Barrow's Plantation was one of the many plantations in the south that maintained a large property. The 1860, pre-Civil War, map shows the plantation with the gin house, and the master's house surrounded by slave quarters, while the 1881, post-Civil War, map shows the plantation dotted with the houses of the free slaves as well as a school and a church. Now, 127 years later, what has become of Barrow's Plantation and its small community? Does it still exist?
The first step in finding Barrow's Plantation is to interpret the clues that are given in the maps. From the maps, it can be noted that Barrow's Plantation is located in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Also, the plantation has various geographical features in the form of creeks, such as Syll's Fork and Branch Creek, that can aid in research. By researching Oglethorpe County, Georgia on Google, one can find various
maps of the respected area. One of the maps, published in 1883, seems interesting because it mentions a town called Syll's Fork. Looking at a larger map of Oglethorpe County, published in 1894, the town of Syll's Fork is more visible along with D.C. Barrows Plantation. From the 1894 map it can also be noted that the town of Philomath P.O. is located less than half a mile north of Barrow's Plantation. Since towns that have post offices (P.O.) never undergo name changes due to mailing reasons, it would seem that the town of Philomath should still exist. By plugging Philomath, Georgia into yahoo maps, a satellite picture of Philomath is produced. Moving south of Philomath, with some careful observation, Barrow's Plantation is located. By studying the actual location of Barrow's Plantation via satellite pictures, it becomes obvious that the orientation of the 1860 and 1881 map is faulty: the north of the map is actually the west of the plantation. The satellite images also show that there are no indication of houses, the creeks and streams have dried up, and the entire plantation is covered with trees.
The online Library of Congress is used to find the first true map of Barrow's Plantation. By researching the keyword Barrow in their online archives, the Library of Congress produces an article in a March 1881 issue of Scribner's Monthly, written by none other than D.C. Barrow. This article contains the pre-Civil War and the post-Civil War maps of Barrow's Plantation, thus showing that the earliest public appearance of this map was in 1881. Using the online Digital Library of Georgia, various articles and pictures are obtained relating to Barrow's Plantation during the late 1800's. One image shows a couple of African American children picking cotton on Pope Barrow's Plantation. This may look like slavery, however noting the date of the photograph, 1899, it would seem that these children are free slaves who were trying to make a living by working for their landlord, who was their former master. Another picture, also taken in 1899, shows the cabin of Pope Barrow. Finally, after conducting some research into D.C. Barrow and Pope Barrow via the New Georgia Encyclopedia, it is discovered that both men were in fact brothers.
As can be noted from the maps, Barrow's Plantation became a small community after the Civil War. The slaves, now freed, lived in their own houses around the plantation. The free slaves and the master, now known as a landlord, engaged in sharecropping. However, Barrow's Plantation might have gone deserted due to the harsh laws that many states would impose on African Americans in the coming years, such as the Jim Crowe laws, thus driving them out of Barrows Plantation.
(For pictures click on this link:Barrow's Plantation )
Works Cited:
1. Arguelles, Jeanne (2001). Oglethorpe County Maps and Places. Retrieved October 12, 2007, from Oglethorpe County GAGenWeb Web site: http://rootsweb.com/~gaogleth/maps.htm
2. David C. Barrow Jr. . (2003). In The New Gerogia Encyclopedia [Web]. Georgia: The New Gerogia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10/12/2007, from http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-857&hl=y
3. Vanishing Georgia. Retrieved October 12, 2007, Web site: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/vanga.cgi?userid=public&dbs=vanga&ini=vanga.ini&action=retrieve&recno=1&rset=005&numrecs=10
4. Retrieved October 12, 2007, from Yahoo maps Web site: http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband#mvt=h&q1=philomath%2C+Georgia&trf=0&lon=-82.991967&lat=33.707991&mag=4
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