Phase III Data Recovery Excavations at the Colonel’s Island Salve Settlement (9GN173)

From January to August 2015, Brockington and Associates, Inc. conducted Phase III archaeological data recovery excavat10ns at the l Colonel's Island slave Settlement site (9GN173). Proposed development at Colonel's Island in Glynn County, Georgia will impact 9GN173. Previous archaeological testing investigations (Ledbetter et al. 201 I; Singleton I 978) determined this site contains significant archaeological research potential, and it was recommended eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterion D. The Georgia Historic Preservation Division (GHPD) and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Savannah District, concurred with the recommendation.

In August 2013, the USACE Savannah District, the GHPD, and the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), calling for Phase III archaeological data recovery excavations at 9GN173 prior to land altering development in the area. Proposed development will adversely affect 9GN173. This report is presented in compliance with stipulations in the MOA to mi1tigate adverse effects to 9GN173. This data recovery investigation is conducted in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA, as amended).

Site 9GN173 represents six slave cabins and three postbellum residences located in the southern portion of Colonel's Island. The slave quarters are situated approximately 100 meters east of the postbellum residences. Our field investigations recorded remains of these structures, as well as three additional outbuildings in the slave settlement. These archaeological data provide primary information regarding slave and postbellum life conditions, available from no other source. The slave settlement, located approximately two miles from the main plantation house, was likely constructed during the 1830s as an ancillary settlement to support nearby cotton fields. John Parland, the new owner at the time, may have established this village to expand his production on the plantation. His untimely death in 1836 transferred plantation management to his widow and her father and brother, Francis M. Scarlett and Francis D. Scarlett. Together, the Scarlett family managed the Colonel's Island plantation until the eve of the Civil War, when all was abandoned on Colonel's Island. The present archaeological investigations verify historical descriptions from the late antebellum years, while adding more personal glimpses into the lives of the slaves who once lived at the settlement, and for whom there is no written record. In addition, we have been able to record at least some information about the nameless few who returned soon after the war to re-build a few homes, plant some corn, and subsist on the land once again.

Activities described in this report provide mitigation tor adverse effects to Sate 9GN173. Acceptance of the final report will complete all mitigative actions required for 9GN173 under the data recovery plan and MOA, as amended during the progression of the project.

Artifacts recovered from 9GN173, along with the field notes and photographs, will be delivered to the Laboratory of Archaeology at the University of Georgia for permanent curation upon acceptance of the final report.

Although not required, part of future work on Colonel's Island might include a more detailed study of the genealogy and relationships between the residents of Fancy Bluff and Colonel's Island. 'This might involve some discussion and oral history interviews with family members living both in and out of the area. Additionally, we suggest that as part of the mitigation of this project some effort be made to involve the current residents of Fancy Bluff and Brunswick in hearing the results and seeing the artifacts of this present study.

The activities of this project have helped to preserve information from a locale associated with a part of history of our state and nation that has been overlooked or ignored for nearly 150 years. Only in the past 30 years has attention been turned to the plight of the enslaved African American. The findings of this project provide an opportunity for the people of Georgia and the United States to gain a better understanding of the daily lives of both the slave and the planter during the late antebellum period. This project provides additional meaning to a locale associated with the enslaved in the midst of one of the most defining events of our past - the Civil War, and the slaves' path to final freedom.