220th
iGbo landing
commemoration
”Igbo Landing”
Diana (Dee) Williams
St. Simons island
may 26 -28, 2023
all Events are free. Registration is required
Welcome Statement
We welcome you to the Igbo Landing 220th Commemoration, May 26-28, 2023. In May of 1803 a large group of enslaved Igbo Africans made history by resisting their enslavement in the most dramatic way possible. Inspired by a noble chief among them, they rose up and martyred themselves at Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, chanting ‘The Water brought us here, The Water will take us away’ as they walked down into the river, where they all drowned.
Ever since, Igbo Landing has been a ‘sacred place’ and the story became known all throughout the Gullah Geechee world. The central message: You may enslave my body, but not my mind, not my soul.
We seek to remember and honor these noble ancestors. We also seek to preserve the land itself and memorialize the story by official designation of Igbo Landing as a National Historic Site (or Monument).
We invite you to join with us.
Your Planning Committee
email contact:
IgboLanding220th@gmail.com
3 day commemorative events
May 26
Welcome Day
May 27
Remembrance day
May 28
Giving Thanks Day
On Site Registration
Noon - 5:00 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
1047 Demere Rd
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Guided Tours of Igbo Landing
2:00 - 4:00 PM
Shuttle Bus
Emmanuel Baptist Church
(Pre-Registration Required)
50 visitors maximum
Opening Reception
6:00 - 8:00 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
On Site Registration
Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM —
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Igbo Landing 220th
Symposium
9:30 AM — 2:30 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Symposium Luncheon
12:00 - 12:45 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
(Pre-Registration Required)
220th Gathering/Public Blessing
3:00— 5:00 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
(Pre-Registration Required)
Worship Service
10:30 AM
First African Baptist Church
5800 Frederica Rd
St Simons Island, GA 31522
(Pre-Registration Required)
Guided Tours of Igbo Landing
2:00 - 4:00 PM
Shuttle Bus
Emmanuel Baptist Church
(Pre-Registration Required)
50 visitors maximum
Closing Reception
6:30— 8:30 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
(Pre-Registration Required)
Hotel Accommodations / Travel information
Hotel Information
Travel Information
Flights
Jacksonville International Airport [JAX]
Jacksonville, FL
Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport [SAV]
Savannah, GA
Driving
Jacksonville, FL – Brunswick, GA
I-95 North
70 miles
1 hour
Savannah – Brunswick
I-95 South
80 miles
1.5 hours
Atlanta – Brunswick
307 miles
4.5 hours
Check-in: Thursday, May 25
Check-out: Monday, May 29
[4 nights max]
[Can reserve for (3) nights within the group bloc, if needed]
Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Brunswick I-95, GA
211 Gateway Center Blvd
Brunswick, GA 31525
Brittany Pyne (General Manager)
912.264.2888
email: brittany.pyne@aimbridge.com>
The block code is as follows: EBL
Rate: $100.00/night + taxes
Booking deadline: May 15 requested (will hold rooms through May 19)
(25) rooms in group bloc
(10) single king bed
(15) two queen beds
hotel reservations website:
https://www.radissonhotelsamericas.com/en-us/hotels/country-inn-brunswick-ga
Holiday Inn Brunswick I-95 (Exit 38)
138 Glynco Parkway
Brunswick GA 31525
Heather Downs ( CSR & Sales)
912-264-3300
The block code is as follows: EBL
Hotel website:
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/brunswick/ssibr/hoteldetail
Rate: $135.00/night + taxes
Booking deadline: May 19
(30) rooms in group bloc
(15) single king bed
(15) two queen beds
Presenters and Performers
Griffin Lotson
Vice-Chair, GGCHC Commission
Prof. Onwubiko Agozino
Virginia Tech
Amy Lotson Roberts
SSAAHC
Eunice Moungin Moore
Queen Mother of Butlers Island
Douglas B. Chambers
Igbo History Foundation LLC
Prof. Nkuzi Michael Nnam
Center for Igbo Studies
Dominican University
Prof. Kyle Fox
College of Coastal Georgia
Rep. Gabe Okoye
Ga. House District 102
Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters
Performing Artists
Victoria Smalls
Executive Director, GGCHC
Phil Morrison
Artist
Rep. Rick Townsend
Ga. House District 179
Ndigbo
Performing Artists
Rep. Al Williams
Ga. House District 168
The water brought us here,
The water
will take us away
Historical Evidence
Compiled by Douglas B. Chambers, Ph.D.
April 2023
Roswell King to Pierce Butler, 13 May 1803
13th May 1803
Honoured Sir,
I have Recd. yr three letters Dates Chston April 27th May 2 & 3rd & the purport of them
shall be strictly attended to. I am sorry to inform you that I have had a most tedious passage, But
probible found things at home as well as if I had had a good passage. I landed the Negroes all
safe & in good health except one that was sick when I took him on Board with small fevers, he is
recruting—the Day after you left Savannah the Schooner York didnot arive Messrs. M.M & Co.
hired a Schooner & on thursday the wind answered to drop Down & on Saturday I took the
Negroes on Board from Scidway Island it being the 23rd Ult [April] and with all exertions with a
pilot on Board could not make more Speed and on Sunday the 8th Inst [May] at half Ebb got a
ground off Little St Simons near the hallover wind Very heavy E, N, & I landed on the Marsh
and walked home & in the Morning Early I went to Experiment & about 12 o’Clock the
Schooner Came up & anchored about two Cables length of the Shore at £5 Landing I made out to
git on board but the gale begun so severe that it was not prudent to land them untill the Next Day
about 2 o’Clock—the day after which was Wednesday the 10th I carried them up to Tide
Island—& you would have been much gratified to have seen there rejoicing when they found
they could Drink the water out of the River which is a proof that they have been acquainted with
the Same Soil—& hopeful they will be healthy—they Landed very Cheerfull & happy—you
have no people that can talk with them, but they are so smart your Young wenches are
Speculating very high for husbands— [...] Albert & Jessy Ran-away on the 29th Ult [April] Jessy
Caught again 5 days after Near Darien, Albert Cleared himself— [...] Sherman the Machine
Carpenter, has come on. he put his tools on Board the Schooner York which sailed 15 days ago
from Savnh & had not arrived Yesterday so that he has done nothing, he examined the Barn and
says it will answer every purpose, the Mill Stones he approves of, Likewise the Screens &
Situation. [...] I got on your account two hundred Dolls. [dollars] from Messrs MM & Co but
have not Room here to tell you how I spent it.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Butler Family Papers 1447, Series II, Box 2, File 10 (Correspondence May –
Sep 1803) 13 May 1803 (ALS) [NB: Roswell King was the newly hired plantation manager]. True copy, Douglas B.
Chambers (2013)
Mein Mackay & Co. to Pierce Butler, 24 May 1803
Mr King advises his having got safe sound with the Negroes + that they are behaving well. We
have had a great many Ibos + Angolas – all of which have readily sold about ₤100 round for the
prime. Spalding + Couper bo’t a Whole Cargo of Ibos + they have suffered much by Miss
management of Mr Couper’s Overseer Patterson who poor fellow lost his life – The Negroes
rose by being Confined in a small vessell Patterson was frightened + in swimming ashore he
with Two Sailors were drowned. The Negroes took to the Marsh + they have lost at least Ten or
Twelve in recovering them besides being subject to an expense of Ten Dollars a head for
Salvage. our friend Putnam in his Zeal for the Service of the United States boarded the Sloop
your Negroes were sent [ ? ] by + took from Mr King a Bond – for the Consequences on shewing
it however to his Counsellors they satisfyed him that he had not only done wrong but that he was
not otherwise to touch the Property or any Person else unless he took them in the act or had good
proof of their being Importers – so that we bona fide Purchasers on the Terra firma of the U.S.
are at risk as to the extent of the Laws of Congress as well as that of the State of Georgia. We
have got up the Bond + Transmitted same to Mr King.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Butler Family Papers 1447, Series II, Box 6, Folder 27, 24 May 1803 (ALS),
from Savannah [NB: written in the hand of William Mein; Mein & Mackay were a merchant firm based in
Savannah, Georgia]. True copy, Douglas B. Chambers (2013)
Anna Matilda Page King, Retreat Plantation, 1857
“5 th March 1857
...We have had quite an exciting adventure with a great big old hog which Alic Boyd purchased
from Dubignons negro. It got out of the pen—& as the corn is now being planted it could not be
suffered to have the run of the field. Two nights ago he was met in the road—a fine racoon dog
belonging to William put on him—he killed the dog with one of his enormous tusk[s]—poor
William shed tears for his trusty dog. Yesterday Floyd & Cuyler fully armed with pistols &
double barrel guns—with Jimper to assist were out from 10 oclock in the morning until
dark—they took Rock & all the tarriors. They traced the beast from where he had killed
Williams dog—In & out until they reached Ebo landing on the Wrights old place—The best
tarrier we have received I fear a mortal wound—Rock got a bad cut on his leg. I think the boys
fired 16 times into him before he gave up the ghost. He was very fat & the most of the shot took
effect in his sides. They were tired & hungry enough when they got home. If he had not been
killed we would have been constantly fearing he would be in this corn field. Dear Cousin do not
laugh at me for writing the history of a wild hog.”
Anna Matilda Page King, Anna: The Letters of a St. Simons Island Plantation Mistress, 1817-1859. Edited by
Melanie Pavich-Lindsay (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2002), pp.326-327. [Reference: Maj. Samuel Wright
farm, ‘Dunbar’, later Abbott farm, modern Glynn Haven subdivision] Emphasis in the original
Lydia Parrish, St. Simons Island [1920s]
“When it comes to terse economy of speech we are obliged to concede that no one can equal the
Negro. Mrs. Annnie Arnold, born on St. Simon’s in 1844, gave me the perfect example of this
fact in recounting a bit of local history. A cargo of slaves of the Ebo tribe had been landed at a
suspiciously secluded spot on the west side of the island. They preferred death to a life of
captivity, and as they walked into the water the leader said: ‘The water brought us here. The
water will take us away’. No one but an African could have expressed such poignant
unhappiness in so few words. In view of the fact known to traders that the Ebo men made poor
slaves and were prone to suicide, the account is probably true. The Negroes believe the story,
and to this day they have to be extremely hungry to fish by themselves at Ebo Landing. One
night a few years ago some colored boys braved tradition, and went ‘possum hunting in the
neighborhood. I have my own ideas as to the real cause of their terrifying experience, but the fact
remains that no others have been tempted to repeat it.”
Lydia Parrish, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands. Foreword by Art Rosenbaum, Introduction by Olin Downes,
Music transcribed by Creighton Churchill and Robert MacGimsay (1942; repr. Athens: University of Georgia Press,
1992)
Floyd White, New Fields, St. Simons Island [1938]
“Heahd bout duh Ibo’s Landing? Das duh place weah dey bring duh Ibos obuh in a slabe ship an
wen dey git yuh, dey ain lak it an so dey all staht singin an dey mahch right down in duh ribbuh
tuh mahch back tuh Africa, but dey ain able tuh get deah. Dey gits drown.”
Georgia Writers’ Project, Work Projects Administration, Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes
(1940; repr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986), p.185
Harrington Community, St. Simons Island [1980s]
“Afro-American residents of the island’s Harrington community, also as one, give a version of
the drowning story which they assert that they once heard from their ancestors.
- Long ago, during Slaverytimes,
- a slaveship
- holding a large number
- of Eboes (Igbo) [sic]
- sailed down Dunbar Creek
- to a point since known as Ebo Landing.
- Under the leadership of a chief,
- the Igbo overcame their Captors,
- then went ashore, and
- began to sing: ‘The water brought us and the water will take us back home’.
- Having chosen death by drowning over life in slavery,
- they turned and together walked into the creek
- and drowned.
The Harrington accounts have been consistent except for disagreement over whether the
event took place during daylight or under a moon, whether the Igbo were chained when they
entered the water, and whether there were survivors of the event. References to ‘marsh’ and
‘creek’ were made inter-changeably, and one account had it that the Igbo went backwards into
the water.
All of the Harrington sources stated the belief that their accounts described an actual
event.”
H. A. Sieber, The Igbo Stroke of 1803: Rebellion and Freedom March at Ebo Landing (published privately, 1988).
Coastal Georgia Historical Society, St. Simons Island, GA. Ebo Landing Vertical File. True copy, Douglas B.
Chambers, 2013
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