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It is hard to imagine that there is any place left that is almost just as it was when the ocean subsided and the land that is Georgia was revealed. Therefore today, lets stir up the wildlife a little as we talk about the history of this primeval island.

Ossabaw is one of the northern most and one of the largest of the barrier islands, that protects the Atlantic coastline of Georgia. However, who would think that this island has had a most colorful history. There are ruins to prove that human life did have an impact there. Ah, so many memories are tucked away amidst its natural beauty.

However, now the island is almost totally deserted by humans. This is why there are still vast evergreen forests, where the pines, palms, magnolias, holly, and ancient live oaks grow to enormous sizes.

Let’s not forget the saltwater creeks, tidal rivers and freshwater ponds that were formed by the overflow from deep, cold artesian wells that have been there for centuries. When we sniff the air, we can tell that there are salt marshes of enormous size. Here, the tall, reedy grass is bright green in the spring and summer, turning to gold in the fall and winter. In all probability, they look the same as when the first European explorers came sailing along the coast in the 1500s.

When going way back in time, we found that there are prehistoric mounds on the island and they are dated back thousands of years with most still not having yielded all their secrets to archeologists. Some have told of the burial customs of prehistoric tribes, while others have been found to be merely the remains of many feasts, when Ossabaw was a favorite hunting and fishing ground.

Of course, when an island has a name like Ossabaw there is bound to be a variety of spellings and also other names for the island. On old records and deeds, the name appears as: Ossabah, Ussuybaw, Hussaper and Hussaba. These all seem like words that were used by the Indians.

Another name to this island goes as far back as the Spanish pronunciation of the Guale Indian name, which means: yaupon-holly bush place. The Guale used the leaves of the yaupon-holly to make the traditional black drink, that they served at town meetings.

When the island did have ownership, it was always private. Ossabaw’s first property transfers can be traced back to when General Oglethorpe landed on Yamacraw Bluff and began his famous friendship with Chief Tomochichi. The two men agreed on a treaty, which gave primary ownership to the Creek Indians of Ossabaw, St. Catherines and Sapelo, as islands where they could hunt. Later, those islands were given to an American Indian, Mary Musgrove, in gratitude for her being an interpreter for General Oglethorpe.

Because of this treaty, there was a lengthy court battle, in which Ossabaw changed hands many times. Near the end, the island was sold to Grey Elliott, a prominent resident of Georgia.

Before the Revolutionary War, Elliott deeded the island to Henri Bourquin, who in turn, sold it to his son-in-law, John Morel, in 1760. He was the first owner to clear and cultivate the land. Within a few years, the Morels had built a residence on the north end of the island and had planted an avenue of live oaks. At this time, lumber was one of the chief exports from the new colony of Georgia and many white pine and oak were cut and shipped from the forests of Ossabaw.

As the land was cleared, fields were planted with indigo, a valuable crop in the days before synthetic dyes came about. On the island’s fertile soil, fields were prepared in March and planted in April. They then yielded two crops during the long, hot summers, one in June, another in August.

When the American Revolution started, agriculture and lumbering stopped. In October, 1776, there was even a small detachment of American troops that camped on the island. Eventually, the barrier islands were evacuated before they would be shelled by the British gunboats which sailed along the coast.

It is known that in 1779, two American sailing ships ran aground on to Ossabaw. These ships were burned by their crews to escape being captured by the enemy.

During the years, while Georgia was in the hands of the British, Ossabaw was a place of refuge for some of those who were American patriots. Stories are told of trees being cut in the forests and secretly used to make small boats for those hiding on the islands.

After the end of the Revolutionary War, the Ossabaw forests were the supplier of timber to the government for shipbuilding. The fields where crops were grown were enlarged and the island became a self-contained community, which produced everything necessary to live on the island.

Later, Morel divided the property into three sections: North End Place, where the family lived, Middle Place and South End. During the life of John Morel, these sections were settlements of houses built for the hands who worked those parts of the island. At the death of their father, three of the Morel sons inherited the Ossabaw plantation, North End Place became the property of Bryan Morel, Middle Place to Peter Henry and South End to John the second.

Now, cotton came into the picture and it became the most popular crop because the semitropical weather was ideal for growing it. Seed plants were brought to Ossabaw and this became the best cotton ever grown.

When we were fighting the British again for our freedom, during the War of 1812, many islanders went to the mainland for safety. When the British attacked the coast of Georgia, some of the islands were invaded, but there is no record of enemy landings upon Ossabaw.

Finally, the war years were followed by a long period of peace and prosperity. Ossabaw fields were white with cotton, her wharves busy with barges, schooners and boats of happy visitors who came for the hunting, fishing and partying, as the Morels planned  business meetings and social affairs. Each generation of Morels shared their favorite legends and talked about the valor of their ancestors, some of which fought in the Revolutionary War.

However, after the death of Peter Henry Morel, the ownership of the Middle Place passed from David Johnston to Sir Patrick Houstoun and on to Alexander McDonald. South End Place was divided in 1852, into two plantations: one called Buckhead, that was still owned by the Morel family, the other, which kept the old name of South End Place, was sold to George Jones Kollock, who never lived on the island but made frequent trips to his plantation to supervise the farming on the property and his family enjoyed it as a vacation home.

Ossabaw was evacuated by everyone during the War Between the States. Ossabaw Sound was blockaded and there was a federal battery up on the North End of the island, where a number of troops were stationed in the summer of 1863.

In 1864, Confederate Lieutenant Tom Pelot, led a force that captured the two masted Union warship, “Water Witch”, that was lying at anchor in Ossabaw Sound. The ship became a Confederate patrol boat along the Georgia coast. Most important was to try and prevent a Union blockade which would prevent ships from entering the ocean route into Savannah. The Confederates did try to bring the “Water Witch” into the city by an inland route but it soon ran aground.

Visitors to the island during the years after the War found everything greatly damaged and that only a portion of the North End House remained. Other buildings were in bad repair and only a few of the former workers lived at Middle Place.

In the following years, the fields were left uncultivated and the property was sold. When this happened, the North End Place had been in the Morel family for more than a hundred years. When Buckhead was sold, it had belonged to Morels and their descendants for nearly a century and a half.

By the turn of the 20^th century, the island was almost entirely owned by the Wanamaker’s of Philadelphia. Once again, Ossabaw became the place to hunt. Some of the plantation buildings were repaired and were used. Then a clubhouse was erected on the North End in 1876. It was one of the earliest prefabricated houses erected on the islands.

In the 1890s, more ancient mounds were examined by archaeologists and some of the artifacts, such as mortuary urns, and pottery bowls, are now on display in the Smithsonian Institute.

In the first 25 years of the 1900s, Ossabaw once again had many owners, until in 1924, when Dr. D. H. Torrey of Michigan, became the sole owner. By this time, the island had been uninhabited for so long that it had become over run by wild cattle and hogs. Folks came and herded out the tick infested animals and replaced them with animals, like wild turkey, quail, marsh hens and migratory ducks.

The Torrey’s then found out how difficult it was to build on an island. Not deterred, Dr. Torry built a huge Spanish style home on the north end. This was a spreading, two story house with pink walls and a tile roof. It had balconies and a walled patio.

This house was reminiscent of the early colonial days having a great, beamed living room with a massive fireplace made of stones brought to the island in ships. None of the stones in the fireplace were native to the barrier islands.

After the family settled in, hospitality returned. Cattle and deer shared the open range together and on the hundred miles of unpaved roads, the pedestrians and motorists shared them with those who were riding horses.

On the Avenue of Oaks that the Morel’s had planted, the trees were in serious need of a tree surgeon. He did the best he could and did save some of the old trees. However, the necessary pruning gave them a somewhat grotesque look. However, the children loved them and gave them names. One that had a twisted trunk and was called, the Breakfast Tree, where packages of food were left for early hunters. Another one, with a grotesque figure, was the Gnome Tree.

In 1961, Eleanor Sandy Torrey West, who was the only person still living on the island, together with her former husband, Clifford West, formed the Ossabaw Island Foundation. This organization began the Ossabaw Island Project. From 1961 through 1982, the project brought together creative artists and musicians. They were given the opportunity to concentrate on their work in pleasant surroundings.

In 1978, Ms. West sold the island to the State of Georgia, which took over the management of her programs. However, a lack of funds eventually ended many of the worthwhile projects she had started.

In 1995, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, listed this island as one of the nation’s eleven most endangered places. The large pink stucco mansion was deteriorating as were the three tabby cabins that were built around 1845. Those cabins were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The island also has two hundred archaeologically significant prehistoric sites. Plus, there still are some of the breathtaking live oaks that were probably planted in the 1760s.

While Ossabaw is now almost totally deserted by humans, it is home to about five hundred alligators, two thousand deer and more than three thousand hogs. There also is a herd of sixty donkeys, descended from those that were given to one of the boys who lived on the island, thirty years ago. Controlled hunts each year eliminate about three hundred each of the deer and hogs, but keeping their numbers down is very hard for the state to manage.

What is probably most remarkable about this well-preserved island, is that the Torrey family chose to sell it to the State rather than to the better paying private developers, who wanted to ruin it by building golf courses and condominiums.

What a wonderful legacy for such a magical island. Too bad there aren’t more folks who realize that once history is gone, it is gone for good. I have never met anyone who came to a place because of its parking lots, Walmart, hotels and such! Have you?