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Happy Halloween!

10/30/2019

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Here's some spooky southern folklore, courtesy of the Midway Museum.
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​At the historic Midway Cemetery, the wall around the cemetery is made of brick, covered by plaster for protection. You’ll notice a crack in the wall on the northeast corner.

Legend says that, centuries ago, when the wall was first built by slaves, an argument broke out between two of them. As punishment, the overseer required them to continue working after the others had gone home. Once alone, the quarrel became more bitter and they began to fight. One slave took a brick and hit the other – killing him.
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​The surviving slave buried the body beneath the wall and told his master that the murdered slave had run away during their fight. 
However, as the wall was completed and the grave began to settle, a crack in the wall developed. Multiple attempts were made to repair the wall, but each time the crack determinedly reappeared. Finally, the ground below was dug up and the slave’s bones were discovered and removed.

However, even after refilling the ground and repairing the crack one final time, it reappeared. It is recorded that an elderly black local once explained the legend of the crack, “Ain’t no use fer de white folks fer men’um. Dat hant gwine crack um fas’ es it get fix.”
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Midway Cemetery, Georgia

10/29/2019

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For some people, fall means pumpkin patches and photo ops. To history buffs, it also means prime cemetery tour time!
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Some of my favorite Coastal South gravestones are in the Midway Cemetery.  Started in 1754 by the Puritans who settled the community of Midway, many of its gravestones contain colonial designs like the one above.


A brochure providing a walking tour of the cemetery is available from the Midway Museum (across the street). This tour features information on individuals buried, as well as stories about the graveyard and unusual gravestones and epitaphs. 
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P/C vanishingsouthgeorgia.com/
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Dorchester Puritans of Midway, Georgia

10/28/2019

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Just off Highway 17, about 10 miles south of Richmond Hill, sits a small historic town named Midway, GA. In colonial days, the area was called ‘Midway’ because it served as the halfway point between the Savannah and Altamaha Rivers.

Like much of our coast, Midway was settled by Europeaners in search of religious freedom and farmable land. Those that settled Midway were English Puritans, who made their immigration obvious to trace.

The Midway settlers originated in Dorchester, England. From here, they moved to Massachusetts – and fittingly named their first settlement Dorchester, MA. They eventually continued their journey to South Carolina, where, once again, they named the area Dorchester, SC.

However, in the late 1600s, members of their group moved once more – further south to the area of Midway, GA. What did they name their new village? Dorchester, of course!
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What drew the small group of Dorchester Puritans to move to this unsettled, remote area? A grant of approximately 30,000 acres of land from the trustees of Georgia.

Why so much land? Because colonial officials wanted to outnumber the local Creek Indians, so they tried to incentivize settlers to move to the area.. And, their plan worked.

In the 1690s, it is recorded that an influx of approximately 800 people had moved to the Midway District (300 white settlers and 500 slaves).
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    Posts are a combination of my own research, visits, and conversations, plus various information found around the web. I try to provide sources, but if you have specific questions, feel free to ask!

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