Bethesda Academy | |
![]() | |
Nearest city | Savannah, Georgia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 31°57′34″N81°5′43″W / 31.95944°N 81.09528°W |
Area | 650 acres (260 ha) |
Built | 1870 |
Architectural style | Classical Revival |
Website | Bethesda Academy |
NRHP reference No. | 73000614 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 12, 1973 |
Bethesda Academy (previously known as Bethesda Home for Boys) is a boys' school and former orphanage located in unincorporated Chatham County, Georgia, in the United States, near Savannah. [2] Its historic building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. [1] [3]
It was founded in 1740 as an orphanage by evangelist George Whitefield, in the 18th century on his 500 acre (1,600 m2) land grant about 10 miles (16 km) south of Savannah, in the newly founded colony of Georgia. Whitefield called the orphanage Bethesda, which means "House of Mercy," for he hoped many acts of mercy would take place there. On March 25, 1740, construction began on the orphanage buildings. The main house was two stories high with twenty rooms. Two smaller buildings were built behind the orphanage; one was designed to be an infirmary and the other a workhouse.
Whitefield wanted the orphanage to be a place of strong Calvinist influence with a wholesome atmosphere and strong discipline. Boys were taught trades so that they could earn a living as adults. Younger children learned spinning and carding, and all boys were taught mechanics and agriculture. Whitefield hoped that the orphanage would become the foundation of a university.
While the children grew most of the orphanage food, the enterprise was more expensive than anticipated, and Whitefield went into debt. Benjamin Franklin suggested that due to the scarcity of workmen and materials in Georgia, it might be better to move the orphanage and its children to Philadelphia. Whitefield refused to move the orphanage because his contributors donated money specifically for the Georgia project.
At his death, Whitefield bequeathed the orphanage and his slaves to the Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, a charitable sponsor in England. He asked her to maintain the orphanage under its existing principles, and establish a college. However, she was not able to provide the oversight from 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away, and the orphanage almost closed.
In 1773, fire destroyed the home. Three years later, the American Revolution stymied plans to add a college. After several administrative changes, a new building and society, the Bethesda Home for Boys was established on the same site. [4]
In the early 18th century, slavery had been outlawed in Georgia. In 1749, Whitefield campaigned for its legalization, arguing that the territory would never be prosperous unless farms were able to use slave labor. [5] He began his fourth visit to America in 1751 advocating slavery, viewing its re-legalization in Georgia as necessary to make his plantation profitable. [6] Partially through his campaigns and written pleas to the Georgia Trustees, it was re-legalized in 1751. Whitefield then purchased slaves to work at Bethesda Orphanage. To help raise money for the orphanage, he also employed slaves at his Providence Plantation. When Whitefield died, he bequeathed his slaves to the Countess of Huntingdon. [7]
Bethesda has not been an orphanage for many years, but continues to focus on youth in the greater Savannah area. Bethesda is a private boarding and day school for boys in grades 6-12 and, in April 2011, the Bethesda Home for Boys was renamed Bethesda Academy to better reflect their mission and commitment to the education of young men. In 2015, Bethesda kicked off its 275th Anniversary year.
1751 (MDCCLI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1751st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 751st year of the 2nd millennium, the 51st year of the 18th century, and the 2nd year of the 1750s decade. As of the start of 1751, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
George Whitefield, also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement.
Nazareth is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 6,053 at the 2020 census. Nazareth is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of 2020.
The Academy and College of Philadelphia (1749-1791) was a boys' school and men's college in Philadelphia, Colony of Pennsylvania.
The city of Savannah, Province of Georgia, was laid out in 1733, in what was colonial America, around four open squares, each surrounded by four residential ("tything") blocks and four civic ("trust") blocks. The layout of a square and eight surrounding blocks was known as a "ward." The original plan was part of a larger regional plan that included gardens, farms, and "out-lying villages." Once the four wards were developed in the mid-1730s, two additional wards were laid. Oglethorpe's agrarian balance was abandoned after the Georgia Trustee period. Additional squares were added during the late 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1851 there were 24 squares in the city. In the 20th century, three of the squares were demolished or altered beyond recognition, leaving 21. In 2010, one of the three "lost" squares, Ellis, was reclaimed, bringing the total to today's 22.
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon was an English religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She founded an evangelical branch in England and Sierra Leone, known as the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion.
The Owens–Thomas House & Slave Quarters is a historic home in Savannah, Georgia, that is operated as a historic house museum by Telfair Museums. It is located at 124 Abercorn Street, on the northeast corner of Oglethorpe Square. The Owens–Thomas House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, as one of the nation's finest examples of English Regency architecture.
The city of Savannah, Georgia, the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia. It is known as Georgia's first planned city and attracts millions of visitors, who enjoy the city's architecture and historic structures such as the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, the First African Baptist Church, Congregation Mickve Israel, and the Central of Georgia Railway roundhouse complex. Today, Savannah's downtown area is one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States.
Lachlan McIntosh was a Scottish American military and political leader during the American Revolution and the early United States. In a 1777 duel, he fatally shot Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
James Habersham was an English-born American merchant, planter, missionary, teacher and politician who lived the majority of his life in the Province of Georgia. Habersham is credited with opening the first direct trade between Savannah, Georgia, and London. He was an influential advocate for slavery in the Thirteen Colonies and served as Secretary of Georgia and as President of the Georgia General Assembly's Upper House. In opposition to his adult sons, Habersham remained loyal to the Crown during the American Revolution.
The Whitefield House and Gray Cottage are two historic homes on the Ephrata Tract in Nazareth, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Construction on both buildings began in 1740, by Moravian settlers who moved to Nazareth after the failure of their mission to Native Americans and Europeans in the Savannah, Georgia area, 1735–1740. The two structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 1, 1980. The Ephrata Tract and its buildings are owned by the Moravian Historical Society, and act as the Society's headquarters.
The Moravian Historical Society in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1857. Its mission is to preserve, interpret, and celebrate the rich culture of the Moravians. It is the third oldest historical society in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Moravian Historical Society is housed in the 1740-1743 Whitefield House on the Ephrata Tract in downtown Nazareth. The Moravian Historical Society is affiliated with the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the repository for records of the Moravian Church in North America, Northern Province.
Hugh Bryan (1699-1753) was an evangelical Christian and prominent white planter in the colony of South Carolina who mounted a brief but fiery challenge to the Anglican establishment and slaveholding hegemony. In 1742 he publicly stated and wrote that slavery was a sin and that God's punishment was evident and imminent. A Grand Jury indicted him for fomenting slave rebellion, a capital offense. Bryan recanted and apologized. He continued to support and promote the literacy of enslaved African Americans and their conversion to Christianity. He was a founder of the first non-Anglican church in South Carolina, the Stoney Creek Independent Presbyterian Chapel of Prince William Parish, in which both black and white worshippers were members. Andrew Bryan, an enslaved African American who worked for Hugh's brother, Jonathan, was among the worshippers. Andrew Bryan founded the First Bryan Baptist Church in Savannah.
Christ Church is an Episcopal church at 28 Bull Street, Johnson Square, in Savannah, Georgia. Founded in 1733, it was the first church established in the Province of Georgia and one of the first parishes within the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, earning it the nickname "the Mother Church of Georgia". The present church building was constructed in 1838 and is located in the Savannah Historic District.
South Street Free Church is a church in the centre of Eastbourne, a town and seaside resort in the English county of East Sussex. Originally Congregational, it is now aligned to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion—a small group of Evangelical churches founded by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon during the 18th-century Evangelical Revival. The church was founded in 1897 as an offshoot from an earlier Congregational chapel, and initially met in hired premises. Local architect Henry Ward designed the present church in 1903; the "characterful" and "quirky" Arts and Crafts-style building has been listed at Grade II by Historic England for its architectural and historical importance.
Ote Hall Chapel is a place of worship belonging to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion—a small Nonconformist Christian denomination—in the village of Wivelsfield in East Sussex, England. The Connexion was established as a small group of Evangelical churches during the 18th-century Evangelical Revival by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, and this chapel is one of the earliest: founded by the Countess herself in 1778 as a daughter church of the original chapel in Brighton, it has been in continuous use since 1780. Historic England has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
Whitefield Square is one of the 22 squares of Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is located in the southernmost row of the city's five rows of squares, on Habersham Street and East Wayne Street, and was the final square laid out, in 1851. It is south of Troup Square and east of Calhoun Square in the southeastern corner of Savannah's grid of squares. The oldest building on the square is at 412–414 East Taylor Street, which dates to 1855.
The Wetter House was a residence in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Originally built in 1822, it was expanded and remodeled in 1857 for Augustus Wetter, a Savannah architect and businessman. Its demolition in 1950 was an impetus for the formation of the Historic Savannah Foundation in 1955.
Christ Church Anglican (CCA) is an Anglican parish in the Thomas Square neighborhood of Savannah, Georgia. It traces its history to 1733, when Christ Church was founded as the oldest Anglican presence in Georgia. In 2006, the majority of the clergy and parishioners of Christ Church departed from the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia; in 2012, after a loss in a court case, the congregation leaving the Episcopal Church relocated and renamed itself Christ Church Anglican. It is today part of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese in the Anglican Church in North America.
Bethesda Academy 9520 Ferguson Avenue Savannah, Georgia 31406
Media related to Bethesda Home for Boys at Wikimedia Commons