Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-08
ITEMS FROM THE RECORDS
THE PARADE GROUND AND ITS
HISTORY.

its grant and ownership a MORNING
News reporter called upon Isaac Beckett,
Esq, who has spent much time in the
study and arrangement of memoranda re-
latIng to titles and transfers Of property.
Mr.. Beckett opened his safe door and
lifted out several volumes OF manuscript
records, alphabetically arranged. so that in
a moments time he could refer to any
property within the city or the limits Of
the farm lots and al a glance could trace
its title back 10 the first grant. without
the necessity for a long and tedious search
through the musty old records Of the Su-
perior Court Clerks office requiring. per-
haps several days Ct laborous work.
''Can you tell me anything about the
history of the parade ground and how it
came TO belong 10 the military. as / I'M
derstand it does - asked theFeporter.
Il Will, with pleasure" was the reply,
''but in order 10 do so properly am com
PEELED to refer to my memoranda, which
you perceive are Of large proportions.
They are 50 arranged, however, that I
can turn readily to any particular sub
ject. The military parade ground or as
il is generally but enormously called. the
Park Extension is composed Of portions
Of three originally separate tracts Of land.
That part OF It north Of Gwinnett street be-
logged from the earliest period Of the his
tory OF the city-in fact. ever since 1860,
when by act Of the Provisional Council
the town commons were defned-to the
people OF the then town, afterwards the
city Of Savannah. The remainder is made
up of sections Of two Of the old township
farm lOts-NO. l Holland tything. Perez
val ward, on the west Of prOlongatiOn
OF Bull street, and No. IyrcOnnel tything.
Derby ward. on the east Of II. In 1890 or
theTeabOuts the former was the property
Of Col. James Johnston and the latter
Of the Milledge family. In the year
1897 the United States became the GWner.
by purchase, of the north half OF the Per
clval ward lot, being the territory now
bounded on the west by Montgomery
street, on the east by Bull street, or, as il
was then known. the White Bluff road,
and on the north and south by Gwinnett
and New Houston streets. This land
was used for a cantOnment until 1893.
when the Mayor and Aldermen. for the
consideration of twelve thousand dollars,
sold to the General Government the
square upon which the OgIethorpe Bar
racks, on Bull street, was erected, and
which has been recently sold to capital
lists Of this city for the erection Of a
hotel.
GRANTED TO THE MILITARY.
In 1858 the United States conveyed to
the Mayor and Aldermen the north halfof
the farm lot formerly used for military
purposes, and soon after the City Council,
by ordinance dated August H.. 1853,
granted to the volunteer military COM
panies Of Savannah, for the purposes of a /
military parade ground, all that portion
of il lying west Of Whitaker street. The
conveyance was subject to two c0ndi-
tiOns: First, that the military companies
should cause the grounds TO be properly
cleared; and, second that they should not
permit them TO be used for any
other purpose than that Of a parade
ground; and it was provided that if the
military should use or allow its use for any
other purpose, the land should revert to
the city, and again become part Of the
municipal property. 1t was also pro-
yided that the land should remain subject
to the police regulations of Savannah.
The Captains of the various volunteer
companies for the time being were, by the /
ordinance, invested with absolute control /
of the property and charged with its care I
and protection.
afterwards, in 1860, upon the petition |
of committee Of the military organiza- /
tons, requesting the exchange Of the pa /
Tade ground then in use-that is. the part /
of the old cantOnment west of Whitaker /
street-for the land south Of and imme- /
diately adjoining Forsyth Place, COun- /
Gil passed an ordinance making the ex- |
change as requested, and to cOnsummate !
JuAo III Etil4tLbJ BIICudSEtl from time 10 !
time, from the various owners, the lots Of /
land in Derby ward lying south of Gwin- 1
nett street, between Bull and DraytOn.
The owners Of these lands were Mrs.
Mary NJ. Marshall, George 5. Owens, I
Thomas Z. Lloyd. the estate of Michael /
Prendergast, and one or two others, and
the transfers ranged over a period of 4
nearly three years. In most of these
cases the city gave in exchange other lands +
owned by the corporation, although in
a few instances the transfers were made
for cash consideration. But by what
ever means the city may have acquired
title, the land was all dedicated to the use
Of the military organizations, for a parade
ground, upon the identical terms and con-
ditions attached to the original grant of
the nineteen acres west of Whitaker
street"
..rrbo, .,,o ,o,.,,,5 .--,-onnd does not belong
70 the cityY'
"Under this statement Of facts, it is
evident that it does not and is not subject
in any way to the control of the Mayor
and Aldermen. They have no right to
plant a tree or shrub therein. or permit
It's use to base ball clubs or bicycles with
out the consent Of the Captains, for the
time being, Of the various military COM
Danies,' but as such consent involves for
Ieiture Of the land to the city, it is rea-
sonable to assume that it viii not be
granted"
FARM" STREET OR ''FAHM'' STREET.
''Can you tell me the proper name ofthe
street in the western part of the city some
times called Farm street and sometimes
Fahm' streetw
'sThat is a difficult question to answer.
In all the earlier deeds it is called Farm
street, and in plan ofthe estate of Joseph
Clay, by McKennon, City Surveyor, exc
cuted in 1906, it is also designated by that
name. 1t was not until many years sub
sequent to this that the name OF "Fahm'
was generally adopted. i say generally,
but as a matter OF fact the name Farm
is frequently used up to the present
time. There was a Frederick Fahm in
this city as early as 1893, who seems to
have been a landhOlder of some prOmi-
nence. His name frequently appears
during the early part Of the present |
century in connection with transfers Of
realty. In the earlier deeds, or in some
of them, he is called "Frederick Fahm,
blacksmith" So far as l gather from
hasty examination Of my memoranda,
do not find that he owned any property in 4
Yamacraw-most of his earlier transac- |
lions were in connection with Arson /
ward and other property in the old city. /
| conclude that Farm is the proper name /
from the fact that it was so-called at a /
very early period-even during the lie /.
time Of Frederick Fahm, and that it was
designated by that name upon the earliest /
plans of that section of Savannah, known
to be in existence at the present time"
THUNDERBoLT AND O'BRYANVILLE.
In speaking of the various suburban To-
calities, Thunderbolt and BOnaventure
were mentioned. ''How long has Thun-
derbolt been known by its present nameE'
asked the reporter.
cit is called Thunderbok in the earliest
deeds on record. Back among the nineties
a large land owner Of those days named
william O'Bryan. the elder laid out
portion Of the bluff as town, and be-
slowed upon it the name of 'OBryan-
ville' The new name did not become
popular, and most of the people who pur-
chased O'Brvanville town lots sold them
by the old name of ThunderbOlt, although
a few chung to the new-fangled name.
Indeed, find one deed Of as late date as
1854. wherein the granter describes land
conveyed as "a lot in the town Of O'Bryan-
vile. sometimes vulgarly called Thunder
bolt but the effort was too much for his
strength-hIs remaining estate was soon
after that conveyed by his administra-
tors
sHow does the place derive the name
ThunderbOlt?"
The origin of the name is involved in