Younger children learned spinning and carding, and all boys were taught mechanics and agriculture.

Benjamin Franklin suggested that due to the scarcity of workmen and materials in Georgia, it might be better to move the orphanage and its children to Philadelphia.

Whitefield refused to move the orphanage because his contributors donated money specifically for the Georgia project.

At his death, Whitefield bequeathed the orphanage and his slaves to the Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, a charitable sponsor in England.

In 1749, Whitefield campaigned for its legalization, arguing that the territory would never be prosperous unless farms were able to use slave labor.

[5] He began his fourth visit to America in 1751 advocating slavery, viewing its re-legalization in Georgia as necessary to make his plantation profitable.