Sims Lanier spoke to Bulloch County Historical Society members and guests at their most recent meeting about “Ghosts of Grandeur: Georgia’s Lost Antebellum Homes and Plantations,” the book by nonfiction author Michael W. Kitchens.
Lanier, a Statesboro native and fourth-generation lawyer now in his 44th year in practice, is a life member of the Historical Society currently serving on its board of directors. About 100 people attended the society’s monthly luncheon Feb. 27 in the Pittman Park United Methodist Church Social Hall.
“I’ve had a number of people ask me is this going to be something about the ghosts and the spooks that haunt Savannah and all that sort of thing, and the answer is no. …,” Lanier said. “’Ghosts of Grandeur’ in this context means something that’s barely discernible, a faint outline, a trace of something that’s left. In this case the trace of something is the fingerprints, or in some instances nothing whatsoever, of old antebellum homes and some of the fine structures that existed in this state.”
With “Ghosts of Grandeur,” published in 2012, Kitchens became the 2013 gold winner for Best New Voice in Nonfiction in the Benjamin Franklin Awards sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association and also captured the 2013 Georgia Writer’s Association silver medal in the history book category.
The book features descriptions and backstories for more than 80 vanished, pre-Civil War mansions in seven regions of the state. With a slideshow including historical photographs and a few floorplans, Lanier talked about a large selection of these.
Probably the most famous such estate in coastal Georgia is Dungeness on Cumberland Island. Revolutionary war hero Nathaniel Greene acquired the property, and his widow, Catherine Littlefield Greene, had the original Dungeness mansion built in 1803. With four stories stacked atop a 24-foot mound of shells, the tallest tabby (oyster-shell concrete) house in America rose 91 feet above sea level and became a landmark for sailors.
Revolutionary War cavalry commander “Light Horse Harry” Lee and his son, Robert E. Lee, stayed there in early 1818, until the elder Lee’s death that March. Abandoned during the Civil War, the first Dungeness manor was nearly destroyed by fire in 1866. Industrialist Thomas Carnegie bought the plantation in the 1880s and built a 59-room mansion. This second Dungeness was destroyed by fire in 1959, but the ruins remain part of the island’s attractions.
Bulloch-Habersham House
None of the vanished stately homes Lanier mentioned were in Bulloch County, but the Bulloch-Habersham House in Savannah was built circa 1818 for Archibald Stobo Bulloch (1767-1830), son of the Archibald Bulloch (1730-1777) for whom Bulloch County was named. The elder Bulloch was the first governor of Georgia after the Declaration of Independence; the younger was a Savannah merchant, judge and collector of customs for the port.
His and his wife’s English Regency-style mansion, designed by architect William Jay, stood at the corner of Barnard Steet on Orleans Square. After the Great Fire of Savannah in 1820 destroyed their commercial property, the Bullochs were forced to sell their home, which went to Robert Habersham.
The Bulloch-Habersham house was torn down around 1916 to make way for a civic auditorium, also later destroyed. But exterior and interior photos of the mansion remain.
Lanier noted that the “Ghosts of Grandeur” author himself once talked about the book in an installment of the Averitt Lecture Series, hosted annually by the Bulloch County Historical Society with support from the Jack N. and Addie D. Averitt Foundation. In fact, Kitchens spoke here and did a book signing back in September 2013.
Irish Music at the Averitt
Now the 29th annual installment in the Averitt Lecture Series, featuring musicians Colin Farrell and Dave Curley on the subject of “Irish Music and Education” is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, March 12, 2023 at the Averitt Center for the Arts on East Main Street, Statesboro.
“In the past few years we’ve tried to add some more entertainment to this (series), so it’s not just a lecture,” said Virginia Anne Franklin Waters, the Historical Society’s executive director. “This is year I’m very excited … not only will they be doing Irish music but they will also be telling us how Irish music affected our way of life in south Georgia.”
Georgia Southern University’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching is another sponsor of this year’s event, she said. The lecture and reception are free to the public.