Mulberry Grove Plantation, located north of

Port Wentworth Port Wentworth is a city in Chatham County, Georgia, United States. The 2020 population was 10,878, more than double the population of 5,359 at the 2010 census. Port Wentworth is part of the Savannah metropolitan area. History The Georgia Genera ...

, Chatham County,

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, was a

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

, notable as the location where

Eli Whitney Eli Whitney Jr. (December 8, 1765January 8, 1825) was an American inventor, widely known for inventing the cotton gin, one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution that shaped the economy of the Antebellum South. Although Whitney hi ...

invented the

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

.The American Historical Review (New York, 1897), III, No. 1, 99 Once a thriving plantation, comprising, in 1798, some

... 500 acres of river swamp, under good dams and well drained; and 200 acres of upland, in good order for cotton or provisions. The remaining part of the tract, which contains in the whole more than 2000 acres, consists of oak and hickory, and well timbered pine land. There is a large and complete water machine for cleaning out rice, with barns, overseers houses, and other suitable plantation buildings, well constructed, and in good repair. There is also a convenient and well finished Dwelling House with suitable outbuildings, and an excellent garden, containing a variety of shrubs and trees both for use and ornament.

Mulberry Grove has been left to ruins, surrounded by industrial areas, and all that remains is a bronze marker outlining the history of the plantation.

History

Mulberry Grove was part of the Joseph's Town settlement, and was constructed to be a

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...

plantation. By 1740, the plantation was experimenting with planting rice, and upon the introduction of slavery to Georgia, the mulberry nursery was abandoned and rice production became the main purpose of the plantation. After the Revolutionary War, Mulberry Grove was deserted, and on April 13, 1782, the

State Legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

passed an act appropriating five thousand guineas to be used in purchasing the estate for General

Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependab ...

in recognition of his contributions to the war. President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

visited Mulberry Plantation after Greene's death in 1786, noting in his diary that he,

''called upon Mrs. Greene the Widow of the deceased Genl. Greene, (at a place called Mulberry Grove) and asked her how she did,'' and that on the departing from Savannah for Augusta he had the pleasure of ''dining at Mulberry Grove the Seat of Mrs. Greene ... ''John C. Fitzpatrick, The Diaries of George Washington 1748-1799 (Boston, 1925), IV, 176, 178.

was a guest at the plantation, during which time he constructed the idea of the

''I ... struck out a plan of a Machine in my mind which I communicated to Miller (who is agent to the Executors of Genl. Greene and resides in the family, a man of respectability and property) he was pleased with the Plan and said if I would pursue it and try an experiment to see if it would answer, he would be at the whole expense, I should loose nothing but my time, and if I succeeded we would share the profits.''

The plantation's prosperity, largely built on slavery, ended with the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, after which the estate was gradually broken up. A bronze marker, placed in 1938 on the spot where the old avenue joined into the Augusta Road, is all that indicates the location of the historic estate.

References

External links

Mulberry Grove Foundation (Timeline)

Mulberry Grove Plantation
historical marker
Washington's Southern Tour
historical marker {{Authority control Plantations in Georgia (U.S. state) Houses in Chatham County, Georgia Houses completed in 1794 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) History of Georgia (U.S. state) National Register of Historic Places in Chatham County, Georgia 1794 establishments in the United States Greene family of Rhode Island

History

See also

References

External links