WAYNE COUNTY, GA - History Altamaha River Towns ***************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm *********************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Alice imajones2@lbbhost.com ALTAMAHA VIGNETTES OF PEOPLE AND PLACES INTRODUCTION The area of the Altamaha River has been filled with mystery and intrigue, beauty and bloodshed, through the uncounted years it has served as the main artery of transportation and communication for this territory. The Altamaha River is one of the most historically significant of any in the New World, and is shown on the earliest maps of America, including one dated 1620. This river came into colonial prominence when General James Oglethorpe settled Georgia in 1733. However, the Indians had long used the Altamaha for water transportation. They also had trails on both sides of the river and settlements up and down its banks. It is interesting to note that Goose Creek, which empties into the Altamaha at Linder's Bluff, approximately five miles up the river from Doctortown, was named as a boundary in at least two treaties with the Indians. It also figured prominently in many other early land records. Lack of space prohibits detailed history of this important part of early Wayne. However vignettes are included of some of the most historical sites along this mighty river, one of the largest bodies of water east of the Mississippi, and of some of the historic personages associated with it. THE SANSAVILLA BLUFFS By Angie Jordan Studying places and the names of places has long interested many people, but the exact source and meaning of the name Sansavilla has still to be uncovered One possibility is described by Boyd in Here They Once Stood (Gainesville, 1951). He tells of a monk named Father Avila. The monk was taken to the interior following a raid of coastal mission. In his writings, he said that Father Avila was taken to the interior via the river "Talaje o Altamaja." Altamaja would easliy translate into English as Altamaha, and the name Avila would give a possible explanation to the name Sansavilla. Due to the artifacts found in the area, Upper and Lower Sansavilla, it is believed that a Spanish mission was located on the island. This could possibly have been the mission at which Father Avila served. On most recent maps, the name is spelled Sansavilla, but on colonial maps, and in colonial documents, the name is spelled many different ways, including, "Sevillo," "St. Sevila," and "Saint Sevillies." It cannot be determined which, if any of these spellings is correct, but all bear at least a vague resemblance to "Avila." Sansavilla is in the northeastern part of Wayne County, on a ridge in the Altamaha River swamp. The bluffs extend along the river for almost three miles -- from Aleck Island to Alecks Creek. The southeast end is called Lower Sansavilla, while the northwest tip, which breaks at Alecks Creek, is called Upper Sansavilla. (Utley and Hemperley, Editors, Place Names of Georgia, Essays of John H Goff, p. 298.) This place, Aleck Island, is the southern most extension of the ridges making up the Sansavilla Bluffs, and is only an island in the sense that it is occasionally surrounded by the high water from the Altamaha. Nearby is Mount Venture, where Mary Musgrove once had a trading post. Mount Venture was burned in 1742, but the remains are still evident today. The spot is marked by definite post patterns in the ground, and by much burned debris. Melted glass, beads, and cermaics can be found in the area in abundance. These remains are commonly associated with the 1720-1750 period. After the American Revolution, there was a settlement on the Upper Sansavilla Bluff. In December of 1792, the spot was incorporated as WIlliamsburg, the first incorporated town in what is now Wayne County. The commissioners were: Farr Williams, John William Williams, John William Lambert, William Cook, William Williams, and Roswell King. The settlement was the first in Wayne County to be surveyed and laid out with named streets. Williamsburg was dangerously exposed to attacks from the Indians in the area. During the 1790's when there was a great deal of trouble with the Indians, General James Jackson decided that he would have a group of soldiers called "Regulars" stationed there to help protect the settlement. In a memorandum that he had prepared, he said that Williamsburg already had a stockade fort and three blockhouses. The stockade fort was probably the fort mentioned as being on Captain William Williams' land, and which was said to exist around the year 1788. Today the entire island is covered with trees and bushes. An excellent view of the river can be obtained from the Lower Sansavilla Bluff. The island is a good hunting ground for archaeologists, or just hobbyists interested in Indian pottery and similar artifacts. MARY MUSGROVE Mary Musgrove had more than one trading post, one of which was located at Mount Venture (Fort Venture) on St. Savilla Bluffs (or Alleck's Island) on the Altamaha River in what is now Wayne County. Of this I am convinced. I have been in the area with archaeologists. As they sifted sand and dirt, I gathered up beads and other artifacts, including gunflints. The archaeologists had already removed the two feet or so of soil and debris which had accumulated through 200 years of time, and I saw burned posts they had uncovered from the old fort. Many historians state that Mary Musgrove's Trading Post was at the same location as the burned fort. (The archaeologists believe, from other artifacts uncovered at the same site, that a Spanish Mission was also once located on Alleck's Island.) The hypothesis for this location for Mary Musgrove's Trading Post was noted by Margaret Davis Cates in a letter to the State Historian before her death, "Today I have had a nice trip to the site which I believe was Mary Musgrove's trading post, Mount Venture. Want to take you and Mr. Irvine up there, but want most of all to have an archaeological expedition get under way so as to see if we can located the debris which should be at trading post which was burned. Through a plat on file in Mr. Wilson's office I have found what I believe is the exact site.." Gordon Midgette and Bill Steed, archaeologists from the University of Georgia, who worked in the area for many months, had this to say, "The burned debris of the trading post did exist, but it was nearly 30 years before Margaret Cate's hypothesis was proven archaeologically. The many burned and melted beads, gunflints, chinaware and other artifacts from the site are currently being analyzed by the author and other experts." Mary Musgrove, the half-breed Indian Princess who was later to become such an influential character in the early development of the Georgia Colony and of that part now known as Wayne, was born on the Ocmulgee River in Coweta County about 1700. Given the Indian name of Cau sa pova puso, she was a niece of Old Brim, Emperor of the Creek Indian Nation, and was recognized as a princess by the tribe. Her white father carried her to South Carolina at the age of ten where she was baptised, educated and instructed in Christianity. Mary later gave up her Chrisitan training and joined others of her Nation in South Carolina to again live the life of an Indian. In 1716, when Colonel John Musgrove was sent to South Carolina to form a Treaty of Alliance with the Creeks, Mary and his son John were married, perhaps having become acquainted through her service as an interpreter for his father. Musgrove later operated a trading post at Yamacraw Bluff. General Oglethorpe advised Mary, who had become his interpreter, to set up a trading post at Mount Venture as whites, by treaty, were forbidden to settle in that region. About this time John Musgrove died. After his death, Mary married Jacob Matthews, a former indentured servant, who had been appointed captain of 20 men by General Oglethorpe and stationed at Mount Venture at the fort. Mary and her new husband set up extensive trading connections with the Creek Indians at the trading post there. They had "good cowpens and plantations and were well on their way to a fortune," according to Records of Settlement of the Estate of Thomas Bosomworth (No. 1744). At this point Mary became an important figure in the development of this area of Georgia through her friendship with General Oglethorpe. She acted as his interpreter for the reported sum of 100 pounds annually. During the War with Spain in 1740, she rallied the Indians to Oglethorpe's side and sent her traders to help fight. She often went to Frederica to act as interpreter or accompanied Oglethorpe for as long as a month at the time when necessary. To show his appreciation, Oglethorpe gave her a diamond ring in 1743, along with 200 pounds and the right to draw drafts on him for 2,000 pounds. When Mary's husband, Jacob Mathews, became ill at Mt. Venture on the Altamaha in 1742, she carried him to Savannah for treatment, where he later died. While she was away, her settlement at Mt. Venture was destroyed by the Yamassee Indians. Mary was married for the third time about 1744 to Thomas Bosomworth, Chaplain of Oglethorpe's Regiment, who was stationed at Frederica. Bosomworth is recorded as having been an unscrupulous character, and under his influence Mary beguiled the Indians into acknowledging her as their queen and granting her the islands of Osabow, St. Catherine and Sapelo. She began making demands on the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia for monies she claimed were due her as interpreter and for loans advanced by her during the years she acted as benefactor to the colonists, advancing them food and supplies. In 1857 Governor Ellis was directed to surrender to her St. Catherine's Island, where she was living at the time. He also was instructed to pay her 450 pounds of goods used by her in service of the Crown as well as 1,600 pounds in full settlement for her services as agent and interpreter. She later sold the island to Button Gwinnett. She, her husband and one child were buried on St. Catherine's Island. CHIEF ALEX This creek which flows northward to the Altamaha River at the upper end of the San Savilla Bluffs directly north of Mount Pleasant, is named for a Lower Creek Indian named Alleck (often called Captain Aleck). He lived near the mouth of the Altamaha until the 1763 treaty between the Creeks and the English. His "old house is shown on the accompanying map, and when Winwood McIntosh purchased land, she specified that it be that which had belonged to him. He moved to a spot further up the river after the treaty and the site of his new home has since been called Doctortown. Doctor is the translated version of the Creek word "Alleck." Other places along the Altamaha are also believed named for him; one being Alec's Creek which empties into the Altamaha at Williamsburg on Upper San Savilla Bluff. Outwardly friendly to the whites, Chief Alleck helped Governors John Reynolds, Henry Ellis and James Wright, especially the latter whom he assisted in negotiating boundary line matters with the Creeks. "But Alleck was no Tomochichi .. substantial evidence to show he was a self-serving, devious fellow," according to John H Goff in his "Short Studies of Georgia Place Names." FORT BARRINGTON In the middle of the 18th Century it was deemed necessary to build a fort to protect the colonists who had settled on the south side of the Altamaha River. Fort Barrington was built in 1760 at a cost of 50 pounds. It was situated on the north bank of the Altamaha on the established Indian Trail that paralleled the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Florida. The fort, paid for by sale of trustee's cattle on St. Simmons, was 75 feet square, with a house built of logs. According to John Wesley's Journal, the land stretched half mile in each of three directions from the fort itself. It was garrisoned by 25 Rangers under Lt. Robert Baillie. Lt. Col. Josiah Barrington, for whom the fort was named, was a friend and kinsman of General Oglethorpe. The Georgia Historical Commission in 1954 noted his home as being east of Fort Barrington on San Savilla Bluff. The above was transcribed from the book "Miscellany of Wayne County" by Margaret C Jordan [pgs30-35]. Permission was given to put online by Margaret's son Jack.