From the United Methoist Church web site:
"Savannah was a planned city, founded in 1733 by philanthropist and reformer General James Oglethorpe and laid out according to his design. In 1735, Oglethorpe invited John Wesley to come to Georgia as the colony's chaplain. Wesley sailed for Georgia on October 14, 1735, along with his brother Charles, who was to serve as Oglethorpe's private secretary.
Others in the party included Benjamin Ingham and Charles Delamotte, members with the Wesleys of "The Holy Club" at Oxford. The faith of a group of Moravian Christians on board the Simmonds with the Wesleys made a deep impression on John.
On February 6, 1736, the ship's passengers set foot on Peeper (now Cockspur) Island, and John Wesley led them in a prayer of thanksgiving. (A monument now marks the spot.) Exactly a month later, on March 7, he preached his first sermon in Savannah, at the courthouse.
The next two years were very difficult ones for the Wesley brothers. Charles was not temperamentally suited to be Oglethorpe's secretary. He also was not suited to be the parish priest to the new settlement at Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, about seventy-five miles south of Savannah. He ran into trouble with the colonists, had bouts of illness, and became so disheartened that he returned to England in August, just six months after their arrival.
John faced his own problems. He, too, was at times unpopular with the colonists, and a disastrous love affair with Sophy Hopkey only made his situation worse. Continued contact with the Moravians led him to question the state of his soul, and he failed to realize his hopes of a mission to the American Indians in Georgia. He wrote in his journal, "I came to convert the Indians, but, oh, who will convert me?"
John Wesley sailed for England on December 2, 1737, discouraged and uncertain about his future. He later said that he was only "beating the air" during his time in Georgia.
However, the time was not wasted. The questions that drove him from Georgia brought him "very unwillingly" to a meeting in Aldersgate Street in May 1738, where he had his famous "heart-warming" experience. One could say that his months in Georgia were an important apprenticeship for the work that would be his for the next fifty years.
Points of interest at this Heritage Landmark: There are several places to visit. This first is outside Savannah on Cockspur Island. A marker near historic Fort Pulaski notes the arrival of the Wesley brothers on this island on February 7, 1736. The rest of the places are within easy walking distance of each other in downtown Savannah. This landmark is described on a marker at the John Wesley Statue in Reynolds Square. Facing the statue, the site of Wesley's parsonage and garden is to the left. The Oliver Sturges house is on the parsonage site at the corner of Julian Street. While Wesley had no church building, the visitor should see Christ Episcopal church on Johnson Square. Continuing around Johnson Square to the right is the site of Wesley's first worship service, now the U.S. Customs House. The site of the Town Hall where Wesley held regular services is now the US Post Office at Wright Square on Bull Street."
The John Wesley's American Parish Historical Marker reads:
"John Wesley, an Anglican minister, served as the religious leader of the Georgia colony from February 6, 1736 to December 2, 1737. His inclusive ministry sought to embrace both Native Americans and colonists. In 1976, The United Methodist Church declared this, the site of their founder's American ministry, a National Historic Landmark encompassing
1. His new world landing site at Cockspur Island on U.S. 80 E.
2. The site of his first sermon at Bull St. and Bay Lane.
3. The Wesley monument on Reynolds Square.
4. Site of his parsonage and garden at Congress and Abercorn.
5. Site of Wesley's first permanent worship place at York & Whitaker.
6. And in 1995, Trinity Church on Telfair Square, 'The Mother Church of Savannah Methodism.'
Presented by the Commission on Archives and History The United Methodist Church, 1999"
The Wesley Chapel Trinity Historical Marker reads:
"In 1812 The Methodist Church in Savannah was formally established with the founding of Wesley Chapel at Lincoln & Oglethorpe Streets. Bishop Francis Asbury dedicated that building in 1813. In 1848 the congregation built a new church on Telfair Square. Since the Methodist Centennial of 1884, Trinity has been recognized as "The Mother Church of Savannah Methodism." In 1995, the General Commission on Archives and History expanded the National Historic Landmark to include Wesley Chapel/Trinity, thereby celebrating the permanent return of the Wesleyan Spirit to "John Wesley's American Parish."
Presented by the Commission on Archives and History
The United Methodist Church 1999"
From the City of Savannah web site:
"The John Wesley Monument in the center of Reynolds Square was erected in 1969 by the John Wesley Monument Committee. and consists of a stepped and blocked rectangular granite pedestal, inscribed on all sides, supporting a bronze statue of John Wesley.
John Wesley is the founder of Methodism. Wesley came to Savannah in 1736 as an Anglican clergyman to the Colony of Georgia. Returning to England in 1738, his stay in Savannah was short, inspired by his associations with Moravians in Georgia and later in England, he revised his ideas and eventually formed the United Societies, a Protestant sect which evolved into the Methodist Church. In Savannah, Wesley resided near Reynolds Square. The Wesley Monumental Church, located on the periphery of Reynolds Square, is named in his honor."
The John Wesley (1703-1791) Founder of Methodism Historical Marker reads:
"On the 'trust lot' south of President Street and immediately west of this square stood in 1736- 37 the parsonage in which John Wesley resided. In the adjoining garden he read, prayed and meditated.
Weekly meetings of members of his Christ Church congregation were held in the small wooden dwelling. According to Wesley, 'The first rise of Methodism was in 1729 when four of us met together at Oxford. The second was at Savannah in 1736 when twenty or thirty persons met at my house.'
The monument here was dedicated in 1969. Wesley is depicted at the period of his Georgia ministry, wearing his Church of England vestments. The sculptor, Marshall Daugherty, says of this rendering: 'The moment is as he looks up from his Bible toward his congregation about to speak and stretching out his right hand in love, invitation, and exhortation. In contrast, the hand holding the Bible is intense and powerful - the point of contact with the Almighty...
GHM 025-88 Georgia Historical Commission 1969"