Wright Square

Wright Square. . , Wright Square, one of the two largest of the original 14 squares of Brunswick, was named after Georgia’s last Colonial Governor, Sir James Wright (1716-1785). Well-respected and fair, Wright held his office from October 13, 1760 until the end of the Revolution. Under his leadership, the colony made important gains in prosperity. Wright was also a planter and one of the colony’s largest property owners until the Revolutionary War., Georgia’s Wild Frontier , Brunswick, established in 1771 near the southernmost boundary of the colony, offered an important strategic location and excellent natural harbor. The Provincial Council purchased a plantation owned by Captain Mark Carr, an officer in Oglethorpe’s Marine Boat Company, to locate the port city. Unlike earlier colonial towns, Brunswick had very little in the way of support and assistance from the Crown. Life was isolated and difficult, and the raw new city had virtually no amenities to offer immigrants from Europe. , The Aftermath of War , When settlers arrived in Brunswick, the colony was already in a state of unrest and on the brink of revolt. Brunswick’s Loyalist citizens abandoned the city during the Revolutionary War. When the war ended in 1781, the departing British left their Creek Indian allies with unpaid debts. The white tail deer had been over-hunted, flooding the European market with popular buckskins that had been the lucrative mainstay for Indian traitors. As the new nation demanded more and more of their land, the displaced, angered Creeks repeatedly declared war on Georgia. Terrifying raids became an ever-present threat. Only a handful of families came back to the deserted town and started over again. , The Value and Valor of Colonial Women , Settlers wanted wives and children, and the Trustees agreed that families were beneficial to the Colony. The hardships of frontier life and initial restrictions against females inheriting land discouraged women from coming to Georgia. Those who did emigrate were highly sought after, but had practically no legal rights when they married. , The services of a midwife were provided free of charge by the Trustees during the colonial period. After the Revolutionary War, however, the new government did not offer that benefit. Mothers faced the perils of childbirth unassisted unless a local midwife could be summoned in time. The few women who prevailed and made Brunswick their home were courageous, yet unsung, pioneers. , A Historic Discovery , Early citizens of Brunswick buried their dead in Wright Square, the city’s first burial ground, from 1771 until the mid-1800s. At that time, the area was beyond the bounds of the few streets that had been opened for use. As the city grew and other cemeteries were established, the town lost track of its exact location. In 1953, Glynn County Middle School was built on half of Wright Square. Since Brunswick’s early records were destroyed in a fire, no documentation was available to indicate the existence of a burial ground. Work continued directly over the undiscovered graves as gas lines and other intrusions unintentionally crossed the burial shafts of Colonial settlers. , When the school was demolished, a painstaking excavation of the site was undertaken in 2012. Thin layers of soil were carefully moved aside to reveal the outlines of 37 burial sites, believed to the over two centuries old. Varying levels of skill for the difficult task of digging graves were evident. Some outlines displayed very irregular shapes while others had straight sides and square corners. The graves appear to be arranged in family groups, with ample space between clusters of burial plots. , The ages at the time of death, based on the size of the burial shaft, are approximate for those buried here. The relatively small number of graves for children under 6 years old suggests that there were probably few families in the rough frontier town. The angle of the coffin placements indicates the season of death, considering the Christian tradition of burial to face the rising sun, and the seasonal change of daily sunrise. The majority of deaths apparently occurred in summer months. , No coffins were excavated, and no remains were disturbed. After the investigation was completed, the coffin shafts were respectfully covered again by the native soil. The identity of persons at repose in Wright Square remains a mystery. We may not know their names, but we honor them as the first citizens of our beautiful city. , Signature Squares of Brunswick, a non-profit organization founded to restore and preserve the parks and squares within the historic district of Brunswick, gratefully acknowledges the research contributions of Bill Weeks; Mark Hanly, MD; Fred Cook and Amy Hedrick; and the support of the Downtown Development Authority; Historic Preservation Board; the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Historic Preservation Division; National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Georgia, Brunswick Town Committee; , National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.. , To learn more about Brunswick’s historic squares, please visit www.signaturesquares.org