In a manuscript dated 1610, entitled “Instructions for suche things as are to be sente from Virginia”, it listed “Hard Pitche, Tarre, Turpentine, and Rozen.” The monetary value of these “naval stores” had long been recognized.
    In 1790, a 31 ½ gallon barrel of pitch fetched 25 shillings and 8 pence ($114.18 in today’s money). The Yellow Pine in the South soon was considered to be the best source of turpentine.
    From rosin and gum turpentine were obtained pitch (thickened resin) and tar (liquefied resin) used, at first, to seal the hulls of sailing ships. Before long, these were used to make soaps, candles, medicines, paints, lubricants, and solvents.
    Whereas in 1850, North Carolina had 785 turpentine stills that produced 62 percent of all naval stores in the nation, by 1891, Georgia had 228 turpentine stills that produced 52 percent of the nation’s naval stores. Most of Georgia’s turpentine production took place in the Wiregrass.
    The ports of Savannah and Brunswick led the nation in exports of naval stores, with over 1 million barrels shipped just in 1891-2.
    The regular method of collecting turpentine was by “boxing” (or cutting) the tree with a large twelve-inch long and three-foot wide gash some ten inches above the ground. Above this cut, “chippings” were made into the tree every week with a sharp steel instrument called a “hack”.
    Gum would then flow from the cut into the box. Then, a man called a “dipper” would come back and remove the rosin with a trowel-like spade and scrape off the hardened gum into huge wooden 50 (or 60) gallon barrels.
    These barrels were carried on wagons with nine-foot high wooden wheels which were hauled from the forest to the stills. These stills were curious looking contraptions, comprised of a copper condensing tube (or worm) that carried steam and turpentine oil from a huge copper kettle to wooden barrels.
    The “stiller” and his crew cooked three separate loads, or “charges,” in large iron kettles. The oil floated to the top and the gum settled on the bottom of these huge kettles, and were collected and stored separately.
    W. H. Sharpe set up his turpentine still along the Ogeechee River, W.B. Meyer set up his still near Laston, R. L. Graham built a still near the Fellowship Church, W.W. Bland opened a still in Westside, the Carr Brothers set up in Adabelle, and J.A. McDougald and Jessie Outland (B.T.’s son) opened their own business.
    Unfortunately, after several “boxings”, the tree was likely to die from insects or disease, thereby removing it from production. The average life of a “boxed” tree was between four to six years. It is estimated that at first as much as 10 billion board feet of lumber was lost due to turpentining.
    According to the Statesboro News in 1903, the clearing of the dying trees "led to increased production of Sea island Cotton, making Bulloch farmers even more prosperous.”
    Several Bulloch Countians came up with a very good idea. The E.E. Foy Manufacturing Co. (owned by E.E. Foy, his son John E. Foy, and W.W. Olliff) started a small “tram railroad” operation to carry these logs to their mills.
    James N. and William Wood, along with B.L. Robertson, owners of  the Wood Manufacturing Co., built their own “tram railroad,” named the Cuyler and Woodburn Railroad, to carry logs to their sawmills as well.
   
    Roger Allen is a local lover of history. Allen provides a brief look at Bulloch County's historical past. Email Roger at rogerdodg er53@hotmail.com