LIVING HISTORY

We went up to Fort Frederica yesterday to see the reenactors walking around and talking about the colonial history of the area. At one time we were the southern outpost, or frontier, of Georgia. But I won't get into that. It was cold and threatening to rain so we didn't stay long, but I have some pix of the reenactors.

Let's start off with a picture of a street sign. Frederica was laid out very neatly with nice straight streets and alleys. Now the signs are about all that's left to mark where they were, although they do keep the remains mowed.

And I need to make it clear these people don't call themselves reenactors; they call themselves living history. This General Oglethorpe pretender was in a rather heated discussion with a visitor regarding the reason for John Wesley's hurried flight from Georgia. The visitor said he was run off; Oglethorpe said he left on his own. I didn't dally in case they came to fisticuffs!

These are some soldiers huddled around a fire. They needed it today, too. I was turning blue.

And some more soldiers under a tent. It wasn't nearly as cozy as the open-air fire, to my way of thinking.

This one is of a soldier, an Indian, and a woman. They had a varied assortment of people at Frederica. The Indian Mary Musgrove lived in her own tabby house here. Charles Wesley (John's brother) stayed here, too, but was accused of adultery and left pretty quickly.

This last picture is of a Scot. The Scots were the backbone of the Frederica settlement. This one, he explained to us, was called a "pretty man." Nope, not because of his looks, though he's certainly a handsome fellow. Seems a "pretty man" means a man who's armed to the teeth. And he was! You can see the dirk handle sticking out from his coat on his right side and one of his two pistols on his left. There's also a sword on the left that we saw, although the picture doesn't show it. And his concealed knife was at his back under his coat. So he was indeed a "pretty man" arms wise!

All in all, a good day, even with the cold and raindrops!

FORT FREDERICA

We went to Fort Frederica this weekend. It isn't a well-known fort like South Carolina's Fort Sumter where the Civil War started or Maryland's Fort McHenry that inspired the Star Spangled Banner or the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine FL where Spain held sway. In fact, it was a small fort built to keep the Spanish at bay, and I guess it did.

All that's left of a settlement where a thousand people once lived are the ruins of the barracks and the powder magazine. Eugenia Price wrote several books about St. Simons and the fort. While I've read a few, they aren't quite to my style. But a lot of people enjoy them. And anything that makes history come alive has to be good.

Here's the powder magazine. The tiny circle in front was the well. See the cannons pointed down the river to engage enemy ships? I don't think they were ever fired. The Battle of Bloody Marsh took place when the Spanish marched up from the south end of the island. The fort is a very peaceful place to walk unless the park rangers are entertaining with reenactments or classes about colonial living or such. Their dream is to one day build replicas of the houses.