Igbo Landing

Map of Saint Simons Island

Library of Congress

When you hear the word “legend,” what comes to mind? Some people think of family stories passed down through generations, while other think of myths and heroes larger than life. Oftentimes, legends exist with a blurred line between fact and fiction. The Gullah Geechee legend of Igbo Landing is no different.
When the town and fort of Frederica were established on the Georgia coast in 1736, African slavery was already outlawed from the new colony. The Trustees of Georgia felt the institution went against their ideals, but there was also another concern. For enslaved Africans in the British colonies at that time, the quickest way to freedom was down the Frederica River to Spanish-ruled Florida. There, if they accepted Catholicism and agreed to fight for the Spanish, enslaved Africans could become free. In order to prevent runaway slaves from strengthening the Spanish army, slavery was banned in the new colony of Georgia.
This did not stop the colonists from campaigning against the ban. The new Georgia colonists grew envious of the lucrative plantations of their South Carolina neighbors and began petitioning for a reversal of the ban soon after Frederica was established. Their initial efforts were not successful; England feared Spain more than their new colonists.
After the War of Jenkins Ear, a dispute between Spain and Great Britain that lasted from 1738 to 1748, the countries made peace. Georgia was officially declared a British colony, and the crown was no longer concerned about the Spanish threat from the south. The push for slavery in Georgia reached a breaking point in the late-1740s, and Parliament finally relented, replacing the Act of 1735 with one that allowed slavery in 1751.
This opened the flood gates. Planters from South Carolina wishing to expand their operations grew into Georgia, while coastal colonists began moving inward to develop their own plantations. By 1775, the enslaved population in Georgia had grown to almost 18,000 people. Here on Saint Simons Island, settlers moved further onto the island to start growing Sea Island cotton and indigo. After the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, the economy on the island began to really boom, with over 14 different plantations operating on the island.

 

Location of Igbo Landing

Jud McCranie

Two plantations are relevant to the story of the Igbo people: John Couper’s “Cannons Point” and Thomas Spalding’s Sapelo Island, just north of St Simons Island. In 1803, these two men purchased 75 Igbo people who had been taken from their homes in West Africa to be sold in Savannah, Georgia. Put on a ship, they were brought down the coast of Georgia to labor on these two plantations. Before they arrived at St Simons Island, the Igbo people overthrew their three white captors aboard the ship, taking control. They took the ship down Dunbar Creek, a small tributary off of the Frederica River located just two miles from Fort Frederica. After landing a few miles down the creek, the Igbo people aboard had a decision to make. After being taken over 6,000 miles from their homes with no idea how get back there, navigating back to Africa in a small ship seemed impossible. If they walked onto St Simons, they were sure to be sold back into slavery, the very institution they were trying to escape. Instead, they made a decision that cemented their resiliency into history. In order to preserve their dignity and sense of self, these people walked into the waters of Dunbar Creek to have the waters take them home, committing a mass suicide.
For generations, this story was told in diasporic African communities across the world, relaying the central message of “you may enslave my body, but not my mind, not my soul.” For a while, this event was mythologized, blurring the line between fact and fiction. Today, we have multiple records detailing the event, solidifying it as an undeniable part of St Simons Island. A letter from Roswell King, a white overseer on the island, to Pierce Butler, owner of a large amount of property on the island, detailed the journey of the Igbo people from Savannah. Another letter from Mein Mackay & Co. to Pierce Butler mentioned collecting bodies from the marsh at “an expense of ten dollars a head for salvage.” By writing their experience down, the legend of Igbo Landing became undeniably fact.
Local and regional efforts are ongoing to recognize and tell this story, including the Igbo Landing Commemoration hosted annually by the Igbo Landing Foundation. A weekend-long event held every May, the Commemoration brings in scholars and story-tellers to unite the community around Igbo Landing. A historical marker was also established in 2022 and is located at Old Stables Corner on the intersection of Sea Island and Frederica Roads. The property known as Igbo Landing is still privately owned and cannot be accessed without permission. These efforts keep the story of the Igbo people of Dunbar Creek alive and remind us of the strength of those who came before us.
Note: Since this story has been primarily passed down orally rather than written down, details vary depending on the source. The details mentioned in this article are generally consistent across most sources, while other details have been left out.
To read more about the event, explore the links and books below:
Igbo Landing Foundation website https://igbolandingfoundation.org/#history
National Museum of African American History and Culture article https://www.searchablemuseum.com/the-water-spirit-will-take-us-home
Georgia Writer’s Project. Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1986.
Powell, Timothy. “Summoning the Ancestors: The Flying Africans’ Story and Its Enduring Legacy” from African American Life in the Georgia Lowcountry, ed. Phillip D. Morgan. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2011, 253-280.
Roberts, Amy Lotson and Patrick J. Holladay. Gullah Geechee Heritage in the Golden Isles. Charleston, South Carolina: the History Press, 2019.