THE A

“Your name and business at Hampton Plantation,” the sentry growls.

“Aaron Burr calling on Major Pierce Butler,” the dusty traveler replies curtly.

SOJOURN TO ST. SIMONS

It was 1804 when Burr’s muddy boots stepped onto St. Simons’ marshy shore.

His fateful duel with former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton in Weehawken, New Jersey, a few weeks prior had saddled him — the sitting Vice President — with two murder charges.

One was filed in New York, where Hamilton succumbed to an abdominal wound 36 hours after Burr fired his pistol on July 11. The second was pursued by New Jersey.

Though sources vary on the legality or illegality of dueling at this time, Brittanica notes that the practice was in fact illegal in both states, though New Jersey’s penalties were less severe.

Duels, however, were still widely accepted as honorable endeavors by much of society. That’s why the public outrage over Hamilton’s death sincerely stunned Aaron Burr. As the coroner’s jury was convened on July 13, he hurriedly packed his belongings and crept out of New York, heading south. He first traveled to Pennsylvania then to Georgia, where he arrived in mid-August.

In a letter to his daughter, Theodosia, Burr’s sardonic humor was evident when he wrote:

“There is a contention of a singular nature between the two states of New York and New Jersey. The subject in the dispute is, which shall have the honor of hanging the Vice President. You shall have due notice of time and place. Whenever it may be, you may rely on a great concourse of company, much gayety, and many rare sights.”

A network of allies spirited Burr down to Georgia where he first lodged with Major Pierce Butler at Hampton Plantation on the northern end of St. Simons Island. Burr had befriended Butler when the two served as senators. During his time on the plantation, Burr wrote a number of letters to his daughter (under the alias of Roswell King or simply R. King) which he sent via a mail boat that collected the post.

According to his correspondence, Burr easily moved through St. Simons, noting the people and settlements he found. One letter dated September 3, 1804, described the former Fort Frederica in dismal terms:

“In the vicinity of the town several ruins were pointed out to me, as having been, formerly, country seats of the governor, and officers of the garrison, and gentlemen of the town. At present, nothing can be more gloomy than what was once called Frederica. The few families now remaining, or rather residing there, for they are all new-comers, have a sickly, melancholy appearance, well-assorted with the ruins which surround them. The southern part of this island abounds with fetid swamps, which must render it very unhealthy. On the northern half, I have seen no stagnant water.”

The fugitive whiled away the hours fishing for trout and hunting birds. He also described excursions to nearby Little St. Simons Island, Darien, and at the neighboring plantation of John Couper of Couper’s Point (today Cannon’s Point Nature Preserve, managed by the St. Simons Island Land Trust). It was in this three-storied mansion that Burr rode out the suspected category 4 storm, now referred to as the Antigua-Charleston Hurricane.

The Eye Of The Hurricane

While Burr seemed to be embracing his own version of island time, sipping French wine and scouring the streams for alligators (which he dubbed “crocodiles”) to catch and eat, all was not well. A powerful hurricane was churning in the Atlantic.

On September 7, it made landfall along the Georgia and South Carolina coast, with its eye moving directly over St. Simons Island.

At the time, Burr was visiting Couper, who was ill. As winds picked up and the storm moved inland, Burr decided to wait it out at Couper’s Point.

In a September 12 letter, he recalled:

“In the morning, the wind was still higher. It continued to rise, and by noon blew a gale from the north, which, together with the swelling of the water, became alarming. From twelve to three, several of the out-houses had been destroyed; most of the trees about the house were blown down. The house in which we were shook and rocked so much that Mr. C. began to express his apprehensions for our safety. Before three, part of the piazza was carried away; two or three of the windows bursted in. The house was inundated with water, and presently one of the chimneys fell. Mr. C. then commanded a retreat to a storehouse about fifty yards off, and we decamped, men, women, and children.

You may imagine, in this scene of confusion and dismay, a good many incidents to amuse one if one had dared to be amused in a moment of much anxiety. The house, however, did not blow down. The storm continued till four, and then very suddenly abated, and in ten minutes it was almost a calm. I seized the moment to return home.”

But the storm wasn’t finished with Burr yet. It continued through the night and when the next day dawned catastrophic devastation was revealed. Nineteen of Hampton Plantation’s enslaved people had drowned along with 500 other regional residents who lost their lives along with widespread damage to crops and property.

SECRETS FROM ST. MARYS

While Burr’s original plan to venture into Florida was thwarted by the hurricane, he did head south during his stay. He had planned to call at Dungeness on Cumberland Island, which was home to Revolutionary War General Nathanial Greene’s widow and their children.

St. Marys-based author Kay Westberry, who has penned three history books, says that this gesture was not well received.

“When they heard Burr was coming, the family all left and went inland, so it was just the servants left to greet him,” she says. “That was a major snub. But one of the daughters had a teenage crush on Hamilton, so I don’t think she was really excited to see Burr. And he was also a wanted murderer at the time. They didn’t want to be associated with that.”

Another Camden County resident did reportedly welcome the disgraced politician. Major Archibald Clark was a prominent local attorney who attended the same law school as Burr, though over a decade apart.

The home that Burr purportedly stayed in — 314 Osborne Street in St. Marys — is still standing. For decades it remained within the same family, who held that the vice president was a guest there. This was recognized by the National Trust for Historic

Preservation and a plaque affixed to the building in 1936.

Now dubbed the Federal Quarters, it is open to lodgers who can lay their heads in the same room that Burr once occupied.

Originally constructed in 1801, the property now belongs to Keegan and Rebecca Federal (an uncanny coincidence considering that Burr’s nemesis Alexander Hamilton belonged to the Federalist Party). Today, Keegan is carrying on a tradition begun by Clark — he operates his law office on the first floor.

“(Clark) was a lawyer and he was also appointed by the president at the time, Thomas Jefferson, to become the customs’ agent or what we call the tax collector for all the ships that would come in here,” Federal says, standing on the home’s porch.

There are a number of original elements still visible in the house today, including the heart pine floors and an alarmingly steep staircase once used by servants (there’s a modern version available to guests). The rooms are also furnished with antiques and items reminiscent of the period.

Federal moves through the home, outlining historical details and appointments for guests, but stops to point out an entirely unrelated item — a secret room tucked away.

“The kids love this,” Keegan says with a grin, unlatching the door. “It’s a little Harry Potter room, we have a lot of the Harry Potter stuff in here.”

But the historical gold is upstairs. Stepping into one bedroom, Federal pauses.

“This is it ... the Aaron Burr room. This is where he stayed,” he says, opening his arms.

The room is spacious with a large bed and patriotic appointments. And it’s easy to imagine the embattled Founding Father laboring over letters at a writing desk there. For Federal, the link between past and present can often feel a bit blurred as one walks through the home.

“A lot of our guests want to stay here because of Aaron Burr. We get a lot of interest in that. They mostly come from Atlanta or from North Carolina,” he says. “But we also have another link to history, General Winfield Scott later stayed here en route home from the Indian Wars in Florida. So this other bedroom is called the Winford Scott Suite. And the last bedroom ... we call the Alexander Hamilton Suite. He never stayed here, of course, but we thought it had a nice ring to it.”

Complexity And Conclusion

The vice president returned to Washington, D.C., to finish his tenure, even presiding over the Senate during the impeachment trial of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in 1805.

Burr’s murder charges were still pending at this time and the bizarre scenario was detailed by a Boston newspaper under the headline “The World Upside Down.”

The paper observed, “Formerly, it was the practice in courts of justice to arraign the murderer before the judge, but now we behold the judge arraigned before the murderer.”

Thanks to Burr’s influential friends in Congress, the murder charges were not prosecuted (the prosecutor filed a nolle prosequi), though he was convicted of a misdemeanor dueling charge in New York. That meant Burr could not vote, practice law, or hold public office for 20 years.

Of course, that was not the end of Burr’s story, far from it in fact. His complicated legacy continued when he faced treason charges surrounding an alleged plot to convince newly acquired western territories to secede from the union. Some say Burr had planned to work with England to install himself as an independent ruler there.

In 1806, Burr was apprehended in present-day Alabama and sent under guard to Richmond, Virginia.

Though President Thomas Jefferson pushed for a conviction, Burr was acquitted due to a lack of evidence, confounding the hangman yet again.

The trial coupled with the Hamilton affair left Burr’s life and reputation in tatters. He spent several years in Europe, trying to entice British and French governments into creating a new nation in the American Southwest (which he’d undoubtedly lead). It, of course, did not work. Burr returned to America in 1812. In December of that year, his beloved daughter, Theodosia, disappeared in a presumed shipwreck aboard The Patriot.

Burr spent his final years practicing law. He died on September 14, 1836, at the age of 80.

Even today, 187 years later, the infamous Aaron Burr still looms large on the American landscape. And his footsteps are still visible on the Coast, adding another fascinating and unique thread to the fabric of the Golden Isles.

Bibliography

“The Burr-Hamilton Duel,” The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and the New Media at George Mason University, teachinghistory.org, 2018.

Davis, Matthew L., The Memoirs of Aaron Burr: Complete Edition, Including Volumes I and II , Harper Brothers, New York, 2020.

Cleland, Thomas, “A Refugee in South Georgia, Aaron Burr,” The Brantley County Historical Society, sites.rootsweb.com.

Issenberg, Nancy, Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr . United Kingdom, Viking, 2007.

Roper, Daniel M., “Old Jails — The Treason of Aaron Burr,” Georgia Backroads, Summer 2022, pages 6-10.

Shafer, Ronald, “The Impeachment Trial Presided Over By Alexander Hamilton’s Killer,” The Washington Post, Feb. 13, 2021.