The village of Dorchester was settled in 1843, by families from Midway and Sunbury. It was named for the Dorchesters in England, Massachusetts and South Carolina, ancestral homes of the Midway people. Among the early settlers of the village were: . . . — — Map (db m8940) HM
Organized in 1815 as the Church and Society of Gravel Hill, this was a branch of Midway Church. the Rev. Robert Quarterman was the first pastor. The first edifice was built in 1836 on land donated by Simon Fraser. This one was completed in 1850 . . . — — Map (db m121851) HM
The town of Hinesville was established in 1837 and shortly thereafter, in 1841, the Hinesville Institute (or Academy) was established with Colonel James Sharpe Bradwell as its first headmaster. The first building was erected at a cost of $349.12 1/2 . . . — — Map (db m58218) HM
In Memory of Samuel Dowse Bradwell
Founder of Bradwell Institute
on this site in 1871
Built by City of Hinesville
with assistance from HUD and
Liberty County Garden Garden Clubs
( Mayor and List of Councilmen ) — — Map (db m9492) HM
One of the first houses built in Hinesville after the town was established and became the county seat of Liberty County in 1837 was that of Charlton Hines, a state senator and for whom the town was named. This house, considerably altered, was . . . — — Map (db m41645) HM
This small cannon was a part of the armament of historic Fort Morris at Sunbury during the American Revolution. In November, 1778, a superior British force from Florida under Colonel Fuser of the 60th Regiment besieged the Fort. To the ultimatum to . . . — — Map (db m8995) HM
This church was organized in 1833 as the Gum Branch Primitive Baptist Church by members of Beard’s Creek Primitive Baptist Church. Among the charter members were Samuel and David Delk. The land for the church was given by Fashau Long, Jr.
In . . . — — Map (db m58145) HM
Although the gravestones have been destroyed by weathering and vandalism, it is believed that about a dozen people are buried in this family cemetery. William Harrison died March 30, 1883, in the 72nd year of his age. His wife, Sarah Sylvester Smith . . . — — Map (db m58223) HM
The year 1837 marked the founding of Hinesville and the establishment of the Hinesville Methodist Church. For one hundred years this was the only church in Hinesville. The first services were held in a small frame building near the Bradwell . . . — — Map (db m8996) HM
Returning from the Revolution, the soldiers of Liberty County re-organized themselves into a troop of cavalry, known as the Liberty Dragoons, later the Liberty Independent Troop, the oldest cavalry company in Georgia. In continuous existence since . . . — — Map (db m8998) HM
Liberty County, an original county, was created by the Consitution of Feb. 5, 1777 from Creek Cession of May 20, 1733. It had been organized in 1758 as the Parishes of St. John, St. Andrew, and St. James, the theatre of many important events during . . . — — Map (db m9199) HM
Replacing the aging 3-inch gun as the staple of Army heavy antiaircraft artillery at the dawn of the war, the 90mm gun went on to earn a well deserved place among the finest artillery pieces fielded by the Allies in World War II. Intended to meet . . . — — Map (db m41683) HM
While this building was not Liberty County's first jail, it served longer than any previous jail. When in was built in 1892 the jail had "all the modern improvements and conveniences of a first class prison." Eighty years later it was condemned by . . . — — Map (db m41682) HM
Pleasant Grove A.M.E. Church was organized June 29, 1869 at Taylors Creek, GA. Rev. Piner Martin was the first pastor. The first church, a small frame house, was named A.M.E. Church of the U.S.A. Sixteen acres of land were later purchased to build a . . . — — Map (db m15709) HM
On Dec. 16, 1864, a detachment of the 7th Illinois Infantry (mounted) foraging near the right flank of Gen. Sherman's army (US) which was then closing in on Savannah, met here in Hinesville a detachment of cavalry from Brig. Gen. Alfred Iverson's . . . — — Map (db m15185) HM
Taylors Creek Methodist Church was organized in 1807, by the Rev. Angus McDonald, with seven members, including James Darsey, Mrs. James Darsey, and Robert Hendry. A village soon grew up around the church, and was for many years a trading center . . . — — Map (db m15740) HM
The Bacon-Fraser House was built on a 23 acre tract situated on the eastern boundary of the town of Hinesville in 1839 by Mary Jane Bacon, widow of Major John Bacon. The house has been owned and lived in by their heirs until the present time. The . . . — — Map (db m15844) HM
William McKinley Walthour, Sr. founded the Union Brotherhood Society or "The Society" in March 1932 to help provide for a proper burial of Negro citizens. During this period of segregation and Jim Crow Laws, Negroes were uninsured and had to use . . . — — Map (db m9491) HM
Home-site of Dr. Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the First Continental Congress, Governor of Georgia, member of Midway Congregational church near here. Graduate of Yale University, (1747). Born in Wallingford, Conn., . . . — — Map (db m8786) HM
Founding the athletic programs was considered one of Principal Elizabeth Moore's greatest achievements. School teams came to be known as the Dorchester Academy Tigers and Tigerettes, with "Shag" the tiger as their mascot. Dorchester Academy . . . — — Map (db m9056) HM
This Stone Marks The Spot Where
Beside His Wife And Children
Repose The Remains Of
Brigadier General
Daniel Stewart
in recognition of whose life
and services
The Congress
of the
United States
has reared a monument . . . — — Map (db m9193) HM
This Stone Marks The Spot Where Repose
The Remains Of
Brigadier General
James Screven
In recognition of whose life
and services
The Congress
of the
United States
has reared a monument in
this cemetery.
He was . . . — — Map (db m9198) HM
In this, Saint John's Parish, (now Liberty County), lived Button Gwinnett, signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress, Speaker of the Assembly, and President of the Executive Council. He also was a member of the . . . — — Map (db m8784) HM
In an effort to involve Liberty County African Americans in politics, the Dorchester Cooperative Center (DCC) began to help organize
African American Voters. The DCC taught local African Americans the United States and Georgia constitutions, . . . — — Map (db m8968) HM
Formal education of blacks started with the Freedmen's Bureau in Liberty County. The Homestead School was continued with the aid of the American Missionary Association (AMA) and support of Reconstruction legislator William A. Golding. The AMA . . . — — Map (db m15511) HM
This Georgian Revival building, built in 1934 to replace an earlier structure destroyed by fire, was once part of an extensive school campus begun in 1871 by the American Missionary Association. The school, founded to serve the educational needs of . . . — — Map (db m89833) HM
This church, built in 1854 on a lot of four acres donated by B.A. Busbee, was first used for summer services only. On January 6, 1871, it was admitted into the Savannah Presbytery as an organized church of 14 members. The Rev. J. W. Montgomery was . . . — — Map (db m8933) HM
Dr. Lyman Hall was a Georgia signer of The Declaration Of Independence. He represented Saint John's Parish in the Continental Congress, and was a delegate from Georgia to the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia.
He was a founder . . . — — Map (db m8785) HM
B. 1744, s/o Bartholomew Ball & Elizabeth Henlen, Craven County, SC, g/s of William Ball (1644 England-1727 SC) & Margaret Sampson, immigrants.
December, 1768: Moved to Liberty County
January 21, 1772: Married Rebecca (Baker) Jones, d/o . . . — — Map (db m205293) HM
In 1925, Elizabeth B. Moore began her six-year tenure as Dorchester Academy's only female, African American principal. She insisted that both parents and community accept responsibility for supporting the school. She believed that charity and . . . — — Map (db m9036) HM
On November 24, 1778, General James Screven
was mortally wounded in a battle fought near
this spot.
With General Screven in the action
were Major James Jackson, Colonel John White,
Capt. Celerine Brusard and Capt. Edward Young,
with 100 . . . — — Map (db m16070) HM
[North Face]:
1750 1778
Sacred to the
Memory of
Brigadier General
James Screven
who fell, covered with wounds, at
Sunbury, near this spot, on the 22nd
day of November, 1778. He died
on the 24th day of November, . . . — — Map (db m9191) HM
On Dec. 13, 1864, Murray's brigade of Kilpatrick's cavalry division (USA), scouting in the right rear of Gen. Sherman's army, which was then closing in on Savannah, moved south into Liberty County. After driving back the 29th Georgia Cavalry . . . — — Map (db m41685) HM
Just east of here was the 863 acre plantation of John Lambert which he purchased in 1784.
John Lambert was born in south Carolina in 1716 and died at his plantation here in December 1786. He is buried in the Midway Cemetery. He never married and, . . . — — Map (db m8948) HM
The Errosion of the Franchise
With the passage of the 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution in 1868 and 1869, African Americans were granted full citizenship and the right to vote. In less than a decade, nearly 100,000 black . . . — — Map (db m9065) HM
Built in 1792. Replaced Colonial meeting house burned by British in 1778. Sherman’s cavalry camped here in 1864. Midway settlement produced many of Georgia’s most famous men. — — Map (db m8253) HM
Organized in 1754 by the descendants
of an English Colony which came first
to Massachusetts 1630
to Connecticut 1635
to South Carolina 1695
and to Georgia 1752
Built on the same spot as the church
which was burned by the British in . . . — — Map (db m8999) HM
The Old Midway Congregational Church, two
miles east on U.S. Highway 17, was formed
by whites (Puritans & Congregationalists )
when they settled in Liberty County. They
were driven to church by their black slaves
who were allowed to sit in . . . — — Map (db m9070) HM
On April 12, 1868, 300 African American Christian believers, under the leadership of the founding pastor, Rev. Joseph Williams, met at the Midway Colonial Meeting House and organized themselves into a Presbyterian Church. An ordained minister from . . . — — Map (db m205326) HM
Established by South Carolina Calvinists of English and Scottish extraction in 1752, the small settlement of Midway became 'the cradle of the Revolutionary spirit in Georgia'. Two of Georgia's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, . . . — — Map (db m8941) HM
Georgia Colonial governor, trustee of the proposed University of Georgia, physician, Nathan Brownson became governor of Georgia in 1781, serving until Jan. 1782. Prior to this time Brownson served as a member of the Provencial Congress which met in . . . — — Map (db m8942) HM
J. Roosevelt Jenkins, who was Dorchester
Academy's assistant principal, science
teacher and athletic director, replaced
Elizabeth Moore as principal after her death
in 1932. He continued to strengthen the
school's curriculum and the . . . — — Map (db m9058) HM
The highway entering here is the Sunbury Road which once served as an arterial vehicular route from the interior of Georgia to the town of Sunbury, a former leading port and educational center, located 11 miles to the eastward on the Midway River. . . . — — Map (db m8943) HM
Important Colonial port of entry. First Masonic Lodge meeting in Georgia believed held here February 1734 with Oglethorpe as Master. — — Map (db m8252) HM
Citizenship Schools
Dorchester Cooperative Center played a key role in the struggle for civil rights and the vote.
In 1954, Septima Clarke, a school teacher from Charleston, SC and Esau Jenkins, a farmer and school bus driver from Johns . . . — — Map (db m9066) HM
This highway follows an old colonial road constructed in 1736 as a measure of defense against the Spanish and Spanish Indians by connecting the fighting Scotch Highlanders at New Inverness (now Darien) with Savannah. It was surveyed and cleared by . . . — — Map (db m8944) HM
he old town of Sunbury, 11 miles East on this road, was a leading port, said to rival Savannah in commercial importance. It was the first Seat of Justice of Liberty County. Sunbury Academy, established in 1788, was in its time the most famous School . . . — — Map (db m8961) HM
Educator, nurse, and author Susannah "Susie" Baker King Taylor was born into an enslaved Geechee family on the Grest Plantation in Liberty County, Georgia. Educated as a child in secret schools in Savannah, she escaped slavery in 1862 during the . . . — — Map (db m132900) HM
In 1872, African Americans from Liberty County began another letter writing campaign; this time for a teacher to replace Eliza Ann Ward. They requested that their next teacher be both a teacher and a minister. In the spring of 1874, the community . . . — — Map (db m89834) HM
This is the grave of Rev. Mr. John Osgood, who came to Midway with the first settlers in 1754 from Dorchester, S.C., and served them faithfully as their minister and friend until his final sermon, May 5, 1773. born in Dorchester, one of their own . . . — — Map (db m8945) HM
The Midway Congregational Church bell played a very important role in the lives of Dorchester Academy students. It kept time by ringing with an echo that could be heard seven to ten miles away. The bell rang every day at six, seven, eight, nine, . . . — — Map (db m9071) HM
In November 1870, William A. Golding, an African American member
of the Georgia Legislature, wrote the American Missionary Association (AMA) on behalf of the people of Liberty County requesting a teacher. "They want a teacher," he wrote, . . . — — Map (db m9033) HM
The Industrial Arts Department at Dorchester Academy taught students practical skills they could use in everyday life. The boys took classes in farming, woodworking, iron-working, and architecture. The girls were instructed in cooking, sewing, . . . — — Map (db m9057) HM
Five miles west of here on the old Post Road, the southern most postal route in America, is the site of the home and botanical garden of Louis LeConte, naturalist, mathematician, and scholar, for whom the famous LeConte Pear was named. A native of . . . — — Map (db m9079) HM
The First Zion Baptist Church, originally known as Zion Baptist Church, was organized in 1870 under the leadership of the Reverend U.L. Houston. Charter Officers were: Deacons Samuel Jones, Abraham Holmes, Stephney Maxwell, Jack Maxwell, Pulaski . . . — — Map (db m205353) HM
The First African Baptist Church, the oldest black church in Liberty County, had its origins in the North Newport Baptist Church, founded in 1809. In 1818 the North Newport Church, composed of both white and black members, purchased this site and . . . — — Map (db m9175) HM
Near the old North Newport Bridge, a short distance East of here, the Court House Square for Liberty County was laid out by Act of February 1, 1797. Riceborough was then the Seat of justice for Liberty County, and a Court House and Public Buildings . . . — — Map (db m9100) HM
In the family cemetery on this plantation, Westfield, Simon Munro, donor of the silver communion service used for many years in old Midway Congregational church, is buried. Early in the Revolutionary War, Simon Munro, a resident of St. John's . . . — — Map (db m205702) HM
Established in 1760 by William and John Eatton LeConte, Woodmanston became one of Georgia's earliest inland swamp rice plantations. In spite of Indian attacks and marauding armies during the Revolution, Woodmanston prospered.
In 1810 control of . . . — — Map (db m9020) HM
This road on the right
was established in 1736 by
Gen. James Oglethorpe.
First postal route south of
Savannah Stage Coach Road
and line of march
of Revolutionary Soldiers.
Saint John's Parish Chapter
Daughters of the American . . . — — Map (db m9002) HM
In November of 1778, Lieut. Col. James Mark Prevost, with 100 British Regulars, and 300 Refugees and Indians under McGirth, crossed the Altamaha River and moved into Georgia, killing or taking prisoner all men they found, and ravaging the . . . — — Map (db m16082) HM
Until about 1778 this island was called Bermuda, but afterward called Colonel’s Island because of the large number of colonels having plantations here. Major plantations included “Woodville,” “Herron’s Point,” . . . — — Map (db m62921) HM
Erected at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, to guard the Port of Sunbury and St. John`s Parish. Fort Morris was an enclosed earthwork in the shape of an irregular quadrangle. Surrounded by a parapet and moat. It contained a parade of about an . . . — — Map (db m168258) HM
Saint John`s Lodge Number Six, of Sunbury, Free and accepted Masons, was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Georgia, April 21, 1777, in Masonry 5777. Under an Act of the Legislature of Georgia, February 6, 1796, The Grand Lodge was incorporated and . . . — — Map (db m9292) HM
Many famous persons lived in the town of Sunbury. Among them was Dr. Lyman Hall, signer of the Declaration of Independence. It was also the home of Richard Howley and Nathan Brownson, later governors of Georgia; of John Elliott and Alfred Cuthbert, . . . — — Map (db m8953) HM
In this cemetery are buried men and women whose lives contributed much to the early history of Georgia.
Among these were the Rev. Wm. McWhir, D.D., and his wife. the Rev. Mr. McWhir was for 30 years the Principal of the famous Sunbury Academy. . . . — — Map (db m9240) HM
As General James Oglethorpe explored this
area along the Medway River in 1734, he
marveled at its potential for a seaport city.
Captain Mark Carr was a member of
Oglethorpe's regiment and an early settler
in this area of Georgia. As trade . . . — — Map (db m9201) HM
[West Face]:
Northeast of this spot stood the famous Sunbury Oak of early Colonial Masonic legend. The tree is said to have been of tremendous size and provided an ideal
place for safe, comfortable campsites.
The legend of the . . . — — Map (db m9481) HM
The bustling seaport of Sunbury was
once the largest city of this region of
Georgia. Sunbury was the destination
for many trading ships loaded with cargo
from regions around the world. Rum,
sugar, and slaves arrived from the West
Indies. . . . — — Map (db m17242) HM
( Left Text )
The plan of Sunbury consisted of three community-owned squares: King's Square, Meeting Square, and Church Square. You are standing in the area that was once
Church Square. This 350 by 350-foot area held the church to the . . . — — Map (db m9239) HM
( Front text )
Walthourville, Georgia
Incorporated in 1974
"Organized by Women, Supported by Men"
Honoring
Mayor Lyndol Anderson
The first mayor of the city of Walthourville,
who was appointed by Governor Jimmy . . . — — Map (db m15811) HM
Founded in 1809, the North Newport Baptist Church has had several homes over the years. In 1923 the Church moved to this location and in 1952 the Church voted and renamed the church Walthourville Baptist Church. The original church did not have a . . . — — Map (db m15800) HM
