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| John Wesley |
Sunday, April 4 1736. About four in the afternoon I set out for Frederica in a piragua (a sort of flat-bottomed barge). The next evening we anchored near Skidaway Island, where the water at flood was twelve or fourteen foot deep. I wrapped myself up from head to foot in a large cloak to keep off the sand-flies, and lay down on the quarter-deck. Between one and two I waked under water, beings so fast asleep that I did not find where I was till my mouth was full of it. Having left my cloak, I know not how, upon deck, I swam round to the other side of the piragua, where a boat was tied, and climbed up by the rope without any hurt more than wetting my clothes. Thou art the God of whom cometh salvation: thou art the Lord by whom we escape death.
The winds were so contrary that on Saturday 10, we could just get over against Doboy Island, twenty miles from Frederica, but could not possibly make the creek, having a strong tide also against us. Here we lay beating off till past one, when the lightning and rain, which we had long seen at a distance, dorve down full upon us; till after a quarter of an hour the clouds parted, some passing on the right, and some on the left, leaving us a clear sky, and so strong a wind right after us as in two hours brought us to Frederica. (John Wesley's Journal, Bicentennial Edition).*
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| Entrance to Epworth-by-the-Sea |
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| In Epworth-by-the-Sea |
Thankfully, our journey from Valdosta to St Simon's wasn't half as eventful. We, fortunately, did not have to attempt the journey by boat, but, rather could travel in the comfort of our car, and were able to arrive safely at the first attempt! For me this really was a bit of a Wesley/Methodist pilgrimage, but it also provided the opportunity to visit a beautiful part of the state. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at Epworth-by-the-Sea which is a Methodist retreat and conference centre owned by the South Georgia Methodist Conference. There were acres of beautiful estate in which to walk and relax, with many accommodation blocks, conference buildings, chapels and a Methodist museum. The island has the Frederica River going down one side and the Atlantic on the other.
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| Statue in museum |
We arrived on the Saturday afternoon, which meant I had to attend the museum fairly soon after arrival, as it was not open on the Sunday or Monday. It was a really interesting museum detailing much of Wesley's life on St Simon's, plus providing useful information about life on the island during Wesley's time. Staying over the weekend gave us chance to go to the chapel service on site on the Sunday morning. This did mean getting up early in the morning as the service was at 8.45. Therefore, we decided to go off for brunch afterwards. We had worried that we may be the only people at the church service as there were not many other people staying at the centre. However, we needn't have worried as there was a regular community of
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| Lovely Lane Chapel |
worshippers who meet there, plus also a group who were attending a marriage strengthening course for members of the armed services and their spouses - just one of the important courses offered by staff at the site. We received a warm welcome - even getting a round of applause from the congregation when they realised where we had come from! After a lovely brunch we headed off to the north of the island to visit Christ Church and Fort Frederica.
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| View down what was the main street |
We arrived at Christ Church, which is near to the site where both Wesleys and George Whitefield preached, just as their service was finishing. This gave us chance to look around the churchyard, but unfortunately we could not go in. However, it would be open later in the afternoon. So we headed up the road to the ruins of the fort. The fort had been built by General Oglethorpe (founder of the Georgia colony) as a means of defending Savannah and the other British colonies further up the eastern coast from possible Spanish attacks. However, Frederica became a thriving town and one of Wesley's main places to visit. There is nothing much left of the town or the fort now, but historians have excavated the site and found the ruins of buildings which stood there, so people are able to walk around and imagine what life would have been like. The historians don't only tell you what business would have operated from which building, but also who lived there - this really brings to life what remains of the area.
For example, one of the houses belonged to Mr and Mrs Hawkins. Mrs
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| Outside the Hawkins house |
Hawkins caused real problems for John Wesley. On one occasion, she asked him to come round, which he did somewhat warily. He wrote in his journal that she said:
'Sir, you have wronged me, and by God I will shoot you through the head this moment with a brace of balls.'
Wesley quickly responded:
I catched hold of the hand with which she presented the pistol, and at the same time, of her other hand, in which she had a pair of scissors. On which she threw herself upon me, and forced me down upon the bed, crying out all the while, 'Villain, dog, let go my hands.'
This continued until the constable and Mr Hawkins arrived. Mr Hawkins laid the blame with Wesley and told the onlookers not to touch his wife who still could not free her hands from Wesley's grasp. So she
...seized on my cassock with her teeth, and tore both the sleeves of it to pieces, and then fixed upon my arm.*
Eventually, Mr Hawkins grabbed his wife and removed her from Wesley. And who said island life is dull??!
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| Ammunition store at Fort Frederica |
Overlooking the Frederica River is what remains
of the fort, with a couple of canons and an ammunition store all that is left. However, the Union Jack still flies over this area as it did almost three centuries ago. Those with an astute eye will notice that it is an old version of the flag, as at that time Ireland was not part of the United Kingdom - so I'm not sure we can still claim it as sovereign territory!!
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| Oglethorpe and Tomochichi |
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| Christ Church |
After visiting Fort Frederica we returned to Christ
Church to look around the inside. The church was built towards the end of the 19th Century as the previous one had been destroyed during the Civil War. Inside the church were two stained glass windows of note (well for me anyway!). The first was of General Oglethorpe
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| The Wesley's preaching |
talking with Tomochichi - a leader of the Creek Native Americans. Oglethorpe did try to build a relationship with those who were already living in the land when he arrived, and in Wesley's journal we can read of his limited encounters with them. The other window depicts John and Charles Wesley preaching underneath one of the live oak trees on the island.
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| Was this the oak under which Wesley preached? |
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| Wesley Memorial Walk |
As we left the church we spotted another historic marker almost in the bushes close to where we had parked the car. On investigation we realised that it pointed to a Wesley Memorial walk. The walk led to a large Celtic cross honouring both John and Charles Wesley. Unfortunately, also on this walk were a number of gnats and mosquitoes - so it was a bit of a painful part of our pilgrimage!
On our final morning, after packing up, we headed to
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| St Simon's Lighthouse |
the south of the island and the St Simon's lighthouse. We have all been reading a trilogy of historical novels by Eugenia Price called 'The St Simon's Trilogy'. The first book records the life of James Gould who built the first lighthouse on St Simon's. Unfortunately, that was also knocked down during the Civil War, but this is the second one which was built shortly after the War ended. On a clear day the view would probably be amazing. Unfortunately, the storm clouds were gathering as we climbed the 129 steps to the top. However, the view was still great and the museum about life in the Keeper's Cottage was also very interesting - especially as they had a section about James Gould and the Trilogy.
With that, our Wesley pilgrimage to St Simon's was over. However, we continued following in the footsteps of Wesley as we headed north up the coast to Savannah...
*All references to Wesley's Journal are taken from http://www.ministrymatters.com.proxy.library.emory.edu/library/#/000wjw-new/aaf6fab153518614c7e1b8bda45798bc/journal.html
On Tuesday morning we travelled the short distance to the Hinton Rural Life Center where Amy, one of the friends we had gone to visit, works. On a previous visit I had had the opportunity to drive around the site, but never to get out and walk. However, on this occasion Amy was able to take us on a walk around some of the grounds and buildings. It really is a marvellous facility and I know from friends from Candler who have gone on retreat there that it is a beautiful place to stay. It too looks over Lake Chatuge (which is a huge lake) providing a restful backdrop for retreats and conferences. They also provide courses to support young clergy and those working in rural situations and have users from all over the United States - even one coming from Hawaii!
After the carriage tour we went for a bit of a walk to see the squares we didn't see on our trip round, in particular, Reynolds Square where there was the statue of Wesley, commemorating his ministry here. Along from Reynolds Square is Johnson Square which houses Christ Church, supposedly the Mother Church of Georgia, and the site where Wesley was priest. From there we were able to walk back to the bus stop to get back to our hotel.
