Week 39 – Economics and Jobs – What You Know To Do

Field hand was the preeminent job on coastal Georgia plantations when cotton, rice, and sugar were grown. But there were many other jobs performed by the “taskable hands” – cart drivers, nurses, cooks, carpenters, gardeners, house servants, stock minders, and boatmen or oarsmen. When freedom came, many freedpersons and their descendants used their knowledge and skills to provide for their community and for cash outside the community.

“You made money with what you know and what is needed, or the work was not done,” stated one family member. The 1870 census for Georgia Sea Islands recorded the occupation for most of the men in Harrington as “Farm Laborer.” The women were listed as “Keeping House.” By 1900 the men in Harrington described their jobs as Farmer, Fishermen, Carpenter and Butcher. Those who worked in the sawmills or Brunswick factories lived closer to the mills in Jewtown or in Brunswick.

By the 1920 census when the tourism economy started growing, Harrington residents listed their occupations as Butler, Maid, Cook; Laundry Ironer, “Clean Up Woman” “Clothes Runner” and “Shirt Ironer;” Truck Driver for Grocery Store; Caretaker on House Boat; Butcher or Gardener at the Hotel; Lawn Worker for Private Home, Helper at Skeet Club, Painter at Public Buildings, Crabber at Crabbing Factory, Helper at Florist, Chauffeur, Fisher in Fishing Industry. “You could either work for old money or new money; new money don’t know how to treat help, old money know,” they recalled. Many worked for private families such as the Reynolds family at Musgrove, or “down the drive” at The Cloister. The “foundation of genuine warmth and hospitality” at Sea island and the King and Prince may be rooted in the Negro staff who welcomed visitors at the main entrance, maintained the grounds and caddied at the golf courses, cooked and served the food, tended bars, babysat the children, provided music for evenings outs, and took adults hunting and fishing. Many of these employees retired after 30+ years. In the summer, their teenagers earned “money for my little dresses” by doing domestic work, cooking, or cleaning at the Beach House, or as a lifeguard at the Beach Club

Children born in the 1930s and 1940s recalled that their parents “didn’t have the knowledge from school because they didn’t have the opportunity. But they had skills.” They could take a pattern from newspaper and “She could sure made a dress,” Harriett Sheppard remembered. Mrs. Elouise Spears recalled “Now my mother could cook, she could take some flour and make you slap somebody. She didn’t measure nothing, a handful of this, she could do that and they could take a piece of cloth and make clothing.” Mrs. Isadora Hunter, agreed: “This is a gifted community, we didn’t starve.” The older men were fisherman and her father, she described, was “a fisherman of the community.” Men and women on the island did whatever jobs they could just to make ends meet. On the Brown family farm, the children canned and put food up for the winter. In the summer, Mar Alice Brown said the girls went to the pier and, as tourists came in, they sold them figs, pears, and kumquats grown on their property or the smoked fish prepared at home.

While residents worked outside the community, many small business owners filled a need in the community. Maurice Wilson, Sr. opened a barbershop. Ben Sullivan, Jr. had a filling station where neighborhood children purchased ice cream. He and his family also owned Sullivan’s Lawn Business. Many men worked at Bennie’s Red Barn. Alphonzo Ramsey opened the Old Plantation Supper Club. The Follins and Proctors had groceries and small shops. On the South End, Mrs. Sheppard rented out rooms for workers at mills or at the resorts. If a task was needed, there was someone in the community who could provide it. Emory Rooks’ grandmother was a midwife and grew medicinal herbs in their garden. Mrs. Spears was the only registered nurse on the island’s north end. Her daughter recalled that her mom would always have her medical bag ready and often set up at church to measure parishioners’ blood pressure. Emilio Wilson made soap. The Wings, the Baisdens and the Wilsons were skilled carpenters, plumbers, and brick masons who built the family homes, “brick by brick” often after they got off their day jobs at the paper mill or other industries. Chauffeurs to rich people were also drivers for neighbors and friends who did not own cars. Farmers sold produce from their gardens. Fishermen shared their catch. Charlie King “knitted the drag,” nets for catching shrimp. Charles Lee had a fish house with a huge frying pan. Annie Davis cooked up “mush” to go with the fish. Henry Morrison also had a fish camp with a juke joint on the dock. Fisherman Cusie Sullivan would hang his catch on porch for neighbors to get some. Mr. Charles Wilson “made everything” — utensils, eye glasses, fish nets, and even his own tobacco pipes. And there were school teachers, preachers, and public employees who helped their neighbors navigate government paperwork.

One South End resident remembered that “the only time white people came in this area was to get cheap labor because they thought all of us were lazy and we would work for practically nothing.” Not so, Amy Roberts, pointed out,

Note: This article offers a valuable yet small and limited look at the jobs of African Americans who lived and worked on St. Simons Island over the years. We appreciate the individuals who shared their memories (see Sources below). We encourage you to help expand our knowledge and improve our archives by sharing your family stories. Go to SSAAHC at email harringtonschool@ssiheritagecoalition.org or call 912-634-0330. Pastor Leggett, Sr. a pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church for over 50 years, instructed his son, a new minister, to make sermons that “Keep it simple, take it deep.” With your help, we can follow his guidance by sharing and saving more stories which reveal the depth of our island’s African American heritage.