A Short History of Skidaway Island

A SHORT HISTORY OF SKIDAWAY ISLAND Digital Edition 2021 V.E. KELLY When A Short History of Skidaway Island was originally published in 1980, negro was still an accepted term by many. In consultation with the University of Georgia Scholarly Publishing Services, the decision was made to replace negro with black or African American in the 2021 edition of the book, except when the word is used in quotations from historic documents. Although these changes were made, the book is still a product of its time, and some of the language and concepts used herein may be considered inappropriate by today’s readers. Nevertheless, the work is reproduced in an effort to present a record of historical significance that we hope sparks conversation on these issues, as well as to share the book’s important documentation of Skidaway’s natural, geological, and human history. ISBN 978-0-8203-6073-7 ABOUT THIS DIGITAL EDITION For all those who live on, work on or visit Skidaway Island, this history is illuminating and we are in debt to the late V. E. Kelly (1915–2008) for his work on the project. Long out of print, this 2021 digital edition is made possible by the University of Georgia Scholarly Publishing Services, sponsored by UGA Marine Extension & Sea Grant under the leadership of Dr. Mark Risse who leads the Marine Education Center and Aquarium and the Shellfish Research lab and Oyster Hatchery on UGA’s Skidaway campus. They share this University of Georgia campus with the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography on the north end of Skidaway Island and it is an important site for marine research, education and outreach. Permission to have their father’s work available to the wider public has come from Margaret Kelly Tew and Virginia Kelly Tison, his surviving heirs. Thanks are due to the Sustainable Skidaway project of Skidaway Audubon, catalyst for this digital edition, as part of an ongoing initiative to help residents develop a sense of place, and to Landings Landlovers for a grant to fund this work. All of us involved in this effort hope you enjoy and learn from this history of Skidaway Island. May 2021 ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Verner E. Kelly is known by most people as “Tex.” He was born in Longview, Texas, attended Harvard College and the Harvard Business School, and spent most of his business career with Union Camp Corp. (now International Paper) where he filled executive positions in bag manufacturing, electronic data processing and environmental protection. He and his wife Margaret moved to Savannah in 1942 and (except for six years in New York and New Jersey) have lived here ever since. While in Savannah, Tex was active in the community where he was, among other things, a County Commissioner, President of the Savannah Rotary Club, President of the Savannah Golf Club, and Chairman of the Library Board and the Department of Family and Children’s Services. They were among the first residents of The Landings, moving in in April, 1974. Tex served as President of The Landings Association in 1976 and 1977 and was a volunteer fireman for ten years. As a longtime member of a Savannah literary group, The Madeira Club, he researched and wrote a paper titled “The Archaeology of Skidaway Island.” He ran across so much additional Skidaway Island information that, with Margaret’s encouragement, he decided to write the “Short History,” using the archeology paper as Chapter 1. The first printing was done in 1980. A second printing updated the “History” to 1994. This third printing brings the story of this remarkable island development up to 2003. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Chapter I. Archaeological History Chapter II. Colonial Period Chapter III. Revolutionary Period Chapter IV. Early Nineteenth Century Chapter V. War Between the States Chapter VI. Benedictines on Skidaway Chapter VII. Late Nineteenth-Early Twentieth Century Chapter VIII. The Modem Period Chapter IX. Into the Nineties Chapter X. Into the New Millennium Chapter XI. The Marshes of Skidaway Island Notes Selected Bibliography Index TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS, PLATES AND EXHIBITS Skidaway Island Location Map Megatherium (Giant Sloth) 1740 Map of Savannah Out-Settlements Photocopy of Land Grant to Inigo Jones Photograph of Benedictine Monastery on Skidaway Island Photograph of Benedictine School on Skidaway Island Table 1 - Ceramic Sequence Plate 1 - Prehistoric Ceramics Plate 2 - Prehistoric Ceramics Plate 3 - Prehistoric Ceramics Plate 4 - Prehistoric Ceramics Plate 5 - Assorted 19th Century European Ceramics Plate 6 - Assorted 19th and 20th Century Containers Skidaway Island - Mid-Eighteenth Century Skidaway Island - Modern Period Appendix A - Land Grants on Skidaway Island Between 1754 and 1772 Appendix B - Skidaway Land Transfers After 1880 Appendix C - Plantation Ownership Changes A HISTORY OF SKIDAWAY ISLAND Foreword Skidaway Island probably was named by the Indians. The early Colonial settlers referred to it variously as Skeedowa, Skeadoway and Skidowa, perhaps the white man’s best effort at phonically spelling the Indian pronunciation. A few people have discounted the idea of the Indians’ derivation and instead say the English gave the Island a nautical name based on the sheet or line attached to a sail. Thus they said “Sheet away” meaning release the sheet. If the Island’s name is truly of English origin, a more plausible source would be a place in England on the Chatham River called Skedway. In any case, no one has authoritatively established the true derivation of its name. The history of man on the Island goes back several thousand years, and based on how very hospitable its early human visitors probably found it, the name Skidaway might well have meant beautiful or bountiful place. In those early years when roving bands of aborigines camped on its shores, they found it abounding in beautiful vegetation and edible game and shellfish. On the other hand, if some of the early colonial settlers had to define the meaning of the name Skidaway they might have said “unhealthy, bug ridden, with stingy soil and generally an inaccessible place.” Those of us who are fortunate enough to live on Skidaway Island now would certainly subscribe to the theory that the name truly must mean “beautiful, bountiful and pleasant.” With the building of the bridge and road in 1970, people have been discovering and inhabiting the Island at a rapid rate. Before long it will likely have more residents than at any time before in history yet its basic beauty has been retained even in the areas of most active residential development. In contemplation of the new bridge and road, the Savannah- Chatham County Metropolitan Planning Commission studied the long range potential of Skidaway and projected that its 6600 acres of high land would eventually have a population of 50,000 people. Present inhabitants like things as they are and passively resent any further intrusion, but we realize that many more people can and should be tastefully accommodated without seriously spoiling the Island’s natural beauty. It is urgently hoped, however, that our Island community will be allowed to grow only to some point far short of the seven and a half people per acre that 50,000 people would represent. The history of Skidaway is really closely hinged to Savannah’s history from colonial times forward. When significant events were occurring in Savannah they generally overflowed onto Skidaway. Likewise, during the quiet periods of Savannah’s history things were unusually quiet on Skidaway. During these quiet periods, documentation of Skidaway history is quite skimpy. Accordingly, there are gaps in time when little of substance can be reported about the Island. Also, of necessity, the section regarding archaeological history is largely supposition based on rather scanty data. This, of course, is not unusual in archaeology. It has been assumed that those reading this brief history are generally knowledgeable of the history of Georgia and Savannah, particularly during the Colonial, Revolutionary and Civil War periods. References to historic happenings elsewhere as they relate to Skidaway history are, therefore, in the cause of brevity, omitted or made as short as practicable. Most of the research for this history was done on material provided by the Georgia Historical Society, the Branigar Organization, Union Camp Corp., the public library, and Picot Floyd, former City Manager of Savannah, whose grandfather and uncle owned most of Skidaway early in this century. Shelby Myrick, Jr., did much of the research on early land grants. Conversations with William Travis and Judge Alexander Lawrence added helpful background information about the Island. Gordon Smith, whose grandparents on both sides owned property on the southern section of Skidaway, was kind enough to read and check my original manuscript and offered many valuable leads and suggestions. My wife, Margie, assisted in some of the land grant research and typed the manuscript. Bettina Beecher and Patsy Carter of The Branigar Organization did the final typing and proofreading, and Mrs. Beecher prepared all the maps for printing. The plates of artifacts were provided by Chester DePratter of the University of Georgia. I am grateful to all those who helped so willingly. I. ARCHAEOLOGICAL HISTORY Skidaway Island, in Chatham County, is one of Georgia’s inner coastal islands. It is about eight miles long and three miles wide and lies a few miles south of the mouth of the Savannah Rivet The barrier islands which protect it from the open ocean to the east and south are Tybee, Wassaw, and Ossabaw. Skidaway is surrounded by marsh and tidal creeks which are filled and emptied twice each day by six to eight foot tides. The broad waters of Wassaw and Ossabaw Sounds provide open access from Skidaway to the Atlantic Ocean. As recently as 50,000 years ago Skidaway, Tybee, Wassaw and Ossabaw Islands did not exist.

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