Altamaha Echoes Library - 1998 Issues
Provided by Myrtle Newberry - Editor

The Altamaha Echoes

Lower Altamaha Historical Society Newsletter September 1998

LAHS Publishes Book: "1898 McIntosh County Hurricane"

Book Signing—September 24 at Library

A collection of first-hand accounts written by McIntosh County residents who survived the hurricane and "tidal wave" of 1898 will be published by LAHS to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the storm. LAHS President Buddy Sullivan compiled the attractive 16-page oversize volume which contains a number of contemporary accounts by local residents, along with annotation and an Introduction by Sullivan. The volume also contains a number of photographs never previously published relating to Darien’s timber industry. This booklet will be unveiled at a signing to be held at the Ida Hilton Public Library on Thursday, September 24, from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m.. The LAHS meeting will follow at 7 p.m. Proceeds of the sale of the book will go back into the LAHS treasury. Sullivan edited and prepared the book on a volunteer basis for LAHS: it was printed by the Darien News.

TAKE NOTE!!! MEETING DATE CHANGED FOR SEPTEMBER

LAHS MEETING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1998,7:00 P.M.-HAYNES AUDITORIUM

HOSPITALITY: Natalie Webb, Susan Johnson~, Pattie Skipper

DUTCH TREAT SUPPER, 6:00 P.M. AT ARCHIE’S

The date of the September LAHS meeting has been changed from the regular third Thursday, September 17th, to the fourth Thursday, September 24th, for this meeting only. The change was necessitated by a conflict in the schedule of guest speaker Hans Neuhauser, who will discuss Georgia’s coastal fortifications and gun emplacements on islands such as Wassaw, Tybee and Sapelo during the Spanish- American War of 1898, the 100th anniversary of which is being celebrated this year.

Hans Neuhauser is the Director of the Georgia Land Trust Service Center and Acting Director of the Georgia Environmental Policy Institute in Athens, Georgia Prior to his current position, he was a faculty member with the Institute of Community and Area Development; of The University of Georgia. He also worked for The Georgia Conservancy for more than twenty years, first as Director of the Coastal Office in Savannah and later as Senior Vice President for Environmental Science in Atlanta.

He is past chairman of the board of the Land Trust Alliance and presently he is a member of the Land Trust Alliance’s National Land Trust Council, He is treasurer of the Oconee River Land Trust and an advisory board member to the Athens Land Trust. Nauhauser serves on the Georgia Environmental Council’s executive committee, he is past president of this Council. He chairs the Special Advisors committee for the National Wildlife Refuge Association He is on the steering committee for the Georgia Greenways Initiative. He served on Governor Miller’s Preservation 2000 Advisory Council. He was chairman of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Right Whale Recovery Team. He is currently a member of the Southeastern United States Implementation Team for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale. He edits Right Whale News.

Hans Neuhauser has received many awards. Georgia Trend magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in Georgia

Hans has a bachelor’s degree in biology from Middlebury College in Vermont and a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Georgia He lives in Athens, Georgia, with his wife, Mary Lou.

LAHS MEETING, OCTOBER 15, 1998,7: P.M.-HAYNES AUDITORIUM

HOSPITALITY: Mattie Gladstone, Linda Hawk

DUTCH TREAT SUPPER, 6:00 P.M. AT ARCHIE’S

The program will be about the 1898 hurricane and "tidal wave" which struck the Georgia coast. Buddy Sullivan will present slides and commentary, as well as selections from his new book about the hurricane. This hurricane which struck the Georgia coast precisely one hundred years ago (October 2,1898) this year, was the last severe hurricane felt in McIntosh County. More than fifty people lest their lives in McIntosh County as a result of the storm. It also seriously disrupted the timber and saw milling industry and pretty much ended an already-struggling rice industry in the Altamaha delta.

LAHS MEETING, NOVEMBER 19,1998,7:00 P.M.-HAYNES AUDITORIUM

HOSPITALITY: Claudette Moorhouse, Trish Buie

DUTCH TREAT SUPPER, 6:00 P.M AT ARCHIE’S

The program will be one in which all LAHS members can take part. Members who have old photographs, artifacts and relics relating to the history of the area are requested to bring them to the meeting for display and discussion among the other members as we share our history with each other. Genealogy, and other related topics will be the focus of this meeting. Bring your history! It doesn’t even have to be directly relevant to McIntosh County. We are interested in all of our LAHS families! This program will be informal and a good way for us all to get to know one another a little better. Call Buddy Sullivan (485-2251) if you have ideas or suggestions for this program.

FORT KING GEORGE STATE HISTORIC SITE

Special Events for October and November

October 17 THE FORT BY CANDLELIGHT 7pm until

Experience Ft King George in a different light; candlelight (18th century electricity). Candle light tours of the site and the blockhouse will begin around twilight. Different periods of the site’s past will be presented along the tour. The evening may be cool so a sweater maybe appropriate. Visit the site and experience a truly unique evening.

November 13 & 14 DRUMS ALONG THE ALTAMAHA (FKGFALL ENCAMPMENT)

In the Fall of 1721, Cd. John Barnwell’s men completed the first British outpost on the southern frontier. Thus, Britain now claimed this land that was once occupied by Spain, while the French threatened from the west. The British needed a buffer zone between these strong foreign powers and the Carolinas. This early 18th century international struggle will be commemorated when re-enactors from all over the southeast gather at Ft King George. Musket drills, cannon drills, Native American demonstrations, domestic skills, traders of 18th century wares and a BATTLE at 2pm highlight the day’s activities.

ALTAMAHA RIVER -------- CANOE EXCURSIONS

Pro-Registration is required for all Canoe Trips.

Fort King George State Historic Site— 912 437 4770

September 26 HONEYGALL CREEK (Intermediate)

A beautiful l8 mile trip through hardwood swamps, old rice fields of Altama

Plantation and Carr’s Island.

October 10 ALTAMAHA RIVER( Advanced)

On this 20 mile top you will see hardwood swamps, huge cypress trees, wildlife, and have lunch on Lewis Island.

November 7& 8 OVERNIGHT ON LEWIS ISLAND (Inter.) Explore the mighty Altamaha and sleep under the stars on Lewis Island

LOWER ALTAMAHA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

P.O. BOX 1405

DARIEN, GEORGIA 31305

Meetings are held at the Ida Hilton Public Library, Haynes Auditorium, on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM. The Society extends a hearty welcome to all.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP PLANS: Individual—$ 10.00, Student--$5.00, Family—$15.00, Corporate—$100.00, Individual Lifetime—$250.00

Officers

President                      Buddy Sullivan
Vice-President             Natalie Webb
Secretary Mattie          Gladstone
Treasurer                      Honey Fanning
Past-President             Lloyd Flanders
Director Emeritus         W. G. Haynes, Jr.

Board of Directors

Dyson Flanders
Ellie Legg
Berkeley Minor
Everett Moriarty
Myrtle Newberry
Patty Skipper
Kaye Traer

The Altamaha Echoes — Revived

Since 1980 The Altamaha Echoes has been the primary publication of the Lower Altamaha Historical Society. During the early organizational and productive years of LAHS, The Echoes was printed by William G. Haynes, Jr. at the historic Ashantilly Press where the type was hand set by Haynes. The Altamaha Echoes has been revived as the name of the LAHS Newsletter. Bill Haynes will design the layout and type, Mrytle Newberry is editor, it will be printed by The Darien News.

William G. Haynes, and Norman Edwards , were urged by Hans Neuhauser to organize a historical society in Darien and McIntosh County. In the fall of 1979 the invitation was issued to all interested local citizens that would be interested in this cause. Approximately twenty two people met, and selected the name Lower Altamaha Historical Society. The first and pressing reason for organizing was for "the protection of the Altamaha River". The support of Fort King George Historical Site was another reason. LAHS held it’s first meeting in May 1980.

----------------------------------------------

Living on the Georgia Tidewater—Buddy Sullivan, was born and raised at Cedar Point, McIntosh County. His forbearers came to McIntosh County, the Georgia tidewater in the nineteenth century.

The following is about the Hunter-Johnson-Sullivan Family of McIntosh County.

In the spring of 1894, young Thomas Marshall Hunter graduated from the Southwest Seminary of Clarkesville, Tennessee. In the summer of that year, Hunter was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and immediately accepted a call to fill the pulpit of the Darien Presbyterian Church, effective July 1, 1894. The journal of John Girardeau Legare notes that Rev. Hunter arrived in Darien to begin his pastorate, and took a brief leave in the fall of 1894 to return to Clarkesvllle where he married Miss Sallie Owen of Charleston, South Carolina.

Sallie Owen and her sisters, Mary and Kate Owen , were daughters of the prominent Owen family of Charleston. Kate Owen (died 1977) married Willie B. Ravenel of Charleston. Mary Owen married into the Geer family of Charleston.

During his Darien Presbyterian pastorate, Thomas Marshall Hunter and his new bride, Sallie, lived in the Presbyterian manse and, for a time, at the Ridge. A year into their pastorate at Darien, a son was born to the Hunters, Howard Owen Hunter (1895-1964). The Legare journal and other sources indicate that Rev. Hunter was a highly popular minister in Darien and was active in the community while making numerous friends in the county. In 1897, T.M. Hunter resigned his pastorate from the Darien church. According to the Legare journal, Rev. Hunter accepted a call to the Presbyterian church in Trenton, Tennessee. There, in 1898, a second child was born to the Hunters, Marshall. Marshall Hunter married J. 0. Peery of New Orleans. She died in 1973. Thomas and Sallie Hunter later moved to Beaumont, Texas where he served the Presbyterian church there until his death in 1954.

Dr. Henry Herbert Johnson (1862-1937) of Macon, Georgia, married Wilhelmina Polhill Wheeler (1872-1955) of Macon. They had three children, Wheeler Johnson, Herbert Johnson, and an adopted daughter, Mary Jackson (1893-1968). In 1908, the Johnson family established a vacation home at Cedar Point, McIntosh County. Dr. H. H Johnson was a pioneer in the field of dentistry and was president of the Georgia Dental Association for many years. In 1925, the Johnsons built a two-story frame house at Cedar Point, overlooking Cedar Creek and Creighton Island. It burned in 1973 alter serving as a home for three generations of the Hunter-Johnson-Sullivan family.

In 1920, Mary, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. H. H Johnson, married Howard Owen Hunter at a time when young Hunter had recently graduated from Louisiana State University and was the Southeast Executive of the Boy Scouts in Macon. To them were born two children. Howard Owen Hunter, Jr. (1922-1983) and Mary Kate Hunter(1924-1954). Mary Kate was named for her two Charleston great-aunts.

Howard and Mary J. Hunter were divorced in 1932. That same year, Mary Hunter moved into the Cedar Point home of her parents with her two young children. Except for two brief periods when she resided in a home on Vernon Square in Darien, Mary Hunter lived at Cedar Point for the rest of her life, until her death in 1968. For many years she was McIntosh County Nurse. Her children, Owen and Mary Kate, both attended the Darien school.

Howard Owen Hunter, Sr. become a key figure in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a friend of both President Roosevelt and his aide, Harry Hopkins. Hunter played a key role in the Roosevelt Administration’s efforts to bring America out of the Depression of the 1930’s. Hunter entered government service in 1931 and later became Acting Commissioner of the federal Work Projects Administration (WPA), while Hopkins was administrator. From 1939 through 1943, Hunter was the head of the WPA’s Federal Writer’s Project, in which he was directly involved in the nation’s first comprehensive effort to gather and record local and state history. Many of the well-known state guidebooks were published during Hunter’s administration as head of the WPA. A complete set of these 48 volumes, once owned by H 0. Hunter, are in the special collections of the Ida Hilton Public library in Darien, being donated to the library by Wanda A Hunter, wife of Hunter’s son, Howard Owen Hunter, Jr. H. O.Hunter, Sr. left government service and served as president of the American Institute of Baking in Chicago, Illinois from 1949 to 1963. He and his second wife, Edna Hunter, who he married in 1945, resided in Chicago where they were intimate fiends with the writer John Steinbeck who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Howard 0. Hunter never forgot his McIntosh County roots, returning often to the county of his birth. He died unexpectedly in early 1964, shortly after he and his wife Edna had moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The daughter and second child of Howard 0. And Mary J. Hunter, Mary Kate Hunter, rnarried Roy Earl Sullivan (b.1921) of Tifton Georgia in February 1945. Mary Kate was nurse and Earl was an officer in the U.S. Army, having seen combat in World War II campaigns in North Africa and Italy. He was a descendant of the Sumner family of Worth County (Sumner), Georgia and the Sullivan family of Decatur County (Bainbridge), Georgia. Earl and Mary Kate Sullivan spent the first six years of their marriage at Cedar Point where he and his brother-in-law, Owen Hunter, and their fiend Bill Hubbard, were partners in the oyster and shrimping business at Cedar Point. They owned the shrimp boat White Rose, the rotting remains of which are in the marsh behind the Point. For a time, the three men managed the Cedar Point Canning Company, one of the most active oyster canneries on the Georgia coast in the post-World War II period. One child was born to Earl and Mary Kate Sullivan in McIntosh County during this period-Roy Earl(Buddy) Sullivan, Jr. in July 1946. The seafood partnership broke up when Earl Sullivan rejoined the Army to serve in the Korean War and Owen Hunter began a career at the Brunswick Pulp and Paper Company. Later Owen and his wife, Wanda Atwood Hunter, moved back to McIntosh County where they lived at Valona He died in 1983.

Mary Kate Sullivan died of cancer, the age of 29 on Valentine’s Day, 1954 in Walter Reed Hospital, Washington, D.C. Wilhelmina Polhill Johnson (d.1955), Mary Kate Hunter Sullivan (d.1954) and Mary J. Hunter (d.1968) are all buried in Darien’s St. Andrew’s Cemetery.