This is a recent article written by Buddy Sullivan, the leading coastal Georgia historian and resident of McIntosh County. His books offered excellent insight into the history that The Last Laird of Sapelo is based upon.
Much of Sapelo’s antebellum past no longer exists, with one stark exception, the tabby ruins of Chocolate. In 1843, Thomas Spalding bought the land on the north end of Sapelo Island as a wedding gift to Randolph and Mary Spalding. A fire gutted the grand tabby mansion a few years after his father passed away in 1851, forcing Randolph and his family to settle into South End’s unoccupied Big House. By 1857, Randolph built a new house on the mainland near the Ridge above Darien. But Chocolate’s fields that surrounded the tabby mansion ruins remained productive until 1861. Read more in Buddy’s article to appreciate the history that unfolds in The Last Laird of Sapelo, August 15, 2023 by Koehler Books. Preorder a copy today or plan to attend an upcoming book event.
The following article comes from the Darien News, McIntosh Life Magazine, Spring 2023.
