Hawkins-Davison Houses, Frederica, St. Simons Island, GeorgiaCate, Margaret Davis
History
Hawkins-Davison Houses, Frederica, St. Simons Island, Georgia
Cate, Margaret Davis
Dwellings -- Georgia -- Saint Simons Island; Fort Frederica National Monument (Ga.); Saint Simons Island (Ga. : Island) -- History
Beatre Hawkins and her friend, Anne Welch, wife of John Welch, who with
their three children lived a few doors down the street on lot number 7,
South Ward[22] thoroughly disliked the Wesleys. The Hawkins and Welch
families had crossed the Atlantic in the same boat with Oglethorpe and
the Wesleys. During this voyage religious services had been held for the
passengers and Mrs. Hawkins had seemed greatly moved by John Wesley’s
preaching and professed to be awakened to a new and better life. Charles
Wesley, observing her actions, saw through her hypocrisy and warned his
brother that her repentance was not genuine. She learned of this and,
so, hated the Wesleys.[23]
After their arrival at Frederica these women attributed Oglethorpe’s
puritanical sternness to the moral and religious influence of the
Wesleys and conspired to bring about a break between Oglethorpe and the
clergymen. They fabricated a fantastic story of their indiscretions and
“confessed” these “misdeeds” to Charles Wesley, then told Oglethorpe
that Charles Wesley was spreading this tale. It was not until John
Wesley arrived from Savannah that the matter was cleared up, the truth
known, and mutual respect restored between Oglethorpe and the Wesley
brothers, a regard which was maintained throughout the remainder of
their long lives.
After a few months in Georgia, Charles Wesley returned to England.
However, Mrs. Hawkins persisted in her efforts to persecute John Wesley.
On one of his later visits to Frederica she sent for him. When he
entered the Hawkins house, she, brandishing a pistol in one hand and a
pair of scissors in the other, threatened to shoot him. Wesley held her
hands so that she could not use either weapon; whereupon, she seized his
cassock with her teeth and tore both sleeves to pieces.[24]
Her altercations with her Frederica neighbors caused one of them to
write, “If that W[oma]n is to be punished in this World, for her
Wickedness, how dreadful will the example be? I grow sick with the
thoughts of her,” and it was said, too, that Dr. Hawkins was “not atall
beloved by the Inhabitants.”[25]
The Davison family, on the other hand, were good neighbors and were well
liked by the other settlers. Charles Wesley called Davison “my good
Samaritan” and wrote of him and his wife, “to their care, under God, I
owe my life....” Davison was said to be “one of the first of the
industrious villagers.”[26]
In addition to keeping a tavern, Davison was Second Constable. In 1739
he was named Overseer of the Trustees’ Servants at a salary of
twenty-five pounds a year, but Hawkins took this position away from him
and named to this office one of the Trustees’ servants who had just
arrived from Germany and spoke hardly a word of English. In 1740 Davison
was named Searcher of Ships at a salary of forty pounds a year.[27]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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