Refuge Plantation

On the Satilla River 2.8 miles from here, was one of the largest rice plantations in the South. Refuge Plantation was originally a crown grant of 500 acres to George McIntosh in 1765, it passed to his son, John Houston McIntosh. In 1836, General Duncan Lamont Clinch, U.S. Army hero of the Seminole War and husband to Eliza Bayard McIntosh, daughter of John Houston McIntosh, settled here. He farmed until 1844, then entered politics. Elected to Congress on the Whig ticket in 1844, he served through 1845. Born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina on April 6, 1787. General Clinch died Nov. 27, 1849, in Macon, Georgia. His plantation remained in the family until 1905.