Editing McIntosh County, Georgia (section)

==History==

=== Colonial and Revolutionary period ===
{{Main|San Miguel de Gualdape|Spanish Florida|Province of Carolina|Province of South Carolina|Province of Georgia}}

The area which was formally named McIntosh County was originally settled by the [[British Empire|British]] in 1721 with the construction of [[Fort King George]], which was part of a set of forts built as a [[Buffer state|buffer]] between the British colonies to the north and [[Spanish Florida]] to the south, under the direction of General [[James Oglethorpe]]. New Inverness (later named [[Darien, Georgia|Darien]]) was founded in 1736 by [[Scottish Highlands|Scottish Highlanders]] who were enticed to move to Georgia by General Oglethorpe. In 1760, the British built [[Fort Barrington]] on the north side of the [[Altamaha River]] about {{convert|12|mi|km}} northwest of present-day Darien. It was used for decades as a transportation and communication center up and down coastal Georgia. The County split off from [[Liberty County, Georgia|Liberty County]] in 1793.

The new county was named ''McIntosh'' for its most famous family, which included [[Lachlan McIntosh]], who was a general in the [[Continental Army]]. The McIntosh clan in Darien dates back to 1736.<ref>Highroad Guide to the Georgia Coast and Okefenokee By Richard J. Lenz page 179</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cityofdarienga.com/mcIntoshCountyHistory.php|title=History of McIntosh County, Georgia|website=www.cityofdarienga.com|access-date=May 30, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518193531/http://www.cityofdarienga.com/mcIntoshCountyHistory.php|archive-date=May 18, 2016}}</ref><ref name="nrhpdoc">{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=72001447}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Fort Barrington |publisher=[[National Park Service]]|author=William R. Mitchell Jr. |date=August 2, 1972 |access-date=January 28, 2017 }} with {{NRHP url|id=72001447|photos=y|title=six photos from 1972}}</ref>

=== Civil War period ===
{{Main|Georgia in the American Civil War}}
Few Georgia counties suffered during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] as much as McIntosh County. The agricultural loss of the plantations was devastating. Even the lumber industry was destroyed, along with the once-thriving seaport town of [[Darien, Georgia]] which was the result of the burning of Darien in the "[[total war]]" tactics of [[James Montgomery (colonel)|James Montgomery]] in June 1863.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/1stdragoon/files/rgs_darien.html |title=The Raid on Darien, Georgia |date=July 28, 2008 |access-date=May 30, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080728173706/http://www.geocities.com/1stdragoon/files/rgs_darien.html |archive-date=July 28, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw|last=Duncan|first=Russell|publisher=The University of Georgia Press|year=1992|isbn=9780820342771|location=Georgia|pages=341–345}}</ref>

==== Capture of 26 old men====
[[File:Capture of 26 men.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Sign about capture of 26 men]]
After the burning of Darien in 1863 under the command of [[U.S. Army]] Col. [[James Montgomery (colonel)|James Montgomery]], the area was left mostly defenseless. A group of civilians, generally too old for military service, were the only defense against looting by the U.S. military from the naval blockade boats. The men were meeting at Ebenezer Church on the night of August 3, 1864. A spy told the U.S. military about the meeting. U.S. troops surrounded the church and opened fire. The 26 men were captured, marched to near Darien (about 10 miles away), put on ships and sent to prisons in the north.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm3JMG_Capture_of_23_Old_Men_in_1864_095_33_McIntosh_County_GA|title=Capture of 23 Old Men in 1864 095-33 - McIntosh County, GA - Georgia Historical Markers on Waymarking.com|website=www.waymarking.com}}</ref>

=== Reconstruction ===
{{Main|Georgia during Reconstruction}}
[[File:The Smallest Church in America, McIntosh Co, GA, US.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Smallest Church in America <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.exploregeorgia.org/darien/general/historic-sites-trails-tours/the-smallest-church-in-america |title=The Smallest Church in America }}</ref>]]
From the end of the Civil war to Georgia's 1907 disenfranchisement laws, McIntosh County was a base of black political power in the state. "Tunis Campbell was the highest-ranking and most influential African American politician in nineteenth-century Georgia", according to the ''New Georgia Encyclopedia''.<ref name="Tunis Campbell (NGE)">{{cite web |last1=Duncan |first1=Russell |title=Tunis Campbell (1812-1891) |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/tunis-campbell-1812-1891 |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |publisher=Georgia Humanities |access-date=February 25, 2020 |date=February 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703181107/https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/tunis-campbell-1812-1891 |archive-date=July 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 1865, [[Tunis Campbell Sr.|Tunis G. Campbell Sr.]] was put in supervision of land claims at the [[Freedmen's Bureau]] for a group of Georgia barrier islands, including [[Sapelo Island|Sapelo]] in McIntosh County. After the land in question was returned to plantation owners by President Andrew Johnson, “Campbell quickly purchased 1,250 acres at Belle Ville in McIntosh County and there established an association of black landowners to divide parcels and profit from the land.”<ref name="Tunis Campbell (NGE)"/>

After the military registration carried out in early 1867, 600 black people and 307 white people were on the voter rolls in McIntosh.<ref>{{cite news |title=Election Returns |newspaper=The Weekly Constitutionalist |url=https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn87090503/1868-05-06/ed-1/seq-7/ |access-date=September 24, 2019 |publisher=Stockton & Co. |date=May 6, 1868 |location=Augusta, Ga. |page=7 |volume=27 |issue=19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225195456/https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn87090503/1868-05-06/ed-1/seq-7/ |archive-date=February 25, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Election Returns |newspaper=Federal Union |url=https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85038488/1868-05-05/ed-1/seq-3/ |access-date=October 4, 2019 |publisher=Boughton, Barnes & Moore |date=May 5, 1868 |location=Milledgeville, Ga. |page=3 |volume=38 |issue=40 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225195457/https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85038488/1868-05-05/ed-1/seq-3/ |archive-date=February 25, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In late 1867, Campbell was elected as one of two delegates from the second senatorial district – Liberty, McIntosh, and Tattnall counties – to Georgia's constitutional convention.<ref name="Order 89">{{cite book |last1=Pope |first1=John |title=United States Congressional serial set, Volume 1346 |chapter=General Orders No. 89 |date=November 19, 1867 |publisher=Headquarters Third Military District |location=Atlanta, Ga. |page=118 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlpHAQAAIAAJ&q=third+military+district+general+orders+no+89&pg=RA15-PA118 |access-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref>

In April 1868, Campbell was elected as the state senator for the second district, and his son Tunis G. Campbell Jr. was elected as state representative for McIntosh County.<ref name="Order 90">{{cite book |last1=Drum |first1=R.C. |title=United States Congressional serial set, Volume 1362 |chapter=General Orders No. 90 |date=June 25, 1868 |publisher=Headquarters Third Military District |location=Atlanta, Ga. |pages=5–7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cvxXAAAAcAAJ&q=third+military+district+general+orders+no+90&pg=RA6-PA45 |access-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref> While both Campbells were among the black legislators expelled later in 1868, they were able to return to office in 1871; Campbell Sr. left office in 1872, while Campbell Jr. served until 1874.<ref name="Register 1957-8">{{cite book |title=Georgia's Official Register, 1957-1958 |publisher=Longino & Porter |location=Hapeville, Ga. |pages=986, 1176 |url=http://statregister.galileo.usg.edu/statregister/view?docId=statregister/stat1957/stat1957-1180.xml |access-date= February 25, 2020}}</ref>

Campbell Sr. also served as the Vice President of the Georgia Republican Party. As an elected official, “Campbell [Sr.] organized a black power structure in McIntosh County that protected freed people from white abuses, whether against their bodies or in labor negotiations,” and he was rumored to be protected by a 300-person militia.<ref name="Tunis Campbell (NGE)"/> In fact, that power structure lasted for decades, as evidenced by the fact that the county had three black representatives from 1875 to 1907: Amos R. Rodgers (1878–79), Lectured Crawford (1886–7, 1890–1, 1900–1), and William H. Rogers (1902–07).<ref name="Register 1957-8"/>

===Civil rights period===
Despite its large number of black residents, McIntosh County politics continued to be dominated by whites well into the 1970s, even following the federal civil rights legislation of the previous decade. In September 1975, the Georgia Legal Services Program, on behalf of the local [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|NAACP]], filed suit in [[United States district court|United States District Court]], alleging that women and blacks were systematically excluded from [[Grand jury|grand juries]] responsible for appointing members to the McIntosh County Board of Education. The following May, plaintiffs and county officials reached an agreement providing for random jury selection.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Rationing Justice: Poverty Lawyers and Poor People in the Deep South|last=Shepard|first=Kris|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780807132074|pages=182–187}}</ref>

In 1977, the NAACP filed separate suits against McIntosh County and the City of Darien, alleging improper districting for county and city commission seats. The county settled out of court, agreeing to redraw its commission boundaries to include a black-majority district. The NAACP lost its suit against the city, but this decision was remanded and reversed in 1979 by the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Circuit.|first=United States Court of Appeals, Fifth|date=October 19, 1979|title=605 F2d 753 McIntosh County Branch of the Naacp v. City of Darien|url=http://openjurist.org/605/f2d/753/mcintosh-county-branch-of-the-naacp-v-city-of-darien|volume=F2d|issue=605|page=753|access-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617075156/http://openjurist.org/605/f2d/753/mcintosh-county-branch-of-the-naacp-v-city-of-darien|archive-date=June 17, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[Melissa Fay Greene#Publications|Praying for Sheetrock: A Work of Nonfiction]]'' ({{ISBN|0-201-55048-2}}) by [[Melissa Fay Greene]] narrates the events surrounding the civil rights movement in McIntosh County, particularly the death of Sheriff Thomas H. Poppell and the 1978 election of black rights activist Thurnell Alston as [[county commissioner]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/20/books/books-of-the-times-changing-race-relations-in-a-georgia-county.html|title=Books of The Times; Changing Race Relations In a Georgia County|last=Mitgang|first=Herbert|date=November 20, 1991|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630171019/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/20/books/books-of-the-times-changing-race-relations-in-a-georgia-county.html|archive-date=June 30, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>