CONSPIRACY AT SEA

1857

John Johnson commissions the building of the luxury pleasure yacht the Wanderer

He pays $25,000 for its construction.

1858

Lee and the others had been the human cargo on the Wanderer, the last ship to bring enslaved Africans to Georgia. It was also one of the last such ships to drop anchor on American shores before the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863—but long after the United States Congress outlawed the importation of enslaved Africans in 1807.

The story of how Lee and the other Africans came to Jekyll on November 28, 1858, is a journey that began in the minds of some of the South’s most vocal proponents of slavery, including Charles Lamar, one of Savannah’s most influential businessmen.

Lamar associated with a band of proslavery advocates, which author Erik Calonius dubbed “the fire eaters” in his book The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails. These were Southern men of high station who hated the idea of the North dictating anything to the

South, especially regarding the institution of slavery. Slavery had long existed in the North, but it drove the Southern economy. Lamar and his group believed the South had every right to expand its economic power by importing more Africans directly from their home continent. The domestic supply of enslaved African Americans was not growing fast enough to support growth, they reasoned. And importing Africans was profitable, given that brokerage houses that supported the slave trade flourished up and down the East Coast.

In Tom Henderson Wells’ book The Slave Ship Wanderer Lamar’s voice on the matter was clear: “‘What is the difference between going to Africa and Virginia for negroes. And, if there is a difference, is not that difference in favor of going to Africa?’”

So, from 1857 through early 1858, Lamar twice tried and failed to smuggle Africans to Georgia’s shore. But later in 1858, he had a hit. He partnered with William Corrie and others who had ownership stakes in a yacht called the Wanderer. The yacht, originally built as a pleasure boat, was commissioned by its first owner as the ultimate

Lee, who then was called by his real name, Cilucängy, and 486 other Africans were loaded onto the ship. Misery awaited them. “They set the 487 as if they were spoons in the available space, allowing twelve inches of width, eighteen inches in height, and less than five feet in length per person,” Calonius wrote.

Food was a mush of cowpeas or corn. They had to relieve themselves where they lay, for there was no privy for captives. Sickness was rampant. During the six-week journey, some eighty of the Africans died. As they expired their bodies were thrown overboard.

Arrangements had been made with the DuBignon family, which owned Jekyll at the time, for the captives to be brought first to the island and from there smuggled out for sale across the South. But within days of the Wanderer’s landing, word spread of the piracy and the cache of Africans. Many had distinctive markings and tattoos that easily set them apart from African Americans who’d lived here for generations. Within weeks, many of the Wanderer’s number were sold across the South from Florida to Texas. Some—like Lee—were sold to families in Aiken

June 18, 1858

The Wanderer leaves New York bound for Charleston on the first leg of its illegal voyage to Africa.

Sept. 16, 1858

The Wanderer arrives at the mouth of the Congo River.

Nov. 28, 1858

The ship lands on the southern end of Jekyll Island.

The Wanderer is sold to William Corrie of Charleston for a reported $30,000. To transport the enslaved Africans, Corrie and others had the yacht retrofitted with a hidden deck. A 15,000-gallon freshwater tank was also installed.

Oct. 18, 1858

The Wanderer departs Africa bearing its human cargo.

Dec. 18, 1858

A hearing is held in Savannah for Corrie and his crew in federal court.

April 15, 1859

Charles Lamar is indicted in the Wanderer conspiracy. A week later, John Couper and Henry DuBignon are indicted.

May 28, 1860

Prosecutors file a nolle prosequi order, effectively ending the case against Lamar and others.

Jan. 21, 1871

After service as a Union Army vessel and a subsequent change of ownership after the Civil War, the Wanderer sinks off the coast of Cuba.

The

St. Andrews Beach Park d

At this permanent multimedia installation, you’ll find panels that tell the story of the Wanderer and replicas of African dwellings and work spaces. 100 St. Andrews Circle

Mosaic, the Jekyll Island Museum

When the new museum opens in 2019, visitors will be able to learn more about the ship and its survivors. One significant artifact the exhibit will include is a cooking pot said to have been on the yacht during the middle passage.

100 Stable Road

Horton House / DuBignon Cemetery

John Couper DuBignon was part of the conspiracy to bring the Africans to Jekyll. His tabby house, which was built by Major William Horton in 1743, was where the Wanderer’s owner and crew sought aid after landing. Members of the DuBignon family are buried in the nearby cemetery.

North Riverview Drive

The Wanderer: The Last American Slave Ship and the Conspiracy That Set Its Sails, by Erik Calonius

The Slave Ship Wanderer, by Tom Henderson Wells