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Across the Tugaloo river
(widened here to a lake by the dam downstream), is the
famed Travelers Rest inn with origins going back to 1785.
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Deverereaux Jarrett's manor is
now a historic site owned by the State of Georgia and open to the
public.
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The house is about 90 by 30
feet, with 2 1/2 stories and 13 rooms.
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Jarrett was the richest man in
the region, with many business interests and a plantation that exceeded
10,000 acres..
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Near the house are several
smalll structures, including a small cabin
built by Devereaux's son-in-law.
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Rocking chairs on the expansive porch invited family and
guests to relax and catch a bit of cool breeze.
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The affable and knowledgeable
curator guided us through the house and explained its features. Here he
is about to explain the camouflaged drawers built into the mantle of
the fireplace. It is speculated the drawers were the hiding place for
gold dust shipped from Devereaux's mines at Dahlonega, site of
America's first
gold rush.. |
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The beautifully crafted "barrel"
portion of this cradle was made by hollowing out a log.
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When someone wanted to take a
bath, the "hip tub" and a bucket of hot water was fetched from the
kitchen in the basement..
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The mattress on this bed rests
atop is a lattice of rope. When a guest was ready to retire, he took a
device that resembles a giant clothes pin and went around the bed,
tightening the loops of rope in turn until the mattress was firmly
supported.
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A view of the six-window bedroom
that is thought to be the chamber where Georgia's Civil War-era
Governor Joe Brown and his bride spent the first night of
their honeymoon. Washbowls and chamber pots served in place of indoor
plumbing. The walls, like most of the house, are "heart pine,"
which is immune to termites as well as beautiful. Such fine wood is
usually obtained now by salvaging century-old
structures. A salvager who accompanied us on the tour estimated these
boards could sell for as much as $50 per foot.
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The curator explained the hidden
recesses in a splendid "secretary" desk crafted for the Jarretts by an
intinerant
cabinetmaker named Shaw who apparently traded his services for room and
board at Travelers Rest.
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This long, curving handrail is
one piece of wood. It must have come from a huge and very old tree.
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Perched on this fine
marble-topped dresser is a leather hat box, an important piece of
luggage in a day when hats were quite important.
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A "corner chair" has two open
sides. Whether an officer's sword hangs on his left or right side, it
won't get tangled in the chair. The small frame holds pictures of
George
Jarrett and his wife, and above it is his West Point commission.
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Visitors are led to the attic to
see the rafters. The handmade joins--no two would be exactly
alike--were crafted on the ground and each pair of beams was marked
with roman numerals to identify the mates. Then the rafters were lifted
atop the house to be re-assembled in the right order, and secured with
pegs.
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Before leaving we chatted with
the curator about our family's links to Travelers Rest. Over the years
there have been eleven marriages that united the Jarrett and Ramsay
lines. On
the wall of the curator's office is a Jarrett family tree. Here Linda
points to the name of one who married a Ramsay.
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