The dead towns of Georgia

by Jr. Charles C. Jones

The legislature which passed this Act constituted John Wereat, Robert Holmes, James McGillivray, William Clark, Simmons Maxwell, Thomas Collier, and Joseph Stiles, Commissioners for the town and commons of Hardwick, with power, upon three months’ notice published in the Georgia Gazette, to cause a survey to be made, as nearly as possible, in conformity to the original plan of the place. This survey they were required to record in the office of the Surveyor of Bryan County; and also in the office of the Surveyor General of the State.[245]

By the second section of the Act these Commissioners were directed to sell at public vendue, to the highest bidder, at such time and place as they should deem best, and after published notice of six weeks in the Georgia Gazette, any vacant lots in the town, and any lots which should have become vested in the State of Georgia, reserving such only as might be proper for public uses. The proceeds arising from these sales were to be primarily applied to the erection of a Court House and Jail; and, if any balance remained in the hands of the Commissioners, it was to be expended in building an Academy. Within three months after the completion of such sales these Commissioners were to make full return to the State Treasurer of the number of lots sold, the price which each brought, and of the application of the funds realized.

On the 23rd of December, 1791,[246] Hardwick was again designated, by special legislative enactment, as one of the points in Georgia for the erection of a public ware-house, and the inspection and shipment of tobacco.

Eight years afterwards[247] the Justices of the Inferior Court of Bryan County were authorized to lease, from time to time, and for a term not exceeding seven years, the common of Hardwick and the glebe lands of the County, and apply the rents and profits therefrom arising to the repair and improvement of the County roads and bridges.

Although the Act of 1793 appointed Commissioners and provided for the erection of a County Court House and Jail at Hardwick, it does not appear that the contemplated buildings were ever constructed. But few terms of the Superior Court were held at this place. As early as 1797 the General Assembly of Georgia[248] authorized the Justices of the Inferior Court of Bryan County to make permanent seat of the public buildings “at the Cross-Roads about two miles from Ogechee bridge, or at any other place within half a mile of the said Cross-Roads.” For this purpose they were empowered to purchase land not exceeding two acres in extent.

There the public business was transacted, until, in 1814, the Legislature[249] was induced to sanction the selection of a new site more central in its location and more convenient of access to the inhabitants who had multiplied in the upper portion of the County. Godhilf Smith, Henry Sherman, James Martin, Zachariah Wells, and Luke Man were designated as Commissioners to sell the old lot and buildings at the cross-roads, and purchase in behalf of the County a parcel of ground at the new site to be chosen at or near Mansfield, on the Canouchee river, and superintend the erection thereon of new public buildings.

Thus, instead of becoming the Capital of Georgia, Hardwick soon ceased to be even the County-town of Bryan County.

In Sibbald’s “Notes and Observations on the Pine Lands of Georgia,”[250] &c., written in 1801, we find the following notice of this village: “Hardwick, situated near the mouth of Ogeechee river in Bryan County,—the navigation being good, and having an extensive river running through a fertile country,—bids fair to arrive at some considerable degree of Importance.” This promise was never fulfilled.

From the best information we can obtain we are persuaded that the population of Hardwick probably, at no time, exceeded one hundred souls. In 1824 Mr. Alexander Netherclift was the only resident; and Sherwood, in his Gazetteer of the State of Georgia for 1829,[251] speaks of Hardwick simply as “a cluster of houses in Bryan.” Among those who, from time to time, were inhabitants of the place, may be mentioned Mr. Clark, Dr. Ward, Mr. Mifflen, Dr. John Jenkins, Dr. Anthony Benezet, Dr. T. J. Charlton, Dr. Louis Turner, and Mr. William Savage. The commerce of Hardwick was never large, and was conducted by means of small craft plying between it and Savannah. Sloops and schooners sufficed, with occasional trips, to convey to a market the agricultural products of the neighborhood, and in return to bring back plantation supplies.

After the removal of the public buildings from the Cross-Roads, and upon the completion of the causeway through the swamp and of the bridge over the Great Ogeechee river,—thereby establishing immediate and convenient communication by land with Savannah,—the trade of Hardwick declined, and its small stores,—abandoned of their keepers,—lapsed into decay.