RELIVE OLD ISLE OF HOPE
We have a rich and growing library of memoirs of Isle of Hope residents from the 1860s to the 1960s. These memoirs include the specific details and personal observations that can only come from an eyewitness. You will learn about a deadly lightning strike, the arrival of the sugar boat at Isle of Hope during the World War II rationing years, yellow fever refugees packed twenty to a house at the Hardee’s, wild horses on Burnt Pot Island, Civil War camp life at Camp Claghorn, a fire at a beloved family home, and a charmed childhood growing up on the Bluff. Many times these personal histories are more interesting than headline histories.
“The Way Things Usta Was” by Ruthie Wright
This overview of Isle of Hope is chock-full of personal and island history. Ruthie tells the story of her family’s life at Isle of Hope while also giving the history of Isle of Hope’s development from colonial times. Background information is given for Bluff Drive houses, island events, such as baptisms on the Bluff, as well as Isle of Hope characters, including Nanny Roberts and Sim Jordan.
“Isle of Hope Stories” by Sonny McLaughlin
This is a compilation of letters from Sonny McLaughlin, a member of the McLaughlin family who lived for many years at 15 Bluff Drive. Sonny gives a detailed description of the family home and recounts growing up on Isle of Hope during the 1930s and 1940s, including during the rationing era of World War II. He provides extensive information on the Barbee family and their pavilion business, and the Roebling family and their operations at Modena Plantation on Skidaway Island, where Sonny and other “Isle of Hope Kids” worked as farm hands during the war for a dollar a day.
“Only Yesterday at Isle of Hope” by Albert Sidney Britt Jr.
Former Isle of Hope Historical Association president Albert Sidney Britt Jr. gives an entertaining history of Isle of Hope from the 1730s to the 1930s. He also discusses the various theories of the origin of the Isle of Hope’s name.
“House, Lady, Island: Notes for an Isle of Hope Memoir” by Peggy Driggs
Peggy Driggs relates a loving family history centered around the home of her grandparents, William Henry Bischoff and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Schaaf Bischoff, who moved to Isle of Hope in 1922 and originally lived at 310 Parkersburg Road in a house built from timbers salvaged from the Benedictine mission on Skidaway Island.
“Full Life-Full House” by Ruthie Wright
Ruthie Bright Wright writes about her Isle of Hope life. She moved to the island in 1942 at age 11 and grew up during the 1940’s roaming the island and living the river life with her Isle of Hope gang of friends, including her future husband, Noel Wright. Ruthie spent nearly her entire life on the island and lived at various times at 19 Bluff Drive, 7 Bluff Drive, 1 Bluff Drive, 3 Bluff Drive, 25 Colonel Estill Avenue, and 153 Hopecrest Avenue. Ruthie details her life with Noel and their family at each of these locations from hound dogs to heart attacks to Harry Hucks.
“Mama Mac” by Nick Guevara
In an excerpt from his family memoir, String of Bells, Nick Guevara provides a biography of Mary Agnes Bell McLaughlin, known as “Mama Mac”. Guevara includes information regarding the Bell family and the McLaughlin family, the family of Mama Mac’s husband, John “Papa Mac” McLaughlin. Papa Mac and Mama Mac lived at Isle of Hope and raised five boys and a girl at their home at 15 Bluff Drive. Firsthand accounts of the family and their activities are told by their daughter and grandchildren.
“Reminiscences and Recollections of Old Savannah” by Charles Seton Henry Hardee
This charming chapter from Charles Seton Henry Hardee’s memoir, “Reminiscences and Recollections of Old Savannah,” discusses the Hardee family’s years at Isle of Hope beginning in 1873 and ending in 1920. Charles Hardee first came to Isle of Hope to “live on the salts” for a year for health reasons. He and his extended family became so connected to the island that they stayed for decades, through a yellow fever epidemic, a house fire, halcyon days, and family tragedy. As many as twenty Hardees, Gallaudets, Erwins, and Backuses lived under the same roof at White Hall, their riverfront home. A 93-year-old Hardee recounts their time living together on the Bluff and states, “Though the number was large, the roof was wide enough to cover, and our hearts big enough to take all them in.”
“Rambling Recollections As Told by Tommy” by Thomas Marion Johnson
In this informal memoir, Thomas Marion Johnson (1925-2007) provides a personal biography as well as a history of the Johnson family, longtime Isle of Hope residents who lived near the end of “The Point,” the northern end of the river bluff. Tommy grew up on Isle of Hope during the 1930s and 1940s, spending his days outside on the 15-acre wooded grounds or on the Skidaway River that fronted their property, where he played with model sailboats, built sailboats, sailed, and motor boated. Memoir sections “Isle of Hope,” “Pets,” and “My Boats” focus on Isle of Hope and Johnson’s childhood.
“Reminiscences of the Chatham Artillery” by Captain John F. Wheaton
This Civil War memoir chronicles the activities of the Chatham Artillery from its initial service at Fort Pulaski in 1861 to its surrender at Greensboro, North Carolina in 1865, including accounts of its frontline fighting in battles near Charleston, South Carolina and Olustee, Florida. The Chatham Artillery in 1861 and 1862 was commanded by longtime Isle of Hope resident Captain Joseph Claghorn, who lived on the Wymberley estate on the island. Pages 5-6 of Wheaton’s memoir details the routine of duties and drills of the Chatham Artillery while they were stationed for seven months at Camp Claghorn on Claghorn’s land on Isle of Hope from September of 1861 until April of 1862.
“The Demeres at Isle of Hope: Some Recollections of a Small Girl” by Martha Galludet Backus Waring
Dedicated to the Demere men of her generation, this memoir by Martha Galludet Backus “Mattie” Waring (1873-1943) fondly recalls her time as a neighbor of the Demere family while a young girl on Isle of Hope. Waring gives detailed descriptions of family head Raymond Demere (1843-1895) and his wife Eliza Houston Demere (1852-1913), known as “Miss Lila,” and shares her recollection of the activities at the Demere house at “The Point” at the northern end of Isle of Hope’s bluff, especially their boating and sailing with neighbors such as the Bonds, Caans, Guerards, and Munnerlyns.