White Bluff, Georgia
Encyclopedia
White Bluff was a collection of communities—Nicholsonboro, Rose Dhu, Twin Hill, and Cedar Grove—located in Chatham County, Georgia
, United States
and now part of Savannah
. In 1940, as part of research published in Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes, the total population was estimated at 400. The communities were centered on White Bluff Road, eight miles southeast of Savannah.
Drum and Shadows describes White Bluff as a "quiet Negro community" where "moss-hung
oaks form a canopy and cast filigreed shadows" upon the community's main road. Many of its older (as of 1940) inhabitants were former slaves
on a large plantation
on St. Catherines Island
owned by Jacob Waldburg. They moved to White Bluff in 1868 after Waldburg reclaimed the island, which after the Civil War
had been briefly reserved for freed slaves
by General Sherman's
Special Field Orders, No. 15
.
Chatham County, Georgia
Chatham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The county seat and largest city is Savannah. In the official US Census of 2010, Chatham County had a total population of 265,128 . Chatham is the most populous Georgia county outside the Atlanta metropolitan area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and now part of Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. In 1940, as part of research published in Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes, the total population was estimated at 400. The communities were centered on White Bluff Road, eight miles southeast of Savannah.
Drum and Shadows describes White Bluff as a "quiet Negro community" where "moss-hung
Spanish Moss
Spanish moss is a flowering plant that grows upon larger trees, commonly the Southern Live Oak or Bald Cypress in the southeastern United States....
oaks form a canopy and cast filigreed shadows" upon the community's main road. Many of its older (as of 1940) inhabitants were former slaves
History of slavery in the United States
Slavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
on a large plantation
Peculiar institution
" peculiar institution" was a euphemism for slavery and the economic ramifications of it in the American South. The meaning of "peculiar" in this expression is "one's own", that is, referring to something distinctive to or characteristic of a particular place or people...
on St. Catherines Island
St. Catherines Island
St. Catherines Island, also known as Santa Catalina, is one of the Sea Islands or Golden Isles on the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, 50 miles south of Savannah in Liberty County. The island is ten miles long and from one to three miles wide, located between St. Catherine's Sound and Sapelo...
owned by Jacob Waldburg. They moved to White Bluff in 1868 after Waldburg reclaimed the island, which after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
had been briefly reserved for freed slaves
Reparations for slavery
Reparations for slavery is a proposal that some type of compensation should be provided to the descendants of enslaved people in the United States, in consideration of the coerced and uncompensated labor their ancestors performed over several centuries...
by General Sherman's
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
Special Field Orders, No. 15
Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 15
Special Field Orders, No. 15 were military orders issued during the American Civil War, on January 16, 1865, by General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi of the United States Army...
.
External links and sources
- Article on White Bluff, from Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes, via the "Internet Sacred Text Archive"
- Public domain image from Drums and Shadows, via the Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
- Special Field Orders, No. 15, from the history dep't website of University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College ParkThe University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
- Nicholsonboro Church, from the history dep't website of Armstrong Atlantic State UniversityArmstrong Atlantic State UniversityArmstrong Atlantic State University, also referred to as Armstrong Atlantic, Armstrong, or simply AASU, is a four-year public university part of the University System of Georgia. It is located on a campus in suburban Savannah, Georgia, United States...
- Historic church gets grant for renovation (Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
version here), a July 27, 1998 article from the Savannah Morning NewsSavannah Morning NewsThe Savannah Morning News is a daily newspaper in Savannah, Georgia. It is published by Morris Communications, Inc. The motto of the paper is "Light of the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry"... - Georgia's Coast in photographs and more
