The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-04-06
n THE DAYS OF OLD SPAIN.
D,,x COUNTY REACHES FAR
1ACH IN HISTORY.


.ned After the Iliustrious EAR Oh
"'- lien who Defended the Cause
.ho COIonies-On Its Coast
the Spanish Buccaneers, |
Less Than a Century Ago Adj |
=, Cockburne's Fleet Rendes- |
There-sNeath Its Oaks |
nest the Remains of Light Horse
rrv Lee-A Visit to Old st.
.,.,,s and Moss DecI<ed Dungeon
rho New Life That Is Coming
,,+o the County.
,rar,den is one of the historical coun-
- Ceorgia. 1t was named after
- Earl of Camden, an illustrious no
,,o,,an who defended the cause of the
lies The county is not only re-
- with events coincident with our
F.1onial and revolutionary epochs, but
-. history goes back to the years when
10 eold-ladened galleons of old Spain
',.e,e conceded to be the rightful prey
Of the buccaneers.
y was in the waters of Camden
oo,,ntv and the rivers nearby that
1859 ocean rovers ventured forth to
r,h the passing Spaniard as he sailed
between the Bahamas and the Florida
ooast and it is not a hundred years
s;nca a United States brig of war was
lost while securing this coast for dar-
ing pirate. Whether she was captured
NV pirates and her crew put to death
and the vessel destroyed, or whether
she went down amid the fury of an
souinoxial storm, will never be known
until the sea gives up its dead.
Tn the war of 1872, Admiral Cock
hurnes fleet of British war ships made
cumberland Island it's rendezvous, to
operate against the American coast. 1t
was that officer who burnt the Capitol
and White House al Washington. Later
on an American fleet rode at anchor
for months while negotiations pro-
crossed that resulted in the cession of
Florida to the United States. 1t was
that fleet which, with the soldiers from
Amelia Island and st. Mary's. that paid
the last tribute of respect to Gen. Harry
Lee, who Lied at Dungeness, and was
buried there. Gen. Lee, returning from
the West Indies, where he had lived
for several years in a vain effort to
gain his health, which had been lost
by reason of injuries received in pro-
tecting friend in Baltimore, whose
guest he was, landed at and soon after,
died at Dungeness, the home of Mrs.
Shaw, the daughter of his old comrade
and friend, Gen. Nathaniel Greene.
1t was at this, natures favored spot,
that was silenced in death the tongue
that pronounced that immortal tribute
TO the immortal Washington, First in
War, First in Peace, and First in the
Hearts of His Countrymen."
AS the steamer Harry Lee" landed
at the wharf at Dungeness, 1 could not
but recall the fact that a short half
mile away is the place that holds the
dust Of the soldier, patriot and states
man, the father of the Greatest Captain
of the Age, the beloved and honored of
all men, The patriots panegyric on
George Washington might we'll be APP
piled 10 his son, the brave and chival-
rous Robert E. Lee.
The novelist, whether of the capt.
Kidd or Janice Meredith" school.
could find in Camden county and the
waters thereuntO belonging material
for an hundred books
Dear old st. Mary's, that still lovely
town, with its moss covered like oaks,
ITS palmettos and its pines, where men
whose names afterwards became ia
nous in army and navy annals loved
and married her fair daughters; where
men ct01d n IN
ner last possession on the North
american continent, should diplomacy
fall to secure the coveted peninsula.
Dungeness, in truth all of Cumber-
ANU Island, excepting a small holding,
IS the property of Mrs. Thomas M.
Carnegie. Upon the site of the house
IN which Light Horse Harry Lee died,
mas oeen erected a spacious mansion, |
WIN surroundings that in every detail |
are III keeping with its costliness. l |
was told that it requires $1,000 a day |
70 meet the expenses of maintaining |
tlls magnificent place; and that the |
!ady owner is worthy successor to |
nose gracious DANES of colonial, rev. |
oqtlonary and plantation epochs; con-
siderate, kind and liberal. The day / |
Vent over from Fernandina to St |
Marys Mrs Carnegie's new yacht |
SAioo arrived at Dungeness.
Inc steamer Harry Lee that phys be-
tween Fernandina, Dungeness and st.
Marys is handsome Georgia
poat, having been built at ST Mary's
oy capt John Richardson for her
commander and owner, Capt. Ed w
stone. After leaving Dungeness the
s.eamer's Prov was turned towards St
Mafys river, and it was not very long
t Delole she was moored at the wharf of
the historic city. Later on
was lat home in the St
Marys Hotel, probably the best
Planned city hotel building to be
round in any of the lesser cities or
towns of Georgia. l was given the
Governors room, the best parlor bed
room, on the first floor. The proprie-
tor is Capt, D. ]. Long, who is assist
ca by his son, Mr.. H. L. Long;
uoth gave me a hearty welcome and
tne best they had in the larder.
h.