With his plain style and simple “quit your meanness” theology, Sam Jones was the South’s most famous preacher in the late nineteenth century. Early Life Samuel Porter Jones was born October 16, 1847, in Oak Bowery, Alabama, the son of Nancy “Queenie” Porter and John J. Jones, a lawyer and businessman. After his mother’s death in 1855, Jones moved with his family to Cartersville, Georgia, where he grew up and lived for most of his life.

Sapelo Island, situated about sixty miles south of Savannah, lies in the center of coastal Georgia’s well-defined chain of barrier islands. The 16,500-acre island is Georgia’s fourth largest and, excepting the 434-acre African American community of Hog Hammock, is entirely state owned and managed. The island comprises various entities in addition to Hog Hammock, including the University of Georgia Marine Institute, the Richard J. Reynolds Wildlife Management Area, and the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Commercial fishing has long been an economic mainstay of McIntosh County. In 1960 McIntosh County had one of the largest shrimp-boat fleets on the south Atlantic coast. Although the seafood industry has seen a decline because of shifting market forces, shrimping is still economically important to the county. The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, located on Skidaway Island near Savannah, is an autonomous research unit within the University System of Georgia. The institute's 700-acre campus contains facilities for both saltwater and freshwater ecological research and supports approximately fourteen faculty and seventy staff members. Image from Michael Rivera The New Georgia Encyclopedia does not hold the copyright for this media resource and can neither grant nor deny permission to republish or reproduce the image online or in print.

The Southern League was the first professional minor league baseball association in the South, lasting on and off from 1885 until 1899. The league was born on February 11, 1885, in Atlanta, under the direction of its first president, legendary Atlanta journalist Henry W. Grady. An avid baseball fan, Grady had insisted on including baseball scores in the Atlanta Constitution, even at his own expense. By then loosely organized teams and leagues were common throughout the South, but there was no uniform organizing body.