Chatham County GaArchives History .....Chapter II - History of Savannah and South Georgia 1913
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CHAPTER II COMING OF THE OGLETHORPE COLONY

SAILING AND LANDING OF THE COLONY—MESSAGE AND ASSISTANCE FROM SOUTH
CAROLINA—OGLETHORPE's REASONS FOR SELECTING SITE— HUTCHINSON'S ISLAND.

   Following the thorough investigation of the matter of the inhuman treatment
of those who, for causes beyond their own control, were lying in English prisons
without apparent hope of release, Oglethorpe, in conjunction with other
influential men, among whom was Lord John, Viscount Percival, addressed the
privy council in a memorial setting forth "that the cities of London and
Westminster, and parts adjacent, do abound with great numbers of indigent
persons who are reduced to such necessity as to become burdensome to the public,
and who would be willing to seek a livelihood in any of his Majesty's
plantations in America, if they were provided with a passage and means of
settling there," etc. These petitioners further declared their willingness to
engage in the setting up of a colony on receiving from the Crown a grant of
lands specified by them and afterwards described in the ample charter as "all
those lands, countries and territories situate, lying and being in that part of
South Carolina, in America, which lies from the most northern part of a stream
or river there, commonly called the Savannah, all along the sea coast to the
southward, unto the most southern stream of a certain other great water or river
called the Altamaha, and westerly from the heads of said rivers respectively, in
direct lines to the South Seas; and all that shore, circuit and precinct of land
within the said boundaries, with the islands on the sea lying opposite to the
eastern coast of the said lands; within twenty leagues of the same, which are
not inhabited already, or settled by any authority derived from the crown of
Great Britain, together with all the soils, grounds, havens, ports, gulfs and
bays, mines, as well royal mines of gold and silver as other minerals, precious
stones, quarries, woods, rivers, waters, fishing, as well royal fishings of
whale and sturgeon as other fishings, pearls, commodities, jurisdictions,
royalties, franchises, privileges and pre-eminences within the said frontiers
and precincts thereof and thereunto in any sort belonging or appertaining, and
which we by our letter patents may or can grant.”

10

SAILING AND LANDING OF THE COLONY

   "We are not writing a history of Georgia, and therefore it is not necessary
to enter into detail upon the various matters pertaining to the preparations for
the departure from the mother country of the emigrants. The trustees chose as
the medium of transportation a galley, called the Anne, whose capacity was only
two hundred tons burden, and whose commander was one John Thomas. Eighteen days
before the vessel set sail, that is to say, on the 30th of October, 1732, the
Gentleman's Magazine published this statement: "The Ann, Galley, of above two
hundred tons, is on the point of sailing from Deptford, for the new colony of
Georgia, with thirty-five families, consisting of carpenters, bricklayers,
farmers, etc., who take all proper instruments. The men were learning military
discipline of the guards, as must all that go thither, and to carry musquets,
bayonets, and swords, to defend the colony, in case of an attack from the
Indians. She has on board ten tons of Alderman Parson's best beer, and will take
in at the Madeiras five tons of wine, for the service of the colony. James
Oglethorpe, Esq., one of the trustees, goes with them to see them settled.” The
Rev. Dr. Henry Herbert went with them as chaplain, volunteering to act in that
capacity, and to perform all the duties of his sacred office without any
pecuniary reward whatever. The following account of the progress made from the
date of sailing until they reached the place selected for the first settlement
is taken from the South Carolina Gazette of the 31st of March, 1732-3, and is
generally supposed to have been written by Dr. Herbert:

   "We set sail from Gravesend on the 17th of November, 1732, in the ship Anne,
of two hundred tons, John Thomas, master, and arrived off the bar of Charlestown
[now Charleston, S. C.] on the 13th day of January following. Mr. Oglethorpe
went on shore to wait upon the Governor, and was received with great marks of
civility and satisfaction; obtained an order for Mr. Middleton, the King's
Pilot, to carry the ship into Port Royal, and for small craft to carry the
colony from thence to the River Savannah, with the promise of further assistance
from the Province. He returned on board on the 14th day, and came to anchor
within the bar of Port Royal, at above sixteen miles distance from Beaufort. On
the 18th he went on shore upon Trench's Island, and left a guard of eight men
upon John's, being a point of that island which commands the channel, and is
about half way between Beaufort and the Savannah. They had orders to prepare
huts for the reception of the colony against they should lye there in the
passage. From thence he went to Beaufort Town, where he arrived at one o'clock
in the morning, and was saluted with a discharge of all the artillery, and had
the new Barracks fitted up, where the Colony landed on the 20th day, and were in
every respect cheerfully assisted by Lieutenant Watts and Ensign Parrington, and
other officers of His Majesty's Independent Company, as also Mr. Delabare, and
other gentlemen of the neighborhood; while the Colony refreshed themselves
there, Mr. Oglethorpe went up the river and chose a situation for a town, and
entered into a treaty with Tomo-chi-chi, the Mico, or Chief of the only nation
of Indians living near it. He returned on the 24th day and they celebrated the
Sunday following [January 28] as a

--------------

p. 11

day of thanksgiving for their safe arrival, and a sermon was preached by the
Rev. Mr. Jones (the Rev. Dr. Herbert, who came with the colony, preached that
day at Beaufort Town). There was a great resort of the gentlemen of that
neighborhood and their families, and a plentiful dinner provided for the colony
and all that came, by Mr. Oglethorpe; being four fat hogs, eight turkies,
besides fowls, English beef and other provisions, a hogshead of punch, a
hogshead of beer, a large quantity of wine, and all was disposed in so regular a
manner that no person was drunk nor any disorder happened.

   "On the 30th [Tuesday] the colony embarked on board a sloop of seventy tons,
and five periaugers* and made sail, but were forced by a storm to put in at a
place called the Look Out, and to lie there all night. The next day they arrived
at Johns, where they found huts capable to contain them all, and a plentiful
supper of venison. They re-embarked the next day, and in the afternoon arrived
at the place intended for the town. Being arrived on the 1st of February, at the
intended town, before night they erected four large tents, sufficient to hold
all the people, being one for each tything; they landed their bedding and other
little necessaries, and all the people lay on shore. The ground they encamped
upon is the edge of the river, where the Key is intended to be.

   “Until the 7th was spent in making a crane and unloading the goods, which
done, Mr. Oglethorpe divided the people, employing part in clearing land for
seed, part in beginning the palisade, and the remainder in felling trees where
the town is to stand.

MESSAGE AND ASSISTANCE FROM SOUTH CAROLINA

   “Colonel Bull arrived here with a message from the general assembly [of South
Carolina] to Mr. Oglethorpe, and a letter from his Excellency Governor Johnson,
and the Council, acquainting him that the two Houses, upon a conference, had
agreed to give twenty barrels of rice and one hundred head of cattle, besides
hogs, to the Trustees; and that they had commanded a detachment of the Rangers
(which are horse kept in the pay of the Province for the scouting the frontiers)
and the Scout Boat (which is an armed bark employed for the same purpose by
water) to attend him and take his orders.

   "Colonel Bull brought with him four of his negroes, who were sawyears, to
assist the Colony, and also brought provisions for them, being resolved to put
the Trustees to no expense, and by this means to bestow his benefaction in the
most noble and useful manner.

   "On the 9th [February], Mr. Oglethorpe and Colonel Bull marked out the
square, the streets, and the lots for the houses for the Town; and the first
house (which was ordered to be made of clapboard) was begun that day.

   “The town lies on the south side of the Savannah, upon a flat on the
_____________
    * Sometimes spelled periaguas. "Long flat-bottomed boats carrying from 20 to
30 tons. They have a kind of Forecastle and a Cabin; but the rest open, and no
deck. They have two masts which they can strike, an<l sails like Schooners. They
row generally with two oars only." Description by Francis Moore, in his Voyage
to Georgia, p. 49. London, 1744.

--------------

p. 12

top of a hill, and sixty yards of it is reserved between it and the Key. The
river washes the foot of the hill, which stretches along the side of it a mile,
and formed a terrace forty feet perpendicular ahove high water.

   "From the Key, looking eastward, you may discover the river as far as the
islands in the sea, and westward one may see it wind through the woods ahove six
miles.

   "The river is one thousand feet wide; the water fresh, and deep enough for
sloops of seventy tons to come up close to the side of the Key.”

   Oglethorpe wrote a letter to the trustees, giving an account of his arrival
at Charleston, and on his arrival at Savannah he opens his account of his
progress with a reference to that paper which, however, is presumably lost, as
no copy of it is given by any writer. That letter, if in existence, could
probably add but little, if any, information to what we now possess; but it
seems strange that it has not been preserved. The Minutes of the Trustees, dated
February 28, 1732-3, contain this reference to it: "Head a letter from Mr.
Oglethorpe dated January the 13th, 1732-3, on board the ship Ann, giving an
account of his safe arrival at Charlestown and the health of the Colony, having
lost in the passage only Richard Cannon's Youngest Son, Aged Eight Months, and
Robert Clarke's Youngest Son, Aged One Year and a Half."

OGLETHORPE's REASONS FOR SELECTING SITE

   Too much stress cannot be laid upon the reasons for selecting the site of the
town and the beginning of the building of houses on the same, and so, at the
risk of being considered too prolix, the following accounts by Oglethorpe
himself are inserted: Under date of February 10, 1732-3, from the camp at
Savannah, he wrote this letter to the trustees:

   "GENTLEMEN:—I gave you an account in my last of my arrival in Charlestown.
The Governor and Assembly have given us all possible encouragement.

   “Our people arrived at Beaufort on the 20th of January, where I lodged them
in some new Barracks built for the soldiers, while I went myself to view the
Savannah River.

   "I fixed upon a healthy situation about ten miles from the sea. The river
here forms a half moon, along the South side of which the Banks are about forty
foot high; and upon the top a Flat, which they call a Bluff.

   “The plain high ground extends into the country five or six miles, and along
the River Side about a mile. Ships that draw 12 foot water can ride within ten
yards of the Bank.

   "Upon the River Side, in the centre of this plain, I have laid out the town;
over against it is an island of very rich Land, fit for pasturage, which I think
should be kept for the Trustees' cattle.

   "The River is pretty wide, the water fresh, and from the key of the town yon
see its whole course to the sea, with the Island of Tybee, which forms the mouth
of the River; and the other way you see the River for about six miles up into
the country.

   "The Landscape is very agreeable, the stream being wide, and bordered with
high woods on both sides.

   "The whole of the People arrived here on the 1st of Feb.;* at night their
tents were got up. Till the 7th we were taken up in unloading and making a
crane, which I could not then get finished, so took off the hands, and set some
to the fortification, and began to fell the woods.
_________________
* Let it be borne in mind that this is according to old style.

--------------

p. 13

   “I mark'd out the Town and Commons; half of the former is already cleared,
and the first house was begun yesterday in the afternoon.

   “Mr. Whitaker has given one hundred head of cattle. Col. Bull, Mr. Barlow,
Mr. St. Julian, and Mr. Woodward, are come up to assist us, with some of their
own servants. 1 am so taken up in looking after a hundred necessary Things, that
I write now short, but shall give you a more particular Account hereafter. A
little Indian Nation, the only one within fifty miles, is not only at Amity, but
desirous to be Subjects to his Majesty King George, to have lands given them
among us, and to breed their Children at our Schools. Their Chief and his
Beloved Man, who is the Second Man in the Nation, desire to be instructed in the
Christian Religion.

                                   "I am, Gentlemen,
                                   "Your Most Obedient Humble Servant,
                                    JAMES OGLETHORPE."

HUTCHINSON'S ISLAND

   The reader will perceive that in the foregoing letter the name of the island
lying opposite the town is not mentioned. Indeed, it is very probable that at
that .date it had no name. Thus far it has not been added to the corporate
limits of the city of Savannah which has grown to such a large extent since the
time of Oglethorpe, but its situation and its relation in a business way to the
city, especially since its vast improvement by the Seaboard Air Line Railway
Company, in the building of docks, wharfs and warehouses, demand that some
record be here made of its history and commercial importance.

   The name Hutchinson's Island first occurs in a tract entitled "A Voyage to
Georgia, begun in the year 1735," by Francis Moore, Keeper of the Stores, and at
one time Recorder of Frederica. Under date February 9, 1736, he says: "I took a
view of the town of Savannah. It is about a mile and a quarter in circumference;
it stands upon the flat of a hill, the bank of the river (which they in
barbarous English call a bluff) is steep and about forty-five foot
perpendicular, so that all heavy goods are brought up by a crane, an
inconvenience designed to be remedied by a bridged wharf, and an easy ascent,
which in laying out the town, care was taken to allow room for, there being a
wide strand between the first row of houses and the river. From this strand
there is a very pleasant prospect; you see the river wash the foot of the hill,
which is a hard, clear, sandy beach, a mile in length; the water is fresh, and
the river one thousand foot wide. Eastward you see the river increased by the
northern branch,* which runs round Hutchinson's island, and the Carolina shore
beyond it, and the woody islands at the sea, which close the prospect at ten or
twelve miles distance. Over against it is Hutchinson's island, great part of
which is open ground, where they sow hay for the Trust's horses and cattle. The
rest is woods in which there are many bay trees eighty foot high. Westward you
see the river winding between the woods, with little islands in it for many
miles, and Toma Chi Chi's Indian town standing upon the southern banks, between
three and four miles distance." This writer then describes the town as it
appeared at the time of his visit, and at the proper point we will quote more of
his words. We
________________
* Known as Back River.

--------------

p. 14

are now concerned with the island whose name appears for the first time in his
short history. Oglethorpe used it for the first time in a letter to the trustees
a little more than three months after the date set down in Moore's journal,
namely, May 18th, 1736, written at Frederica, on St. Simon's Island. In this
letter he says: "The magistrates of Savannah have seized and staved large
quantities of Rum upon the River under the Hill at Savannah. This channel being
between Hutchinson 's Island and Savannah they deem that the water between the
Island and the Town is Georgia since the Islands are so." From that time the
name became commonly known, and the island has had no other name.

   No one has, apparently, deemed it of sufficient interest to attempt to
account for the origin of its appellation. Who first called it by the name it
has borne since the year 1736? Was it so called before that time? Apparently
not, or Oglethorpe would have said so in his letter of February 10th, 1733. It
seems to this writer that, the time has now come when any matter connected with
this thriving, important, busy and rapidly growing city should be deemed worthy
of interest and investigation, and it seems especially important that, if
possible, the name of this now valuable adjunct to Savannah should be accounted
for. In the progress of his research he has found nothing upon which to base a
reasonable conclusion of this matter but a single item in connection with the
founding of the Colony of Georgia, and that, he thinks is convincing evidence of
the reasonableness of said conclusion. The only time the name Hutchinson occurs
in the colonial records is in a list kept by the trustees of "Monies Received
from the Several Persons Hereafter Named for the Following Purposes; that is to
say, * * * To be applied for Establishing the Colony, vizt.: from

1732 27 Octob. Archibald Hutchinson, Esq., by the hands    £   s   d
             of Mr. Oglethorpe                             30 ."

   That is all; but need we look further for a solution of the question ? The
amount subscribed by Mr. Hutchinson was not large, and, compared with that given
by some others, may be deemed insignificant; but, when we find the record of the
donation coupled with the statement that it was tendered "by the hands of Mr.
Oglethorpe," it. is probable that behind those words there lies hidden a depth
of meaning which, if by any possibility could be uncovered, would develop the
true reason—possibly a very strong bond of friendship—for the bestowal of his
name upon this rich spot of earth.

   The development of the island by the Seaboard Air Line Company was, at the
time, considered a great undertaking; but the possibility of making the river
front across the river valuable in both a commercial and industrial way was
seriously considered as far back as the year 1818, when, during the month of
November, two of Savannah's aldermen (Charlton and Cope) prepared a memorial to
the Georgia legislature, in which this matter was touched upon as follows: "On
the opposite side of that branch of the river which separates the city from
Hutchinson's island, it is proposed to erect an extensive range of wharves and
warehouses which, carrying with them a certain class of population and other
incidents of commerce will temporarily and unquestionably require a very active
interposition of city regulations."


Additional Comments:
From:

A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913


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