110 History of Methodism 



rear of the house was Salt-water Creek, and in front 

 the peach-orcharcl and the gardens, in which plants 

 and fruit-trees of every variety and climate were made 

 to grow. From Savannah to Wormsloe a road was 

 cut through the woods, which had a hundred curiosi- 

 ties to delight the attentive traveler, and from the lat- 

 ter place to Bethesda was a magnificent vista of nearly 

 three miles cut through the groves of pine. 



At the expiration of thirty years, February 2, 1770, 

 the sum of £15,404 had been expended in erecting and 

 continuously maintaining the Orphan House, of which 

 amount Mr. "Whitefield, out of his own private means, 

 had contributed about £3,300. Not a penny had been 

 paid to any person whatever employed or concerned in 

 the management of the house. During this period one 

 hundred and forty boys and forty-three girls had been 

 " clothed, educated, maintained, and suitably provided 

 for," while many other poor children had been occa- 

 sionally received, supported, and educated. The lands 

 granted in trust to Mr. Whitefield for his Orphan 

 House were the tract of five hundred acres, called 

 Bethesda; a second tract of four hundred and nine- 

 teen acres, called Nazareth; a third of the same num- 

 of acres, called Ephratah; and adjoining this a fourth 

 tract of five hundred acres, called Huntingdon — in all 

 eighteen hundred and thirty-eight acres. As early as 

 1746 many had applied to Mr. Whitefield to establish 

 a public school at the Orphan House, and to take their 

 children as boarders. Under date of March 21, he says : 



If there should be peace, it is certain that such a school would be 

 exceedingly useful not only for those northern parts of the colony, 

 but also for the more southern parts of Carolina, and for Purysburg 

 and Frederica, where are many fine youths. I have been prevailed 

 on to take one from Frederica and another from Purysburg, and it 

 may be I shall admit more. For the present, considering the situa- 



