Georgia soil. The estate was one of the finest in the neighborhood of Savannah, a statement suffi- ciently attested by the fact that the Lieutenant-Governor sought to recover the sum of fifty thousand pounds ster- ling, by way of indemnification. President Washington, on his visit to Georgia, in 1791, stopped at Mulberry Grove to pay his respects to the widow Greene. The dwelling remained in an excellent state of preser- vation until recent years, when it was partially wrecked by a storm, after which it was not rebuilt. The site formerly occupied by the old homestead is now the prop- erty of Mr. Van E. Winckler. At the time the Legislature of Georgia conferred the Graham plantation upon Gen- MuLBEBRY Grove 109 eral Grreene, North Carolina voted him twenty-five thous- and acres of land on Duck Biver and South Carolina gave him an estate valued at ten thousand pounds sterling on Bdisto Eiver. He chose to establish his residence at Mulberry Grove, even in preference to the home of his birth in Rhode Island; and, on October 14, 1785, he left for Georgia, to become one of her honored and beloved citizens. Eegarding his life at Mulberry Grove, one of his biographers, William Johnson, says^: "His time was altogether devoted to the education of a charming family, the cultivation of his land, and the paternal care of his slaves. The intervals of his more serious employments were agreeably filled by a select library and by a spirited correspondence with his numerous friends, as well in Ejurope as in America; and he resigned himself, without reserve, to the enjoyments of his fireside and to the inter- change of civilities with his numerous and wealthy neigh- bors." In November, soon after his arrival, he writes:'' "We found the house, situation, and out-buildings, more convenient and pleasing than we expected. The prospect is delightful, and the house magnificent. We have a coach-house, with stables, a large out-kitchen, and a poul- try house nearly fifty feet long by twenty wide, parted for different kinds of poultry, with a pigeon-house on the top, which will contain not less than a thousand pigeons. Besides these, there is a fine smoke-house. The garden is in ruins, but there are still a variety of shrubs and flowers in it." Again, in the month of April following. General Greene writes^ : "This is the busy season with us. We are planting. We have upwards of sixty acres of com and expect to have one hundred and thirty of rice. The garden is delightful. The fruit-trees and flowering shrubs ^Wm. Johnson's Life of Nathanael Greene, Vol. 2, p. 418, 1822. "The Remains of Major-General Nathanael Greene, a Report of the Special Committee of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, etc., p. 79, Providence, R. I., 1903. Ibid, p. 79. 110 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends form a pleasing variety. We have green peas almos fit to eat, and as fine lettuce as ever you saw. The mod ing birds surround us evening and morning. The weathe is mild and the vegetable kingdom progressing to pei fection. We have in the same orchard apples, peari peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums of different kindi pomegranates, and oranges. And we have strawberrie which measure three inches round. All these are clevei but the want of our friends to enjoy them with us, make them less interesting." General Greene was destine^ never to see the fruit then blossoming at Mulberry Grov( On Monday, June 12, 1786, General Greene's presenc was required at Savannah. He made the journey, accom panied by his wife, and visited the home of Ma jo Nathaniel Pendleton, one of his aides during the war and here, under the roof of his old friend, they passe( the night. On the next morning, they started early fo: home, intending to spend the day at the house of Mr William Gibbons. They arrived at the latter 's planta tion early in the forenoon and, after breakfast, the gen tlemen walked into the rice-field together, to view the progress of the crop, in which General Greene was mucl interested. The sun was intensely hot, but Genera Greene had been too long a soldier to fear any dangei from the warm southern sun. On the way home, in the evening, he complained of a severe pain in the head. Il grew worse, and by Thursday his forehead was verj much inflamed and swollen. Major Pendleton fortunatelj arrived on a visit; and, his apprehensions aroused by an obvious depression of spirits on the part of his old commander, who seemed loath to join in the conver sation, he urged him to' consult a doctor. On the nexl morning the physician arrived, took a little blood anc administered some ordinary prescription, but the inflam mation increasing another physician was called into con- sultation. The disease, having now assumed an alarming Mulberry Grove 111 aspect, it wias dtedded to blister the temples and. to let the blood freely ; but it wias too late ; the Iheadl 'had SiWoUen greatly, and the piatient lapsed intoi a total stupor, from "wihioh he never revived. Early on the mioming of Mon- day, November 19, 1786, be died. General Anthony Wayne, wihose plantation was not far distant, bearing of the ilbiessi of bis friend, biasiteneid to his bedside, and was with h\m when the end oame. In a letter addressed to James Jacksion, the latter said : ' ' He was great as a soldier, greater as a citizen, immaculate as a friend. His corpse will be at Major Pendleton's this night, the funeral from thence in tbe evening. The greatest bonors of war are due his remiains. You, as a soldier will take the proper order on this meliandholy affair. Pardon this scrawl; my feelings are too much aifeoted 'because I have seen a great anid a good man die." Wben the news reached Savannaih, it produced overwhelming sorrow. Preparations were ihiastily made to do full honor to the memory of the di&tinguishedi man and to surround the obs'equies with the dignity befitting bis ibigb rank and ebaracter. On Tuesday, the day aifter his death, the remains were taken by water to Savannaih, thence to the bome of Major Pendleton, which stood on Bay street, next to the comer of Barnard street, and close to the water's e<%e. In front of this (bouse, the militia, representatives of the municipiality, members of the Society of the Cincinnati, and many persons in private and ofiScial Me, received tbe body. Flags in the harbor were lowered to half-mast, the sihops and stores in town were closed, land labor of every kind was supended. At about five o'clock in tbe afternoon, the funeral procession started from the Pendleton bouse to the Colonial Ceme- tery, belonging to Christ Cburch; tbe artillery iu Fbrt Wayne firing minute-guns as the long lines advancect; tbe band' playing the solemn "Dead Manob in Siaul." On readhing the burial ground, where a vault bad been opened, the regiment filed to rigihit and left, resting on arms until the funeral train bad passed to tbe tomb. 112 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends Then the Hon. William iStevensi, Judge of the Superior Court of Chatham County and) Grand Master of the Masons, took his place at the head of the coffin, since there were no clergymen in the town at this time, aad, with tremulous voice, read the funeral service of the Church of England. Then the body was placed in the vault ; the files closed, with three general discharges ; thp artillery fired thirteen rounds, and, with trailed arms, all slowly and silently withdrew. Although so large a num- ber of people attended tiie funeral obsequies and piartioi- pated in the deep grief which followed the death of this distinguished man, the place of his burial, due to a sm- gular combination of circumstances, became ia a little more than thirty years unknown to the local authorities and remained for over a century an unsolved' enigma. See Vol. n.* •The following bibliography may be of Interest to students: "The Life of Nathanael Greene," a work in three volumes, by G. W. Greene, New Torlt, 1867-1871; Nathanael Greene, a biography in the "Great Commander" Series, by Francis V. Greene, New Torlc, 1893; Life of Nathanael Greene, by Wm. Johnson; The Remains of Major-General Nathanael Greene; a Report of the Joint Special Committee of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, Provi- dence, R. I., 1903; Bancroft's History of the United States; etc. CHAPTER XXIII Fort Augusta: 1736 ONTERLOO'KIQSrG the Savannah Eiver, f rom the rear of St. Paul's Church, stands a otoss of Celtic design, which marks the birth-place of the present city of AiQgusta. It was on this spot, at the head of navigation, that the great founder of the Colony caused a fort to he erected in 1736, the object of which was to protect the trading post established at this point, in the fall of 1735, and to divert the extenisive Qherokee and Creek Indian trade hitherto monopolized by South Oarolinia. In honor of the Princess of Wales, whose royal consort afterwards became Ge^orge III, it was diristened Fort Augusta, though it was sometimes called King's Fort. It was not a large affair. The dimensions were 120 feet caoh way and the walls were con- structed of wood. But it answered the purpose : Augusta was never attacked or pillaged by the savages. Some- times they came quite near ; indeed, their faces often peered through the dense forest across the river and their foot-prints were often seen in the nearby trails, but they never ventured to hurl a torch or a tomaihawk against the viUage. At first the garrison consisted of less than twenty men. However, with the increase of trade, it wais gradu- ally strengthened. Aooording to an early document on the state of the Province, dated November 10, 1740, and miade under oath it was estimated that two thousand pack-horse loads of peltry were broug'ht to Augusta an- 114 Georgia's Landmaeks, Memorials and Legends nimlly aad that six hxmdxed white persons, including servants, were engaged in the traffic. Thus the impor- tance of Augusta as a trading point, even from tihe earli- est times, is clearly shown; and William Batrnam, the celebrated English naturalist, who visited the place twice, eixpecited it to become the metropolis of Georgia. There was no commercial intercourse allowed except througih Hcensed traders; warehouses were constructed in which were stored' goods suited for barter with the natives ; and it was not long before the Indians began to come to Augusta ia large numbers f i-om the most distant stretdhes of the wildemesis. In 1739, Oglethorpe himself visited the settlement. It was on his return trip to Savianniah, 'after the famous conference with the Indians at Coweta Town, and, ex- hauBited witti his long journey across the Province, he sought repose in Atigusta, where he was the recipient, of marked attention from the inhabitants. In 1763, an important gathering was held in A'ugusta called the Con- gress of the Five Indian Nations, to which seven hundred savages came for the purpose of meeting the 'Governors of Virginia, of North Clarolin'a, of South Carolina, and of G-eorgia. We are told by an early dhronioler that the oongresis adjourned under a salute from the guns of Fort Augusta, and there was doubtless some method in the compliment of Gfovernor Wright when he ordered the salute to be fired. It gave the Indians something to remember. It soundted a note of warning, and the moral effect was fine. Says Dr. Williams, a former rector of St. Paul's, on the occasion when the site was marked b>' the Colonial Dames:* "Fort Anigusta dischared the very highest functions for which military aimauients arp intended. It kept the peaice throughout the Whole Colo- nial tiine, up to the breaking out of the Eevolution and, indeed, until 1781. It fulfilled its first purpose — a mis- sion of peace. The bloody time, the time of tragedy," ♦story of St. Paul's Parish, a, pamphlet, by Rev. Chauncey C. Wil- liams, D. D. #■%. ^■^ Jf h THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE PRESENT CITY OF AUGUSTA. FoBT Augusta 115 came later, when we took those guns and turned them against one another." On the ruins of the old fort, in 1901, the Colonial Dames erected the handsome memorial tribute which today marks the historic spot. It is a cross of Celtic design, rough-hewn, perhaps twelve feet in height and mounted upon a base of granite to match the super- structure. At the base rests an old cannon, one of the ancient guns which formerly stood upon the parapets'. It is difficult to conceive of anything more appropriate. The purpose for which the fort was built, in part at least, was to protect the house of worship over which it kept grim and silent watch and around which clustered the rude cabins of the settlers. Both the religious and the primitive character of the little frontier town are charmingly commemorated. Inscribed on the side near- est the church are the following words: This stone marks the site of the Colonial Fort Augusta, built by order of General Oglethorpe and the trustees in 1736 and known during the Revolution as Fort Corn- wallis. St. Paul's Church was built in 175Q under a curtain of this Fort. On the opposite side, facing the river, the inscription reads : "Erected by the Georgia So'Ciety of Colonial Dames of America, November 1901. Virtues majorum felice couservamt. " Dr. Williams, in speaking of the old cannon at the base of the monument, said: "To my mind, it is the most interesting relic in Augusta. It is all that is left of the old fort — the one thing which was here in 1736 and is here to.day; the one thing which puts us in actual touch 116 Georgia's Landmabes, Memorials and Legends with Oglethorpe, for it was here when he came on his visit, in 1739, and when he wrote a letter in his own hand, dated 'Fort Augusta, in Georgia.' " There were origin- ally eight guns mounted upon the walls of the fort, all of which were bought in England by Oglethorpe himself. Yet this one, dismountied, spiked, rusting from long dis- use and old age, is the sole survivor of the early frontier days when Fort Augusta first stood upon the bluff. CHAPTER XXIV Historic Old St. Paul's OPPOSITE one of the curtains of the fort, in 1750, fourteen years after the establishment of the garrison, were laid the foundations of the most ancient edifice in Augusta: historic old St. Paul's: The present house of worship is not the original structure. Two others have preceded it; but around this ancient land-mark cluster the memories of a hundred eventful years. Moreover, it occupies the site of the earliest rude building in which religious services were first held, ac- cording to the impressive ritual of the Church of Eng- land ; and, standing in the very heart of the bustling city, it carries the imagination back to the tipie when the old fort rose in the wilderness to protect the infant settle- ment. Says Dr. Williams, formerly rector of the parish :* "It was appropriately named for the great pioneer Apostle, since it stood on the frontier line of civilization in Georgia, and was not only the first church but for over fifty years the only church of any kind in Augusta. Its rectors were of course missionaries of the Church of England. The first of the number was the Eev. Jonathan Copp who came to take charge in 1751. He found the conditions very difficult, lived in constant fear of an Indian invasion, and wrote somewhat doleful letters, but he held services at regular intervals, and, encouraged by the better class of people, he carried the gospel into the •story of St. Paul's Parish, a, pamphlet, by Rev. Chauncey G. Wil- liams, D. D. 118 Georgia's Landmabks, Memorials and Legends neighboring country, within a radius of thirty miles. He was succeeded in 1756 by the Eev. Samuel Frink, a deli- cate man, who, in spite of ill-health, went everywhere, re- enforcing his sermons by the wholesome power of exam- ple. Next in 1767 came the Eev. Edward Ellington, a missionary in the severest sense of the word. He was seldom at home, except on Sundays, and frequently jour- neyed into the wilderness for more than a hundred miles. He was followed in 1771 by the Bev. James Seymour, who was rector of St. Paul's throughout the vicissitudes of the Revolutionary War." "During the struggle for independence the fort was three times taken and retaken and Mr. Seymour saw the church appropriated first by the Americans as a barracks and then by the British for other military purposes. The parsonage house he willingly allowed to be used as a hospital for sick soldiers. The old churchyard became a battlefield, drenched with the blood and sown with the bones of the slain, and the church itself was practically destroyed by the fire of an American cannon mounted upon a tower thirty feet high and raking the whole inte- rior of the fort. At this time, having been occupied and enlarged by the British, it was called Fort Cornwallis; and it was this stronger fortification which was beseiged in 1781 by the Americans, under "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, father of our own general, Robert E. Lee. Hunted dowli by a mob and driven into a swamp, because of his loyalty to England, he escaped after many privations to Savannah. When hostilities were over, he was invited to return, but he engaged in other work and never came back. Meantime, the church and the glebe had been con- fiscated by the State. The property of St. Paul's then comprised 300 acres. When the land was sold, the pro- ceeds were given to the Trustees of the Richmond Acad- emy, and in 1786 the church was virtually rebuilt by the town authorities. While Episcopal clergymen still oflBci- Historic Old St. Paul's 119 ated in St. Paul's, the church was denied titles both to the building and to the ancient burying ground. In fact, in 1804, the church was rented for five years to the Pres- byterians and it was not until 1818 that the Legislature of Georgia tardily restored the property to the Eipisoo- palians." Soon after the transfer was made, the present handsome old edifice was built, in 1819, at a cost of $30,000, under the rectorship of the Eev. Hugh Smith. He was succeeded in 1832 by the Eev. Edward E. Ford, who ably served the church for thirty years, dying on Christmas eve, 1862, and at his request he was buried under the altar of the church. Dr. Wm. H. Clarke was then rector for sixteen years, after which at his death he was given like honors of interment. Dr. Williams became rector in 1878 and served the church with great useful- ness for 28 years, at the expiration of which time he resigned his office to labor in another field. He was suc- ceeded by the present rector. Dr. Williams preached his farewell sermon on Decem- ber 2, 1906. At the same time a tablet was erected in St. Paul's Church by the vestry, commemorating the events of which it became the historic center in Colonial times. Lettered thereon is the following inscription : This Tablet commemorates the founding of St. Paul's Church A. D. 1750, nearby the King's Fort in the town of Augusta, in the Colony of Georgia, under the English Crown. Also the faithful services of its Colonial Rectors: Eev. Jonathan Copj), 1751; Eev. Samuel Frink, 1765; Eev. Edward Ellington, 1767; Eev. James Seymour, 1771- 1781; Missionaries of the Church of England and of the Society for the Propagating of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The mortal remains of Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk, one of the most distinguished commanding officers of the Civil War, repose underneath the sanctuary of 120 Georgia's Landmabks, MEMOBiAiiS and Legends St. Paul's. Beside him rests Ms wife. While engaged in reconnoitering on Pine Mountain he was killed by the explosion of a shell, in 1864. On his person at the time of his death was found a Book of Common Prayer, together with several copies of Bishop Quintard's little work entitled : "Balm for the Weary and the Wounded," the later inscribed with the names of various brother officers to whom he intended to present them. He was an eminent churchman as well as an eminent soldier, holding at the outbreak of the war of secession the high office of Bishop of Louisiana; and his is the only instance on record where two such exalted dignities were combined. He was the Confederacy's soldier-priest. The tablet to his memory on the walls of the church is altogether unique. It was made in Caen, France, and was the gift of the officers of his staff. The inscription reads : In Memory of the Eight Reverend JjeO'iiidas 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, G-a., June 14th, 1864. Behold my witness is in Heaven and my record is on High. — Job. 16:19. Mr. Richard T'ubman, 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 plaped to his memory an appropriate tablet. The memorial of Judge John P. King, for forty years president of the Greorgia Railroad and a Senator of the United States from G-eorgia, 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 Historic Old St. Paul's 121 the dhuTcih. T!he original oommuniion service of silver, given to th!e congregation by tJie Trustee® of the Colony, was lo&b or destroyed' dutring the Revolution, but the one ruow in use diates back to 1820. Prom year to year the hisltoric oiM dhurch grows richer in costly and precious memtentoes 'of the piast.* ♦See Volume II for a list of the illustrious aea,d buried in St. Paul's Churchyard. CHAPTER XXV Meadow Garden: The Home of Governor Walton WITH the single exception of old St. Paul's, the most anteienit land-mlark of Augu'sta is Meadiow Garden, the home of Governor George Walton, one of tihe Signers of the Declaraiti'on of Independence from Georgia. The stnicture itself is mndh older than ttie 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 indlistrial 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 wias 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 Meadiow Garden that the old patriot, in 1804, Was borne to his burial. The remains of Governor Walton were first interredi in the Cottage Cemetery, on the old Siavanniah road, some seven miles frcfm Augusta ; and here they rested until 1848 when the body was exhumed land placed under tihe monument erected to the Singers, directly in front of the court- house in Aiugusita, where today sleeps the illustrious citi- zen who held nearly every importamt office in Georgia's gift. Meadow Garden 123 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 f ornis 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 Eevolution, 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 Eevolution. 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 124 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends President-Greneral 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 ONE of the original cotton gins invented by Eli Whitney was for years in the possession of Judge Gamett 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 126 Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends 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 G