Bethany Plantation
Harris Neck was named after William Thomas Harris, formerly of Frederica.
Sites of Bethany Plantation.
Bethany Plantation was located at Harris Point (formerly Dickinson's Neck) in McIntosh County. Today that area is a National Preserve. The wildlife, lakes and flora invite all persons who love nature to visit there.
Daniel Demere was the commander of a scout boat on Frederica called Prince George,
serving as Captain of Oglethorpe's Rangers. Prior to the war with Spain, his job was to cruise the Florida shores along
Amelia Island to search for Spanish settlements. He married the widow Anne Coles Harris, who became very successful in
merchandising. Her store was located on Broad Street in Frederica. Together, they
amassed wealth, owning sloops, timber operations, and substantial tracts of land.
He owned a plantation on the Newport River known as
Bethany, containing 500 acres, and bound on the east by the marsh. It adjoined a
plantation of Jonathan
Bryan, known as Walnut Hill on Salter's Creek.
When he
married the widow Harris, a deed was given between Daniel Demetre and Ann Harris, wherein
Demetre granted to James Habersham, Noble Jones and Thomas Raspberry, his Bethany
Plantation. Simultaneously, Anne Harris sold her 50 acres of land on the Newport River lately purchased
by her from John Rutledge to the same persons. This deed set forth the conditions of her
forthcoming marriage to Daniel Demetre in 1752. Apparently this deed did not include
the whole plantation, because when Ann Harris Demetre died in 1758, Bethany went
to her son, William Harris.
Dickinson's Neck in the district of Sapelo and Newport with a number of slaves and
livestock was left to Anne's son, William Thomas Harris, in 1753 by his Last Will and Testament.
Also, William Thomas Harris purchased 10 slaves from the estate.
