DeBrahm in his History of the Province of Georgia[268] furnishes us with the following classification of the Towns in the Province:

“Besides the Metropolis of Savannah upon Savannah Stream, 17 miles from the Sea,

Are 4 Sea Port Towns,

4 Towns upon navigable fresh water streams

(a) Since Gov. Wright’s Administration this Place (being deserted in Gov’r Reynolds’ time by Edmond Grey) revived again under the name of Wrightsborough inhabited by above 60 Families, and its Township contains about 200 Families all Quakers; they are indulged by the Gov’r; that no Person, but such as they approve, shall be permitted to settle among them.

(b) Queensbury is inhabited by about 70, and its Environs by above 200 Families mostly Irish, from which it is generally called the Irish Settlement.

4 Villages of which two are upon a navigable River,

The enumeration contained in “Histoire et Commerce des Colonies Angloises dans l’Amerique Septentrionale,”[269] is essentially similar: “On partage la Georgie en doux divisions. La Septentrionale comprend;

La méridionale est moins peuplée, on n’y trouve que deux villes & un village.

Savannah and Augusta still exist and are justly reckoned among the most opulent, beautiful, and attractive cities of the Empire State of the South. In their locations the judgment of the early Colonists has been sanctioned by the favorable experience of nearly a century and a half. New Inverness has given place to Darien which, amid shifting fortunes, is still supported by the lumber trade and the rice crop of the Alatamaha. Of the memories of Frederica, Sunbury, New and Old Ebenezer, Bethany, Hardwick, and Abercorn, we have already spoken; and it remains for us in a few words to mention some smaller and insignificant towns, projected in the early days of the Colony, which have long since lost their identity amid the changes of population and the vicissitudes of ownership.

Brandon may be recognized as still maintaining a feeble existence in the later village of Wrightsboro, although its original features and peculiarities have encountered essential modifications. The founder of Brandon was Edmund Grey, a pretending Quaker, who came from Virginia with a number of followers. A man of strong will and marked influence, he was nevertheless a pestilent fellow, and, during Governor Reynolds’ administration, was compelled to abandon his little town. He subsequently formed a settlement on the neutral lands lying between the Alatamaha and the St. Johns rivers. Thither flocked criminals, and debtors anxious to escape the just demands of their creditors.[270]

Brandon on Little river was revived by Joseph Mattock, a Quaker, who having obtained for himself and friends a grant of forty thousand acres of land, called the town Wrightsboro in honor of Governor Sir James Wright, who favored the establishment of the new colony. Mr. Mattock hospitably entertained Mr. William Bartram in 1773, by whom he is described as a public spirited man about seventy years of age, hearty, active, and presiding as the chief magistrate of the settlement.[271] We recall no special incidents in the history of this town. Its life was uneventful, and at present it can scarcely claim even a nominal existence.

Between four and five miles southwest of Savannah, as its limits were at first ascertained, and on rising ground, the village of High-gate was laid out in 1733. Twelve families,—mostly French,—were here located. A mile to the eastward the village of Hampstead was formed the same year, and peopled by twelve families,—chiefly German. These settlers were engaged in gardening, and their principal business was to supply the inhabitants of Savannah with vegetables. Francis Moore, who visited these little towns in the spring of 1736, describes them as being “pretty,” and says that the “Planters are very forward, having built neat Huts and clear’d and planted a great deal of Land.”

It would appear, however, that the prosperity of these villages was of short duration. We are informed that in 1740 but two families remained at High-gate, while Hampstead was entirely abandoned.[272]

For the protection of the few families to whom a home at Thunderbolt had been assigned, a small fort was erected; but as early as 1737 it had fallen into decay.

On the north-east point of Skidoway island, ten families were placed and a fort built in 1734. This attempt at colonization proved so unsuccessful that four years afterwards the village had disappeared and the fortification was in a deserted and ruinous condition.

A similar fatality attended the effort to plant a colony of ten families near the light-house on Tybee island the year after Savannah was settled.

So long as Fort Argyle was garrisoned, the ten freeholders who established their plantations in its vicinity strove to render their cultivation profitable: but, upon the withdrawal of the Rangers, eight of them removed, and within a short time all signs of industry disappeared.

The labors of the Scottish colonists at Joseph’s Town were prosecuted but a few years, and that settlement was quickly numbered among the failures which occurred on every hand.

Near fort St. Andrew on the north-east extremity of Cumberland island grew up the village of Barrimacké, which, about 1740, embraced some twenty-four families. When General Oglethorpe’s regiment was withdrawn from the southern frontier, this town speedily died, and for more than a century all traces of its former existence have been entirely wanting.

Similar is the history of the German village of gardeners and fishermen which stood near the southern end of the military road connecting Frederica with St. Simons.

Of the meagre and uneventful lives of Acton and Vernonburgh on Vernon river, of Goshen and Bethany near the Savannah, of Williamsburgh, and Fort Barrington on the Alatamaha, and of Queensbury on the Great Ogeechee, we feel scarce called upon to speak. Were we not dealing exclusively with the dead towns of Georgia, we might enumerate others which, in their moribund condition and present dilapidation, perpetuate little more than the names and sites which they at first received.

Of the more prominent plantations established at an early date we may mention those of Colonel Cochran, Captain Gascoin, and Lieutenant Horton on St. Simon’s island,—of Messrs. Carr and Carteret on the main,—of Sir Francis Bathurst, Walter Augustine, Robert Williams, Patrick Tailfer, Jacob Matthews, Mr. Cooksey, and Captain Watson on the Savannah river,—of Mr. Houstoun on the Little Ogeechee,—of the Messrs. Sterling on the Great Ogeechee river,—of Messrs. Noble Jones, Henry Parker, and John Fallowfield on the Isle of Hope,—of Oxtead, the settlement of Mr. Thomas Causton on Augustine creek,—of the Hermitage, the abode of Hugh Anderson,—of Mr. Thomas Christie,—of the twenty German families sent over by Count Zinzendorf,—of Mr. William Williamson,—of the Trustees, committed to the care of William Bradley,—of Mr. Thomas Jones,—and of president William Stephens at Bewlie. This last plantation consisted of a grant of five hundred acres at the mouth of Vernon river, and was confirmed by General Oglethorpe on the 19th of April, 1738. Of this place Mr. Stephens, on the 21st of March, 1739, writes as follows: “I was now called upon to give the Place a Name; and thereupon naturally revolving in my Thoughts divers Places in my native Country, to try if I could find any that had a Resemblance to this; I fancied that Bewlie, a Manor of his Grace the Duke of Montague in the New Forest, was not unlike it much as to its Situation; and being on the Skirts of that Forest, had Plenty of large Timber growing everywhere near; moreover a fine Arm of the Sea running close by, which parts the Isle of Wight from the main Land, and makes a beautiful Prospect; from all which Tradition tells us it took its Name and was antiently called Beaulieu, though now vulgarly Bewlie; only by leaving out the a in the first Syllable, and the u in the end of the last.”[273]

This is the true account of the original cession and naming of that attractive bluff rendered memorable in after years by the debarcation of Count D’Estaing on the 12th of September, 1779, and by the erection of formidable batteries for the protection of this approach to the city of Savannah during the Confederate struggle for independence.

These plantations, and others which might be enumerated, have, with a single exception, so far as our information extends, lost all traces of primal occupancy and passed into the ownership of strangers. We allude to the beautiful plantation of Wormsloe on the Isle of Hope. Of this interesting spot we have the following description penned by an intelligent visitor who made his observations in 1743. He was then, in an open boat, journeying towards Savannah from St. Catharine’s island, where a short season had been spent in the companionship of the friendly Indians who were dwellers there. “We arrived in somewhat more than two Days at the Narrows where there is a kind of Manchecolas Fort for their Defence, garrison’d from Wormsloe, where we soon arriv’d. It is the settlement of Mr. Jones 10 Miles S. E. of Savannah, and we could not help observing as we passed, several very pretty Plantations.

“Wormsloe is one of the most agreeable Spots I ever saw, and the Improvements of that ingenious Man are very extraordinary: He commands a Company of Marines who are quarter’d in Huts near his House, which is also a tolerable defensible Place with small Arms. From the House there is a Vista of near three Miles cut thro’ the Woods to Mr. Whitefield’s Orphan House, which has a very fine Effect on the Sight.”[274]

After concluding his visit to Savannah, this gentleman “set out in one of Captain Jones’s Scout Boats mann’d by a Party of his Marine Company, and had a very pleasant Passage to Fort Frederick on the Island of Port Royal in South Carolina.”[275]

Noble Jones, the proprietor of Wormsloe, was a Lieutenant commanding thirty men,—volunteers and enlisted from Savannah,—in General Oglethorpe’s expedition against St. Augustine. He was subsequently assigned to the command of a scout and guard boat and a company of marines to watch the “Narrows at Skedoway” and the “Inlets of the near adjoining Sea;” more especially “those near him of Wassaw and Ussuybaw, lest any surprise should happen.” His guard-boat was armed “with a small swivel Gun” in the bow; and, in February, 1741, upon the appearance of a Spanish Privateer on the coast, “One of our smartest Pieces of Cannon,” says Stephens, “carrying a four Pound Ball, and well mounted,” was delivered to him to assist in the coast defense.[276]

At Wormsloe may still be seen the remains of the Tabby Fortification constructed by Captain Noble Jones. The outline of the work and its general features are well preserved, and constitute, perhaps, the most unique and interesting historical ruin on the Georgia coast.

With all its wealth of magnificent live-oaks, palmettoes, magnolias, and cedars; with its quiet, gentle views, balmy airs, soft sunlight, inviting repose, and pleasant traditions, this beautiful residence has at all times remained in the possession and ownership of the descendants of the original proprietor. Mr. G. W. J. DeRenne now guards the spot with all the tender care and devotion of a most loyal son, and to the memories of the past has added literary and cultivated associations in the present, which impart new charms to the name of Wormsloe.

In this youthful country, so careless of and indifferent to the memories of other days,—so ignorant of the value of monuments and the impressive lessons of antiquity,—where no law of primogeniture encourages in the son the conservation of the abode and heirlooms of his fathers,—where new fields, cheap lands, and novel enterprises at remote points are luring the loves of succeeding generations from the gardens which delighted, the hoary oaks which sheltered, and the fertile fields which nourished their ancestors,—where paternal estates are constantly alienated at public and private sales,—landed acquisitions are placed at the mercy of speculative strangers, and family treasures, established inheritances, and old homesteads are seldom preserved. Thus it comes to pass that ancestral graves lie neglected, abodes once noted for refinement, intelligence, virtue, and hospitality lose their identity in the ownership of strangers, and traditions worthy of transmission, are forgotten amid the selfish engagements of an alien present.

The utilitarian may smile at this, the Republican rejoice in it as a logical sequence of his cherished theories, and the disciples of Benjamin Franklin pronounce in favor of such a condition of affairs, but there is a deal of sadness about it nevertheless; and if this order of things obtain in the coming years as it has in those which are gone, America will continue to be largely a land without permanent homes,—a country devoid of ancestral monuments.

In planting colonies where proper preliminary surveys have not been made, and where the founders are compelled in large measure to grope their way in selecting points for earliest occupancy, errors of judgement will occur, and changes will be necessitated upon a more intimate acquaintance with the territory and during the progress of development. Locations at first deemed essential become subordinate to others, and sometimes prove of no value. Mistakes are committed with regard to the importance of streams, lines of communication, and the desirability of permanent seats. Defensive positions are rendered useless as the tide of human life advances. Barren fields are exchanged for others possessing greater fertility. Diseases are developed at certain points which compel their abandonment.

Settlements increase to the annihilation or absorption of others in their vicinity. The possessions of the many become concentrated in the ownership of the few. Towns perish for lack of support. Thus nothing is more common than to observe, amid the changes consequent upon the development of new plantations, a mortality among villages and settlements for which, at the outset, growth and lasting prosperity were confidently anticipated.

“It hath been a great endangering to the health of some plantations,” says Lord Bacon, “that they have built along the sea and rivers in marish and unwholesome grounds; therefore though you begin there to avoid carriage and other like discommodities, yet build still rather upwards from the stream, than along.”

Had this precaution been observed, fewer towns would have died in Georgia.

After all, however, despite the admonitions of the wisest and the foresight of the most experienced, we cannot hope to arrest the potent influence of inherent decay, or to stay that unseen hand which remorselessly worketh change and destruction among human habitations.