USA > Georgia > Statistics of the state of Georgia : including an account of its natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history ; together with a particular description of each county, notices of the manners and customs of its aboriginal tribes, and a correct map of the state > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02401 5148
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
Please check maps in pocket on back cover of book after each use.
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20-
1
STATISTICS
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA :
INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF ITS
Matural, Civil, and Crrlesiastiral History ;
TOGETHER WITH A PARTICULAR
DESCRIPTION OF EACH COUNTY,
NOTICES OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ITS ABORIGINAL TRIBES,
AND
A CORRECT MAP OF THE STATE.
BY
GEORGE WHITE.
SAVANNAH : W. THORNE WILLIAMS. 1849.
ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by W. THORNE WILLIAMS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Georgia.
1204236 TO
THE CITIZENS
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA 5
This Work
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY THEIR FELLOW-CITIZEN,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
THIS volume is, after some unavoidable delay, at length submitted to the public.
The difficulties which the author has had to encounter in collecting materials for this work, have far exceeded his ex- pectations ; but he must frankly acknowledge, that his labours have been greatly lightened by the assistance of valued friends in Georgia and other States.
To the following gentlemen he acknowledges himself especially indebted : Dr. James H. Couper, of St. Simon's Island ; Major Le Conte, of New-York ; I. K. Tefft, of Savannah ; Governor Graham, of North Carolina; Doctors Gibbes, Bachman, Holbrook, and Johnson, of Charleston ; Dr. Le Conte, of Athens ; Judge Sheftall, of Savannah; M. M. Noah, Esq, of New-York ; General Hansell and Col. Knight, of Marietta; John Harper, Esq., of Augusta; Professor Shepard, of Charleston ; and Dr. Church, of Athens. To Philip J.
6
PREFACE.
Forbes, Esq., the courteous and esteemed Librarian of the New-York Society Library, he would express his gratitude for the uniform kindness shown him whilst consulting that invaluable collection.
Stevens' and McCall's Histories of Georgia, Lee's Memoirs, Garden's Revolutionary Anecdotes, Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors of England, the Annual Register, Hawkins' His- tory of Missions, Bartram's Travels, and Manuscripts liberally furnished by Governor Gilmer, Hon. Thomas Spalding, and Col. Joseph W. Jackson, have also furnished much valuable information.
It cannot be expected that a volume containing so many facts, and gathered from so many sources, should be entirely free from errors. All that the compiler hopes for is, that its . contents, drawn from the most reliable sources, will be en- titled to that credit which is usually awarded to public do- cuments, private family archives, and the faithful memories of disinterested living witnesses and contributors.
While the author does not shrink from just criticism, nor deprecate deserved censure, he respectfully asks the public to remember, that a Pioneer in any enterprise has many obstacles to overcome, and is therefore entitled to charitable judgment.
1
CONTENTS.
Sketch of the Geology of Georgia,
13
Indians, .
27
Situation, Boundaries, Extent,
35
Soil and Productions,
37
Rivers, .
38
Population,
43
Comparative View of Population,
Early Settlement, .
Arrival of the First Colonists, .
Progress of the First Colony,
Yazoo Fraud,
54
Annual Revenue and Expenditures,
58 59
Judiciary,
59
Penal Code,
62 63 64
Officers of the Continental Line, 65 Education, .
Franklin College,
66 74 76
Mercer University,
Oglethorpe University, 78 78
Emory College,
Georgia Female College, 79
Georgia Episcopal Institute,
80
Medical College of Georgia, 81 State Lunatic Asylum, 82
Georgia Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb,
85
Public Buildings at Milledgeville,
85
Banks, . 86
Central Railroad, 87
1
PAGE
44 44 45 45 48
Political Government,
Governors of Georgia,
Militia System,
Militia and Troops in the Revolutionary War,
8
CONTENTS.
Milledgeville and Gordon Railroad,
89
Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, . 89
Macon and Western Railroad, 90 91
Southwestern Railroad,
Western and Atlantic Railroad,
Augusta and Waynesborough Railroad,
Canals,
Protestant Episcopal Church,
Lutheran Church,
Baptists,
98 99
Methodist Episcopal Church,
Presbyterians,
100
Jews,
101
Disciples of Christ,
102 103
Roman Catholics,
104
Protestant Methodists,
104
Mormons, .
104
Appling County,
105
Bibb 66
108
Bulloch 66
115
Baker 66
120
Bryan
123
Burke
126
Butts
130
Baldwin 66
132
Camden 66
139
Campbell
143
Carroll 66
146
Cass
149
Chatham
154
Chattooga 66
172
Cherokee 66
176
Clarke 66
179
Cobb 66
187
Columbia 66
192
Coweta 66
195
Crawford
197
Decatur
200
De Kalb 66
204
Dooly 66
208
Dade
"
211
C
D
92 93 93 93 96
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church,
CONTENTS.
9
Early County,
218
Effingham County,
222
Elbert
227
Emanuel 66
242
Fayette 66
244
Floyd
248
Forsyth 66
253
Franklin 66
258
Gilmer 66
262
Glynn
275
Greene 66
289
Gwinnett 66
295
Habersham 66
299 305
Hall
Hancock
310
Harris 66
317
Heard 66
321
Henry
324
Houstoun 66
328
Irwin 66
332
Jackson
334
Jasper
349
Jones 66
354
Jefferson
356
Laurens
1
362 366
Liberty 66
369
Lincoln
381
Lowndes
66
385
Lumpkin
390
Macon 66
398 404
Marion 66
410
McIntosh 66
414
Meriwether
421
Monroe 60 426
Montgomery 66
432
Morgan 66
434
Murray 66
439
Muscogee
443
Newton 66
449
Oglethorpe
452
1
1
2
1
0
4
8
1
66
Lee
66
Madison
66
66
STATISTICS
OF THE
STATE OF GEORGIA.
SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGY OF GEORGIA.
THE following account of the geology of Georgia, although merely intended as a sketch, the writer is very sensible does- not fulfil the requisitions even of that limited design. The materials for a proper treatise on this subject, are yet to be collected; for although the labour of a State Geologist was for several years devoted to it, yet as the results of his examina- tions have not been published, and as they were not extended to many of the most interesting portions of the State, discon- nected facts, collected by cursory observers, form at present the only means available to the geologist. As many of these facts are, however, of great interest to the State, and as they serve to connect its geology with that of other portions of the Union, this outline, imperfect as it is, is presented in the hope that, while it will add something perhaps to previous know- ledge, it may serve, in some measure, to attract the attention of the citizens of the State to a subject of much importance. While the example of such States as New-York, Massachu- setts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and others, in investigating their material and scientific resources, at a great expense of labour
2
14
GEOLOGY.
and money, should impress upon the people of Georgia the high value attached by intelligent minds to such inquiries, the results which have followed from them of important practical utility, as well as of high national character, should stimulate us not to be behind our sister States in the execution of a work demanded equally by the interests of the community and the claims of an advanced state of civilization.
No state in the Union presents a richer field for the geolo- gist than Georgia. With a territory embracing the southern extremity of the great Atlantic chain of mountains ; extend- ing across them to the N. W. into the valley of the Mississippi ; running to the S. W. into the cretaceous slope of the Gulf of Mexico, and occupying along its eastern boundary a wide belt of tertiary, it contains most of the important geological formations.
Commencing at the Atlantic ocean, and spreading out from 100 to 150 miles to the west, an extensive plain of a ter- tiary formation, rises from the level of the sea, and gradually swells up to a height of about 500 feet, at a line passing near the heads of navigation of the rivers Savannah, Ogeechee, Oconee, and Ocmulgee, where it meets a primary formation. Between the Ocmulgee and Flint rivers it leaves the primary formation to the right, and rests on the cretaceous, from a point nearly midway between Macon and Knoxville, by a line run- ning in a S. W. direction to another point between Petaula creek and Fort Gaines on the Chattahoochee river.
Bounded by the last mentioned line to the S. E., and by the southern edge of the primary, as indicated by the heads of navigation in the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers, the creta- ceous formation extends from Alabama into Georgia, forming an acute triangle. The primary, or non-fossiliferous, bounded to the east by the tertiary and cretaceous formations, as described above, crosses the State from N. E. to S. W., with a width of 160 miles at the northern limit, and 100 at the southern. The Blue Ridge range of mountains passes near its western edge, and forms the most elevated land of the State, varying in height from 1200 to 4000 feet. From this crest there is a gra- dual descent to the east, by a series of parallel and undulating ridges, until the tertiary plain is reached. On the west the
15
GEOLOGY.
descent is much more precipitous. The western boundary of the primary is not very accurately established, but it is believed to lie not far from a line running nearly N. and S. through the centre of Gilmer county, and continued in the same direction to near Canton in Cass county, thence to the western base of the Allatoona mountain on the Etowah river, where it turns to the S. W., and passing near Van Wert in Paulding county, and along the northern base of the Dugdown mountain to the Ala- bama line.
The N. W. part of the State, bounded to the east and south by the western limit of the primary, consists of a transi- tion or older fossiliferous formation, except the extreme N. W. corner where the carboniferous occurs.
Having thus briefly sketched the great leading features of the geology of the State, the various formations will now be described more in detail.
TERTIARY FORMATION .- The sea-coast of Georgia is rich in the more recent formations. In the salt-marshes and swamps, which are spread out between the sea islands and the main land, and along the borders of the rivers and creeks, are extensive bodies of recent alluvium.
Although these deposits come under this general head, they are obviously so different in age as to admit of being subdi- vided with advantage. The most recent is that constituting the salt-marsh and the tide-swamp. This is a very modern alluvium, still in the course of formation from the deposits of sedimentary matter brought down by the rivers, or the reflux of the tides. It consists of a tenacious blue clay, mixed with fine silicious sand and vegetable matter : and at the depth of from ten to twelve feet rests on a sandy post-pliocene forma- tion. This subdivision of the recent alluvium contains no fos- sils, except of such animals as now exist in it. The older subdivision forms the inland swamps above the reach of tides, and occurs not unfrequently in tide swamps, in the form of small knolls, and in the salt marsh sometimes rising above its surface, but generally underlying it at the depth of from three to four feet. It consists of a very compact clay, destitute of vegetable matter, varying in colour, but most usually blue or
16
GEOLOGY.
yellow. It frequently contains beds of marl and calcareous gravel, and is generally highly impregnated with iron. In some localities it has the appearance of green marl, and con- tains grains of sillicate of iron. Like the salt-marsh it rests at no great depth on a sandy post-pliocene formation. This older recent alluvium derives much interest from the circum- stance of its presenting in many parts of the salt-marsh and tide-swamps where it occurs, indubitable proof of the subsi- dence, at a recent geological period, of the sea-coast from Florida to South Carolina. Stumps of cypress, pine, and other fresh-water trees, in an erect position and worn away to a horizontal line, are found in it, both in the tide-swamps and salt-marsh, with their tops buried three or four feet below the surface of the land, and at the same depth below the ordinary height of the tides. In the salt-marsh these remains occur several miles from the present forests, and where the water is now salt at every stage of the tide and at all seasons of the year. The kind of trees, their erect position, the horizontal line of erosion, the accumulation of soil above them, and the flowing of the salt water, three or four feet above and several miles beyond them, all indicate a sinking of the land posterior to the inland swamp formation.
A still higher interest is connected with this formation from its being the depository of all the fossil bones of the ter- restrial mammalia, which have been discovered on the coast of Georgia.
These remains having been very abundant, and embracing several genera and species of great interest, and their position having been ascertained with much exactness, a somewhat minute account of the circumstances under which they were found may be useful.
The four localities at which they have been discovered are Skidaway Island and Heiner's Bridge, in Chatham county, and the Brunswick canal and Turtle river in Glynn county. The features which characterize these deposits being in all essen- tial particulars the same, one description will answer for them all. In every instance the fossil bones have been found im- bedded in the inland swamp alluvium, near its bottom, and resting on a yellow or white sand of a post-pliocene formation.
17
GEOLOGY.
Marine shells, all of existing species, are found in groups in the post-pliocene sand, in a nearly horizontal stratum, and extend- ing from its junction with the alluvium, to the depth of five feet below it. They are generally immediately below the fossil bones, but always in the sand, and in no instance found in the clay alluvium. The depth at which the fossil bones have been discovered varies with the different localities ; being from five feet above high tides, to six or seven feet below. The line of depth appears, however, to follow the present slope of the land, as the highest deposit occurs farthest from the sea, and the lowest nearest to it. The species of shells, and the manner in which they are grouped together, are exactly such as now occur on the adjacent coast ; and, as several of the shells, such as the Artemis Concentrica and Tellina alter- nata still retain the epidermis, it is obvious that they grew on, or near the places where they are now found ; and that the physical circumstances necessary to the existence of a large portion of the present mollusca of the coast, have not changed since a period long anterior to the extinction of the gigantic mammalia.
The fossil bones were found, generally in groups, and in seve- ral instances the parts of the same skeleton were lying together. The bones were generally entire, well preserved, and in no instance abraded or incrusted with marine shells, except where they had been washed out of the original bed into salt water streams. These circumstances render it highly probable that these animals either perished on the spots where their remains are now found, or that their carcasses were quietly and im- mediately floated to them, and that sinking to the sandy bot- toms of the then shallow bays, lakes or streams, they were gradually enveloped in the sedimentary deposits, which have produced the older recent alluvium, or inland swamp forma- tion. The inferences may also be drawn, that they existed at a period posterior to the elevation from the sea, of a well characterized sandy post-pliocene formation, and at the com- mencement of the alluvium, of the age of the inland swamp : and that their destruction must have been owing to gradual changes in physical circumstances, and not to any sudden and violent catastrophe. The occurrence in South America, in
18
GEOLOGY.
latitudes about equally removed from the equator with our own, of the same fossil animals, disproves the once favourite theory of their extinction by a reduction of temperature, oc- casioned by a change of the poles of the earth. Bones of the following mammalia have been procured from the deposits above named, Megatherium Cuvieri, Megalonyx, Mastodon giganteum, Elephas primigenius, a Bos, an Equus, a Cervus, and the right ramus of the lower jaw of a new genus, the Harlanus Americanus of Owen (Sus Americanus of Harlan). In the post-pliocene sand formation which underlies the fossil mammals, most of the species of shells now existing in the neighbouring sea have been found ; and in the same formation, but nearer the surface, ribs and vertebræ of a whale, and the right os-femoris of an extinct Chelonia (Chelonia Couperii of Harlan).
It is believed, that the Miocene formation has not yet been discovered cropping out at the surface in Georgia, but as the writer of this article found two specimens of the Fusus quad- ricostatus on the beach of Long Island near St. Simon's Island, after the gale of the 12th of October, 1846, there is no doubt that it approaches very near to the surface.
No fossils have been found between the post-pliocene de- posits already mentioned, and the Burr-stone formation of the Eocene ; and this part of the State presents no object of in- terest to the geologist, except the existence of two nearly pa- rallel terraces, terminated to the east by well defined escarp- ments.
From the ocean, the land ascends by a gradual slope, to the height of from ten to twenty feet, when, at a distance of from twenty to thirty miles, it rises by an abrupt step to the elevation of seventy feet above tide water : at which elevation it runs back about twenty miles, when another and similar step of about the same height occurs These escarpments have obviously been sea-cliffs or margins ; and the manner of their formation has been very satisfactorily explained by Dar- win in his Journal of Researches, &c., where he notices a series of similar cliffs in Patagonia. He supposes, in the first place, a period of slow and gradual elevation of the land, converting that portion of the sea lying between the western
1
19
GEOLOGY.
and eastern cliffs into dry land, having a sloping surface. A period of repose then followed, during which, the ocean cur- rents, acting on the land, wore it away, and produced along the sea-margin an abrupt escarpment. Similar alternations of periods of elevation and repose, in the same way produced another and lower terrace and escarpment. After the second period of repose, a third upheaval of the land produced a third terrace, which now forms the low main land of the coast. The other changes which have taken place also admit of a satisfactory explanation. If, during the time when the present sea-coast was slowly rising above the ocean, we suppose that by the joint action of river sediment, sea-currents and waves, a line of reefs was formed at a short distance from the shore, and that they gradually arose to their present level, a chain of low, sandy islands, separated from the main land by shallow basins of salt water would be formed. The sedimentary mat- ter brought down by rivers, would in time be deposited in the quiet water between the islands and the main land, and form a body of marsh. Whenever these marshes had become as high as the usual flow of the tides, permanent channels for the discharge of the water would be formed : and the distance to which the salt water of the ocean would ascend in them, would be established within fixed limits. Beyond the flow of the sea water, trees and fresh water plants would then spring up and extend down to the line of brackish water. If, after the trees had been established, the land should sink, the salt water being no longer confined to its usual channels, would flow up to the sandy main land, and destroy the trees wher- ever it reached. The dead trees would then decay down as far as they were exposed to the action of the atmosphere. If the subsidence of the land should now cease, or the accumu- lation of sedimentary matter be greater than it, the stumps of the former growth of trees would be buried in a new alluvium. This new alluvium would gradually increase, until reaching the height of the tides, new channels would again be formed, and the line of salt water be driven back towards the ocean. Whenever this occurred, another growth of trees would spring up, and be gradually extended down the rivers. The present appearances of the alluvial lands of the coast, indicate that
20
GEOLOGY.
such changes have actually taken place ; for whilst the stumps of trees in the salt marsh prove a subsidence of the land, and an encroachment of the salt water to that point, the existence of similar stumps in the tide swamps, at a depth of three or four feet, equally confirms the subsidence of the land, and also shows a recession of the salt water since that period.
No division of the Tertiary is so well developed in Georgia as the Eocene. This formation is bounded on the west by the primary and cretaceous rocks, and it probably continues down to the foot of the first terrace or sea cliff, twenty miles from the ocean; but as no fossils have been found farther east than the Burr and limestone formations, it will be safer in the present state of our knowledge to consider its eastern limit as extending down as far as Effingham county, and passing thence in a Southwest direction through the counties of Bulloch, Emanu- el, and Laurens, to the lower edge of Pulaski, from which point it assumes a nearly southern course, and passes through the counties of Irwin and Lowndes into Florida.
The Eocene is divided into three well defined formations, the Burrstone, the orbitulite limestone, and the white lime- stone.
The Burrstone, which is the superficial formation * of this group, is characterized by white, yellow and red clays, and ferruginous sand, through which are irregularly interspersed masses of sandstone, burrstone and siliceous rocks, generally found cropping out near the tops of the hills. The fossils found in it are abundant, and usually occur in a silicified state. In many places they exist only in the forms of silicified casts. They differ much at different localities. At Atrape's quarry, near Macon, a large proportion are identical with those de- scribed by Conrad and Lea from the sandy strata of Claiborne Bluff; while the Burrstone of the counties of Lee, Baker and Decatur, present a group of a very different character.
The Orbitulite Limestone, which Mr. Lyell has found to lie between the Burrstone and White limestone, is of a yellow, or cream colour, and is almost entirely made up of orbitulites of
* At Kinkefornia creek, near Palmyra, Lee county, a well defined section oc- curs, showing the position of the Burrstone above the limestone.
21
GEOLOGY.
two or three species. Near Bainbridge it is found forming the bed of the river, and consists mainly of an aggregation of small orbitulites of from one-eighth to one-third of an inch diameter, with the occasional occurrence of species of the genera pecten, crystillaria and cidaris.
The White limestone forms the lowest portion of the Eocene formation in Georgia. It varies much in consistency, passing from a friable marl to a compact rock. The echinoderms and. corals abound in it : and it is in this formation that the remains of the Zeuglodon have been found in Twiggs, Crawford, Wash- ington and Decatur counties. As it produces a very good lime, it is burnt, wherever it occurs, for that purpose.
The Cretaceous formation is, with the exception of a small patch at Saundersville, confined to parts of the counties of Randolph, Stewart, Muscogee, Marion and Macon. Although its existence in these counties is well established by character- istic fossils, but little is known of the nature of the rocks in which they are found. A. deposit in the Chattahoocheen Stewart county, from which the writer of this article, through the liberal exertions of H. T. Hall, Esq. of Columbus, and I. C. Plant, Esq. of Macon, obtained teeth of the Geosaurus, Mosasaurus * of an extinct crocodile, Lamna plicata, Lamna accuminata, and Galleus pristodatus, is identified with the fer- ruginous sand formation of New Jersey, as well by the consti- tution of the soil as by its fossil remains.
On the Petalau creek in Randolph county, and at several other points, Ammonites placenta, Exogyra costata, Belennites Americanus, and a large Cucullia have been found.
The Transition, or older fossiliferous rock formation has been less explored than any other part of the geology of Georgia : and in the present state of our knowledge the limits of the groups composing it, cannot be designated with accu- racy. It occupies the whole of the counties of Chattooga, Walker, Murray and Floyd, the greater part of Cass, the northern half of Paulding, and all of Dade, except some small patches of coal in the Lookout and Raccoon mountains. That
* A new species, described by Prof. R. W. Gibbes, as the Mosasaurus Cou- peri.
.
22
GEOLOGY.
part of it which extends from the western base of the primary rocks to the Chattoogatta range of mountains, and which forms the valley of the Oostanaula river, belongs probably to the older series of the New-York formations, as those portions which have been examined contain Potsdam sandstones, cal- ciferous sandrock and limestones of the Trenton group. Very few fossils have been found in it. At the Chattoogatta range a marked change occurs in the formations, which from that line to the Lookout mountain belong principally to the Helder- berg series of the New-York system, but embrace also the Portage and Chemung groups : and therefore correspond with the middle and upper groups of that system, and with the Wen- lock and Devonian rocks of the English Silurian formation. At the Red Sulphur Springs in Walker county a bed of anlyd- reus limestone occurs, corresponding in character to the up- per bed of the Onondaga Salt group of New-York. Within a few miles of this locality there is a stratum of pentamerus limestone, well characterized by its lithological constitution and abundant remains of pentamerus galeatus. At Gordon's Mineral Springs, at the foot of Taylor's ridge, a stratum of dark shale is found at the bottom of the valley containing Gorginea. Above the shale are successively placed Oriskany sandstone with Atrypa elongata, &c .- a grayish blue, sub-crystalline limestone of the Onondaga limestone group, abounding in cy- athophylla, stylina and encrinital stems, and corniferous lime- stone containing cyathophylla mingled with chert and cherty nodules with crystals of quartz. Above the last lie sandstones of the Portage and Chemung groups.
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