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Foremost Amongst The Jekyll Island Story is The Creation of The Federal Reserve.

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The Jekyll Island story is full of interesting detail and history. 

Early signs of life have been traced back to the Muskogian tribes of the Creek nation settling on the island in an area then called Guale in the 1500s. 

Spanish and French explorers later both claimed the area for their respective countries; Spain would end up colonizing the land after defeating the French. 

However, the Spanish were not meant to maintain control as the English allied themselves with various Indian tribes in the area (during the 1680s). 

Armed by their new English friends, those Indian tribes did the dirty work and cleared the way for English colonization. 

The Jekyll Island story continued in 1733, when Georgia was founded by General James Oglethorpe and the island was named after his good friend Sir Joseph Jekyll. 

Oglethorpe appointed William Horton to set up a military outpost on Jekyll Island in the late 1730s. 

In his time at the post, Horton developed a widely successful plantation; even after it was destroyed by the Spanish in 1742, he rebuilt it. 

After his death, the plantation had numerous owners until it became the property of one Christophe du Bignon in 1792. 

Bignon and his family had recently escaped the carnage involved with the French Revolution in 1792. 

He continued the island’s successful planting history begun by Horton, and is responsible for bringing slavery to Jekyll Island (the last shipment of slaves to the United States supposedly landed at Jekyll Island in 1858). 

Upon his death in 1825, Christophe du Bignon gave the island to his son, Henri, who would later give the island to his four sons with each getting an equal share. 

This is where the Jekyll Island story begins to take on a bit more historical significance. 

John Eugene Du Bignon, with the help of his brother-in-law Newton Finney, purchased the other shares of the island from his brothers and decided to build a retreat for the wealthy. 

In some of the meetings the wealthy members of the Jekyll Island Club had, it is said the creation of the Federal Reserve came to being.

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The Federal Reserve

The main historical thrust of the Jekyll Island story is in the possible formation of the ideas behind the creation of the Federal Reserve. 

With many of the world’s wealthiest gathering at the island every winter, money matters were bound to be a subject of great interest. 

In late November of 1910, Senator Aldrich began developing a plan in which he along with several of the nation’s leading financial minds would gather at the island in order to discuss monetary policy and the banking system. 

Of the small group of people, nearly a fourth of the world’s wealth was represented. 

Secrecy was the key to this meeting; Aldrich had no desire for the work he hoped would be accomplished to be harassed or molded in any way by the forces of the media.

Secrecy was considered so important that the members were to go to a railroad car on a relatively unused section of track to begin the trip.

Names were not even used while there in fear that the servants would spill the secret meeting to the world of hungry reporters. 

For a week the men stayed secluded on the island as they discussed the creation of a scientific system of currency for the United States. The meeting was considered a success.

The Aldrich Currency report has been credited as the driving force behind the eventual creation of the Federal Reserve as part of the nation’s new currency system. 

Essentially, the Jekyll Island story is one of great importance in that it deals directly with the creation of the financial system which our country runs off of today.

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