Bethesda Orphan House

The Bethesda Orphan House was founded by the English evangelist George Whitefield on several hundred acres of piney woodland ten miles from Savannah, Georgia. The campus included a grand house with a piazza, a well-stocked garden, and extensive fields initially worked by members of the orphanage and later by slaves.

Overview

Site Dates:1740
Site Owner: George Whitefield; Selina, Lady Huntingdon; The State of Georgia
Site Designer(s): James Habersham
Location: Chatham County, Georgia (near Savannah)
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History

Recruited by John Wesley, the charismatic young preacher George Whitefield (1714-1770) journeyed from England to the American colony of Georgia in 1738 with the expectation of advancing the evangelical movement in the New World — in part, through the creation of an orphanage. Renowned for the vast, enthusiastic crowds that flocked to his sermons in England, Whitefield also attracted overflow audiences during his brief stay in Savannah. “The seed of the glorious gospel has taken root in the American ground,” he wrote to a friend in November 1738, “and, I hope, will grow up into a great tree.” On his return to England, Whitefield used his increasingly popular itinerant preaching as a vehicle for drumming up philanthropic support for the orphanage he envisioned in Savannah. By the time Whitefield returned to America in 1739 he was an international celebrity attracting enormous crowds. From Boston to Savannah, Whitefield delivered empassioned sermons that spawned thousands of converts. Benjamin Franklin was so impressed that he offered to print Whitefield’s journals and sermons, publishing a total of forty-three books and pamphlets related to the preacher and his movement between 1740 and 1742.

Having received a grant of 500 acres of land in Georgia for his orphanage, Whitefield entrusted the selection of a specific site to James Habersham, whom he had brought from England in 1738 to serve as a school master. Whitefield believed that a remote location would protect the children from corrupting influences, and Habersham duly selected a piney, woodland wilderness ten miles from Savannah near the Vernon river. He immediately began clearing the land for planting, so that when Whitefield returned to Georgia on January 11, 1740, he was free to focus on designing the buildings and other improvements that would allow the orphanage to be self-sustaining. In his "Account of the Affairs of the Orphan House in Georgia," written in December 1740, Whitefield reported that his compound then consisted of four framed houses, a large stable and cart-house, and a sixteen-room "great house" large enough to accommodate his entire "family," which he expected to be ready for occupation within two months. "It is now weather-boarded and shingled; and a piazza of ten feet wide is built all around it, which will be wonderfully convenient in the heat of summer." In addition, he reported, "Near twenty acres of land are cleared round about it, and a large road made from Savannah to the Orphan House, twelve miles in length—a thing not before done since the province has been settled."

The notoriety of Whitefield's orphanage raised the curiosity of travelers passing through Savannah. Following a visit to the orphanage in 1743, the English writer Edward Kimber (1719-1769) asserted, "The Garden, which is a very extensive one, and well kept up, is one of the best I ever saw in America, and you may discover in it Plants and Fruits of almost every Clime and Kind." Maintenance of the garden fell to the girls, whose "vacant Hours were employ'd in Garden and Plantation-Work." Five years later another English visitor described "a beautiful Garden and a fine Orchard containing allmost all Sorts of fruits, Trees, and Herbs which the country will afford," as well as "Yards about 120 feet long, planted with orange Trees." William Bartram in 1765 similarly noted the "garden handsomely laid out and planted with oranges, pomegranates, figs, peaches, and other fruit trees."

Whitefield died in 1770 after attempting unsuccessfully for a number of years to turn Bethesda into a college, along the lines of Princeton in New Jersey or William and Mary in Virginia.

Following Whitefield's death in 1770, responsibility for the orphanage passed to his patron and heir, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791), who continued the work of recruiting teachers and missionaries. A fire destroyed the main house in 1773, and further damage resulted from a second fire in 1805. By then, the institution was functioning as a school for children of the poor, supervised by the State of Georgia. In 1855 the Union Society purchased the property and built a new orphan house, once more combining residential care for parentless children with the mission of Christian education. Today the 650-acre campus is home to the Bethesda Academy, a private boarding and day school for boys. The oldest child-care institution in the United States, the Bethesda Academy sustains Whitefield's religious and educational mission, as well as his commitment to training children in land cultivation and stewardship, offering work study programs at its organic farming facility and wildlife sanctuary and preserve.

--Robyn Asleson

Texts

• Whitefield, George, January 20, 1740, journal entry describing preparations for Bethesda Orphan House

"Went this Day with the Carpenter and Surveyor, and laid out the Ground whereon the Orphan-House is to be built. It is to be sixty Feet long, and forty wide. A Yard and Garden before and behind. The Foundation is to be Brick, and is to be sunk four Feet within, and raised three Feet above the Ground. — The House is to be two Story high, with an Hip-Roof: The first ten, the second nine Foot high. — In all, there will be near twenty commodious rooms. — Behind are to be two small Houses, the one for an Infirmary, the other for a Work-house. There is also to be a Still-House for the Apothecary…. There are near thirty working at the Plantation already, and I would employ as many more, if they were to be had."

• Whitefield, George, December 23, 1740, Account of the Affairs of the Orphan House in Georgia

"We are now all removed to Bethesda. We live in the outhouses at present; but in less than two months the great house will be finished so as to receive the whole family. It is now weather-boarded and shingled; and a piazza of ten feet wide is built all around it, which will be wonderfully convenient in the heat of summer. …. There are no less than four framed houses, and a large stable and cart-house, besides the great house. In that, there will be sixteen commodious rooms, besides a large cellar of sixty feet long and forty wide. Near twenty acres of land are cleared round about it, and a large road made from Savannah to the Orphan House, twelve miles in length—a thing not before done since the province has been settled. … In a year or two, we hope to have a considerable quantity of fresh provisions for our family."

• Habersham, James, June 11, 1741, letter from Charles-Town to George Whitefield

"The garden and plantation now afford us many comfortable things, and in great plenty.... If GOD should so order it, that we should have a plantation in Carolina, as I believe he will bring to pass, we shall need but little, if any, assistance from abroad."

• Habersham, James, March 24, 1741, letter to George Whitefield

"As we have got so much land cleared, I intend to try to plant it; accordingly I have four or five hands, which, with our own household, will be sufficient to plant twenty acres or upwards with potatoes and rice for fodder next winter, having greatly suffered this, for want of it; likewise corn and pease, and other necessaries. Our garden is in great forwardness: we are like to have a crop of English pease. GOD visibly blesses us, so that people are amazed.

• Habersham, James, October 2, 1741, letter to George Whitefield

"Our garden is very fruitful of greens, turneps, &c. and we expect a good crop of potatoes."

• Anon. ["A young Gentleman of Boston"], letter from Bethesda to his father, January 1, 1742, ,

"The Orphan-House is pleasantly situated, and, with the buildings belonging to it, presents a much handsomer prospect than is given by the draught annexed to the public accounts. The great house is now almost quite finished, and nothing has hindered but the want of glass…and some bricks…. It is surprising to see in what forwardness things are, considering what hindrances they have had, and the scarcity of labourers in this province. They have cut a fine road to Savannah of twelves miles length, through a thicket of woods; and, that it might be passable, were obliged to make ten bridges and cross-ways; which was done at no little charge. They have also cleared forty acres of land, twenty of which were planted the last year, and brought them to a tolerable crop; the other twenty was for the benefit of the air. They have also a large garden at the front of the house, brought into pretty good order.

• Kimber, Edward, April 1744, describing Savannah and the Bethesda Orphan House (1998: 34)

"We could not help observing, as we passed, several very pretty Plantations. Wormsloe is one of the most agreeable Spots I ever saw…. From this House there is a Vista of near three Miles, cut thro’ the Woods to Mr. Whitefield’s Orphan House, which has a very fine Effect on the Sight.

"The Route from Wormsloe to Mr. Whitefield’s Orphan-House is extremely agreeable, mostly thro’ Pine Groves, where we saw the recent Appearances of a Storm of Thunder and Lightning, that happened the Day before….

"It gave me much Satisfaction to have an Opportunity to see this Orphan-House, as the Design had made such a Noise in Europe, and the very Being of such a Place was so much doubted every where, that even no farther from it than New England, Affadvits were made to the contrary. It is a square Building, of very large Dimensions, the Foundation of which is of Brick, with Chimneys of the same, the rest of the Superstructure of Wood; the Whole laid out in a neat and elegant Manner. A Kind of Piazza-Work surrounds it, which is a very pleasing Retreat in the Summer. The Hall, and all the Apartments are commodious, and prettily furnished. The Garden, which is a very extensive one, and well kept up, is one of the best I ever saw in America, and you may discover in it Plants and Fruits of almost every Clime and Kind. The Outhouses are convenient, and the Plantation will soon surpass almost any Thing in the Country. The Front is situated towards Mr. Jones’s Island…to whose Plantation the foremention’d Vista is clear’d, which affords to both Settlements a good Airing and Prospect.

"The Garden, which is a very extensive one, and well kept up, is one of the best I ever saw in America, and you may discover in it Plants and Fruits of almost every Clime and Kind." Maintenance of the garden fell to the girls, whose "vacant Hours were employ'd in Garden and Plantation-Work."

• Fayrweather, Samuel, May 15, 1748, letter to Thomas Prince

"The Orphan House...Stands on a Riseing Ground, having a Descent On all Sides, — On the North & South, are Yards about 120 feet long, planted with orange Trees. On the East, is a Water Passage to Carry You, to any part of Georgia, Carolina &c. it lyes Open for Severall Miles, and is Accounted Twelve Miles from the Sea. On the West (which is the front of the House) are four Small Houses Standing a proper Distance from the Great House, & from Each others, Above These, There is a beautiful Garden and a fine Orchard containing almost all Sorts of fruits, Trees, & Herbs which the country will afford..... farther West... is Cutt an avenue about 25 Rod Board, In Length half a mile —Att the Head of which, is a wide River fit to carry a large Vessel to Sea, here likewise it is open for many Miles. On the North Side of this avenue, a Road begins to Savannah, which is Accounted Twelve Miles. There is from the Orphan House About forty Acres of Land Clear'd Twenty for the benefit of the air, the other Twenty for Planting....

"[The Orphan House] has a Piazza all around of 10 feet Broad, Near 20 feet high. It has four Ways to Go into, one on Every Side ascending with Six Steps."

Bartram, William, September 25, 1765, describing the Bethesda Orphan House

”A neat brick Building well finished and painted both within and without: its dimensions 60 x 40 with cellaring all the way through, two stories high, with good garrets and a turret, and bell on the top. Piazzas ten feet wide project on every side, and form a pleasant walk both winter and summer round the house…. This celebrated building stands on an acre and a half, well fenced: one side of which fronts a salt water creek which is dry when the tide is out, but flows eight feet high when the tide rises. On the opposite side is a garden handsomely laid out and planted with oranges, pomegranates, figs, peaches, and other fruit trees, and at a small distance the school-house, stables, and other outbuildings are regularly disposed. To all this Mr. Whitefield has added a plantation well stocked with negroes for the use of a College.”

References

Bethesda Academy Museum and Visitors Center website