Contact Period
The Indian tribes inhabiting the area of Wayne County during the early to mid seventeenth century after European explorers began settlement efforts are known as the Gaule Indians toward the coast and the Utinahica Indians further inland. Snow (1990) and Lawson (1987) suggest that the area was home to the Tama Indians. Following the introduction of European goods such as weaponry as well as Old World diseases, many groups became extinct, moved further inland, or joined other Indian groups. English traders named the remaining Indian groups Creek and Seminole. The groups were comprised of members of different Indian tribes speaking different languages and practicing various customs. Over time, whites and blacks also married into the tribes creating an even more complicated mix of cultures. The result was a loose federation of Indian populations often competing with each other for limited resources. This lack of unity was encouraged by the European powers who used the Indians for their own purposes. Jesuit and Franciscan missions were established along the coast in the late sixteenth century and within the interior of the Coastal Plain as early as 1615. Santa Isabel de Utinahica was established northwest of the project area by 1630. Increasing hostilities between European colonies prevented any long-term peace for the settlements (Braley 1995). Many Indians moved out of the area following the beginning of the slave trade in approximately 1660. Snow (1977) reported 29% of the sites identified in his Ocmulgee Big Bend survey contained Lamar through Historic Period artifacts.

Historic Period
Perhaps one of the most famous characters from the early history of the county was Mary Musgrove. The daughter of a white father and a Creek Indian woman, she was the niece of Old Brim, a leader of the Creeks. Mary Musgrove earned fame and fortune as an interpreter to General Oglethorpe during the English settlement of Georgia. She is credited with maintaining peace between the Creeks and the English settlements by serving as a liaison and diplomat between them due to her understanding of both cultures and languages. Already a successful businesswoman through her trading post along the Savannah River outside of Savannah, Musgrove built another trading post along the Altamaha River in what was to become Wayne County in 1737. The site, known as Mt. Venture, was located at Sansavilla Bluffs possibly named for Father Avila who ran a mission in the area. (Spanish artifacts recovered from Sansavilla Bluffs give evidence for this theory.) Musgrove’s trading post served as an advanced guard and warning against attacks by Indians from the south as well as the Spanish from Florida. She eventually married Capt. Jacob Matthews stationed at a fort built at Mt. Venture. Musgrove successfully convinced the Creeks and traders to join Oglethorpe during the War with Spain in 1740. In 1742, however, her husband became ill and was taken to Savannah where he later died. Due to Musgrove’s extended absence, many Indians left the trading post at Mt. Venture. The garrison was soon attacked by Indians from the south resulting in a massacre following by total destruction of the settlement. Musgrove later set up another trading post on the Altamaha where the Oconee and Ocmulgee Rivers converge (Martin 1990 and Elliott 2003).

Another Indian who assisted the English in the settlement of the area was Captain Alleck, a controversial figure known as an Indian doctor. Aileck lived at Sansavilla Bluffs near the mouth of Alleck Creek during the mid-eighteenth century. Alleck worked with Governors John Reynolds, Henry Ellis, and James Wright. In 1766 Alleck helped negotiate the boundary line between the English settlements and the Indian lands. After the boundary line settlement, Aleck moved from Sansavilla Bluffs, now part of the colony, to an unknown location. Some believe this location to be Doctortown, which first appeared on a map in 1768 (Goff 1975 and Martin 1990).

After the Revolutionary War, Sansavilla Bluff became the location of another early settlement known as St. Savilla. In 1792, the town was incorporated as Williamsburg, named for William Williams, one of the town’s commissioners. The town was laid out with 123 lots, fifteen streets, and three public spaces. Due to it’s vulnerable position near Indian lands, a garrison of Regular Army troops were stationed in the area. By 1818, however, Williamsburg was referred to as St. Savilla once more based on the Ebenezer map and eventually disappeared from existence. Under a grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program, the Lamar Institute and Cypress Cultural Consultants may have relocated the sites of Williamsburg and Mt. Venture. The site believed to be the location of Williamsburg, revealed a close network of house sites with common types of artifacts associated with each. Excavations at 9WY3 (known as Mt. Venture) at Sansavilla Bluffs in 2003 revealed a structure associated with melted Indian trade beads, colonial ceramics, musket balls, and gun flints. Many of these artifacts were burned or melted indicating a fire at the site. Work at the site is ongoing.

In 1796, the construction of Ft. James on the south side of the Altamaha River began. The fort was completed in 1797 according to an account by Indian Agent, Benjamin Hawkins. The fort assisted colonists moving between the colonies and the Indian lands. As the threat from Indians declined, the fort was abandoned. In the late 1820s, John Comas operated a store at the site (Martin 1990). The possible site of Ft. James was excavated by anthropology students from Georgia Southern under the direction of Dr. Steven Hale in the mid-1990s.

Wayne County was formed in 1803 from lands ceded by the Creeks in 1802 under the Treaty of Fort Wilkinson. The county was named in honor of Revolutionary War hero General Anthony Wayne. Formal organization did not begin for several years and settlement was slow to follow. Only two settlements were identified on an 1822 map of the area including Ft. James and Doctortown both along the Altamaha River. During the Civil War, the community of Doctortown became a strategic attack point. The Union army under General William T. Sherman attempted to severe the railroad by destroying the railroad trestle. His attempts failed and use of the trestle continues today (Jordan n.d.).

Jesup was not formed until 1870 and became the county seat in 1873. The origin of the name of the town is disputed. Some contend the name originated from the name of General Thomas S. Jesup, a hero from the American Indian War who captured Osceola, the Seminole Indian Chief, in 1837. Others argue that the town was named for Morris K Jessup, a New York railroad financer who saved the railroad from possible bankruptcy. The town formed at the intersection of two railroads, the Macon & Brunswick Railroad and the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad. Many of the early settlers were associated with the railroad. In 1868, two years before formal organization, the settlement was described as consisting of a railroad wood storage shed, a sawmill, a supply store, 5 bar rooms, a several houses for the white and block laborers. The first post office was established in 1871 with the first church organized in 1872. By 1895, several towns were scattered around the county although many are now abandoned (Martin 1990 and Southeastern Genealogy Online 1999).

The economic base for the area was agriculture including cotton, tobacco, corn, pecans, and livestock. In the areas along the Altamaha River, turpentine and lumber were important products. Low fertility in the area discouraged large population settlement. Later, the decreasing importance of the railroad as well as the decreasing number of pine trees in the area due to extensive tree harvesting took a toll on the economic base. The population continues to be sparse, with timber for paper production and cotton being the primary products. The Rayonier Corporation is the largest employer in Jesup with over 900 employees.

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