William Horton : Jekyll Island's First Colonist

The sloop Midnight slowly beat its way towards its destination on the western side of a beautiful isle--known by the name of St. Simons-- in the year 1736. On its port side was another smaller wooded isle with white beaches gleaming in the sun, back dropped by a stark green canopy of centuries old moss laden live oaks. Most of the passengers and crew faced the starboard side of the small ship, towards St. Simons Island and the river which would take them to the future site of Fort Frederica, but not all of them.

One of these other passengers, a rather tall young man with flaming red hair, did just the opposite from the rest of the interested gazers. He stared instead at the smaller green isle with a special intensity, this because he was now, for all practical purposes, the owner of this sub-tropical island. At only 27 years of age William Horton was already known as an adventurer taking a huge risk, not only with his money, but with his life and the lives and future welfare of his family.

500 acres on the island of Jekyll, named by James Oglethorpe to honor Sir Joseph Jekyll--a particularly beneficial supporter of the colony--were granted to Horton because he had paid his own passage and furnished the required 1 indentured servant for every 50 acres of land allowed to him. But it would be over a month before he could even visit his newly acquired realm. First they must establish a stronghold at Frederica

As a former undersheriff in Herefordshire England, William Horton was apparently up to the challenge and seemed to look forward to the adventure of founding a colony in the new world. Establishing a foothold in the “Debatable Land,” as the area between South Carolina and St. Augustine Florida was called, was essential to halting the Spaniard’s advance further north. James Oglethorpe headed this colonial effort with young men like William Horton to aid him in this difficult task.

What young man wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to control such a beautiful island? Can you imagine the plans going through young Horton’s mind as he watched the isle slip past the small ship on its way to Ft. Frederica? But little did he know of the things to come which changed, not only his own life, but the lives of people centuries into the future.

Leaving his family in England while he established their future home, it would be five years before he returned to bring them to the new colony of Georgia. Those five years were extremely hard fought with many periods of danger and excitement. Perhaps it was just what Horton craved after all as he quickly became James Oglethorpe’s right hand man, rising in the young settlement’s military ranks from ensign to major before his battles and life was through.

Jekyll Island, one of Georgia’s Golden Isles, has a history filled with danger and adventure. From its prehistoric beginnings and short lived Spanish occupation, it had remained virtually deserted for several hundred years except for a few priests and Indians bivouacked there for brief periods of time.

Huge piles of oyster shell midden mounds testified to the use by the natives of a winter spot for harvesting shellfish and the huge schools of fish easily obtained from the shallow waters of the beaches.

But these times were long in the past as the former native residents had been cleared from these isles by the Spaniards for use as slave workers on the Caribbean sugar plantations and for use as servants and workers in other Spanish efforts in the area.

Jekyll had been empty and waiting for many decades and Horton would be its first permanent European resident, He could hardly wait to get started building his dream home on the island.

It was April 1736 before Horton finally staked his claim on Jekyll Island. While using a signal gun to test contact with the fort at Frederica, the barrel exploded, mortally injuring the young gunner accompanying Horton. He died the next day after being ferried back to Frederica.

This was the first death in the new outpost and it certainly dampened the spirits of Horton for his long awaited arrival at Jekyll.

On May 2 Horton delivered by ship, cannon and ammo to Darien for the Highlanders new settlement. Later in the month he and Major Richards were sent to deliver diplomatic letters to the Spanish in St. Augustine in an attempt to defray new fears concerning Frederica. After reaching the St. Johns river, Horton volunteered to continue on without Richards and accompanied by two of his servants he walked the remaining 40 miles to the Spanish stronghold.

After a civil greeting and polite exchange of views, Horton and his servants were suddenly accused of spying and held for a short time until they agreed to arrange a meeting between the Spanish authorities and Oglethorpe in person. This was merely the beginning of the cat and mouse games played between the two world powers.

Not wanting the Spaniards to get a real idea of how unprepared their fort really was, Horton arranged for the Spanish officers to stay in elaborate tents with Chinese décor on his beloved Jekyll. Although the ruse kept Frederica’s weaknesses hidden, nothing much came of the meeting after all. Both sides knew it was merely a matter of time before the two countries must clash.

When General Oglethorpe had to return to England in November in a effort to bring back more troops and settlers, he left Horton, now appointed an ensign in the military, in charge of Frederica’s well being. He was fully up to the task as he managed to oversee the development of the small town until Oglethorpe returned from England

By the end of 1736 Horton had managed to build a wooden house and clear land for both cattle and cornfields. He also succeeded in traveling up the Savannah river to find Mary Musgrove who was needed to act as interpreter between the local natives and the English settlers and to aid Oglethorpe in convincing the tribes to side with the British in the coming conflict with the Spaniards.

Besides traveling to South Carolina for necessary supplies for the soldiers at Frederica, Horton made the long journey back to England in search of more men and their families to return with him to the new colony to live and to protect it from encroaching danger. On this same trip he finally brought his family back with him to live on the beautiful island where he had worked so diligently to make a home for them.

His labors on Jekyll further aided the settlers at Frederica by supplying them with grain and beef, as well as, furnishing beer from the first brewery in Georgia made on his island. He seemed to be everywhere and involved in everything in the new colony as Oglethorpe himself undoubtedly noticed.

Oglethorpe had hired Charles Wesley to assist him with keeping records of his experience and expenditures during the founding of Ft. Frederica on St. Simons Island.

His brother, John Wesley, accompanied him to the new colony in the hopes of converting the natives to Christianity.

This pious and holier-than-thou man managed to cause much strife among the settlers at Frederica and even Savannah before he returned back home to England.

Even before leaving the docks at England he managed to anger Horton by having one of his female servants put ashore for drinking and misbehavior aboard the ship.

This caused Horton to dance on the deck over the cabin occupied by the Wesleys in the middle of the night.

Although he apologized to them the next day, this was merely the first in a long line of disagreements between Horton and John Wesley.

John seemed to side against Horton in many instances which eventually caused Horton to inform John he would not advise anyone to listen to John’s thinly veiled sermons which clearly referred to individual members of the settlement at Frederica in an unsavory manner.

John continually caused strife by lecturing to those he thought were going against “God’s will” according to John’s own opinion.

Fortunately for everyone, this founder of Methodism had to flee during the night to avoid law suits and imprisonment for his overzealous actions.

Back to England he sailed to the relief of the entire colony of Georgia.

After a failed attempt by Oglethorpe to seize St. Augustine the Spaniards launched their own offensive, but not before the long awaited troops and new settlers arrived from England.

The Spaniards outnumbered the defenders at Frederica but the maze of marshes and creeks, plus the thick woods surrounding the fortified town, caused confusion amongst the attackers.

“The Battle of Bloody Marsh,” as it would come to be known, was the final conflict which firmly entrenched the British on the southeaster coast. The Spaniards would never threaten the colony again.

Although not many of the attackers or defenders were killed in this telling battle, Horton’s wooden house and outbuilding were burned by the Spanish soldiers before fleeing back to St. Augustine.

But in less than a year Horton would build a new house using tabby--a mixture of burnt oyster shells used for lime, sand, water, and more unburned oyster shells--to achieve the structure which now stands on the west side of Jekyll Island.

Even long after Horton had died the De Bignion family used the house for many years after acquiring the entire island in a failed attempt to make a large amount of profit on several of the small islands off of Georgia’s coast.

After the Island was sold to the Jekyll Island Club for its famous exclusive winter resort, the ruins of the Horton House were discovered by the children of the club members and subsequently restored in honor of William Horton and his unselfish duty to the colony of Georgia.

There is a sense of peace as one walks around these old ruins. But one can almost feel the past centuries fade away to a time where each day here on Jekyll had its dangers and rewards.

We can never repay or thank these intrepid colonists enough for their unselfish lives which enabled all we have here today. Their courage under adverse conditions is something we may only imagine in our modern world.

Some, like William Horton, are scarcely mentioned when our country’s history is examined for a glimpse of our earliest heroes. I am proud to remember William Horton’s accomplishments and unselfish acts in my home state of Georgia.

After only 13 years in the new colony of Georgia, William Horton died from the result of an epidemic in Frederica. He recovered from the illness but succumbed 2 years later in 1748.

Georgia will forever be indebted to him for his unselfish deeds and accomplishments on this wonderfully historic isle.

Be sure to visit this historic spot next time you are on Jekyll Island if you are a history buff. William Horton deserves the attention.