Dinner with General Oglethorpe at Fort King George

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Georgia Hands-On History

The evening of February 18, Fort King George hosted a colonial dinner with General Oglethorpe in the enlisted soldiers’ barracks. The event commemorated Oglethorpe’s first visit to the town of Darien, settled in 1736 by the Scottish highlanders. This marked the first military parade of British troops to be held in Georgia. To honor them, Oglethorpe dressed for the occasion in a Highland habit, as did Scott Hodges who re-enacted Oglethorpe’s character at the dinner. It is said that this was the only time General Oglethorpe ever wore a kilt.

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Fort Frederica 276th Anniversary

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Georgia Hands-On History

Although we’re a bit behind, we could not move on without posting about Fort Fredrica’s 276th anniversary event. On February 18, the dead town of Frederica came to life once again for a living history event that commemorated the founding of this important site in Georgia history.

On February 18, 1736, James Edward Oglethorpe and a group of British colonists founded Fort Frederica. The fledgling colony was only three years old at that point and Frederica, located at a strategic point on the Frederica River, served as a military outpost to protect the colony’s southern border from the Spanish in Florida.

The land that comprised Georgia at that time was known as the “debatable land,” located as it was between the British occupied South Carolina to the north and the Spanish stronghold to the south.

Just as Georgia had been named for the British monarch, King George II, the new settlement was called Frederica in honor of the Prince of Wales, Frederick Louis.

 

National Park Service image

The town of Frederica was modeled after a traditional English village enclosed by earthen walls and a wooden stockade. Today, archaeological efforts have uncovered many of the foundations of the original homes and signage interprets the stories of the families who once lived there.

 

At the anniversary event, the town was bustling once again with townspeople at work at various activities.

from leatherworking

to flute playing

to the building of thatch huts like those that served as the first temporary shelter for Frederica’s original settlers.

Colonial military might was well represented also with a morning full of musket firings and cannon demonstrations from

the British

the Scottish Highlanders

the native Indian scouts

and, of course, the Spanish!

The afternoon focused on the events of July 1742, a decisive moment in Georgia history. The first of three well-orchestrated vignettes re-enacted the Battle of Gully Hole Creek, a skirmish in the thick maritime woods between the Spanish and the  British and their allies, the Scottish Highlanders and local Indians, led by General Oglethorpe.

A second battle, the same day, was the more well-known Battle of Bloody Marsh. The British and the Spanish faced each other once more before the Spanish retreated. Although the Battle of Bloody Marsh was a brief altercation, it is credited as the turning point for British control of Georgia. After another minor attempt to take Fort Frederica from boat gunfire along the Frederica River, the Spanish returned to St. Augustine and never attempted another attack on the Georgia colony.

The day’s festivities concluded with a military parade through the center of town. Andrew had the opportunity to serve as ensign and led the procession carrying the British flag.

 

The Fort Frederica 276th Anniversary gave visitors a chance to see the tabby ruins of the fort’s powder magazine and the foundation excavations that at one time supported the homes of some of Georgia’s first residents in a new light as Frederica came alive once more.

Fort Frederica Visitor Information

Visitor Center open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm seven days a week; gates to the park and parking area are closed at 5:00 pm.

Entrance Fees:

Adults                                        $3

15 years and younger             Free
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Colonial Faire & Muster

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Georgia Hands-On History

What better way to celebrate Georgia History month than to travel 275 years back in time at the Colonial Faire & Muster at Wormsloe State Historic Site last weekend?

About 80 re-enactors, including Andrew who participated for the first time as a soldier with the 42nd Regiment of Foot from Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, brought history to life for approximately 5,000 visitors during the two-day event.

Participants included regimental soldiers, rangers, Native Americans, musicians, dancers, crafters and demonstrators.

General Oglethorpe himself even made an appearance!

Musket and cannon firings every hour kept things exciting.

Wormsloe made a wonderful setting for the event. Entering the site you drive down an 1.5 mile avenue lined with 400 oak trees dripping with Spanish moss.

It is easy to forget that you are only about 10 miles from the busy city of Savannah.

(Source: Wormsloe Historic Site)

Wormsloe was established as a fortified residence in 1736 by Noble Jones, one of the original Georgia colonists who arrived on the Anne in 1733 with his wife, son and daughter.

Entrusted by General Oglethorpe with a number of key roles in the new colony, including surveyor, constable, Indian agent and physician, Jones also commanded a company of a dozen or so marines at Wormsloe. From their strategic location on the Isle of Hope along the Skidaway River, these men were charged with protecting the coast from the Spanish to the south.

(Source: Wormsloe Historic Site)

Although the site is now serene, this was once a bustling location where ships traveling between Savannah and Frederica would wait for the tides to change. It provided an ideal lookout spot. Today, the tabby ruins of Jones’ Wormsloe residence are the oldest standing structures in the Savannah area. 

The State of Georgia acquired Wormsloe in 1973 and opened it to the public in 1979, although descendants of Noble Jones retained a portion of the estate and still reside on-site in a home constructed in the 19th century. Although this house can be glimpsed from the drive, it is not open to the public.

Visitors can tour the museum and watch an informative film about Noble Jones and Wormsloe and visit the tabby ruins of his original home, as well as the family cemetery where he was originally buried. (His body has since been moved to Savannah.)

The site really comes to life, however, during special events throughout the year, such as the Colonial Faire and Muster in February, the War of Jenkins Ear in May, Georgia’s First Fourth in August and Colonial Christmas in December.

With the addition of costumed interpreters walking the sandy trails, the smell of musket smoke in the air and site of meals cooking over open fires, it is easier to imagine what life was like 275 years ago when James Oglethorpe, Noble Jones and a handful of other determined colonists arrived from England in the new land of Georgia.

 

As pre-teen boys unplug their ipods and pause spellbound to watch a musket drill or young Daisy Girl Scouts listen attentively as a craftswoman explains how people once slept on mattresses stuffed with Spanish moss, or a teenage girl and her father have the opportunity to step into an 18th century dance, these visitors get a glimpse of the way life once was and, even if just for a moment, they are there. And that, my friends, is the magic of living history.

Wormsloe State Historic Site Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9AM-5PM
Closed Monday (except holidays), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Admission: $4.50-$8

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The Darien Venture

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Georgia Hands-On History

The Two Andrews: Andrew from Georgia Hands-On History poses with Dr. Andrew Prescott of Kings College London following Dr. Presott's lecture at Ashantilly Center in Darien, Georgia, on November 12, 2011.

The Darien venture is a little-known event in Georgia, although one of the first cities established here–Darien, Georgia–was named in commemoration of that sad episode in Scottish history. This past weekend we had an opportunity to attend a fascinating lecture by Dr. Andrew Prescott of Kings College London at the Ashantilly Center in Darien. He has conducted lots of research using primary source documents to reconstruct those few years in Scottish history.

The Isthmus of Darien in Panama was located in a strategic trading location between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

In 1698, five ships set sail from Leith Harbour in Scotland bound for Panama. Their aim was to establish a colony on the Panamanian isthmus, known at that time as Darien, in the hope of establishing trade with the Far East, avoiding the treacherous journey around Cape Horn. The promoters of the Darien expedition, who included William Paterson, one of the founders of the Bank of England, hoped that this Scottish Empire would revive the ailing Scottish economy, but this Scottish colonial adventure resulted within two years in the loss of about 2,000 Scottish lives and a quarter of Scotland’s financial reserves. The disastrous consequences of the failed Darien colony were one of the main reasons why Scotland was forced into Union with England in 1707.

The Darien chest, now on exhibit at National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh, was used to store money and documents associated with the Company of Scotland, a trading company set up in 1695 with the power to establish colonies.

The name of the town of Darien in Georgia, settled by Scottish Highlanders about 30 years later, commemorates this tragic episode in Scotland’s history. Dr. Prescott suggested that the name selection for the Georgia town may have been aimed at sending a message to both England and Spain that this time the Scottish would succeed at establishing a community on foreign soil.

Darien, Georgia--unlike the Darien Venture in Panama--was a thriving colonial city.

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The Margaret Mitchell House: Birthplace of Gone With the Wind

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Georgia Hands-On History

Gone With the Wind is arguably the best-known novel about Georgia and the Civil War-era South. It was written by Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell Marsh, an Atlanta native, over the course of a 10-year period. Now, Gone With the Wind fans have the opportunity to visit the actual site where the Pulitzer-prize winning book was written: The Margaret Mitchell House, also known as the birthplace of Gone With the Wind.

Margaret Mitchell's first-floor apartment, nicknamed "The Dump," was on the left.

Margaret Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh, moved into Apartment No.1 in 1925, when the building was known as the Crescent Apartments. Margaret affectionately referred to it as “The Dump.” At the time, she worked as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal, but after spraining her ankle she was forced to recover at home. Her husband carted home armload after armload of books from the public library to keep her occupied during her recuperation. Finally, in exasperation, he told her that she had read every book in the library. If she wanted something new to read she would have to write it herself! Which is exactly what she did.

Margaret wrote Gone With the Wind on a small manual typewriter, making edits by hand.

For an avid Gone With the Wind fan like me, visiting the tiny apartment where Margaret Mitchell wrote her epic novel was an almost surreal experience. Although none of the furnishings are original, they are all period-correct for 1920s Atlanta.

Margaret liked to work in front of the window in the small living room.

A manual typewriter rests on a small wooden table positioned so that its user could look up to gaze out of the living room’s leaded glass window from time to time. It was easy to imagine petite Margaret sitting there, her injured ankle propped up, carefully choosing the words for her story.

Margaret began writing her novel as a way to stave off boredom as she recovered from an injury.

A small bedroom, bathroom and tiny kitchen completed the apartment.

The rest of the house, which was built in 1899 by Cornelius J. Sheehan as a single-family home on fashionable Peachtree Street and was converted into a ten-unit apartment building in 1919, has been renovated as a museum and meeting/special event space. The structure had fallen into disrepair and had been damaged severely by fire twice in the 1990s before opening to the public on May 17, 1997.

The Margaret Mitchell House was almost lost, first to neglect and then to fire.

It is now one of Atlanta’s most treasured landmarks, serving as a literary center, special events venue and tourist attraction.

The Margaret Mitchell House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In addition to the apartment, visitors can tour exhibits about Margaret Mitchell’s life and the movie version of her book. 

The exhibition Margaret Mitchell: A Passion for Character presents the aspiring writer through her girlhood writings, Mitchell’s career as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal newspaper, how the popularity of the book affected her life, and the philanthropy that characterized her later years.

The Making of a Film Legend: Gone With the Wind exhibition details the transformation of Gone With the Wind from a best-selling novel to a film classic. The actual front door of the Tara set is on display, as well as the large portrait of Scarlett used in the movie.

Curiously, this same painting which inspired Rhett to hurl his glass of liquor at it, later hung in the cafeteria of an Atlanta elementary school!

Visitors can also view original costume sketches by designer Walter Plunkett.

Location

Margaret Mitchell House

990 Peachtree Street NE

Atlanta, GA 30309

404.249.7015 

Hours of Operation

Monday – Saturday, 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM  Tours begin every half hour starting at 10:30 AM

10:30 AM; 11:00 AM; 11:30 AM; 12:00 PM; 12:30 PM; 1:00 PM; 1:30 PM; 2:00 PM; 2:30 PM; 3:00 PM; 3:30 PM; 4:30 PM 

Sunday, Noon – 5:30 PM

Tours begin every half hour starting at 12:30 PM

12:30 PM; 1:00 PM;  1:30 PM;  2:00 PM;  2:30 PM; 3:00 PM; 3:30 PM; 4:00 PM; 4:30 PM

The Margaret Mitchell House is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

The Margaret Mitchell House is open 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Columbus Day. 

Tickets

You can go here to purchase tickets online. You get a couple of dollars off that way. If you have time, a visit to the Atlanta History Center, which is offered as a joint ticket, is well worth it. Gone With the Wind fans will find the Civil War exhibit particularly fascinating.

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Horton House Living History on Jekyll Island

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Georgia Hands-On History

Saturday found us on the go again. This time it was a whirlwind trip to Jekyll Island, 180 miles from home base. Jekyll Island is, without a doubt, our favorite spot anywhere. We spend a few weeks there every spring (as well as any other chance we get) and it feels like our second home.

The occasion this weekend was the 5th annual Horton House living history program presented by the Jekyll Island Museum and the Fort Frederica National Monument on St. Simon’s Island.

The event commemorated the 275th anniversary of an historic meeting of the British, Spanish and Creek leaders at the home of William Horton on Jekyll Island.

Horton was one of General James Oglethorpe’s top military aides and was in charge of troops garrisoned at Fort Frederica on nearby St. Simon’s Island. Horton farmed the island, producing crops to help supply Ft. Frederica. This included hops and barley to produce Georgia’s first beer, which was shared with the garrison.

Horton, acting as an ambassador, was arrested as a spy by the Spanish in St. Augustine in May of 1736. During his captivity, the Spanish made advances into Jekyll Sound and Fort Frederica, but were turned back. Horton was released and Spanish diplomats were sent to negotiate with the British and their Creek allies. From June 17-22, 1736, Horton played host at his home on Jekyll Island, as the leaders of nations, British, Spanish, and Creek, sought to work out their differences in the colonies.

General Oglethorpe and Don Pedro Lamberto meet to discuss their differences.

Re-enactors were on hand portraying the British commander and founder of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe, Spanish leader Don Pedro Lamberto of St. Augustine, Hyllispilli of the Creeks and William Horton.

The ruins of Horton’s home served as the backdrop for the day’s events, which included speeches from all the key players, musket firings by both the British and the Spanish and lots of hands-on time-period activities.

At this time in history the fate of the colony of Georgia was not yet decided. Although the British had founded the new colony three years earlier when Oglethorpe established Savannah, the Spanish argued that all the land from Florida north to Port Royal, South Carolina, was Spanish territory. The British claimed Georgia south to the Altamaha River, allowing that the land between that point and the St. Mary’s River was “debatable.” This struggle would continue until the decisive Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742. 

On Saturday, Oglethorpe and Don Pedro Lamberto recreated a meeting at the Horton House in 1736 that led to a short-lived truce between the two nations.

Creek leader Hyllispilli also told of his people’s involvement with the early European settlers. The Creeks were the orginal inhabitants of this land and found themselves caught in the conflict between two powerful world powers. 

Also part of the living history program, other costumed interpreters represented soldiers from nearby Fort Frederica, as well as everyday colonial folks demonstrating skills of the time period.

Photo by Boyd Martin of the Jekyll Island Museum

Andrew participated as a soldier from the South Carolina Independent Company of Foot. As an already well-established British colony, South Carolina supplied soldiers to help defend the new colony of Georgia being claimed by the British. Andrew joined the soldiers and militia re-enactors from Fort Frederica and Wormsloe State Historic Site near Savannah as part of the British forces for the day.

While Andrew fell in with the military troops, Rosie and I had a chance to sample some of the other activities.

She wrote her name with ink and a quill pen…

Carded some wool for the lady at the spinning wheel…

And earned a gold doubloon for her efforts…

Musket firings by both the Spanish and British were highlights of the day. They were definitely Andrew’s favorite part! The British performed the 1740 revised Bland drill with more than 20 steps before the soldiers could fire. Seems like a whole lot of work for very little pay-off, doesn’t it? To make it worse, muskets were notoriously inaccurate. In fact, the soldiers didn’t even TRY to aim! If you watch the video below you will see that most of the soldiers turn their heads to the sides before they fire!

We had a great time visiting the 1730s on Jekyll Island. Can’t wait for next year!

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Westville: Military Through the Ages

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Georgia Hands-On History

Hello, fellow history lovers–Wendy here. Last weekend we were on the road again so that Andrew could participate in another living history event. This time we were only about an hour from home at Historic Westville, a recreated village of 1850 in Lumpkin, GA. I’ll let Westville staff member Veronica Wiese tell you more about it.

Let me just say that I have always been a big fan of Westville and think that it is probably one of the state’s best-kept secrets. I first visited Westville in the 6th grade, and I still remember it vividly 35 years later. (I just calculated those numbers in my head and actually gasped out loud–lol!)

There is nothing flashy or commercialized about Westville. The streets are dusty and the homes and public buildings represented there are plain and simply furnished, as they would have been in 1850. I can remember lagging behind my class when I was there all those years ago, because if I did not have the distraction of the other kids I could truly imagine myself as a young girl in 1850, walking home from school or running an errand for my mother. This was during my Little House on the Prairie-obsessed period and I was a little (?) geeky, but Westville was magical to me.

So, I was happy to return with my own kids when Andrew was asked to participate in this year’s Military Through the Ages event.

It was a neat idea–sort of a combination of military appreciation (with members of the armed forces admitted free and their spouses half-price) and a re-enactment with costumed interpreters representing soldiers throughout Georgia’s history.

In addition to Andrew, there were Georgia Rangers from the 1750s, Confederate soldiers, Confederate sailors and marines from the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus and soldiers from the Spanish civil war–an eclectic but very interesting bunch.

Andrew was especially interested in meeting the Georgia Rangers because he enoys the colonial time period the best. The Rangers portray an interesting, little-known period in Georgia’s colonial history.  These guys were so kind and welcoming to us, and Andrew ended up hanging out with them most of the day.

Meet Ron Shephard who portrays their captain, John Milledge:

There was also an encampment set up by Confederate naval and marine re-enactors from the National Civil War Naval Museum at Port Columbus.

The highlight of the afternoon for the re-enactors was an impromptu skirmish between the Spanish 20th-century soldiers and the colonial forces. Not exactly historically correct, but it was a lot of fun! Andrew was able to fire his musket three times, so that made the whole day worth it to him!

I wish the turn-out from the public had been better, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We ate lunch in the (air-conditioned!) Kiser House Restaurant with some of their wonderful homemade gingerbread for dessert. Yum! Then Rosie and I explored the village a bit.

We stumbled across this sweet fellow in the woodworker’s shop.

His name is Max Arnold, and he was both nice and funny with a wealth information to share about the wooden tools from the time. He volunteers his time during special events, so, if you go,look for him!

Westville is located off the beaten path, but you can visit their web site for some good directions. Their next big event is an Independence Day celebration that looks like a lot of fun. Of course, you don’t have to wait for a special event to visit. They are open Thursday-Saturday from 10 am-5 pm. Adult admission is $10 and students (through 12th grade) are just $5. You can download a coupon to receive $1 off adult admission here.

Take a few minutes to explore Westville’s web site. It is informative, up-to-date and easy to navigate. As fascinating as 1850 was, I am still thankful for our 21st century technology that makes planning a trip to a place like Westville so easy.

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Where to begin? Fort King George

Posted on May 31, 2011 by Georgia Hands-On History

I guess getting started is always the hardest part, isn’t it? The problem in this case is not a lack of information, but rather too MUCH information. This fascination with history, and with Georgia history more specifically, is really an ongoing journey for us, so where does the story start?

We recently spent two weeks on the Georgia coast, the birthplace of our state, so let’s begin there…

One of our favorite sites and a regular stop for us is Fort King George in Darien.

Fort King George has been reconstructed for visitors.

Fort King George, established in 1721, served as the southernmost British outpost in the colonies until 1727. At the time it was established, England, Spain and France were in heated disputes over “the Debatable Land,” the section of territory located between the Altamaha River and the St. Johns River. British soldiers were needed to garrison the new fort, of course, but the British colonies were expanding, and it was difficult to find men for this remote outpost.

We found it amusing to learn that even though South Carolina Governor Francis Nicholson and Colonel John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell requested fit young soldiers for their garrison, they received “invalids” from the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, England! These older veterans were considered fit for “light duty,” such as the manning of small forts. A small group of around 100 made up the Regiment of Invalids, known as His Majesty’s Independent Company of Foot. A harsh journey from England to South Carolina, combined with a poor diet and scurvy, affected the motley band of soldiers. When they arrived in the colonies in May 1721, their first stop was at a hospital in Port Royal, South Carolina, where they spent the rest of the year before moving on to the fort.

The fort was virtually abandoned in 1727 after a fire and the deaths of most of the sickly original garrison. By 1736 the earthenworks and ruins of the first structures were the only remnants left of the early outpost. General James Oglethorpe had come to Georgia three years earlier, establishing Savannah as the first Britsh settlement in the new colony of Georgia. He raised a regiment of Scottish Highlanders from Inverness, Scotland  to re-establish a fort on the original site of Fort King George. These rugged Scottish warriors established the town of Darien nearby as well, but that is another story for another post….

Today, Fort King George is a Georgia State Historic Site.  By far, the coolest thing about Fort King George is that the original outpost has been authentically recreated complete with reconstructed blockhouse, barracks, earthenworks and museum. This is hands-on history at its best.

A long walkway leads from the museum to the fort site. As you cross the marshy landscape it is easy to imagine yourself going back in time to the early 1700s, to the days before Georgia WAS Georgia.

Fort King George was strategically located on the Altamaha River.

From the upper floor of the blockhouse or from the sentry posts along the outer wall, you can see the same view of the Altamaha River that was seen by the British soldiers as they scanned the horizon for French and Spanish enemy vessels. Visitors are free to explore the fort and all of its buildings on their own, so kids have a great time climbing, running and exploring.

One caveat: Beware the yellow flies in May. Some years they can be vicious! Bug spray doesn’t help a whole lot, either. The site provides hats with mosquito netting for some protection, but the little varmints will still feast on bare arms and legs.

Fort King George is a little out-of-the-way, as are many historic sites, but signage directing you there from Darien is clear. It is well worth the time to seek this spot out for a more thorough understanding of Georgia’s colonial history. Plus, it’s just a whole lot of fun! If you’re in that part of the state, don’t miss it.

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