The dead towns of Georgia

by Jr. Charles C. Jones

On the 20th of June, 1758, Mark Carr conveyed three hundred acres of this five hundred acre tract, including that portion bordering upon Midway river, to “James Maxwell, Kenneth Baillie, John Elliott, Grey Elliott, and John Stevens, of Midway, Esquires,” ... in trust that the same should be laid out as a town by the name of Sunbury;—one hundred acres thereof being dedicated as a common, for the use of the future inhabitants;—and in further trust “that they, the said James Maxwell, Kenneth Baillie, John Elliott, Grey Elliott, and John Stevens and their successors, should sell and dispose of all and singular the lots to be laid out in the said town of Sunbury to and for the proper use and behoof of the said Mark Carr.”

Captain McCall[171] suggests that “the town was called Sunbury,—the etymology of which is probably the residence of the sun,—from the entire exposure of this place to his beams while he is above the horizon.” We believe that this projected village was named for Sunbury, a quiet and beautiful town in Middlesex County, on the left bank of the Thames, only a little way above Hampton Court, and distant some eighteen miles by land from London;—it being a pleasant custom among the colonists to perpetuate in their new homes the memories of persons and places dear to them in the mother country.

In ancient records, says Lysons, this place (Sunbury in England) is called Sunnabyri, Sunneberie, Suneberie, &c. Sunnabyri is composed of two Saxon words,—sunna, the sun, and byri, a town,—and may be supposed to denote a place exposed to the sun, or with a southern aspect.

A name better suited to this locality could scarcely have been suggested. It recalls the peaceful memories of one of the gentle towns of old England, and typifies the genial influences of the “King of Day” as, from early dawn until sunset, he irradiates with floods of light the bold bluff “on the westermost bank of the river Midway.”

Two of the Trustees,—John Stevens and John Elliott,—were prominent members of the Midway Congregation. James Maxwell had been for several years a resident of St. John’s Parish. He and John Stevens were members of the Provincial Congress which assembled at Tondee’s Long-room in Savannah on the 4th of July, 1775.[172]

Kenneth Baillie and Grey Elliott were active and influential citizens. The latter was subsequently selected by the General Assembly to act as an assistant from the Colony of Georgia to Dr. Benjamin Franklin who had been chosen by several of the Provinces,—Georgia among the number,—and sent on a special mission to England to represent the wants and grievances of the Colonies, remonstrate against such acts of the Crown as were deemed oppressive, and oppose taxation without representation.[173]

All the Trustees, therefore, were men of position and character, commanding the respect of the community. Their selection for the trust indicated sound judgment and well-placed confidence on the part of Mark Carr.

The road from Savannah to New Inverness in the Darien settlement which, in 1736, in obedience to Mr. Oglethorpe’s orders, was located by Captain Hugh MacKay, Jr., with his company of Rangers, and Indian guides furnished by Tomo-chi-chi, had been completed. Various settlements on the Savannah, Vernon, and Great Ogeechee rivers, and also on St. Simons island and the Alatamaha river having been confirmed, between 1740 and 1750 planters with their families and servants began to move in and occupy desirable localities intermediate the Great Ogeechee and Alatamaha rivers. The sites, at first selected, lay along the line of the Savannah and New Inverness road, and upon high-grounds adjacent thereto bordering upon salt-water streams and swamps emptying into them. Between the Great Ogeechee and South-New Port rivers was formed the Midway settlement.

This district derived its name from its location, which was about midway between the rivers Savannah and Alatamaha then constituting the northern and southern boundaries of the colony. It has been suggested, and the belief is current with some, that the true spelling is Medway, and that both the District and the river which permeates it were named for one of the well-known streams of merrie old England.[174]