The Illges House, now an event venue known as the Illges-Woodruff House, is one of the most imposing works of residential architecture in Columbus. It was built by James A. Chapman (c. 1809-1869) circa 1850. Chapman, a native of Warren County, came to Columbus about 1840 and was one of the largest planters in the area, dependent on the labor of over 140 slaves. The Civil War ended his prosperity and with it went the ownership of this house. When Abraham Illges (1830-1915) purchased the home from interim owner William H. Woods in 1877, he added the elaborate doorway, pedimented windows, iron roof trim, paired eave brackets, and an iron fence. The house remained in the family until being sold in 1946. It returned to the family in 1956 when purchased by James Waldo Woodruff for his wife, Ethel, a daughter of Abraham Illges.
Illges, a native of Pennsylvania, worked for the Confederacy as an intelligence agent behind enemy lines, as he did not want to fight against his brothers who remained in Pennsylvania. His Columbus businesses included groceries, mills, manufacturing companies, and banks.
High Uptown Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Though it has been extensively modified, the William Scarbrough House is nonetheless a significant example of Greek Revival domestic architecture in Savannah. Built in 1819, it was designed by English architect William Jay, the most accomplished architect of his time in Savannah. Not long after its completion, the Scarbroughs hosted President James Monroe when he visited Savannah.
William Scarbrough (1776-1838) was a wealthy shipping merchant and the first president of the Savannah Steamship Company. He was an investor in the SS Savannah, which, as the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean, in 1819, was internationally famous and a source of great pride to its namesake city. Unfortunately, the Savannah‘s glory was short-lived and an initial lack of interest in this new mode of travel led to financial ruin for its investors, including Scarbrough. After being converted to a sailing vessel, the Savannah sunk off Long Island in 1821. William Scarbrough went into a deep depression around this time and was essentially bankrupt, though a wealthy relative who purchased his home allowed him to remain there. He worked with Upper Darien Steam Rice and Saw Mill in McIntosh County in the late 1820s and early 1830s, returning to Savannah in 1835. He died in New York City while visiting his son-in-law, Godfrey Barnsley, in 1838.
From 1873-1962, the Scarbrough House was owned by the City of Savannah. During this time, the West Broad Street Colored School was housed here.
This Greek-Revival Georgian home was the center of large plantation owned by Josephus Hillman (c.1827-1880), who was one of the wealthiest men in what would eventually become McDuffie County. Though 1860 is generally accepted as the date of construction, there is no official documentation of this date. Typical of his time, Hillman was an enslaver, and the success of his agricultural operations was dependent on this fact. He became a Baptist minister during the Civil War and served as pastor of Thomson First Baptist Church in 1870-1871. Though his fortunes were greatly reduced by the end of the Civil War, he was able to continue his operation with tenant farmers and sharecroppers, including 11 of his former slaves. Failing health led Hillman to sell his plantation to Methodist minister Felix P. Brown in 1879.
Brown sold the farm to the Pylant brothers in 1897 and the property again changed hands in 1905, when it was purchased by William K. Miller as an investment. Paul Akers Bowden (1876-1968) ) bought the farm in 1916. Bowden, nor its next owner, Lucille Bowden Johnson (1903-1994), never lived full-time in the house, but Lucille undertook major renovations in the 1950s. After Lucille’s death, it was owned for a time by the Wrightsboro Quaker Community Foundation, but I believe it is once again a private residence.
Ramah Primitive Baptist Church is the most historic congregation in Wilkinson County ad remains one of its most active. According to local history, Union soldiers encamped in the churchyard in November 1864, during Sherman’s March to the Sea.
A Georgia Historical Commission marker places in 1955 reads: “Ramah Primitive Baptist Church on South Fork of Commissioner’s Creek was constituted June 10, 1809 by the Brethren Gaylord and McGinty with ten members. Educational, social, and cultural affairs of the community centered around the church for years before the town of Gordon was established. The Ramah Guards, Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A. left for Virginia from the church after impressive ceremonies and a flag presentation. Many descendants of people prominent in Ramah District still reside nearby. The Sanders Association sponsored this marker as a memorial to the Christian spirit of Ramah’s founders.”
One notable modern burial is that of Jim Williams, of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame, who is buried beside his mother.
This exceptional home was built for Mrs. Beersheba Jones (1790-1850) circa 1826. It is one of the finest of the many architectural gems in Old Clinton. It has long been attributed to Daniel Pratt, though this attribution is now in question. Nonetheless, it is an important landmark of the transition between Federal and Greek Revival architecture.
In her History of Jones County, Georgia, For One Hundred Years, Specifically 1807-1907 (J. W. Burke, Macon, 1957), Caroline White Williams dates the house to 1820, but most modern sources date it to 1826. I’m unsure as to the reason for the discrepancy. Mrs. Jones only lived here a few years before selling the property to John and Mary Pitts. The James Ross family have had the longest association with the house and his descendants have taken excellent care of this important resource.
Old Clinton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
White Chapel AME is an historic congregation near Round Oak. The present building dates to 1957. Though I haven’t been able to locate much history, the church was likely organized by freedmen of the White Plantation in the years following the Civil War. The plantation was established between 1800-1810 by Virginia-born Thomas White, Jr. (1781-1830), and the area, near the Jasper County line, was historically known as White’s District. White’s son, Joseph Clark White (1810-1887) inherited the estate and owned over 3000 acres and 120 enslaved people.
One of those slaves was Caroline “Aunt Ca’line” White (c.1848-1948). My purpose of visiting White Chapel was to document her burial place, but I was unable to locate it. She was well-known by all the people of the Round Oak community and a local newspaper reported at her death: “She was a slave girl on the plantation of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Clark White at the “old White place,” north of Round Oak before the War Between the States. Her husband, Tillman White, died several years ago. She leaves children, Jackson, 83; Mary, 81; Tom, 80; John, 78; Henry, 72; and also seventy grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her oldest grandchild is 68.
The day before her death Aunt Ca’line threaded her needle, without the aid of glasses, and quilted; she also helped whitewash the fireplace. She always claimed to be part Indian and certainly had many of the characteristics of the Indian, and so do her children. Henry is known as “Red Man,” and although he is 72, is as agile as most men of 58. Aunt Ca’line was thrifty, and always had a garden, chickens and many quilts pieced up.
She became rather deaf in the last few years and her grandchildren persuaded her to stay off the highway, but before that she came to town every day and was as chipper as could be, liked by all, white and colored.“
Her obituary also noted that “…she was as much a “rebel” as any southerner could ever be. She always spoke of the “good old days” and says that they were well treated, had everything they needed, and they were all happy, before the Yankees came…” Such statements must be viewed with suspicion today, considering their sources in white-owned newspapers which worked overtime to promote the “happy slaves” narrative, to which few Blacks in the Jim Crow era would have ever disputed to any White person at the time.
Vernacular Headstones of White Chapel AME
Though I couldn’t locate Mrs. White’s gravestone, I did document a few vernacular memorials, all of relatively recent vintage.
Annie Hutchings (1908-1986)
A family member or someone in the community made this headstone, with a deeply incised cross.
This is one of several headstones with decorative motifs incised on the back side.
These designs may have been made with metal or plastic strips or even fencing. If I recall correctly they date mostly to the 1980s.
Most of the slabs and headstones feature stenciled names, as seen below.
Lue Ella Odom – Better known as Mrs. Doll
No birth or death dates were given on Mrs. Doll’s memorial.
The Cabaniss-Hanberry House, located in the vicinity of Bradley, is one of the most iconic works of domestic architecture in Georgia. The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, who stabilized and restored the exterior in 1999, describes it as “…a vernacular example of Jeffersonian Classicism…and possibly the only remaining house of its form in Georgia...”
The builder of the house, George Cabaniss, Sr., (1744-1815), was the Virginia-born son of Mathieu Etienne Cabanis (1710-1789). His grandfather, Henri Hubert Cabanis (1655-1720), was a French Huguenot who fled to Virginia in the late 1600s.
After service in the Revolutionary War, George married Palatea Harrison (1758-1822), in 1781. In the 1790s, he was one of several Cabaniss siblings who “…began a succession of migrations with parts of their families, first to North Carolina and then to Georgia. Some of the family eventually moved on to Alabama.” He first came to Greene County before eventually settling in Jones County.
He built this house circa 1805, undoubtedly with the labor of enslaved men, and sold it to his son Harrison Cabaniss (1782-1819) in 1811, after building another home near present-day Round Oak. After Harrison’s death, his widow, Sarah “Sally” Kirk Cabaniss (1798-1848) remained on the property until her death. She left 1215 acres and 29 slaves to her grandchildren. The house was occupied by descendants of its builder until the late 1950s or early 1960s.
Some notable descendants of George Cabaniss, Sr., include Dr. Palacia “Pallie” Wilson Stewart (1805-1866), one of the first licensed women physicians in Georgia, and Henry Harrison Cabaniss (1848-1934), an early owner of the Atlanta Journal and vice-president of the Cotton States and International Exposition.
In 1855, Sheldon Madison Chapman, Sr. (1829-1911), gave four acres of land for a burying ground for the enslaved members of Jones Creek Baptist Church, and a section along the creek for use as a baptistry for all members. Chapman was one of the most prominent citizens of Jones Creek, having served, like his father, as postmaster of the community. Though originally located in Liberty County, Jones Creek was the earliest and largest settlement in present-day Long County.
There are many unmarked burials in the Jones Creek Black Cemetery, most of them likely dating to the days of slavery, but in contrast, the existing monuments and memorials are of commercial manufacture, indicating a prosperous congregation at a time when that would have been unusual.
One can deduce that the site it is known as Jones Creek Black Cemetery because its earliest burials were the enslaved people who attended Jones Creek Baptist Church with their White enslavers. Since circa 1878, however, it has been the de facto burying ground for St. Thomas Missionary Baptist Church.
Rev. March Hughes (Circa 1829-1903) + Peggy Hughes (Circa 1820-death date unknown)
March Hughes was granted a letter that he may minister to a flock of his choice in the 1870s, when many Black congregations were forming their own churches. He preached his own ordination service on 24 August 1878 and established St. Thomas Baptist Church (now known as St. Thomas Missionary Baptist Church) for the freedmen of Jones Creek Baptist Church. He was licensed as a preacher on 26 January 1884. When he died in 1903, Rev. Hughes was the most influential Black man in the Jones Creek community. Those who maintain this cemetery have proposed renaming it the March Hughes Cemetery in his honor. [This history comes from plaques at the site and from Mike McCall via the late Christine Welcome, a longtime member of St. Thomas.]
F. Baker, Jr. (3 January 1897-6 September 1929)
Mr. Baker was a member of the the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. The W. W. V. initials at the bottom of the headstone stand for “World War Veteran”, World War I in this case.
Martha Snider (Birth and death dates unknown)
Little is known of Martha Snider, but she was 96 years old when she died.
A. L. Baker (9 June 1895-5 June 1929)
Mr. Baker was a World War I Veteran and Mason.
Alford Watkins (1861-5 February 1911)
Watkins was a Mason.
Daughter of Mr. & Mrs. G. H. Stokes (9 March-1920-26 October 1926)
The memorials for the two young children of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Stokes are vernacular in design, unlike most of the other memorials in the Jones Creek Black Cemetery.
Son of Mr. & Mrs. G. H. Stokes (11 October 1925-27 July 1933)
It’s unusual that the Stokes children are not named, but simply listed as “daughter” and “son”.
Jasper Baggs (August 1873-15 February 1925)
Jasper Baggs was a laborer, according to his death certificate.
Patsy Baggs (15 October 1947-31 May 1931)
Patsy Baggs’s death certificate listed her occupation as “house work” and “keeping house”. This was a common form of employment for Black women in the Jim Crow era.
The Baggs family was quite prolific and many members are buried in this enclosure near the back of the cemetery.
Roy E. Baggs (4 April 1888-28 April 1911)
The initials F.L.T. (Friendship, Truth, and Love) at the top of the marker indicate that Mr. Baggs was a member of the Odd Fellows.
James E. Baggs, Sr. (22 October 1892-17 November 1963)
Mr. Baggs was one of several members of St. Thomas who served in World War I. He was a corporal in the Army. I hope to learn more about his service.
Coda L. Baggs (1852-1935)
I presume the name to be Coda.
Fraulein Baggs Smith (1905-1923)
Fraulein is an unusual name. It’s my favorite in this cemetery.
This open lane follows the bank of Jones Creek and is adjacent to the traditional site of baptisms for Black congregants. A reconstruction of the old dressing room for baptisms is visible at right. In the distance is the White cemetery and the historic Jones Creek Baptist Church.
Immersion baptism was common among churches of both races in the rural South well into the 20th century, and is still practiced by some.
According to church records, “the last time we used the water of Jones Creek was April 23, 1995…”
The Martin and Lucretia Stamper House, also known as Merrywood, is one of the finest surviving houses in Talbot County and a representative example of the Early Classical Revival in Georgia. It is an I-House at its core. The Classical look is evident in the full height portico, Ionic pilasters, and most notably, the elliptical fanlights over the four front doors. According to the National Register of Historic Places, “Before moving to Talbot County in 1833, Martin Woodson Stamper (1796-1874) was a prominent citizen of Upson County. Martin Stamper was born in 1796 in Virginia and reportedly served in the War of 1812. In the 1820s, he was living in Upson County, was married to Lucretia Jane Walker (1789-1856) from a prominent Upson County family, and was politically active. In 1825, he was the first sheriff of Upson County and served as a representative in the state legislature in 1832. In 1833, the Stampers moved to Talbot County and were [among] the early settlers of the county. In the 1840 U.S. Census, Martin Stamper owned 40 slaves and over 708 acres of land where this house was built. In July 1850, Martin Stamper sold the house and 690 acres of land to John Harris, a Baptist preacher, and the family moved to Early County.” It is a near certainty that the house was constructed by men enslaved by Stamper, and as with so many of these early Georgia houses, that is usually left out of the narrative.
The house is largely obscured today, but was restored in the early 2000s. According to the National Register, the interior retains its historic integrity and most of its original finishes. It’s a magnificent house, even with such a limited view.
New Hope A. M. E. Church is located just down the street from New Hope Methodist Church. The two were built around the same time and have strikingly similar architecture.
The following abridged history is from an entry entitled “New Hope Methodist Church: County’s Oldest Church” in Smithville Georgia: A Glimpse of the Past (1976): “One of the first Methodist Churches in Lee County was organized in 1853, for the slaves. It was some two miles west of the later site of Smithville. First a brush arbor was erected to hold their services in, then they built a small log cabin church and in 1868, this building was destroyed by fire. Leaders of that project were H. M. Mitchell, Sr. and P. J. Griffin. It was…used for school purposes, being the first school for Negroes in this area.
The old building became dilapidated and the membership increased until it was necessary to start the third one in 1923. It was started by Rev. E. A. Clark and was finished by Rev. S. Fields. In September, 1949, that building was also destroyed by fire. The present building was started in 1950.
