The Florida - Georgia Border Dispute by Brenda Rees, Shaping Florida

Here's a paper I wrote and presented at the Gulf South History and Humanities Conference in 2006 on the Florida - Georgia border dispute. I mentioned this paper in another blog on ancient people and natives of Florida and Walton County. I've added some pictures and maps at the end that are quick and easy to review. I'll add more later. But, if you are caught inside for the day, you might want to take a look at this academic paper. This is an original paper and concept. Footnotes are included if you want to do your own research. Another short title I use for presentations is "John Wesley in Spanish Florida." Brenda Rees, Shaping Florida, (c) all pictures by Brenda Rees (LOG OR SIGN IN TO SEE PICTURES & MAPS)


Ship on the St. Marys River, the current border between Florida and Georgia, looking out from Fort Clinch across to Cumberland Island. This photograph, and others on the blog, by Brenda Rees.





























John Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached in Florida during 1736-1737. By analyzing John Wesley’s personal journals and diaries, geography, maps, treaties, conflicts, an Act of Congress, an 1887 U.S. Supreme Court case, and other documents, a case can be made that John Wesley preached not only in Georgia, but also in Florida.[1] To date, a review of history books on America, Florida, Georgia, or Methodism, that mentions John Wesley, James Oglethorpe or the Methodist movement in America, will cite Wesley in Georgia, a British colony, but fail to mention that he was also in Spanish Florida. That John Wesley was in Florida is significant and should be reflected in the literature. This paper, and a growing acknowledgement of the diversity of America, will allow this to happen. Wesley’s tremendous volume of published writings influenced the founding of America and documented many moments. His Calm Address had enormous circulation.[2]He lived to be 88 years old and died in 1791. His last letter was written to fight slavery, particularly in America.[3]

La Florida or Florida’s borders have twisted and turned many times.[4] As the oldest European named state on a map of America,[5] these border changes were fraught with almost inexhaustible disputes between warring nations and peoples. From secret treaties ceding parts of Florida from Spain to France[6] to outright disregard for borders by Englishman James Oglethorpe,[7] John Wesley’s host in Georgia, it is no wonder that writers, historians, and Wesley have been unaware or unsure of Florida’s borders.

Understanding Florida and Georgia’snatural borders and geography is important as both have seaward or coastal barrier islands. John Wesley visited such a barrier island and wrote of the landscape throughout his journals and diaries. Frederica, on the coastal barrier island of St. Simon’s Island, now in Georgia, was in Florida in Wesley’s time. Wesley lived, fell in love, and labored as an evangelist in Frederica. The original charter for Georgia was between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers.[8] St. Simon’s Island in Glynn County, Georgia, is “south of the Altamaha River.”[9] Wesley observed white sand and blackish sand.[10]

Florida’s physical borders have been changing and receding, like its political borders, for some time. The shape of Florida affected by water, time, and geography influenced Florida’s history and John Wesley’s religious travels. Geography, religion, and history are connected as stated in Edwin Scott Gaustad’s atlas, “Contrary to this modern (in) sensibility, the New Historical Atlas of Religion in America suggests that geography matters; that human relationships to the land matter; that region and religion affect one another.”[11] The shore where John Wesley landed to join James Oglethorpe in the Colony of Georgia and Spanish Florida was similar to today’s shoreline; although with renewed acceleration coastal cities will be submerged.[12] Archaeological and history research should proceed with this in mind. The land, the sand, and the sea level had stabilized around 3,000 years before present.[13] Sea level was rising about 25 cm per 100 years and had slowed down to about 4 cm per 100 years.[14] Barrier islands developed.[15] Archaeologist Max White said, “Barrier islands, often bordered on the mainland side by saltwater marsh, form some of the most picturesque places in Georgia.”[16] Understanding Frederica is on a barrier island matters as it is south of the Altamaha River, Colonial Georgia’s purported early southern border.

With the geography of Florida and Georgia in mind, the debate of the political borders can now begin. The political border dispute from a historical Spanish perspective is over 500 years old. Native peoples’ claims, thousands of years old, or their aboriginal depopulation,[17] are not addressed in depth here. Native peoples also regularly replaced other native peoples from occupied land.[18]

But, to begin the exploration of complex European border struggles for control, it must be acknowledged American history is anglicized. As a result, Spanish history has been ignored, slanted or treated in a condescending manner by many American historians. Perhaps this is why no one noticed John Wesley had been in Florida before now. While the British busily established colonies in the early 1600s, other countries, particularly Spain, also settled, produced documents, and drew maps of this new world. In fact, Spain had settlements in Florida about 40 years before Jamestown and Plymouth.[19] Pensacola had a settlement in 1559 and St. Augustine established in 1565.

Some Spanish settlements, now located in modern Georgia, were in Spanish Florida very early and in John Wesley’s time. Max E. White said, “Along with efforts to establish settlements, the Spanish began missionary work among the tribes, and in 1568 two Jesuits were stationed along the Georgia coast in Guale territory.”[20] It is evident a number of events catapulted the Spanish, as well as Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English into shaping the new world. Centuries old historical treaties and documents are important in understanding the Florida – Georgia border dispute. Early European battles and attempted domination of the new world must be taken into account.[21]

Background is needed here and is similar to that offered by Justice Bradley in his Opinion for the Coffee v. Groover case cited in this paper. Justice Bradley said, … “As the case before us depends upon a disputed boundary between two states, it cannot be properly understood or determined without adverting to the historical facts connected with that boundary….”[22]

Two historical events, Pope Alexander VI’s papal bull, the Inter Caetera of May 4, 1493, and Ponce de Leon’s arrival on the shore of Florida in 1513, are particularly significant in understanding early European world supremacy tactics. Historian Francis Simkins wrote, “In 1493 Pope Alexander VI divided the world outside Europe in two halves as though the earth were an apple. He gave Africa, Asia and Brazil to Portugal, and the rest of the Americas and the Philippines to Spain.”[23] This decree, while disputed or ignored by other countries,[24] was issued by a known world political, spiritual leader. The Inter Caetera of May 4, 1493 said, “…by which the Pontiff donated and granted dominion over all lands discovered and those yet discovered to the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabella.”[25]

This papal bull was after, and in response to, Columbus landing on an island off the mainland of North America in 1492. Columbus had been “acting under a prerogative granted by the king and queen of Spain….”[26] In 1513 Ponce de Leon consummated the land of Florida and North America for Spain by actually landing on and penetrating the shore of what was to become Florida and the United States of America.

There are numerous other treaties and documents that particularly affect the Florida – Georgia border dispute following Ponce de Leon’s claim of La Florida for Spain in 1513. Early on, the French challenged the Pope, Spain, and Portugal as French corsairs frequented America. Another Treaty of Madrid between Spain and France was in 1526.[27] The Treaty of Madrid in 1670 addressed the border dispute between the British colony of Carolina and Spanish Florida. This 1670 border “was latitude 32°30”, about ten miles north of the Savannah River, where Hilton Head is located, and the present boundary between South Carolina and Georgia.”[28] However, this did not stop the English from encroaching on Spanish Florida.[29] An extra complicating factor was native peoples used this border dispute to rile up the Spanish and English against each other. Historian Charles Arnade said, “The major region of dispute was the unsettled land between the Savannah and the St. Johns rivers, that is, between English Carolina and Spanish Florida, which historian Herbert E. Bolton called the ‘Debatable Land.’”[30] Part of this contentious land, known for a while as West Florida and East Florida, played a larger role in American history than has been fully realized.

John Bannon, in Bolton and the Spanish Borderlands, included, “In a very real sense the Florida – Georgia area shows the defensive role which the Borderlands often played in the broader American story.”[31] Although in West Florida, the French and Spanish did show signs of border agreement in 1719 by recognizing the Perdido River as the boundary between French Louisiana and Spanish Florida.[32]

Documents and treaties tell part of the story, but it is also early maps from the 1500s forward that illustrate the broad expanse of Spanish borders in North America and help explain how John Wesley was in Florida. A map of La Florida by Geronimo de Chavez of Spain[33] shows Florida encompassed all of the current southeastern United States as well as land to Texas and up to Newfoundland.[34] Other maps reveal encroachment or disputed borders between the European powers, with almost all showing Spain having at least some claim to the area where John Wesley traveled in 1736-1737. A map of Queen Anne’s War from 1702-1713 shows troop movements of French, British, Spanish and Native Americans.[35] Another map of Florida to Mexico 1685-1721 shows the northern limit of the Spanish claim by the Treaty of Madrid in 1670.[36] Georgia was founded as a British Colony in 1733.[37] Now, Spanish Florida added Georgia to its list of entities vying for a piece of its claimed land.

Border conflicts closer to Wesley’ time and Georgia’s beginning are abundant. Georgia’s early boundaries are often noted. One such reference stated, “When the colony of Georgia was founded, the ceded lands lying between the Savannah and the Altamaha rivers and extending their headwaters indefinitely toward the west were occupied by Indians….”[38] It is amazing such a peaceful river, the Altamaha, as depicted in a picture published with William Bartram’s work,[39] had such consequence on contentious disputes. With border conflicts and changes already centuries old by the time John Wesley visited Spanish Florida and the British Colony of Georgia; it is understandable he did not realize he preached on Florida soil. While Wesley admitted to being lost and not knowing exactly where he was as he traveled about on occasion,[40] he knew of Florida. In The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. edited by Nehemiah Curnock it said, on Thursday, December 9, 1736, “With Mrs. Musgrove he read an account of Florida. On his return in the evening he twice visited Mrs. Clark, the woman referred to in the text.”[41] Even after Wesley returned to England in 1737, the Florida – Georgia border dispute raged on. Boundaries were not settled between these “old empires … until the middle of the nineteenth century.”[42] From Pope Alexander VI’s papal bulls dividing the world, to the United States Supreme Court case in 1887, encompassed the Florida – Georgia border dispute. So, while Frederica was in Spain’s domain while Wesley was there 1736-1737, the Florida – Georgia boundary dispute lingered on for another 150 years.

Maps and treaties show this lingering conflict. It was not just a passing conflict, but a serious claim by Spain on the disputed area before, during, and after Wesley’s time. One map shows Frederica and Santa Catalina south and within the northern line of Spanish claim. Text with the map, in Mark Carnes’ Historical Atlas of the United States, said, “Spain, England, and France all attempted to control the strategic Southeast. Despite conflicting claims and the construction of forts and settlements, the Southeast remained in Spanish hands until after the Seven Years’ War, when, in 1763, it was ceded to Britain in return for Cuba.”[43] Another map, 1700-1760, depicting Colonial Frontiers illustrated Spanish control and predictably took in the Frederica area.[44]

Following this review of maps of Spanish Florida, more treaties and conflicts that affected the Florida – Georgia border are important to note as Spain continued to claim disputed areas. A few are before Wesley’s visit, but most are after and important as they show continued dispute.

They are: 1702, English Campaign against St. Augustine;[45] 1739, War of Jenkins Ear;[46] 1740, English Campaign against St. Augustine;[47] 1742, Battle of Bloody Marsh;[48] 1763, Treaty of Paris;[49] 1783, Treaty of Paris;[50] 1795, Pinckney’s Treaty;[51] 1800, Treaty of San Ildefonso, October 1, 1800 (also known as the Secret Treaty);[52] 1812, War of 1812;[53] 1819, Adams - Onis Treaty;[54] 1872, An Act of Congress in 1872;[55] and 1887, U.S. Supreme Court case Coffee v Groover.[56] The 1887 Supreme Court case acknowledged border encroachment between Spanish and British provinces.

After traveling to the nineteenth century and the U.S. Supreme Court case of the Florida – Georgia border dispute, we must step back and look once more at the Florida – Georgia world of James Oglethorpe and John Wesley. John Wesley reckoned his whereabouts from Oglethorpe. Oglethorpe knowingly stretched the borders of Georgia. An example of Oglethorpe’s creative map and border making included text in Thomas Hodler’s Georgia atlas which said, “The Martyn Map (first map of Georgia) was used by Georgia’s founder to project an appealing image and to gain public support.”[57] One Emanuel Bowen map of 1752 showed the borders of Georgia as between the Savannah and Altamaha rivers.[58] The Emanuel Bowen map and text on the inside cover of Hodler’s atlas showed an extensive border for Georgia and said, “Also interesting is Bowen’s treatment of Georgia’s southern boundary, the Altamaha, here spelled Alatamaha. Bowen shows a branch of that river threading to the sea between Cumberland and Amelia islands, far south of its true course.”[59] This depiction illustrated “cartographic warfare.”[60] Oglethorpe traveled at least all the way into Florida’s Fort St. George. A map reproduced with permission from the Colonial Office in The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. edited by Nehemiah Curnock illustrated Fort St. George on St. George’s Island, south of Amelia Island, Florida.[61] In a large fold out map in this same book, Frederica is clearly shown on St. Simons Island.[62]

As early as 1735, Oglethorpe was setting up colonists in Frederica.[63] Land titles from the list of original settlers are somewhat sketchy from the Frederica area. Mrs. Pat Bryant noted in A List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, “Fee simple titles to the land were not given by the trustees.”[64] Whether and how Oglethorpe had attained additional land from native peoples might also be questioned. One treaty for South Carolina “forbade the establishment of trading posts south of the Savannah River.”[65] Wesley’s first contact with native people came on Saturday, February 14, 1736. The day before he had word he was to meet “Tomo-chachi.”[66] Tomochichi “was chief of a small party of Creek Indians settled four miles from Savannah and four hundred miles from the main body of the Creek Tribes.”[67] Yamacraw chief Tomochichi admitted he had been banished and had just moved into the area.[68] Tomochichi’s ability to cede anything might be questioned. Oglethorpe continued “… to increase his power surreptitiously….”[69] There is evidence of a later cession by native peoples to Georgia concerning the Altamaha, but well after Wesley left. “In 1782 at Augusta and 1785 at Galphinton, certain Creek tribes ceded lands between the Altamaha River and the Florida boundary to the Georgians. These treaties were disputed by other Indians, led by Alexander McGillivray.”[70]

Notwithstanding, disputed cessions are used by Oglethorpe to justify expansion into Spanish Florida.
Wesley was aware of conflicts with the Spanish. On Thursday, May 27, 1736, Wesley acknowledged, “Within and without there were the gravest causes for anxiety. The Spaniards disputed Oglethorpe’s right to establish an English colony on St. Simon’s Island, claiming it as a possession of the Spanish Crown, and Horton knew that the colony was a rope of sand.”[71] On Friday, August 27, 1736, Wesley noted “Fr. Don Antonio de Arredondo came to St. Simon’s from the Havanna, to treat with Mr. Oglethorpe.”[72] Another confrontation between Oglethorpe and the governor of Spanish Florida, Francisco del Moral Sanchez, in 1737, produced “an agreement with Oglethorpe according to which the Georgian withdrew north from the St. Johns while sustaining his claim as far as the Altamaha.”[73] Sanchez may have paid for this concession with his life. Spain refuted his actions of conceding even to the Altamaha and considered latitude 32˚ 30” up near South Carolina as a border.[74] On Friday, August 13, 1736, Wesley said, “…where I delivered Mr. Oglethorpe the letters I had brought from Carolina. The next day he set out for Fort St. George.”[75] Fort St. George is south of Florida’s Amelia Island. Likewise, Cumberland Island, where Oglethorpe had set up a camp, was occupied by those under the pastoral care of Wesley. Fort Clinch, near Fernandina, Florida, overlooks Cumberland Island, Georgia, just across the St. Marys River. A clear view of the beach from Fort Clinch is offered where those under Wesley’s pastoral care might have wandered and guarded. Wild horses from that era still run free on the beach.[76] The true head of the St. Marys and its course to the Atlantic marks today’s Florida – Georgia boundary.[77] The “Georgia Fractions”[78] show a lingering conflict.

The border analysis of Florida from early Spanish claims through various treaties and wars lends credibility to the discovery presented in this paper and builds the case that John Wesley preached in Florida. Wesley’s journals and diaries reveal in his constant stream of commentary a multi-racial, multi-cultural world co-existing in Colonial Georgia and Spanish Florida. Understanding John Wesley’s location, where he traveled and preached, developed methods for sermons and hymns, and how it eventually led him to found what has become the United Methodist Church is important.[79] Nehemiah Curnock included a notation in the Wesley Journal he edited that, “…the spirit of the evangelist…was in him long before he reached Aldersgate Street….”[80] This could apply to Wesley’s time in Florida.

The religious world he entered when he stepped off the boat anchored near Tybee Island[81] was contentious like the border as “…the Protestant religion, the maintenance which was regarded as all important. On the west of the province were the French, and the Spaniards to the south – Papists all.”[82] Wesley, aware of the Spanish presence in his developing parish, took Spanish lessons from Dr. Nunes, a Spanish Jew.[83] He wrote of many peoples and conflicts. He met Dutch, French,[84]English, Germans, Italians, Spanish,[85] and native peoples. Serious conflict was everywhere. He wrote graphically of fighting, burning, and torture among the French and Chicasaws.[86] On the trip over, Wesley taught an officer of the Prussian government, Mr. Van Hermsdorf, who later organized “the defense of Frederica against the Spanish.”[87]

While this great mix of humanity and an epic battle among European powers raged in the new world, Wesley’s overwhelming and inspired evangelism, plus a botched love affair with Miss Sophy, eventually hastened his time off the shores of Florida and Georgia. These great trials and exposure to diverse people had a significant impact on Wesley and could be attributed to his conversion.

John Wesley visited Frederica, a key settlement, at least five times. Each Frederica trip can be examined by reviewing Wesley’s journals and diaries. In the First Frederica Journal he arrived on Saturday, April 10, 1736,[88] and departed on Saturday, April 17, 1736.[89] In the Second Frederica Journal he arrived on Sunday, May 23, 1736,[90] and departed on Wednesday, June 23, 1736.[91] In the Third Frederica Journal he arrived on Friday, August 13, 1736,[92] and departed Thursday, September 2, 1736.[93] In the Fourth Frederica Journal, he arrived on Saturday, October 16, 1736,[94] and departed Monday, October 25, 1736.[95] In the Fifth Frederica Journal he arrived on Wednesday, January 5, 1737,[96] and departed on Wednesday, January 26, 1737.[97] Wesley’s parting words to Frederica were, “After having beaten the air in this unhappy place for twenty days, at noon I took my final leave of Frederica. It was not any apprehension of my own danger, though my life had been threatened many times, but an utter despair of doing good there, which made me content with the thought of seeing it no more.”[98]

In addition, if the borders were adjusted and recognized by the Spanish treaties, such as the Treaty of Madrid in 1670, even Savannah and all areas south would also be considered in Florida. This would include many areas listed in John Wesley’s journal as places he visited.

This paper is one small illustration of a significant historical event that can be more accurately illuminated by examining Florida’s historical borders. Most of the history about Florida does not reflect its true historical significance in American history. Florida shaped more than just the 2000 presidential election.[99] The physical shape of Florida played a key role in shaping the history of America and the Methodist Church. Just as Charles Vignoles admitted in his 1823 book Observations Upon The Floridas he slighted information on West Florida because he did not have the resources to go there in preparing his book,[100] other writers and historians have slighted Spanish Florida and missed Wesley’s visit.

Wesley, the founder of Methodism,[101] spent time in Georgia, a British colony, and Spanish Florida. John Wesley not only preached and had influence in Florida, but Florida had a significant role in his conversion experience. The rough and wild terrain, as well as the wild behavior, affected him. Furthermore, Wesley wrote extensively and influenced America in its early development. To know exactly where he was while he was in America is important. That Florida shaped Wesley, America’s history, and the history of the world is a theory worthy of further exploration.

[1]Brenda Anderson Rees, unpublished research, 2006.


[2]John Wesley, The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Sometime Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, Enlarged from Original Mss., with Notes from Unpublished Diaries, Annotations, Maps, and Illustrations, Standard Edition, vol. 6, Edited by Nehemiah Curnock, Assisted by Experts (London: The Epworth Press, 1909, Reprinted, 1938), 100.


[3] Basil Miller, John Wesley (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1953), 138.


[4]Peggy Tuck Sinko and Kathryn Ford Thorne, comps., Florida Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, ed. John H. Long (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1997), 5. Listing of Florida border changes from 1719.


[5]Michael Gannon, ed., The New History of Florida (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996),xiv.


[6]Coffee v. Groover, 123 U.S. 1 (1887), 24.


[7]Charles A. Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” in The New History of Florida, ed. Michael Gannon(Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996), 110.


[8] Charles C. Jones Jr., The History of Georgia, vol. 1 (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1883, Reprint, Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, 1969), 1.


[9]State of Georgia, “Community of St. Simon’s Island,” accessed March 12, 2006, available online: http://stsimonsisland.georgia.gov/05/home .


[10]John Wesley, The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Sometime Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, Enlarged from Original Mss., with Notes from Unpublished Diaries, Annotations, Maps, and Illustrations, Standard Edition, vol. 1, Edited by Nehemiah Curnock, Assisted by Experts (London: The Epworth Press, 1909, Reprinted, 1938), 403.


[11]Edwin Scott Gaustad and Philip L. Barlow, New Historical Atlas of Religion in America (Oxford: University Press, 2001),391.


[12]Joseph C. Britton and Brian Morton, Shore Ecology of the Gulf of Mexico (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1989), 320.


[13]Anthony F. Randazzo and Douglas S. Jones, eds., The Geology of Florida (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997), 158.


[14]Ibid., 156.


[15]Ibid., 158.


[16]Max E. White, The Archaeology and History of the Native Georgia Tribes, with a forward by Jerald T. Milanich (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2002), 8.


[17]Howard F. Cline, Notes on Colonial Indians and Communities in Florida 1700-1821, reprinted as Florida Indians I (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1974),57.


[18]Howard F. Cline, Provisional Historical Gazeteer with Locational Notes on Florida Colonial Communities, reprinted as Florida Indians II (New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1974),the entire book is a listing and map illustration of native peoples’ communities from 1700-1823. Analysis is possible by studying and observing the 186 communities and 16 maps.


[19]Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History (New York: Avon Books, 1990), 10.


[20]White, Archaeology and History, 98.


[21]Jeremy Adelman and Stephen Aron, “From Borderlands to Borders: Empires, Nation-States, and the Peoples in Between in North American History,” American Historical Review 104, no. 3 (June 1999), 815.


[22] Coffee v. Groover, 11.


[23]Francis Butler Simkins, A History of the South (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956), 14.


[24]Frances Gardiner Davenport, ed., European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies to 1648, with a forward by Samuel Flagg Bemis(Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, First published in 1917, Reprinted, by Permission of Carnegie Institute of Washington, 1967), i.


[25]Guadalupe Jimẽnez Codinach, The Hispanic World 1492-1898 (Washington: Library of Congress, 1994), 27.


[26]Florida, Helpful and Useful Matter, Whitfield’s Notes, Vol. III. Statutes, 1941, 98.


[27]Davenport, European Treaties, 2.


[28]Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” 101.


[29]Ibid., 102.


[30]Ibid., 108, 109.


[31]John Francis Bannon, ed., Bolton and the Spanish Borderlands (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1964),133.


[32]Sinko and Thorne, Florida Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, 5.

[33]Geronimo de Chavez, La Florida map, archives, T.T. Wentworth Jr. State Museum, part of Historic West Florida, Inc., Pensacola, Florida, scanned copy in author’s personal collection from great uncle’s collection.


[34]Edward A. Fernald and Elizabeth D. Purdum, eds., Atlas of Florida (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1992), 82. The La Florida map was first published in 1584 in Ortelius’ Atlas of the World.


[35]Mark C. Carnes, and Malcolm A. Swanston, cartography. Historical Atlas of The United States (New York: ROUTLEDGE A member of the Taylor Francis Group, 2003), 64.


[36]Carnes, Historical Atlas, 57.


[37]Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” 109.


[38]Jones, The History of Georgia, 1.


[39]William Bartram, Travels in Georgia and Florida 1773-74 (Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1943), Plate IX, F13. Picture of Altamaha on March 11, 1940.


[40]The Journal of John Wesley, 268.


[41]Ibid., 301.


[42]Davenport, European Treaties, i.


[43]Carnes, Historical Atlas of The United States., 56.


[44]Ibid., 58.


[45]Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” 107.


[46]Ibid., 111.


[47]Ibid., 113.


[48]Ibid., 114.


[49]Coffee v. Groover, 11.


[50]Davenport, European Treaties, i; Department of State, “Treaty of Peace,” September 3, 1783, Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America 1776-1949, vol. 12, compiled by Charles I. Bevans, 1974, 10; Carnes, Historical Atlas of The United States, 97.


[51]Samuel Flagg Bemis, Pinckney’s Treaty: America’s Advantage from Europe’s Distress, 1783-1800. Rev. Ed. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1960), 313, 314.


[52]Adelman and Aron, “From Borderlands to Borders,” 835; The Avalon Project at Yale Law School, Treaty of San Ildefonso: October 1, 1800, accessed March 1, 2006, available online: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/ildefens.htm, 3.


[53]Department of State, “Peace and Amity” (Treaty of Ghent), December 24, 1814, Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America 1776-1949, vol. 12, compiled by Charles I. Bevans, 1974, 43.


[54]Harris G. Warren, “Textbook Writer’s and the Florida ‘Purchase’ Myth,” Florida Historical Quarterly 41, no. 4 (1963): 327; Department of State, “Amity, Settlement, and Limits,” February 22, 1819, Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America 1776-1949, vol. 11, compiled by Charles I. Bevans, 1974, 529.


[55]Frederick Cubberly, “Florida Against Georgia: A Story of the Boundary Dispute” Florida Historical Quarterly 3, no. 2 (1924): 29; Act to settle and quiet the Titles to Lands along the Boundary Line between the States of Georgia and Florida, Statutes at Large 17 (1872).


[56]Coffee v. Groover, 11.


[57]Thomas W. Hodler and Howard A. Schretter, The Atlas of Georgia (Athens, Ga.: The University of Georgia, 1986), 65.


[58]Emanuel Bowen, A New & Accurate Map of Mexico or New Spain, 1752, archives of Florida State Museum, Tallahassee, Fl., OCLC #39717976, reproduction in author’s personal collection.


[59]Hodler, Atlas of Georgia, inside cover.


[60]Ibid.


[61]The Journal of John Wesley, 203.


[62]Ibid., 78.


[63]E. Merton Coulter and Albert B. Saye, eds., A List of the Early Settlers of Georgia, 2nd edition (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1967), 1.


[64]Mrs. Pat Bryant, comp. Entry of Claims for Georgia Landholders 1733-1755 (Atlanta: State Printing Office, 1975), xi.


[65]Jones, Georgia History, 119.


[66]The Journal of John Wesley, 156.


[67]Ibid., 159.


[68]Jones, Georgia History, 134, 138.


[69]Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” 111.


[70]Mills Lane, The People of Georgia, An Illustrated History 2nd ed. (Savannah: Library of Georgia, 1992), 97.


[71]The Journal of John Wesley, 221.


[72]Ibid., 267.


[73]Arnade, “Raids, Sieges, and International Wars,” 111.


[74]Ibid.


[75]The Journal of John Wesley, 258, 259.


[76]Brenda Anderson Rees, personal observation at Fort Clinch, Florida overlooking St. Marys River and Cumberland Island, Georgia, October 2, 2004.


[77]Burke G. Vanderhill and Frank A. Unger, “Georgia-Florida Land Boundary, Product of Controversy and Compromise.” West Georgia College Studies in the Social Sciences 18 (1979): 59.


[78]Ibid., 70.


[79]The Journal of John Wesley, 265, 302, 311.


[80]Ibid., 265.


[81]Ibid., 145.


[82]Jones, Georgia History, 108.


[83]The Journal of John Wesley, 345.


[84]Ibid., 355.


[85]Ibid., 397.


[86]Ibid., 368.


[87]Ibid., 112.


[88]Ibid., 192.


[89]Ibid., 195.


[90]Ibid., 221.


[91]Ibid., 235.


[92]Ibid., 258.


[93]Ibid., 269.


[94]Ibid., 282.


[95]Ibid., 287.


[96]Ibid., 310.


[97]Ibid., 312, 313.


[98]Ibid.


[99]Brenda Anderson Rees, Northwest Florida Field Director for The Republican Party of Florida, 2000.


[100]Charles Vignoles, Observations Upon the Floridas (New York: E. Bliss and E. White, 1823), A facsimile reproduction (Gainesville: A University of Florida Book. The University Presses of Florida, 1977), 9.


[101]General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church, “The Wesleys and Their Times,” accessed March 18, 2006, available online: http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/.


The La Florida Map by Chavez from 1584 Ortelius' Atlas of the World, scanned map from great uncle Tom Wentworth's museum archives. Notice large and extensive Florida borders.

West Florida and East Florida, the 14th and 15th British Colonies during the American Revolution. British soldiers and citizens, some whom were likely Methodists, could have migrated or were already in the Floridas during this time. Map from T.T. Wentworth, Jr. archives, my scan copy.

Statue of John Wesley in what is now Savannah, Georgia. While John Wesley was in what is now the United States of America from 1736-1737, the land was still claimed by Spanish Florida. Britian had a treaty with Spain, the Treaty of Madrid of 1670, still in effect that put the border at 32/30 up near Hilton Head. Oglethorpe, and the Colony of Georgia, did not even begin to have any victories over the Spanish until the Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742, well after Wesley left.


The Emanuel Bowen Map of 1752, part of the "Cartographic Warfare" used as a tactic by those involved in the Atlantic Zone of Conflict as European nations vied for a piece of the New World.


Wesley wrote extensively before, during and after the American Revolution. To understand where he was while he lived here is important. His "Calm Address" had over 100,000 circulation.


The publication of John Wesley's Journal and Diaries by Nehemiah Curnock is an excellent primary source about John Wesley, founder of Methodism, in his own words. This 1938 edition is my favorite set. The first volume has a detailed map of John Wesley's travels.


St. Simons History Display. The United States Park Service has a DVD out now that mentions that there was a border issue. Be sure to see it when you visit Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island. You'll be in what was once Spanish Florida.


Fort Frederica National Monument. All Floridians and anyone interested in Florida history would enjoy a visit to this national park to learn more about Spanish Florida.


Alaqua Methodist Church in Walton County, Florida was an early Methodist Church in Florida. Octavia Walton and her family might have traveled through here during there 1827 trip. Octavia's tutor and family friend, West Florida Judge Henry Marie Brackenridge, had a land grant near here in Alaqua (near I-10 and 331).


Octavia Walton was probably one of the first Methodist Sunday School students in Florida at Pensacola's First Methodist Church per records of Mississippi Conference Missionary Alexander Tally, 1821. Tally was called to serve the Methodist Church in this area of the new territory. Methodists formed official churches as soon as Florida became a United States Territory and was no longer under Catholic Spain. Earlier Spanish census numbers showed a large Protestant population living in Florida during the last Spanish occupation. No record of any official church membership for Octavia is available, however. Octavia was the daughter of George Walton, Jr., Walton County, Florida's namesake. George Walton, Jr. was Secretary for the Territory of Florida and Acting Governor. Octavia's grandfather, George Walton, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence from Georgia. Octavia lived in Florida from 1821 - 1835. The family moved to Mobile, Alabama in 1835. She married Dr. Henry Levert in 1836 and would become known as Madame Octavia Walton Le Vert. Octavia's brother-in-law, Eugene Levert, was a Methodist minister from Marion, Alabama.


Pt. Washington United Methodist Church in South Walton, Walton County, Florida, was an early Florida Methodist Church. John Wesley, not THE John Wesley, was early preacher here. John Wesley was also an early land grant holder in South Walton as was his son William Wesley. This area, while within the initial borders of Walton County, was in Washington County from 1825 - 1913. It returned and remains in Walton County.


The Wesley House at Eden State Gardens. Built by William and Katie Wesley. Their youngest daughter had a beach house on Eastern Lake in SoWal. When you visit South Walton, you can see both the Wesley House and the Pt. Washington Church in Pt. Washington. Just take 395 north. The road dead ends in the bay. The church is on your right and The Wesley House at Eden is on your left (note new vehicle entrance.) Mickey's early beach house on Eastern Lake still exists. I look at it every day I'm home.


The Altamaha River, an often manipulated river on early Florida - Georgia maps.


Tybee Island, where John Wesley landed. This disputed land was still in Spanish Florida in 1736.


Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island with British Flag. Fort is south of the Altamaha River. St. Simons Island and other parts of Georgia were all south of 32/30, the border of the 1670 Treaty of Madrid between Spain and England.


Christ Episcopal Church on St. Simons Island. There are some beautiful stained glass windows illustrating the Wesley brothers.


Samuel Davison and Dr. Thomas Hawkins house remains. The fairly recent discovery of a few key house remains have enabled archaeologists to map the long abandoned city of Frederica. Artifacts uncovered are revealing a new story of the people who settled on this island. Frederica is south of the Altamaha River.


President George Washington took a tour in 1791 to inspect the new states in the United States of America. President Washington's visit is marked with this plaque. President Washington and George Walton were friends. After Savannah, President Washington visited George Walton in Augusta, Georgia. Perhaps young George Walton, Jr., Walton County, Florida's namesake, caught a glimpse of this visit. John Wesley would have been known to these men as he wrote papers about the American Revolution. John Wesley died in 1791.


Fort George, Spanish Mission, evidence of the Spanish in Spanish Florida.

To see a slide show on this John Wesley in Spanish Florida topic, you can go to this site by the Foundation for Evangelism of the Methodist Church. This program was presented at one of their annual meetings in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
.
http://evangelismresources.org/conte...ls-john-wesley

Brenda Rees -- Shaping Florida All pictures (c) Photographs by Brenda Rees

New books and research by history professionals and academic leaders are revealing long overdue recognition and insight to Florida's real history. "Historic Pensacola" by John J. Clune Jr. and Margo S. Stringfield, a commemorative book celebrating Pensacola's 450th is a must read. I am acknowledged on page x.

Communicating by sites such as SoWal and other internet sites seems so new and exciting. SoWal and other forums often use posting names for added interest. However, John Wesley and his friends were doing much the same thing back in 1726. They had a "Correspondence Circle." They chose secret names and used them in their letters and communication to each other. John Wesley was "Cyrus" and Charles Wesley was known as "Araspes." Miss Betty Kirkham was "Varanese" and Anne Granville was "Selima." They were ahead of "Facebook" and could "twitter" or "blog" with the best. I will be presenting "Octavia and Wesley's Women" in North Carolina soon. (btw: The monologue presentation/portrayal went very well.)

Here are my personal notes for that presentation of
"Octavia and Wesley's Women." I made some additions while in Lake Junaluska after reading some of John Wesley's letters from 1726 from a book at the World Methodist Museum located on the grounds. John Wesley had been asked by some of the women to burn their letters. John did so, but not until he had copied them!





















*Get direct quotes from Miss Sophy and John Wesley from his Journal and Diaries volume 1, and other volumes for years for Gloucestershire ladies - Betty Kirkham, Mrs. Granville’s daughters Mary & Anne; Grace Murray; and Mary Vazeille.
*Methodist Books
*See my papers for reference – book notes and Methodist Book excerpts (esp. longer draft)
*Saddlebags
*Pensacola Methodist History
*Strange Fires Book
*Display Board – Small
*Octavia’s Scrapbook
*Map of Frederica
*Book of Early Frederica Settlers, National Park DVD
*Portrait of Octavia
*Bishop Hunts Preface
*Cards, Tybee, Susanna, Miss Sophy
*Copy of my presentation and program notes, shoes, dress, jewelry, locket

Enter --
Octavia:

Ola, Bonjour, Peacheira, Hello Ladies
.
You look like an international group gathered here today. I understand that you represent countries from all over the world and states here in America for the Methodist Church . What language do most of you speak. Shall it be English.

Most of you are Methodists is that not true? Many of you will know parts of this story of Octavia and Wesley’s Women.

Your Evangelism message reaches out to Wesley’s Methodism and World Parish. That is perhaps one reason I was invited here to speak to you today. I attended what was perhaps the first Methodist Sunday School in Florida – a state with a strong Spanish heritage and influenced by peoples from a number of countries as well as the Native Peoples. It was in Pensacola of West Florida.

I am here to talk to you today about my remembrances of early Methodists and certainly something about the women in John Wesley’s life. My grandmother was British, and while she remained Episcopalian, she encouraged my Methodist Sunday School attendance. My grandmother, known as Dorothy Walton, wife of George Walton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, was my tutor and lived with us for many years in Georgia and then Florida. She valued education as John Wesley did along with the many women who assisted him in the early founding of Methodism.

That is why it was not unusual for me to go to a Methodist Sunday School, while some members of my family remained Episcopalian. There is the Christ Episcopal Church still in Pensacola, not far from where I lived. I was just visiting there a few days ago. Lovely church and fine presentations about the history of Pensacola, which is celebrating its being settled in 1559, that was before St. Augustine in 1565 and certainly before Jamestown and Plymouth! (now 450th year). It is of course older than St. Augustine. Some of the Florida Methodist History gets lost with Florida being split between two conferences. West Florida, the important political area in early Florida territorial days, where we lived, where Governor Jackson was, is separated from the Florida Conference, belonging instead to the West Florida-Alabama Conference. Perhaps the Floridas will be joined again one day.

First let me introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me. I was born in 1811 and her I am still quite alive in 1876.

I must say you are all dressed so fashionably. Such unique dresses and shoes. Did you get that in Paris? London? I take to wearing this black dress now after the war and in light of my many losses. I once traveled to London and met Queen Victoria. Have you been there and met her?

Introduction (take scrapbook)
Madame Octavia Celestia Valentine Walton Le Vert 1811-1877
Born: Aug. 11, 1811 Augusta, Georgia
1821-1835 in Florida, knew many Spanish people, Alexander Tally-Missionary from the Mississippi Conference in 1821 (he spent his last years and money trying to help the displaced Choctaw Indians and others , Early Methodist Sunday School Student
Masons
Grandfather, Grandmother – George Walton, the signer, and Dorothy Camber Walton (similar to John Wesley and Miss Sophy age difference)
Father & Mother – George Walton, Jr., and Sarah Minge Walker Walton
Brother – Robert Walton
Husband – Dr. Henry Levert
Children – Octavia, Jr (Diddie)., Claudia, Sally, a son, Carolina Henrietta (Cara Netta) named for Henry Clay, her good friend

I always supported Women and their leadership roles.
Wesley did, too. It wasn’t easy for him or myself, Sorosis – I was a member of one of the first women’s clubs or organizations in America, early college named for me, Mt. Vernon Society to save my grandfather’s friend’s home – George Washington; Vice Regent (take picture)(see posted on my SoWal.com history blogs)
Octavia was raised to be the perfect woman.



Timeline

Let me now tell you more about John Wesley who lived before, during and after the American Revolution. These circumstances affected my life, John Wesley, and the women he knew. (1703-1791)

1736 – 1737 Wesley was in America in around the area that was known as the Colony of Georgia and Spanish Florida.
Florida was a mixture of all races and nationalities,
Openess to All
Reflective of Wesley’s World Parish – the world is my parish, the world was his parish
Brenda Rees quote: may use for Octavia “Just as Christ provided a pathway for us to love, understand and be with God; Wesley and other evangelists provided a path for us to know Christ and be Christians.” – inspired by the Spangenburg effect, moment and Denman’s words
Curnock, Wesley’s Journal p. 151
[Feb. 8, 1736--I asked Mr. Spangenberg’s advice with regard to myself]—to my own conduct. He told me he could say nothing till he had asked me two or three questions. ‘Do you know yourself? Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?’ I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it, and asked, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ?’ I paused, and said, ‘I know He is the Saviour of the world.’ ‘True,’ replied he; ‘but do you know He has saved you?’ I answered, ‘I hope He has died to save me.’ He only added, ‘Do you know yourself?’ I said, ‘I do.’ But I fear they were vain words. [After my answering, he gave me several directions, which may the good God who sent him enable me to follow!] Didn’t use this as is. Time factor, etc.

Since Octavia would not know Harry Denman would have to say something like,
The great evangelists of the day
(&Harry Denman,) like Wesley, provided all with the path to know our sins were forgiven and realized to trust Christ and Christ only for salvation.

Next, allow me to tell you something about my history, background and my Methodist connections in Florida and other locals. How did I become one of Florida’s Early Methodist Sunday School students?

1763-1783 British West Florida and East Florida (Treaties of Paris) During the American Revolution, of which my grandfather fought and my grandmother was captured and made prisoner, the Floridas – West and East Florida were the 14th and 15th British Colonies. Many British loyalists fled the other 13 rebelling colonies and came to Florida. No doubt, a number of them were Methodists and they brought their religion with them. Florida had been Spanish before that, and a number remained along with other nationalities and cultures. Include Jews. Later see Denman’s remarks on Jesus being a Jew.


1776 Declaration of Independence – George Walton the signer, Wesley writings, relics, Benedict Arnold and George Whitfield thumb (from Russ), Dorothy Walton – grandmother
Wesley did not approve of the colonies separating from Britain.


After the American Revolution, Spain got Florida for the last time as a reward for helping the Americans defeat the British. While Catholic Spain ruled Florida for this last time, other religions, while not legal or recognized, were quietly tolerated.

(added: So while Methodists could legally worship in the American 13 colonies, it wasn't so in Spanish Florida. (It wasn't legal, but was tolerated.)

1795 – 15% Protestants in West Florida I would know all these details as my father, George Walton, Jr. was the Secretary of State for West Florida, the acting Governor of Florida, and then Secretary for Florida from 1821 until 1826. (also from my grandfather, George and grandmother Dorothy) Many of the affairs of state were conducted in our home in Pensacola. I would sit near him, and being very fluent in a number of languages, would translate many important papers for him.

Methodism had flowed into Florida from the Appalachian Mountains like the pure white grains of sand from the quartz of these same mountains.

1796-1801 – 25% Protestant in Pensacola – Again, this was in Catholic Spanish Florida

1810 --There were some very interesting border changes occurring for Florida during this time. Why, some of you from Baton Rouge may recall in 1810 that the Republic of West Florida was named and the border went all the way to the Mississippi River. That was short lived, but happened nonetheless.

Borders and religion were very important and mattered. There was a great deal of strife between Catholics and Protestants in some areas. The English, French, Spanish and Americans had conflicts on many grounds during this turbulent Atlantic zone of conflict and development of a new world.

1821 – Florida is United States Territory. Florida is finally wrested from Spain by the United States. As a woman who grew up in Florida, I am a product of Wesley’s women and their intellect and influence on Wesley.

1821 Alexander Tally, Octavia Student, read DAR paper, more on Tally in Satterfield, other Methodist Books. Tally served there(Pensacola) one year (from the Mississippi Conference). We both had an affection for the Indians around us. I knew their language and they called me the “White Dove of Peace.” Rev. Tally would later spend his last days and dollars on their sorrowful trail being forced from Florida to reservations in the West many miles and states away.

There were many different races, cultures and ethnic groups working and living side by side in Pensacola. We were very open and affectionate.

Tally’s work had included “Pensacola, Mobile, Blakely and adjacent territory.” Hoskins p. 16
This adjacent territory probably included what became Walton County, named for my father.

1822 The Rev. Henry P. Cook, who followed Rev. Tally was quite successful. (Hoskins p. 18) “He did very well, for at the Annual Conference that fall he reported a membership here of 37 white and 47 colored, a total of 84 members.” Here is Pensacola.

1824 Walton County founded and I named Tallahassee, being friends and conversant with the Indians of Florida.

1827 Alaqua Methodist Church and Steele Church, Poe, Poem, travels
Now this Alaqua area is in Walton County, Florida, which was named for my father when it was founded in 1824. This adjacent area probably fell under Tally’s influence, although I am not quite sure of all the particulars as I was only around 10 years old at the time when I was with Rev. Tally. My tutor Henry Marie Brackenridge, which surely many of you know, had a land grant and lived some time at Alaqua, serving as one of the first judges of West Florida. His land grant was near the Alaqua Methodist Church, so he would have been well acquainted with many of those early Methodists.

1836 Brother-in-law Methodist preacher – Eugene Levert of Marion, Alabama, wedding

Mama and my dear Papa were intent on seeing me properly married. I was already older than many of the young ladies in my debutant class. Grandmother Dorothy Walton had died in 1832, and the decision was made to move to Mobile. There is a splendid Methodist Church on Government Street, not far from where my home was. I met and married Dr. Henry Le Vert. His brother was a Methodist minister. He spelled his name one way and I another. I used the more proper French version.

My life was not without pain and suffering. In 1849 I lost my two little girls to Scarlett Fever. My friend and author of a poem about me, Edgar Allan Poe, also died that year as did my dear brother, Robert. I was not one to judge other people and it is said by some that they never heard me say an unkind word about anyone. Poe wrote a poem for me when we first met in Baltimore in 1827 – It is
“When wit and wine and friends have met
And laughter crowns the festive hour
In vain I struggle to forget.
Still does my heart confess thy power and fondly turn to thee!
But Octavia do not strive to rob
My heart of all that soothes its pain
The mournful hope that every throb
Will make it break for thee.”

1874 Just a few years ago, I attended the first Chautauqua in New York, New York Methodists – how and why it was founded with much influence from Methodists and that Octavia was a frequent traveler to New York and would have been familiar with this educational, religious, cultural event. I stayed on Broadway while in New York at the Coleman House.

As background to give you insight of my understanding of Methodists and their methods. May put this quote in purse and read. Ran out of time, but did read part of short letter from Octavia to Brackenridge)
Harry Denman reference to John Wesley remaining Anglican
p. 124 Harry Denman: A Biography by Harold Rogers
(I could say some great evangelist answered this question)
“Q. Was Jesus a Christian?
I think we must define our terms.
For example, Mr. John Wesley was never a Methodist, and yet he is a founder of the Methodist Church. Mr. Wesley had a great spiritual experience at Aldersgate. He realized his sins were forgiven. He realized he did trust Christ and Christ only for salvation.
He was a priest in the Church of England and wanted the church to have this experience. He remained an Anglican priest as long as he lived, but he was the founder of the Methodist Church.
Jesus had a great experience in the wilderness when he determined that God was going to be first in his life. He was going to live by the word of God and by the will of God and worship God and him only….I think Jesus was a good Jew. He certainly was a God-centered man. And people came to him because they saw God in him.

added: While I was not a member of the Methodist Church, neither was John Wesley.

(What year was Hendry county formed (May 11, 1923) and named for Francis Asbury Hendry) Nancy Jane Hendry Wentworth, her husband James Hamilton Wentworth (BRs great greats). Nancy Jane’s relative was --- Hendry, an ordained Methodist Minister in 1867? Confirm in Hendry papers.


John Wesley’s Women (1703-1791)


Well, that is enough about me. I understand that you would like to hear some of what I know of the Rev. John Wesley and his women.

Again, he was a great supporter of women and our involvement in the church and its many activities.
He did seem to be troubled with his personal life and women and he often wrote of anguishing moments in his journals and diaries,.

In England, before coming over to Spanish Florida and the developing English Colonies, he was close to

His mother Susanna – Make some cards up with her from my collection. Print pictures of this and Tybee Island. Maybe Miss Sophy. Vol. 1 page 273 Letter of Susanna

This was a full ten years before Fredericka and Miss Sophy.

1726 Miss Betty Kirkham – Correspondence Circle, “Varanese”
John Wesley was “Cyrus”; Charles Wesley was “Araspes”
Autumn of 1726 John Wesley “conversed most seriously for a hour”
Damaris was Betty’s sister
Mrs. Granville’s daughters Mary and Anne – was “Selima” p. 203 Vo. 3 Curnock 2 pp, letter
Gloucestershire ladies
P 23 1726 garden
P 24-27 Curnock Vol. 1


Educational force of Methodism instilled in Wesley by these early women friends.
Ten years later – Time just got away from John.

Curnock said "They fostered refinement, thoughtfulness and religious aspiration."

Mrs. Pendarvis -- The youthful widow of Mr. Charles Pendarvis.

Same social rank.

Some say that Miss Sophy 1736-1737, who we will hear about next, was John Wesley's first love. But, upon further research and reading, you may conclude that it was one or two of these ladies of 1726 that first caught John Wesley's fancy.

1736 – 1737 John Wesley had landed on Tybee Island, I’ve brought a card for each of you with a picture near where he landed as a remembrance of our visit today. It is so beautiful there. Have any of you visited this place?

He then goes to Ft. Frederica on St. Simons Island. Another lovely travel spot. Who among you have been there? Well, you can quite imagine the circumstances.
(He visited there five times and helped arrange for Miss Sophy to be there.)

Miss Sophy or Miss Sophia Christiana Hopkey, niece of Thomas Causton
John 33 Sophy 18 (Not much different than George & Dorothy Walton)get their marriage ages like 2? And 14?
At Frederica
The Dispute, who all disapproved of this marriage, what happened, husband, William Williamson
Banns 'not published' per some rule of the day
Parting Words - Quote: may also need this in purse

1748-1749 Grace Murray – (see Russ’ paper) Miss Grace Norman
First Husband was a sailor
Meeting, first class leader, traveling companion see P. 416
April 8 John married his brother and Sarah Gwyne, Sally
Jealous of Molly Francis
p. 415,416 See Love and Friendships of John Wesley in the Winter Number of the Methodist Recorder, 1902
John Wesley’s Last Love by J.A. Leger, D. Litt, Paris
Wed. Sept. 6 – p. 426-427 Curnock. On this day Wesley questioned Grace Murray “Which shall you chose?” She replying, ‘I am determined by conscience, as well as inclination, to live and die with you.’ How could John Wesley not ask this woman to marry him on the spot!!!
P 429 Hendley Hill Grace, John
P 439-440 Important explanation Mr. Whitefield tried to help and make John feel better. Charles had rushed and pushed Grace to marry John Bennett.
The Other Preacher – John Bennet see p. 375 vol. 3 Curnock Oct. 3, 1749 married
If they’d had cell phones or texting, this might not have happened!


1751 Mary Vazeille, a wealthy widow – 3,000 lb (I saw 10,000 somewhere), four children (1710-1781) (see Russ’ paper)
Meeting and the Arrangement, Feb. 18 according to the Gentleman’s Magazine
or 19th married according to the London Magazine
John Wesley was married to Mrs. Vazeille
Jointure of L10,000. Her independent wealth might have enabled her to later leave him.
John and Mary had signed a type of "pre-nup"
Charles and Sally’s relationship, her sisters Betsy and Peggy
Wesley’s Women Friends and Correspondence – Sarah Ryan “terms inelegant but exact” letter of domestic woe “three living husbands of three different nationalities.”
Example of language of terms of endearment in letters
1755 serious breach – letters, physical violence
1771 she left him
1772 she returned
1776 she deserted him Curnock p. 23
Wesley traveled
Parting, remembered her children in last writings kindly “my dear granddaughters”
He referred to her sometimes as “Molly”

Charles was happily married. Charles and John had pact to not marry without the others approval. This worked pretty good for Charles, not so for John.
514 – Blame of Charles for Grace Murray Bennett
515 – Charles reaction to marriage
This time John ignored his “Holy Club’ rules and married Mary, if he had ignored likewise two years earlier, he would have married Grace and just gave an ‘apology.’

John Wesley’s following of the rules destroyed his hope of a personal loving relationship and he did not get married until he didn’t “follow the rules” and just later apologized.
Because the point is to be saved and to know. br

Still need to read other journals for Grace and Mary.


Just my fyi p. 17 vol. 7 Facsimile of Coke’s Ordination
Vol. 7 p. 183 Wentworth

notes from "The Letters of The Rev. John Wesley, A.M." Edited by John Telford, B.A. Standard Edition London
The Epworth Press J. Alfred Sharp

p. 50 " 'Cyrus' seems to be taken from the play, of which Mrs. Pendarvis tells her sister on November 11, 1727: 'You shall have Cyrus as soon as I can get him' Wesley's diary shows that he was at Stanton on July 31, where he stayed with the Kirkhams..."

Aug. 14, 1730
Mrs. Pendarvis replies
"On the fly-leaf of this letter is a postscript in Miss Ann Granville's writing. She tells Wesley that her sister is about to visit Bath, and that if he wished to wait on her he had best write to ascertain her movements. She says that Varanese had sent him a letter by the carrier a fortnight ago, and desired to know whether it had come safe to hand..."

We know about Charles Wesley's early hymn writing from these young ladies letters to John and Charles. They shared books, reviews, assistance, etc.

Miss Betty Kirkham - 'Varanese'
Anne Granville - 'Selima'
John Wesley - 'Cyrus'
Charles Wesley - 'Araspes'
Miss Mary Pendarvis - 'Aspasia' (confirm that this is Mary Granville?)

Early note of John Wesley about Spanish and insight into his inclinations toward them.
P. 21 July 1725 Letter to Mother
'Spaniards daily plunder our merchantmen as fast as they can catch them in the West Indies.'

It was Ann(e) that asked for some of the letters to be burned. See more about her and her