By Andrea Marroquin, Museum Specialist
  
On Saturday, July 11, 2009 at 2:00 pm, venture to Horton House on Jekyll Island, Georgia and meet Major William Horton, a British colonial officer, and his company of soldiers and indentured servants, in a joint living history program offered by Fort Frederica National Monument and the Jekyll Island Museum.
  
Horton, portrayed by Jon Burpee of Fort Frederica National Monument, bellows orders at the 18th century British soldiers drilling with muskets on the grounds, entreats the crowd to join ranks for the safety of the fledgling colony, and explains his grievances against the Spanish. Horton is determined to hold both his Jekyll Island estate and Fort Frederica for England.
  
Soldiers from the Castillo at St. Augustine have been at odds with the English colonists and tensions have been mounting for years. Overtures of peace between the two nations once took place right at Jekyll Island. Now that peace has been broken and the Spanish have grievances of their own. British soldiers are now on constant guard against the appearance of Spanish soldiers in their midst.
  
Horton was the first Englishman to obtain property on Jekyll Island, acquiring a 500-acre land grant in 1735. Horton gained much stature as an officer in the Royal Colony of Georgia. He was placed in charge of the fort on St. Simon’s Island during General Oglethorpe’s absence in England in 1736 and later commanded troops in defense of the colony. During food shortages he supplied corn and beef to Fort Frederica from his own personal supplies on Jekyll Island.
  
Because of his importance, he became a target of the Spanish from St. Augustine. His original two-story wooden house was burned by the Spanish as they retreated across the island following the Battle of Bloody Marsh in July of 1742. This would be the Spanish Army’s final strike against the British in the Colony of Georgia.
  
John Hunter is the director of the Jekyll Island Museum, a division of the Jekyll Island Authority, which maintains the Horton House Historic Site. Hunter points out that the year 1742 was an eventful one for Horton.
  
“In 1742, Horton was placed in command of a new grenadier company of thirty men. His wife and children finally joined him in Georgia after being an ocean apart for many years. Fort Frederica was raided by the Spanish. Finally, his house was burned down and his crops and livestock were destroyed. That all happened by mid-summer!” Hunter exclaimed. “There was constant excitement.”
  
With the help of his indentured servants, Horton rebuilt his home by the following year. The sturdy tabby house still stands today, one of the earliest standing tabby structures in Georgia.
  
Guests are invited to participate in the colonial life of the island through an assortment of activities. These activities are designed to share information about Horton, his family, his servants, and his property on the island, as well as their significant role in producing goods to supply the needs of the struggling British colony.
  
Horton’s servants will demonstrate various chores such as carding and spinning wool, soap making, and blacksmithing, which were all essential skills in the colonial era.
  
In contrast to such labors, guests can try their skills in a variety of 18th century entertainments on the front lawn. Games might include such favorites as hoop rolling, graces, sack racing, and more.
  
During the living history program, visitors can quench their thirst with a dram of Major Horton’s finest beverages. Horton, who established Georgia’s first brewery, will offer up his best hospitality inside of Horton House, with family-friendly drinks poured by his servants. Visitors will be served frothy mugs of ginger-flavored “ale” (ginger ale) or root-flavored “beer” (root beer).
  
Through musket demonstrations, children’s games, food and drink, guests can experience the strategically important role of Jekyll Island in the struggle for British survival in the New World.
  
For more information, call or visit the Jekyll Island Museum on Stable Road, 912-635-4036. Admission to the living history program is free of charge.

Tags: barrier islands, British colony, british soldiers, family vacation, fort frederica, georgia history, Georgia Tourism, georgia's jewel, golden isles, historical reenactments, horton house, jekyll island, Jekyll Island Events, jekyll island history, jekyll island museum, major william horton, Stable Road, tabbie, tabbie ruins, tabby
Posted in Beachscape, July 2009, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

By Andrea Marroquin, Programming Coordinator, Jekyll Island Museum
  
Jekyll Island was named in 1734 by General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Georgia colony, in honor of Sir Joseph Jekyll. Jekyll was a financial backer of the young colony, who, along with his wife, had contributed a total of £600 to the venture. In 1738, Oglethorpe wrote a letter from Jekyll Sound to Sir Joseph Jekyll. He wrote “Sir: I am now got to an anchor in a harbour and near an island that bears your name.”
  
Sir Joseph Jekyll, son of John Jekyll, was born in London in 1663. He went to school at the Middle Temple and became a lawyer in 1687. Within the span of ten years, he rose to the position of Chief Justice of Chester. In 1697 he also became a member of Parliament, and retained this position for the rest of his life. He went on to become Sergeant-at-Law and King’s Sergeant. In 1700, King George I made him a Knight. In 1717, he became Master of the Rolls, the third most senior judge in England. His wife was Lady Elizabeth Somers.
  
Jekyll was a man of great judicial and legislative power, in a position to advance the cause of the Georgia Colony. He was also one of the officials named to receive mandatory reports on the progress of English settlement. In naming Jekyll Island after him, Oglethorpe flattered a man with both money and influence. Jekyll would lose some of this influence with the public towards the end of his career, however.
  
Jekyll became very unpopular with the working classes in 1736, for sponsoring the Gin Act, which established taxes on retailing liquor. During the ensuing Gin Riots, his house had to be protected from a mob. In one episode he was reportedly knocked down and nearly killed in the middle of Lincoln’s Inn Field, an area of dancing bears, animal matches, and public pulpits. As a result of this incident, palisades were set up and a pleasant garden was installed in the area.
  
Jekyll passed away on August 19, 1738. In his will he designated a portion of his substantial estate to be applied to the national debt. His contemporaries ridiculed Jekyll for this benevolent gesture. One commentator scoffed that he might as well have “attempted to block the middle arch of Blackfriars Bridge with his full-bottomed wig.” In later proceedings, the will was actually set aside on the “ground of imbecility,” even though he was an active member of Parliament at the time he made the will.
  
Jekyll passed away before he received the letter Oglethorpe addressed to him. In time the spelling of the island’s name became corrupted. The island was referred to on maps and historic documents by alternate spellings, such as “Jeckel,” “Jeekel,” “Jekil,” “Jeykil,” and “Jekyl.” The misspelling of the name became standardized when a group of wealthy northerners purchased the island and dubbed themselves “The Jekyl Island Club.”
  
Around 1928, Club members commissioned a portrait of Sir Joseph Jekyll to be modeled after another portrait painted by Michael Dahl and owned by Sir Herbert Jekyll. Through correspondence with the Jekyll family, the spelling error was discovered. Club members agitated for the name of the island to be corrected.
  
On July 31, 1929, the Georgia State Legislature passed a resolution to change the spelling of “Jekyl Island,” declaring “the correct and legal spelling of the name of said island is and shall be Jekyll Island.”
  
Thus, 191 years after his death, the portrait of Sir Joseph Jekyll prompted a final legal resolution to be enacted in his honor. This seems a fitting end to the tale of a lawyer, judge, and politician.
  
The original portrait commissioned by the Jekyll Island Club is on display in Dubignon Cottage in the Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District. Tours of the historic district are available through the Jekyll Island Museum on Stable Road, (912) 635-4036.

Tags: 1738, barrier island history, Georgia, georgia colony, georgia history, georgia's jewel, golden isles, historic district, James Oglethorpe, jekyll island, jekyll island museum, jekyll island name, sir joseph jekyll, south georgia
Posted in Beachscape, May 2009 | No Comments »

During their 44th Annual Award Ceremony on June 7, 2008, the Georgia Writers Association announced that local Jekyll Island author, Pamela Bauer Mueller, is the recipient of the 2008 GEORGIA AUTHOR of the YEAR AWARD in the Young Adult category. The GAYA has a long tradition of literary excellence and has honored Ms. Mueller for her historical fiction novel, An Angry Drum Echoed: Mary Musgrove, Queen of the Creeks.

As Pocahontas was to Jamestown and Sacajawea was to the Lewis and Clark expedition, so was Mary Musgrove to General Oglethorpe and the burgeoning Georgia colony. Arguably the most important woman in Georgia’s history, Mary Musgrove guided the Creek nation through the treacherous waters of international intrigue during the conquest of a hemisphere.

Not much had been written about this leading character in the founding of Georgia until 2007, when Pamela Bauer Mueller, author of seven books for young people, wrote this compelling story that inspires and intrigues.

Mary Musgrove triumphed over savage discrimination, unimaginable personal adversity and an unrequited love for the founder of Georgia. As General Oglethorpe’s interpreter and emissary to the Creek Indians, she smoothed the path to cooperation between the Creeks and the colonists, perhaps single-handedly insuring the survival of the colony of Georgia.
In addition to being selected as a 2008 GEORGIA AUTHOR of the YEAR, this title won the Silver Medal in the 2008 Independent Publishers Book Awards/Southeast Regional Fiction. Ms. Bauer Mueller was also a Finalist in the 2008 ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards.
Two years ago Pamela received the 2006 Georgia Author of the Year Award for Neptune’s Honor. That book was recently selected as a 2008 Silver Medal Mom’s Choice Award and was a Finalist in the 2006 Independent Publishers Book Awards.

Pamela Bauer Mueller resides on Jekyll Island, Georgia with her husband Michael and their two cats, Jasper and Sukey Spice. She was raised in Oregon and graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She worked as a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines before marrying and moving to Mexico City, where she lived for eighteen years, teaching English and Spanish, modeling and acting in U.S. and Mexican
television and films.

After returning to the United States, Pamela worked for twelve years as a U.S. Customs Inspector, serving in San Diego and in Vancouver, B. C. Canada. Pamela took an early retirement to follow her husband Michael, who received an instructor position at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia.

Pamela’s children’s books include The Kiska Trilogy and Hello, Goodbye, I Love You. She wrote Neptune’s Honor and An Angry Drum Echoed as young adult historical novels, based on the lives of actual residents of Georgia: Neptune Small, a noble antebellum-era slave who shared a special bond with his master’s son, and Mary Musgrove, a Creek/English-woman who played a significant role in Georgia’s colonial history.
Pam’s newest novel, Aloha Crossing is the sequel to her multi-award winning Hello, Goodbye, I Love You: The Story of Aloha, A Guide Dog for the Blind. A year has passed since puppy raiser Diego handed Aloha’s harness over to her blind partner Kimberly Louise. Now Diego is traveling to Georgia to visit his beloved friend again!

This heartwarming story follows the exciting cross-country adventures and moving scenarios of a diverse group of family and friends. Although Aloha is a central figure in this intriguing story, she shares the stage with human actors who make this more than a tale about a blind woman and her guide dog. Learning from the devoted Aloha’s example, they discover they are capable of weathering any storm and triumphing over every setback.

Tags: aloha crossing, georgia history, jekyll island books, jekyll island resident, mary musgrove, pam bauer mueller
Posted in July 2008 | No Comments »