Tag Archives: Slave Construction in Georgia

Hayes House, Circa 1851, Thomasville

2 Replies

This home was built by Thomas Jones of Greenwood Plantation as a wedding gift for his daughter Harriet and her husband, Dr. David S. Brandon, a prominent surgeon. [It’s referred to as the Dr. David Brandon House in the National Register of Historic Places]. Dr. Brandon sold the house to Mrs. John R. Hayes in 1862. In the last days of the Civil War, Professor Joseph LeConte of Liberty County was granted refuge here by the Hayes family. LeConte was an important physician, geologist, and early conservationist, but unfortunately, was a racist and supporter of white supremacy. [See link]

Originally a one-story brick house, the second floor and mansard roof were added in the 1870s. The brick was stuccoed at that time. The roof is covered with octagonal slate tiles, featuring a decorative flower design.

National Register of Historic Places

Hardy Bryan House, 1833, Thomasville

4 Replies

Built for one of Thomasville’s early settlers, the Hardy Bryan House is among the most important surviving antebellum structures in the region. When it was built, Thomasville was still quite rural and the house served as the center of a working plantation. Bryan died in 1859 and the house had several subsequent owners, including the Cater family. Today, it serves as the headquarters of Thomasville Landmarks, an organization at the forefront of local preservation since the early 1960s.

The cross pattée on the pediment has become an iconic architectural symbol of Thomasville.

National Register of Historic Places

Independence United Methodist Church, 1871, Tignall

Leave a reply

From the historical marker placed in 1978: Old Independence Church, built for all denominations, was situated near the campground across the road from its present site. The Methodists organized a membership and claimed the church. The matter was carried to the courts. A young lawyer, Robert Toombs, defended the Methodists and won the case. The beginning of the Old Independence was around 1783, and it became a Methodist Church in the 1830s. In 1840, Thomas L. Wooten deeded the lot on which the Old Church building stood to the trustees. In 1870, this church building was sold to the black people who moved it to land given them to them in Tignall. A new church building was erected, and in 1871 Bishop George F. Pierce preached the dedication sermon. A Sunday school celebration was held in 1879 with almost 1,000 attending. Dr. A. G. Haygood, President of Emory College delivered the address. The church has been remodeled many times. In 1930 the Church School Annex was added and a Fellowship Hall was built in 1974. Many prominent families in the county have been identified as members of this church. Several have been licensed to preach at her altars, the more prominent being, Reverend J.W. Hinton, D.D., a preacher and writer of national fame.

It is known that enslaved persons attended services here, as well.

Wellborn Plantation, Circa 1795, Warrenton

6 Replies

This is one of Warrenton’s oldest and most historic homes. It was once the center of a large working plantation. In 1858, the owner,  George Washington Hardaway (15 August 1781-3 September 1858), willed the plantation to his daughter, Frances Markham Hardaway Wellborn (Mrs. Marshall Wellborn).

Ways Baptist Church, 1851, Jefferson County

6 Replies

Ways Baptist Church was organized in 1817 by Revolutionary War veterans near the present-day community of Stellaville, about three miles east of Wrens. It was named for John Way, who donated the land on which it was sited and was known originally as Darcy’s Meeting House. The members were originally part of Brushy Creek Baptist Church but were dismissed for some reason, perhaps because they had slaves or had disagreements over other controversial issues. Enslaved persons were among the first members of the new congregation. A log cabin was built first, then a more formal structure. William Donovan oversaw construction of the present structure in 1851. It features what appears to be a slave gallery (common in churches with slave members) and the labor was likely accomplished by the slaves themselves. After emancipation, they founded their own congregation nearby, known as Ways Grove Baptist Church.

It is a beautiful church and churchyard, and there is an historic cemetery across the highway.

DeLauney House, Circa 1825, Milledgeville

Leave a reply

Thanks to the good folks at the Milledgville-Baldwin County Convention & Visitors Bureau for finally filling in some of the blanks on this house. They note that it originally faced Jefferson Street. Though it isn’t quite as “refined” as other examples of the Milledgeville-Federal Style houses for which the city is known, likely due to alterations after it was moved, it definitely falls into that category. Hollye Hodges McDonel notes that her grandparents, the Robersons, lived here for many years. Other earlier owners were the Scott, Joseph, Malpass, Simmerson, and Hobbs families.

Milledgeville Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Jesse Bibb Key House, Circa 1842, Cuthbert

12 Replies
Gazebo/Greenhouse

Originally known as Bedford Hall, for the Virginia home county of Jesse Bibb Key (1814-1869), this well-maintained Greek Revival is also known for its gazebo-greenhouse, both built by Key’s slaves. Key came to Cuthbert between 1835-1838 and was a successful merchant for over three decades.

Cuthbert Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Hamilton Plantation Slave Dwelling, Circa 1806, St. Simons Island

2 Replies

Built for enslaved people working in the main house of James Hamilton’s Gascoigne Bluff plantation, this slave house is one of four surviving on St. Simons. Two more survive on the lands of the former Hamilton Plantation. As evidenced by this authentic restoration, house slaves were generally kept in nicer dwellings than field hands and other laborers. Popularly known as The Tabby House, it was restored by Eugene Lewis in 1931 and again in 1995 by master tabby craftsmen J. Felton Tate, Sr., Renaldo Tate, Sr., and Renaldo Tate, Jr.. After the plantation house burned in the 1890s, a lumber mill was located on the property for many years. The cabin served as a doctor’s office during that era. Today, it is part of the Epworth By The Sea campus of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church and is used as an event space.

National Register of Historic Places

Colonel T. L. Huston House (1927) & Butler Island Dairy, McIntosh County

9 Replies

In 1926, the languishing lands of the Butler Plantation were purchased by Colonel Tillinghast L’Hommedieu (T. L.) Huston.

Colonel Huston, a veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I, had previously been a part owner of the New York Yankees baseball team.

He built this house in 1927 and numerous baseball players were among his many guests here, including Babe Ruth.

The Huston dairy barn can be seen on the east side of US 17. The dairy, anchored by a herd of Friesians, proved a difficult enterprise and Huston transformed the property into one of the largest iceberg lettuce farms on the east coast within a decade. The remaining structures on the property, however, date to the dairy era. After Col. Huston’s death in the 1938, the property was purchased by tobacco heir R. J. Reynolds, Jr.

This structure has been identified as the farm office for the Butler Island farming operations of Col. Huston.

In front of the house is one of the landmarks of US 17 in McIntosh County, the old chimney from the steam-powered rice mill  from the 1850s. An additional ruin also remains.

Rockwell, Circa 1838, Milledgeville

5 Replies

This house is perhaps the most enigmatic in Milledgeville, due largely to its present derelict appearance. [It’s apparently more stable than the grounds would suggest]. Built by Joseph Lane for Samuel Rockwell (1788-1842), the house has also been known over time as Beauvoir and the Governor Johnson House. Rockwell, a native of Albany, New York, first practiced law in Savannah before establishing a practice in Milledgeville around 1828. He served as Inspector of the 3rd Division during the Creek Indian War of 1836.

Closely related, stylistically, to the Milledgeville Federal houses, Rockwell is more highly realized in form.

Among numerous owners throughout the history of the property, Governor Herschel Vespasian Johnson was perhaps its best known resident. As the commemorative slab of Georgia granite placed by the WPA and the UDC in 1936 notes, it was his summer home. Governor Johnson was notably the state’s most vocal opponent to secession but eventually came around, as borne out by the acquiescent quote, no doubt chosen by the UDC: “To Georgia, in my judgement, I owe primary allegiance.”

The house was documented by photographer L. D. Andrew for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 1936, owned by the Ennis family at the time. Photo courtesy Library of Congress.

The house has been restored and painted in its original yellow.

Thanks to Michael Massey for bringing Rockwell to my attention.

National Register of Historic Places