Cumberland Island
The Cumberland Queen II and recently calfed offspring.
May 16, 2017 we drove from our motel in Fernandina Beach Florida to St Mary's Georgia-known as the gateway to Cumberland Island National Seashore. 45 minutes later we arrived in time to catch the 9 am ferry to the island. Only 300 people are allowed on the island at any one time. A pleasant ferry ride up the St Mary's River and across the Cumberland Sound to one of the Island docks we did go. We acquired the last two tickets for a six hour tour of Cumberland Island. We eschewed the invitation to walk the 18 mile island in the footsteps of early natives, explorers, and wealthy industrialists. Walk? Hot and muggy. No thank you. Instead, we bobbled and shuttered our way north and south on a deeply rutted washboard ersatz road in an air conditioned 9 passenger gravity defying van that had a Sherman tank suspension. Let the adventure begin. Now boarding....
Cumberland Island Autobahn. This is the best section of "road." When we started wash boarding I think the crack on the front window expanded 3 inches. We stopped for a feral horse, two armadillos and an injured hiker. Transportation was arranged for the hiker's 7 mile return trip to basecamp. Severe ankle strain.
Off the main road, we visited four marked old graves surrounded by a coquina wall. The gravestone on the right is for Robert Stafford, early plantation owner (1790-1877). He claimed assets of 8,000 acres and 350 slaves. He never married but he had six children with the mulatto nurse who worked in the hospital he built and two other children with another slave. He was a slave owner who treated his slaves in a most unusual way as we shall soon learn. The gravestone on the left is for Thomas Hutchinson professional golfer from Scotland who placed seventh in the 1900 US Open. He was hired to teach golf to the Carnegie family. They built a nine hole golf course for family and friends near their mansion. Unfortunately it has long since gone to seed. Wild horses graze what was probably once upon a time beautiful fairways.
This is the first Black African Baptist church in the Settlement in 1893. The windows were originally painted white. A carry over from former religious beliefs the residents brought with them from the Caribbean. The painted windows kept out evil spirits. "The Settlement" was set up on the north end of the island for black workers. In the 1890's Georgia passed laws that required the separation of the races in housing and public facilities. On the Stafford plantation slaves were educated, allowed to earn and save money, and possess their own firearms to hunt for deer, wild hogs and other animals. It was, of course, slavery. But in many respects they were not treated as slaves. Because they were allowed to earn and save money many were able to purchase land and build their own houses. One additional interesting piece of history: this is where John F Kennedy Junior was married. Now you know.
The Settlement
Here are two pictures of the church, home of the unofficial mayor of the Settlement Beulah Alberty whose moonshine business and raccoon trapping were only two of her money making endeavors, one of a decaying nearby house, and the school bell. The church was used as a school house during the week. The bell was made and shipped from Philadelphia. I think it was paid for by Beulah.These houses were quite substantial and would make great vacation homes today-The fixer upper would take a little TLC.
These are the ruins of the second Dungeness Mansion built on this site. Thomas Carnegie and his wife Lucy built their Dungeness on the foundation of one built by Nathaniel Greene. This one was a 59 room whopper. Thomas died before it was finished but Lucy lived there until 1925. It rotted away for nearly 30 years before a fire reduced it to the skeleton we see today.
The Dungeness
Here are a few pictures of the ruins:
When we turned a corner of the ruins the stallion took exception to our presence. These are feral horses and this is not the petting zoo. They are relatives of the horses left by the Spaniards. We reversed course and went the other way. Some of the horses were scrawny and mangy; however, most looked very healthy.
Lucy built plum Orchard mansion for one of her children. The daughter-in-law thought it was too small so her father sent money to expand the size. I took a picture of the mansion from the road out front however there were so many trees blocking the view I had to use this one. Sorry about that.
Come in. We are so glad you could visit us.
The Mrs. will be down momentarily. A few pictures from inside the mansion follow. The pool is not 18 feet deep. It is an optical illusion. It is 9 feet deep. Carol was the only one to know the couch name. Women were so cinched up with their corsets that when released by their maid they fainted. Hence it is a fainting couch. The mansion was littered with gorgeous Tiffany lamps.
Carol wanted to bring this Tiffany lamp home with us. No way.
The woman who wore this was actually 180 pounds. It is amazing what a corset can do..... did you know that corsets reduced breathing capacity by 2 to 29%?
We had a picnic in the "backyard" of the mansion. Rule: pack out what you pack in. The oak trees are between 300 and 400 years old. In the distance Carol is finishing lunch. We brought Cliff bars-one each. I brought a backpack bladder filled with ice and water however all the water leaked out. We could have refilled the bladder using water from the mansion however the sulfur smell was so strong we could not drink it. Lesson learned. Tighten the cap as if it was a corset.
Just before we boarded for our return trip to St. Mary's we saw two wild turkeys trotting down the beach. We had a great day. We were very lucky to get tickets for the ferry ride and tickets for the tour. We highly recommend that if you do this get on the Internet and get your tickets ahead of time. Secondly do not attempt this tour on foot or during the summer months. Regardless, bring lots of insect repellent , sunscreen and most importantly water. Oh, and ladies loosen your corsets. Enough said. Carol says I'm overdoing the corset references. Yep!