A Timeline of Mulberry Grove Mulberry Grove represents a time capsule of human occupation spanning 3,000 years. Many key events in the early history of Georgia and the United States occurred on the former plantation site known as Mulberry Grove. [For a Flash version of the timeline, please click here.] 1500 – 1733 The Yamacraw tribe of Creek Indians inhabits the site. 1733 Georgia is settled by colonists; General James Oglethorpe plans a bluff site for military outposts to protect Savannah and names the area Joseph’s Town. 1736 Scottish highlander officers John Cuthbert, Patrick Mackay and George Dunbar settle at Joseph’s Town. To fulfill his obligations to develop land, Cuthbert brings over what are believed to be Georgia ’s first indentured servants. 1739 Cuthbert dies. His sister, Ann Cuthbert, inherits the land. She is possibly the first woman to inherit and hold land in Georgia . 1740 Ann Cuthbert marries Dr. Patrick Graham, president of Georgia and later a member of the Royal Governor’s Council. Dr. Graham grows mulberry saplings to sell to the colonists. 1749 Dr. Graham begins to cultivate rice, using possibly the earliest slaves to arrive in Georgia . 1758 Dr. Graham dies. Mrs. Graham marries James Bulloch of South Carolina . 1764 Ann Cuthbert Graham Bulloch dies. 1774 Royal Lieutenant Governor John Graham purchases Mulberry Grove and builds a new main house and supporting buildings. 1776 Revolutionary War: The Liberty Boys terrorize outlying plantations, forcing Graham to flee to England . 1783 Mulberry Grove is seized by the state of Georgia as a Loyalist property. 1785 Mulberry Grove is awarded to Major General Nathaniel Greene of the Continental Army for his service in Georgia . Nearby Richmond Plantation is awarded to General Anthony Wayne. 1786 General Greene dies of sunstroke while visiting a neighbor. 1791 President Georgia Washington makes two visits to Mrs. Greene at Mulberry Grove. 1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin at Mulberry Grove. 1800 Major Edward Harden buys Mulberry Grove from Greene’s widow. 1819 James Wallace purchases Mulberry Grove. 1840 Philip Ulmer purchases Mulberry Grove. 1856 Zachariah M. Winkler purchases Mulberry Grove, adding it to his Isla Island rice holdings. 1864 Mulberry house and outlying buildings are burned by General William T. Sherman’s army. Large agricultural efforts cease. 1938 State historic marker erected to commemorate Mulberry Grove. 1940 U.S. Postal Service issues Eli Whitney stamps in Savannah . A tablet is erected at Mulberry Avenue and Augusta Road . 1975 Winkler descendants sell Mulberry Grove to BASF-Wyandotte Corporation. 1976 An archaeological assessment is conducted by the University of Florida . 1985 Mulberry Grove is sold to the Georgia Ports Authority.