Friends of Preserve Butler Island

03/14/2026

03/02/2026

The air was heavy on Butler Island tonight, the same as 167 years ago when the enslaved people knew 436 from Butler Island and Hampton Plantations were to be auctioned the next day. They would have no knowledge of where they would be taken. Families were not supposed to be separated, but the even the 17 year olds were considered adults and separated from their parents. Grandparents were sold away from their grandchildren. This monumental event would become to be known as the Weeping Time.

One family in Savannah awaiting the auction block was the Bleach/Baker family.
Ned and Sena (listed as Lena) were 56 and 50 years old. Their children (ages 31-17) and grandchildren (ages 10- 3 months) were separated into 5 lots and sold. Three of their grandchildren were 3 months old.

Let us always remember these families and know we still research to find them- Hannah Bleach was sold, had a child by her enslaver around 1862, and lived after the Civil War until her death in 1888, in what we now know as the Grant House in Darien, the only residence to survive the Civil War. Her brother Flanders Bleach would be a trustee of Grace Baptist Church just a few doors down. Her other brother Thomas Baker would be living in Savannah by 1868. Hopefully all of the Bleach family members were reunited, but sadly the youngest child Ezekiel, 17 wasn’t listed when Thomas was asked to record his siblings for the Freedman’s Bureau.

02/25/2026

https://www.ajc.com/news/2026/02/before-it-is-erased-the-race-to-preserve-weeping-time-slave-sale-site/

08/14/2025

The site where the Weeping Time Auction was held in Savannah is up for sale. Too many African-American heritage sites have been completely erased. Places where major events happened are torn down or eradicated so that visual history cannot be taught.

Savannah is known for preservation, it’s time for them to preserve all of its’ history.

https://savannahagenda.com/site-of-weeping-time-tragedy-for-sale/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=52920b53f1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_08_08_03_11&utm_source=All+-+The+Current&utm_term=0_-52920b53f1-36024456

Featured photo of 204 West Old Lathrop by Eric Curl in 2023 By Eric Curl Aug. 7, 2025 – The site’s latest owners are listing for sale the former Dixie Plywood property at 204 West Old Lathrop Avenue, where one of the country’s largest sales of enslaved people, known as the Weeping Time, occurr...

06/27/2025

It was a year ago today that we lost the T.L. Huston House on Butler Island due to arson. It stood for almost 100 years, completed in 1927.

Today, the ruins are still there with the promise that recovery and salvage will start this summer from a conversation that began last August. We asked that what could not be salvaged could be saved for descendants to have remembrances or make art as they requested. We will keep you posted here as it progresses.

Our histories with historic sites can often be complicated, they are our collective stories and shared history. Historic sites give place and space to those who came before us.

05/28/2025

A full-day gathering addressing cultural preservation, and economic empowerment. Enjoy engaging panels, networking, and a heritage market.

04/28/2025

Wonderful photo of our Queen Eunice Moore today at Grace Baptist Church as it was on the The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s Spring Ramble today. One of the original Trustees of Grace Baptist was Flanders Bleach, who was sold during the Weeping Time along with his wife, children, parents, siblings, and their children. A tree went through the church 3 years ago and we are thankful it is in the process of being restored. Other notable members of Grace Baptist Church were Professor James Grant, beloved African American educator, principal, and journalist and W.H. Rogers, the last African American Georgia Legislator in 1907 before Jim Crow laws forced his resignation.
Photo by Dreher

04/14/2025

Marker unveiled in memory of the enslaved Africans who landed on Sapelo Bay in 1526 for the San Miguel de Gualdape colony.

04/14/2025

This weekend McIntosh County held the Blessing of the Fleet, our annual celebration of the upcoming sh*****ng (and fishing) season, an industry that supported many generations.

But another momentous occasion this weekend commemorated and honored the ancestors who were enslaved, endured the Middle Passage, and landed near Sapelo Bay over 500 years ago by placing a marker in their memory on the Darien waterfront.

With the oral arguments being heard this week for Sapelo Island’s Hogg Hummock community, may we continue to honor their memory by protecting and blessing their descendants and their land.

03/02/2025

166 years ago today, 429 people enslaved on Butler Island and Hampton plantations were huddled together in stalls at the Ten Broeck racecourse awaiting their sale in Savannah Georgia to appease the debts of Pierce Butler. Over the next two days, they would be sold as chattel in lots as the rain would pour down, tears from earth and heaven, now known as the Weeping Time. From infants aged a few weeks to several who were so old, their ages unknown. Today we gathered at St. Cyprian’s, a new Memorial on Fort King George Drive and on Butler Island at sunset to remember their sacrifices, being torn apart from their home and families, to settle mostly gambling debts.