at various detached posts were held in partial check, and the drooping
spirits of the oppressed inhabitants from time to time revived.
Upon the appearance of Count D’Estaing’s fleet off the coast of Georgia,
General Augustine Prevost concentrated as rapidly as he could within the
lines around Savannah the various detachments on duty in the vicinity.
That under Lieutenant Colonel Cruger, at Sunbury, was ordered in and
reached Savannah on the 10th of September, just two days prior to the
landing of the French troops at Beaulieu.
It does not lie within the compass of this sketch to recount the
operations of the allied armies under Count D’Estaing and General Lincoln
which culminated in that bloody and disastrous repulse on the morning of
the 9th of October, 1779. Suffice it to say that Sunbury had her patriotic
representatives among the troops commanded by General Lachlan McIntosh,
both during the progress of the siege and in the final assault. Two of
them at least attested with their lives their supreme devotion to the
patriot cause:—Major John Jones who had been for some years a resident of
Sunbury, and who was at the time an aid to General McIntosh; and Charles
Price, formerly a practising Attorney at Sunbury, and a young gentleman of
promise in his profession.[217]
Upon the repulse of the allied armies, and after the departure of Count
D’Estaing, and the retreat of General Lincoln into Carolina, the condition
of the sea-coast of Georgia was more pitiable than ever. Exasperated by
the formidable demonstration, and rendered more arrogant and exacting, the
Loyalists set out in every direction upon missions of insult, pillage,
and inhumanity. Plundering banditti roved about unrestrained, seizing
negroes, stock, furniture, wearing apparel, plate, jewels, and anything
they coveted. Children were severely beaten to compel a revelation of the
places where valuable property and money were concealed. In the language
of Captain McCall,[218] “The militia who had been under the protection of
the British, not allowing themselves to doubt of the success of the allied
forces, cheerfully participated in a measure which promised the recovery
of the State to the union. Future protection was not to be expected, and
nothing remained for them but the halter and confiscation from the British
or exile for themselves, and poverty and ill-treatment by an insolent
enemy for their wives and children who were ordered forthwith to depart
the country without the means for travelling or any other means but a
reliance on charity for subsistence on their way.
“The obscene language which was used, and personal insults which were
offered to the tender sex, soon rendered a residence in the country
insupportable. Having neither funds nor means of conveyance for themselves
and children, they were obliged to abandon the country under the most
deplorable circumstances and seek a dependent residence in the adjoining
States at the most inclement season of the year. Numbers whose former
condition enabled them to make their neighboring visits in carriages, were
obliged to travel on foot; many of them without shoes, through muddy roads
and deep swamps.”
Prominent among these raiding Tories was the renegade McGirth.
Under such depressing influences some portions of Liberty county were
almost depopulated. Deprived of a support from the back-country, and with
nothing to sustain commerce from abroad, Sunbury languished. Its decline,
inaugurated when Prevost and Cruger demonstrated the insecurity of the
position, and confirmed when Major Lane surrendered Fort Morris, was now
day by day accelerated. All who could possibly get away fled the place,
and those who remained led lives of disquietude, and penury. In the face
of these difficulties, however, Commodore Oliver Bowen, Captains Spencer,
Howell, Maxwell, Pray, Hardy, Lawson, Stiles, and others owning private
armed vessels, made frequent voyages along the coast, capturing parties
who were engaged in collecting provisions for the British troops in
Savannah and transporting them through the inland passages, removing the
property of the Whigs from the down-trodden districts, and occasionally
executing summary vengeance upon the crews of such craft as were known
to be employed upon missions of arson, robbery, and murder. Sometimes
sharply contested naval engagements occurred, such as that between Captain
Braddock with his two American gallies, and the brigantine, Dunmore,
Captain Caldeleugh, mounting twelve guns. The Dunmore had sailed from
Sunbury for Jamaica, and was attacked so soon as she crossed St. Catharine
bar, on the 18th of September, 1779.
On the 4th of June of this year Captain Howell entered the inlet of
Sunbury, and learned from a negro that he had been sent out to catch fish
for Mr. Kitchins, the Collector of the port, with whom a party of British
officers, both civil and military, were to dine that day,—it being the
King’s birthday. Although Mr. Kitchins’ house was within four hundred
yards of the fort,—now no longer called fort Morris, but named by its
captors fort George in honor of his majesty, King George III,—presuming
that the assembled guests on this festive occasion would indulge freely
and be found entirely off their guard, Captain Howell resolved upon their
capture. Ascending the river with muffled oars, and under cover of the
night, the Captain with twelve men passed the fort without attracting
its notice, and, landing at Sunbury, surrounded the house about eleven
o’clock and took the entire party, numbering twelve persons, prisoners.
Among the captured was Colonel Roger Kelsall, who had insulted and
ill-treated Captain Howell while he was a prisoner of war. Incensed at the
recollection of these indignities, Captain Howell was on the eve of taking
him out and drowning him in the river, when the prayers of the lady of the
house induced him to spare his life. Having exacted from his captives a
pledge that they would not again take up arms until regularly exchanged,
Captain Howell returned, without loss or molestation, to his privateer.
Upon the transfer of active operations to the Carolinas, Sunbury seems
to have been but feebly garrisoned by the enemy. At times, and for a
considerable portion of the year 1780, it appears doubtful whether any
British force was there stationed. The Royal army in Georgia was then so
much reduced that the garrison at Savannah did not exceed five hundred
men.[219]
The truth is, the available forces of the State had been so largely
withdrawn for service elsewhere, the entire coast region was so thoroughly
impoverished, and so many of the Whig families had moved away, that there
was scarcely any necessity for maintaining this post except as a matter of
convenience in keeping open the land communication between Savannah and
St. Augustine.
In this exhausted and comparatively quiet condition did matters remain
until the close of the war. We are not aware that any events occurred in
Sunbury, during the residue of the struggle, worthy of special mention or
calculated to rouse the inhabitants from that quietude born of want and
oppression, feebleness and present despair.
The successes of General Greene in Carolina enabled him to inaugurate
such measures for the relief of Georgia that, in order to escape from the
advancing and investing columns under General Wayne and Colonel Jackson,
the British garrison embarked on the 11th of July, 1783, and Savannah,
after having been more than four years and a half in the possession of the
enemy, was formally surrendered to the Patriots who had already virtually
achieved the independence of the thirteen Confederated States.
Colonel James Jackson was designated by General Wayne as the officer to
receive the surrender of the town;—a compliment well merited in view
of the patriotism and gallantry which had distinguished him during the
whole war, and in recognition of the recent active and hazardous service
performed by his command while operating in advance of the army of
occupation.
Georgia’s losses, particularly along her south-eastern borders, had been
very great. Her slave population, although quiet during the struggle, was
essentially demoralized and reduced. It is estimated that between the
12th and 25th of July, 1783, not less than five thousand negroes made
their escape from Savannah in sailing vessels. Upon the cessation of
hostilities the agricultural and commercial interests of the State were
in a most disastrous situation. Particularly was this the case in Liberty
county where negroes and property of every description had been, from time
to time during the continuance of the struggle, carried off, patriotic
citizens driven into exile, plantations burned and converted into waste
places, and the seeds of poverty and distress sown broadcast.
On the first Monday in August, 1783, Governor Martin convened the
Legislature in Savannah. Courts of Justice were re-established,
commissioners of confiscated estates appointed, and measures adopted for
the rehabilitation of the State. It was not, however, until the assembling
of the Constitutional Convention on the first Monday in January, 1784,
when Lyman Hall was appointed Governor, George Walton, Chief Justice;
Samuel Stirk, Attorney General; John Milton, Secretary of State; John
Martin, Treasurer, and Richard Call, Surveyor General, that the machinery
of reconstruction was fully set in motion.
With the incoming of peace many who had been absent in the army, and
others who had sought, in South Carolina and elsewhere, temporary refuge
from the devastations of the war, returned to their former homes in
Sunbury and on the adjacent plantations, and entered with becoming spirit
and energy upon the labor of rebuilding and repeopling the desolated
region. For a season it seemed as if the prosperity of this seaport would
be revived. Not a few of its inhabitants, however, having, during the
continuance of hostilities, formed settlements elsewhere, determined to
remain where they were, and so the ante bellum population was by no means
regained. Others had died, and others still in their places of retreat
found themselves so impoverished that they could not command the means
requisite for a removal.
The first session of the Superior Court of Liberty county was held at
Sunbury on the 18th of November, 1783,—their Honors, Chief Justice George
Walton, and Assistant Judge Benjamin Andrew, Senior, presiding. On the
20th, the Grand Jury being empanneled and sworn, the Chief Justice
delivered a charge in which,—having alluded to the fact that good order
and subordination had everywhere characterized the courts presided over
by him on this his first riding since the close of the war, and assured
them that nothing could so much contribute to confirm the blessings of
peace as an observance of the laws which had for their sole object the
general happiness of the people,—he spoke as follows: “I congratulate
you, gentlemen, on the news of a definitive treaty of peace by which our
freedom, sovereignty, and independence are secured. The war which produced
it was one of necessity on our part. That we were enabled to prosecute it
with firmness and perseverance to so glorious an issue, should be ascribed
to the protecting influence of the Great Disposer of events, and be a
subject of grateful praise and adoration. While the result of the contest
is so honourable and advantageous to us and to posterity, it is to be
lamented that those moral and religious duties so essential to the order
of society and the permanent happiness of mankind, have been too much
neglected. To recover them into practice, the life and conduct of every
good man should be a constant example. Your temples, which the profane
instruments of a tyrant laid in ashes, should be built again: for nothing
tends to harmonize the rude and unlearned organs of man more than frequent
meetings in the places of holy worship. Let the monument of your brave
and virtuous soldier and citizen,[220] which was ordered by Congress to
his memory, be erected on the same ground, that his virtues and the cause
in which he sacrificed his life may be seen together by your children and
remembered through distant ages.[221]
“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.”