2003 Meeting in Savannah, Georgia
Our 2003 meeting was the 49th time our Society has gathered to celebrate the life of our kinsman, George Washington.
Savannah, Georgia was selected because it was a major stop on the 1791 ‘Southern Tour’ that Washington made during his second term as President. Much of the revolution was fought in the south and Washington wanted to show his appreciation for the decisive support that was given which led to the ultimate victory.
Savannah is lovely in May, as those attending our last meeting discovered. We stayed at Days Inn, right in the heart of the historic district. Our three dinner meetings were held right across the street at Chart House. The restaurant is in an historic building overlooking the Savannah River. Saturday morning we boarded buses for a tour of historic sites, and a visit to the Owen-Thomas House. The architect of the Regency style mansion, built between 1816 and 1819, was William Jay, who married into the Bolton family. There are portraits in the house of two ancestors of our member, Jim Bolton, both of whom were named Robert Bolton. Lunch was at Pirate House and we were honored to have as speaker a member of the Chatham Artillery. Jim Westlake later distributed samples of the famous Artillery punch that had been made especially for us. The samples were small, as the punch is as lethal as artillery fire. After lunch we toured the Andrew Low House, built in 1820, where the Girl Scouts of America was founded by Juliet Gordon Low in 1912. It is a Greek Revival house with a beautiful collection of furniture.
Savannah is a city of squares. It was America’s first planned city and each of the twenty-one squares has its own character, with beautiful homes facing into the garden center. We toured the squares on our bus, and stopped at Colonial Cemetery, burial site for colonists from 1750 to 1853.
On Sunday morning the group attended services at Christ Episcopal Church, the first established in the colony, called Georgia’s Mother Church. John Wesley preached there and established a Sunday school in 1736. Our memorial service for members who had died in the past year was held right across from the church in Johnson Square, which contains the grave of Gen. Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War hero. After a quick stop back at the motel for walking shoes, the group boarded our buses for a picnic lunch at Wormslow Plantation. We walked among beautiful old oaks to the ruins of the fortified home constructed by Noble Jones between 1739 and 1745. Some of the walls still exist, and are made of tabby that is fortified with seashells.
Our speakers for our three dinner meetings were all prominent local historians, and we really enjoyed their programs, our tours, the river front site, and most of all, each other’s company.
Linda Cummings
Recording Secretary
Friday night’s speaker was
Hugh Stiles Golson who holds many titles including Chairman of Historic
District Board of Review and President of the Board of Public Education, City of
Savannah, Georgia. He is a teacher of advanced history and was voted Teacher Of
The Year 2001.
The subject of his presentation was the Mulberry Grove Plantation, home of Gen. Nathanael Greene, Revolutionary War hero.