GULLAH, GULLAH, GONE? 

The Rise & Fall of The Gullah Geechee Peoples of The Sea Islands

I recently repatriated to the US, after living abroad for 19 years – 18 in London and 1 in Paris. I chose Coastal Georgia, as my new home, because my family and I have owned holiday homes here for 15 years, so have an affinity, and I was seeking a ‘retired-from-corporate-life,’ more-chilled-out existence, at the beach, near my family.

I love this Island, and I really love my new house.  However, truthfully, the culture shock that I have, thus far, experienced has somewhat surprised me, since I definitely knew it would exist. I have spent 30 years, living and working in vibrant, hugely diverse, big cities of 5 million+ people, on every Continent, except Antarctica, and have now willingly chosen to move to a somewhat sleepy, and serenely beautiful, beach town, called St. Simons Island, population ~13,000 in the off-season, and that is ~95% white, according to the 2010 Census. 

I grew up in a relatively small, predominantly white, town in Connecticut, and attended predominantly white schools, all the way through college; so, I can handle it. Quite frankly, because I have friends and family from all walks of life, of every socio-economic group, of every race, and every faith (or lack thereof), I am very proud of the fact that I am pretty comfortable in any, amiable, living, working or social situation.  BUT, I do wish that St. Simons Island’s demographics were not so disparate, especially because the diminishing African-American population is a result of people dying, and either their descendants not staying, or new black people (especially) and families not moving here.  

Interestingly, on the other side of The Torras Causeway, on the Mainland, is the City of Brunswick. There is a much higher percentage of people of color, living and shopping, there, but, then, I am back in a city (although, Historic Brunswick does have a lovely beach and a marina).  And there, is the trade off…more diverse surroundings would mean moving to another big city, and I absolutely love feeling the sand between my toes, on a daily basis. Also, I can, and will, travel, further afield.

Of course, 150+ years ago, African-Americans were the dominant race on St. Simons Island – by far – due to slavery, and subsequently, families remaining, after The Emancipation Proclamation  was signed.

James Oglethorpe with Creek Nation Native Americans

St. Simons Island was originally inhabited by Native American tribes of the Creek Nation, but was contested by the Spaniards, English and French, and ultimately the English secured the colony of Georgia, and began to cultivate the land.

At the height of the Slave Trade, there were 14 Plantations on The Island:

THE PLANTATIONS AND CROPS

Map of St. Simons Island Plantations

• Black Banks Plantation – Owned by the Gould Family, and worked by up to 58 slaves, in conjunction with another, below-named Plantation. Note: James Gould was commissioned to build the first St. Simons Lighthouse, and served as the first keeper, from 1810-1837. He also taught a couple of his slaves how to maintain The Lighthouse;

Black Banks Plantation 

Original St. Simons Island Lighthouse

• Cannon’s Point – Owned by the Couper Family, and worked by up to 144 slaves;

Cannon's Point Ruins

• Hamilton Plantation – Owned by the Hamilton & Couper Families, and worked by up to 130 slaves. Note: The Cassina Garden Club has worked to preserve a few slave cabins on this land, which are adjacent to the current Epworth-by-the-Sea Methodist Church Conference Center;   

• Hampton Plantation – Owned by the Butler Family, and worked by up to 319 slaves. Note: Major Pierce Butler was the largest slaveholder in Coastal Georgia, also owning a Plantation on Butler Island;

Ruins at Hampton Plantation

• Harrington Hall – Owned by French Huguenot, Captain Raymond Demeré, and worked by 63 slaves, in conjunction with another, below-named Plantation. Note: Harrington School sits on this land, and has recently been restored and preserved. See below for an expanded narrative on its current fate;

Captain Raymond Demeré

• Kelvin Grove – Owned by the Cater Family, and worked by up to 91 slaves;

• Mulberry Grove Plantation – Owned by Captain Raymond Demeré (see above) Note: This is now the current site of the McKinnon St. Simons Island Private Airport;

McKinnon Airport

• New St. Clair Plantation (later renamed Rosemont) – Owned by the Gould Family (see above);
• Oatlands Plantation – Owned by the Grant Family, and worked by 52 slaves;
• Pike's Bluff – Owned by the Hazzard Family, and worked by 41 slaves;

• Retreat Plantation – Owned by the Page Family (and later, King Family, by marriage), and worked by up to 197 slaves. Note: The current The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club now occupies the land, and there are some stabilized ruins of slave buildings that greet you upon your arrival. Retreat Plantation also became The Union Army’s HQ, after they captured St. Simons Island from The Confederates, and the Union Army housed former slaves in a ‘refugee’ camp, which they called ‘contraband’ – marking the very first use of this word, anywhere. One resident, at the Contraband Camp, was Nora August. Her story was highlighted by a Navy seaman ;

The Lodge at Sea Island Golf Club

• Sinclair Plantation – Owned by the Sinclair Family (and later, McIntosh Family, by outright sale);

• The Village – Owned by the Wylly Family, and worked by up to 54 slaves;

• West Point Plantation – Owned by the above-mentioned Hazzard Family, and worked by 81 slaves.

The Chapel at West Point Plantation

The plantations’ crops were rice, fruit, sugar cane, other foods & plants (including ones brought over from Africa, such as: Benne Seed/Sesame, Yams, Cow Peas/Black Eyed Peas, Okra, and Calabash/African Gourd), olives for olive oil, mulberry trees for silk worms, and especially long-staple black seed cotton, a.k.a. Sea Island Cotton (not the actual, current shirt brand), which grew 6 to 8 feet tall, and was premium, fine and soft, much like Egyptian Cotton. Sea Island Cotton was first grown in 1786, 3 years, after The Revolutionary War ended. At the time, Sea Island Cotton was bagged, not baled, and often mixed with silk, and grew very well in the soil and temperatures of The Sea Islands.  Before The Civil War, the entire crop of Sea Island Cotton was shipped to textile mills in England, where it was woven into very high-end muslins and laces. Production of Sea Island Cotton halted during The Civil War.

Long-staple Cotton

Sometimes, St. Simons Island plantation owner families, inter-married, such as Caroline Wylly to James Hamilton Couper; 

Caroline Wylly Couper

Sometimes, the families fought bitterly, which even resulted in the death of John Wylly, at the hands of Thomas Hazzard, over a land boundary dispute between West Point Plantation and The Village; and sometimes, there were scandals, such as a wife falling in love with the white plantation overseer, in the case of Elizabeth Cater and the Kelvin Grove plantation overseer, who ended up killing Elizabeth’s husband, Thomas Cater, and the two lovers ran away together. Then, of course, most slave owners and overseers raped the female slaves, which resulted in ‘mulatto’ children – some of whom were kept on the plantation, as house slaves, and others, who were sold to other plantations and taken away from their mothers.

House Slave With Her Mulatto Child Whom She Was Allowed To Keep

So, when I was house-hunting on St. Simons Island, the realtors rather innocently showed me some homes in neighborhoods that are still called XX Plantation. I had to politely tell them that, “my people have already unwillingly lived on plantations, so I will decline paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to willingly be greeted by a ‘reminder’ sign every time I come home.”  They had the good grace to blush, and show me other homes.

I am not naïve. I know that my new home is on the land of one of the above plantations, but not seeing a reminder sign, means that I can move on, yet still honor my ancestors in other ways.  There are also many street names, on The Island, named after the slaveowners and their plantations. I don’t love it, but I can live with it.

Demere Road Street Sign

THE SLAVES AND SLAVE TRADE

So, how did the slaves arrive on St. Simons Island?

The British slave trade became known as the Triangular Slave Trade, due to the three-stop passage taken by many slave ships. They started in England, loaded with goods such as textiles, guns, and ammunition, and they first sailed to the slave trading ports of West Africa, where they traded those goods for African slaves. Once the captives were loaded onto the ships, the slavers sailed for the New World (The Americas and West Indies) to trade their human cargo for sugar, molasses, indigo, naval stores, and other products, for the third leg of The Triangle, which took them back to England.

That second leg  – the voyage from Africa to the New World – was called the Middle Passage. It lasted between 5 and 12 weeks, and it was beyond horrific for the human cargo, in the holds. Slave merchants shopped for slaves as though they were cattle or goods. They hired doctors to examine and inspect the captives, so that only those who would bring the best price in the Americas were selected for the voyage. The conditions were miserable, and if the captives showed any kind of resistance, they were beaten mercilessly on the ships’ decks.

Depiction Of How 292 Slaves Were Packed Into The Ship's Hold

Because the slaves were packed so tightly in chains, in the hold, and they were barely fed and watered, disease was rampant. When they got sick, they were thrown overboard, whether they had already died, or not. While there is no exact record of how many lives were lost in the Middle Passage, it is thought that approximately one-third of the slaves, who left Africa, made it to The New World, meaning that millions of bodies were thrown to the sharks, and folklore tells that if you could view the entire floor of The Atlantic Ocean, you would be able to see a trail of bones stretching the entire journey.

Underwater Sculpture in The Atlantic Ocean To Honor Slaves Who Were Thrown Overboard

Although food and water were strictly rationed during the voyage, an effort was made to 'fatten' the captives, before they were sold. Also, to make their skin appear healthy and shiny, the slaves were rubbed with a paste made from gunpowder, lemon juice and palm oil, and then polished with a brush.

When British soldier and Member of Parliament, James Oglethorpe, founded the Georgia Colony in 1732, slavery was not permitted, and for the first few years, the Colony failed to thrive, economically. In 1750, Georgia became the last of the Colonies to legalize slavery, paving the way to develop plantations and improve the economy – which it did, dramatically, and on the backs of slave labor.

Their lives were beyond brutal. British Actress, and abolitionist, Anne Fanny Kemble, was, ironically, married to Pierce Butler, owner of the Hampton Plantation. She documented their plight during a 15-week visit, in 1838-39, to Butler Island and Hampton Plantation, in a book entitled: Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation.

In it, she recounts that:

The slaves' dwellings were filthy and wretched in the extreme. The slaves lacked tables and chairs and knives and forks, and ate their meals with crude wooden spoons. She discovered that slaves were sold out to work on distant plantations. The slaves were not exempt from harsh punishment, either. One slave, asked by Kemble why the children were not kept clean, replied that “there wasn't enough time.” The slave was later whipped by the overseer for her "impudence." Other slaves, as well, felt the sting of the lash after complaining to Kemble. Even pregnant women were whipped. 

News of Kemble's sympathetic nature spread among the slaves, and soon she was listening to more of their stories. Kemble passed on complaints to her husband and otherwise spoke on behalf of the slaves. He claimed they were liars. Kemble continued to speak out for the slaves. In her journal she tells of a heated argument over a lashing, in which she lectured her husband of "the manifest injustice of unpaid and enforced labor," and of "the brutal inhumanity of allowing a man to strip and lash a woman, the mother of ten children." Pierce Butler eventually had enough. He forbade his wife to speak on behalf of any slaves.

 

Working The Cotton Fields

The Indelible Scars And Keloids Of A Whipped Slave

THE GULLAH GEECHEE PEOPLES

Gullah Geechees With A Confederate Soldier

There is evidence that some planters made a concerted effort to purchase slaves who came from different areas of Africa so they would not be able to communicate with one another, and would be less threatening to the vastly outnumbered white people on The Sea Islands (a.k.a. Low Country).

Once in the Low Country, the slaves, from various African countries, with their different cultures, languages and faiths, mixed in ways that did not occur in their home Continent, because they were thrown together, to work the fields and the homesteads. As they mixed, they created a new culture. This new culture, African in origin, but unlike any particular African culture, developed and flourished, and became known as Gullah Geechee (or sometimes, one or the other, depending on geographic location).

Scholars are not in complete agreement on the origins of the terms “Gullah” and “Geechee,” BUT, it is thought that the word ‘Gullah’ was derived from a mispronunciation of the African word, ‘Gora’ or ‘Gola,’ which were names of tribes living in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Gullah Geechees created their own, distinct Creole language, that has its own grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and expressions, and it was (and still is) spoken by African-Americans, who live on The Sea Islands and adjacent mainland areas of North & South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. They also developed their own songs, which helped them endure the long, back-breaking days in very harsh elements, working the land.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THIS ~4-MINUTE VIDEO OF A GULLAH GEECHEE STORYTELLER 

UPDATE ON FEBRUARY 4, 2018: The Gullah Geechee People have just finally been credited with the famous song, Kumbayah.

Geechee people in Georgia refer to themselves as Freshwater Geechee, if they live on the Mainland, and Saltwater Geechee, if they live on The Sea Islands.

Because The Sea Islands communities were so isolated (they were only accessible by boat until bridges were built circa 1950), the Gullah Geechees clung to each other, culturally, which actually enabled their survival. Eventually, after The Civil War, they chose to remain isolated because they loved their way of life, which was slow-paced, rural, rather antiquated, and connected to their West African roots.

Gullah Geechee Boat

A church, for the slaves, was also established on St. Simons Island.  The first one was The First African Baptist Church, which was organized at Pike's Bluff Plantation, in the year 1859. Members of this African-American congregation traveled from all around The Island to attend worship services, every Sunday. The early congregation worshiped in a little tabby church located near their slave quarters at West Point Plantation before moving to the current location on the Northern end of The Island, near Fort Frederica. 

FREEDOM AND A DIMINISHMENT

The Emancipation Proclamation was signed 153 years ago, on January 31, 1865. Slavery, in the US, was finally outlawed.

“I felt like a bird out of a cage. Amen. Amen. Amen. I could hardly ask to feel any better than I did on that day.” – Houston Holloway, former slave from Georgia, recalling the day he was freed.

Once slavery ended, the plantations began to decline, although some freed slaves continued to work on the plantations, as paid workers or sharecroppers.

Also, during that time, St. Simons Island was split into 3 sections:

•      Harrington is where freed slaves from the Northern end of St. Simons Island lived.  Harrington Graded School was a one-room schoolhouse, which was built in 1920, and where those former slaves attended, for Grades 1-7. It has recently been preserved and restored, thanks to Friends of Harrington School and the St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition    

Harrington Graded School - Pre-Preservation

•     The very un-politically correct, ‘Jewtown,’ which was founded by Jewish brothers, Sig and Robert Levison, of Brunswick, Georgia. They operated a store on The Island, and many of the former slaves from Black Banks and Retreat Plantations, lived in this neighborhood.

•     The South End community was settled by former slaves from plantations in that area, including Retreat Plantation. UPDATED JUNE 2018 (see link in the ( ) ): A very famous former slave, Neptune Small, also purchased land  (although, most people incorrectly say that he was given the land, for his faithfulness) in South End. As a slave, Neptune accompanied his master, Captain Henry Lord Page King, of Retreat Plantation, to The Civil War. King was killed during the war, and Neptune brought his body back to St. Simons Island, to be buried.  Note: this area is closest to the beach on St. Simons Island, making real estate quite coveted for redevelopment. Some slaves' descendants are selling these homes, but others are staunchly remaining, with front lawn signs that say: “Don’t Ask. Won’t Sell.”

The first half of the 20th century reflects the most dramatic change in racial composition in the Low Country. The ratio of black to white people, which had been 3 to 1 in 1850, declined to 2 to 1 in 1900 and to ½ to 1 in 1950. The white population of Georgia began to exceed the black population during the 1930s. On St. Simons Island, the current white population comprises ~95%, and the black population is ~3%, and it is seemingly further declining. This change is due to: white migration into the area, black emigration to the North or to Low Country cities, agricultural trends, and educational and career opportunities, elsewhere.  Between 1900 and 1930, tens of thousands of Gullah Geechee people left the South and headed North, in order to escape the poor southern economy and the segregationist Jim Crow laws.

One of those people was Robert Abbott, who was born on St. Simons Island, in 1868, to former slaves. After graduating from Hampton Institute, in 1905, with 25 cents in his pocket, Robert traveled to Chicago, and founded The Chicago Defender, which was the nation’s first black,  newspaper.

Robert and his newspaper are credited with increasing the labor force in the North, as African-Americans looked for job opportunities away from the South. Delivered to Southern communities by African-American Pullman Porters on the trains, the newspaper served to unite the entire African-American population, although it faced opposition by threatened, white farmers. Later, Robert placed an obelisk on property adjoining the Fort Frederica National Monument to mark the origins of his family. Some of Robert’s family members still live on St. Simons Island.

Post-Civil War, other churches, such as St. Ignatius Episcopal Church were created for the former slaves.

St. Ignatius Episcopal Church

Currently, Coastal development, changing economy from fishing and farming, to tourism and real estate development, plus population shifts, have forced most of the waning, but remaining, Gullah Geechees to leave The Low Country – thus causing their culture to become further diminished, and almost lost.

Sapelo Island is a strong example of this.  The former Reynolds Plantation is now a Georgia State Park , but the Hog Hammock Community of Gullah has practically died off, and no one is preserving their heritage – especially now that their matriarch of the Island, Cornelia Bailey, passed away in October 2017 .  My mother had the honor of meeting her a couple of years, ago, when Cornelia welcomed Mum to Sapelo Island, and gave her the VIP tour - sharing her Gullah Geechee culture.

Cornelia Bailey -  RIP

HERITAGE PRESERVATION & TOURISM

However, there are a few Gullah Geechee Storytellers, as well as singing groups, who are working hard to preserve their heritage, and share it with others.

WATCH THIS 1:30 VIDEO OF THE GULLAH GEECHEE COMMUNITY OF SEA ISLAND, GEORGIA VISITING UNIVERSITY OF WEST GEORGIA  

Additionally, in 2006, Congress designated The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which celebrates and preserves the Gullah Geechee culture and runs along the Southeastern Coast, from Pender County, North Carolina to St. John’s County, Florida, and 30 miles inland.

Specifically, in Glynn County, where St. Simons Island is situated, The Glynn County Tourism Resource Team — which includes the Georgia Departments of Economic Development and Natural Resources, as well an African-American heritage consultant, have been working on preservation projects for the coming years.

However, this group, and the aforementioned St. Simons Heritage Coalition, co-exist, but do not necessarily collaborate as well as they should. In my humble opinion, they would accomplish much more, if they would get together, and develop a robust plan that includes what local African-American heritage and preservation look like, as well as an actionable way forward. I remain hopeful, because there is a wonderful opportunity for Heritage Tourism, which would not only further boost the economy, but also perhaps draw African-Americans back to residency, and increase the population…

Ossabaw Island, just below Savannah, Georgia, is doing a great job of Heritage Tourism.  It is run by The Ossabaw Island Foundation that successfully works to preserve the Gullah Geechee heritage through Creative Retreats, Photo Safaris and Archaeology Trips.

STANDING ON THEIR SHOULDERS

I recently took an Ancestry.com DNA test, and found out that my ancestral countries are: 75% Nigeria/Cameroon/Senegal/Ghana; and 25% England/Ireland/Western Europe/Scandinavia/Melanesia. Absolutely fascinating, and given that some of my ancestors, who were taken from West Africa, apparently lived in the State of Georgia, it is just possible, that they hailed from The Low Country. Who knows? Maybe that is another reason why I was drawn back to this beautiful island.  I plan to conduct further DNA research, and continue to connect with the ~400 4^th cousins and closer, of different races, around the world, who have been identified on the Ancestry.com database.

Regardless, it is not lost on me that I am allowed to freely live on The Island, and love doing so. As I walk on East Beach or wander amongst the giant oak trees, that are draped in Spanish Moss, I will hear the whispers, laughter, cries and songs of The Gullah Geechee, and will honor them in every way I can.

WATCH THIS 30-MINUTE CBS DOCUMENTARY, PRODUCED IN 1962, ON THE GULLAH GEECHEES OF ST. SIMONS ISLAND (note: fast forward to 1:14, and fast forward through the advertisements)

  ###

Acknowledgement:

With very special thanks to Sandy Jensen, Education Director at the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, who gave me a fantastic and comprehensive private tour and research session, which helped me form this narrative, which I hope, in some way, honors the African-Americans, who lived, and live, on St. Simons Island, and nearby.

Sources: Coastal Georgia Historical Society, National Park Service: Low Country Gullah Culture Special Resources Study, St. Simons African American Heritage Coalition, Google Images, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GoldenIsles.com, PBS, National Geographic, CBS, Anne C. Bailey