USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 39
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535
ELBERT
participated in the battle of Briar Creek, where General Ashe was in command. Though a disastrous repulse was sustained in this engagement, the Georgian's gallantry in leading an attack was most conspicuous. Says a writer : "The left flank under Colonel Elbert, stubbornly held its ground until every man of his command was either killed, wounded, or captured. The brave Colonel was himself struck down and was about to be dispatched by a bayonet thrust when he gave the Masonic sign of distress. . An officer saw it and instantly responded, and Colonel Elbert's life was saved by the benevolent principle of brotherly love. While a prisoner on parole in the British camp every courtesy was shown him, offers of promotion and other inducements tendered him in the hope of winning him to the British cause; and when these failed an attempt was made by two Indians to take his life. He fortunately discovered them in time and gave them a signal which he had formerly been accustomed to use among them. The guns were immediately lowered and they came forward to shake his hands. They were thus reminded of the time when, with his company, by order of Governor Wright, he guarded the Indian Chiefs to the Creek Nation."
On the fall of Charleston, Colonel Elbert was finally exchanged and released from prison. Going north, he offered his services to Washington, who eagerly accepted them, and, in the final surrender at Yorktown, he bore an important part. Here also began an intimate friendship between Colonel Elbert and General Lafayette, which was afterwards continued for a number of years through a frequent interchange of letters, and the former named one of his sons after the great French palladin. Georgia honored her brave Elbert with the rank of Major-General in the State militia, while at the same time he was ad- vanced to the rank of Bragdier-General in the Conti- nental Army; and, returning home, he was soon made Governor of the State, in which capacity he signed the bill chartering the University of Georgia. He died on
536
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
November 2, 1788, at the age of forty-eight, two years short of the half century mark. The militiary of Savan- nah, the Masonic Lodge, and the Society of the Cincin- nati, attended his funeral, which was an event of great impressiveness. General Elbert was buried in the private cemetery of the Rae family-his wife's people- four miles from Savannah, but the site was never marked and cannot at the present time be identified.
Petersburg : An Old Forgotten Tobacco Market.
Volume II.
Fort James. This stronghold was situated on a point of land between the Broad and the Savannah Rivers and was built to defend the old Colonial settle- ment at Dartmouth. It probably rendered service also to the town of Petersburg. In the spring of 1776 Mr. Wil- liam Bartram,* who was engaged at the time in studying the flora of Georgia, forded the smaller of the two streams and became the guest of the commanding officer at Fort James. He describes it as a four-square stockade, with salient bastions at each angle, surmounted by a block- house, and guarded by a number of swivel guns. These were planted one story higher than the curtains. The latter were pierced with loopholes, breast high, and de- fended by small arms. The stockade of Fort James was an acre in extent. It enclosed a substantial house for the commandant, quarters for the various officers, and barracks for the garrison. The entire force consisted of fifty rangers each of them well mounted and armed with the following weapons : a rifle, two dragoon pistols, a hanger, a powder horn, a shot pouch, and a tomahawk. Three miles above Petersburg, this same noted traveller discovered an Indian mound.
* Travels, pp. 821-322, London, 1792.
537
ELBERT
Heardmont: The Home of Stephen Heard. Near the outskirts of the little town of Heardmont, in the eastern part of the county, stood the old home of Stephen Heard, the founder of Wash- ington and one of the most noted of Georgia's early patriots and pioneers. It was called Heardmont, from the name of the owner. The residence is said to have been the first lathed and plastered house in this part of the State, and when the contractors were building it people came miles to see the handsome structure. In ap- pearance it was not unlike the old Heard house at Washington, with a double veranda enclosed by tall columns. The furniture was of solid mahogany pur- chased in London. The home was destroyed years ago. But the little cemetery is still to be seen and the moun- ments are well preserved. In the family burial ground at Heardmont lie the mortal remains of the old patriot. The inscription on his tomb is as follows:
Sacred to the memory of Colonel Stephen Heard. He was a soldier of the American Revolution, and fought with the great Washington for the liberties of his country. He died on the 15th of November, 1815, in the 75th year of his age, beloved by all who knew him. "An honest man is the noblest work of God."
Ten acres of land near Heardmont, including the grave yard, have been acquired by the Stephen Heard Chapter of the D. A. R. for memorial purposes.
The Home of On War Woman's Creek, a little tribu- Nancy Hart. tary stream some few miles above the ford on Broad River, in the lower part of Elbert, stood the cabin of Nancy Hart, the renowned heroine of the Revolution. Here this undaunted queen of the forest performed her courageous feat of capturing six Tories at the point of her musket. Five acres of land
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538
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
in this immediate vicinity have been purchased jointly by the Stephen Heard Chapter of Elberton and by the Nancy Hart Chapter of Milledgeville, D. A. R., and these pa- triotic organizations intend in the near future to mark with some appropriate memorial the site where the cabin once stood, and also to erect in Elberton a monument to this immortal heroine of the struggle for independence. Some time after the Revolution, Nancy Hart removed to Kentucky, the State in which her husband's people lived, and the grave of the heroine in the Blue Grass common- wealth is said to have been located. Captain Hart was a kinsman of the great Missouri statesman, Thomas Hart Benton, and a connection by marriage of the illustrious compromiser, Henry Clay.
Beverly Allen : Homicide and Preacher.
Volume II.
Original Settlers. According to White, the first settlers of Elbert were: Dr. W. W. Bibb, Wil- liam Bowen, A Brown, William Barnett, Beverly Allen, James Bell, P. M. Wyche, Joseph Deadwyler, Rev. Mr. White, Rev. D. Thornton, Thomas Maxwell, Richard Tyner, William Key, William Caines, John Watkins, J. Higginbotham, Colonel James Jack, Peter Oliver, Wil- liam Rucker, Mr. Highsmith, P. Duncan, William Haley, William Ward, E. Shackelford, William Woods, Mr. Lindsey, Stephen Heard, D. Oliver, J. Cason, William Brown, L. Rice, William Moss, E. Ragland, William Tate, J. Howard, S. Nelson, Thomas Burton, Isham Thomp- son, William Hodge, S. Wilson, and T. A. Carter. See also Wilkes County, from which Elbert was formed.
To the forgoing list may be added Reni Napier, Joseph Underwood, Joel Thomas Samuel McGehee,
539
ELBERT
Aaron Johnson, Benjamin Maddox, Captain James Jack, William A. Allgood, Frank Power, Samuel Patton, Wil- liam Tigner, Ethrel Tucker, the Swifts, etc.
On January 20, 1791, Hon. George Walton presiding, the first session of the superior curt was held in the house of T. A. Carter, at Elberton. The Grand Jurors empan- elled at this time were as follows : Stephen Hoard, Moses Haynes, Richard Easter, Isham Thompson, William Ay- cock, William Hatcher, Richard Gatewood, Edward Mc- Cay, James Crow, Angus Johnson, Archer Walker Ed- ward Ware, James Shepherd, James Patton, John Davis, Cornelius Sale, Oliver White and William Hodges.
Most of the early settlers of Elbert were North Caro- linians, but along the Broad River, in the lower part of the county, there were a number of settlers from Virginia. These came to Georgia with Governor Matthews, in 1784. On the opposite side of the river, in Oglethorpe and Wilkes, there were settled a number of other emigrants from the old Dominion.
On the muster rolls of the Revolution, there were several residents of Elbert, among them, William A. All- good, Frank Power, and Samuel Patton.
Captain William Moore served with distinction in the Indian wars. William Barnes, a patriot of '76 was gran- ted a Federal pension in 1847, when a very old man.
Elbert's Noted There are few counties in Georgia richer
Residents. than Elbert in historic names; and first upon the list belongs the world-renowned heroine of the Revolution-Nancy Hart.
540
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
Captain James Jack, an officer of distinction who came from the famous Macklenburg settlement, in Nortlì Carolina, where he played a dramatic role in bearing America's earliest declaration of independence to the Continental Congress died in Elbert, on January 18, 1823, at the age of 84.
Colonel Stephen Heard lived here. It was this sturdy old pioneer who built Heard's Fort, on the site of the present town of Washington-at one time the seat of government. He also became ex-officio the Chief-Magis- trate of Georgia, during the absence from the State of Governor Howley, when the latter went to Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress.
He established his home at Heardmont, where his grave is still to be seen.
Dr. W. W. Bibb was a native of Elbert. Here he lived for years. He became a physician of note, a member of Congress, and a United States Senator. On relinquishing the toga, he was made territorial Governor of Alabama, and afterwards by vote of the people first Governor of the State. He was killed by a fall from his horse and was succeeded in office by his brother, Thomas.
Dr. Richard Banks was a native of Elbert. Here he practiced his profession until well advanced in life when he located in Gainesville.
Four counties of Georgia have been named for resi- dents of Elbert-Hart, Heard, Bibb and Banks.
General Samuel Blackburn, a soldier of the Revolu- tion, who married a daughter of Governor Matthews, lived in Elbert; but he made himself unpopular when in the Legislature by voting for the Yazoo purchase and he subsequently removed to Virginia.
Here lived Judge William H. Underwood, the cele- brated jurist and wit; and here was born his equally dis- tinguished son, Judge John W. H. Underwood, who be-
541
EMANUEL
came a member of Congress. Both subsequently removed to Rome.
The distinguished Judge Charles Tait lived for many years in Elbert. He represented Georgia in the Senate of the United States. On one occasion he challenged the famous Judge Dooly, of Lincoln, to a duel, but the latter declined in a witty rejoinder which has gone the rounds of the press. On another occasion Judge Tait was him- self assaulted with a cowhide in the hands of Governor John Clark. Later in life he removed to Alabama.
One of the most distinguished of present day novelists Mrs. Lundy H. Harris was born near Elberton. Her two best known works "A Circuit Rider's Wife" and "Eve's Second Husband," have earned her an international reputation.
Wiley Thompson, a member of Congress before the war, lived in Elbert.
Nathaniel J. Hammond, a member of Congress after the war, was born here; and here-in the old village of Ruckersville-the distinguished Georgian who today oc- cupies a seat on the Supreme Bench of the United States first saw the light of day-Associate Justice Joseph R. Lamar.
EMANUEL
Created by Legislative Act, December 10, 1812, from Bulloch and Montgomery Counties. Named for Governor David Emanuel, one of Geor- gia's early chief-executives and a gallant soldier of the Revolution. Swains- boro, the county-seat, named for Governor David Swain, of North Carolina, from which State a number of the pioneer settlers emigrated. Emanuel was at one time on account of its size called "the State of Emanuel." It formerly embraced in part, Jenkins, Johnson and Toombs Counties.
Little is known of David Emanuel. The somewhat meagre details are easily told. He was a native of Penn- sylvania, in which State he was born of German parents, in 1744. Coming to Georgia, on the eve of the Revolu-
542
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
tion, he settled on Walnut Branch, near Waynesboro, but afterwards moved to the head of Beaver Dam Creek. The family became an influential one in Burke. John Twiggs, a brother-in-law, destined to become an officer of high rank in the partisan service of Georgia and to command an independent body of troops, famous throughout the Southern Colonies, accompanied him to Georgia; and, during the hostilities which followed, was attached to the latter's command. Near McBean's Creek, he was made a prisoner while acting in the capacity of a scout and was ordered to be shot by a mulatto soldier who was promised his clothes. But, taking advantage of the darkness, young Emanuel leaped into the midst of the horses and escaped amid the confusion which ensued. Though he mired up to his neck in the swamp, he managed to elude pursuit and to reach the American lines. Subsequent to the Revolution, he was a member of two Constitutional Conventions, first in |1789 and second in 1795. He served in both branches of the Gen- eral Assembly, was three times President of the Senate of Georgia and, when Governor James Jackson, in 1801, relinquished the executive chair to become United States Senator, he succeeded him by virtue of his official posi- tion. Later, he was a member of the legislative com- mittee appointed to investigate the Yazoo Fraud and by helping to put the brand of outlawry upon this iniquitous transaction, he did much to redeem the fair name of his adopted commonwealth. Governor Emanuel may possi- bly have been of remote Israelitish origin, for of six children born to him, four of them bore Old Testament names. But, according to Dr. Sherwood, he was a Pres- byterian in religious faith; and, as stated above, one of his sisters married General John Twiggs, while his daughter Sarah became the wife of Hon. Benjamin Whitaker. Governor Emanuel is supposed to have been buried in Burke, but efforts to locate his grave have been unsuccessful.
543
EMANUEL
In an isolated locality, twelve miles from Swainsboro, there is an old grave-yard, in which lies Ephraim Her- rington, a soldier of the Revolution. He served in a North Carolina regiment and afterwards removed to Emanuel. The exact spot in which he is buried.is known only to a few people who reside in the immediate neigh- borhood. It is the intention of the D. A. R. at an early date, to mark the grave of the old patriot.
Paris, the original county-seat of Emanuel, disap- peared from the map of Georgia more than fifty years ago, and there is nothing to mark the site on which it formerly stood.
An Early Hold-Up. White narrates the following dra- matic episode. Says he :* "Sev- eral years ago a very singular robbery was committed in this county. A physician had been treating the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory. After the recovery of the patient, her father paid the doctor for his professional services the sum of forty-five dollars, which, with other collections made by him at the same time, amounted to seventy or eighty dollars. While pass- ing a swamp, on his way home, this infirm and aged son of Esculapius was accosted by a foe clad in no ordinary terrors. It was none other than Mrs. Gregory, the mother of his late patient, as the doctor declared under the solemnity of an oath before a civil tribunal, habited in the attire of a warrior, her face well blacked, a musket upon her shoulder, and two or three pieces of pipe-stem thrust in her mouth. She advanced with the intrepidity of Joan of Arc, seized his bridle rein with one hand, and with the other laid hold of the pocket which contained the money, never relaxing her grasp until she tore away the pocket and secured its contents. We are unable to
* White's Historical Collections of Georgia, Emanuel County, Savannah, 1854.
544
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
inform the reader whether Mrs. Gregory was tried for this offence."
Original Settlers. According to White, the first persons who settled in Emanuel were: James Moore, William Stephens, Henry Durden, George Roun- tree, Richard Edinfield, M. Thigpen, A. Gardner, N. Rowland, E. Swain, James Tapley, John Snell, James Hicks, William Phillips, J. Sutton, E. Lane, B. Johnston, John Wiggins, P. Newton, William Rowland, William Norris, J. Norris, William Douglass, S. Powell, John Rhiner, M. Cuhl, S. Kennedy, E. Colman, D. E. Rich, E. Wilks, S. Williamson, B. Key, and J. C. Summer.
FANNIN
Created by Legislative Act, January 21, 1854, from Union and Gilmer Counties, both originally Cherokee. Named for Colonel James W. Fannin, a native of Georgia, who perished with his entire regiment in the cele- brated massacre at Goliad, during the war for Texan independence. Blue Ridge, the county-seat, named for the noted range of mountains which traverses this region of the State.
Morganton, the original county-seat of Fannin, was named for General Daniel Morgan, of the Revolution.
Fannin at Goliad : The Story of the Brutal Massacre of 1836.
Volume II.
Original Settlers. See Union and Gilmer, from which counties Fannin was formed.
To the pioneer list may be added W. C. Fain and E. W. Chastain, who represented the county in the Seces-
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545
FAYETTE
sion Convention at Milledgeville. The latter afterwards became a member of Congress. The old established families of the county include also: The Halls, the Carv- ers, the Fains, the Curtises, the Jenkinses, the Mathises, the Youngs, the Baughs, the Waldrops, the Kings, the Crawfords, the Princes, and the Clements.
FAYETTE
Created by Legislative Act, May 15, 1821, out of lands acquired from the Creeks under the first treaty of Indian Springs, in the same year. Named for the gallant Marquis de Lafayette, a nobleman of France, who came to the aid of Washington at the outbreak of the American Revo- lution and became one of the great lieutenants of the illustrious comman- der-in-chief. Fayetteville, the county-seat, also named for General Lafayette. Originally Fayette embraced in part two other counties, Campbell and Clayton.
Soldiers of the Two miles below Aberdeen the grave of Revolution. a Revolutionary patriot by the name of Benjamin Brown has been identified. Joel Knight and Hosea Camp, both privates in the army of the Revolution, were granted Federal pensions, the former in 1823, the latter in 1838. They were among the first comers into Fayette. The following items are taken from White's Historical Collections of Georgia :
"General David Dickson died in this county in 1830, aged 79 years. He joined the standard of American Independence in February, 1775, at the Snow Camps, on Reedy River, at the taking of Colonel Cunningham and his Tories. In 1777, he brought a company of minute- men to Georgia and was stationed on the frontiers. In 1778, he and his company went with the American Army to take St. Augustine, and served in the artillery. The taking of St. Augustine miscarried; the minute-men were discharged, and he returned to South Carolina, joined the standard of Independence, and continued in the service of his country to the end of the war."
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
White also gives us this information :
"Samuel Parsons died in 1832, aged 70 years. He was a native of the State of Virginia. At the age of fifteen he entered the Army of the Revolution, was en- gaged in the battle of Guilford Court-House, was at the siege of Little York, and witnessed the surrender of Lord Cornwallis."
Original Settlers. M. M. Tidwell and J. L. Blalock, who represented Fayette County in the Secession Convention at Milledgeville, were among the earliest pioneer settlers. On April 22, 1824, at Fayette- ville, Judge Eli Shorter presiding, the first session of the Superior Court was held and the first Grand Jury, composed of the following pioneer citizens, was empan- elled : James Strawn, William Morgan, Matthew Burge, William Watts, Joseph H. Shaw, John Levi, Charles Lisles, John Hamilton, James Head, A. Tilghnauw, Wil- liam Gilleland, William Powell, Larkie Laudneur, John Chambers, Stephen Smith, William Harkies, James Gar- ratt, M. Glass, R. Barrow.
Dr. Willis F. Westmoreland and Dr. John G. West- moreland, two noted surgeons, were natives of Fayette, in which county they grew to manhood. They afterwards removed to Atlanta. The children of the former bore names which evinced the father's strong patriotic attach- ments. His son, Willis F. Westmoreland, Jr., also an eminent surgeon, was nick-named "Hood", because he was born while the battle of Atlanta was in progress; and he called his daughter "Caroline", because she was born on the day when South Carolina seceded from the Union.
Judge Rufus T. Dorsey, of Atlanta, a distinguished jurist and lawyer, was born in Fayette. As an advocate
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547
FLOYD
at the bar, especially in the trial of criminal cases, he possessed few equals; but later in life he devoted him- self almost exclusively to important civil litigation.
FLOYD
Created by Legislative Act, December 3, 1832, from Cherokee County. Named for General John Floyd, a noted officer of the War of 1812 who successfully conducted a series of campaigns against the Indians. Rome, the county-seat, named for the historic capital of the ancient world, on the banks of the Tiber. When organized Floyd included parts of two other counties, Chattooga and Gordon.
Major-General John Floyd was a noted officer of the State militia. He distinguished himself during the War of 1812 by a number of victories over the hostile Indians. In September, 1813, the Federal government called for a levy of Georgia troops, in response to which 3,600 men were ordered to rendezvous at Camp Hope, near Fort Hawkins, on the Ocmulgee River. General Stewart, of Oglethorpe, the senior officer of the State militia, due to his somewhat advanced years, resigned his commission at this crises, in consequence of which the duties of com- mand devolved upon General Floyd. Taken unawares, he nevertheless assumed the responsibilities of leader- ship, negotiated a loan from the State treasury for the purchase of supplies, and started, without a moment's delay, to the endangered border.
On reaching the Chattahoochee River, he constructed an earthwork which he called Fort Mitchell; and, leaving a garrison here, he placed himself at the head of nine hundred men and started into the country of the Upper Creeks. His first victory over the savages was in the battle of Autossee, so called after one of the most popul- ous of the Indian towns on the Tallapoosa River. Not far distant was Tallassee, another important village. En route to the scene of action, every man for want of better means of conveyance took his rations in his knap- sack; and, though wearied by a march of sixty miles, the
548
GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
troops upon arrival simultaneously attacked both strong- holds. The engagement lasted an hour, at the expiration of which time the savages were put to flight and the towns reduced to ashes.
General Floyd was seriously wounded in this action; but as soon as he was able to ride horseback he started with a force of 1,500 men to Hatlewaulee, another town which the Indians had fortified some distance further up the Tallapoosa River. But, when camping for the night, within fifteen or twenty miles of his destination, he was suddenly surprised by the Indians just before daybreak. The situation was critical; but he ordered an attack which was vigorously and fearlessly made in the dark among the dense pines which surrounded the camp, and, after fifteen minutes of hard fighting, the Indians were routed with great slaughter. Captain Samuel Butts, a gallant Georgian, fell in this engagement, known as the battle of Chilabbee.
For meritorious service in suppressing the Indian outbreaks, Floyd was given the rank of Major-General. He was also sent to the State Legislature and, in 1826, was elected to Congress. General Floyd was born in Beaufort district, S. C., on October 3, 1769. It is said that during the Revolution, though only a lad at this time, he wore on his hat a silver crescent with the motto "liberty or death". Besides a long imprisonment, he suffered the loss of his estate which was ruined by devas- tation ; but later in life he again accumulated large means. He was skillful in the use of tools and followed for some time the profession of boatright. General Floyd died on his plantation in Camden County, Ga., on June 24, 1824, beloved and honored by the people for whom his sword was drawn.
Hernando De Soto: There is little reason to doubt that Rome's First in prehistoric times there stood on
European Visitor. the site of the present city of Rome a town which was known far and wide among the aboriginal tribes of North America; and
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