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Anna Matilda <I>Page</I> King

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Anna Matilda Page King

Birth
Georgia, USA
Death
1859 (aged 60–61)
Saint Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia, USA
Burial
Saint Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia, USA
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The wife of the frequently absent Thomas Butler King, Anna single-handedly ran their St. Simons Island Plantation, Retreat, caring for their "family, black and white," raising crops, and preparing their children for productive and honorable lives. Anna Matilda Page was raised in the understanding that she would marry a planter, have children, and tend to her family's domestic affairs. Rare for her time, she was also educated by her father in all aspects of plantation management, from seed cultivation to building construction. That grounding would serve her well. By 1842 her husband's properties were seized, owing to debts amassed from crop failures, economic downturns, and extensive investments in land, enslaved workers, and the development of the nearby port town of Brunswick. Anna and her family were sustained, however, by Retreat, the St. Simons Island property left to her in trust by her father. She managed to raise her children, get the crops in, and in her "spare" time, she cultivated a gloriously beautiful garden, the flowers of which, legend has it, ships' captains' could smell several miles out on St. Simons Sound. The Avenue of Oaks, which once led to the "Big House" at Retreat, and the ruins of the slave hospital, still remain as reminders of the former glory of the plantation. The Sea Island Company has changed the old Corn Barn into the Retreat Golf Course Clubhouse.
The wife of the frequently absent Thomas Butler King, Anna single-handedly ran their St. Simons Island Plantation, Retreat, caring for their "family, black and white," raising crops, and preparing their children for productive and honorable lives. Anna Matilda Page was raised in the understanding that she would marry a planter, have children, and tend to her family's domestic affairs. Rare for her time, she was also educated by her father in all aspects of plantation management, from seed cultivation to building construction. That grounding would serve her well. By 1842 her husband's properties were seized, owing to debts amassed from crop failures, economic downturns, and extensive investments in land, enslaved workers, and the development of the nearby port town of Brunswick. Anna and her family were sustained, however, by Retreat, the St. Simons Island property left to her in trust by her father. She managed to raise her children, get the crops in, and in her "spare" time, she cultivated a gloriously beautiful garden, the flowers of which, legend has it, ships' captains' could smell several miles out on St. Simons Sound. The Avenue of Oaks, which once led to the "Big House" at Retreat, and the ruins of the slave hospital, still remain as reminders of the former glory of the plantation. The Sea Island Company has changed the old Corn Barn into the Retreat Golf Course Clubhouse.

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