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VOLUME ONE.
NO. TWENTY.
Savannah—lts Romantic Past and Its Prosperous Present.
N considering the beautiful city of Sa
vannah, which lies close to the edge of
the broad Atlantic, as it sweeps majes
tically past the borders of the Empire
State of the South, one wonders almost
involuntarily if the spirit of broad phi
lanthropy which prompted the founding
of the tiny settlement at Yamacraw
Bluff, in 1733 did not in some mysterious
I
way color the entire history of the city? Surely the
unselfish effort on the part of Gen. James Oglethorpe
to establish a home for the unfortunate debtors of
England, has borne fruit of unusual rarity, for there
seems no city in all our land more
tenderly touched with glamour of
romance, more inspired with high
historic purpose and more blessed
with a rich prosperity than this
same Savannah. That the settle
ment attracted much interest from
the mother country, is amply evi
denced by the fact that among the
very first missionaries sent to
America from England, were di
rected to Savannah in 1735. In
that year occurred what is known
as the “Great Embarcation,”
which sailed from London when
Gen. Oglethorpe returned after a
brief visit to England, accompa
nied by John Wesley, the great
founder of Methodism. Wesley
was +o succeed Rev. Samuel Quincy
as a worker in the colonies, and
he preached his first sermon in
America near Tybee Island, at the
mouth of the Savannah River. It
was Wesley’s rigid observance of
the tenets of the Church of Eng
land, and the austerity of his
methods which won for himself
and his closest followers the title
of “Methodists,” by which they
are known at this time. But John
Wesley and his brother, Charles, were practical, as
■well as rigid and enthusiastic workers, and to them
is due the credit of founding the first Sunday School
in the New World, and as this Sunday School was
organized fifty years before Robert Raikes began
his system of Sunday School instruction in England
and 80 years before this system was adopted in
New York, and as it has continued until the present
time, it may be said to be the oldest Sunday School
in the world. Also in Savannah was the first book
of hymns written by John Wesley, the little volume
being printed in Charleston in 1737, one copy of
which was found to be still in existence in England
in 1878. Again to the credit of the Wesley’s is
the founding of the first orphan asylum in the
Southern colonies, as well as the first provision for
COPYRIGHTED BY P. G. SPHRECK.
SLAVE tiUTS, “HERMITAGE" PLANTATION, SAVANNAH RIVER.
ATLANTA, GA., JULY 5, 1906.
By S. T. DALSHEIMER
free education. John Wesley, because of his auster
ity of manner, and his somewhat unfortunate tem
per, became involved in some unpleasant happen
ings, and did not remain long in Savannah, but he
was succeeded by George Whitfield, who was in
every way, save in piety of purpose, a contrast to
Wesley, and who was the most beloved man in the
early colony. Whitfield carried to the fullest com
pletion the work outlined by Wesley, and his death,
after years of faithful service, cast the young set
tlement into the deepest grief. In writing of Whit
field’s death, William Bacon Stevens, D.D., said:
“It is a striking group of facts, that John Wesley,
the purest and most popular hymnist of the age;
that George Whitfield, whom Christian and infidel
pronounced the greatest preacher of his generation;
that James Oglethorpe, one of the noblest philan
thropists of his country; that Christian Gottlieb
Spagenburg, the first Moravian Bishop in America,
and David Nitschman, the founder of the settlement
of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, were all personally
and intimately connected with Georgia, and con
tributed to shape its character and its institutions.”
It would seem that an erily religious history, such
as Savannah Ind, would in a great measure, shape
its future, and it is safe to assume that this has
been the ease. Brought into early prominence, the
city has never been overlooked by distinguished
visitors to the country, and during its existence it
has been visited, not only by every notable man who
visited America in the early days, but also each
distinguished person in our own country. Although
slightly out of the line of ordinary travel, the
presidents of the United States, beginning with
Gen. Washington himself, have almost without ex
ception, visited Savannah at some time. In the
famous journal of Gen. Washington, mention is
made of his visit to Savannah, and he says on a
certain date: “We were sailing slowly down the
Savannah River, and when we came near the home
of Gen. Nathaniel Greene, I begged to alight in or
der that I might see his widow and ask her how
she did!” Geographically Savan-
nue to her people. But despite the fact that there
is comparatively great wealth in Savannah, the
city still remains as one of the very few in the en
tire country whose social life has never felt the
touch of commercialism. No entrance can be made
into the sanctuaries of the 11 first families” by any
key save that of birth and breeding, for “the po
tent power c£ gold” fails to prove an open sesame
in this conservative old city. Year after year there
is, however, a most brilliant social life in Savannah
—a life conducted on the same lines laid down by
the forefathers of the present social incumbents.
Stately cotillions, houseparties at the famous old
Southern homes, summer outings along the coast and
the summer exodus, often by sea to far off northern
resorts are indulged in from year to year with but
UOLLAKS A YEAH.
FIVE CENTS A COPY.
nah is situated so as to command
the same pre-eminence in commer
cial life as in the social and re
ligious spheres, and to-day there
is no city in the country more per
fectly adapted to become a typical
American center for trade as well
as for the highest culture along
all lines of thought and endeavor.
Within eighteen miles of the
ocean, the Savannah River is deep
enough to offer a perfect harbor
to even the deepest sea-going ves
sels, and hence her trade facilities
are greatly enhanced, for, with the
fine rail transportation lines enter
ing the city, taken in connection
with the ocean routes at her very
gates, she is in position to control
much of the Southern commerce.
As a cotton port the city ranks
only third in the country, while
in the matter of naval stores, this
Southern city leads the world. The
forests of pine which surround
her, the acres and acres which,
year by year, supply the large
markets of the world with pitch,
rosin, turpentine and tar, and are
a source of almost limitless reve-
