This Day in Jekyll History, February 1, 1930.
On This Day in Jekyll History…
February 1, 1930 Jekyll Island Club founder John Eugene duBignon dies in Brunswick, Georgia.
Best known as the owner of Jekyll Island who sold the property to the investment group that became the Jekyll Island Club, John Eugene was born to Joseph duBignon and Felicite Riffault. John’s grandfather was Henri Charles duBignon and his great-grandfather was Christophe Poulain duBignon, who with other Frenchmen came to America to escape the French Revolution. They first settled on Sapelo Island and then Christophe bought out the other interests to own and settle Jekyll Island.
In 1876 John Eugene married Frances “Fannie” Schlater Westmorland, a widow. They had a daughter Josephine who married Jennings Butts. In 1879 he bought the southern third of Jekyll Island from his brother Charles’ estate. The other two-thirds of the Island had gone out of duBignon hands due to losses during the Civil War. He built the “duBignon Cottage” in 1884 and started raising cattle.
duBignon and his brother-in-law, Newton Finney, planned to acquire the entire island and sell it to a wealthy associate of Finney’s in New York. Finney had developed many contacts through his membership in the Union Club in New York. DuBignon borrowed $8,000 from John Claflin, one of Finney’s associates, to buy the remaining holdings on Jekyll Island. The intent was to sell the entire island to Claflin but the concept changed as Finney developed interest among other contacts. Claflin released them from the contract and agreed to buy shares in the Jekyll Island Club. In 1885 duBignon incorporated the Club and in 1886 sold Jekyll Island to the investors in the Club for $125,000.
John Eugene and Finney remained principal owners of the Oglethorpe Hotel in Brunswick, GA, the stopping off place for visitors to Jekyll Island Club prior to ferrying to the island. In 1896 duBignon bought an interest in the ship “Dauntless” to smuggle guns to Cuban rebels. He stood trial for defying U.S. neutrality and sold his club stock to pay the fine.
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Tags: Dubignon, history, jekyll island
