Reconstruction Era History at Fort Frederica

Abbott Monument and Cemetery at Fort Frederica National Monument

NPS Photo.

Fort Frederica National Monument is the location of a small cemetery of freed people from the late 1860’s and 1870’s. One of these individuals is Thomas Abbott, father of The Chicago Defender founder Robert S. Abbott. Thomas Abbott was enslaved by Charles Stevens who owned and operated vessels that were active in coastal shipping and trade. Stevens enslaved nineteen individuals according to the 1860 Slave Schedule. Throughout much of the 19^th century, the Stevens family owned a large portion of the original Frederica townsite. The individuals in this cemetery are buried just outside of the walls of the original townsite. In 1928, Robert Abbott paid 1,500 dollars to have a monument erected to honor his ancestors buried near Frederica. In letters between the Oglethorpe Granite & Marble Company and members of the Stevens family, who still owned the property, Abbott received permission to erect this monument to his ancestors. By the late 20^th century, there were no visible remains of the cemetery, and the marble obelisk was the only indication that there was a cemetery in the vicinity.

The National Park Service conducted Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in 2017 and 2019 and conducted archaeological excavations in 2019 to confirm the location of this cemetery. Much of this research was based on a map discovered in Christ Church (the property adjacent to Fort Frederica National Monument) which noted the location of a “Colored burial lot” near the wall of Frederica. This map also included the names of the individuals buried within the cemetery. Among them are Thomas Abbott and Celia Abbott, Robert’s aunt. The stories of the individuals buried in this cemetery are indicative of the complicated process of emancipation. Indeed, having gained legal freedom through passage of the 13^th amendment, many still found themselves working for former enslavers, often on the same land on which they worked during their enslavement. Finding work along with retaining communities and relationships often left recently freed people on complicated terms with their former enslavers.

Robert Abbott’s story is also a powerful narrative of African America struggles to gain success in the post Emancipation and Jim Crow worlds. Born on St. Simons Island, Abbott went on to found The Chicago Defender, one of the most influential newspapers in the early 20^th century. This paper was instrumental in aiding African Americans during the Great Migration and highlighting racial injustice and lynching. In 2023, Fort Frederica National Monument was recognized as part of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Network.

Bibliography

Department of the Interior. “Cultural Landscape Report.” St. Simons Island, Georgia: National Park Service, 2020.

Ottley, Roi. The Lonely Warrior: The Life and Times of Robert S. Abbott-Founder of the Chicago Defender. Original Copyright Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1955. Republished by Ebooks for Students, Ltd. March, 2020.

Pearson, Charles E. “Captain Charles Stevens and the Antebellum Georgia Coasting Trade.” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 75, no. 3 (1991): 485–506. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40582362.

"United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBD-9S46?cc=3161105&wc=8BNMFM9%3A1610432301%2C1610478601%2C1610478701 : 16 October 2019), Georgia > Glynn > 25th > image 9 of 11; citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).