IV. SUNBURY. (continued 2)

“In the course of the conflict with an enemy whose conduct was generally marked with cruelty, the whole State has suffered undoubtedly more than any in the Confederacy. The citizens of Liberty County, with others, have drunk deep in the stream of distress. Remembering these things, we should not lose sight of the value of the prize we have obtained. And now that we are in full possession of our freedom, we should all unite in our endeavours to benefit and perpetuate the system, that we may always be happy at home and forever freed from the insults of petty tyrants commissioned from abroad.”[222]

The grand jurors to whom this charge was delivered, were Joseph Law, William Baker, Senior, James Maxwell, James Jeffries, John Mitchell, Junior, Palmer Goulding, John Elliott, John Whitehead, William West, Thomas Bradwell, William Peacock, Senior, Nathan Taylor, John Hardy, William Baker, Junior, Nathaniel Saxton, James Powell, William Way, John Myers, Senior, John Way, John Winn, Edward Way, Joseph Way, and William Quarterman.

By an act approved the 26th of February, 1784, Sunbury was designated as the place for holding the Superior and Inferior Courts of Liberty County. They were there held until, by the act of 1797, Riceborough was made the county seat.[223]

On the 10th of February, 1787, John Baker, John Hardy, and Alexander McIver were, by the Legislature, appointed Commissioners for the port of Sunbury, and were invested with powers similar to those conferred in and by the law regulating the pilotage of Savannah.

For the better encouragement of trade, the Governor was authorized to draw on the treasurer of the State in favor of the Commissioners for the port of Sunbury for £100. The act further appointed a harbor and tonnage master, and provided for the collection of tonnage duties, and an additional sixpence to be levied and set apart for erecting lighthouses and supporting pilots.

Commerce revived to a considerable extent, but the trade of Sunbury did not reach that activity or volume which existed at the inception of the Revolutionary war.

The Indians were still troublesome on occasions, coming from beyond the Alatamaha in predatory bands and making short but sometimes cruel inroads into the white settlements. On the 24th of October, 1787, a man was scalped within eighteen miles of Sunbury, and on the 9th of the following January, Rogers, Queeling, and Bennett were killed and scalped within the limits of the Midway settlement, by a party of Indians. During this year skirmishes occurred with the Indians at Phinholloway creek and at Shepherd’s plantation. On the first of May the savages attacked Mr. Girardeau’s plantation, carrying off some of his negroes, and wounding a young man named Smallwood. Seven days afterwards they appeared at Colonel Maybank’s plantation and captured a number of his slaves. At Sapelo a young man was killed by them while milking his cow. On the 6th of June, on the plantation of John Houstoun, Esq., McCormick was killed by the Indians, his son scalped, and three of his daughters and a little boy carried into captivity. In September, thirteen negroes were stolen by them from Mr. Quarterman’s plantation. Captain Sumner and Lieutenant Burnley pursued and overtook them in a swamp on Taylor’s creek. The Indians fled and the negroes were recovered.[224]

The militia of the county was constantly on duty to repel these incursions, and the citizens generally went armed to church to guard against surprises. To assist the militia, the inhabitants of Liberty County, at their own charge, placed and maintained in service for three months “a company of Horsemen” under the command of Captain Elijah Lewis. This troop acted as scouts. In September, 1788, a “Body of Light Horse,”—consisting of a captain, two lieutenants, two sergeants, and forty privates,—was raised for the defense of the county, and supported by the voluntary subscriptions of the inhabitants. It was commanded by Captain Rudolph, and subsequently by Lieutenant Whitehead. This company was paid off and disbanded at Newport Bridge [afterwards called Riceborough] on the 28th of March, 1789:—six privates and one sergeant being retained in service to act as scouts.[225]

In these matters of home defense, and in the subsequent military service which, rendered necessary in 1793, was continued until, by the treaty of Colerain, a peace was concluded with the Indians, the citizens of Sunbury bore their full part.

On the 8th of December, 1791, an act was adopted entitled “An act for the better regulating of the town of Sunbury.”[226] Until its passage no legislative provision had been made for the incorporation or government of this town, then in the thirty-third year of its existence.

The general provisions of that act were as follows: On the second Monday in January next ensuing, and on the second Monday in January in every third year thereafter, all proprietors of lots or houses in the town of Sunbury, of full age, were required to meet at the place of holding the courts in said town and, under the direction of two or more justices of the peace for the county of Liberty, proceed to ballot for five persons,—each of whom should be the proprietor of a house or lot in Sunbury, and an inhabitant thereof, and of full age,—who should be styled “Commissioners of the Town of Sunbury.”

On the Monday next following such election it was made the duty of these Commissioners, or a majority of them, to assemble and appoint a clerk and such other officers as they might regard as proper and necessary for the execution of the provisions of the act.

Full power was lodged with these Commissioners to make such by-laws and regulations, and impose such pains, penalties, and forfeitures as they might deem conducive to the good order and government of the town, provided the same were not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the State, and did not extend to life or member.

By the third section the Commissioners, or a majority of them, were required “yearly and every year to make, lay, and assess a rate or assessment upon all and every person or persons who do or shall inhabit, hold, use, occupy, possess, or enjoy any lot, ground, house, building, tenement, or hereditament within the limits of the town of Sunbury, for raising such sum or sums of money as the said Commissioners or a majority of them shall judge necessary for and towards carrying this act into execution: and in case of a refusal or neglect to pay such rate or assessment, the same shall be levied and recovered by warrant of distress and sale of the offender’s goods, under the hands and seals of the said Commissioners or a majority of them, or under the hand and seal of any justice of the peace for the County of Liberty.”

The concluding section appointed such Commissioners superintendents of pilotage for the port of Sunbury, and invested them with the power and authority of Justices “so far as to keep the peace and preserve good order in the said town.”

By the act of December 12th, 1804,[227] it was provided that the election of Commissioners should occur annually on the first Monday of August, and be held in the Sunbury Academy.

The Justices of the Peace of Liberty County having “neglected to hold an election for Commissioners for the town of Sunbury, to the great injury of said town,” the Legislature on the 2d of December, 1805,[228] directed the Justices of the Inferior Court of Liberty County “to call an election for that purpose, giving ten days’ notice of the same at the most public place in the town.”

In case of failure, at any time thereafter, to elect Commissioners on the day appointed, it was made the duty of the Inferior Court, when notified of the fact, to advertise an election.

This is all the legislation appearing on the Statute books with reference to the government of the town of Sunbury. These Commissioners continued to hold office in a quiet way,—looking after the police and order of the town,—until about the year 1825, when elections went by default, and such of the citizens as remained, by common consent managed their premises each after his own fashion, having the taller weeds in the streets and along the Bay “chopped down” at irregular intervals, and permitting the cows and the Bermuda grass to strive for the mastery in the lanes and upon the common.

In 1801 Sunbury was described as “a seaport in Liberty County, favoured with a safe and convenient harbour,” as being “a very pleasant, healthy place,” and promising without doubt to become “a port of commercial consequence.” “It is resorted to,” says Sibbald, “by many persons during the Summer months; it has an Academy under an able instructor.”[229]

The most famous institution of learning in Southern Georgia, for many years, was the Sunbury Academy. It was established by an act of the Legislature assented to the first of February, 1788.[230] Abiel Holmes, James Dunwody, John Elliott, Gideon Dowse, and Peter Winn were nominated in the act as Commissioners. To them, or a majority of them, was authority given to sell at public sale, and upon previous notice of thirty days in one of the gazettes of the State, any confiscated property within the county of Liberty to the amount of £1,000. This sum, when realized, was to be by them expended in the construction of a building suitable for the purposes of the Academy. Each Commissioner was required to execute a bond, in favor of the Governor of Georgia, in the penalty of £1,000, conditioned for the faithful performance of the trust. In 1803 the number of Commissioners was increased to seven, but two years afterwards the Legislature directed a return to the original number, which was five.[231]

As late as December 4th, 1811, the Legislature directed a grant and conveyance to the Commissioners of Sunbury Academy, for the sole use and benefit of that institution, of one-third of a tract of land adjoining Sunbury, known as the Distillery Tract; the same having been confiscated as the estate of Roger Kellsall, and being then the property of the State.

The administration of the affairs of this academy during the long course of its valuable existence appears at all times to have been conducted by its trustees with prudence and skill. Certain it is that until the marked decadence of Sunbury this institution maintained an enviable reputation, and attracted scholars in no inconsiderable numbers from various portions of the State, and even from sister States. The teacher whose name is for the longest period and most notably associated with the management of this Academy, and who did more than all others to establish a standard of scholarship and maintain rules of study and discipline unusual in that period and among these peoples, was the Reverend Dr. William McWhir. Great was the obligation conferred upon the youths of Southern Georgia, for certainly two generations, by this competent instructor and rigid disciplinarian. A native of Ireland, a graduate of Belfast College, and licensed to preach by the Presbytery of that city, he came to America in 1783 and settled in Alexandria, Virginia. There, for ten years he was the Principal of the Academy of which General Washington was a trustee. He was frequently a guest at Mount Vernon, enjoying the hospitality of that noted mansion. On one occasion while he was dining with the family, General Washington, as his custom was, asked the usual blessing. Mrs. Washington, somewhat surprised that Mr. McWhir had not been invited to do this, remarked to General Washington, “You forgot that we had a clergyman at table with us to-day.” “No, madam,” he replied, “I did not forget. I desire clergymen, as well as all others, to see that I am not a graceless man.”

About 1793 he removed to Sunbury where he became the Principal of the Academy and, for nearly thirty years, made it the leading institution of learning in this entire region. A thorough Greek, Latin, and English scholar, an uncompromising observer of prescribed regulations, and a firm believer in the virtue of the birch as freely applied in those days in the English and Irish schools in which he had received his training, he was a terror to all dolts and delinquents. To the studious and the ambitious, he always proved himself a generous instructor, full of suggestion and encouragement. The higher branches of mathematics were also taught; and, as a preparatory school, this institution, under his guidance, had no superior within the limits of the State. The average attendance was about seventy. Pupils were attracted not only from Liberty, but also from the adjacent counties of Chatham, Bryan, McIntosh, and Glynn. Some came from even greater distances. Two generations sat at the feet of this venerable preceptor. Fathers and sons in turn responded to his nod, and feared his frown. Although

so impartial was he in the support of whatever was just and of good report, and so competent and thorough as a teacher, that for more than a quarter of a century his numerous pupils found in him, above all others, their mentor, guide, and helper in the thorny paths of knowledge. Strongly did he impress his character and influence upon the generations in which he lived, and his name and acts are even now well remembered. The evening of his days was spent, as inclination prompted, at the residences of his old scholars, by whom a cordial welcome was always extended. That welcome was recognized by him as peculiarly genuine and agreeable when accompanied by a generous supply of buttermilk and a good glass of wine. The latter might be dispensed with: a failure to provide the former was, in his eyes, an unpardonable breach of hospitality, and materially impaired the comfort of his sojourn, and the tranquility of the venerable guest.

Among the other teachers at this Academy may be mentioned Mr. James E. Morris, the Rev. Mr. Lewis, the Rev. Mr. Shannon, the Rev. Mr. Thomas Goulding, Uriah Wilcox, Rev. Mr. John Boggs, Captain William Hughes, Mr. C. G. Lee, Rev. A. T. Holmes, Rev. S. G. Hillyer, Major John Winn, Mr. W. T. Feay, and Mr. Oliver W. Stevens. The building—a large two story and a half double wooden house, about sixty feet square and located in King’s Square,—was pulled down and sold some time about the year 1842.

As early as 1797 it being manifest that the population of the town was steadily decreasing, and that its commercial importance could not be reëstablished, it was resolved by a large majority of the citizens of Liberty that Sunbury,—the then seat of justice,—was inconveniently situated for conducting the public business, and that North New Port Bridge was the most eligible location for the Court House and Jail. Matthew McAllister, Esq. had very generously offered to convey in fee simple, for public uses, a piece of ground two hundred and thirty feet in length and one hundred and fifty feet in width, situated near “the Bridge,” without “price or consideration other than a wish on his part to promote the growth of the town of Riceborough and benefit the inhabitants thereof.” The middle and upper portions of the county had by this time the controlling vote in public matters, and the Legislature was memorialized, in opposition to the feebler will of the residents of Sunbury and its vicinity, to authorize a removal of the seat of justice. Accordingly, on the 1st of February, 1797, an act was passed appointing Thomas Stevens, Daniel Stewart, Peter Winn, Joel Walker, and Henry Wood, Commissioners to superintend the admeasurement of the land offered by Mr. McAllister, receive the titles therefor, and erect thereon and keep in repair a Court House and Jail for the County of Liberty. The act further provided that after its passage “all courts and elections heretofore held, and all public business heretofore transacted at said town of Sunbury, should be held and transacted at the said town of Riceborough,” to which place the County offices and records were to be removed.[232]

Riceborough was a more convenient point for shipping to Savannah the rice, cotton, and agricultural products of the County, and was much more central for the facile convocation of the citizens and the transaction of public business. Sunbury, however, still remained the favorite resort of the wealthier planters during the summer months, and maintained a permanent population of perhaps four hundred. The hurricane of 1804, with its wild devastations, begat a sense of insecurity in the minds of not a few dwellers on the coast, and to some extent diminished the population of the town. Soon afterwards, Bermuda grass began to overspread the bluff and cover, with its deep mat, the streets and lanes. With its importation the health of the place became sensibly affected. Chills and high grades of bilious fever grew frequent in the fall of the year, and from time to time removals occurred to healthier localities. Many citizens still clung to their old homes rendered so pleasant by the refreshing sea-breezes and the never-failing stores of the waters and the orchards, and Sunbury for many years continued to be the abode of culture, hospitality, and ease. Then came the hurricane of 1824 blowing down out-houses, bearing away fences, bringing in the sea in great masses, and carrying fear to many, and even death to some who resided at exposed points. The wild indigo disappeared more rapidly than ever, and the dark Bermuda grass asserted its dominion on every hand. From the numerous cattle accustomed to feed upon its common and wander through its streets and lanes, and from the refuse of the town, now no longer new, the original sandy soil became saturated with fertilizing matter, and grew rich. Thence, under the heat of autumnal suns, year by year rose exhalations annually more and more prejudicial to health. Chills and fevers were more frequent, and Sunbury proved less and less attractive as a summer resort. In 1829 Sherwood describes the town as having “a flourishing academy, a house of worship for the Baptists, twenty dwelling houses, two stores, three offices, and a population of one hundred and fifty.”[233]

Ten years before, the Sunbury Female Asylum had been incorporated by the Legislature of Georgia.[234] Supported by the generous charities of kind-hearted women, it never enjoyed a vigorous existence, and after some years suffered a languishing death.

Although by resolutions adopted on the 18th of November, 1812, and the 12th of November, 1813, the Legislature provided for stationing troops in the counties of Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn, and Camden, for the protection of the sea-coast of Georgia, it does not appear that any permanent detail was made for Sunbury. The fort, however, was again placed in tolerable condition, the planters furnishing the labor requisite for cleaning out the ditch, strengthening the parapet, and mounting such guns as there remained and were deemed trustworthy. A few light pieces were obtained from Savannah and added to the armament. Such gun-carriages as were manufactured in the county were made by Jonathan Goulding, of Taylor’s Creek. Not a shot, however, was fired from the fort during the war of 1812-1815.

Although British vessels of war were constantly upon the coast, and the smoke of merchantmen captured, robbed, and burnt by them was on several occasions seen from Sunbury, the enemy never ascended Midway river. A company composed of the citizens of the town and its vicinity, numbering some forty men and commanded by the honorable John A. Cuthbert, and another company consisting of the larger boys then students at the Sunbury Academy, and under the command of Captain [afterwards Brigadier General] Charles Floyd, were formed for local defense, drilled at regular intervals, and held themselves in readiness to act as occasion might require.

Besides these, there were then three volunteer companies in Liberty County: the Liberty Independent Troop,—Captain Joseph Jones,—and two infantry companies, commanded respectively by Captains Robert Quarterman and John Winn. “The Guards,” under Captain Winn, were at one time stationed at Hardwick, in Bryan County.

After his defeat at Point Peter, Captain Jones’ cavalry company and the Rifle company of Captain Quarterman were ordered to the relief of Major Messias. They were for some time on duty at Darien.

The militia of the County being well organized and efficiently officered, was largely engaged in maintaining a careful watch along the coast. In this service assistance was rendered by barges and cutters from the American Navy, which patrolled Midway river and the adjacent inlets, and not infrequently established their headquarters at Sunbury. The “Committee of Safety” for Liberty County, during the war, consisted of General Daniel Stewart, William Fleming, John Winn, John Stacy, John Elliott, John Stevens, and Joseph Law. These gentlemen were authorized to take general charge of the local defense, and to call upon the citizens of the County for such labor as appeared necessary. In case of a refusal on the part of any one to respond to the requisition, they were instructed to advertise the name of such delinquent in the most frequented places, that he might be held up to public contempt “for having disgraced the character of the citizen and the patriot.”

This Committee assured General C. C. Pinckney of their ability and willingness to repair and garrison the Fort at Sunbury, and made requisition upon him for two 18-pounder guns and a suitable supply of ammunition. In its remodeled condition, the fortification at Sunbury received at the hands of the Committee of Safety a new name,—“Fort Defence.” As being more easily defended, and requiring a smaller garrison, General Pinckney suggested the erection of a tower for the protection of Sunbury. This project, however, was never consummated.

The last vessel of any moment, which visited the town, was a Swedish brig which, in 1814, came in and conveyed away a load of cotton. Mr. James Holmes was the last Collector of the port; and for many years prior to his death the office was a mere sinecure. Subsequently a Surveyor was appointed by the General Government whose principal duty was to sign blank reports and draw his quarterly salary. The last person who held this office was the genial Colonel William Maxwell.

Until 1833, the Liberty Independent Troop,—the oldest volunteer military organization within the limits of Georgia except the Chatham Artillery,—celebrated the fourth of July each year at Sunbury. This company was then the guest of the town, and the recipient of every welcome and hospitality. The morning was spent in military exercises, in contentions at the head, ring, and target, and the afternoon was crowned with a public dinner replete with good cheer and patriotic speeches. This annual parade was the event of the year in that quiet community. On such occasions the U. S. Revenue Cutters stationed on the coast would generally come up to the town by special invitation, and participate in the festivities.

The summer retreats established at Jonesville, Flemington, Hinesville, and Dorchester, compassed the depopulation of the old town. Without trade, destitute of communications, and visited more and more each season with fevers, Sunbury, for nearly thirty years, has ceased to exist save in name. Its squares, lots, streets, and lanes have been converted into a corn field. Even the bricks of the ancient chimneys have been carted away. No sails whiten the blue waters of Midway river save those of a miserable little craft employed by its owner in conveying terrapins to Savannah. The old cemetery is so overgrown with trees and brambles that the graves of the dead can scarcely be located after the most diligent search. Fort Morris is enveloped in a wild growth of cedars and myrtle. Academy, churches, market, billiard room, wharves, store-houses, residences, all gone; only the bold Bermuda covered bluff and the beautiful river with the green island slumbering in its embrace to remind us of this lost town. A stranger pausing here would find no trace of the past once full of life and importance, but now existent only in the skeleton memories which redeem place and name from that oblivion which sooner or later is the common lot of all things human. The same bold bluff,—the same broad expanse of marshes stretching onward to the confines of the broad Atlantic,—the same blue outlines of Colonel’s island and the Bryan shore,—the same sea-washed beach of St. Catherine,—the same green island dividing the river as it ebbs and flows with ever restless tide,—the same soft sea-breezes,—the same bright skies,—the same sweet voices and tranquil scene which nature gave and still perpetuates,—but all else how changed! Truly “oblivion is not to be hired.” Blindly scattering her poppy she deals with places as with men, and they become as though they had not been. Strange that a town of such repute, and within the confines of a young and prosperous commonwealth, should have so utterly faded from the face of the earth!

It is with pleasurable sadness and filial reverence that we have brought together these fragmentary memories of a place once the abode of so much refinement, intelligence, hospitality and patriotism,—the home of Lyman Hall and Button Gwinnett,—signers of the Declaration of Independence,—of John Elliott and Alfred Cuthbert,—United States Senators from Georgia,—and of John A. Cuthbert, member of Congress,—the birth-place of William Law,—the accomplished lawyer, upright judge, and courtly gentleman,—and of John E. Ward,—the eloquent advocate, speaker of the House of Representatives, president of the Georgia Senate, and United States Minister to China,—for some years the residence of Richard Howley and Nathan Brownson, Governors of Georgia,—claiming intimate association with the Reverend Moses Allen, Benjamin Baker, Colonels William and John Baker, General Daniel Stewart, Colonel John McIntosh, and Major John Jones, patriots all, who risked fortune and life in support of the primal struggle for independence,—the scene of the professional labors of Doctors Dunwoody, Alexander, and West,—and numbering among its citizens clergymen, teachers, physicians, lawyers, merchants, and planters, whose influence was appreciated in their day and generation, and whose names, if here repeated, would challenge respect and veneration.

Nature survives, but nearly all the rest is shadow. In this humid soil so fecund with vegetation, neglected gravestones,—covered with brambles and overturned by envious forest trees,—“tell truth scarce forty years.”