Excavation and Analysis of a Late Nineteenth-Early Twentieth Century Burial Found on Hutchinson Island, Chatham County, Georgia

On March 2, 1992, a wooden coffin containing poorly preserved human skeletal remains was found eroding out of the north shore of Hutchinson Island, opposite the City of Savannah. The remains were excavated by archeologists with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, then turned over to Southeastern Archeological Services, Inc. for analysis. The human remains are those of an adult male, possibly an African-American. The coffin was hexagonal in shape, suggesting an early nineteenth century interment, however the clothing-related artifacts suggest a late nineteenth or early twentieth century death date. Archival research established the chain of title to the property but failed to yield much information about the people who lived on the tract. A 1920 topographic map shows three possible houses within 650 It (200 m) of the burial; possibly he was a tenant farmer who lived in one of the structures. Alternatively, he may have been a convict, a railroad worker, a laborer, or a drowning victim. The burial is ineligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The remains will be reinterred in Laurel Grove Cemetery.