Completed November 2021

The Hyrne Hideaway

491 Beaulieu Avenue was a single-family home built by the Hyrne family on the banks of the Vernon River circa 1929. This house was in the Hyrne family for nearly 100 years. Upon the death of the last Hyrne resident, the Wagners purchased the property and hired Re:Purpose Savannah to deconstruct and salvage the historic home. Research revealed a legacy of European history in the land dating back nearly to the founding of Savannah. Research is ongoing to include Indigenous history our report.

Property requisitioned by the Confederacy during the Civil War to create the Beaulieu Battery.

1887 - John Schley’s death led to the subdivision of the property, which was purchased by several families including John W. Anderson, William G. Bulloch, Charlton H. Way, Charles H. Olmstead, Gilbert A. Wilkins, and Alfred L. Hartridge.

1928 - The parcel that is now 491 Beaulieu was purchased by Caroline Wragg Lucas from Stephen S. Furse, Jr. The Hyrne Hideaway is built.

1930 - The Hideaway became the primary residence of the Hyrne family (Caroline Wragg Lucas’ daughter Pamela and husband William Hyrne along with their five children).

2020 - George Whitehead Lamar Hyrne, son of Pamela and William, passed away. The parcel was purchased by the Wagner family.

2021 - The Hideaway was deconstructed by Re:Purpose Savannah

Enslavement at Beaulieu Plantation

In 1737, the first owner of Beaulieu Plantation, William Stephenson, cleared and planted the land with the labor of six indentured servants, including one overseer. Indentured labor would have been the most economic choice for Stephenson, since slavery as an institution did not became legal in Georgia until January 1, 1751. It is likely that Stephenson purchased enslaved people to operate Beaulieu Plantation after 1751; however, our research team has yet to verify this.

During the American Revolution, Beaulieu Plantation was owned by John Morel, Sr., who purchased the estate from the Stephens family in 1772. A Savannah merchant, Morel Sr. was one of the largest owners of enslaved people in colonial Georgia. He owned 155 enslaved people, who were employed on Morel's plantation on Ossabaw Island and at his other properties. While we have not uncovered direct evidence yet, it is highly probable that Morel ran Beaulieu Plantation with enslaved labor. He died in 1776, and his son John Morel, Jr., who “was heavily involved in his father’s Beaulieu plantation south of Savannah in Chatham until 1785” inherited the property. Morel Jr. owned as many as 165 enslaved people on his three plantations.  

Morel Jr. sold Beulieu to Sampson Neyle in 1795 (Neyle had married Morel's daughter, Esther Morel, in 1794.) Neyle advertised six runaway slaves in August 1837,  that enslaved suggesting that enslaved people were held on Beaulieu during this period. In January 1807, Neyle advertised “Gold Seed Rice” for sale “at Beaulieu, about 5 or 6 hundred bushels, excellent SEED RICE, the growth of new land, and harvested before the last gale. The grain is large & heavy, and well worth the attention of the planter. The price is 1 dollar and 25 cents per bushel – Cash on delivery.” From the size of the crop advertised, it would appear that Neyle's slaveholding was substantial.

On April 7, 1854, Beaulieu’s 551 acres, together with an adjoining tract of 250 acres was conveyed to John Schley, who was the last person to own Beaulieu Plantation in its entirety. The 1870 Federal Census Slave Schedules indicate that Schley owned 20 enslaved people, though it does not specify where they resided. It is likely that some or all of these enslaved people lived on Beaulieu Plantation.

Our research into the lives of the enslaved population at Beaulieu Plantation is ongoing.

Please join us in honoring the memory of those who were enslaved and forced to work at Beaulieu Plantation. The historic record focuses on enslavers, and provides few details about the lives of the enslaved, so it is our duty as students of history to recognize their role in American history, to celebrate their contributions, and to mourn their suffering.

Beulieu During the Civil War

In 1854, John Schley purchased Beaulieu plantation. Schley came from a prominent Georgia family. He was nephew to William Schley, governor of Georgia from 1835 – 1837, under whose administration the charter for the Central Railroad of Georgia was granted. His uncle George Schley was appointed postmaster of Savannah by President John Quincy Adams, served as the director of the bank of the State of Georgia, master of chancery, city council member, and a host of other prestigious positions. The eldest of Judge John Schley’s ten children, John Schley Jr. was a successful attorney. He married Ellen McAlpin, who was born in Scotland and emigrated to Savannah with her father Henry McAlpin (who created the Hermitage Plantation). The couple had six children. In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, John Schley is listed as residing in White Bluff, Chatham, Georgia, with a real estate value of $18,000 and a personal estate value of $19,000. This may or may not describe the Beaulieu Plantation.

After the Civil War broke out, the Schley family was forced to abandon Beaulieu. The Confederate government requisitioned the property, and created a fortification known as Beulieu Battery. General Robert E. Lee, then commander of the Military District of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida “established a battery on Beulieu Point as a defense against the approach to the mainland from Green Island Sound.” In his essay Beaulieu Plantation, Robert Walker Groves describes the Confederate area of operations as follows:

“Across the Vernon River from Beulieu is Rosedew Island, where a battery was established on the southern tip of that island as a protection against possible inroads of the enemy by the Little Ogeechee River. Directly across an expanse of marsh from Beaulieu Point, and just clearing the high land of Rosedew Island, lies Genesis Point on the Big Ogeechee River, where Fort Macalister was erected…The works at Beaulieu, Rosedew and other points on the exterior line of Savannah’s defense, were constructed of earth and revetted with sand bags, sod and facines, with traverses, bomb proofs, etc. The Beulieu Battery was provided with one 8-inch Columbiad, two 10-inch Columbiads, two 42-pounders, three 32-pounders, and a light battery was also attached within supporting distance. The Joe Thompson Artillery was stationed at Fort Beulieu commanded by Captain Cornelius R. Henlighter, Henlighter’s Light Artillery, and two companies of the 17th Battalion, making 218 effectives.”

Fort McAllister fell on December 13, 1864, with Beaulieu Battery falling soon after. Beulieu was “shelled by two mortar boats and two gun boats and from a rifle gun posted on the point of Green Island” on December 15. When Lieutenant General William J. Hardee, commander of the Confederate forces defending Savannah, decided to abandon the city, the garrison at Beulieu “repaired to Savannah and crossed the pontoon bridge which had been extended across the Savannah River at the foot of West Broad Street on the night of December 20th, 1864. The artillerists from Beaulieu marched to Hardeeville, South Carolina.”

After Union General Sherman occupied Savannah, the Confederate forts were dismantled, and a small guard was left at Beaulieu.

Letters written by Arthur Hutchinson, an 18-year-old soldier stationed at Beulieu Battery, to his father in February 1864, providing a glimpse into camp life at the time.

Beaulieu Plantation Divided

John Schley’s son, Julian Schley, spent his early childhood living at Beaulieu. Julian was a general agent for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, served as director of both the National Bank of Savannah and the Georgia State Savings Association. He was president of the Savannah Life Underwriter’s Association and St. Andrew’s Society, commodore of the Savannah Yacht Club, a prominent member of the Democratic party, a Knight Templar, Mason, and a charter member of the Alee Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Julian married Ms. Eliza Ann Larcombe on December 31, 1878, and the couple had four children, the eldest of which was Julian Larcombe Schley, who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served as a commander during World War I, and was appointed Governor of the Panama Canal Zone in 1932; Richard Larcombe Schley, who studied at Princeton University and then became his father’s partner in Julian Schley & Son, general insurance agents; Eliza Champion Schley; and Henry McAlpin Schley, who had “a pleasant summer home on Vernon River…located on the site of his father’s old estate, ‘Beaulieu.”

Following John Schley’s death, Beaulieu Plantation was sold at the courthouse to satisfy the debt of his estate. Several families purchased property on Beulieu following its division, including John W. Anderson, William G. Bulloch, Charlton H. Way, Charles H. Olmstead, Gilbert A. Wilkins, and Alfred L. Hartridge.

The Lucas Family

On January 10, 1928, Caroline Wragg Lucas purchased what is now known as 491 Beulieu Avenue from Stephen S. Furse, Jr. for $9,250.

Caroline Wragg Lamar Lucas was the daughter of George Whitehead Lamar and Pamela (Peenie) Wragg Lamar. George was a clerk at the Central Railroad Bank, and Peenie kept house. Born in Georgia on January 19, 1864, Caroline had three siblings, Sally, George, and John Lamar.

 Caroline married Jonathan Lucas in 1887, and the couple had five children, Caroline (1891), Pamela (1892), Jonathan Jr. (1893), Mary (1896) and Lamar (1901). Jonathan Lucas, born in Charleston, S.C., on June 1, 1861, was involved in businesses in Savannah for 40 years. His business connections included the Commercial Lithographing and Printing Company, Braid and Hutton, and Mason, Inc. His obituary stated that Lucas was an “Inventor of Improved Loom For Cotton Mills” and “having a keen interest in machinery, Mr. Lucas invented a new type cotton loom which was quite an improvement over the looms in use, but was never went into commercial production. In recent years he spent much time constructing a model of the loom with many additional improvements. One of his early forbears in South Carolina was credited with the invention of a rice pounding mill that wrought a change in rice growing comparable to the cotton gin in the ginning of cotton.” As assignor to Lucas-Lamborn Loom Corporation, New York, NY, Lucas held a number of patents, including for a shuttle mechanism for looms, a tension devise for looms, and a bobbin-feeding device for looms.

Johnathan Lucas died on September 27, 1945 at the age of 84. His wife, Caroline Wragg Lamar Lucas, died on September 28, 1948 at the age of 84. Caroline is buried in Laurel Grove North, with her husband Johnathan and three of their children.

The Hyrne Family

Caroline and Jonathan Lucas’ daughter, Pamela Lucas was born on March 16, 1892. She married William Godfrey Hyrne on June 27, 1917. William Godfrey Hyrne was born December 24, 1888 in South Carolina, to Bohun Girardeau Hyrne and Elise Ladson Godfrey. The Hyrne family appears to have arrived in Carolina from England in the early 1700s, as detailed in the Hyrne Family history written by Mabel L. Webber in The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine in 1921.

Less than two months after his marriage to Pamela, William Godfrey Hyrne was drafted into the Army on August 5, 1917, and served as as 2nd Lieutenant CAC, Battery "C," 75th Regiment, Coast Artillery Corps in World War I. On October 5, 1918, he departed from Hoboken, NJ on the U.S.S. Siboney, and served overseas until March 3, 1919. He received an honorary discharge on May 7, 1919.

According to the Federal Census, in 1920 the Hyrne family, including their one-year-old son William Jr., were living with Pamela’s parents on Waldburg Street in Savannah. In 1928, Pamela Hyrne’s mother purchased the property at Beulieu, but never lived there herself.

By 1930, the Hyrne family was living on Beaulieu Avenue. William and Pamela Hyrne now had five children, William Godfrey Jr. (born July 29, 1918), Johnathan Lamar (born May 2, 1920), Pamela Lamar (born October 7, 1922), George Whitehead Lamar (born March 5, 1925), and John Hume (born November 12, 1928).

Continuing their family’s long military tradition, three of the Hyrnes’ sons served in World War II. William Jr. served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, Johnathan served as Captain in the Army Air Corps, and George was a Flight Officer in the Army Air Corps. Luckily, all came home from the war.

On February 17, 1945, William Jr. married Anne Elizabeth Decker.

Pamela Hyrne married Lieutenant Donald Mundale, U.S. Army Air Force on May 12, 1945.

John Hume, the Hyrne’s youngest son, registered for military service in 1946 at age 18. He became a Corsair fighter pilot, and then a reservist at Warner Robins Air Force Base. Sadly, John Hume was killed at the age of 27 during a routine training flight in 1955, leaving behind his wife Susan Oliver Hyrne.

William Godfrey Hyrne Sr. passed away on June 24, 1953.

George Whitehead Lamar was the last Hyrne to occupy the house at 491 Beaulieu Avenue, which had been in his family for almost 100 years. His mother Pamela Lucas Hyrne passed away at age 98 on May 5, 1990. She is buried with her parents, husband and siblings, Johnathan and Lamar at Laurel Grove North Cemetery in Savannah. George was predeceased by all of his siblings as well. William Godfrey Hyrne, Jr passed away in Richmond City, VA on September 20, 1981 at age 63. Jonathan Lucas Hyrne passed away on September 5, 1982 in Sunnyvale, CA. Pamela Hyrne Mundale died at age 88 on July 10, 2011 in North Fulton Hospital, Roswell. She was survived by her husband, Donald O. Mundale and her daughter, Dr. Mia Mundale.

 George passed away in 2020. His obituary reads:

“George Whitehead Lamar Hyrne, 95, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. He was a native and longtime resident of Savannah and was the son of William Godfrey Hyrne and Pamela Lucas Hyrne. Besides his parents, he was predeceased by his sister, Pamela Hyrne Mundale and brothers, William Godfrey Hyrne, Jr; Jonathan Lucas Hyrne and John Hume Hyrne.

Survivors include his sister-in-law, Frances Hyrne Kelleher, four nieces, two nephews, many faithful friends, and his beloved dogs, Rack and Ruin. George was a graduate of Georgia Tech and was retired from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, flying missions over North Africa. He had a great love of the outdoors and enjoyed fishing and hunting trips, especially with his nephews and friends. His greatest pleasure was spending time on his property in Beaulieu.

George was a humble man, a person of great character, and the ultimate gentleman. He will be greatly missed, but his memory will continue to be celebrated.”

We extend our special thanks to the relatives of Mr. George Hyrne, who kindly shared their stories in remembrance.