John and Charles Wesley preached under St. Simons' oaks before a church was built at Frederica, and later Aaron Burr spent a month at Hampton's Point after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel. St. Simons' plantations flourished and were noted for the luxurious and sporting life of planters from about 1800 to the Civil War. Cotton and slavery collapsed after Sherman's forces razed the estates. Former slave quarters remained; inhabitants turned to fishing and garden crops for subsistence as St. Simons was nearly forgotten until the 20th century.