After a residence of more than fifty years, finding their lands impoverished and insufficient for the rising generation,—Dorchester and Beach-Hill proving very unhealthy,—the good reports of the lands in Georgia having been confirmed upon the personal inspection of certain members of the Society who had been sent for that purpose, and a grant of 22,400 acres of land having been secured from the authorities in Georgia,—which grant was subsequently enlarged by the addition of 9,950 acres,—the members of the Dorchester Society commenced moving in 1752 into what is now the swamp region of Liberty County. The settlement lay between Mount Hope Swamp,—the head of Midway river,—on the North, and Bull-Town Swamp on the South. At first, however, it was not so comprehensive. It extended neither to the pine barrens on the West, nor to the salt water on the East. This immigration, begun in 1752, was continued until 1771, when it ceased.[177] According to the records of the Society, there were forty-four removals in all, of which one family came from Charlestown, four from Pon-Pon, and the remaining thirty-nine from Dorchester and Beach-Hill. These removals were most numerous during the years 1754, 1755, and 1756. These immigrants brought their negroes with them, and it appears probable, from the best lights before us, that the population of this colony, after its full establishment, consisted of about 350 whites, and 1500 negro slaves. The region into which the Dorchester Congregation immigrated was already known as the _Midway District_. To the General Assembly which convened in Savannah in 1751, Audley Maxwell, Esquire, was sent as a delegate;—its population then entitling it to such representation. It would appear that a number of families residing in the Midway District previous to the arrival of the Dorchester Congregation, united with that Society after it was regularly domiciled in its new home. The Dorchester Colony did not immigrate, in its entirety, to Georgia. Some families continued to dwell at Dorchester and Beach-Hill, where their descendants may yet be found. Others removed elsewhere. With the formation of the new settlement in St. John’s parish, however, the old Dorchester colony in South Carolina lost its integrity and distinctive characteristics. In locating their plantations amid the swamps of St. John’s parish, the following plan was adopted: After laying by their crops in Carolina in the fall of the year, the planters came with able-bodied hands, and, during the winter, cleared land and built houses. In a season or two having thus sufficiently prepared the way, they brought their families and servants in the early spring, and at once entered upon the cultivation of the soil. Thus was the removal rendered as safe and comfortable as the nature of the case permitted.