P R E F A C E.

The interesting field of municipal history was, until a comparatively recent time, almost wholly untilled by intellectual labor. How rich and productive this field is, is shown by the hundreds of volumes since published that are devoted to the annals of such corporations and narratives of the deeds of men who have aided in building them up. The publishers of the History of Savannah refer with pride to the many works of this character which they have been instrumental in giving to the world of readers, and now offer this one to the community of which it treats in no apologetic mood. It is true that the perfect history of any particular locality has never been written; but it is assumed here and now that this work, devoted to a historical account of only one of the many municipal corporations of this great country, is in the main all that could be expected, if not in every particular all that could be wished for, from the painstaking effort and the unremitting labor of those who have contributed, directly or indirectly, to its pages.

    The history of Savannah was never before written, and the details of its annals and those of the territory adjacent to it, were wide-spread among historical volumes of not recent dates, and treating of the whole or large portions of the country; in the scattered files of newspapers, new and old; in the musty records of the State, the county, the town and the city, and to some extent in the memories of the few living pioneers. All of these sources have been placed under tribute to produce this volume, and the task as a whole was given into the hands and placed under the supervision of those who were believed to be most competent for its various departments.

    The history of any city, to be comprehensive and satisfactory, must begin far back beyond the inception of the city itself, and among the pioneers of the broad State of which the municipality finally became a part. For this portion of the History of Savannah, the publishers could not have been more fortunate than in securing the services of Colonel C. C. JONES, the results of whose researches in the Colonial history of the State of Georgia are beyond praise. The reader will find in those pages of general history a faithful and comprehensive narrative of pioneer life in this section, in all of its interesting phases, from the arrival on these shores of the Anne in November, 1732, down through the period of Indian occupation and early settlement by white population, to the Declaration of Independence and the exciting times of the Revolutionary war; the development of the locality from that time down to the late war between the North and the South, and the part taken in that great conflict by the city.

    Leaving this fruitful field, which has been so generously and meritoriously treated by its author, the reader will find the subsequent history of the city divided into various chapters requisite to tell the story of the birth and growth of all the prominent professions, institutions and industries that combine to constitute the municipality. The preparation of these various chapters was confided either to local writers or to others of ample experience in this field of authorship, the greater share of their work passing under the critical inspection of those residents of the city whose occupations and ability would be a guarantee that it was properly done. Thus, the history of the courts and the bar of the city, a topic of uncommon interest, will be found from the earliest time to the present, and the same may be said of the medical profession and its institutions. The commercial and manufacturing industries have received that careful and full treatment that this important feature of every city deserves; while the religious and educational institutions, the transportation facilities, secret societies, and all other departments of the city's history have received the conscientious attention which they merit.

    The mechanical excellence of the work will commend itself to all. It has been the aim of the publishers in this regard to produce a volume of which every possessor of it would be proud. The engravings in its pages are above criticism, and the biographic pages form a not uninteresting portion of the volume.

    With the hope that every one into whose hands the History of Savannah may fall, will, in a fair degree, appreciate the magnitude and the difficulties of the task now finished, the work is here commended to the public by

THE PUBLISHERS.